The Power of Reflection

What makes a great general education teacher, SLP, OT, PT or special education teacher?

I'm sure many people would weigh in on this topic and have various things to say. The qualities on the top of that list would probably be:
-Passion
-Patience
-Education
-Experience
-Organization
-Communication
-Creativity

However, I feel that there is one specific quality that towers above all the rest. It is the most important quality that will turn a good teacher, SLP, OT, PT or SPED teacher into a great one.

Reflection.

Yes, all of the other qualities are important... but I think that the power of reflection is often overlooked and, it is the most important of them all.

The special education teacher at my school and I have found ourselves in conversations this school year where everything comes back to that one important quality. 

When we consciously step back and reflect on how we're conducting therapy, writing goals, assessing students, collaborating with other professionals and communicating with parents, THAT is when we are able to do our best work. 

I'm not talking about a formal write-up here. I'm talking about taking a second to reflect in your own mind. 

In your therapy session…. was your prompting effective? How could it be more effective? How about your behavior management? What worked today and what didn't? What tools can you utilize from today's session that can work next time? What totally flopped that you should never use as a tool again? :)

In your goal writing…. does the baseline for the goal reflect where the child is currently in order to truly measure progress down the road? Is the goal realistic? Is it specific? Did you consider prompting? And then, when you're working with the kiddos on this goal… even months down the road… does this goal still work or does it need to be tweaked?

In your assessment…. did you look at the WHOLE child? Did you observe the student in more than one setting? Did you administer informal and formal assessments? Is there anything missing from your assessment? If so (no one is perfect), what can be done next time to make sure your assessment is more comprehensive?

When collaborating with other professionals….. did you get their input on the student you both work with? Can you share information about what works for you that would work for other professionals working with that child? Did you listen effectively? What can you learn from them? What can they learn from you? If the interaction didn't go so well, how can you repair the communication breakdown next time?

When communicating with parents…. did you share strengths AND weaknesses? Did the parents understand the assessment/goals/service delivery? Did you remember to explain the IEP process if it's their first IEP? Did you listen? What can you learn from them? Did you provide input for how they can support their child at home?

Obviously the list goes ON and ON. No one expects anyone to cover all these things all the time. However, it has been my experience that the most effective professionals are those who continue to reflect on what they do and why they do it. 

I tend to be an over-thinker. Analyzing things just happens to be a part of my personality. I tend to always be thinking about the impression I'm giving others, whether my interactions and therapy sessions are effective, if I'm being clear… etc. So, having that type of personality has it pros and cons, but it obviously lends itself well to "reflection" in my profession. 

Being reflective is something we can ALL focus on doing. I think it is important to realize that no one is perfect. We don't always have the most effective therapy sessions- even if they are planned out to a "T". But, we can always reflect on those experiences to improve future sessions with that child and all future children. Sometimes parent or staff interactions don't go smoothly. That's okay! But, if we can take a second to reflect on what we did, it can hopefully make the next parent interaction better.

The power of reflection is that it keeps us from being stuck in the same place. Sure, our jobs get hectic and stressful. The path of least resistance is to just stick with the same routine when it comes to therapy, IEPs, collaboration, goal writing, etc. But, getting stuck in that pattern is not what is best for the children we work with. 

Reflection keeps us on our toes! It keeps us thinking, analyzing and moving forward!

Look at my Lessons 3/8/15

Hi Friends! 

How is March treating you so far? My girlfriend and I have officially deemed it "March Madness" in the special ed world. I just keep telling myself I need to make it to the end of March and everything will be okay. :) 

Today I'm doing my fifth "Look at my Lessons" post! :) I'm linking up with Old School Speech for her Week in Review linky, as well!

This week, I'll be using some of my own materials for therapy, along with other St. Patrick's Day materials. My lessons last week were all St. Patrick's Day themed… but it was "science week" at my elementary school, so unfortunately it was near impossible to pull some of the kiddos for speech. I didn't get to use all my planned activities so some of them are rolling over to this week. :) 

Here's a "Look at my Lessons" for the week!

DISCLAIMER: I know everyone has caseloads made up of varying ages and abilities… so my lesson plans may not apply to everyone. However, I often use open-ended reinforcement activities and those can be utilized for many different therapy groups. I should caution that I've listed mainly the materials I'm going to use- I don't include behavioral strategies, prompting and modifications in my lesson plans… they are VERY general. But, they give me place to start when it comes to therapy for the week!

I've listed the names of my lesson plan activities below and where you can get them! :)

St. Patrick's Day Craft - check out Hobby Lobby, Target or Michael's for cute and easy foam crafts! They always have great little holiday crafts that can be used as open-ended reinforcers in therapy! 

Lucky Tucker -  I purchased this book on Amazon last year. It's a super cute book about a dog and his lucky St. Patrick's Day. I used it to target inferencing, predicting, story retell, etc. Then, I found the Lucky Tucker Book Companion by WhitneySLP… now my "Lucky Tucker" book will likely be a lesson spanning over this week and next week. Yay!!!

Print 'n' Go St. Patrick's Day Packet (Includes "Roll a…. Clover, Rainbow & Pot 'o' Gold", "St. Patrick's Day game board" and "Pot 'o' Gold Boards") by SLP Chelsea (me)

I'm Lucky Because Activity FREEBIE by SLP Chelsea (me)

St. Patrick's Day Articulation Carryover Paragraphs by SLP Chelsea (me)

Sneak a Shamrock by SLP Chelsea (me)

Throughout my work week, I often post pictures of what I'm doing in therapy on Instagram! It's my favorite way to share, so be sure to check it out!

Have a wonderful week, everyone!!! 

Look at my Lessons 3/1/15

Hi Friends! 

I'm back on my blogging and TpT game! Work is still insanity, but I've been able to hunker down and write a lot of reports that were hanging over my head, so that has helped! It sounds like many of you are feeling the same… hang in there!!

If you follow me on Instagram, I'm sure you've seen me post about all the new products in my TpT store! I'm so excited about all of these products and I can't wait to use them myself! :) 

Today I'm doing my fourth "Look at my Lessons" post! :) I'm linking up with Old School Speech for her Week in Review linky, as well!

This week, I'll be using some of my own materials for therapy, along with other St. Patrick's Day materials. I just love themes- it makes my job a little easier and a whole lot more fun! 

So… here's a "Look at my Lessons" for the week!

DISCLAIMER: I know everyone has caseloads made up of varying ages and abilities… so my lesson plans may not apply to everyone. However, I often use open-ended reinforcement activities and those can be utilized for many different therapy groups. I should caution that I've listed mainly the materials I'm going to use- I don't include behavioral strategies, prompting and modifications in my lesson plans… they are VERY general. But, they give me place to start when it comes to therapy for the week!

I've listed the names of my lesson plan activities below and where you can get them! :)

Shamrock Challenge by Peachie Speechie

Print 'n' Go St. Patrick's Day Packet (Includes "Roll a…. Clover, Rainbow & Pot 'o' Gold" and "Pot 'o' Gold Boards") by SLP Chelsea (me)

I'm Lucky Because Activity FREEBIE by SLP Chelsea (me)

St. Patrick's Day Articulation Carryover Paragraphs by SLP Chelsea (me)

St. Patrick's Day Inferencing Activity by Kari Radovich

Throughout my work week, I often post pictures of what I'm doing in therapy on Instagram! It's my favorite way to share, so be sure to check it out!

Have a wonderful week, everyone!!! 

Liebster Award!

Hi Friends!

I've been totally MIA the past two weeks… work has been complete insanity. I have assessments on top of assessments going on right now, and truly not enough hours in the day! I apologize for the lack of posts but I'm hoping to be posting more regularly very soon!

Anyway, I hope your week is going well! I'm so excited to say I've  been nominated for the Liebster Award by Noralyssia, from Yo Amo Speech (Thank you so much, Noralyssia… and apologies for taking so long)! The Liebster Award is an award given by current bloggers, to new bloggers with less than 200 email followers. The goal is to help them get their blog started and welcome them to the blogosphere. Anyone who is nominated is then asked to nominate others. To accept the award, the blogger must answer 11 questions posed by the blogger who nominated them.  Here we go…. 

1. Why and how long ago did you start blogging? I'm extremely new to blogging! I just started at the beginning of January 2015!

2. What one word sums up the heart of the blog and why? Intentional. It doesn't sound like a "buzz" word at first, but it truly sums up what I'm trying to do here and really what we are all trying to do in our life as SLPs. We are trying to be intentional professionals, everyday. We are trying our best to provide the most effective and engaging therapy to our students in order to help them be successful. I've already seen in the last month (plus a couple weeks) that by sharing my lesson plans with you all, it really requires me to stop and think through what I'm doing and why. It is another motivator that pushes me to continually evaluate if what I'm doing in therapy is the best I can do. We can get so caught up in the day-to-day paperwork and craziness that we can forget to stop and do that. So, being intentional is what my blog is about. It's for me and for you! :)

3. Is there something that you learned late in your blog journey that you wished you had known before? I'm still very early in my blog journey… but I think I'm learning to reach out to others for support and to promote others when I can. We are all in this together!

4. What is your favorite pastime other than blogging? I love spending time with my husband Sean and our pup, Olive. I have an amazing group of family and friends, so I truly enjoy any time I get with them as well. I love a good girls night, wine, Moscow Mules, dancing, yoga, Netflix marathons and enjoying the beautiful scenery around our home... we live so close to the beach that it is a crime to not enjoy it!

5. How many hours per week do you dedicate to your blog? Right now, I dedicate only about 2 hours per week to my blog but I have been dedicating a lot of time toward making materials on TpT and posting on social media. I think this is mainly due to not having collected enough ideas for posts, not having a big following yet, etc. I'm getting the hang of it though. :)  

6. What category of blog posts do you enjoy the most? I really enjoy seeing what others are doing in therapy for the week! It's so fun to see the themes that other SLPs choose and what materials they tend to gravitate toward. I also like seeing personal posts because I feel like a lot of us SLPs are very similar personality-wise. :)

7. Where does your blog inspiration come from? My blog inspiration comes from my kiddos, honestly. As I mentioned above, I strive to make our sessions engaging and effective. I also strive to not be bored as a therapist during sessions…. if i'm not having fun, they probably aren't either.

8. What post have you written that you are most proud of? I don't have many posts to choose from at this point, but I really am proud of my "Look at my Lessons" posts… I put a lot of work into prepping for the week and it's cool to get to share that.

9. Is there any post that you have been planning to do but keep postponing? I'd love to do a post that addresses therapy with cleft palate and craniofacial kiddos. I've had some great training in that area and I have found that many other SLPs do not. I'd love to share what I know and point people in the right direction for resources. I'm sure that post will come along soon enough. :)

10. What is your favorite aspect of blogging? I love connecting with people and sharing ideas! It makes me feel excited about my field every day when I see a new blog post, Pinterest pin or Instagram photo about a new therapy material, idea or even a silly kid quote. It honestly makes me feel "warm and fuzzy" about our field pretty often… that's a big deal when life gets crazy. I'm loving the experience so far!

11. What are 11 facts about yourself?

1) I'm a Southern California girl, born and raised.

2) My husband and I were together for 8 years before we got married.

3) I am a cancer survivor.

4) My chocolate lab is 2 years old and her name is Olive.

5) I've been working as a speech-language pathologist for almost 6 years and I can't imagine doing anything else!

6) I am horrible at math.

7) I love to dance!

8) I was Varsity Cheer Captain in high school.

9) I am pretty type-A and may be classified as a worrier. :)

10) I love country music.

11) I have small feet. 

Well, that was it! It was fun to share some things about me... I hope you enjoyed learning about me a little more too! I now nominate Jennifer Bradley from Speech Therapy Fun, for the Liebster award! I'll be sending her ome questions to respond to and I can't wait to see her post! :)

P.S. 

I will be doing a "Look at my Lessons" post this weekend for the beginning of March, but if you're ahead of the lesson planning game and you're interested in some St. Patrick's Day materials, keep an eye on my TpT Store! I currently have an open-ended St. Patrick's Day Packet in my store and I have St. Patrick's Day Carryover Paragraphs in the works… it should be posted by the weekend. :)

A Look at my Lessons 2/8/15

Hi Friends! 

I hope you're all doing well! My weekends always seem to zip by so quickly… so I am not feeling ready for work tomorrow… but rumor has it MANY of you have this Monday off for Lincoln's Birthday! I'm jealous just because I'm tired tonight, but I can't complain…. I actually have this coming Friday (the 13th) off and Monday the 16th off for "President's Weekend". :) It will be so nice to have a 4 day weekend soon!

Today I'm doing my third "A Look at my Lessons" post! :) I'm linking up with Old School Speech for her Week in Review linky, as well!

So…here's a "Look at my Lessons" for the week!

DISCLAIMER: I know everyone has caseloads made up of varying ages and abilities… so my lesson plans may not apply to everyone. However, I often use open-ended reinforcement activities and those can be utilized for many different therapy groups. I should caution that I've listed mainly the materials I'm going to use- I don't include behavioral strategies, prompting and modifications in my lesson plans… they are VERY general. But, they give me place to start when it comes to therapy for the week!

I've listed the names of my lesson plan activities below and where you can get them! :)

Valentine's Day Articulation Carryover Paragraphs by SLP Chelsea (me)
Valentine Heart Challenge by Peachie Speechie
Valentine's Token Boards by Tech 'n' Talk SLPs
Box of Chocolates by SLP Chelsea (me)
Friendship Hearts by Queen's Speech
Valentine's Day Inferences by Expressly Speaking

And, I technically don't plan to use this packet THIS week because I'm overwhelmed with Valentine's Day stuff that is just too cute to pass up, but… I have a President's Day packet that I'll be using next week. I'll go ahead and share this with you now in case you'd like some President's Day materials this week. :)

President's Day Print 'n' Go Packet by SLP Chelsea (me)

Throughout my work week, I often post pictures of what I'm doing in therapy on Instagram! It's my favorite way to share, so be sure to check it out!

I'm getting the hang of this blogging thing slowly but surely… so bear with me. I am only doing regular link-up type posts now since I haven't had much time to do anything else. I'm hoping to post about other things soon… maybe over my long weekend I'll have some time to write. :) 

Have a wonderful week, everyone!!! 

Quick Tip Tuesday #2

Hi friends!

Today, I'm linking up with School SLP for another Quick Tip Tuesday Linky! 

 

This link-up is designed for SLPs to share a quick tip related to the speech and language world. The goal is to share information in a short-read format.

Here you go….

I realized that my "A Look at my Lessons #2" post last night included plans for Valentine's Day crafts and they are pictured in my Instagram photo as well. So, my quick tip this Tuesday is…. take a trip to a craft store for easy, affordable and adorable foam crafts to use in therapy! 

I get most of mine at Hobby Lobby and sometimes I get them from Michael's. I ALWAYS choose the foam crafts that don't require any gluing… it's easier that way and much cleaner, especially for the little ones! I can't even tell you how great these little craft sets are. I use them as open-ended reinforcements during therapy sessions and even during assessments if a child needs additional motivation! The kiddos love taking the crafts home to show them off. I also love that it keeps their little hands busy while waiting their turn in-between tasks during therapy sessions. 

Hobby Lobby always has cute season-themed crafts and they almost always have them at a discounted price! Here's a look at the just a few of crafts I've used during therapy over the past couple years:

I'll be posting more cute little crafts as my kiddos use them, on Instagram, so you can check them out there as well. Get your crafting on, friends! The kiddos LOVE it and you will too! :)

I hope that was a helpful quick tip! Have a wonderful Tuesday!

A Look at my Lessons 2/2/15

Hi Friends! 

I hope you're all doing well and enjoyed your Super Bowl weekend! I was thankful to squeeze in some much needed girl time on Friday and Saturday… but I spent most of Sunday working on my mile long to-do list! Booo! I have a marathon IEP day this Friday, in addition to some other big IEPs this week…. so to say I've been busy is an understatement. 

Today I'm doing my second "Look at my Lessons" post! I was hoping to get this post up over the weekend but I obviously didn't get to it. Sorry about that! I'll be better next week! :) I'm linking up with Old School Speech for her Week in Review linky, as well.

So…here's a "Look at my Lessons" for the week! If you follow me on Instagram you know that I'm fully prepared for February with a TON of Valentine's Day themed activities. (If you don't follow me on Instagram… you should! I post there the most!) 

DISCLAIMER: I know everyone has caseloads made up of varying ages and abilities… so my lesson plans may not apply to everyone. However, I often use open-ended reinforcement activities and those can be utilized for many different therapy groups. I should caution that I've listed mainly the materials I'm going to use- I don't include behavioral strategies, prompting and modifications in my lesson plans… they are VERY general. But, they give me place to start when it comes to therapy for the week!

I've listed the names of my lesson plan activities below and where you can get them! :)

Roll a Valentine's Day Cupcake by SLP Chelsea (me)

Valentine's Day Compare and Contrast by Speech Made Simple 

Valentine's Day Articulation Carryover Paragraphs by SLP Chelsea (me)

Choose the Right Valentine by Pam Dahm

Box of Chocolates by SLP Chelsea (me)

Valentine's Day Bingo by Crazy Little Projects (not on TpT, but FREE!)

If you happen to stop by my store to pick up some materials, make sure to FOLLOW ME! That way, you will be notified whenever I post new products! Also PLEASE leave feedback if you've used my products, free or paid. I love to hear your input AND you get TpT credits if you provide feedback… those credits can actually be used to buy products on TpT!

I just want to say, I am so thankful for everyone's support in this new blogging and TpT adventure! It's been wonderful so far and it really has made me even more intentional about my day-to-day work. :)

Stay tuned for a "Look at my Lessons" next week- I have even more Valentine's Day fun to share with you! I also have a cute new President's Day product in my TpT store that I'll be using!

Have a wonderful week, everyone!!!