Progress Notes

Generally speaking, my progress notes are completed on electronic forms that are used state wide. However, there are some students (especially those in a Response to Intervention program) or some circumstances (summer programs, for example) when a progress note template is handy! I have used several different formats, and this is the one I have ended up liking the most!

(Free download HERE) 

Team Meeting Agenda-free download

With a handful of students who require additional support and who have many team members who need to be on the same page for progress and success, I have found this team meeting agenda to be a great tool! (Free download HERE)

A quick "How To" ...

• Gather information from team members about possible agenda items and areas needing problem solving
• Fill in the agenda items
• Provide copies of the agenda to team members (night before or earlier is most helpful!) 
• I try to put a copy in each team member's mailbox and I scan/email the agenda to out-of-the-building team members
• Assign roles, if not done before 
• Team members can take notes on the form, on their own paper, or a note-taker can be assigned and others can receive copies after the meeting  

Teams have included all or some of these team members: 

• classroom teacher
• special education teacher
• speech-language pathologist
• physical therapist
• occupational therapist
• autism specialist
• para-educators 
• student parents 
• audiologist
• deaf educator

 

A Week of Speedy Speech Activities!

This week, I'll share a speedy speech activity every day. I hope these can help get others started with this great service delivery model!

Let's start with 2 very simple activities...

Activity #1: 

*Grab any free-printable or pre-made board (or make your own!). Use chipper chat markers (from Super Duper) or other quick markers. Students say their speech word at their level (I often have them say a word 2x and repeat my sentence) then place a marker. Goal: Fill up the board! 

*Alternatives: move a single marker with each production and see how far they can make it. Roll a dice and move that many spaces, say that many words (phrases, sentences, etc).

Activity #2:

*Another use for chipper chat markers. These boards are easy to make. My pictures are often from google images search; some are from  Word clipart. (I can share over email!) I keep these in a page protector and rotate them for appropriate events or seasons. The most recent favorite was the local football team logo!

 

Posted some visuals to help students learn the speech room routine. They're doing great!

Made on BoardMaker.

Dollar Challenge 2

Finally posted my Dollar Challenge Bulletin Board! (see my first post HERE)

Students are enjoying putting their dollars up and working towards putting up a speech room dollar! This is an activity enjoyed by my language, articulation, and social skills students! 

Documentation! Teacher Initial forms

This form helps me document that all necessary staff members have received a copy of the IEP at a Glance form (and/or a full copy of the IEP if I mark it that way). 

I staple this 1/4 page to the top of the IEP at a Glance, the teacher initials and dates it, then put the 1/4 page in my mailbox (they keep the Glance for their files). 

I staple the initialed 1/4 pages to the IEP in the file so when file review comes around all documentation is present! 

Our entire sped team uses this method, so it is consistent for the teachers. Free download HERE. 

Speedy Speech Basket--A Must Have!

If you use the intensive articulation intervention service delivery model, a speedy speech basket is a must-have! It makes everything grab-and-go! 

Here's a look at mine:

Dollar store basket works perfectly in size and price! 

Everything fits in, and it's easy to travel with throughout the hallways. 

I usually carry my basket and my schedule clipboard when I do sessions. On data collection days, I also carry my speedy speech data notebook. 

 

Here's what's inside my speedy speech basket (left to right, clockwise): 

• Pencil Bag: *dice *dry erase markers *chipper chat wand and markers
• Chipper Chat boards for a quick activity 
• Sentence Starters: not always carried, but these are perfect for conversation-level practice/data, and oral-reading level practice
• Speedy Speech passes: this makes it quiet in the classrooms! **See note below 
•  Small nonfiction book with very short paragraph/1-page sections for oral-reading level practice 
• small whiteboard 
• timer!! (a must) 
• Articulation cards. (I use these decks most often, but swap them out for other speech-sound cards so there are different words to practice with)  

Speedy Speech Pass Note: 

I walk into a classroom and put the Speedy Speech Pass on a student's desk, then walk out. The Pass cues the student to come out to the hallway with me for speech. When the speedy speech session is done, I tell my student who the next student is and the pass is put on the desk of the next student. It works for teachers, too: it's a very quiet, non-disruptive system, and when the pass is on a student's desk the teacher knows that student is in speech and will return shortly. 

Speech Room Behavior System!

We currently don't have a school-wide behavior program (we are working towards one, thankfully, but are currently in a year of data collection), so this summer I was on the search for a behavior system I liked for the speech room that would fit my needs Kindergarten through 6th grade.

I really liked the behavior system I found at the blog Sped-ventures (her post is here), so I made my own version which I am already loving!

I made my behavior signs with these labels:

• Outstanding! (Earn 2 Stamps) 
• Ready to Learn! (Making Great Choices!)
•  Think about it. (What are the speech room behaviors?) 
• Warning (Loss of stamp) 
• Time Out (can return to the group after processing with [speech therapist] or [principal])

My students keep their picture+paperclip Behavior Chart Marker in their speech room folders and clip it onto "Ready to Learn" when they enter the speech room. Their marker can be moved up or down as cued during the speech session. 

(To make the Behavior Chart Marker: *take student picture, print and laminate *use packing tape to attach to a large paperclip.)

At the end of the speech session, I write a very brief note in their homework folder to stay in contact with parents. In the top line, I circle where they ended up on the behavior chart. (Some students can circle this themselves).

Get a free download of the My Speech Time Report at my TpT store.

Elementary Speech Folders

My speech students have 2 folders...a homework folder (that goes home and back....and may risk never being seen again, thus the second folder) and a speech room folder (that stays in the speech room).

Behavior chart marker (paper clip), stamp chart, cover page

Speech students who come into the speech room have a speech room folder. Those who are speedy speech only or inclusion only do not have a speech folder (just a homework folder).

Here's what's in each student's speech room folder: 

• Cover sheet (goals, speech room expectations, speech times)
•  Student stamp chart
• Behavior chart marker (picture) 
• The Dollar Challenge 100 tracking page (post here)
• As we work on tasks, this folder will house the different individual visuals, projects, etc. until they are ready to be sent home, posted on a bulletin board, or filed for progress monitoring (data!).  

(Click here to grab your free download of the cover sheet and sticker chart from my TpT store)

Free download

My students keep their speech room folders in their grade-bin. 

The speech room folder routine looks like this: 

• enter the speech room, find your folder in the grade-bin
• take out your behavior chart maker and place it on the "Ready to Learn" poster
• bring your folder to the table and open to the stamp chart, with your homework ready to be "stamped"
• if we are  not taking anything out of our folders, the folders "go under you." (My students love this because I don't care where it is as long as it is "under" them and not a distraction. Some students choose to sit on their folder-literally, while others put it on the floor under their chair or balance it on the metal bars of the chair. This open-ended method is a great way to get compliance without a challenge from those more 'creative' students...!)
• receive stamp (if earned) at the end of the session, re-place behavior chart marker, re-file folder in grade-bin.

This routine is faster and faster once the students are familiar with it. They like the independence and responsibility, and I appreciate the organization! 

100! The Dollar Challenge

I found The Dollar Challenge at SpeechRoomNews (post here) and immediately wanted to use it with my students! (Thanks for the idea, Jenna!)

I made companion documents to go with The Dollar Challenge (TpT download HERE).

• Articulation Tracking Graph: to use with Speedy Speech Students 
• Language Tracking Graph: to use with non-artic goals 
• Parent Note Home: so the parent can celebrate with the student for the accomplishment of 100!  

Here's how I'll use it: 

Articulation...Goal: to get 100 correct productions of the speech sound within 1, 5-minute speedy speech session. Schedule: Sporadically, at least monthly, probably every other week we will have a "Dollar Challenge" Day. Method: clicker counter to count productions; graph to track how many productions were achieved! 

Language...Goal: 100 correct goal behaviors (e.g., wh-questions, story grammar elements, grammatically correct sentence productions) Schedule: speech sessions when I take data and/or when students take their own data Method: Students will shade in a box for each correct answer until all 100 boxes are shaded!

On Task Behavior...Goal: to get 100% on task behavior during a 10 minute observation. Schedule: each time data is taken there is an opportunity (note: The students aren't aware of when I take data, since I am in the classrooms frequently) Method: on-task behavior data during classroom observation

Then, to celebrate with Parents when their student meets The Dollar Challenge, a note will be sent home. 

Parent Permission for RtI

Here's a form that has been really handy! You can download it free off my TpT page HERE. 

This is a quick way to get parent permission to begin RtI (response to intervention) after you receive a teacher referral and do a quick screening.  The first page is a check-box format for the area of concern/referral (e.g., artic, social skills, receptive/expressive language) written in parent-friendly terms. The second/back page explains more in depth about the RtI process.

Speedy Speech!

I LOVE speedy speech! (In the research you may see it listed as the "intensive articulation model" of therapy). With speedy speech, I have seen wonderful progress in my articulation students, the students' parents have been impressed with their child's progress, and the teachers love that I only pull a student out for 5 minutes at a time (so they don't miss much-if any-instruction time).

I remember reading that within a given school year a student misses 1 week of instruction time walking back and forth for pull-out groups (speech, resource, PT, OT, reading recovery, TitleI, etc). Wow! I worked in a school where we did speedy speech sessions at an empty desk in the hallway by each "pod" of grade-level classrooms, and in my current school I have that option in some halls, but typically just sit on the floor in the hallway(!).

Here's my top reasons for loving speedy speech (in no particular order): 

1. it's fast, so behavior is rarely an issue
2. it's fast, so the students stay engaged
3. progress! progress! progress!
4. a variety of activities are perfect for 5 minutes with very little prep time
5. not material-heavy (the students don't get bored with the activities, so I can 're-cycle' through my materials/activities every month or so and I can do the same activity within a week) 
6. progress! progress! progress! 
7. the teachers love it
8. I get to see my students 4-5 days/week, so I get to know them individually better 
9. I get to see my students 4-5 days/week, so I am more in-tune with educationally-relevant changes and can work along side teachers/parents with problem solving (e.g., medication issues, vision/hearing concerns, home changes that impact the school day, sleep issues) 
10. progress! progress! progress! 
11. the students see "my face" 4-5 days/week, so using correct speech sounds is on their mind more frequently 
12. I am around the building so all students see me--that makes making a relationship for a screening, starting RtI, testing, etc. much faster and easier

I'd be happy to help anyone set up their speedy speech program! More posts to help out! 

 

Sneak Peek at my Speech Room!

Welcome to my elementary speech room!

• My desk and file drawer
• Clipboards on wall are great for quick access: mileage, schedule, student behavior data (school-wide)
• Low file cabinet for "friendship files" with some of my social skills students
• Wall-hanging quick-grab forms (IEP forms, SAT forms, etc!)
• Double-sided bookshelf--AR books
• Temporary walls are perfect for yarn trees!

Quick Grab files are great for SAT papers!

                                 

A crazy week this was!

• Quick-grab forms on the wall
• Double-sided bookshelf holds many materials!

Organization of materials...visuals, activities

 

• Storage on the left! 
• Crescent therapy table for small groups 
• Speech room expectations on the tall cabinet (listening ears, focused eyes, hands on work, no blurting)  

• Lucky to have 2 whiteboards! 
• Task "board" velcroed on the edge of my table  

•  Cards within arm's reach on the wall
• Easy access to school supplies in the purple bin 

I've enjoyed exploring the speechie blog responses to Jenna's "Anatomy of a Speech Room," like the one at Live Speak Love (http://livespeaklove.com/2012/02/24/come-on-in/)!

Data Notebooks!

Another task for the beginning of the school year is organizing my data notebook so I'm ready to collect collect collect data data data! (Data drives therapy, after all!)

I've combined my favorite data sheets into a new one-page form for progress monitoring.

Progress monitoring graph on top, data collection space on bottom.

Student by student, page by page...the creation of the data notebook is underway! I have 3 data notebooks: 

1. Preschool Data
2. Speedy Speech Data, and 
3. (everything else) Data 

I'm considering making a 4th notebook for my classroom observation data (time on task, social skills) so it can be a self-contained, all inclusive 'traveling' binder. Historically, I have pulled my classroom data forms and used a clipboard as I travel, but I like my 'traveling' speedy speech binder so much I may love another 'traveling' binder! 

creation of data notebooks!

Schedules!

Scheduling! 

One of the more grueling tasks for the beginning of the school year is (dun dun DUN!) creating a speech therapy schedule! 

Anyone else use the post-it note strategy? I put each of my students/groups onto a sticky note...and make as many sticky notes as I need to match the speech sessions they will have per week. (Example: 2nd grade speedy speech students I see 4 days/week, so there are 4 sticky notes that say "2nd Speedy Speech." Each sticky has a # 1-4 so I can keep track.) 

sticky notes!

Now for the "fun" part! Puzzling together each teacher's schedule and fitting my therapy times into the week! 

whiteboard...drafting the weekly schedule! 

From craziness on the whiteboard....to a decent, typed draft! 

I tried a new system for getting feedback from the classroom teachers about the speech schedule. I attached a short note (on sped specific teal paper!) to a copy of the speech schedule and asked the teacher to check one box: 

• This will work for my students...let's try it! 
• This will not work for my students...let's reschedule! 
• Let's visit!

left: original         right: what I've received back

I've received positive feedback so far!


...and this is a schedule from last year...all marked up with a crazy school-wide testing week! [Won't be long before my 'draft' turns into a marked up souvenir from a great week of therapy! :) ]

attendance, meetings, etc. all marked here!

Happy scheduling! 

Homework!

I am in the camp of SLPs who believe that homework is very important for practice and carryover into other environments (generalization). 

We all have students who have their sound down pat when the "see our face," then walk into the classroom door and it all goes out the window! Because of that, I'm working on a variety of generalization strategies for the classroom (like classroom walk-throughs when possible, visuals on the desk, a special 'remember my speech' pencil top eraser, secret signals between the classroom teacher and the student) and for home (homework...that's really the only way I get "into" the home!). 

I use some homework that I find from SpeakingofSpeech.com. Check out their Materials Exchange HERE if you haven't before! Materials are made by SLPs for SLPs and downloads are free .pdf files.

First Free Homework Download! 
Ice Cream Articulation Homework

Packet includes the following sounds: L, S/Z, SH, CH, TH, S-blends, L-blends, vocalic R, CVC words, and a bank page you can individualize. I used Word clipart.

Language Bingo!
My Summer Homework looked like this. This could also be adapted to be done for a month (e.g., November Language BINGO!). Made one for older elementary, and one for younger elementary/preschool.

Grab this free download HERE.

Parent Information and IEP Scheduling

I have not yet used this form, but am very excited to do so! It should be very helpful when it comes to scheduling IEP meetings (as I look ahead on my schedule, I have some weeks that are very packed with IEP due dates!!).

I ordered my 250 free business cards from VistaPrint initially so I could pass them out to the families I home visit (birth through 3 years). I think I am going to staple a business card on the bottom portion of this handout so each of the families I serve have a copy of my contact information. (If you do not have business cards, consider copying your contact information onto the back of the portion they will keep at home, or type in your email/phone on the bottom of this page.)

 

Get your free download HERE.

Bottom Portion--to be kept by the parent

Top portion--to be sent back to school for case manager records

IEP parent summary

I print this free printable off and add page numbers to point parents to the most important information in a printed IEP (Individualized Education Plan), since the full document can be quite intimidating! I include this in the envelope I send the final copy home in. 

(boardmaker pictures)

Download What's in an IEP Here. 

IEP Meeting Forms

2 Free Downloads to help your IEP meetings go smoothly!

I used these forms last year and LOVE them! I hope they are helpful to others as well!

PARENT IEP FORM

The first form is for the Parent. I try to send it home with the IEP meeting notice prior to the meeting. Last year, I sent a copy home at the very beginning of the school year for all the parents who had IEP meetings in the first semester. 

This form serves a few purposes: 

1. I like to give them a "heads up" about the meeting agenda--I think it is important for the parent to understand why they are there and what we are doing.
2. Those parents who like time to think about things are given an opportunity to prepare ahead of time. 
3. If I send it at the beginning of the semester, it gets the ball rolling for scheduling that meeting!
4. It is a visual, and I am always a fan of visuals! 

Some parents seem to really appreciate the form. They take time to fill it out and bring it to the meeting. I feel like the parents who do that are much more involved in the meeting than they were the previous year with out this handout.  They always like to share their notes with the team. 

Several parents do not fill it out and/or do not bring it. I'll still keep trying :) 
Download this free printable HERE.

IEP VISUAL AGENDA FORM

This form is one I use a variety of ways, depending on the student. For example...

• I fill in my notes as the meeting goes on (especially if I am not case manager and will just be filling in/editing the IEP later)
• I fill in some of the information before the meeting, make copies, and give it out to the other team members as a sort of visual agenda. During the meeting, I take notes on it. **I am excited to use my iPad video feature as a doc cam to do this during the meeting, so everyone can see the same notes "live."
• I keep it with the data forms so I can write notes for an upcoming IEP meeting (only with some students who I'm doing a lot of brainstorming for).

(filled out!)

(artic only student)

(artic only student...some student have multiple services listed. If they have a couple or more classroom accommodations, we look at the Accommodations Team Worksheet I created where we can circle and list specific accommodations)

Download it HERE.

I also put one in the teacher mailbox, and attach this IEP prep letter for the teachers. This form comes 3/page (I guess that's 3 free printables to help your meeting run smoother!). Some of my teachers do write down some notes before they come, which improves the overall meeting pace and participation.