Heading back to work tomorrow and I have one thing on my mind (ok, a few things), but one is goals. That word that drives so much of what we do with our students and especially at this time of year, ourselves. I’ve always felt one of the biggest perks of working in a school, other than the option for summers off, is the ability to wipe the slate clean and start anew each year! We, as SLPs, can have a totally new caseload, with different students and staff to collaborate with (at least in my setting). We can be targeting entirely different speech and language objectives as well as behavioral challenges. Change can be a great thing. And with this beautiful breeze in the air (a la Hermine), I feel ready for some change and personal goal setting.
This year for me is about organization. My 4th grade teacher (and childhood hero) always said “organization is the key to success.” She even gave us each a key-ring with a ribbon, carefully emblazoned with “success” in gold glitter glue (of course, a future SLP’s hero). Truthfully, being more organized is a goal of mine every year and probably will always need to be. I can easily get caught up in therapy and making fun materials for my kids and let the boring stuff fall to the back burner. So, this year I’m vowing to stay on top of the paperwork, maintain organized student folders, and a more systematic method of parent correspondence.
This brings me to a FREEBIE I’d like to share. While I am amazed at how AAC devices can change lives, I am less than thrilled with the amount of extra work that accompanies them. Something always needs fixing, or updating, or locking and unlocking and I’m trying to stay ahead of the game. Below is a form that I have been using since last year to keep my student’s AAC device information organized. I usually keep it in their speech folders, but this year I’m going to keep an AAC binder that has all of the information completed and accessible. Click the picture below to download the new form from my TpT store!
What are some of your goals for the new school year?
Love and language,
Jaclyn
