My life as a SLP...8 years later

December 17th is a big day for me!  It is a Speechie anniversary for me!
I graduated with my Master of Science in Communication Disorders on December 17, 2010.  Basically, I graduated into the world of Speech Language Pathology.  Now, this California girl did so in Nebraska...December in Nebraska...think cold, snow, ice.  And YES, I walked across that stage in gold sparkly high heels!  (In all seriousness, I LOVED my time in Nebraska and if you are looking to go to graduate school for Communication Disorders, I urge you to look into the University of Nebraska at Omaha.)

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On my graduation day, I remember sitting in my seat during the ceremony and being overcome with emotions.  I was proud and also nervously excited for the future...where would I work, what population would I work with, what was next...
8 years later and the world of Speech Language Pathology has brought me so much professionally and personally.  I have worked with preschoolers through high schoolers, I have worked in a specialized center, traditional public school setting, and a homeschool/clinic setting.  I have learned from some of the most impressive and compassionate educators.  I have experienced so many emotions individually and with my students and their families.  I have attended countless (I seriously should have kept a tally starting out) meetings of varying intensities.  I have to admit that some of the situations I have found myself in have broken me down and made me question my calling, but then a preschooler used her words to communicate with a peer, an elementary school student using an AAC device communicated "I want hug" to his mother, a 5th grader ran up to me proudly (and correctly) articulating /r/ for the first time, a high school student reported more confidence engaging in social interactions with peers, colleagues express that an idea they took away from an inservice I gave helped them to better support a student, a parent who thought their child might never have a meaningful conversation participates in services and watches their child's language grow...these moments remind me of my professional WHY.
During these past 8 years, I have welcomed two beautiful children into the world.  Without realizing my professional calling mixed with my personal calling and I am so grateful.
It is an honor to serve those who need support with speech and language skills.  Thank you to all those who are with me on this journey...I am a better SLP because of you...I mean it!

Now on to year 9!

XOXO,
Julianne

P.S. YES, this is a revamp of my original blog name...Something To Talk About SLP.  I have explored with different names throughout my 5ish years of blogging, but this one just really resonates with me.  So, I am happily back to Something To Talk About SLP

Me-In-A-Bag

At the beginning of the school year, I take the first week to focus on building relationships.  The students need to get to know me and the other students, and I need to get to know them.  Even if I have worked with a student before, I take the time to rebuild the relationship.  I strongly believe this is key to a successful year!
I wanted a way for my students to shared items of interest, but I needed to make it visual.  So I came up with the idea of "Me-In-A-Bag".  Come to find out many others have also had this idea (hey...great minds think alike).  I found a sweet little poem from HomeSpeechHome to attach to baggies that I sent home with each student that explained the activity.  I gave verbal instructions that they could put real items in the bag, take pictures of items, or write the words of the items.  I also assured the students that they would get these items back...I wasn't going to keep their special items (this was a common question!)
The students all arrived with their items and shared with their groups.  It was such a great opportunity to get to know each other, but also a wonderful time for me to get to observe their speech and language skills in more of a conversational manner.
Let me know if you try this with your students or your children!

Want to know what I put in my bag?  Check out below...

A picture of my family: Pretty self explanatory.  I think they are everything!
A K-Cup of Peet's Coffee: I love coffee...oh yes I do!
A school bus picture:  This is one of the first items I helped to make when I started working as a SLP.  The bus goes with a book that I used daily when I started working with the preschool population.  It represents my love for being a SLP.
Goldfish crackers:  I love to snack, and Goldfish crackers are the ultimate snack item.
A picture of a jumprope:  I was on a jumprope team!  Turns out, jumping rope is similar to riding a bike.  I might not be as fast or able to do all the tricks, BUT I can still jump!
What would you put in your bag?

Preschool Firefighter Theme

This post will be updated periodically as I explore new activities, books, toys, etc. 
Blame it all on my roots...personal roots, being the child of my mother and professionally roots, starting as a preschool SLP... I sure do love a good theme!  When we were invited to visit a local fire station, I knew I needed to put my theme-loving self to work.  With my own children and with work, when I consider putting a theme together, I want what we are working on to be functional and meaningful...not just doing it because it is cute and themey :).  I consider: books, "work"/craft activities, toys, and snack.
I just had a few days to work on this theme prior to our fun fire station visit AND my favorite firetruck/firefighter books are happily spending the summer at my work office, so I improvised a bit.  I did a little online browsing and found some new favorites to add to the party.

Books

This is one of my favorites!  I love it for sequencing and story retelling. https://www.amazon.com/Five-Little-Firefighters-Tom-Graham/dp/0805086978

This is a very simple board book, but it is a favorite in my house.  Again, great for story retelling.  It is also great for starting the conversation about emergencies and what might happen in emergencies.https://www.amazon.com/Emergency-Vehicles-Felix-Fire-Engine/dp/1742489435/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1532471783&sr=1-1&keywords=felix+the+fire+engine

Not completely firefighter-themed, but I also like to take the opportunity to discuss occupations...what people do all day.  Some of the material is a little outdated, in my opinion, BUT it is still great for introducing the topic and there are a lot of occupations covered in this book. https://www.amazon.com/Richard-Scarrys-What-People-World/dp/0553520598/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1532472826&sr=1-1&keywords=what+do+people+do+all+day+by+richard+scarry

"Work"/Craft Activities

I did this craft at my very first SLP job, and I have had it with me ever since.  When I made it, I am sure I didn't think I'd still have it 7 (almost 8) years later and I know I wasn't thinking my future children would be playing with it.  Also, speaking of future children, my oldest constantly says, "Mommy, this is just too funny.  It is hilarious!"  I'll take that as a compliment.  Here is a link to the clipart I used http://gclipart.com/fireman-clipart_22668/

Print it out, print out a picture of your child/client's head and paste it on.  Color.  Then, cut out and laminate (if you can)...for, apparently, years of entertainment!
Tara at Homeschool Preschool has amazing resources.  This website has great information, book lists, and some free printables. https://homeschoolpreschool.net

I'm starting to work on some alphabet art with my little guy as he is interested in his letters.  I looked around on pinterest and got the idea for this alphabet art, but there was no one linked to give credit to.  Soooo if this is your idea, let me know so I can share!  Great idea :)

We also happen to have a park nearby that we call the Firetruck park.  We made a stop there before our fire station visit.  We played and pretended to be firefighters driving to a call.

Toys

Firetrucks!  That's enough...especially for the preschool age.  Their brains and imaginations are so active.  Give them the opportunity to explore without any direction.  A great observation for me has been to watch my older one enter his imagination and play out scenarios with firetrucks and ambulances, and then watch my little one try to understand and join in.  Fascinating!
Put on a firefighter helmet and pretend to be a firefighter.  You could simply pretend or you could actually go outside and water some plants.  We "put out a fire" in our trashcans...they really needed a wash :)
Since visiting the fire station, my oldest's most priced possession from the visit...not the cool plastic helmet...NOPE.  Any guesses?  The blue/purple, surgical gloves that they carry in the fire truck.  He has carries the gloves with him everywhere and has pretended to be a firefighter, doctor, veterinarian, and dentist.  So, in the future, I will bring out the gloves as part of our firefighter theme :)  (All about following their lead)

Snack

Now, I did not incorporate any fire-themed snacks this time around, BUT I will be doing this (just ran out of time :) ).  I saw some great ideas on pinterest that I'll share here.  With all snack crafts, use it as an opportunity to help your little one follow step by step directions.  Yes, it may take longer and not look as pretty, BUT there will be so much more meaningful learning!

How awesome are these?!?  Here is a link to the directions for these yummy and adorable snacks. https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/fire-truck-cookies/

Letter Smash

It is another warm summer day in California.
First, thoughts and prayers go out to the those affected by the many fires out there.  We are far from the fires.  Despite our distance, the thick smoke in the area is intense.  It is hard to imagine what it must be like close to the site of the fires.  So definitely thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved.
This Ice Smashing fun is brought to you by a mama who wants a fun activity, wants to get the kiddos outside for a little bit, and wants to help them get some energy out :)

What You'll Need:
An ice cube tray
Letters or numbers (I used the small magnetic letters)
Tools to break or melt the ice
A cookie or pizza sheet (if your letters/numbers are magnetic)
And if you want to add in a book, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is a good one!
(Also, looking back, you may want your little ones to wear sunglasses or something to protect their eyes when they crush the ice!)

Start by putting the letters/numbers in the ice cube tray, add water, and put in your freezer.  You may want to put random letters in the ice cube tray or favorite letters or, and this is what I did, letters that spell their name.  Plan to do this the night before you plan to have your little ones get their ice smashing on.
Talk to your little ones about the activity.  You could say, "The ice cubes have letters in them.  The letters will spell our special words.  It is your job to figure out how to get the letters out in our to spell the special words!".  Oh boy, that got the excitement going in my preschooler!  I then said, "Let's collect tools that might help us get the letter out".  We gathered (toy) hammers, screwdrivers, and other tools!  Once we had all our items, we went outside to get to work.  As the preschooler was hard at work with his hammer and chiseling with his screwdriver, he looked over at his baby sister and saw her licking the ice with great melting success.  He then joined in the licking and looked to me to check if that was OK.  Hey...I just said we needed to get the letters out! :)

Once we got the letters out (and our letters spelled my preschooler's name), I started by putting the first letter of his name on the left side of the pizza sheet.  He recognized that the remaining letters belong in his name and went to work spelling his name with assistance, as needed.

How to address speechdevelopment:
-As you uncover each letter, say the name AND sound of each letter
-When you say the sound of each letter, talk about items that start with that same sound. For example, R makes a rrrr sound.  Racecar starts with a rrrr sound.

How to address languagedevelopment:
-Concepts, concepts, concepts!  Talk about: hot/cold, wet/dry, whole/part, before/after, first/then
-When spelling the words, work on sequencing.  First is the letter J, then the letter U.....last is the letter E
-Asking and answering questions.  "What happens when you lick the ice cube?" "The ice melts a little when you lick it."
-Vocabulary!  Label all the items and actions

Happy ice smashing (or licking)
XOXO,
Julianne