A Blip from my Corner! AKA: My thoughts after the first week!

I have been MIA for a chunk of time because, like you, school has started and I am overwhelmed. Like I mentioned over the summer, I started in a new district this year. Along with shifting to a new room in the building, being the new speech therapist, gathering a new caseload, and the list continues...I had to introduce myself to staff, explain my philosophies and hope they were on board with how I provide services to students in the school setting. 

Do you have IEP facilitators, or someone who calls and schedules your IEP meetings for you? In my previous district, we had someone who called the parents, lined up the meetings, got all of the paperwork together, and such. The only thing she did not do was write the IEP itself. That was our job! =) It was so nice. Now, I am my IEP facilitator and along with preparing the IEP itself, I have to call the parents and do all of the paperwork needed to set up the meetings. My very organized self has had minor anxiety attacks and I fear that I am going to overlook something and fail to hold a meeting when I should. =/ Eek! With my multiple calendars with things highlighted, everyone's folder having the dates labeled, and their personal folders with information...I should be good, right?!

Okay, so because I am new to the building, I have had to figure out the times accompanying each student and gauge if they are appropriate (in my mind) or not. I have four students that have come to me saying, "We were going to graduate at the end of the year last year, but it didn't happen." Okay, so with that phrase you might gather that these kiddos are done with speech services. They are all speech only kiddos, working on carryover, and even with my tongue-twisters were successful. Side note - do you use tongue twisters in speech therapy? I love them! Anyway, as the new speech therapist, I am now in the midst of the inner-battle of calling the parents and beginning the dismissal process or changing them to my 5 minute kids program. Do you/Have you used the 5 minute kids program?

I have also had to figure out why some students are at the carryover level and are seen 1 x week for 15 minutes vs 1 x week for 20 minutes. I'm still struggling to figure out the difference. Some of my students are on "observation only" status, which is monthly, but for artic, and I am not sure I understand that either. Insight, anyone?! If I understood why it was happening, it might not make my head spin, but I don't get it.

I hope your week was spectacular! I definitely had a spectacular week. If it is any indication of the year, it is going to be a great one! I wish the same for you!

 

Spotty Internet = Absent Blogger

I have only been on the internet when I can access the internet for more than 20 seconds at a time. About a week ago, my router started doing some odd things and it officially stopped working a few days ago. Last night, my husband went and got us a new router so that I could enter into the world of blogging yet again. Okay, he went to get a new router for more than just that, but I have missed sharing what I've been up to. Unfortunately, that router did not work at all, so about an hour ago, we started the process all over again. I have working WIFI now!

I love to celebrate birthdays! I love to celebrate any occasion, but birthdays are fun for me! My birthday will be here in less than a week, so in the spirit of my birthday, I thought I would share what I have created to celebrate the birthdays of the students I serve! 

I have created two birthday packets. You guessed it! One for boys and one for girls. They are generally the same, just a different color scheme and some different clip art. Essentially, I have created at least 6 different birthday card templates and some lined pages for writing encouragement throughout the year. Along with these, I have created calendars that can be used to keep organized! I am a neat freak and have a very Type A personality, so I write the birthdays on the calendar, put each page into its own plastic sleeve and then focus on the birthday cards. I print out the number I need, cut them to size, fold and laminate. I like to use permanent markers, so I'm able to write on them after laminating just fine! I only choose to laminate because I think they look better than a typical piece of paper folded together. Just a preference! Anyway, once they are laminated, I put the number of cards needed in the sleeve behind the corresponding calendar page. If you are interested you can find them here (for boys) and here (for girls)!

I have also created a listening comprehension activity involving apples. It focuses on WH questions in an fun/interactive way! Best of all, it is FREE! =) You can download it from my TPT store here! Let me know what you think!

One more thing...I have a FB page that you can find if you search Little Speech Corner. I tend to inform those that have liked the page when I have published a new blog post, but recently I have begun to post information about free apps that I believe could be beneficial in the therapy room. Most of the apps are not free for a very lengthy period of time, and some change almost instantly after I post them, but they are free when I post them to the page. If you can use them, great! If you can't, they are free, so you aren't out anything!

Happy Wednesday!

I love books...even wordless picture books!

I love books in therapy. I believe they encompass so many things that we strive for in the therapy room. I tend to use books that can be read more than one time in a session. I do this because I can read the book each time with a different goal in mind. 

My first time goal is to allow the students to think ahead and problem solve or use critical thinking skills. This is an easy approach to working on expressive language or fluency goals. I tend to ask questions like.. What do you think will happen next? Was there a problem with _____ (whoever the main character is) on this page? Can you tell me what has happened so far? The list goes on and on! I just try to keep my questions open-ended to avoid the "yes" or "no" responses!

My second time goal is for the students to "read" the book to me, using their specific sound target, fluency target, or grammar/language target with as much success as possible. If I feel like we should sequence the events of the story, then I use my handy dandy iPad and snap some pictures of the book. I then print those pictures out and there ya go, an easy sequencing activity!

I enjoy using wordless picture books with my fluency students! What better way to work on strategies than with a book that has no words?! It may seem harsh, but most of my students who struggle with stuttering have an incredibly hard time "reading" a book with no words. It causes loads of anxiety. What happens when a student who stutters has anxiety? They typically stutter. I dislike nothing more than having students who stutter in my room for therapy and they show no signs of stuttering! I believe we become "safe" and their anxiety lessens. I strive to cause that anxiety so that therapy is purposeful! 

One of my favorite wordless picture books is No, David! by David Shannon. There is so much that happens in this book. The only words on the page are typically "No, David!", so I'm sure you can gather that he is doing everything a child should not do! Another favorite of mine is "Have you seen my duckling?" by Nancy Tafuri. This one only has the words "Have you seen my duckling?" throughout it. If you are interested in others, I have found a website that encompasses a lot of options! Click here!

Do you use books in therapy? Do you create activities with the books you use? Do you try to elicit blocks/prolongations/repetitions from your students who stutter through the use of books? I'd love to hear from you!

Back to School Goodies!

I attended a back to school picnic for new hires tonight. It was a great opportunity to get to know some of the teachers I will work alongside, but also to get to know the big wig..AKA: The Superintendent. I found myself filled with anxiety as I was introduced to him, but he was super sociable. I was relaxed in a matter of seconds! In the school district I resigned from, I was one of 3000+ employees. In the school district I am entering, I am one of 400 or so. That is a huge difference and the picnic tonight was another reminder of this. 

I have a few things I want to share with you! I have created three documents that I plan on putting in my students folders. Some of my students do not have a speech and a language goal, so some folders will only have two documents, but you get my point! =) They are a parent contact log and a language and/or speech goal page. I follow many bloggers, and Kristin, at [simply speech], shared a student data sheet that I loved! I modified it a bit with my own personal twist, but she gets all the credit for the idea! Thank you Kristin! It is what I am calling my language and/or speech goal page. Here are the documents.

I wanted a contact log that I could put with each child's folder. Because we don't have an IEP facilitator, or someone who sends out prior notice forms and such for IEP meetings, I wanted a form that I could use to track all of my contacts with parents. I had a general "log" for all students previously and it took some time to figure out how many times one parent was contacted vs another.

I set up a bar graph type of system on the speech and language goal forms for two reasons. 1) The students can own how successful they are. 2) I see my students at least twice a week based on how their IEPs are (again..I'm new so I am entering in to someone else's setup). This will allow me to track percentages once a week rather than every session. If I don't get to it EVERY session, I won't lose sleep over it, but at least it's a possibility!

I have also created an "expectations" poster that I will hang in my room. I have stapled a sticker chart into each folder. I like the idea of keeping one's sticker chart out of the sight of anothers for privacy reasons, so I chose to staple. It's just a personal preference! Here is what I have for my "expectation" poster at this point. I have not printed it yet because it is ever changing, so please share your thoughts. 

 

Because I appear to be long winded tonight, I am going to end this with a freebie I just posted on my TPT store! I wanted an activity to use with my students during our first (or second) interaction with each other. I loved the use of M & Ms in icebreakers as a kid, so I chose to create an activity based on my memory. I am entering a district where the mascot is a tiger, so a pawprint only seemed appropriate! 

And...one more thing! To go alongside this pawprint activity, I plan on using what Jenn shared at Crazy Speech World in a different way. I plan on using these pawprints with my students names in the pad portion of the paw. In the outside portion, I will have them color/draw/write whatever describes them best! I will then hang these outside of my room as my first attempt at wall decor! The paws will look something like this (before the great color is added)!

Find the documents at the following links:
Parent Contact Log
Speech Goal
Language Goal


Enjoy!

Baseball, baseball, and more baseball!

Last night, I blogged about my articulation creation with a baseball theme. If you looked at it yesterday, I uploaded the wrong file to google docs. Well, sort of. I uploaded the document that did not have instructions with it. You could probably create the same instructions I came up with for the activity on your own, but if you want to take a peek at it, I updated the blog post. 

Today, I want to share with you my baseball categories! I have created an activity that will work on categories for those in the sorting and naming stages. 

I have created three different levels in this activity. Each level has five baseball gloves associated with it. Each glove has five baseballs associated with it. 

Here is a peek at the glove:

 Here is a peek at the baseballs:

This is most definitely in the easy level. The medium level has categories such as electronics and things that come in a can. The hard level has categories such as book authors and individual sports.

I have also put together a worksheet (or two) that can be used to go along with this activity. One is a table with areas for the category and items in each category. The other is more of a category "map". 

Here it is:

This activity can be found at my TPT Store. I have more in mind for this theme, but my time seems to be packed full with school starting soon! I'm sure you feel the same way! 

Thank you!

I am just over a month (by a day) into this fun adventure called blogging! I wanted to take a minute, while I am at my in-laws, to thank you for supporting this blog and sharing your thoughts with me along the way. As the school year gets going, I am excited to share with you the items I am creating to use with the kiddos I serve. Because this is celebrating one month, I wanted to share a freebie with you. 

I am working on a baseball/softball theme. I have been inspired by my sister-in-laws state softball tournament. My hometown is also the home of the 14 year old national softball tournament, so I have been speaking "softball" for a good chunk of time this summer. In the midst of all the chatter, I have spent time creating various game board/place mat activities. This is a glimpse into the articulation portion. I am planning on creating cards for a fair amount of sounds, so if you enjoy this activity and want the remainder sounds, leave me a comment and I will get back to you! =)


Here is the game board:

Here is an example of the cards

My goal is for each sound to contain:
- 3 pages in the initial position - one syllable
- 3 pages in the initial position - two or more syllables
- 2 pages in the medial position
- 3 pages in the final position

For now, here is this activity with the K & G sounds available. 


*Update* I began working on another activity with the same theme and realized I did not put game play instructions or variations in this post. I thought they were in the PDF I uploaded, but I uploaded the file without them, so they are not. Here they are:

Game Play

As always, cut and laminate the pieces for durability. If you are able to print on cardstock, that is recommended, but definitely not needed!

You will need dice and game pieces!

Strike Out space = Lose your turn!  Slide = Go again!

Students roll a di.

**I use the dice from super duper because they only use numbers 1-3, but you could use standard dice if you wanted to! Do as you please! =)**

Once the student has his/her number, they move their game piece the number of spaces and say the word they draw that number of times. Continue play until one of your students reach the finish line!

Variations of Play:

-      Have the students use the word at their level – phrase, sentences, etc.

-      Allow your expressive language kiddos to play this as well! It could be played the same way, but they are to make a sentence or explain the word they see!

-      If you are working on antonyms/synonyms, pull out the cards that are applicable. 

Thank you, again, for taking time out of your day to read some of my thoughts about a passion and joy of mine. I hope somewhere along the way, you have, or will find, something that is beneficial to you and the kiddos you serve!

Speechopoly!

Pinterest, oh Pinterest, how you make my creative brain explode with ideas! Yesterday, I decided I want to go through my board that holds all the ideas for the therapy room. One of the "pins" that stuck out to me as I began my decent down the page was that of "Homeworkopoly". Have you heard of it?! You can find the original post here! 


I like sticker charts and will be using them for my precious kiddos in therapy, but I wanted to add a perk of fun. By the way, do you have set expectations for your kiddos when they come in? Do they know what earns them (or doesn't earn them) a sticker? I believe every student should be aware of their behavior and know there are consequences to that behavior. I have a chart, of sorts, that states what expectations are in my room. If a student can say "yes" to all of my expectations, they get a sticker. If they can't, they don't. Is that harsh? My expectations are simple. They are to encourage others, do your best, have fun, etc. 


Anyway, I created this to add that perk of fun!

As you can see, it is no where near completed yet, but it's a start. Here are the pockets that will surround this portion to complete the board...

There are more, but I didn't feel like I needed to take a picture of all of them for you to get the idea. As you can tell, they are not completed because I need to label them with their "avenues" and such. My ideas for the avenues are...
Articulation: syllable avenue, word avenue, phrase avenue
Fluency: bumpy speech avenue, smooth speech avenue, disfluent avenue
Voice: rate avenue, hygeine avenue, volume avenue
Language: receptive avenue, expressive avenue, social avenue


That fulfills all 4 sides of solid colored pockets. For the designed pockets, I am stumped. That's where you come in! I have some ideas, but I have eight pockets to label. I thought about having the pockets on the main board (where Chance/Community Chest would be) labeled as Articulation/Language. In each pocket would be a "challenge" of sorts. For example: "Say a word with your speech sound 5 times with your eyes closed." Thoughts?


On the four corners, I will have the same (kind of) corners used in the original post of Homeworkopoly. Those are "Go" (of course!!), Free Speech, Take a Seat on the Bus, On the Bus (Just Visiting). 


I plan on spray painting craft sticks white and putting my students names on them. They can roll the dice and move their craft stick that number of spaces each time they come to speech. 


I know this is a premature post since it is not a finished product, but in case you were interested in using it in your room, this gives you time to complete it!


Please share your ideas for the designed pockets or options for the community chest/chance area. I have a creative brain, but you might have a special twist that I didn't think about! 


Happy Thursday!

To theme or not to theme...that is the question!

In two and a half weeks, I will be sitting in the auditorium of the school district's high school listening to an array of speakers. All of these speakers will have a goal in mind whether I am present both physically and mentally, or just physically! I cannot believe the summer break is coming to a close. It seems like yesterday, I was writing a blog post dealing with school beginning "in a month". Wow!


Well, I am having an inner debate. I am a HUGE planner. If you are new to my blog, you will learn that I am a person who is quite frequently described as a "Type A Personality" with everything organized and labeled to the max! I love to organize things. I love to provide a home to all trinkets in a way that is easy to decipher for anyone who enters my room. I feel anxiety when I am in the midst of a mess. Am I alone on this? =/ 


Get back to the topic, Courtney! Okay! Do you use themes? Do you like the idea of themed units? I enjoy creating tools to use in therapy and am currently working on baseball themed articulation and language activities. I sat down the other day and devised what could be a "plan" for themed units. 


I separated them out by month and it looks like this:
September - Back to School, Pirate, Apples
October - Columbus Day, Halloween
November - Thanksgiving, Turkey, Cornucopia
December - Christmas, Snowman, Penguin
January - MLK Jr Day, Snow, Eagles
February - President's Day, Valentine's Day, Hearts, Candy
March - St. Patrick's Day, March Madness, Dr. Seuss
April - Earth Day, Butterflies, Spring, Flowers
May - Cinco de Mayo, Mother's Day


Random themes:
Food - Popcorn/French Fries/Burgers
Comics
Angry Birds
Disney/Pixar


I definitely don't have printables/activities ready for most of these, but I don't need anything dealing turkeys or snow for a while yet, so I will take it one day at a time! You know what I mean! =)


If you have other theme ideas, share them with me! I would love to hear what you are working on! If you don't use themes, do you plan out your weekly sessions or go on a whim? I know some building Principals require lesson plans to either be available or turned in. I do not have to do so, but I know if I am bored with an activity, my students likely are too! This allows for a little change up every once in a while!


Happy Monday!

Every child deserves the opportunity to be heard!

I love children! This is my passion! I am sure the same is true for you, which is why you do what you do! We are blessed! I spent another day in my space trying to get everything put together. I can now say I have almost everything unwrapped. I believe the only thing(s) I have left to free is/are the interactive computer games. What a relief! I am sure I spent at least two full days unwrapping plastic from the outside of board games and punching out pieces/trying to fold along the perforation provided for question cards. My fingers hurt! 


As I was putting the final touches on one of my file cabinets, I had an idea. I will be working with some precious little ones who are "nonverbal". This is a controversial term in my mind because I believe everyone is verbal. Some just may not use their voices to get the point across! Anyway, because the term "nonverbal" is so widely known, I will use it for ease. More can be said on my thoughts on that later! Back to the point! I, rather my school district, purchased something that looks like this at my request.

This contraption consist of music blocks. If you are interested in this product, and don't have one, you can find it at Amazon. 


I had placed this on a shelf in my cabinet and realized that I wanted to make something that could be used with those "nonverbal" kiddos. This is my thought...I took a picture of all six sides of the five blocks you can see. Each side represents a different shape. For those students who need that extra push in understanding their speech has meaning, provide a picture option for them to select. Once the selection is made for the red block, move on to the subsequent blocks. After all blocks have been chosen, the red button on the device can be pushed and a song is played. As you can see, there are magnetic pieces around the shapes. Each side of the blocks plays a different song, so multiple tunes can be formed!


If you have a student who is beyond the picture level, which I don't know if I have because I am new in the building, use color symbols and shape symbols from Boardmaker. I don't have access to that as of yet because I haven't been issued the laptop computer assigned to me, so I can't provide you with those, but I'm sure Microsoft Word/Google could do the trick if you aren't hooked up with Boardmaker! I will add those to the post when I get my hands on the computer and if I remember ;). 


If you have a student who is beyond the "picture symbol with word" level, then you can make this even more abstract by only giving word options. I love literacy!


This is what the blocks look like with the shapes on them in case you are interested...

This same activity could be used for those beginning PECS or AAC devices. As I already mentioned, this is another option when working with those children who are struggling to understand that speech has meaning.


I have not completed all the tools necessary, but this can be completed with the Mr. and Mrs. Potato Heads as well. If you withhold the pieces until the child selects a picture, provide the verbal expression to them, and give them what they have requested, then you have provided another way to elicit communication!


That's all for now!

In exactly one month...

I don't know about you and your thoughts on this summer, but I believe it has FLOWN by! I have spent many days in my "new home" trying to get everything in exactly the right place. I am a "Type A personality" as some of my friends would say, so my need for extreme organization has resulted in multiple hours spent typing labels for file folders, color coding, unwrapping plastic off of board games and then putting the pieces in small bags for safe keeping, and so on. Sometimes I think I am a little over the top, but it is what helps me feel like I am in control and have everything just the way I need it to be to be successful. Okay, I am over the top! 


Trips to see family members, in my mind, is always a blessing. The time spent in the vehicle going from point A to point B to point C, etc., I could do without. Anyway, since I put 1600+ miles on my car in the last 5 days, driving all over Oklahoma and Arkansas, I had a lot of time to think. I immediately became paranoid! Seriously...paranoid! I don't know if it is the shift from middle school to elementary school or the fact that school starts in exactly one month, but I don't feel ready. Not even a little bit! Do you?!


While I was in a different state, I bought multiple things that I found of interest. At the dollar spot in Target, I found personal sized pocket charts (sorting, grammar, anyone?!), lesson plan books for teachers (see...I'm over the top!), grade books for teachers (I plan on using them for attendance...maybe?), and icee cups (similar to the popcorn containers we have seen floating around for activities). At Wal-Mart, which is not my favorite place to go, but I am from "the home of Wal-Mart" area, so I feel obligated sometimes, I found m & m cups (same sort of thing as popcorn/icee) and folders. Lots and lots...of folders! I decided for 15 cents each, I would buy the 10 folders, with brads, in every color available. Needless to say, I bought 60 folders. Again, I confess! I am over the top!


Do you use folders for your students? Do you keep all of their information together in something besides a "working file"? In my middle school days, we did not use folders. I have gathered the importance of them for those in elementary school, but am beginning to panic when it comes to the implementation of all of these things! Is that weird? I suppose it could be. I plan on including a parent contact log, data sheet, etc. in the portion with brads. On the left, the worksheets they complete to show to parents during conferences. On the right, copies of notes or information sent home to parents. 


Maybe you use the "working file" for the parent contact information. If you do, can you tell me what all is included in your "working file"? I have yet to see any details. For the most part, these files contain assessment protocols, IEPs, and progress notes. I feel like that is all that should be included because the rest is just "fluff". Thoughts?!


Anyway, enough rambling expressing my thoughts! I will be spending my day in my room trying to get more accomplished. I hope I can close the door at the end of the day and feel like I have begun the decent downhill. 


Happy Monday!

It is finished!

After a long and busy week, I have finally completed the project I anticipated would take only a few days. I am excited with the end result and plan on creating a few more things in the next few days. For now, I wanted to let you see what I have created.


I have created a game board to be used with target cards covering multiple categories. The categories include synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, heteronyms, homophones, inferences, yes/no questions, categories, WH/How questions, cause/effect questions, and expressive language tasks. The game board looks like:

It is a little different than this, but it saved me from trying to copy/paste it all over again to create an image! The changes include changing the Start/Finish to "Go!" and you can see the characters in the rollercoaster cart.


The cards look similar to this:

If you are interested in seeing all of the category options, you can go to my TPT Store and see the preview document.


I have decided that 81 pages of cards was as much as I could take up to this point. I plan on creating some basic concept cards at the request of Deb at SpeechGadget in the next few days. I didn't forget about your request Deb!


A few of the language targets can be found in individual game form on my TPT store as well, if you are interested. At this point it is only the WH question target, but more will be added as the evening continues.


An articulation game is in the making as well! It will hopefully be done in the next few days, but I won't make another promise I can't keep!


Onto the freebie! I have created two activities that allow for sentence creating to take place. One is focused on adverbs and the other adjectives. As you can see, your students can make their way around the activity mat creating sentences. The student with the most accurate sentences, at the end of the session/activity time, is the winner. This is the created for adjectives:

The other activity is a sorting activity focusing on grammar. Sorting areas include: nouns, pronouns, verbs, prepositions, adverbs, and adjectives. Tickets are included with some options for sorting, but I have a few other ideas to provide.
1. Have the students use a dry erase marker and write in the words they can think of that belong in those categories.
2. Have the students formulate sentences that include words in the categories. If you do this, you could have the students each use a different color dry erase marker and they could tally their score along with grammatically correct sentences.

To get your freebie! Click here! I hope you enjoy it! If you have any thoughts/comments/suggestions, feel free to leave them here! I would be happy to know what you think! 

That feeling of appreciation!

It has been a busy week for me. I have a friend who gave birth to a baby super prematurely in November. Actually, they emergency c-sectioned her at 26-weeks...on the nose. Her sweet baby is currently staying at our children's hospital getting over some version of the influenza virus. Poor thing! Beyond spending time there keeping sweet baby's parents company, I have been working in my new speech room and finishing up the summer school session in a neighboring town.


Do you ever discover you have a connection with a student, but fail to figure out why? Here is why I ask....I accepted a position in a neighboring town working with children in extended school year (summer school). I am seeing kiddos in the B-3 program as well, but that is definitely not the same time frame as ESY. ESY is a 6-week summer session working with children who have emerging skills or possibilities of regression/recoupment.


The particular student I made a connection with has cerebral palsy. She is verbal, yet struggles with expressive language. She does well with answering questions, participating in jokes/humor, and holding a conversation; however, she struggles with asking questions. She is a student that I can honestly say I didn't figure out in that short time frame. Most of the time, I have at least a little start on the student and their likes/dislikes. This one, I have nothing. 


The last day of summer school was yesterday. She wheeled her way in on her motorized wheelchair with a HUGE smile on her face. She said, "Courtney, we will work, play Price is Right, and then you get to open your present." *Sidenote* This girl LOVES the Price is Right, so I bought the Price is Right app for the iPad. Everyone needs a little motivation, right?! My response was, "Present?! I'm excited to see the present!" After the smile faded a bit and we were done with the middle school girl chatter, we got to work. At the end of the session, this is what I received.

A chocolate bar, a picture she colored for me, and a card. Here is a zoomed in picture of the card:

Now, remember, this student I only provided services to for 6-weeks. This card melted my heart. I suppose that is why I have love for what I do. This teenage girl is able to state more than some of my students, but she was so excited about this present. 


Do you receive gifts from your students? Even a thank you note from time to time? I know we, as school-based SLPs, don't make a lot of money, but I would take thank you notes over money any day. That is why I love what I do. I am making a difference! You are too! 

A look at my home away from home!

Happy Wednesday everyone! To say I am blessed is an understatement. I am switching school districts this year and have more positives already than I had all last year combined. I spent the majority of my day getting everything moved and organized in my new home away from home. I know fellow bloggers have posted pictures of their lovely spaces, so although it is a work in progress, I thought I would share where I will be spending a large portion of my weeks. 

Forgive the glare in this picture, but this is one of the bookshelves in my room. It is filled with Super Duper products that I can't wait to get my hands on! There are also some Lakeshore Learning games mixed in.

These two cabinet spaces are packed full of Super Duper and Lakeshore Learning products. Consider me excited! The one on the left is much more organized, but there are things all the away to the back of the shelf. I am sure that is how your spaces are too! I tried to keep them as organized by target category as I could, but then it was more of a priority of having it fit! The one on the right is organized on the bottom three shelves, but the top three need a little more help! It will come. 

You can't see the bottom row on this, but you will see why here in a second. This is another area of my room that is now organized. The more I look at these pictures, the more I wonder how long it will stay this organized. My neat freak mentality might have a battle with my exhausted self once the school year begins.

 And here is the mess. This is the reason you can't see the bottom shelf. It's a mess. I am at a standstill at this point because my file cabinet has yet to make it in my room. I am replacing a speech therapist who retired, and she was in a room across the hall. This room is bigger, which is great, but the furniture beyond the shelving has yet to be moved over. Until that happens, the domino effect cannot happen. That means, those file crates in the cabinet cannot be emptied and this stuff cannot be put in a home. Again, it will come in time. I just have to keep reminding myself!

I'm not sure I have a desk. I mean, I have a desk, but I don't really at the moment. Instead it's a shelf. I odn't really have a desk chair yet either. Deep breath in, deep breath out! 


Anyway, here is my space. I couldn't get a good picture of the entire room because there were people in the hallway at the time. Being the new one in the building, I didn't want to display my nerdiness for all to see. They will all be completely aware in time, but for now, I want to appear "normal"!

After I return from a going away party, I will continue my work on my massive project! I hope I can post it tonight! =)

Sneak Peek!

I have been working hard on a great theme unit with the carnival in mind. I am no where near finished with the project, but it is up to 48 pages. Phew! I thought I would give you a sneak peek into my progress. Let me know if you can think of anything you would like me to incorporate! My brain won't stop spinning with possibilities, but I know I need to stop somewhere or it might never be done!


Here is the first sneak peek:

My cropping skills to save as a picture caused a few of the graphics to be cut off, but this is the game board that will accompany cards that look like:

I have included multiple targets such as synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, heteronyms, homophones, inferences, categories, Yes/No questions and WH questions. That should be it...unless, of course, I come up with other ideas!


I have another language task that will be incorporated. Actually, there are two as of now, but I am just giving you a preview of one. Here it is:

I have many students on caseload that struggle with grammar and formulating sentences. Most don't understand the parts of speech and components that make up a sentence, so I have sorting tasks for working on these skills.


I hope this has peaked your interest in some way! I am excited to share the completed product!


Happy Tuesday!

Adverbs, anyone?!

I believe it is safe to say that I struggle with maintaining attention to any given task. I can't even count on my fingers and toes how many times I have tried to focus on things around my house today. Instead of completing the various tasks that await me, I find myself sitting and creating new tools for various targets. This was a light bulb moment I had while sorting my laundry, so after I had a load of light-colored clothes in the washer and a load of dark-colored clothes in the dryer, I began to create this activity focusing on adverbs.


Be creative and use it however you wish, but I plan on using it in the following way:
1. Give each student a different colored game piece.
2. Bring out the famous Super Duper die that only allows a student to roll up to 3.
3. Have the student roll the dice and the treasure map they land on provides a word that needs to be made into a sentence. For example, if a student lands on "always". The sentence could be "I will love you always." 
4. For every sentence that is formulated accurately, the student gets a point. The student with the most points at the end of the game is the winner. 


This is a pirate themed activity. Side note, I found a lot of pirate-themed items at Party America while I was there collecting gag gifts for my mother-in-law. If you are a theme unit person, you might want to check out your local party store! =)


Here is where you can find the FREE download. Please let me know if you aren't able to access it for some reason.

A glance into my TPT!

I took a break on my current creative thought to continue completing a task I have been working on for a week, or so, now. The task has been revamping my TPT store. I decided to do this because of the clip-art terms of use and a few pieces of feedback I have received. I have just added a game that I worked on a month or so ago and have just completed my editing on. 


Ack! A Pirate Game for Language

My intentions with this game were similar to the game "Sorry!". Because of all the board games out there, access to game pieces seems to be extremely easy. I hope that is true for you! If not, I have a backup plan!


I created this game with a "home" zone for the pieces to start out in. I recommend that each player maneuver through the game board using the same route. For instance, if your students choose the "long route", then every player should take the long route. This is because the red/green and blue/black colors have similar routes. If you look at the board, the amount of spaces to go around the board is the same for those color pairs, but if all colors are needed, the amount of spaces is not the same. We have to keep it fair! =)


Every piece that lands in the "home" zone safely can be moved to the pirate ship. The player with the most pieces on the pirate ship at the end of a session/game time is the winner. Backup Plan: If you do not have enough game pieces for your players, then I have provided pirates that can be given each time a game piece makes its way successfully around the game board. The player with the most pirates at the end of a session/game time is the winner!


I have created cards for synonyms, categories, and rhyming. All of the cards are able to be printed with answers available, if desired. 


Without answers:

With answers:

Here is a link to my TPT store. Here is a link to the activity. Please let me know your thoughts on this activity! I have some more ideas on cards that could be created if this "game" seems to be of interest to you!

Have a great day!