Change? I hate change! Or do I???

I have always thought of myself as a person who dreads change. There are many times when I find myself wishing that "things" could go back to being just as they were. But then I got to really thinking about changes, and it turns out that I don't really hate ALL change.  So what's the deal? What kinds of changes do I dread? Here's a list of some changes I've experienced in the last six months and how I feel about them.

1. Online mobile deposits with my bank app: Bring it on! I love it! Such a time-saver!

2.  My middle son moving to Seattle:  Boo!

3.  Progress in treatment (both monumental and small): Yay! I love it! It inspires me!

4.  Buying a new car:  Boo! Too much work and I hate the payments.

5.  Meeting and networking with new online SLP friends: Love it any day of the week!

6.  New procedures for preauthorization of services through the insurance company I bill to the most: Awful. Don't even get me started.

7. My favorite grocery store closing after being "my store" for the past 20 years: What? They can't do this to me! Don't they know how convenient it is for me to shop there?  I know where everything is! Ugh!

8. A new locally-sourced grocery story opening in the new shopping center: Yes! I love all the healthy food options! (But it IS located in a spot that is less convenient.) (And I don't know where anything is.)

9.  Needing to paint my kitchen: Rats. It's been like this for 12 years now. It's just fine, right?

But the best one is #10, so (drumroll please), without further ado...

10. Giving my blog and social media sites a makeover: Yes! I'm so excited! I can't believe I've waited THIS LONG to do it! And Blogs Fit for a Queen did a fabulous job with the design and pulling it all together.

So what do you think of the new look??? I hope you like it, because I won't be changing it anytime soon!

Bananagrams for Synonyms

I pulled out an old favorite this week: Bananagrams! I forgot how much this kids like this one and how many different ways there are to use it to target language goals. I'm going to share how we played this week.

First, each player chose twenty letters. I left the letters facing up so the kids could choose the ones they wanted.  The directions were to use all twenty letters to make words, crossword puzzle style. The players could exchange letters one at a time if they needed a different letter to make a word, and add a few extra to complete the final word if necessary.

After the players' words were complete, each player named the words they made. Then, they took turns choosing one of their words and naming a synonym for that word. If they couldn't think of one, we looked the word up on Thesaurus.com.

Next week, we're going to try this again with word associations. Instead of naming a synonym, I'll have the students name a word that goes along with each word.

Do you use Bananagrams in treatment? Tell me how in the comments!

Pairing a Picture Dictionary with the Expanding Expression Tool

I've been using Sara Smith's Expanding Expression Tool (EET) for a couple of years now to help my students define and describe objects and make word associations. It is a multi-sensory tool for improving oral language, and I have witnessed first-hand how effective it can be in helping students organize their thoughts when defining and describing objects and their functions. The tool is simply a string of colored beads that are used as cues to help the students remember what to include in their descriptions. Each color represents a different facet of the definition. For example, the green bead reminds the student to name the group the item belongs to, blue prompts them to tell what the object does, etc. If you're unfamiliar with this tool, you should really check it out. Just click on the link above.

But for those of you who know all about EET and use it as part of your treatment, I want to share how I've been using it with my upper elementary and younger middle school students.  I've been pairing it with a picture dictionary, a dry erase pouch and dry erase markers.

I just choose a page and slide the page right into the dry erase pouch to keep the page clean and protected. Next, I choose one of the words on the page.

We used colored dry erase pens in corresponding colors to underline the elements of the definition of the chosen word. We found three separate things that ice does or what people do with ice, so we underlined them in blue. Next we used the tool to review the possible parts of a definition and read the definition again, underlining the group name with green, what it's made of with brown, and it's attributes with black. We noted that this dictionary's definition did not include a detail corresponding to the white bead (i.e. where you would find it), so the student restated the definition adding that extra information.

Here's an example of one we did using six different colors.

This definition was pretty complete, so we didn't need to add a thing. But since both of these items were on the same page, we decided to use the definitions to compare and contrast the objects. The color-coded key words really helped simplify the task and keep the responses organized.

Do you use EET? If so, I'd love to hear how you use it! Leave me your ideas in the comments.

*I am not affiliated with the makers of The Expanding Expression Tool in any way, nor am I being compensated to review this product. The treatment ideas and opinions in this post are solely mine.

TpT Back to School Sale: What's in Your Cart? {Linky Party}

Can you believe how fast summer is flying by and that we're already thinking of going back to school? It's crazy! But it's also that time of year when Teachers Pay Teachers holds their back to school sale where buyers can save up to 28% on all their purchases!  Jenna at Speech Room News is hosting her annual linky party so we can all tell you about the great products we've got in our carts, so you can get some ideas of what to put in yours!

Here's a couple of items you should check out from my store:

I really LOVE my newest product, Back to School Scavenger Hunts and I Spy Games. You can target almost any goal you want with the I Spy activities. I use them all the time with every child on my caseload. The Scavenger Hunt lists each target a specific skill, including object function, attributes, negatives, colors and social skills.  I just know you'll find this product useful!

Another one of my favorites is an oldie-but-goodie: Monkey Buisness: Carryover Activity for R, S, L and Blends.  It's perfect for practicing words in sentences and laying the groundwork for skill generalization to conversation!

Now, what's in my cart that I can't wait to purchase???

The first item is Ashley's Category Asking and Answering WH Questions. I've got several little buddies who are working on these skills and this product looks like it will be a great addition to my lesson plans.

Look how cute this Apple unit by Collette the Alberta Speechie is? This will be the perfect fall unit for my preschoolers!

I'm also loving TLC Talk Shop's Receptive and Expressive Language Builder Back to School Edition. This one targets so many skills including description skills, inferencing skills, and asking and answering questions.

Here's one that EVERYBODY who works on articulation needs: Articulation Deep Test for R by my friend Tracy. This test is so amazingly inclusive and will be perfect for helping me identify exactly which targets to address.

After all of that, I really NEED this one:

Organize Your Speech Files by Jennifer Bradley should help me do just that! I am sooooo looking forward to getting more organized!

Want to see what some other bloggers have in their carts? Go visit Jenna's blog to see who else linked up!

Happy Shopping!

Pam

Back to School Scavenger Hunts and I Spy Games

I know it's only the end of July, but I am already planning some of my back to school activities. I have a diverse caseload of kids in preschool through middle school, and I love to find activities that can be adapted to use with almost all of them. My kids just love treasure hunts, I Spy games and racing the clock in timed challenges, so I created this packet to include all three of those motivating activities.

This product features two colorful I Spy! game boards that can be used in a variety of ways.  I like to use them with my preschoolers to target categories, attributes, colors, letter recognition and object function. I just ask them to find "something in the sky" or "an animal that lives in the zoo", and have them cover the item with a checker after its found.

I use these boards in so many ways! I use them with the checklists that are included to find objects belonging to categories, but here are some other ideas:  Adapt it for working on S-blends by having the student say "I spy a ____" while finding each item. Use it to target negatives by finding items NOT in the category listed, and have them say, "A ___ is NOT a ____." or "A ____ DOESN'T have ____." Have the students direct others to find specific objects by describing them. Be creative! 

I've got a couple of older elementary students who struggle with processing information quickly and have difficulty with rapid naming tasks, so I created two rapid naming checklists to go along with each board. 

All you need is a stopwatch (there's probably one on your cellphone), a dry erase pouch to put the I Spy game boards in, a dry erase pen to cross off items as they are found, and a pencil to record the number of items found. I have the students name the items as they find them, often having them state the color of the object as well.

My older kids really love this one! Anytime they can race the clock, they are happy campers. This would be a great activity to target fluency, too.

The second part of this product is the set of five different scavenger hunt lists.  There's a color hunt for the little ones...

...ones that feature object functions, attributes and negatives...

...and one that targets social skills. I've even included an extension activity targeting follow-up questions.

These scavenger hunts are perfect to use one-on-one or with a group, or even for sending home as homework.  I haven't used them with my kids yet, but I just know they'll be a hit!

Want to add these to your back-to-school lesson plans? You can find them in my TpT Store, so just click on over.

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Pam

SLPs in Vegas LInky Party

I was one of those fortunate speech-language pathologists who attended the Teachers Pay Teachers Seller Conference in Las Vegas last weekend.  It was such an amazing time of learning, inspiration and friendship that I just have to share what I took away from it!

First, let me just say that I love to create my own treatment materials and share them with you, but I am NOT a Mover or a Shaker in the TpT world. I am just a lowly little seller trying to build her store and learn some things along the way. But the opportunity came up for me to attend this conference, and I decided to go, despite the fact that I had only "met" the other SLPs in the group online. I even agreed to share a room with one of them!

My roommate, the lovely Tracy from Gold Country SLP

Meeting Tracy and all of the other amazing SLP creator/sellers was BY FAR the best thing about going to the conference. Look who I got to spend time with:

That's Lisette from Speech Sprouts...

...here's Lynda from Lynda SLP 123 with Susan Berkowitz...

...Ashley from AGB Speech Therapy and Ashley Rossi...

...Kelly from Speech 2 U (who is extremely witty and hilarious)...

...and the Fabulous Mia from Putting Words in Your Mouth! I was star-struck!!!

There were many others too, but I wasn't fortunate enough to get pics with all of them.  But here's the whole group:

We ROCKED those t-shirts, by the way. Everyone at the conference knew who the SLPs were! Here's me wearing mine on the day it arrived in the mail:

I was so excited! I had no idea what to expect before I went, but I knew it was going to be fun.

So, what did I take away from this experience besides meeting new life-long friends and colleagues? I learned A TON about marketing, the ins and outs of being a TpT seller, using social media, and product design.  I can't share any of the conference sessions' info or content, but I can tell you this: if you're a TpT seller and you want to improve your skills, GO to this conference next year. Why?

1.  Networking! Many of us SLP sellers/bloggers already belong to Facebook groups and have gotten to know each other through social media, but actually meeting these wonderful people in person is beyond compare! Even though we're all sellers competing for our share of the market, this group of ladies is incredibly supportive of each other's efforts. We talked about tips and tricks that have worked for us, laughed about failures and mis-steps, and taught each other things about PowerPoint, Pinterest and Periscope.

2.  Inspiration!  I met so many inspiring people and heard so many encouraging words from other sellers and presenters. Teachers Pay Teachers is an incredible resource for speech-language pathologists, too, and I am blessed to be a part of it.

3. Motivation! All kinds of sellers were represented at this conference. Those who are just beginning, those who (like me) keep plugging along and want to build their stores, and those who have reached the stars in their success. Regardless of where you are on this continuum, this conference provided the motivation to improve your skills as a blogger, seller and professional. I left feeling overwhelmed by my new to-do list, but at the same time, ready to move forward and grow with a clear plan in place.

I came home with my mind buzzing with new ideas, ready to put some new-found energy into my products and blog, secretly wondering how in the world I was going to juggle it all, and reminded myself that the key is BALANCE. So I took some time out to go watch some of the Special Olympic events taking place at a nearby high school on Sunday.

Wow, talk about inspiration and motivation! Those athletes are the epitome of those two words! How can I not be inspired by the athlete who stopped to pump his fist in the air to acknowledge the cheers of the crowd before crossing the finish line? Or the athlete with physical challenges who ran the race to the best of his ability, even if it meant finishing minutes behind the winner? Watching these athletes compete and succeed and observing the pride and support of their families reminded me that THESE are the lives we are impacting with our services and products. If I can make a difference for one, that is reason enough to keep going. I may finish miles behind other sellers and their sales goals, but I am going to celebrate my victories along the way.

Want to know what some of my friends took away from their time at the conference? Click on the link below!

Speech Sprouts SLPs in Vegas Linky Party

Homework Hotline Linky

I'm linking up with my friend Tracy from Gold Country SLP  to let you know about two of my products that would be fantastic to send home as homework this summer or any time of year. They are both designed to be used with preschoolers and K-1, and are completely black and white with no prep required!

The first one is my Blowing Bubbles Categories.  This one has four different activities for identifying members of categories and naming categories in three different formats: dot paint worksheets, cut and paste, and flip books, which are great for using in the car. My parents tell me they like to pull them out and use them when they're in carpool lines, or at the gas station, or anytime they find themselves waiting for a few minutes. Great idea!

The second one is a companion product that targets early developing sounds, called Blowing Bubbles Early Sounds. These print-and-go worksheets feature 5 different words per page and are great for using with dot paints, but you could cover the pictures with chips, erasers or anything else you'd like. Picture cards are also included. My families LOVE these!

You'll find both of these items in my TpT Store!

Thanks for stopping by! Now go back to Tracy's blog and visit some other talented blogger's pages to gather some more awesome homework ideas!