Paper, Pencil, and Paperclip Challenge

Let me start out this post by saying that I was NOT skilled in the art of improvising when I was doing therapy in grad school.  Not. At. All.  How times have changed... :)

I'm linking up with Felice over at Thedabblingspeechie for her paper, pencil, and paperclip challenge! I'm sure many of you have heard the quip from a supervisor at some point in school that you should be able to do therapy with just a paperclip.  I personally don't remember ever being told that, actually, by any of my former professors or supervisors, but I've had multiple coworkers and other SLPs I know say that they were told this in school! (Maybe I was told this but the thought of doing therapy with no materials at that time was too scary and I just blocked it from memory...)

Doing therapy on the fly comes second nature to me now, and I feel like I could do it with just about any sort of materials.. including just a paperclip if I really had to! I'm glad Felice let us use a paper and pencil, too, though ;-)


1:  Articulation spin

I drew a spinner with numbers 1-6 using paper and pencil, and we used the pencil and paperclip as the spinner! My student spun the "spinner" and I gave him a word to say the same number of times as the number he landed on.  At one point, he spun the paperclip so hard that it flew off the table-- then this little guy was REALLY into it, and kept "happening" to spin the paperclip off the table on "accident." .. ha.


2.  Following directions using spatial concepts (We just used the same piece of paper from the previous activity since I came to the prek pod only armed with one piece of paper!).

I just had my student follow different directions placing different items on top/under/next to, etc....  Put the paper behind your back, in front of you, on top of your head, etc...  Put the pencil on top of the paperclip.  Hide the paperclip under the paper.  Put the paperclip next to the pencil.  Draw an X above the paperclip.  I think you get the picture!  If your kids are at the point where they can work on the concepts expressively,  they always love to be the "teacher" and tell you where to place things!

Click the first picture in this post to head over to Felice's blog and see how other SLPs are getting creative with paperclips, pencils, and paper!

Chicken Soup for the SLP Soul

Imagine this scenario:

You’re a first year SLP—ready to take on the world after 6 years of school including 2 years of practicums behind you.  You’re a little nervous about being out on your own, but confident enough to know that while you don’t know it all, you know enough to be plenty competent in order to do your job.  You’re ecstatic that you’ve landed your first job!

Then... “Oh by the way, these several parents of children on your caseload are not happy because their kids didn’t get the services they should have last year.  It happened before you ever came and is something you had absolutely nothing to do with, but you’ll need to put out some of these fires.” 

Um.. What?! That was terrifying for me as a shy, quiet, first-year SLP trying to get my sea legs! I had no idea what I was walking into!

One of these particular students who didn’t receive consistent services that year was a little girl with Apraxia.  Her teacher had told me that the year before, she basically “squawked” because she had such difficulty with her speech. 

I first met the freckle-faced cutie pie with Apraxia at a “Meet the Teacher” night before school started.  She was a bit shy, but we were able to talk a little bit, and I adored her right off the bat! Then, I chatted with her mom and she asked about my previous experience.  Cue hundreds of butterflies in my stomach as I desperately tried to remain confident when saying that it was my first year.  I figured after the prior school year's debacle and some lack of speech progress the year before, that a brand-spankin’ new, first-year SLP was probably not what she was hoping for!

The night went well enough, but I was still really nervous about the whole situation when I got home that night.  My husband gave me a pep talk, though, and told me, “Just do your job, and they’ll have to love you.  You’re awesome! You got this” (Thanks, hubs!)

So, that’s what I did.  I "did my job," and both me and that little girl worked our tails off that year.

I remember the day when she finally mastered the /y/ sound we had been working on.  She had a w/y substitution, so the word “yeah” always came out “wah.”  To show off, her teacher and I asked her questions like, “Are you beautiful?” “Are you smart?” “Are you funny?”  It was so fun to see her just beaming with pride and self-confidence, answering "yeah" or “yes” to all of those questions.  She never seemed to struggle with /y/ after that! ;-)

I'll never forget when her /L/ sound popped into a word one day, too. Her name had an L in it, so it was a pretty big deal! I remembered her mom telling me at the beginning of the year that whenever someone would ask her daughter's name, that her daughter would turn to her and ask her to say it, because she said she "couldn't say it right" Well, let me tell you-- She was rockin’ those /L/ sounds like nobody’s business by Spring!

About a year or so later, in May 2013, on the first official Apraxia Awareness Day, I stood next to her mom at the kindergarten graduation program. She gave me the sweet card pictured above, letting me know how much she appreciated me and the difference I’d made in her family's lives (I still keep it in my desk, and pull it out to re-read on the extra tough days for a smile!).  Together, we stood there, and watched that same freckle-faced cutie who used to squawk and be embarrassed to even attempt to say her name, sing with her peers in her end of the year kindergarten graduation program.


And that moment, right there, is why I am an SLP. Moments like that far outweigh the negatives, and I can't imagine doing anything else for a career!

Want more stories to warm your heart or make you laugh? Hop on over to the next blog, and keep reading! Don’t forget to keep collecting numbers at the end of each post so you can add them all up at the end and enter into the raffle for some AWESOME TpT gift certificates!   My number is:

Happy Hopping!

Thanks Felice at Thedabblingspeechie for organizing this awesome hop, and thanks to all of these ladies who shared their sweet stories!

An InLinkz Link-up

For the Love of Speech: Valentine's Blog Hop!

Welcome to your next (or maybe first!) stop of the "For The Love Of Speech" blog hop organized by Lyndsey over at Speech to the Core and Elizabeth over at Speech Owl! You're in for some sweet treats!

I am SO very thankful for each and every one of you who take time to read this blog, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest, and those of you who download freebies & paid items from my TpT store.  I wanted to share the love that I've been feeling! :)

Hop through each blog and download a Valentine's Day freebie-- we each have a different component to make up a full lesson plan to target a variety of activities!  Mine is a little pronoun-themed activity:

You can grab it HERE.

After you've downloaded my freebie, hop on over to Speech Sprouts (by clicking the image above) to check out what fabulous activity she has for you!

"What's In Your Cart?" Link-Up-- Tpt Cyber Monday Is Here!

Linking up with Speech Room News today for her "What's In Your Cart" link up! The TpT Cyber Monday sale is here & there are SO many great materials I've had my eye on-- it's hard to narrow it down! But, here are a couple of my new items I think you'll want to check out, as well as a handful of items that have found their way into my cart :)

Here's what I think you should take a look at from my store-- two new winter-themed interactive phonology units.  I have SO many phono kids on my caseload this year, so I need a lot of new materials to keep them engaged & motivated.

Up first is a Build A Snowman Phonology-- Your students will get to build a snowman by placing snowballs and snowflakes all around a large picture scene

The second new winter item in my store is Decorate the Tree Phonology-- your kids get to decorate a tree with silly lights and cute ornaments all while practicing their phonological targets!

*****

Now, for the items in my cart from other sellers: 

1.  Positional Concepts with Sid the Kid from Maureen over at The Speech Bubble

2.  Winter Fun Pack from Mia at Putting Words In Your Mouth 

3.  AAC Starter Kit from Felice over at Thedabblingspeechie

4.  File Folder Songs for Basic Language from CC at Super Power Speech

What's in your cart that you're excited about? Be sure to click the link below the first image at the top to head over to Speech Room News to see what other SLP bloggers have in their carts! You'll probably find a lot of great items/sellers that you weren't aware of previously!