Tasty Treats

Good morning!

I wanted to take a second to share what I "made" my students this year as their annual holiday treat.  Sometimes I go over the top, and other times I keep it pretty simple.  This was a simple kind of year, obviously. :)


Here it is!  What do you think?

Time's flying!

Hey everyone, hope you all are enjoying your week!  It's been pretty frigid here in southwestern PA.

I am so excited to get a small break soon (6 days, but who's counting?!) because I have so many little projects I am working on.  I also have been trying out a few different things that are new to me (but that some of you might use already) to try to free up some of my time and increase my productivity. 

Google Drive is one of the new tools that I have been trialing in my workplace... so far it has been helping me share files between my computers (laptop and work computer), iPad and yes, iPhone!  AND via instructions I stumbled upon at the blog Cooking Up Gallon Size Fun for Quart Size Communicators, I've been learning how to create a paperless schedule and data collection system!

Check it out here!  It was so, so easy.  Thank you so much to Heather!  I look forward to seeing more of your blog!  I used the system today with the 'go-ahead' from my supervisor and it really is awesome.  Not ALL of my students are in my Google Drive yet, but I can assure you that they will be soon!  Using it today gave me excitement I needed to add 20 more.  It takes some time, yes... but so worth it in the end.

Basically, you create a "form" for every student that looks kind of like this:

Then you copy the form, and change the student-specific information (goals, IEP date), and voila! 

Also- I have to add- make sure you are HIPPA compliant by not putting any full names on the forms, even though it only goes to your personal account.  Better safe than sorry! :)  I am not going to give a full tutorial because Heather's is pretty amazing.  So if you have more questions, ask and I will definitely try to help.

I hope you found this somewhat helpful, I am so excited to go "paperless" because I feel like I use so much in a given school year.   What do you use for data collection?

Picture Tuesday :)

I finally have some pictures for you!

My new theme is based off of my new favorite print from Thirty One, Party Punch! :) I love the mint, gray, lime green and pink.

 

I bought this file folder organizer in the print from a Thirty One party, and I cannot live without it. 

...So much so that I bought another one!  I love their products and they are so useful and durable.

Notice my EOS lip balm never leaves my desk! :) Addicting!

 Here is my new "waiting area" :)  If you were familiar with the make-up of my previous room, you'll know I like to keep some chairs and comfy pillows handy for the students or others who are waiting!

 

Did you notice my little table got an upgrade?  So bright, I love it.  My pillows from left-to-right are from: handmade, Michaels, HomeGoods and Wal-Mart!

 

 I did go out and buy some new fabric to match my theme, most of it is from Hobby Lobby.  I probably will never shop anywhere else for fabric since theirs is always on sale!

 

Calendar and weather wall!  Love this bright chevron.

 My "Articulation Station" wall.  Where I can quickly grab artic materials.  Complete with tissue paper flowers... which are soo easy to make.  I found step by step directions from Pinterest here.

My behavior and rewards wall!  The "wooden" wall is actually fadeless paper that my wonderful sister introduced me to.  I had to buy additional paper because my wall is so wide & tall, but make sure you take a coupon if you grab some!  It's about $9 a roll (depending on where you go), mine was from Michael's.

 

About the behavior clip chart portion: our school is adopting the School Wide Positive Behavior Support (SWPBS) system and I have my own clip chart in the Speech Room so that students realize their behavior matters everywhere in school, even in Specials and therapy.  You can grab the one I made here.

 The top of the behavior and reward wall... reinforcing our "clips" :)

And new this year... reward punch cards!  I got the idea when I was at Giant Eagle, not kidding.  Kind of like when you use your "Advantage Card" at the store and earn perks-  students earn a hole punch for bringing their folder, and a hole punch for participating in Speech class that day.  Once a student has his or her card filled up, a prize is earned!  It took some students a little too long to earn prizes in my room with the sticker chart and occasional birthdays, so I added this in.  So far it's been a really great motivator!

 

And another new addition: our weekly "To-Do" list.  It helps the students and I keep track of what's going on this week, birthdays, assemblies, and other goings on for our school.  With my wide scope of grades (K-12) it is easy to lose track of what is going on and when! 

This was my room all ready for Open House at the end of September.  Open House went really well and I think it's going to be a great year (as always)! I will post more pictures soon.  I hope you enjoyed them!

-The Speechie :)

Long lost blogger

Well, I am ashamed it has been FIVE months since I have been at it, but I promise... I've had good reason!  And whether or not you believe me- I'm back for good.  You can't get rid of me now!

Why was I gone?
1) I got married! :)
2) We are renovating a WHOLE house
3) It was summer?? Okay, okay,... horrible excuse.

I know I could have done a much better job at least of posting some things here and there (especially since I DID work on Speechie things over the summer... promise) but then I wouldn't have all kinds of good things saved up to share with you for the beginning of the year, would I?

To make up for it, if you comment on the blog I will send you my new back to school APPLES game for FREE!  It's a little game you can use as an ice-breaker for the beginning of the year, or tag it onto your therapy session for a little extra fun.  Who doesn't love something super easy you can just print, cut and go with? I know I do!

It's currently in my TpT store for back to school along with my version of the clip chart we are adopting for our schools new positive behavior support system.  Being my OCD-self, I needed a "modern" patterned clipchart to go with the theme of my room for this year.  Pictures to come :)

For now, it's midnight and I have in service tomorrow! TGIF ;)

All Caught Up

So I thought maybe I’d get caught up on my blog over Spring Break… wrong!

So here I am, it’s April and I'm wondering how time flies by so quickly.  On one hand I have been wishing the days to go by, because I can't wait to be my Mr.'s "Mrs." :) but on the other hand, I feel like I don't have time for the fun stuff I usually do :)

 

I haven’t gotten much done in the realm of new materials or trying new recipes or anything Pinterest-worthy, but I did have a great time over break with my family. :) I hope all of you did, too!  Here's a little look at what took up my time over "break"!

PS My family had the most hilarious discussion about Twitter and we were literally cracking up (and my fiance was even reading some of my tweets out loud which make me laugh really hard and of course, my family, too)

One of the stories I have to share with you from the last couple of weeks:

The week before break, my staff held a jean day.  This isn't unusual in the fact that it's a jean day- which we all have come to love because it means one less "work" outfit a week- but in that my principal agreed that we could donate to AutismSpeaks.org in honor of World Autism Awareness Day, by wearing blue; via the Light It Up Blue! campaign.  If you haven't heard of it, check it out here.  Anyways this was really fantastic and generous of our school, and I cannot wait to donate our first check from my school to Autism Speaks, which is definitely a deserving organization.  We held our awareness day early, as my principal asked if this was okay.  Totally fine by me, of course.

Well, as a result of our school supporting the Light It Up Blue! campaign, our school announcements (which are shown every morning on the SmartBoard podcast through iTunes) featured an short clip throughout the week telling the students that they were invited to wear blue in honor of Autism Awareness Month.  And through the week, I had a few students ask me, "What is autism?"

"...Is it a disease??" "Does that mean you're sick?"

::pause::

"Oh wait," said one of my students, "I know someone with autism!"

"It means you REALLY like something, right!?"

I was very humbled to be able to explain the meaning of autism (of course in terms that were age-appropriate to whomever was asking) to my students that week.  Knowing that because of this fundraiser, not only did staff-awareness of autism increase, but student awareness as well.

I know MANY special people.  As a speech-language pathologist, I know many special people who have autism, too.  But just because you know one person with autism, doesn't mean you know them all.  We're all different.  This was the message I made sure my students took home that week.

Happy Wednesday friends,

 

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! :)