Happy Saturday!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all of you :) I know tomorrow is officially St. Patty's Day, but most of Pittsburgh is out celebrating (or maybe tired out from all the day partying by now).

Today, I worked a PRN (part time, as needed hourly) shift at a local skilled nursing facility (SNF) first thing this morning, and I was there throughout breakfast and lunchtime for the wonderful residents on SLP caseload there.  My caseload consisted of some really sweet people, but a lot of them were kind of bummed out in particular today- I think because today was such a gloomy day.  Rainy, chilly, and just plain 'ick' out.

At the end of the day though, I saw a few smiles, just from solving simple problems such as lack of heating (or turning it up!), oral-care, getting a favorite juice for them, etc.  Especially with our work in the skilled nursing facilities, SLP isn't JUST about what "treat" and what we "don't treat".  I especially try to live by the Golden Rule: "treat others how you want to be treated".  You never know when you'll find yourself in a position where you have to rely on others.  That's my soapbox about SNF's for the day :)

Anyway, I had a great day working there, and afterwards I had to get my "long" run in for the week.  My long run was 6.1 miles today, and I tried out some new shoes I found at a local running store.  I can't believe I'm half-way through training for May!  I have to start breaking in my shoes for the half marathon already...Wow!

After that long run, my body was in need of some serious healthy-food loving, so after I ran to Market District and grabbed a fresh peach-nectarine-whey smoothie (my new favorite, yum!)...then my fiance and I decided to whip up a healthy version of P.F. Chang's chicken lettuce wraps (without the sodium-packed 'special sauce').

Here's what you need:

• 1 lb. (or more) of finely chopped chicken breast (uncooked)
• 1 small onion (we didn't use the whole thing because we don't love onion), minced
• 1/2 container of mushrooms, chopped finely
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 can of sliced water chestnuts, drained and chopped finely
• lite soy sauce, for flavoring
• 1 head of iceberg or bibb lettuce
• Cooking oil spray (we used Spectrum's new coconut oil spray- I was so excited to try this out!)
• Optional* Green scallions (we did not use them)
• Also optional* Mung bean thread noodles AKA cellophane noodles and canola oil for frying

 To do:

1. Cook chicken in a wok or skillet that has been lightly sprayed with cooking oil, until no longer pink and no juice remains
2. Heat about 2" of canola oil -make sure you have enough in your pan! we didn't and I almost burned down the kitchen!- and throw the mung bean thread noodles in carefully until they pop and become fluffy white- you will know when they are done, they look like those "packing peanuts" when done.  Watch them carefully, and when they are done, carefully remove with tongs or slotted metal spoon and place on a paper towel to drain.
3. To the cooked chicken, add chopped/minced mushroom, onion, garlic, and water chestnuts until cooked through (I like to test a piece of water chestnut as they take the longest to cook).  At this point, add your soy sauce to your liking.
4. While waiting for your chicken mixture to finish cooking, cut iceberg lettuce into quarters (if large) or half (if small) to make it easy to "peel" the cups off of the head of lettuce
5. Clean lettuce cups by rinsing under cold water and draining on a paper towel
6. Plate the noodles on a large platter, and add your chicken mixture to the top!
7. Scoop noodle and chicken mixture into lettuce cups and enjoy!  Add additional soy sauce if you need more! We used soy sauce sparingly, so ours was slightly less moist than the traditional version.  Add as much as you'd like.

Thanks for stopping by! :) I hope you like the recipe!

Tuesday Musings

Today started off as usual… and then I got a visit from our wonderful Superintendent.  And when I say wonderful, I mean it!  We are lucky here at my school, to have been blessed with such a kind, thoughtful, and compassionate administrator.    

She informed me that I have been selected as Employee of the Month March 2013 AND that she nominated me for a local award, The Scott E. Folmer Memorial Student, Teacher and Exemplary Practice or Partnering Award (STEPP) for those involved in Special Education in Allegheny County here in PA.  I am honored!!!  She showed me the submission letter she wrote, and I am just completely in awe.  She puts into words the kinds of things you want to hear from your employer!  It was special to hear all of the great things she had to say.

Last night, I did some “design work” to my blog thanks to Projects Around the House (who I found through Pinterest! My obsession).  These tutorials were so easy, I was able to create social media icons and blog buttons thanks to her!  Also I used picmonkey and pixeden (for the social media silhouettes, mine were 32x32) to create the social media icons.  

I was intimidated at first, but with the tutorials, it was a breeze!  I hope you like them :)

All in all, today was a great day.  I finished some projects around the room, one of those being my "Artic Organizer" (see below) I hope your Tuesday was just as great! 

Check out my TpT Store- Here! :) 

TGIF!

Happy Friday! You’ll notice a new look to The Speechie.  What do you think? I found my chevron background for free at tinysea.  Thank you for this adorable fabric chevron pattern! I'm in love! Go visit their other patterns :)

Also you’ll notice that The Speechie should be a little easier to navigate, and read :) I'm still in the process of getting rid of some of the labels you see in the cloud to make categories more specific and less all-over-the-place.  But it takes time, people. :)

PS I have to thank to my friends on twitter @lessonpix and @azspeechguy for your suggestions!  Keep them coming! (Check out @azspeechguy’s blog the-speechguy.com)

I promised I would tell you what the "surprise" was for my special group of kiddos today... and here it is... "Pampering Day!"  Our Life Skills classroom had to earn this day of pampering presented to you by their resident SLP (that'd be me) and their wonderful Life Skills teacher, and classroom aides.  Our kids need a break every once in a while to relax and take care of their bodies, too!  We filed nails, applied lotion, painted nails and chatted about hygiene.  Each kiddo took home a Bath & Body Works treat bag with a mini hand sanitizer, mini loofah, and chapstick!

They were so excited all day leading up to our afternoon of primping.  The boys looked less than enthusiastic but they TOTALLY loved the cookie-scented sanitizer and the sugary smelling lotion.  Who doesn't love those smells? What a happy way to end the day! Their teacher did a great job of keeping it a surprise, too! Thanks Mrs. B!

Also the late nights of staying up to accomplish the things on my "To-Do" list are paying off... I am proud to announce I am now an official registered user of the ASHA NOMS system!

ASHA NOMS?  What's that you ask?

It's ASHA's National Outcomes Measurement System (NOMS), a voluntary data collection system developed to illustrate the value of speech-language pathology services provided to adults and children with communication and swallowing disorders (ASHA.org).  NOMS uses a 7-point rating scale to rate each functional area.  To read more go to ASHA NOMS website.  I was really proud to pass on the first try, and don't know why I was so nervous!  I know currently only 2 of my places of employment use this system, but it's great to have this in my toolkit!

And some info I think you may find useful, while I was at my second job yesterday, one of the clinicians I know was nice enough to tell me that PassyMuir has FREE CEU'S!!!  Whoop.  Always down for those.  Especially when they directly relate to my newest part-time job pickup (hospital setting, trachs & vents).

My TpT Store! :) Click here!

Sleepin' In

Well, we had a 2-hour delay today!  That meant sleeping in... and home-made breakfast crepes! And enjoying my coffee at home...ah what? :)

So, I took a basic crepe recipe and modified it to try to make it a tad healthier and tastier- or so I think :)

My recipe is NOT exact by any means.  So I'm very sorry if you're truly interested in exact measurements.  Don't be scared though, crepes are pretty easy going as long as you make them thin enough! Give them a try... if you do, please tell me how yours turned out!

The Speechie's Whole Wheat Crepes:

• 2 eggs
• A little less than 1 cup whole wheat flour
• About a tablespoon of milled flax seed, I just added this to the flour cup
• 1/2 cup almond milk (use any, mine was vanilla) with another splash (probably a tbsp. more) to thin it out
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons liquid coconut oil (it comes in a thickened state, you need to use warm water in a bowl to liquify it)

(The original recipe calls for eggs, regular flour, milk, water, and butter- I made substitutions as I saw "fit") :)

1. First, whisk the eggs with the milk and water, add in the coconut oil.  Slowly whisk in the flour & flax.
2. Pour batter using a 1/4 cup measure into a skillet or on a griddle that has been "greased" with coconut oil (use sparingly! I only had to add about a tsp. one time and it kept my pan nice and stick-free for the whole round of crepes!)  Use about a little less-than-medium heat.
3. Tilt and turn pan clockwise until you have a nice even layer of crepe batter (this is why I use a skillet not a griddle, easier to pick up and swirl!)
4. Flip with a nice flexible spatula once you see that the underside has cooked through.  You will be able to tell because the edges turn nice and solid and are a give away that it's ready to flip!
5. Sprinkle finished crepes with cinnamon if you wish!

And that's it! Yum.

Though, I have to admit, they are a little plainer than I was hoping... I was hoping for some more coconut/almond-y flavor... but it's nice that you can add whatever toppings you'd like and it won't clash! I used lite syrup to top mine, but you could totally try them dry or add fruit or whatever!

Other than that, the Speechie's day was cut a little short by the delay.  But I am loving my new organizational system for my loose papers... it's called a Fold 'N File (by Thirty One of course) and I love this chevron stripe pattern. It makes me so happy, and happy to stay organized.  I have coordinating colored file folders (of course,... Hello OCD!) to organize my papers into what needs to go to "where".  I keep Post-its, "Please Sign and Return" stickers, pen, and highlighter handy in the front pockets, and of course, the ever-present bottle of Vanilla Bean Noel- my favorite!

My folders:

• Office
• Copy
• To File
• Rosters (yes, plural. I have K-12 I need multiple class rosters!)
• Sub Information
• Emergency Information
• Read Later

And my Speechie kids got a kick out of using Look Who's Listening for multiple "kinds" of therapy today!  This game is super versatile and can be used as the board alone with the smiley's for reinforcement, or used with the cards that come with it for therapy.

Notice we used our large dice, too :)
The cards included are:
Auditory Discrimination (minimal pairs, word parts, sounds in words)
Auditory Memory (numbers, words, sentences, facts/details in a paragraph)
Auditory Integration (interpretation of directions, listening for key words, following multi-level commands)

Very, very useful and the kiddos love rolling the dice to see how many smiley's go on the board!

So all in all, it's been a good week!  As always, keep checking back for more fun :)

Dedicated...

This is dedicated to my First Grade Teacher friends... you know who you are! Thanks for reminding me that someone (or somebodies) are reading along :)

And you'll be REALLY proud I'm not slacking tonight!  :) I had an awesome day for it being a Monday... come on, you all get the Monday blues.  When you're pulling in to your parking spot thinking, "Where did my weekend go?"  Anyway I'm super excited about this week.

First...because the week started off great.  You guys, I got my run in at 5 am today.  Thank my fiancé for that one.

Second because I thought of the cutest idea for a reward at the end of the week for a special group of Speechie friends.  I can't spoil it and tell you though, sorry! ;) You'll find out Friday, promise.

Third, because I was productive this evening, woo hoo! Take a look below...

I can't wait to share this with you.  It started off like any other mini-lesson, blank and waiting for some cute clipart... and it hit me.  Add some cotton candy!  So, Regular and Irregular Verb Cotton Candy was born. Here's a preview :)

And I think it's pretty sweet- haha- get it?  Well cotton candy reminds me of all things "springy", it's bright, and sweet, and I usually indulge in some when I am watching hanging out at the Pirate game at PNC Park, or at Kennywood.

So in light of the massive snow storm we are supposed to get Tuesday night in through Wednesday, here is my cheery new mini-lesson.  Enjoy!

Goodnight friends!

Winding Down

Wow, it's been seriously a whole week since I last hopped on here.

It's been a crazy one, for sure! Lots of transfer-students coming in, and IEP's due, new referrals galore and my SLP friends out there, you know what I'm talking about!  It sometimes comes in all at once, even when you are super prepared and ahead of schedule :)  Sometimes I will go a stretch for about a few weeks where I think -phew- all is calm at work, and then BAM! It seems like I have lots going on.  And by "calm" I mean the usual flow of work, but just at a steady pace.

I was so busy I really didn't even have time to grab any cool pictures of my students hard at work (which they were!).  Here's my collection of school bags gathered on the therapy table though! ;) No wonder some of my colleagues laugh as I walk in the door!

 I really have to give a shout out to my Speechie kids though, because I know in the dreary middle of winter, it is SO hard to focus.  It's like your brain and body are begging for sunlight and warmer temperatures.  But they have been at it.  They have even been entertaining my crazy antics in the Speechie's Room, too.  You know it's great to take your job seriously, but sometimes kiddos just really "tune in" more when you throw a funny joke or a silly face in there (which I feel like I make all the time, especially in artic & apraxia therapy)!

I seriously LOVE my job.  I feel like sometimes I don't say that enough.  I feel so so blessed to have found my school, and also to have chosen Speech-Language Pathology as my field of work.  And what I love even more is that the teachers I work with are realizing the impact that communication has on learning.  They are celebrating the "baby steps" even when others don't view the successes as that great.  They are appreciating more, understanding more, and collaborating more.  I know lots of people who gripe about their workplace and I feel really great to be in the position I'm in.  If you are one of my colleagues, THANK YOU! :)

All in all, this has been a great weekend.  I have started some new projects, and finished a few others.  Due to the popularity of my mini-lesson, "Synonym and Antonym Clouds" which you can view in my TpT store here, I am working on creating a few more mini-lessons.  'Cause let's face it, therapy is basically little "mini-lessons" all day long!  We wear many hats as SLP's, and I think these mini-lessons are great to have in your pocket (or...PC, Mac, whatever) for those days where you don't have a lot of time!

In other news, here's a cute picture to brighten your day.  This is my adorable niece, on my laptop, dancing along to SuperWhy songs on PBS kids jukebox.  That's her favorite show and I think it's so neat that instead of watching re-runs on YouTube when she's over visiting, that we can play the music from the show and dance along!

Enjoy your Sunday night and keep checking back for more!
PS... please let me know what you think! :)