I'm linking up with Kim, School SLP, for Quick Tip Tuesday!


Today's tips are all about materials organization!  I use sheet protectors, zippered baggies, sticky notes, clothespins, and binder rings to keep my materials organized {at least until I start the therapy sessions for the day}!

These beauties, from All Y'all Need, are prepped and ready for some super powered kindergarten groups this week.  Thanks to those binder rings, I will only be chasing kids not cards!


I use sheet protectors for most of my original materials whether I will use it for copying or for drill practice in therapy.  I buy packs of 100 often!



Sticky notes work really well for tabbing off each different area, so I can quickly flip for individualized practice during group therapy.


I must admit I have a thing for wooden clothespins.  I have them clipped all around, but I am trying to functionally use them.  If you have any therapy ideas, I'm all ears.



Don't forget to check out more tips!


I'm linking up with Kim, School SLP, for Quick Tip Tuesday!


Today, I'm offering a tip I learned from one of our district SLPs.  She may just be the master of organization, knowing when to cut out the fat, so to say.  For years, I was taking data on separate sheets and including an attendance log for each student; therefore creating two sheets for each child on top of all the other madness that comes with group therapy materials, goal pages, and homework sheets.  I then had to pull out each folder {I keep my plans and data in folders for each group of students} when it came time to billing.  While this is not the only reason I am not usually caught up on billing in a timely manner, this was definitely NOT helping the matter.


We all do things a bit differently and some of us can't live without certain forms; however, once I ditched the individual attendance form, I felt free!  The solution was to use the schedule of therapy groups I already carried around on a clipboard {everywhere I went} to double as attendance.  It had the student names, the days, and times all ready set.  Hello genius, why did this never occur to me?  Herein lies the how to.

1.  Copy your schedule for the week {mine shows the entire week on one landscape sheet for M-F groups}.
2.  Write the date on the top of the schedule.  Week of:
3.  Write dates next to each group as they are seen and cross off/add notes for any students that are absent/not seen.
4.  Within testing blocks, write the time and student name.
5.  Attack billing with ease by highlighting each event as it is billed.

Did you catch that?  One sheet for all your attendance and billing needs each week.  After the week is over, I just copy a new sheet and add it to my clipboard.  If you ever want to know attendance for a child {besides printing out the nice log I now have created by adding my billing information to our program}, just quickly flip through each week on your clipboard.

Hope this helps to cut the fat!  I am grateful to a very efficient colleague for this Tip #2!



As I professed last week, I'm in LOVE with so many Valentine themed books which makes it so hard to choose one for therapy.  Good news is, you can never go wrong with one of Lucille Colandro's books.  There Was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Rose is another adventure into the stomach of an old lady.


Although I am not affiliated with this book, Lucille's books are great for speech therapy targets.  The story is predictable, making students naturally guess what possibly the old lady could be creating this time.  You got it!  Predictions and inferences are a plenty in this lovely story.  It is also grand for it's predictability for encouraging verbal expression and increasing mean length of utterance.  My K-2 kids love telling the story along with me.

Every book I use in therapy always is a platform for targeting past tense verbs, as I am always in need of practical carryover activities for both regular and irregular verbs. Sentence starters are perfect for a little visual or auditory cue!

She swallowed...
She ate...
I fed her...

Since the old lady swallows items in a certain order and the book repeats those items in reverse fashion, the students get multiple opportunities to practice sequencing with this book.

In connecting with the curriculum, we always discuss Fiction vs. Nonfiction and what makes the old lady books fit the fiction heading.  We also talk about author's purpose.  We are always entertained by the old lady!

Articulation groups can practice discrimination by listening for target sounds in words and then practicing correct production at the word or sentence level as well as through retell of the text.  Writing targets as they are heard is another way to provide for home practice after the session.

Finally, Lucille's books always contain rhyme.  Identifying the rhyming words or using those words to target final consonant deletion adds to the list of ways to use this book.

My newest addiction for creating book companions has yielded a print and go version.  You can purchase it here.  It won't set you back very much at all and ALL you have to do is print!  No prep required.  This book companion includes activities to address articulation, vocabulary (Tier 1 and 2), following directions, sequencing, pronouns, and singular/plural regular nouns.

I'm once again linking up with Scarlett for Wild About Books Wednesday.


Thanks for stopping by.  Don't forget to check out the other book recommendations!  I'm still adding to my list!


Today, I'm linking up with SLP Runner to bring you some storage organization for your speechy things!  I am so glad Jen decided to host a linky.  You see, here, is where I planned to host an organizational linky...enter crickets and me laughing at myself.  Yep, I'm using my graphic to pretend I actually followed through with my idea {wish I would have left off linky on my design}, followed by Jen's cute picture that actually does include a link up!





I'm pretty sure my storage system is not a novel idea, so creative is not really fitting, but I'm hoping it may allow you a starting point if you have a pile of materials with no place to call home.  Prior to this system {which I need for portability}, my files were all stored in a large metal filing cabinet with hanging file folders.  Created materials were placed in laminated large brown clasp envelopes that I could just pull out for therapy.  These handy envelopes {9x12 size} were perfect for hands to pull items from the "bag" during therapy.  Then, my district stopped stocking this size envelope and the laminator broke {and was not replaced}.  Although I have my own laminator, it is not large enough for that size envelope, so buying my own wasn't even an option.  Okay, long story, onto the new system.


Each material is kept within its own gallon-sized baggie.  I use a lot of sheet protectors, smaller baggies, as well as binder rings for materials within the baggie.



Baggies are then sorted into speech and language categories by theme.


The hanging file folders are placed within a hanging file storage container.  Large labels indicate the overall thematic contents.  These labels are available in my TPT store as a freebie.


A file folder {or multiple per area} is placed in each bin to house copies of worksheets/print and go materials for easy recycling from year to year.


Although these totally need updating, both aesthetically and contents wise, these thematic materials lists are created for each theme indicating materials available to address target skills.  I also put these in each bin.


Each bin has a home in my speech room, but as you can see above from my dirty rug, I often bring these bins home for organizing and planning.  The labels change often as my collection grows.  Here are the labels I used originally and now I've just been using shipping size printer labels that I can quickly create and stick as each bin evolves.


 Ahh, and there is something about this that makes me smile!  {Yes, I often dream that each bin was exactly alike, as similar is still a bit distracting to me.}  I truly do heart to organize speechy things.  And, I may or may not have changed these labels Friday night when I was completely overwhelmed with a mound of IEPs to write.  I guess organizing is how my mind gets prepared for tasks that aren't so heart happy!

Thank you SLP Runner!  Make sure to head back over to check out her creative storage options.  I vow to resist the urge to create a few right now!




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