Do you remember your first year as an SLP? The excitement mixed with nerves, the years of study which you thought prepared you completely for the job but which you soon realised didn’t! It’s a wonderful time when you finally get to practice all the theory and get to see how different therapies help different students in real life. Today we have a guest post from Alysa who is in her CFY year. She is excited to start her first year as a working SLP. With such a gorgeous room we are excited right along with her!
We all know that first impressions matter – and with this great room, it’s clear that Alysa has style! But a closer look reveals that she has substance behind the style. She has given a lot of thought to what it means to be an SLP and the framed poster on her desk reflects this:
You can download this poster for FREE here from TpT. Alysa is well prepared for life in the real speech room – she knows that students respond well to rewards and has set up a rewards system already:
She explains her reward chart like this: “Each student will place his or her clothespin on “above the line” on a physical behavior scale at the beginning of a session. Every time the student finishes a session “above the line” and doesn’t have to move their clothespin, he or she will be given a gold coin to put in his or her card. When they earn 5, they’ll choose from 5 minutes on the iPad, a rock from the rock jar, or a prize from the prize bin.”
“The addition of a “beyond the line” scale will encourage the students to display behavior that is above and beyond and serve as good role models for peers. I always ensure that I’m focusing on the positive behaviors just as frequently (if not MORE) than the undesirable behaviors”
If you are loving the cute little chevron design envelopes like me and want to know where you can get them – they are from Office Max.
As every student is different and requires a different approach, Alysa has set up different areas within her room for different types of therapy:
A softly colored area with warm shades of peach and pink and a comfy chair with fluffy rug for more relaxed forms of therapy and down-time.
A more energetic area with bolder shades of green and blue – with games to play and the whiteboard table to be used for resources.
…And a more formal area where students can sit at the desks for therapy and completing worksheets.
Alysa has a good understanding of what a good speech room is made up of and we have enjoyed seeing the way she has put it all together in this room. We wish her all the best in her CFY year and look forward to seeing how her speech room develops as she settles into her new role! Thanks Alysa for sharing your first speech room with us!
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