Tough subject, paperwork. It’s a necessity, it’s not going away, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any easier. There are no easy answers, but I’ll share what’s been helpful to me through the years as a school speech-language pathologist (SLP).
School’s here. I have no clue where summer went. It’s always the fastest time of the year. Following is a helpful suggestion of something I’ve done in almost every school I’ve ever worked at. It’s simple, constructive, and I enjoy doing it.
If doing therapy was all you had to do, you’d be fine; but meetings and paperwork complicates things--especially at the end of the year.
One day at school, the principal stopped me in the hall, “Hey, Char, I’ve been meaning to ask you a question. Will you head up the Young Authors Conference this year?
The following focuses on the /r/, but the strategies can be modified and applied to any speech sound.
If you’re in the schools, May is typically a major month for meetings. Therefore, here are more meeting-strategies to enhance
Have you ever heard an SLP exclaim: “Please! I love preparing for and going to meetings! Sign me up for more meetings!” Nope, me neither.
Here's the best way to hold kids accountable for their homework, and one simple solution to save time!
In reality, being an SLP in the schools is a bit of a numbers game: There are “all of them” and one of you. Regarding teachers and administrators, that means being a significant presence for “the school,” and a collaborator (and
As a Speech-Language Pathologist, you may be the only SLP in your building. When I was in the schools, I was the only SLP in each school I worked at. Honestly, at times, I felt alone; surrounded by
Using jokes is a fun and beneficial way to build language. Following are therapy ideas on how to teach puns and riddles and why joke-therapy can benefit our language-kids. The following is primarily
It’s vitally important to laugh! It’s good for our health and happiness. Let’s face it, we all love to laugh! Sometimes funny things just happen in therapy. But, you might consider (if you haven’t already) a more direct approach. Use “jokes!” Use them as a weekly ritual, or as an all-out activity in your therapy.
Have you ever done Daily Word-Ladders? They’re created by Tim Rasinski who’s one of my favorite authors and researchers. I think you and your language-kids would like them! I put one together for you. St. Patrick’s Day is the theme of this Daily Word Ladder.
One of the defining moments in my therapy-life was with Lucas, a language-challenged second grader. He stopped mid-sentence during one of his practice sentences, looked me the eyes, and said,
Do you want to know how to lift and move for a good /s/? Here’s the answer: Contract the mid-tongue. Mid-tongue contraction (a tongue bowl) lifts the front-tongue.