Heroes Sale!

Oh. My. Goodness. The most recent Teachers Pay Teachers Sale was a BOON for my therapy stockpile!! I'm super excited to get things printed and laminated and assembled and organized... That will take awhile! I got some adorable clip art, too, that will look great on activities that I want to put together when I get the time. :) My kids are inspiring more creative ideas than I have time to put into action!!!!

Here's a sneak peek at what I snagged during the sale (and used my tpt credits from giving feedback, too!!!)...


Super excited to get this Interactive Fluency Binder for Speech Therapy by Lauren LaCour put together for a couple of fluency boys who just need more structure...

So many of my students are working on grammar, but need more hands-on activities. So I was happy to find these Interactive Grammar Organizers by Gay Miller. :) I can't wait to introduce them!!

 

My current obsession includes Interactive Books! About everything. I love them. So when I saw

Interactive Books: All About Animals by The Speech Attic, I knew I had to have the whole bundle!! 

 

Did I mention that Vocab and Grammar are huge needs with my caseload? And that I'm always on the lookout for new materials? Nicole Allison hit the mark with two of her products: Leveled Grammar Intervention and Leveled Vocabulary Intervention. They are already printed off and ready to be put into binders! SO EXCITED!!!

I will wrap up this sharing (although I bought more than this... Shhh!!!) with another bundle that I am super excited for: Sequencing Activity Bundle- Laura Numeroff Books by Creative Lesson Cafe! I love having good sequencing materials for fun books!!!

Can't wait to get things made and start adding my own Scattered Materials to the stash! My students should have some good reactions. Or at least pick up my enthusiasm for New Stuff!!

Organization: Part 1

I'm called The Scattered SLP for a reason. I'm a trainwreck when it comes to clutter and organization!! I have great ideas and manage to not accomplish them. :) Or only make it halfway. But. My TpT addiction is creating a problem. I LOVE the materials I'm getting, but I'm having to get more creative with how I organize the different activities!! I want to actually FIND the awesome Scrambled Sentences and the Irregular Plurals cards... With more than 50 kids, no SLPA time, a preschool starting, and kids in 15 min sessions all day, every day, I absolutely CAN'T spend more than 45 seconds finding things. So I've embarked on a new Quest for Organizing and Labeling my materials. I was blessed with about 40 binders over the summer, which I put labels/covers on, but haven't filled yet (mostly because I hit the ground drowning this year with half of our SpEd Multidisciplinary Team being new to the school). I have weird storage in my office, which used to be the custodial hallway, so I have to get creative. I'll post pictures next week, as I am still in the putting away items process. But I'll add links to what I HAVE been doing, and then do a Part 2 of the blog post once I have the pictures and a table that doesn't embarrass me!!!! It's covered with "In-Process" materials that I finally printed and laminated.

I've enjoyed the Linky Party from SLPrunner all on organizing materials!! Check it out. Lots of great ideas for different sizes of materials AND different spaces.

I'm in love with note card boxes. I have several varieties because I get them as they go on sale, usually at Staples, Walmart, or Target. Or the Dollar Tree. LOVE the Dollar Tree!! They are along the lines of these from Amazon. You can use the dividers (for materials that are about index card size) OR you can take the dividers out and put flashcards in. If they are on a small book ring, you can fit several sets in each box. If you throw a label on the outside, you can pack it in a crate with others and always be able to pull out your variety of "Irregular PT" flashcards in that critical 45 seconds! :)

I'm using the Gallon Ziplock bags (like these) with Duct Tape on the bottom to add activities to my themed notebooks. These are great for activities with multiple sized parts. Make sure the tape is secure before you punch the holes. It really helps to keep those bits and pieces corralled. I laminate the cover page, too. Sometimes with the directions page glued to the back before laminating. I trim it down so that it fits easily in the bag. I make sure to use the bags with the slider lock to avoid the bag not sealing and then cards flying everywhere... Don't ask how I know THAT can happen... It was the only bag I had in my office and was trying to be organized... Lesson learned!! This works well for activities without bulky parts, and without velcro. The added bulk from the velcro makes less room for other activities in the same binder. I use the same address labels to label the bag, near the zipper end, so I can quickly grab the right bag to put in my Activity Drainer (I have a dish drainer next to my therapy table that is amazing at holding file folders, packets, and bags of activities. SO helpful!) for easy access.

For bulkier items, I have some big plastic envelopes, like these from Amazon, which can stand on the shelf independent of other folders or binders. I like that you can see what is inside and that you can fit interactive books with velcro or hands-on materials (I'm working on getting the animals for "The Mitten" and "The Hat" by Jan Brett to make another activity with toy animals and scenery). It keeps them secure while not taking up precious space in a notebook or a box! If there are lots of parts, then bag those individually. I have a compare/contrast activity that I can have in one box because I have the materials for both Gingerbread Books in ziplocks to keep them separate. Love it!

Disclaimer: Lack of Cuteness Ahead!! My office is very dorm-room-furniture-chic... A total mishmash of old items, new items, and colored furniture. Some wooden bookshelves. A nasty green cabinet. A white bookshelf. Blue/teal laminate counter and cabinets. A beige filing cabinet. And a double sink. Because I definitely need that.... I HAVE contact paper to cover the nasty green cabinet and the filing cabinet, but that project keeps getting pushed back. I did put up contact paper on the back part (behind the books) of the biggest bookcase, which makes it nicer to look at all day. I've tried to pull things together with the decorations and wall art. Purple, Teal, Blue. Chevron and some Polka Dots. I'm jealous of people who have offices/rooms that are color coordinated!! I think they are adorable!! I'm not able to do that right now, but am trying to move that direction. So when I found wonderful blue plastic baskets (oval and square) at the Dollar Tree, I snatched them up! And the boring white storage that I have will be dressed up with fabric or ribbon, depending on the item. But, for now, I'm using what I can get my hands on. Then upgrading as I go.

I made a Teacher Toolkit this summer, and I love it.

But it doesn't get enough use on my desk (its current location), so it will be moved to my therapy area. I have a shelf from home (like this one from Target) that I am going to put in its place. It will hold my phone, my cups of pens/pencils/highlighters, and I can put my reference binders on the shelves. My CCSS binder, my Preschool Binder, my SLP Resources binder, and anything else that I need at my fingertips while on my computer. Hopefully that will help reduce the insanity that my desk has turned into this year!!!

That's what I have for now. Have to do some organizing around the house and a mountain of laundry. Am looking forward to a 4-day weekend for Valentine's Day/President's Day/Unused Snow Day... Lots of time to sleep and do projects!!!! But that's still a week away.

Sarah

Amazing Coworkers...

At the Zoo in June 2014 with 90 Kinders...

I am blessed to work with some truly amazing educators. It has been a week (already.... 2 days in....) that NEEDS positives. So I'm actively seeking them. For the first time ever, I get to be at ONE school, in ONE office, and with ONE set of teachers! It's FANTASTIC! And I don't know what to do with myself sometimes. I keep thinking that I should be going somewhere else.... Anyway. I get to actually do some "Push In" with a kindergarten class. They have the most wonderful and fantastical teacher!! And I wanted to spotlight her some. Heather has become a good friend of mine and I take new pictures in her room of ideas and strategies and activities every time I go in!! We're working together to pre-teach and reinforce critical vocab and concepts with our shared students. It's a wonderful relationship. Plus, she is HILARIOUS!!

I'm trying to get her to start a blog. (hint hint, Heather!!! Your stuff is adorable and your methods rock!) Best guided reading I have seen. And her kids are the most prepared for 1st grade. And not because I'm biased. She works her hiney off. It's so good that I don't have enough words to describe it (after an 11 hour day and way too many meetings), so let me show you some fun things from this week!
I love being in her room for writing/ELA. They read a book together at the carpet, then go to their seats to write in their monthly writing packet. First, they write a sentence together. Each word is sounded out or spelled from the Popcorn Word Wall. They use finger spaces or "Space Men" to put spaces between the words. They use capitals and ending marks (periods, questions marks, and exclamation marks). Then they review the letters together. Then the words. Then the sentence. I love her saying "Letters make words, words make sentences, sentences make stories" and the kids always respond! Then they draw a picture to go with the sentence, in pencil first.
Did you notice how flipping organized her room is??? Going on 15 years of teaching and she has this DOWN! And has adorable stuff.
And some great ideas! Such as:

Tape down the table to section it off. Because what 5 year old (especially boy) knows what their personal space should be? Or can stay in their own bubble? But the tape provides a visual cue and it's easy to see who is in their space and who isn't. And a really quick way to redirect back to their side with minimal arguing. She has also divided up a round table with tape and a horseshoe table. I shouldn't be amazed (we do this all the time for kids with ASD and social delays, why WOULDN'T it work for typical kids??), but I am!! And it just seems to make so much sense to the kids.


Same with the Dot Spots. Circles taped to the floor all over the room. When they are doing work that they don't have to be at their tables for, they go to a dot. They have enough room to do their own work, they can't "cheat" and scoot next to a friend, and the dots are far enough apart to be able to do quick assessments of math or spelling using a notebook to write on. I've seen it. It works. "I can see your dot from here, dude, that mean's you're not on your spot." They scoot right back to their spot that is clearly defined. Do they get scuffed up? Sure. Do the kids pick at the tape? When they aren't actively engaged, yup. Do you review the expectations? Takes 20 seconds. And it's super easy to replace if it gets too messed up.

What do they do on their spots, you ask? Here's an example of a VERY squirrely student, who is not known for staying on task. He chose his spot to be right next to my chair. Which either means he is used to the spot because it is the farthest away from the screen and the teacher OR because he likes that I hold him to standard and will erase what he writes if he just scribbles things down... Or both. :) ANyway, here are his arms and his reading notebook with a list of nonsense words and a reading stick. He is purposefully not technically ON his spot, but sort of hovering OVER it. But he was reading and paying attention (for a minute), so we called it good. Every kid has a "Carpet Bag" which is a binder pouch with their name on it. Inside are supplies. Crayons, glue, pencil, eraser, number line. The basics. Scissors stay in the material tub on the tables. The crayons are in their own sandwich bag inside the zippered bag. It's awesome. And they've had the same ones since the start of school. I'm impressed.

Anyway. That's a quick and dirty view of what I got to experience this week. I have about 5 students in her class and it's wonderful to get the chance to bridge from my office to her classroom. It's AMAZING what you discover needs to be worked on!!! Here's my freebie for today: I Like Lemons worksheet!! My soon-to-be-dismissed artic-only student responded with "I wike __" during the book discussion on Tuesday, so I made a carryover homework sheet for him. Lots of Lemons for him to write what he likes in and then practice saying "I like" in sentences. It's a habit thing with him and I have no doubt it will have an impact!!! Enjoy!!!

Sarah