Hi, my name is Joanne, & I'm *addicted* to Pinterest...

I knew that I would need to write a post about my Pinterest obsession, so why not get that out of the way now? If you look at the bottom of my page, you'll see the "Follow Me on Pinterest" button. Feel free to click and it will take you to my Pinterest page. There, you can be brave and select "Follow All" or glance through and choose to follow the boards that catch your eye. Most of my boards are SLP-related, but some of them are just your average "tips and tricks for everyday life" or fun "DIY" projects.

Pinterest is an amazing tool for Speech-Language Pathologists! It offers a plethora of therapy activities and ideas to implement into your sessions. (FYI: I try to find as many free items and activities as possible and add a "$" to anything that costs money.) It's also a great resource for information on a variety of disorders and techniques to use in treatment. Although I have not used it for this purpose yet, Pinterest can also be helpful for promoting your products and blogs.

If you do not have a Pinterest account yet, I highly recommend that you rush to create one! You'll thank me later.

Have a wonderful day & thanks for reading!
- Joanne

I need to get better at this whole "blogging" thing...

Greetings!

I promise that I had a purpose for this post, but it currently eludes me. Oh well, random rambling it is...

A little background info: I'm currently a contract SLP who works mostly in schools and home health settings. Yesterday was my last day of school for the 2012 - 2013 school year. I honestly have no idea how I survived this year! One of my schools was a particular challenge as it was approximately 20 very low-functioning InD elementary students. I had worked with higher functioning InD students, but these kiddos were a whole new world to me. My first week there was a particularly eye-opening experience. I went in with good intentions and my lesson plan ready. I quickly learned that any paper activities (i.e. coloring pages, etc...) were a "no-go" in one class when a student ate a chunk of paper as I was handing it to him. Luckily, I was able to react somewhat quickly and not allow him to eat the whole page. :/

 Of course, everything worked out in the end and I got to know and love the students. (Well, to tell the truth,  I didn't really love one of them who was my size and would slap me in the face/kick me/scream expletives. I strongly disliked her actions towards me, but I know it's something that she couldn't control due to various impairments. Let's just say I tolerated her on her bad days and actually liked her during her good moments.) One of my favorite go-to lessons with my students were book companion sets I purchased from TPT (TeachersPayTeachers.com just in case you've somehow never heard of it). I hope to, in the future, get permission from various TPT sellers and review their products, which I have already purchased and used, on this blog. I also have a goal to get my TPT store up and running. 

I seriously cannot remember what I had planned to write about in this post. Goodness gracious! I guess I'll have to revisit it later, and now I know to jot ideas down whenever they come to me. :)

Have a fantastic day & thank you for reading! 
Joanne

Whoonu!

One of my all-time favorite speech/language therapy games!

Whoonu is a great therapy game for all ages! My students absolutely love this game, and I do too! It's a wonderful "getting to know you" game for initial sessions, and it has many practical therapy applications as well. One player gets to be the "judge" each round, while the other players choose a card from their deck in hopes that the judge will select it as his or her favorite. The judge then places the cards face up, in order of most to least favorite (with, you guessed it, the most favorite counting for the highest point value). As the judge completes this task, he or she needs to explain each choice using clear, fluent speech and complete sentences- that's how you sneak those IEP goals into all the fun. ;)

Some Speech-Language Therapy Applications:
* Articulation- Since I enjoy this game as well, I play with the group. For my artic kids, I
   choose the cards based on their speech sounds, not necessarily the cards that will score me
   the most points.
* Fluency- Students are asked to use smooth, fluent speech while explaining their selections
* Language - I require each student to explain their choices using complete sentences. 
* Pragmatics - The students interact appropriately with peers & use good turn-taking skills.

I hope this game makes its way on to your list of go-to therapy games! :)

Whoonu Game on Amazon.com 

These are my personal opinions and I have not been compensated in any way. :)

Getting the ball rolling...

Greetings!

I doubt that anyone is reading this now, but I need to get this blog started at some point...

The purpose of this blog is to provide therapy ideas for fellow SLPs and also share random helpful tips. (Some friends suggested that I share wedding-related tips since I have plenty of those...so stay tuned!) I've been inspired by so many blogs, and I aspire to one day be as talented with my own.

So, with that being said: Welcome, please make yourself at home, and join me on my blogging journey. :) 

Joanne

Oh, I should probably explain what the whole "BubblySLP" thing is about. My profession practically requires me to have a bubbly personality & actual bubbles are a necessity when working with little ones since they are mesmerized by them. ;)