My Favorite Blogs: Non Speechie

I started my first blog when I was pregnant with Finn, about five years ago. It became a place for friends and family to catch up on the latest news from our little home.  My husband and I were pretty committed to almost daily posts, but this fell by the wayside as baby number two came along and life got busy. We still post occasionally on our family blog, but probably not as much as our extended family would like.

Although I don't spend too much time blogging, I do enjoy reading other people's blogs. Here are my faves, the non-speechie types:

Creative Inspiration Blogs:

Want to see the most amazing art teacher in the whole entire world?? Now I think I want to go back to college and pursue a new career. But, I would have to copy everything Cassie does. Here she is: cassiestephens.blogspot.com

This is an awesome lifestyle blog with some cute kids. This  woman is a cooler mom than I will ever be, I get inspired with each of her posts: bleubirdvintage.typepad.com/blog

A great blog for mamas with sons. Nothing too girlie here!: allfortheboys.com

One of the most famous scrap-bookers around, Ali Edwards is simply amazing. Plus, she has a son with autism that she frequently writes about. It is neat to hear a mother's perspective on her son's abilities: aliedwards.com

Elise combines creativity, working and motherhood onto this blog, an inspiration for me. Plus, her house is amazing: eliseblaha.typepad.com

Blogs about People I don't Know:

Enjoy the Small Things is a blog full of great photography and honest confessions. A mom of three published a book, Bloom, documenting the surprise arrival of her daughter with Downs Syndrome. Enjoy: kellehampton.com

We all have secrets, here are some great ones: postsecret.com

The Nienie Dialogues is about a family in Utah and their life changing event: a fiery plane crash. Caught your interest? And no, it is not fiction, it is real life: nieniedialogues.blogspot.com

Funny Blogs:

Have you seen this one yet? It is pretty funny: awkwardfamilyphotos.com

This blog helps me to keep up with all current Hollywood gossip. Half the time I don't "get it," but it is pretty funny anyway: butyourelikereallypretty.com


Now that you have more blogs to follow, how do you read them? I was a die hard google reader follower. I loved it and was bummed when it shut down this past summer. How would I continue to follow my blogs? Would I have to re-type all of my blogs into a new reader?

Feedly.com is the answer! This reader makes it super easy to catch up on all things creative, funny and inspirational. 

Tell me, what is your favorite non-speechie blog?

My Favorite Speechie Blogs

  

I follow about 20 Speech related blogs. I thought you might be interested in a few of my favorites!

The Dabbling Speechie is the first ever blogger to feature me! And my classroom decor! Thanks Felice! Not only was Felice generousness enough to post my info on her blog, she is a creative and knowledgeable therapist as well. I really enjoy her posts: thedabblingspeechie.com

One of my work and scrap-booking BFFs is also a fabulous DHH teacher. It is worth it just to visit this blog to see her classroom. Plus, she does a lot of creative things with her students, who have different goals at different levels. She has a diverse class of students with very diverse needs, and she is great at addressing all of these differences: aviewintomyclassroom.blogspot.com

Do you like free stuff? Then Speechie Freebies is for you. Here is a great blog (and pinterest board) of great resources for SLPs and every other type of educator: speechiefreebies.com

This blog is a one-stop-shop for AAC and all other forms of visual support. The tutorials are awesome!: praacticalaac.org

Jill knows her stuff when it comes to social language. She has great social language ideas and insights that can be found here: jillkuzma.wordpress.com
  
What I love about this therapist, Pam, is that she uses a lot of visuals to describe and demonstrate her therapy ideas. And, they are great ideas!: chitchatandsmalltalk.blogspot.com

Bright graphics and adorable clipart makes this SLP's blog fun and easy on the eyes. Thanks Kristin: kcummingsslp.blogspot.com

Jenna at Speech Room News has so many great ideas and she shows you how to use them every step of the way: speechroomnews.blogspot.com

Allison is another SLP with great graphics! I just love her style, it is very inspiring: http://allisonspeechpeeps.blogspot.com/

There you have it, this is what I read on the iPad while my husband and I watch TV at night. 

Speech Graduate

I don't know about you, but the Fall is crammed with IEPs. I have just as many on my schedule for enrollment as dismissal. With every speech graduate, there is another eager speech student waiting in the wings. I maintain about 58 students on my caseload at a time. This equals about 80 IEPs per school year between initials, annuals, requested reviews, triennials, etc. For some reason, the first month and the last month are my busiest times. I have already had 25 meetings resulting in goals, FAPE, services and BSPs coming out of my ears. 

With all this shift in my caseload, how do I celebrate these speech grads? And welcome the newbies?


For those that are exited from services, they are given an award. I have a set of these awards in my TpT store. I also have a freebie for you to get now! For free! It is perfect for that Super Boy who is graduating from speech.


 

The Speech Therapy Awards set includes 10 adorable awards to give again and again.  

 

The award is presented during a little party with popcorn and juice. The rest of their speech group gets to join them. If they came alone to speech, they can invite a friend from class or just have their party with me! And, before they leave, they get to visit the treasure chest for one last time! I try to make sure it is well stocked.


When a new student is enrolled in therapy, they come to their first day of speech excited and ready to see what this place called "speech" is all about. I do my best to live up to their expectations! I begin the introduction by explaining the speech rules, describing a typical day in therapy, demonstrating speech homework and adding their name to various places around the room. I have student names on a variety of decorations, the hope is to make them feel part of my class.

Next, we usually do the planned activity for day to target their goals. We wrap things up with putting their very first sticker on the sticker chart. I explain how they will earn prizes and that if they do their homework, they get to put stickers on the chart as well. That means more prizes! Here is a picture of this year's sticker chart:

What else do you do to make your students feel welcome?  

Sushi Mini-Book for Articulation

Sushi, the perfect word for targeting "SH." As well as the word sashimi. That is why I made this mini-book to address this phoneme! 

I have been trying to come up with a new and creative way to target speech and language goals. Something fun. Something colorful. Something different.  The result is Speech Mini Books. I have a variety of books in my TpT shop, with more in the works. The students are in love with the graphics as well as the silly sentences. 

During this particular "SH" activity, there was a lot of talk about eating raw fish, and just plain old cooked fish as well. Plus seaweed and wasabi. I heard the word "gross" and "disgusting" a lot during this speech session. Boy did we get a lot of articulation practice. The students also got to practice their target sound in a variety of different ways: 

• Word level
• Phrase Level
• Sentence Level
• Conversational Level

All while cutting and stapling. As you may know, working on articulation while doing other motor activities and at a variety of levels (ie: word/phrase/sentence/conversation) has been shown to speed-up carryover and generalization. 

Check it out in my TpT store: here

Directions:

Step 1: Cut out each page. Take care not to cut off the "staple" column.

Step 2: Arrange the pages with the cover on top and the homework page as the last page (if you are using it). The rest of the pages can go in any order between these two pages. Staple the book together where it says "staple."

Your book is ready for therapy!

Aren't these graphics amazing? I got them here:


Dream Loft Clipart on Etsy

Welcome, and Hello!

Hi everyone! My name is Christy Callaghan and I am a mom, SLP and crafter in California. I like to try and combine all three of my obsessions, errr, talents into my everyday life. Half my life is spent at home, and the other half in my classroom. I like to make each of these "homes" as wonderful, fun, and nurturing as possible. This blog is a place where I can show you what I do to make this happen, with an emphasis on speech/language therapy. I will share more about my darling children later. Just wait, they are pretty cute, even when they are tantrum-ing and/or soiling their diapers. 

I have been an SLP for 10 years. Wait a minute, ten years!?*&!? Wow, that must mean I am also in my mid-thirties. Gheez. My first job was in Northern California, working primarily with children with autism, severe disabilities, and/or hearing loss. I came to the central coast of California 6-years ago to work in a more general education setting. Although it is technically "general education," I still serve a variety of students with a myriad of needs. And, I love it. I have a great group of kids, wonderful aides and staff, supportive administration and an AWESOME speech room. No converted bathroom or broom closet for me! 

For my first post, I would like to direct you to a freebie in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Super Synonyms for the word GOOD:

I have been greatly inspired by my fellow speech therapists in cyberspace via blogs, pinterest and TpT. They have nudged me into a creative space that my students are also benefiting from. Thus, the start of my TpT store. You can check it out here: Christy Callaghan, Hip Materials for the Modern SLP. 

About ten of the students on my caseload are considered Language Impaired and struggle with vocabulary. One of the Top Ten Characteristics of Vocabulary Instruction is to focus on synonyms and antonyms. This free worksheet targets this skill. Plus, pretty much every kid loves superheroes! I have used it in therapy, but it also makes a great worksheet for homework. I used ClipArtopia graphics, they are darling. Let me know what you think!