New School Year, New Personal Professional Goals!

I cannot believe the summer is over and we are back to a new school year.  Each year, I like to make goals for myself.  Although I have been in the field and in my building/district for years, I recognize that there is always room to learn and grow!

In the past, I have set these goals for myself:

• Learn more about and incorporate classroom curriculum into my speech lessons
• Take better data and form a better system for collecting and storing
• Creating and using a data binder
• Find better ways to motivate my students
• Find a better way to store my TpT lesson materials in my speech room
• Hold professional development for teachers in my buildings to better understand my role and how they can incorporate speech & language strategies into their classrooms

This school year, I have set these following goals for myself:

• Find new ways to encourage expressive language for my low functioning students.  I plan to use Speech Room New's AAC communication boards like this one.
• Keep teachers informed more frequently on what is going on in the speech room, how their students are doing, and what they can do to see the same progress.
• Keep learning.  I hope to attend workshops on Apraxia, stuttering, and working with ASD students.  I also plan on attending workshops held in my district/building for classroom teachers so I am more informed and educated on the techniques they are using.

Wondering what your other favorite SLP bloggers/TpT sellers have as their goals!?

• "Some of my main goals this year are to be more organized and maintain a good work/life balance. I would also like to find more ways to incorporate classroom topics into my therapy, as well as helping more teachers understand that what I do in the therapy room can have a direct and positive impact on my students' language skills in the classroom." ~Natalie Snyders
• "One of my goals is to have more contact with parents. Too often is the case when I only see parents once a year at IEP meetings, personally I feel like I should be having more contact with them since their child has deficits and is receiving specialized support. Being able to tell them good things about their student through out the year would be better than once a year."~The Speech Bubble
• "My goal this year is to find ways to incorporate the general education curriculum in my therapy sessions and/or push into the classroom as appropriate. I also have a goal to make sure I am taking progress monitoring data for my language students more consistently. It was really tough last year with a caseload of 80 to make sure I had enough data for updating goals. I want to be able to plan ahead with informal assessments instead of scrambling around....thanks Natalie Snyders for your language progress monitoring tool. I am on track for meeting this goal."~The Dabbling Speechie
• "My personal goal this year is to set aside at least an hour or two in the evening being "unplugged." My work goal is to really focus on critical thinking skills. I don't just want to "give" students answers. I want to guide them to figure it out."~ Speech Peeps
• "My goal is to (be brave enough to) step out of my comfort zone more often. This year I have taken on clients with feeding disorders and clients with cochlear implants that need AVT. I was so nervous at first but now I am really loving the change!"~Simply Speech
• " My goal is to incorporate vocab and stories from the curriculum into therapy for both artic and language kiddos. Grade levels are emailing me their lesson plans every week!"~Let's Talk Speech Therapy
• "My goals are to work smarter, not harder when it comes to planning (I'd like to do less at home) and do my best to focus on curriculum vocabulary/concepts whenever possible."~TeachSpeech365
• "My goal is to build relationships with all staff members. I recently moved to a new Early Childhood Education Building. I'm trying to make the most of teamwork and build meaningful relationships with everyone I can!"~Speech Room News

What are your goals?!!?

Hello My Name Is....INTRO FUN!!

School is back in session and I've been busy reading IEPs, making schedules, checking in on my previous students and meeting my new ones!  I found these fun "Hello my name is..." stickers in the dollar store and knew I had to use them!

My students had to come up with an adjective that started with the same letter as their name.  They got to write it on their sticker.  They then got to place the sticker on their speech folders!!  They had so much fun trying to come up with creative answers.  I even let them go to thesaurus.com to find some fun synonyms!  

Some examples of what they came up with:

• Awesome Ashley
• Daring Derrick
• Neat Nathaniel
• Entertaining Edwin

We had a blast!!

How Do You Use It?! September: Brown Paper Bags

It is that time again...how do you use it?!  

This month: brown paper bags!  I buy a pack cheap at any supermarket or Target and they usually last me the entire school year.

One of my favorite ways of using these are for creating "paper bag books."  You can see my previous post when I described how I made them by clicking HERE!

Another favorite way of using paper bags are for sorting activities.  Just grab some bags, write on the outside and take sorting pictures!  I have used them with fishing activities by Super Duper Inc. as well!  See below, we fished for common objects then sorted by category.  I even wrote a sentence strip on each bag to promote expanded utterance length!

Another way to use paper bags are for eliciting stories.  Throw pictures of random objects or small objects themselves into the bags.  Then, students can take turns picking out a picture/object and telling a story with a beginning, middle, and end using that object.  Want to make it more challenging?  You can have them incorporate articulation targets, learned prepositions/curriculum vocabulary/question words/pronouns/any other target you are currently working on!

Stay tuned to next month!

Wondering how other SLPs/bloggers use brown paper bags?!  See below - they linked in!

An InLinkz Link-up

Dear Parents, from your child's SLP!

Dear Parents,

• We have your child's best interests at heart:

Whether we are discharging your child or recommending (more) services, we are doing this because we care.  If we discharge your child, it is because they no longer need our services, that is a good thing!  They made progress and we feel confident that they can continue to progress without us!  We are also bound by the state, district, building, etc. to discharge when students progress to a certain criteria.  We would love to work with your child forever!  If we recommend services, that is not a bad thing.  This doesn't mean that your child will need speech forever.  We are here to help them learn and grow!

• Homework isn't a punishment to you

We know you have busy lives.  We know you worked a long day and that children have after school activities.  Homework is home practice.  We can only help your child so much in the short time we work with them a week.  We need your help to continue to work with them when we are not there.  Homework is also a great opportunity for you to see what we are working on and the strategies we are using.

• Don't take matters into your own hands

Yes, there are tons of resources available online.  There are tons of iPad apps available.  Please, don't try and be your child's SLP without guidance from an SLP.  Speech-language pathologists have unique and specific training and credentials.  We are available to help and guide you to help your child.  We can show you how to work with your child at home.

• It is not your fault

Your child's speech & language difficulties are not your fault.  Please do not take the blame.

• We don't have a crystal ball

No matter how much we would love to predict the future, we cannot.  We cannot tell you when or if your child will reach certain milestones or progress.  We can tell you that the most practice they get and the more involved you as parents in this process, the prognosis looks good!  Be positive and keep encouraging your child!

Love,

Your child's SLP

Collaborating with the art teacher! (tips and ideas for the school SLP)

It is so important as SLPs to collaborate with other professionals working with our students, especially when you work in the schools.  SLPs usually frequently collaborate with classroom teachers, OTs, PTs, resource room teachers and school psychologists.  But what about others working with that child?  One such colleague is the art teacher!

People always forget about this one!!  But there is so much language that can be pulled during art class!!  Many art teachers are not aware of which students are receiving speech and language services and why.  

It is important in the beginning of the year to approach them and let them know!  

Educate them on how to help target speech and language goals:

• Encourage students to request, ask questions, use complete sentences.
• Present instructions verbally and visually
• Be patient to let students with articulation or fluency goals use their strategies to speak slowly and clearly
• Use carrier phrases or sentence strips if necessary 
• Use simple, short phrases or sentences
• Use visuals when teaching new vocabulary
• and more!

It is so important to work together with your colleagues.  Educate them!  Many want your help and are afraid to ask!!  Let them know they can come to you for help.  What else can you do?!

• Find out what vocabulary or concepts they are working on in the art room and practice using them in the speech room
• Role play problem solving or social scenarios
• Do mock art project so students can practice following directions or expressing sequences
• Work on conversation starters that students can use in the art room while working with classmates
• and more!!

How do you collaborate with teachers?  Any other suggestions or ideas?!  Feel free to comment below!

Surviving As A Travel SLP! (ideas & tips!)

It is back to school season.  Many SLPs find themselves split between two or even three or four buildings.  Some SLPs travel from house to house if you work with early intervention.  It is a very common thing.  Yet, many struggle to stay organized, calm, prepared, and confident.  Keep reading to see how I have survived in the past and what I would do if faced with the challenge again.

Do you make your own schedule?  If so:

• Try to schedule in enough time to get from place to place.
• Allow time for prep, communicating with teachers/parents, going to the bathroom, and lunch!
• Email a copy of your schedule to yourself and keep in in your phone.  This way if you place it, you always have it!
• Color code your schedule to reflect the different buildings.  This way at a quick glance you can see where you need to be.
• Don't promise anyone which days you will be in a specific building until AFTER you work out a schedule.  This way you aren't tied down to one specific building.  This will make scheduling easier.
• Make sure you time how long it takes to get to and from each location.  Go various ways in case there are road closings or accidents to avoid!

Other tips to remember that will help you stay organized, calm, and prepared:

• Keep phone numbers of all buildings/homes and e-mail addresses of teachers/parents in a phone, in a binder with your schedule/data.  This way you can easily contact if you have car trouble, get sick, last minute meeting, etc.
• Have a planner?  Use the schedule app on your phone? USE IT!!  Plug in every meeting, due date for paperwork, field trips the students may have, or any change in your normal daily routine!
• Make sure everyone has YOUR cell phone number and email address.  This way they can contact you if meetings get canceled or if you have an individual session and the student is absent you don't have to rush!
• Keep a "go to" binder.  Keep your schedule, student goals, a quick glance at student information, and places to write to do lists.  This way you can easily plan, call parents, or jot down ideas no matter where you are!
• Use colored pens that correlate to the same color you made on your color coded schedule to keep things organized!  All students in building A will have notes written in the color red since that is the color you used on your schedule.

Some items that you can grab to help you stay organized:

• Plastic crate:  this is for your trunk of your car!  You can have 1 for each building you are in.  LABEL or color code it!  This way you can store things in your car in an organized way so you can easily find it.  Plus, this will prevent your materials from moving around your trunk and making noise.  Don't you hate hearing a toy go off when stopping short at a red light?!  This will also allow you to have room in your trunk so you can go grocery or clothes shopping!
• Crate on wheels: stop hurting your back!!  You can just transfer the items in the crate in your car into this crate on wheels and wheel them into the building.  If you don't have to carry a heavy bag, you will probably carry more and be better prepared!  You can also find one at Lakeshore Learning.
• A large durable binder: this will help you keep important papers organized.  Keep your schedule on the front so you can easily see!
• Organizing caddy or tote bag:  this will keep pens, post-its, crayons, glue and whatever key items that you use everywhere in an organized manner.  If everything has a home, you can find it!  Many recommend also bags from the company Thirty-one.
• A good planner: there are so many out there it all depends on your preferences, style, and how much you want to spend.  Many recommend the Erin Condren life planners, others prefer creating their own such as the ones from Crazy Speech World.  It is important to write down lesson plans and what materials you will need.  Also write down ALL meeting dates and when paperwork is due!  Color code!!
• Smart phone: I prefer an iPhone but use your preference!  It is a necessity to keep calendars, phone numbers, email, to do lists, calculators, and more in one spot!
• iPad: There are SO many great apps out there that you can use as part of your therapy.  It is lightweight and easy to carry from place to place!
• LIBRARY CARD: don't have a place to store all of these amazing story books?  Just hop on over to the library and take out a bunch at a time!  Return when you are done!  No clutter, less to store!

Do you have places to store things in each building?

• Store the necessities: art supplies, pens/pencils, dry erase board or anchor chart paper.
• Only need certain games or materials in one building?  keep it there!  know your goals!
• Find a friend/coworker you can grab other necessities from if you forget or run out!  I have a coworker I grab curriculum materials from when in a pinch.  It helps!
• Is there a place to store testing materials????  Do you have to sign them out ahead of time??  Plan ahead!

I hope this blog post has helped calm some tension and anxiety about the upcoming school year!  Any tips I missed?!  Comment below!!

Disclaimer: this post contains Amazon Affiliate links!

How Do You Use It?! BACK TO SCHOOL EDITION: Paper Clips! (linky party)

Have you been enjoying my "how do you use it?" linky party posts?!  I decided to do a fun bonus one for back to school season.  

We learned in graduate school, that any SLP can do therapy with anything, even a paper clip...so why not have this bonus topic be what we would do with a paper clip in therapy!

If you gave me a jar of paper clips, not only would this SLP be thrilled because she loves organizational materials but I could do some great therapy ideas with it!

What would I do?!

• Following directions: I would give each student a pile of paper clips and make them follow my directions ("put a clip on your head" "put two in the jar").  You can target one step or multiple steps with this!  You can also target spacial concepts too!
• Comparatives/superlatives: you can have students connect them to make various sized strings of clips.  Which one is long?  Which one is longer?  Which one is the longest?
• Use them as a reinforcer or token system!!  For each target sound or answer given correctly, students can receive a paper clip!  If they reach a certain amount they can get a sticker/prize/reward at the end of the session!
• Sorting by color or size!!

Those are just a few examples of what I would use paper clips for if given the chance!  I can probably think of tons more too!  Now it is time to see how other other SLP bloggers would use paper clips in therapy!! See below!!

An InLinkz Link-up

What My Supervisor Wants Me To Know... (plus a freebie!)

I have been supervising graduate interns a couple semesters now.  Each semester I learn more and more as a supervisor.  Whether you are taking a graduate student intern or if you are an intern (going to be an intern soon) this post may give you some guidance!

• Don't hesitate to ask!  We want you to ask questions.  We don't expect you to know everything.  The worst thing that can happen..your supervisor may say "try it and see!"
• We expect you to make mistakes!  You are learning!  We may let you make a mistake purposely so you learn from it.
• Be flexible!  Don't be so focused on making a lesson go exactly as planned.  It may not and that is ok.  We want you to change and adapt if necessary.  Don't write a lesson plan with step by step of what you plan to do and think you have to stick with it. I know I would rather you write a framework.  With that said...
• Plan for the unexpected.  What can go wrong?!  Can you predict all of the scenarios?!  This way, you can be prepared for it all!
• Use time wisely!  Use prep time to look up ideas, browse through my materials to get ideas, collaborate, evaluate progress data, work on paperwork/data collection/reports to write.  There is always something to do!
• Be organized.  Either get a lesson plan book or create your own ways to write down everything.  This way, you remember: did you do that lesson with that group yet?  What materials will you need for each group?  Keep your materials in a way that doesn't get ruined if it rains and you can easily find it.  Since you are a traveling SLP (placements and school), you want to keep things in a way that you can be the most organized.  I used these expanding file holders.  I would get a large one for worksheets and activities I created.  I would use a small one to hold articulation cards I created and picture visuals.  I would also use index card holders to hold flash cards I made using index cards!

• Observing isn't a free session/break.  We want you to learn from us.  I know when I have students observing, I plan specific lessons on purpose.  I want them to see certain things.  What goal was I addressing?  How did I reach it?  What behaviors of the students did you observe?  How did I handle behavior management?  How did I differentiate?  I created a form that I like my graduate students to use while they are observing me.  This way, they have a guideline of what to look for.  Not only that, they also have written down several lesson ideas that they can take away with them!  

If you are a supervisor, you may want to offer this form for your graduate students.  If you are a graduate students, you may want to impress your supervisors having it ready to go to take notes!  I made this form available as a FREEBIE in my TpT store.  You can access it HERE!

Disclaimer: This post contains Amazon Affiliate links!

Back to School Round-Up! (activities, freebies, ideas, and more!)

Although it is sad to think about, it is time to prepare for back to school.  Some of you go back in August while others, like me, go back in September.  Regardless...I have made your life easier by putting a variety of back to school materials and ideas available from this one post!

My Activities:

Back to school basic vocabulary pack

Back to school early language file folder activities

Back to school articulation roll, say and color

If you take a mouse to school storybook companion pack

My freebies:

Back to school wh- board game

In the backpack articulation practice

Whole Body Listening

My data/organization ideas/resources:

iPad Rules Sign

Receptive & Expressive baseline data collection

RTI Pre-referral speech/language materials

SLP Annual Review Kit

Speech/Language newsletters

Speech Memos

Speech word art

Speech/language therapy note template

Organization Fun Blog Post

My favorite books:

I hope this round-up helps you organize and prepare.  You can also view my round-up post from last year by clicking HERE!

What I Wish I Knew In Grad School...

Several years have passed since I graduated from grad school with my masters in speech-language pathology.  After working in the field (in public and private school settings), there are several things I wish I knew back then!

When I was in grad school, there was no Pinterest.  I don't think TpT existed, and it if did, it wasn't popular and there was definitely NOT any speech materials on it.  The website, SpeakingofSpeech was like the ONLY speech materials site available!  How did I survive?!  (I can hear the current graduate students saying that to themselves).  Below are some things I did to survive and things I wish I did more of:

• Look up ideas for general education, special education, and reading teachers.  They have been sharing ideas for years!  Although it is a different field, some aspects overlap!  How do they teach vocabulary, inferencing, listening comprehension, graphic organizers, etc.?
• COLLABORATE!  We had to work together as a department.  We shared ideas, materials, and suggestions.  I wish I used this reference more!  I wish I wrote down everyone's amazing ideas!  I wish we came up with a message board (and now-a-days Facebook group) so we can easily share and ask for help.  
• Who else can you collaborate with?  Other educators in your placements!  It doesn't have to only be the SLPs!  Meet the school psychologist, reading specialist, resource room teachers, occupational therapists and others.  They can provide you with help.  They can share ways to work on behavior management, handwriting, sensory, and incorporating curriculum.  How do you collaborate without seeming too pushy?!  Include yourself into conversations, either in a faculty room or photocopy room.  Go to faculty meetings and staff development workshops the school is holding (even if it isn't required).  Sitting in on a CSE/IEP (whatever you call it in your districts) meetings?!  Unsure of what was being discussed?  Don't want to ask in the large group?  Ask your supervisor later or ask that person specifically later.
• Laminate!  Want your great ideas to last over time?  This is the best way possible!
• Save your money!  I spent WAY too much money buying commercially available materials.  Yes, I love having them today, but I did not know at the time what population I would be working with in the future.  You don't even want to know how much I spent!  If I were to go back, I would spend only on more generic products that can be used with multiple age groups and levels.  Like what?  Board games!  Things that can be used as a motivator/reinforcer.
• Dollar store, discount stores and Target Dollar Spot can be your best friends!  I wish I knew this!!  I go now all the time!  Why didn't I know back then to buy index cards, Popsicle sticks, dice, puzzles, construction paper, notebooks and so much more!
• It is OK to ask for help!  No one expects you to know everything during grad school or shortly after.  Years in the field, I am still learning and growing!  Unsure of how to target a goal, how to analyze evaluations, or how to handle negative behaviors, feel free to ask.  Ask professors, fellow graduate students, or supervisors.
• Seek out observation experiences.  Ask to observe reading teachers, OTs, PTs, or other professionals.  Observe in a general education classroom to see what children/students are expected to know and do at that age level.  Unsure of which setting you want to work in?  Call around and see if they will let you observe or help out for a day.  You will be surprised who will be happy to help you and take you in.  Ask around, you may have a cousin's best friend's babysitter who is an SLP who will let you observe them for a day.  I have let coworkers' daughters observe me several times when they wanted to learn more about the field.
• Have fun!  It is the time of your life to live, learn, and grow.  It may seem like the most stressful time of your life but it will come and go and you won't remember why you were stressing!  I promise!

How Do You Use It?! August: Sentence Strips! (linky party)

It is that time again....time for my monthly linky party!!  Check out how I use common objects in my speech room!  Keep reading and view below to see how other SLPs/bloggers use them as well!

This month's object: sentence strips!!  

There are several ways I use sentence strips in my therapy room.  I can use them on post-its, index cards, dry erase boards, on top of worksheets, or even using the following products:


Why use sentence strips?!  They are a great way to encourage expanded utterance length!!  I like to use cloze sentences on them to model how to respond or describe using expanded utterances.  Some samples of teaching the following targets:

• Possessive pronouns: "This is his _____."
• Sequencing/transition words: "First _____" "Finally _____"
• Categorization: "The _____ is a fruit."
• Describing: "The _____ is yellow." "The _______ has a wheel."

I LOVE sentence strips so much, I often include them in my TpT products!!  I often use Boardmaker symbols when I use sentence strips with my nonreaders or poor readers.  Check out below some products that use these sentence strips:

Preposition Picture Scenes (for younger students)

Back To School Early Language File Folder Activities

Cut, Sort, & Glue! Activities for the entire year

I hope you find these ideas helpful!  How do you use sentence strips?!  Stay tuned for next month's post!!

Check out below to see how other SLPs/bloggers use sentence strips!

Note: This post contains Amazon Affiliate links!

An InLinkz Link-up

What's In Your Cart?! Linky!

Have you heard, TpT is throwing a HUGE back to school sale!  And I'm participating!!  

Here are a few new items I recently added to my store:

Cause & Effect Pictures!!

Inferencing Pictures!!

Differentiated Question Scenes

Preposition Pictures Scenes for younger students for the entire year

And my newest bundles!!

Articulation Roll, Say & Color BUNDLE

Seasonal/holiday EET companion pack BUNDLE

Early Language File Folder Activities BUNDLE

Jenna over at Speech Room News is hosting again a "What's In Your Cart?" linky so all of us tpt sellers/bloggers can share what items we plan on purchasing.  This can help you get ideas!!

Nonfiction Texts with English Language Arts Targets {Fall Edition} by Nicole Allison at Speech Peeps

Prediction Comic Strips – A Focused Reading Skills Activity by Teri and Tiff's Creative Resources

and tons of clip art so I can create more materials for you!

Scheduling Would Be Easier If... (tips, ideas, and a freebie!)

Scheduling is probably the most HATED aspect of the job.  Many dread going back to school after a relaxing summer because of it.

I recently posted on my Facebook page the statement for you to finish: "Scheduling would be easier if..."  Below were the common or funniest responses:

• If I didn't have to do it
• If teachers were flexible
• If I had a magic wand
• If I was retired
• If I was the only service provider
• If someone else did it for me
• If I was a millionaire
• If I could get kids whenever I wanted them
• If the administration didn't change the schedule
• If I could group kids based on goals not availability
• and so many more....hop on over to my page to see them!

My one word of advice...RELAX!  It will get done, it always gets done!  What do I do?!

• Go through entire caseload, double check mandates, find out what classrooms everyone is in and see what other services they are receiving
• I use Excel and make spreadsheets to help keep myself organized
• I walk around to each teacher to let them know that I have a student in their classrooms on my caseload and to make sure I have their up to date class schedules
• I make sure with administration there are or aren't any "blocked" times I am not allowed to pull students from 
• Grab a blank schedule: either draw it onto a HUGE dry erase board, make it on a file folder, use it directly on a computer, or print it out and work on a piece of paper.  Do whatever works best for you!
• I like to go through each student and write down what times they are available.  See if there are similarities in availability with students of similar age/grade/goal (if ideally possible!)
• Start plugging these slots into your schedule.  Move around if necessary.  Be flexible..it's going to change once you find out when the social workers, OTs, PTs, resource room teachers, and others need these students!  I like to create groups, write them onto Post-Its and move the post-its around the template!
• Write in pencil or something that can be erased!!
• Each time you change your schedule, DATE IT!!!  There are so many times I forget which version was the most recent one!!

How else do I stay calm, organized, and focused?!  I give memos to teachers with their students' speech times.  This allows for quick transfer of communication and they can easily let me know if there are conflicts by writing on the memo back!  I have shared my memo used as a FREEBIE in my TpT store!  It is so easy to use.  All you have to do is complete it with the student's name, circle the days of the week and write in the time!  

You can access it by clicking HERE!

Quick Articulation Data Forms! (ideas and a freebie!!)

I've been browsing the speech therapy Facebook groups a lot lately.  It seems like data collection is a HOT topic!  People have been asking about forms, methods, etc.  I have also seen people talk about 5 minute articulation programs.  Yes, there are quick articulation programs commercially available (I have reviewed on my blog two programs currently available -- check them out by clicking HERE and HERE!).  But I also like to create my own programs that can be individualized for my specific students! Soooo....I created my own form that I can easily use to create a program and collect easy data!

This form I plan to use this next school year.  Before the student comes to speech, I will fill out a chart section.  Each section has 10 slots for a "target."  What can the target include:

• sounds in isolation
• CV, VC, or CVC words or nonsense words
• words
• phrases
• sentences
• or anything!

I have a slot of the top for the date, place to put + or - to mark data and a place on the bottom for total results.  I plan on photocopying this form double sided and making MANY copies and placing them in a file folder on my desk.  Once I start completing these forms, I can keep them in the students folder, file in my filing cabinet, or in my data collection book that I keep for ALL my students.  Learn more about this book by clicking HERE.

How will I create my word lists??  It depends on the student!!  Do I need one syllable, two, or more??  Have they mastered some words but not others??  Do I was minimal pairs?  There are TONS of word lists available on the internet!  One of my favorite websites to grab word lists is Home Speech Home.

I know I am looking forward to this method since it is easy to prepare, use, and collect data. You can access this form in my TpT store FREE by clicking HERE!

Having A Reader's Notebook - Guest Blogger!

Today I share with you information from a literacy teacher/blogger/TpT seller.  As SLPs we are often collaborating with reading specialists since they typically see similar weaknesses and are working on similar skills.  Keep reading to learn more!!

I like to use many strategies and techniques in my reading classroom.  One such technique is a reader's notebook.  Having students complete a reader's notebook really allows students to interact with a book. It gives them the opportunity to reflect and record their feelings about what they are reading, as well as giving them the chance to analyze the story and how its written.  

I find this important because students often just rush through their reading assignments rather than really trying to understand the text.  My students are often reluctant to begin a reader's notebook but I often find it is something they eventually enjoy doing because it lets them be honest about their feelings without the fear of being judged by their peers. This benefits me by really being able to see what they understand and what they are struggling with.

I like to have my students glue the checklist in the front of their readers notebook.  It is important to me that my students use different prompts so I like the checklist because I can quickly monitor how often they are using a specific one. 

On Fridays I have my students complete an exit ticket response page that they turn in.  I respond to their writing and return the page on Monday.  This gives me the opportunity to monitor the responses and I get to respond to their entries on Monday they glue the response page into their notebook. Sometimes I have students work in pairs or triads on Monday to discuss the prompt they chose and their responses.  It is great watching their skills grow as they become more involved with the book and their discussions become more in depth.

How does this effect SLPs?!  Well, I often see students struggling with being able to:

• discuss with their peers/myself
• follow directions to complete this task
• use a wide variety of feelings words
• comprehend what they read in order to reflect
• understand that others may have a different opinion
• ability to write long responses/communicate in complete, complex sentences
• understanding of common core vocabulary concepts

It is important for students to develop these skills so they can participate during ELA/literacy activities such as this above.  It is important for SLPs and ELA teachers/reading specialists to work together to achieve this goal and to build our students' reading comprehension abilities!

Beach Bum Literacy Chick is a reading specialist in an elementary school.  She uses up to date techniques and shares her hands on approach on her blog.  You can also find her on TpT, Pinterest, and Instagram!