How to Create a Fall Sensory Book Bin

How to Create a Fall Sensory Book Bin

Sensory play is an important part of a child's development. Children learn through exploration using their 5 senses. Through taste, touch, smell, sight and sound, children develop social, emotional, cognitive, motor and language skills. Sensory bins provide learning opportunities while having FUN. Since children love to make messes, you might want to think of it as "mess in a box."  For children with sensory impairments, sensory bottles, bags and bins can also be very calming by providing the exact stimulus their sensory systems are seeking.
Fall is one of my favorite times of the year for speech therapy literacy and language activities. Children are always fascinated with pumpkins, acorns, squirrels, apples, scarecrows, and farm activities. This opens up opportunities to experience some amazing books, as well as provide hands-on learning opportunities in sensory filled activities. In this post, I want to share with you tips on creating fall sensory book bins.

Speech Therapy Goals and Activities for "Boo Hoo Bird"

Speech Therapy Goals and Activities for "Boo Hoo Bird"

I wanted to sit down and write this post today to share an amazing children's book I found that can be used to target a variety of speech and language IEP goals. While searching for books to teach social skills, I came across this sweet book by Jeremy Tankard, Boo Hoo Bird, that I honestly had never heard of and now absolutely adore. In Boo Hoo Bird by Jeremy Tankard, Bird gets bonked on the head with a ball while playing catch with his friend Raccoon. "Boo Hoo Hoo," Bird cries. Raccoon, Rabbit, Sheep, and Fox try to cheer him up. What will make Bird feel better? This story is ideal for students in PreK through second grade.

Top 10 Back-to-School Books

Top 10 Back-to-School Books for Speech Therapy

Are you looking for a fun back-to-school read aloud to start the year with? Do you want an attention grabber that will spark an excitement for learning this year? For me, starting a new school year is an exciting time of the year. New room decor, new school clothes, and newly sharpened pencils. But what I get excited about is NEW books! In this post, I want to share with you my top 10 back-to-school books for speech therapy and why I recommend them.

(disclaimer: This post includes Amazon affiliate links. Any purchases made through the links may result in a small profit for My Speech Tools.)

8 Tips for the New School SLP

8 Tips for the New School SLP

As a speech-language pathologist, I have had the privileged of working in several different settings both full time and PRN. As a school based SLP, I continue to work in various PRN positions during the summer and throughout the school year as I have time. My heart and energy, however, is poured  out in serving public school students with disabilities. My students make me smile and laugh everyday.

If you are making the switch this year to public school, there are a few tips I want to share with you to help you make the transition. So don't fret because change is always a little scary.

Here are my 8 Tips for the New School SLP:

1. Focus only on those things you can control. When you work in the public schools so many different things change at the drop of a hat. Here are a few examples of changes I've seen from one year to the next: school assignments, caseloads, staff members, budgets, your office or classroom location, duties, dress code, special education paperwork, district curriculum (math or reading), and of course your schedule. Every year there are changes. And let's face it, big changes can happen anytime of the year due to unseen circumstances. Because things are always changing, I have really tried to focus on my " Circle of Control."   So let's think about the things you can control. Perhaps it's your choices, your attitude, your response to others, your healthy or unhealthy habits, what you read, your sleep patterns, or your effort. These are the things worth applying your effort toward.

Part 4: Read the Nonverbal Communication

5 Highly Effective Strategies for Managing Behavior 

(Part 4: Read the Nonverbal Communication)

This is the fourth part of my 6 part series 5 Highly Effective Strategies for Managing Behavior. I encourage you to read the first three posts in the series, including: 

Part 1: Why is He Acting That Way?
Part 2: Create Routines
 Part 3: Structure for Success

TPT Back-to-School Site Wide Sale!

It's the TPT Back-to-School Site Wide Sale!

For many educators, summer vacation is almost over. For others, you may still have a month of rest and relaxation. Regardless of your contract start date, you do not want to miss the Teachers Pay Teachers Site Wide Sale!

August 1st and 2nd are special days for educators and TPT, and I want to share this sale with you! During this 2-day sale, you can save up to 25% off your total purchases using the #BTSReadyWithTpT code at checkout.

I want to highlight some special additions to my store for back-to-school and fall.

1. Back-to-School Speech and Language Pack This speech and language comprehensive packet includes activities and ideas for back-to-school. The packet includes an "All About Me!" Banner, a game board,writing prompts, and much more!

5 Reasons Why I Chose the Happy Planner

5 Reasons the Happy Planner is the Best Choice for Me!(Plus a FREE Download)

Are you looking for a new planner? What features do you look for? Why type of layout do you like? How much do you want to spend on a planner? 

During the summer, I take time to relax, binge watch a show on Netflix, and get inspired with new ideas for the upcoming school year. One important task I take on in the summer is finding my ideal planner for the next school year. I don't write much down during the summer so I tend to use my iPhone for planning the few appointments I have each week.  So when I started looking at planners for the 2017-18 school year, I searched Pinterest and Amazon, watched You Tube videos, viewed online store products like Office Max and Wal Mart, and used Google search to figure out what would be the best choice for me.

In this post, I want to share my new Create 365 Happy Planner with you, show you some of it's features and provide you with a few resources and ideas specifically for educators and speech-language pathologists. Also included in this post is a link to a new product I created just for my readers. You definitely want to read to the end of this post for my new free download.