Pre-K Theme Materials - Part 1

So! My big summer project is to organize materials for the pre-school kiddos that I see. Every week or two there are different classroom themes. Phase 1 of the project was completed at the end of the school year. During the massive room cleaning, I identified all the materials that coincided specifically with the Pre-K themes, and wrote them down in my Pre-K binder. (A post about the binder itself may come in the future.) That way, when the actual time comes around, I know what I can utilize. It also helped me to identify where I was lacking activities. And so, this summer, I'll be busy making worksheets and other activities to incorporate. The wonderful fellow speechies on Pinterest are definitely lifesavers in this regard, because there are a TON of materials there. 


However, I thought I would share with you some of the worksheets I've already made. These are to address wh-questions and basic concepts. My plan is to make a few for each theme, so they can easily be whipped out during sessions. Let me know if you'd be interested in seeing more! There are five sheets at the moment, and below are an example of their basic structure. 

 Check out and download the materials HERE!

Anatomy of a Speech Room

When I saw Jenna Rayburn's post on Speech Room News with a little tour of her speech room, it made me realize how nosy I am. Well, at least I was able to justify it as an educational experience too. I always find it so interesting to see how fellow speechies organize their rooms and materials. The importance of organizing our small spaces is not lost on me! So, below you'll find some pictures of my own classroom. I did a TON of revamping at the end of the school year, and I really wish I would have remembered to take "before" pictures. Oh well. I'm very happy with the end result though. 

This area has been deemed the "Homework Center." The papers are homework sheets organized by sound/goal. On the blue behavior charts I've put small slips of paper. At the beginning of the school year students will use these to keep track of their homework rewards and stickers. 

This little area is my work station. The shelves are further described before, but I love the huge L-shaped desk. It gives me a lot of space to spread out when I'm working on all those IEP's. Please excuse the ugly flannel fabric. It will be cutely decorated with coordinating colors by the fall, I promise!

This is a shot of the other computer, where the part-time SLP can work when she comes. I plan on using it much more for student activities this year too. Behind that is the large mirror, and above that is a large bulletin board. I try to change it about twice a year with a theme. Aren't those wall dots adorable? I thought they added some spunk to the walls. 

The infamous u-shaped table! This is where the magic happens. Well, not magic... more like hard work.  The large shelving unit holds the most-used materials. I swear that my room can be a catalog for SuperDuperInc! The red "parking garages" hold all of our card decks. I used some removable wall hooks to hold different materials as well. I've found that when things are out and easy for me to access, I have a better handle on the resources at my disposal.  

These two beauties hold the majority of materials. I wish they weren't this obnoxiously bright orange color, but I'm glad to have them in the room all the same. The small filing cabinet in the corner holds my materials for the special education pre-school themes, as well as felt board sets and other random activities for those kiddos. 

These fabric bins are from Target, and they are such a life saver. They look cute and add color, but conceal things like PECS binders, extra tins and containers, and little toys that I couldn't put anywhere else. 

This cabinet has been completely made over for this next school year. I purchased a ton of those plastic bins, and labeled them for months of the school year. Each container holds thematic materials for each month. The filing drawers hold some worksheets and copies that I'm not sure where else to put at this point in time. The two metals containers on the top shelf hold crayons/markers and Mr. Potato Head bodies. 

This is the second filing cabinet. The top shelf is full of binders of worksheets that I don't always reach for. At the moment they are also mostly hidden behind some fun and easy games which I can use with almost all of my groups. The second shelf down holds some oral-motor materials, ziploc bags, and other random materials. The third shelf holds Some testing materials, extra envelopes,  and file folders. And the final shelf holds my bulletin board materials and a box of picture cards I'm currently storing for a teacher.  

This little "teacher toolbox" is the first thing that I ever made from Pinterest! I have gotten so many compliments on it from the teachers, and it is such a lifesaver. It keeps all those little bits and bobs in their place and off of my desk.

This cabinet is behind my desk, and holds my teacher toolbox, almost all of my tests and assessments, as well as resource guides and other reference materials. The box you can partially see on the bottom shelf holds papers that need to be shredded. The shredder in the office will not shred more than 5 papers at a time. Obviously, this can be pretty inconvenient... I was thinking of bringing in my own shredder next school year. Do any of you do that too?

This unit was custom made for the low price of only 30 dollars! I found the two little shelving units on sale at Target for ten bucks each, and then bought a laminate counter top board for about eight dollars. This looks so much sleeker and is way more practical than the three mismatched desks that it replaced. The fabric bins hold miscellaneous game materials. On top of the desk in the paper sorters I keep books that I use almost every day, for word lists or pictures. 

Well, that is the complete tour! It felt so great, to purge out of date materials and just clear out some space. I had never looked forward to spring cleaning so much in my life. Because of everything that was cleared out, I was able to get rid of two metal shelving units and three chairs. There was way too much furniture in this small room. Now it's more open, and I still have room to grow into it.

Thanks so much for reading. If you have questions about anything you saw in the pictures, let me know!

I've been "soaking up speech" for a while now...

But let's make it official. =)

Hello everyone! This fall will be the start of my third year working in a small school system as a speech teacher. It will ALSO be my third year as a graduate student. (Man oh man, I can't wait to see the light at the end of that tunnel!) Loving all things craft- and technology-related, it was only a matter of time before I stumbled onto all the wonderful speech blogs and Pinterest boards here on the internet. Words can't fully express how much information I've learned from these resources. Being in a small school system sometimes makes it very hard to network and share ideas.

That's why I thought that it was time to give back, as well as continue to learn and discover new things!

I want this blog to be about a lot of things: a place to share fun stories about students or experiences, a place to share and exchange materials and ideas, a place for us all to express our opinions, and a place for me to shed some light on my graduate school and practicum journey.

I hope that you will all want to engage in this interactive process of soaking up speech!