Speech Scheduling Made (relatively) Easy

As a student, the beginning of each school year comes with lots of exciting things. Shopping for a new outfit to wear on the first day of school, checking off the supplies on the classroom supply list, etc. Picking out folders was my favorite - what other children of the 90s out there can remember Lisa Frank school supplies?! I secretly was excited at the end of each summer when the class lists were posted. Summer always seemed to last too long, and I was always excited for school to start again. I was a huge nerd.

As a school employee, the beginning of each school year has a bit of a different feel. Yes, all the newness and excitement radiating from the students is a bit contagious, but mostly we long for summer break to start all over again. And as a school-based speech-language pathologist, the beginning of school means scheduling. Bleh. I am somewhat fortunate this year as I only (only!) have 44 students and two buildings to worry about. I know some SLPs whose caseloads are pushing 70 students or have 3-4 buildings to schedule in the same 5-day school week.

Last year was my first year working in the school setting, and scheduling my 53 students at 2 different buildings was such a big source of stress last year. I had at least two different excel spreadsheets, class lists, a list of how I was going to group the students together, and a 5-day calendar all on my desk at once. I think it took me a whole work week just to get the schedule to fit. It was a nightmare! 

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I was determined to complete my schedule differently this year. Somewhere over the summer I read the idea of using Post-It notes for scheduling, and I thought it was genius! So here is how I completed my scheduling this year...

A couple weeks ago I gave each teacher a slip of paper that listed the students in their classroom who have speech services along with the minutes required each week for services, and asked them to attach a copy of their class schedule or list the times that will NOT work to pull students.

 

Click here to download your own copy of these forms. I had more of my personal information on the slips I gave to teachers, but modified the document for general use for the purposes of this upload.

Once most of the teacher slips had been returned, I was ready to get scheduling! First, I organized my Post-Its by grade: preschoolers off campus got orange, preschoolers on campus got blue, Kindergarten got green, and 1st grade got pink. I wrote administrative/lunch/regular meetings on purple notes. Each student got a Post-It with their name/grade/teacher, how many minutes of therapy they were required each week, and the times the teacher had said were okay to pull the student. If a student was to be seen twice a week, they got two Post-Its with their name.

Then I made a giant 5-day schedule, divided into 20-minute increments (mostly for a guideline - it would be unrealistic to be able to fit my students perfectly into the designated time slots). A white board would work really well too, but I don't have one in my room.

From there, I went to town sticking Post-Its into time slots that worked based on the times teachers had given me. I didn't need to keep referring to an excel spreadsheet to see teacher times or look back at old emails - everything I needed was right on the Post It. If a time didn't work, or if I needed to move a student to a different time, I could just pull off the Post It and move it to a different spot.

Scheduling was still a bit tedious since these students are all new to me, but it only took me one day to finalize my schedule this year. Woohoo! Of course, I just know it's not actually final, and that conflicts and additions are bound to arise. But I think this was a pretty great system to use this year and I will more than likely tackle the project the same way in the future.

Leave a Comment: What tips do you have for making scheduling easier?

Articulation Jenga

Jenga or Tumbling Towers is one of my favorite therapy games.

Students of all ages from elementary through high school love it. It is quick to set up, and there are very few rules, so it is easy to throw it in at the end of a session for reinforcement. They get really excited when the tower grows super high, and they crack up when it finally falls over.

Not only is the game easy and entertaining, but you can also get extra practice towards your therapy goals while having fun at the same time. Today I modified my Jenga game to target various phonemes for my articulation students. Using my Webber Jumbo Articulation Drill Book, I typed up a list of words targeting a few different phonemes that are common goals of my artic students.

Target phonemes this time include /s/, /th/, /l/, and /k/ in initial, medial, and final positions. I copied each list onto a different color paper, cut them apart, and taped them onto the blocks. You can download the four different lists here.

I also made a star block in each color. When my students pull the block with the star, they earn an extra turn, or extra sticker, or whatever motivates them.

The words took a while to cut apart and tape on, but now it is ready to go! It will also be easy to switch out words to target different phonemes if needed.

This game is not just for articulation students either. Here are a few ways to use the game to target other goal areas:

*Language:

- students must use the word they draw in a grammatically complete sentence
- students must think of an adjective to describe the word on their block
- students define the word drawn
- name the appropriate category the word would fit in, or name other words associated with the word on the block
- if appropriate, name a synonym or antonym for the given word
- one side of your blocks could target words with multiple meanings

*Fluency:

- depending on the level the student is working at, practice easy speech at the word, phrase, or sentence level

*Phonemic Awareness:

- identify the initial/medial/final phoneme in the word
- segment the word into individual phonemes
- name a word that rhymes

The possibilities are endless! It is such a fun game to use with students of all ages. I think they love it almost as much as I do :)

Leave a Comment: What was your favorite board game as a child?

Friday Funny

Today's Friday Funny is dedicated to my sweet husband Tony. We will be celebrating our first wedding anniversary on Monday and it has been a wonderfully special year.

Can't wait to enjoy many, many, more crazy years together! <3

Good Finds: 5-Minute Quick Quiz Word Fun

Happy Labor Day! I am enjoying my extra day off of work. It's crazy how ready I was to have a day off after just 3 weeks of the new job. I guess all the business of organizing, meeting new people, scheduling students, and attending countless new staff trainings just drains a girl's energy! It has been much appreciated having a long weekend :)

I found another Good Find for SLPs the other day. Remember, the Dollar Aisle at Target is a great resource for inexpensive supplies and ideas.

Today's find was this 5-Minute Quick Quiz - Word Fun Challenge.

It's a small flip-book with a great assortment of quick activities that target language skills. Each page targets a different skills: word families, phonemic awareness, vocabulary building...and more!

Here are a few previews of what's inside:

Use the provided word family list to fill-in-the-blanks of the story.

Unscramble the letters in these mixed-up words!

Each column is a category, and you need to use the letters on the left to think of a word that starts with that letter and fits in the given categories - like Scattegories.

Manipulate the phonemes to figure out each word.

Use the clues to figure out which word on the list is being described.

The answers are all on the bottom of each page. For only $1, I thought this was a great bargain that I couldn't pass up. The cover says Grade 2, but with some modifications, I could even use it with the Kindergarteners and 1st Graders I work with. I plan to rip the pages apart and use my new dry-erase page protectors so I can use this book again and again!

P.S. There was also a math version!

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.

 

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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.