Frenzied SLPs: When SLP Love Hurts

The Frenzied SLPs are sharing times when #SLPlovehurts

Valentine's Day is next week, and with that comes talk of love. This week The Frenzied SLPs are talking about those times when love hurts. As SLPs, we work with a wide range of student abilities, and most of our kiddos have needs other than communication which are also impacting their performance in the school setting. There are times when these needs can escalate and things can turn physical. Here is just one instance I have experienced that has made an impact on me. Some details have been altered to protect student confidentiality.

Here's what happened:
A few years back I was working one-on-one with a second grade student whose compliance and behavior could switch from angelic to physically aggressive without warning. It was near the beginning of the school year, and I was new to this building, so it was still during those first few weeks when I was getting to know my caseload.

As we walked down the hallway to my therapy room, this student seemed to be in a good mood. He asked me about what I did last night, and we chit-chatted as we walked. Once we got in my room, I started to explain what we were going to learn that day. Well, he decided that didn't fit with his plans and proceeded to walk over to my desk.

I attempted to lure him back to our work table, and he went for anything and everything on my desk. Task cards, papers, my laptop and cell phone - anything and everything he grabbed and threatened to break. I was shocked! This was not the sweet boy I had just walked down the hallway with!

Next he bolted for the door. Luckily I was quicker and got there ahead of him and was able to close it before he got out into the hallway, but then he proceeded to swear at me and kick me in the shin. Multiple times. I tried threatening to write him up, I tried actually writing him up, and I tried ignoring the behavior. But nothing was going to stop him from swearing at me and trying to kick me.

Thank goodness the special education teacher chose that moment to come back to our room. She helped get him calmed down and regulated. If she hadn't chosen that moment to come back, I don't know how far this would have escalated.

What I learned:
1. READ student files - If I had taken the time to read everything in this student's previous progress reports/IEPs/evaluation reports, then I would have learned some valuable information about what could set him off and cause him to become disregulated.

2. TALK with your team members - Prior to working with this student, I should have taken time to talk with the special education teacher and this student's paraprofessional to learn what steps should be taken if these types of behaviors arise. Many students have a behavior plan and certain phrases or action steps need to be taken to help them regulate themselves. If all team members learn the procedures, then behavior plans can be followed consistently and students will know what to expect.

3. CONSIDER becoming trained through crisis prevention intervention (CPI) - I will be taking this training in March to help me better know what procedures can be taken to help students who are showing aggression, and to help prevent the aggression from occurring in the first place.

I hope you will read through the other #SLPlovehurts stories. I think we can all agree that these moments are few and far between, and we still love our jobs despite the moments that hurt. If you'd like to share your own "love" story, you can link up using the link below, or share in the comments.

An InLinkz Link-up

Frenzied SLPs: Things I Will Try in 2016

kick off 2016 with The Frenzied SLPs' take on resolutions

Happy New Year! The Frenzied SLPs are back and we are sharing all the things we'd like to work on improving in 2016. It seems I tend to make the same resolutions each year: be more punctual, finish projects, stop procrastinating, etc. We often make resolutions so strict and extreme that they are easily abandoned within a few weeks of starting. The Frenzied SLPs are accepting that fact, so we are kicking off 2016 with some things we'd like to try in 2016.

1. Blog more regularly
In 2015 I averaged 3.5 blog posts per month. I just wasn't always motivated to write, and I know if I write just to publish something, it won't be the quality I strive for. But I miss creating content for this blog and sharing activities that have been successful in the therapy room. There are 145 unfinished posts in draft form on this blog. 145! So I'm going to create a calendar to try to schedule blog posts in advance and increase the content seen here. In 2016 I will try to post at least four blog posts per month that are not related to Teachers Pay Teachers.

2. Prep at night to have a smooth morning
I am NOT a morning person. At all. Every night I set my alarm and swear to myself I will not hit snooze. Every morning I curse myself for hitting snooze and having to rush around like a crazy person to get out the door on time. One thing I'd like to improve is prepping lunches and coffee, and selecting an outfit each evening to help me have a smoother morning. If I can just grab my lunch out of the fridge instead of having to take 10 minutes to put it together, that will save me valuable time. If I can just fill the travel mugs with delicious coffee without needing to wash them first, that will make me a happier person. If I can just get dressed without staring at my closet for 15 minutes, I'll leave the house with a smile on. In 2016 I will try to prep lunches, coffee, and choose an outfit for the next day before I go to bed.

I'd love to hear what you are going to try in 2016! Thanks for hosting this week's linky All Y'all Need!

An InLinkz Link-up

2015 Summer Reading List

working towards my goal of 35 books in 2015

I don't know about you, but one of the things I most like to do in my free time is read. Mysteries, fiction, memoirs, thrillers, love stories, young adult, brain candy...as long as it has interesting characters and a good plot I like it. Here's what I'm hoping to get through this summer.

1. Something Classic: Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)

Jane Austen's witty comedy of manners that features splendidly civilized sparring between the proud Mr. Darcy and the prejudiced Elizabeth Bennet as they play out their spirited courtship in a series of eighteenth-century drawing-room intrigues.

2. Something Mysterious: The Secret Keeper (Kate Morton)

During a summer party at the family farm, sixteen-year-old Laurel Nicolson spies a stranger coming up the long road to the farm and sees her mother speak to him. Soon, Laurel will witness a shocking crime. A crime that challenges everything she knows about her family and especially her mother, Dorothy.

3. Something Best-Selling: The Handmaid's Tale (Margaret Atwood)

Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. Offred can remember the years before, when she lived with her husband; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now...

4. Something Autobiographical: I Am Malala (Malala Yousafzai)

On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, when she was fifteen, Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head at point-blank range for speaking out for her right to an education. Few expected her to survive. At sixteen, she has become a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate. I Am Malala will make you believe in the power of one person's voice to inspire change in the world.

5. Something Mindless for the Beach: Club Dead (Sookie Stackhouse #3) (Charlaine Harris)

Things between cocktail waitress Sookie and her vampire boyfriend Bill seem to be going excellently (apart from the small matter of him being undead) until he leaves town for a while. A long while. Bill's sinister boss Eric has an idea of where to find him, whisking her off to Jackson, Mississippi to mingle with the under-underworld at Club Dead. When she finally catches up with the errant vampire, he is in big trouble and caught in an act of serious betrayal. This raises serious doubts as to whether she should save him or start sharpening a few stakes of her own...

6. Something Thrilling: Sphere (Michael Crichton)

A group of American scientists are rushed to a huge vessel that has been discovered resting on the ocean floor in the middle of the South Pacific. What they find defines their imaginations and mocks their attempts at logical explanation. It is a spaceship of phenomenal dimensions, apparently, undamaged by its fall from the sky. And, most startling, it appears to be at least three hundred years old...

7. Something Funny: Dad is Fat (Jim Gaffigan)

In Dad is Fat, stand-up comedian Jim Gaffican expresses all the joys and horrers of life with five young children-- everything from cousins ("celebrities for little kids") to toddlers' communication skills ("they always sound like they have traveled by horseback for hours to deliver important news"), to the eating habits of four year olds ("there is no difference between a four year old eating a taco and throwing a taco on the floor").

8. Something Young Adult: Before I Fall (Lauren Oliver)

For popular high school senior Samantha Kingston, February 12 -- "Cupid Day" -- should be one big party, a day of valentines and roses and the privileges that come with being at the top of the social pyramid. And it is...until she dies in a terrible accident that night. However, she still wakes up the next morning. In fact, Sam lives the last day of her life seven times, until she realizes that by making even the slightest changes, she may hold more power than she ever imagined.

9. Something Nonfiction: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Rebecca Scloot)

Henrietta Lacks is known to present-day scientists for her cells from cervical cancer. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells were taken without her knowledge and still live decades after her death. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb's effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions. Yet Henrietta Lacks was buried in an unmarked grave. The dark history of experimentation on African Americans helped lead to the birth of bioethics, and legal battles over whether we control the stuff we are made of.

10. Something Work-Related: Out of My Mind (Sharon M. Draper)

Melody is not like most people. She cannot walk or talk, but she has a photographic memory. She is smarter than most of the adults who try to diagnose her and smarter than her classmates in her integrated classroom - the very same classmates who dismiss her as mentally challenged, because she cannot tell them otherwise. But Melody refuses to be defined by cerebral palsy. And she's determined to let everyone know it - somehow. Readers will come to know a brilliant mind and a brave spirit who will change forever how they look at anyone with a disability.

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What's on your summer reading list? Any good book recommendations?

5 Tips to Finish the School Year Strong

you can survive the crazy hectic end to the school year

We've almost made it! I don't need to remind you that the end of the school year brings schedule interruptions, a large number of meetings, tons of paperwork, and general chaos. We all seem to struggle just to keep our heads above water. Here are some tips I've learned through the years to help manage the "summer-break-can't-come-soon-enough" madness.

1) Remain flexible.
There are always interruptions in our schedules this time of the year. Classes go on field trips. Band and choir students have performances and extra practices. The district SLP meeting gets rescheduled for next week. We can't control everything around us, so it's important to remain flexible and calm. For your sake and everyone else's.

2) Create and use to-do lists.
It feels so satisfying to cross off even the tiniest most minuscule of tasks. "Make to-do list." CHECK! "Schedule so-and-so's transition meeting." CHECK! "Create and post summer break countdown calendar." CHECK CHECK!

3) Make a playlist to keep you energized and inspired while you work.
I can't say enough about how music helps put me in a good mood. Get your groove on while you write 55 progress reports. Shake your booty while you take inventory of your materials. Inspire yourself when you wake up to a day with five IEP meetings scheduled. Need help getting started? These are my jams for the last few weeks of school.

4) Complete some spring cleaning.
Last week I organized and sorted through two months of papers that had piled up on my desk. It felt GREAT! Take some time during the last couple weeks of work to organize your files, clean off (and backup!) your flash drives. Organize the materials you've been using this school year, and maybe consider getting rid of ones you haven't been using lately. Tidying up the work spaces and materials we use also helps clean up the clutter in our minds.

5) Reflect on the year you've had.
Think about some of the positives that you've experienced this year. Were you able to dismiss any students from therapy? Great! Did that 2nd grade student finally produce vocalic /r/ after months or years of practice? Celebrate those successes! Also, be sure to identify any ways you'd like to improve next year. Set professional and personal goals that you'd like to accomplish. Strive to grow and build upon your practice.

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Finally, some lessons learned from movies to help get you through:

Self-explanatory. Applicable to so many situations.

Didn't the school year just start like, um, 20 minutes ago? Think about all you've accomplished this school year. Countless meetings, dozens of IEPs written, too many evaluations, thousands of minutes spent helping our students improve their communication skills, times you helped a parent see what their child can do. It's easy to get caught up in the mundane aspects of our jobs and become weighed down by everything that needs to get done. Take time during your last couple weeks of school to look around at all you've accomplished during the past nine months.

Soon, summer break will be here. You will be able to do whatever your pretty little heart desires. Want to read by the pool all afternoon? "As you wish." Sleep until 10:30? Go for it. Midnight showing of the latest summer blockbuster? I'll meet you there. We've been dedicated to our job for nine months, put in countless hours of work on our own time, and spent our personal money buying materials and supplies for our students. We've earned summer break. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Just make it through these last couple weeks and you will finally have some free time to enjoy as you wish.

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Abby has 12 work days left until summer break!

Chicken Soup for the SLP Soul {Funny Edition}

a reminder that being an SLP has its funny moments too

The Dabbling Speechie hosted a great blog hop a couple months ago in which SLP Bloggers wrote about moments that touched them as an SLP. This time, we're writing about the moments that have made us laugh. It's easy to get caught up in the paperwork, constant meetings, and ever-growing caseloads. But it's also good for the soul to reflect on the times when our jobs are entertaining and fun. One of the best moments I've experienced:

In 2013 my caseload consisted largely of preschoolers at a PreK-1st grade elementary school. I was doing a short-term intervention with a preschool boy whose mom was also one of the teachers in the building. One day she came up to me at work and said her son had told her he had been working on cuss words in speech! I couldn't believe it! I thought back to what we had been targeting the previous day and it soon made sense. This little boy was fronting his /k/ and /g/ phonemes and we had been working on /k/ that day. Words that have the letter K = /k/ words = /ks/ words!

What's been a funny moment in your practice lately? I bet those moments happen more than you think. Comment below!

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Abby is looking forward to returning to a preschool caseload next year. Those little ones are always cracking her up!

Pep Talk for The End of the School Year

the end of the school year is a stressful time. i think you need a pep talk

It's May. May! Speech-language pathologists who work in the school setting are getting frazzled, running around like chickens with their heads cut off, caffeine-fueled, and just trying to catch up on their ever-growing to-do lists, end of the year progress reports, meetings, annual IEP meetings, fitting in evaluations before the school year ends, more meetings. State reports are due. Medicaid billing is due. IEPs are due. It can certainly be an overwhelming time, and we all could use some motivation to get us through the last few weeks of school.

A Pep Talk from Kid President

Music always helps me through any tough situation. Here's my playlist for the end of the year:

When you need some motivation to write all those pending reports:

Keep Your Head Up - Andy Grammar

Roar - Katy Perry

When you're feeling overwhelmed by all the work you have left to do (on top of seeing your students for therapy):

Overcomer - Mandisa

He Said - Group 1 Crew

Don't Worry, Be Happy - Bobby McFerrin

When you have numerous meetings to attend and no time to finish all your paperwork:

Survivor - Destiny's Child

Up - Shania Twain

You're the Best Around - Joe Esposito

As you submit those IEPs and check another item off your to-do list:

The Final Countdown - Europe

On the first day of summer break:

Best Day of My Life - American Authors

Walking on Sunshine - Katrina and The Waves

Everything is Awesome - The Lego Movie

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It can be a challenge to focus on the positive this time of year. I get it. It's difficult to think about much else when there are 3 evaluations due, a last-minute IEP meeting gets scheduled without notice, there are 5 annual IEP reports sitting unsubmitted on your desk, and you just received 2 new referrals in May. I get it! That's when I need to stop, remind myself it will all get done, and think about how blessed we are as SLPs working in the school setting.

*We get 2+ months off in the summer to refuel, enjoy the beautiful weather, and take a break from our hectic work schedules.

*We get to have the same school breaks as our children, and can enjoy that extra time with them.

*We get to work closely with children during their formative years and watch them change from dependent little slobber-machines into lovely young adults ready to take on the world.

*We get to help prepare those same children for the future and lead them to the skills they need to function successfully in this world. Pretty amazing.

Top 3 Reasons to Get. Sh*#. Done.
1) You will have more time for pleasurable stuff...whatever that may mean for you ;)
2) You will feel proud and accomplished as items are checked off your to-do list.
3) Your nerves will decrease as you have fewer and fewer tasks to complete.

Now get out there and finish the school year with a smile!!

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Abby is going to just keep swimming through 15 more days of work until the end of the school year.

Narrative Language Intervention Resources

a round-up of resources for teaching narrative language skills

There are so many resources out there for us to use when helping our students improve their narrative language skills! Yesterday I touched on Sandi Gillam's SKILL program, and today I thought it would be nice to corral a bunch of useful resources in one place. Here we go!

PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTS:

SKILL (Supporting Knowledge in Language and Literacy) (Sandi Gillam) - Complete program to teach individual story grammar elements, story retell, and independent story generation.

Story Grammar Marker (MindWing Concepts) - Complete program using icons to help children learn to tell and retell stories, improve comprehension, writing, and social communication.

Strong Narrative Assessment Procedure (Carol J. Strong) - Uses wordless picture books to assess narrative skills. Includes instructions for how to elicit and analyze story retelling samples, and how to develop an intervention program based on the results.

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FROM SCHOOLHOUSE TALK:

First off, a plug for my newest packet because I am just SO excited about it! I was so enthused after participating in some narrative language trainings recently, that I created an update to my Story Grammar Prompts packet. It's a complete overhaul!

This packet is jam-packed with goodies! Here's what's inside:

This might be my favorite packet yet! You can read more about it on Teachers Pay Teachers.

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ACTIVITIES/INFORMATION from other SLP BLOGGERS:

Scoop Up a Delicious Story  - The Dabbling Speechie

DIY Story Telling Rope - Miss Thrift SLP

The Importance of Narrative Assessments - Smart Speech Therapy, LLC

Superhero Story Telling Dice - Crazy Speech World

Make a Silly Story - Speechy Musings

An Introduction to Story Grammar Marker - Let's Talk

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APPS:

Story Grammar Marker - MindWing Concepts; $24.99

Story Wheel - EverAge; $2.99 (free lite version)

Story Pals - Expressive Solutions, LLC; $19.99

Story Builder - Mobile Education Store; $7.99

Toontastic - Launchpad Toys; FREE

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Abby is certain this list is not exhaustive. Leave your favorite narrative language resources in the comments below!