S-peachy Feedback linky party!

Yay, S-peachy feedback is back.  Thanks Nicole Allison from Speech Peeps for hosting the party and giving us a chance to highlight some great feedback from the recent sale.

Multi-Syllabic All Star

Thank you Annie, I appreciate your kind feedback, fun attitude, and your continued support!   Email me at: jenng12slp@gmail.com with a product you would like from my store.

Head on back to Allison's Speech Peeps for more S-peachy Feedback 

5 Techniques for Teaming with Parents

While the end-of-the year craziness is in full-swing, I would like to give you some tips to help you effectively engage with challenging parents.  

1.  Communicate- This is almost ALWAYS the number one complaint of parents. They don't feel they are in on the information or part of the team. Really listen to parents and use the helpful phrase "I hear you".  This phrase goes a long way. It doesn't say "I agree" or "I am wrong", it simply states that you are listening and hear what the parent is saying.

2.  Scheduled Meeting- If you are caught off guard with an interrupting phone call or a parent who wants to meet on the spot, be sure to take a deep breath and take control of the situation. Use the "I hear you" phrase and add that "This is much too important to discuss now." Let the parent know you want to focus on their concerns, but can't do it at the present time. Recommend setting up a meeting that works for all of the team. Be sure to set up a meeting within a reasonable time frame and have another team member present.  

3.  Broken Record Technique- This is one of my favorite strategies that involves repeating what you want, time and time again. Use a neutral tone of voice and keep focused on your point. This technique helps to maintain the topic and ensures that the parent has a clear understanding of what you are communicating. 

4.  Fogging- Agree with any truth that may be contained within statements, even if the truth is critical. By not responding in the expected way (defensive or argumentative) the parent may cease confrontation as the desired effect is not being achieved. When the conversation is less heated, it will be possible to discuss the student more reasonably.

5.  Common Interest- Keep the conversation student centered. The common interest should always be the student. This should include the whole child; educational, social, physical, and emotional. Always bring the focus back to the student.  

Be strong! Sometimes parents are angry about history, personal life problems, or other things you have no control over. These behaviors may not change no matter what strategies you use. Be brave and remember that you are the professional.  

These tough experiences help us grow personally and professionally. Take from it what you can grow from and leave the rest at the door. 

**** Update:  I was so excited to see that this blog post was featured in the September 2015 edition of the ASHA Leader!**** 

What's in your Cart - linky party

Thank you Speech Room News for hosting another What's in Your Cart linky party.  Definitely check out Jenna's store which is filled with high quality products. 

My SLP Runner store will be 20% off including already reduced bundles!!!!  Use the upcoming Code: ThankYou for the full 28% off! I also have a couple of new products I would like to tell you about.  

I'm thrilled to present to you Sasquatch Watch for UPPER GRADES.  The vocabulary is higher level as are the fun inferencing questions.  I may be a little bias, but I think this is a must-have and can tell you that my students have really had a blast playing it all week!  

My Multi-Syllablic Basketball product has a new partner!  Multi-Syllabic All-Star combines a fun sports-theme with apraxia work.  3-4 syllable higher level words are great for the UPPER GRADE students who struggle with pacing and fluent speech.  

I've completed my Year Full of Figurative Language Bundle.  This is a great deal at 20% off full price with another 28% off with the code: Thank You

Here's a sneak peek at what's in my cart:

Secret Messages for Main Idea is a unique product with an array of great main idea questions and fun secret messages to motivate students. 

Apraxia Tx for Later Sounds-  I'm so happy to find another apraxia product that's appropriate for older students.

Mustache Monsters I'm excited to get my hands on these adorable monsters to help with context cues and summarizing.  

I hope you have as much fun shopping and I will.  Head on over to Speech Room News to see what the other SLP blogger are buying.  

Rubber Chickens for Social Thinking!

Rubber chickens~ Well that's an unexpected post topic!  I attended Michelle Garcia Winner's Social Thinking Mentor Training Program a few years ago and have implemented many of the programs, tips, and strategies with my students.

I wanted to share with you a simple and fun cue that I use for my middle schoolers to identify when behavior is unexpected.  Here is my first and very amateur You Tube video.  

Earth Day Ideas

This is an Earth Day middle school project lead by our special educators.  

Hey all,  I was trying to complete a freebie for you but just couldn't seem to get it all together during this crazy time of year.  Instead I'll share with you how I'm celebrating Earth Day with my students.

                                                                      I'm so proud to be a part of a school that values recycling.

1. Outside: We are taking services outside to green up.

a.  EET students will be donning the medical gloves to pick up trash and describe their finds.

b.  Social skills groups will learn how to add some mindfulness strategies to their bag of tools by using sense meditation.  Students will experience the sense of walking, sounds of nature, and feeling of the outdoors.

c.  Articulation students will search for their sound in the great outdoors.

2.  Touring the Building: I work at an amazing school that focuses on reducing, reusing, and recycling.   We have a full composting program which has tremendously reduced our landfill contribution.  You won't see more than one bag of garbage each day in our cafeteria which serves almost 400 students!  We also have filtered water fountains throughout our school.  Students are encouraged to bring their own reusable water bottles to school to fill up.   My students will tour the building in search of ways that our school celebrates Earth Day every day, and they will sequence their thoughts and language by writing a paragraph about their finds.

3.  Figurative Language:  You know I'm all about the themed idioms!  Here are 10 idioms that I plan to teach that pair nicely with Earth Day: 1. Down to Earth 2. World of Difference 3. Out of this World 4. Tree Hugger 5. Green Thumb 6. Call of Nature 7. Salt of the Earth 8. Heaven on Earth 9. Where on Earth 10. Earth Shattering.

2 Facts & A Fib~ Revealed!

Welcome back.  It's been a fun week of facts and fibs and I hope you enjoyed the blog hop.  

Here are my reveals: 

Thank you all for playing with us and head on over to Speech Universe to see the winner!

Also, don't forget to check out the #AprilSLPMustHave sale on TpT for some great finds at 50% off for April 7th ONLY.  

Paper, Pencil, and Paper Clip Challenge~ linky party

I must be an SLP geek because I had so much fun creating with this challenge from The Dabbling Speechie.  

I came up with a million ideas for these three props and chose to hook you in by tackling a fishing game.  I simply ripped my paper into 6 cards, wrote fish-themed expressions on each card, punched a hole in the cards with the paper clip tip, and bent my paper clip in the shape of a fish hook. I contemplated making the paper into origami fish, but decided to keep it simple.  Oh, and I even had a page left for data tracking.  

 Students need to hook a fish and deduct the meaning of the expression. It may look like this lesson is quick and only targets one goal, but there are many goals and activities that may be targeted in this fishing game.   Use this game for turn taking, listening, asking questions, story telling, sequencing, fluency, and artic.  Using a variety of skills, the lesson can be expanded to last a 30 minute session.  When targeting figurative language, ask students to give examples of when they were "A fish out of water", etc.  

Short on time, kill two birds with one stone by asking your students to help you make this Fishing for Idioms game.  Creating will not only save time, but also implement skills of following directions, sequencing, and critical thinking.  

Expressions Used: Plenty of fish in the sea, Fish out of water, Fishing for a compliment, Big fish in a small pond, Gone fishin', and Just keep swimming. 

Thank you Dabbing Speechie for this fun challenge.  I can't wait to see some of the other ideas.  Head back over to the linky party.   

Sea you soon...