TpT Best Year Ever SALE: SLP Products and Tips LINKY

I'm really excited to share with my Apraxia Sports Bundle for upper grades My students LOVE when I pull these out because they know they'll get to move. Pacing strategies and boards are included in each product and I emphasize the importance of slowing down and being deliberate in their speech production.

My best-selling apraxia product in the bundle is Multi-Syllabic Hoops which incorporates the basketball theme. I bring students to the gym, outside, or just push aside the table and have them dribble out the syllables. The kinesthetic paired with visual and verbal really makes an impact on learning and carry over.  

I bring movement into soccer themed by having students kick the ball back and forth, students toss a soft baseball for the All Star theme, and pass the foam football to each other for my Touch Down apraxia game.

Bringing movement into your work with upper grade students is just as important as with the younger grades. Brain research indicates that we learn best when we pair Kinesthetics with learning a skill area. It also gets the endorphins flowing which brings on a happy mood and a calmer day.  Most importantly, kids LOVE it!

SLPs don't need technology!

My recent experiences out and about inspired this blog post to share another reason why our profession is awesome and our skills indispensable.
  
Upon entering my bank today, the teller behind the counter informed me that all of the computers were down and they couldn't do anything having to do with my accounts.  "Umm, okay... thank you" I replied and exited. This reminded me of a recent trip to a restaurant where the power went out and the workers went into a panic. They stopped customers from coming in and it took about an hour for the waitress to figure out my bill. Thankfully, I had a check because they couldn't take credit cards!  This is scary times people. 

There are so many businesses that can not function today without technology! But not us! SLPs can make the best therapy session with a paper clip and a pencil. The electricity has gone out in my school before and we stayed open. Students used flash lights for the bathrooms and books for learning. Sure we couldn't use our special ed web-based platform, but we have hard forms if we need them. We could still run a killer IEP meeting and take minutes with a good ol' pen. I'm not sure about your schools, but we keep electronic files, and have hard copy back-ups. We email and text, but we are really good at making phone calls too. We thrive with and without technology.

It gives me a feeling of security and pride knowing that our profession can not be taken over by a computer and come hell or high water, SLPs can get the job done!