Frenzied SLPs: Baselines and Progress Monitoring

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The Frenzied SLPs have a plethora of ideas for establishing baselines and progress monitoring.

Data. It's a necessary evil in our field. It can tell us so much useful information and really guide therapy decisions, but it can also be such a dizzying headache to collect and analyze frequently. Some jobs I've had required progress monitoring a certain number of times each month, and for others I've been on my own to monitor as needed. Either way, it can be a messy and overwhelming process if you're not organized.

Many SLPs have 50+ students on their caseloads and progress monitoring needs to be quick and efficient. That's why I tend to use data from regular therapy activities to collect my progress monitoring data. Since I am writing all those lines and circles every session anyway, I just look back at my data from a certain time frame and average it all out when it comes time to write progress reports. You can download the data sheet I use for FREE here.

Bonus quick tip: collect data in groups of 10 or 20 in order to make mental calculation of percentages quick and easy.

I frequently use my Ready, Set, Communicate booklets for quick data check-ins. Each page contains 10 trials making data collection quick and effortless.

What about those students who have goals with multiple objectives? I'm talking multiple speech sound errors, including various story grammar elements in a story retell task, or using language functionally in different ways such as asking/answering questions and using greetings appropriately.

Tracking data on so many different aspects of communication can get messy. None of us have the time to constantly round up several data sheets or log notes for every student every time we update their progress. In those cases, I prefer to use rubrics to track their progress.

Rubrics are an efficient way to track and score goals which contain many components, and also measure student progress over time.

Create your own rubrics in three easy steps:

1)   Determine the elements of your goal that need to be measured. This might be something like the steps to mastering a speech sound in conversation, or your short-term objectives.

2)   Set performance levels and assign points to each level. I like to set 3-5 criterion levels. Generally speaking, they range from "not yet demonstrating" to "proficient".

3)   Include descriptions/examples in your rubric cells of what would qualify for that score rating. Keep it simple! Your criterion must be clear and easy for others to interpret. If your student moves away and a new SLP inherits his goal/rubric, you want them to be able to continue using it with the same reliability.

If you'd like to start using rubrics to make progress monitoring easier, I've already done the work for you! Here is a collection of over 40 rubrics all bundled together. The download includes instructions, scoring examples, and editable rubric options!

How do you keep data collection a smooth process? Leave your tips in the comments! Be sure to read through all the posts below for a ton of tips from The Frenzied SLPs!

An InLinkz Link-up

The Frenzied SLPs: We're On the Downhill Slide!

3 tips to survive the end of the school year

Hello? Is anyone still here? Many apologies for the extended absence, but I've cleared away the cobwebs and am ready to get back to regular posting. By the way, I have a good excuse for taking some time off: I'm pregnant and expecting my first child at the beginning of August! Yay! Thankfully, everything has been going pretty smoothly so far, so I've just been enjoying this time away from the blog with researching and preparing for how things are going to change in the next year. That, plus everything REALLY amped up at work and we have been BUSY!

Most school-based SLPs will be winding down the year within the next month or so, and The Frenzied SLPs would like to help make the downhill slide to summer break go as smoothly as possible for you.

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One of the buildings I was assigned to this year has been doing an ongoing social/emotional learning training all year, including discussing Growth Mindset. These tools have not only helped me rethink the way I interact with my students, but have also popped into my heads at times when I'm facing difficulties. During the downhill slide to summer it can be easy to feel overwhelmed, but I just need to remember to replace some of my negative thoughts with more encouraging thoughts:

"I'll never get everything done by June 3rd!"
--> Instead, think "I can cross three items off my to-do list today."

"Are you kidding me, ANOTHER referral with three weeks left of school?!"
--> Instead, think "What can I do to assist this student AND this teacher?"

"I don't want to go to work today!"
--> Instead, think "I get to help my students today, and we're one more day closer to summer!"

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Music always helps me get through any tough situation - and through the good times too! A couple years ago I shared a playlist for all those end-of-year tasks. Be sure to add these to your playlist immediately:

Overcomer - Mandisa

Survivor - Destiny's Child

Keep Your Head Up - Andy Grammer

Can't Stop the Feeling - Justin Timberlake (I can't get enough of this song!)

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When all else fails - make a list! The end of the school year comes with a million tasks to do, and using a command center to help keep those lists organized and in view really helps. You can download your own for free here. It is always so rewarding to see those tasks being crossed off!

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There you go! A few tips to hopefully help you make through the downhill slide to summer break! Thanks so much to GoldCountry SLP, Looks Like Language, and All Y'all Need for coordinating the topic this month. Please click on the links below for more survival ideas. We would also LOVE for you to link up if you have something to share! No blog? No problem - just share your tips in the comments. Thanks for reading! And enjoy that downhill slide to summer :)

An InLinkz Link-up

Frenzied SLPs: Favorite Organization Tips

start the second half of the school year off with revamping your organization

I'll admit it. Organization is not my strong suit. In my home life I live in what I'll call "organized chaos". There are usually a few piles of mail on my kitchen counter, a craft project might sit out for a few days before I put it away, and I usually don't have all my clean laundry in the closet before it's time to wash another load. But the good thing is that I typically know where things are when I need them. I've learned to accept this and love me for me.

At work, however, I operate a little differently. I'm a spontaneous SLP - meaning I typically don't plan out a day's or week's lessons in advance, but there are little tricks I use to help me stay organized and on top of things while splitting my time between two different buildings.

1) Clean up after myself.

At the end of each day, take a few minutes to put away your materials from the day, and clean anything "extra" off your desk. Sometimes this means I'll still make a pile of things that need to be immediately addressed the next day, but if they're there in plain view for me, I'm more likely to remember to get them completed. And it's so nice to arrive to a clean desk in the morning.

2) Keep supplies handy.

I keep a three-shelf cart of my most-used supplies right next to my therapy table. The cart carries markers/pencils/dry erase, magnetic chips, dry-erase sleeves, game tokens/dice, and student learning goals. That way, I don't have to get up to collect these small items in the middle of a therapy session, and since they are things I use multiple times per day I don't have to spend time taking them out and putting them away again.

3) Write everything down.

My memory is terrible. Really awful. I can't rely solely on my Google calendar to keep every due date and meeting and task in mind. I need to see things written down in front of me to remember. My Post-It Note lists were getting out of control, so I created a Sticky Note Command Center that is on top of my desk at both of my schools. It is a life saver to help me prioritize my to-do list and remember the important things each day/week. Download yours for free here.

I'm so excited to read through the organizational tips from the other Frenzied SLPs! We'd love it if you'd share your tips in the comments, or add a blog post to the linky below. Thanks for hosting this week Speech2U!

An InLinkz Link-up

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!

No-Prep Speech Therapy Activities

quick & minimal-prep activities for the busy SLP

Tis the season - for high stakes standardized testing! My district has spent the past five weeks completing state assessments followed by MAP testing. (Too much testing! But that's a whole different post...) Now, with the end of the school year quickly approaching, we're looking at special activities, field trips, music programs, awards banquets, and class events. What does this mean for me? Reduced time with students, modified schedules, proctoring tests, and trying to fit in make-up therapy sessions. Time is limited. What's an SLP to do?

Here are my top 10 favorite go-to activities when prep time is short and I still want to make the most of time with my students. The majority of these things are always ready and I can just grab-and-go.

For PreK-2nd grade:

1. Magnet Wands/Dot Pages - easy to complete while practicing any therapy goal; dot pages can turn into colorful works of art for students to take home
Recommendation: Chipper Chat

2. Flash Cards: not just for drill - play a matching game, hide cards around the room for students to find, students keep the cards if they say their target correctly and SLP keeps the cards if they don't, etc.

3. iPad Apps - kids will willingly do the same activity on the iPad that they refused to do with flash cards five minutes ago
Recommendations: Toca Boca, Lego Junior Create & Cruise, My PlayHome

4. Marble Maze - great fun for following directions, reviewing basic concepts, and building language skills

5. Board Games - who doesn't love adding in a little competition to therapy?!
Recommendations: Candy Land, Cariboo, Pop the Pig

6. Garbage Pails - pick one up at the dollar store; it's so satisfying for students to "throw away" cards or objects they have completed

7. Speech/Language Path - walk down the path and collect articulation targets, or story elements, or build sentences as you go

8. Picture Books - so many options available and you can always incorporate speech and language goals
Recommendation: wordless picture books; use book companions

9. Bubbles - they are my secret trick to get shy preschoolers to interact with me
Recommendation: buy Billion Bubbles solution - it lives up to its name!

10. Building Blocks - fun for all ages and you can target almost any speech/language goal

For 3rd-8th grade:

1. Magnet Wands/Dot Pages - these provide numerous practice opportunities and it's just so satisfying to use the magnet and collect all those colorful chips
Recommendations: free 100 challenges by Peachie Speechie

2. Barrier Games - so many language opportunities here; also great for carryover of articulation skills

3. QR Codes - students adore scanning those magical pixelated boxes
Recommendations: QR inference cards; SpeechBook from Speech Bubble SLP

4. Dry Erase Board: students love drawing on these. Draw Venn diagrams for compare/contrast activities, create word webs with vocabulary words

5. Hangman - you can easily incorporate academic vocabulary terms or spelling words

6. Board Games - serve as an excellent tool to make mundane therapy activities more fun
Recommendations: Jenga, Don't Spill the Beans, Connect 4, Guess Who, Apples to Apples Jr.

7. Write on the Table - use dry erase markers or paint pens; easy way to "keep points" for any activity. Students are blown away that they get to draw on the table!

8. iPad Apps - apps are super motivating, and with structure and guidance they really do serve as helpful therapy tools.
Recommendations: Bluster, Story Wheel, Classify It!, World's Worst Pet, Phonics Studio

9. Interactive Websites - because anything involving technology can't possibly be work, right? ;)
Recommendations: Make Beliefs Comix, Scholastic Story Starters, Newsela, Readworks

10. YouTube - pair with graphic organizers to discuss story elements, sequence events, make inferences/predictions, etc.
Recommendations: Simon's Cat videos; Speech Tube from Speech Room News

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What are your go-to no prep activities when you're short on time? Any recommendations for high school grades?

Quick Tip Tuesday!

a quick tip to help make our work as SLPs easier

Hi everyone! I'm linking up with the fabulous Kim over at School SLP to provide a tidbit that has helped me the past couple weeks.

One thing I've noticed when laminating materials on my personal laminator is that the first sheet or two comes out of the machine a little wavy. Now I've discovered that if I first run a plain sheet of paper (no laminating sheet) through the hot-and-ready machine a couple times, it helps prevent the first couple laminating sheets from coming out wavy!

Head over to School SLP to see what other quick tips are being shared this week!

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Abby has used 69 laminating sheets in the past month.

Role Reversal - Let Students Be the SLP!

having your students be the SLP for one session is a a quick and fun way to see how well they understand their speech therapy goals

This year one of the QR codes in my student reward system allows students to "be the SLP" for their next session. It has turned out to be one of the best rewards in my whole system - for myself and my students. Allowing my students to be the SLP for the day enables them to be in charge, which helps them "buy in" to what they are learning, and gives me a nice way for me to assess how well they actually understand what we have been working on. A type of formative assessment if you will.

Typically during these role reversals, we start with a quick review of the concept or vocabulary we will be using that session. I am still in the teaching role at this point. Basically, I review the learning target for that session and prepare them for what we will be doing. I also make sure to have all the materials ready to go. That way we won't be using up precious time searching for board games, books, or flash cards.

Then we switch roles (Freaky Friday style), and I'm now the "learner"! I always throw in some incorrect answers or inaccurate sound productions from time to time. If I get an answer wrong, that allows me to see if my student can recognize my mistake and help me correct it. It shows a higher level of understanding on their part. If they don't catch my error, I will step out of my "learner" role back into the "SLP" role and make sure we both understand the error and how to correct it.

While I'm being the "learner" I can never quite fully stop being the SLP. I make sure to take note of any terms or concepts that my speech therapy students seem to struggle in "teaching" me. At the end, when we switch back to our regular roles (me as SLP, student as the Learner), I go back and review those tricky concepts and follow-up with them again the next time we meet.

So far, my students have had a blast being the SLP! They really get into their new roles and make sure all the rules are being followed. They're not afraid to give behavior warnings or remind me to listen with my whole body! It's a win-win situation for both of us: they have fun taking over that leadership role and showing me what they know, and I benefit from seeing what they have mastered and what still needs to be worked on further.

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Have you ever let your students teach you? What have you learned from them?

Speech Therapy Reward Board

an alternative way of reinforcing good behavior in the speech room

Whew! September is almost over and I'm finally getting back into blogging again! I ended up taking a much-needed break from writing blog posts this summer because I was busy packing up my apartment and moving a few states away. My husband and I are now residents of North Dakota (The Peace Garden State), and I have a new job working with 3rd through 8th grade.

It was a busy summer, and while this blog was nearly abandoned I did use social media frequently including giveaways, so be sure to follow along! You never know when some fun might pop up ;)

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Things are finally starting to feel normal at my new job, and I'm ready to get back into blogging more regularly. I'll start today with my reward system for this year: my Reward Board!

Thanks to The Speech Bubble for this idea! The school I'm in this year has a building-wide superhero theme, so I had each student personalize their own superhero which I then laminated and cut out. Each time they come to a session, they have the chance to advance their superhero, but only if they are good workers, great listeners, and super friends. There are a couple spots on the board labeled "PRIZE" and when they land on those squares, they get to pick their prize:

I wanted to get away from a prize box this year since I'm working with older students (3rd through 8th grade). So I created QR codes with their rewards. Each time a student lands on a prize space, they can pick a code out of the envelope, scan it, and find out what their reward is.

Rewards range from 15 minutes free time, to listen to music, to game day in speech. Of course, the illustrious prize box is still in there, but only one code leads to it!

This reward board system is working well so far for me this year. Hopefully it will help my students learn that toys and trinkets aren't the only thing that can be rewarding for their hard work.

You can try them out for yourself here with this freebie!
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/QR-Code-Rewards-for-Speech-Therapy-1473496

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Abby was going to have a "piece of candy" prize code, but nixed that idea because she knew she would eat it all.

Guest Blog Post: Building Blocks in Speech

Note: This post originally appeared on the Twin Sisters Speech and Language Therapy blog on May 29th, 2014. Thanks for reading!

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Big props to Shanda and Manda for allowing me to guest post for them today! Those two girls have wonderfully creative ideas, so I am thrilled to add to the mix.

With our hectic school schedules, sometimes we have to provide therapy "on the fly". I was thinking last week about my therapy sessions, and I found myself going back to Lego/Duplo blocks again and again as my go-to "grab and go" therapy item. My current assignment is working with early intervention (birth to 3) as well as preschool-aged children, and these little blocks of joy are perfect for bringing communication opportunities and fun to our time together.

What can I target with Lego/Duplo blocks?

You can target so, so much with building blocks! Here's a sampling of what I've done with them:

*Basic Concepts: talk about the colors of the blocks; the number of "bumps" they have; discuss the attributes of the blocks (long, short, skinny, large, etc.); build different shapes or letters out of the blocks; talk about which blocks they need first, next, and last
 
*Emerging Language Skills: Legos provide the perfect opportunity for students to practice requests: more, block please, my turn, more blue, I'm all done, etc.

*Turn-Taking and Pronouns: Some of my preschoolers have a behavior goal for turn-taking. Building blocks are also perfect practice for this as you work together to build a masterpiece. We also get tons of opportunities to practice pronouns: my turn, your turn, we go at the same time, his turn, you do it, I need help, etc.

*Prepositions: up, down, around, bottom, top, inside, through, first, last - they're all covered here!

*Following Directions: You can instruct your kiddos how to build something with the blocks, or have them practice telling each other directions. Since the building pieces are different colors and shapes, it's perfect for adding describing words to your sentences: "Put the long red piece on top of the short purple piece." You can also download building plans such as this one online. Instead of printing them off, I just display them on my laptop or iPad for students to reference.

*Articulation: I have my articulation students practice their target sounds a designated number of times before they can earn more blocks to use. I've also attached their target pictures to the blocks and had them practice as they build. (By the way, this adhesive is such a time and money saver for temporarily attaching pictures! So much better than Velcro!)

Another favorite Lego activity of mine is the Lego Read & Build kits. These neat little activities come with a book and all the Legos you need for building the characters inside the book.

I have this farm set, but there are also caterpillar, fairy tale, jungle, and vehicles sets that I've seen. They are great for little ones and the pages show them exactly how to assemble each item. These are great for traveling SLPs because they are compact and contain only the specific blocks you need for that book.

Finally, if I don't want to lug around a set of Lego blocks as I travel from site to site, I always can count on the Lego Juniors Create & Cruise app to help me out. It is a wonderful and FREE app that I recommend to all the parents and teachers I work with. Students get to build their own Lego car (great for targeting language goals as they describe the car they want to build!), and then drive it while they earn additional game pieces! This one is a must-have app and it is definitely a favorite of all my students :)

Thanks so much for reading! I hope I've inspired you to "build" some fun into your therapy sessions!

Using Rubrics to Track Speech Therapy Data

rubrics are an efficient way to track student data 

Raise your hand if you have a student or two on your caseload who has more than one speech goal. Raise your other hand if you have students who have really extensive goals which require you to track many different elements. I'm talking multiple speech sound errors, including various story grammar elements in a story retell task, or using language functionally in different ways (i.e. asking questions, answering questions, and using greetings).

We all have these sorts of goals we address every week. Tracking data on so many different aspects of communication can get messy. None of us have the time to constantly round up several data sheets or log notes for every student every time we update their progress. How can SLPs quickly and efficiently track student data in a way that measures their true progress and still makes sense?

Rubrics. Rubrics are the answer! *cue angelic music* Rubrics are an efficient way to track and score goals which contain many components, and also measure student progress over time. They are also an excellent way to give students more credit for the progress they are making, or measuring the amount of prompts/cues that are required for success.

So what kind of communication goals benefit from using rubrics? Well let's see, I have used rubrics at some point for each of the following goals: MLU, AAC, story retell, articulation, wh-questions, functional communication, vocabulary, semantics, phonological processes, and fluency. So, really, rubrics are appropriate to use with any speech goal and can help you determine the course of instructions (i.e. increasing complexity of speech targets or fading prompts).

Create Rubrics in 3 Easy Steps:

1)   Determine the elements of your goal that need to be measured (i.e. steps to mastering an articulation goal). This could be the same as your short-term objectives, or might be in-between steps for reaching the ultimate goal.

2)   Set performance levels and assign points to each level. I like to set 3-5 criterion levels (generally, they are: not yet demonstrating, approximate, and proficient).

3)   Include descriptions/examples in your rubric cells of what would qualify for that score rating.

There are three things I like to keep in mind when I am creating my speech therapy rubrics:

1)   Include a score for each element of your rubric.

2)   Keep it simple – Just say no to 150-point rubrics! Your criterion must be clear and easy for others to interpret. If your student moves away and a new SLP inherits his goal/rubric, you want them to be able to continue using it with the same reliability.

3)   Allow yourself to score several weeks’ worth of data on one piece of paper. I don’t like rubrics that take up a whole page for each data point. That bulks up my student folders too much when I have to print off a new sheet every other week. Plus then I still have multiple sheets to sort through when it comes to writing progress reports. Not to mention the printing/environmental costs.

If you'd like to start using rubrics in your own speech therapy room, I've already done the work for you: here are 21 rubrics all bundled together. The packet includes instructions and scoring examples, as well as blank rubrics ready to print and use. So go ahead, try rubrics out for yourself! I bet you won't go back :)

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Abby typed the word rubric 18 times in this post.