Friday Funny

I laughed out loud for so long the first time I read this. I am such a stickler for good grammar, so this is perfect for me. Happy extended weekend!

:D

Alphabet Bingo and Other Good Finds

I love stopping at the dollar aisle every time I go to Target (which happens a lot more frequently since I moved to a larger city with multiple Target stores!). It is a great place to find inexpensive supplies for crafts, books, office supplies, organization tools, wrapping paper, and more. This time of year it is always stocked full of back to school and teacher supplies. So much great stuff! This week I picked up some bulletin board borders:

a desk organizer:

small pocket charts:

a couple paper pockets that allow my students to write on with dry-erase markers (cut back on printing!):

...and this Alphabet Bingo game:

I am so excited about it! This year I am assigned to an elementary school where I will be serving PreK, Kindergarten, and First Grade. I am super excited to use this with some of my students. The game comes with eight different bingo boards, 42 cards with various alphabet tasks, and 70 bingo markers.

The cards are pretty neat. To play the game, the "caller" will draw a card, read the clue, and the players locate the appropriate answer on their bingo boards.

For some of the cards, kids need to identify the missing letter in a string of the alphabet. Most of the cards have kids identifying initial, medial, or final letters in words, or you could modify it to have the identify the letter that says the initial, medial, or final sounds in words.

It will be a great way to target some letter-sound correspondence, letter naming, phonemic awareness, early literacy skills, following directions, turn-taking, and more. Who doesn't love playing bingo??

Leave a Comment: What is the one store you could not live without?

Easy for me to answer: TARGET hands down!

And It Begins...

Yesterday was the first day of school! How did that happen so soon?! It was a jam-packed day spent unpacking and setting up my speech supplies, trying to get organized, getting my student roster, and learning about the 40+ children I will be working with this year, and meeting lots of new people (if anyone has tips on how to better remember names, PLEASE tell me!). Oh, and I already received three new referrals for speech students. Blerg!

I share a regular classroom-size room with the special education teacher, who is also new to the school this year. I get one corner of the room, sectioned off by a curtain. But, I also get the sink next to me, and windows - something I have never had in any speech room I have worked in before. Once I get more settled and organized, I will post a picture tour of my area.

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The agency I work for has a mentor program for new staff. This afternoon I got to finally meet with her. It was so nice to hear more about working in Iowa from a veteran speech-language pathologist.

Another thing I worked on today was writing a letter to introduce myself to all my students' parents.

 

I am going to write a similar letter for the teachers and staff at my new school. I bought some fun paper from the Learning Post to print it on, and I am also going to include my business card with my contact information. Is it nerdy that I am really excited about the business cards the AEA printed for me?

The rest of the week I will be in meetings and trainings, but I am eager to get back into the school next week, introduce myself to more teachers, and tackle a little more organizing.

FriDaY FuNnY

I'm slowly adjusting to life in a new city, with a new job, and new colleagues. It has been seven intense days of orientation, trainings, power points, and overwhelming amounts of info I may or may not use. Time will tell.

Anywho...Now that life is finally starting to slow down, I am taking some time to think about what I would like to see this blog turn into. I'm trying to decide if I want to have regularly themed posts each day or not. I'm leaning toward not, but did decide to have a Friday Funny. An amusing quote, humorous picture, a jovial joke...something that made me chuckle during the work week.

 

source

Today's Friday Funny is courtesy is a Laffy Taffy wrapper I opened this week. (Raise your hand if you love Laffy Taffy!)

Q: What does a Christmas tree have in common with a cat in a desert?

A: They both have sandy claws!

Changes and New Adventures

This was the fastest summer vacation on record! I hardly completed anything on my to-do list, but had lots of great times with family visits, and got lots of relaxing done. Let me just say, I will never go back to a job without summer break ;)

But today is the day...I am moving to a different state and starting a new job. I will be working for an elementary school in Iowa and I am very excited about the position. But it is also bittersweet because I loved my job here in Minnesota, and it was so nice having our parents nearby. But my husband and I are really excited about moving to a new and larger city with more to offer as far as entertainment and activities. And we already have friends down there! Yes, it will be a nice change.

I do get nervous about settling in to a new school, with new students, and new coworkers. But I've done it before, and will probably do it again. From what I gather from the interview process, emails, and phone calls, the people I will be working with are going to be great. I will check back with you after the school year gets underway and let you know!

Directory of SLP Assessments

While looking for some SLP resources this summer, I came across something I had never known existed. ASHA has a Directory of speech/language assessments on their website!

Drop-down menus make it easy to find the perfect tool to aid in evaluating any child or adult.

I know this will be a great resource and I am glad I'll have it in my back pocket this school year. You can find the testing directory here.