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! :) 

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 :)

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! :)