Get Funded with Donor's Choose

Funding for speech therapy materials is scarce for public school speech-language pathologists. Limited funding and a large caseload often means purchasing only a handful of new materials each year. In addition, public school speech-language pathologists frequently buy their own materials in order to meet students' needs and address target goals properly.

DonorsChoose.org is a United States 501 non-profit organization that connects local donors with educators to fund public school classroom projects. Since it's founding in 2000 by a high school teacher, DonorsChoose.org has funded over 1,000,000 classroom projects.  When I discovered DonorsChoose.org, I did a little research and then started the process of creating a project of my own.

Quick and Easy Activity to Teach Inference Skills

Do you need a quick hook to grab the attention of your students? Are you introducing a new theme, topic, or skill? Mystery Bags are a fun way to elicit student engagement. Mystery Bags are a common use in elementary classrooms as a form of show-and-tell. This activity is so versatile and can be used to address many different goals. So whether your students are in elementary or middle school, this activity will address their goals. 

In this post, I want to share with you some new ways to use Mystery Bags in your speech therapy lessons.

5 Reasons Why I Chose the Happy Planner PLUS a FREE Download

Are you looking for a new planner? What features do you look for? What 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. 

What You Need to Know About Boosting Tier 2 Vocabulary

Vocabulary is a key component to learning. Not only is it an important part of communication, but it is one of the essential layers for establishing literacy. The National Reading Panel, 2001 identified Vocabulary as one of the 5 key components for learning to read (Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Vocabulary, Fluency, Text Comprehension). In addition, vocabulary is learned indirectly through conversation, life experiences, media, and listening to stories, as well as through direct instruction such as: word studies, frequent exposure and use, and a systematic approach. Vocabulary is essential for academic success, and both RtI (Response to Intervention) and speech-language therapy can be an important factor in remediation for vocabulary deficits. 
In this post I will outline what you need to know about Tier 2 Vocabulary, offer 8 fun intervention activities, and provide you with my Tier 2 Vocabulary FREEBIE!