by Anne Page | Jan 3, 2016 | Inspiration, SLP Time Hacks
This month I am focusing on time, how to become friends with it, how to enjoy it and how to use it to keep my life on track with my dreams.[spacer height=”20px”]
As a school SLP (I’m sure all you teachers relate too), I feel like I’m always juggling and bartering with the universe for more time in pretty much all areas. Time to work out, time to eat healthy, time for paperwork, time for therapy, time for planning, time for family, time for friends and oh yeah some time for me.[spacer height=”20px”]
Today, I’m thinking about food…specifically lunch. January is when we all decide to get back on track with our eating. Healthy eating takes commitment and time. Time to plan, purchase, prep, cook and eat. It’s so easy and cheap to be unhealthy, just go to McDonald’s. (I’m sorry but yuck.)[spacer height=”20px”]
Working in the schools, we don’t have time to go out for lunch. Most of us use our 30 minutes to scarf something down while we write a report or catch up on Facebook.[spacer height=”20px”]
This year I’m trying to be more mindful of my food consumption. To put healthy food in my body and to enjoy, even savor eating it. I know that’s a tall order. I’m not an expert on the subject by any means but here are some weekly habits that help me stay energized and healthy.[spacer height=”20px”]
1. Cook enough protein the night before to have a serving with your lunch. I don’t like leftovers, don’t even like the word. But I do like cooking an extra chicken breast that I can slice and put on a yummy salad. [spacer height=”20px”]
2. Meal prep on the weekend. Set aside a couple of hours on Saturday or Sunday to chop vegetables, cook meat, bake sweet potatoes, make soup, make egg bites, or salad in mason jars. If you’re feeling very Pinterest check out my Pinterest Board:
Healthy School Lunches for Me.[spacer height=”20px”]
3. Buy pre-made salads at the grocery store. Trader Joe’s, Sprouts, Whole foods and even Safeway all have great little individual salads. Sometimes I buy the salad kits and leave one in the fridge at work, they last me for three days and I’ll just add protein.[spacer height=”20px”]
4. Keep an emergency stash of protein bars. It’s really important to get enough protein to balance with your carbs and avoid the blood-sugar-dropping mid-afternoon slump. At least then on those rush days you can grab an apple and have your chocolate chip cookie dough quest bar, (my personal favorite).[spacer height=”20px”]
5. Keep a healthy snack drawer. I am a snacker, I need one mid morning and mid afternoon snack every day. Mine includes quest bars, kind bars, almonds, trail mix, Almond butter packets, chocolate hazelnut packets,(to die for),Mary’s crackers, rice crackers, and good dark chocolate. (Always a must.)[spacer height=”20px”]
6. Mix it up. Try not to get in a food rut and eat the same thing every day. I avoid bread but every once in a while I bring a sandwich made from Ezekial bread or a wrap. That way I don’t get bored and decide I need to eat something from the cafeteria.[spacer height=”20px”]
7. Take a few uninterrupted minutes to enjoy your food. Did you know you can be eating the most nutritious food in the world but if you are not enjoying it your body may not metabolize it to the fullest?[spacer height=”20px”]
8. Eat with someone you like, even if that is yourself. Eating with negative people can’t be good for you and it’s certainly an energy drain when you’re busy trying to replenish.[spacer height=”20px”]
9. Get up and move! Walk around the school, stretch, get some fresh air. Our job requires a lot of desk work, take a few minutes at lunch to breathe and get some movement. You’ll be glad you did.[spacer height=”20px”]
10. Water. Period. Make sure you hydrate. So important. Lack of water is the number one trigger of daytime fatigue. A 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math and difficulty focusing on the computer screen. Can’t have that while we’re doing our Medicaid billing now can we?[spacer height=”20px”]
I hope you can use some of these ideas to help your weekdays go more smoothly. By planning ahead and preparing yourself a yummy lunch, you’ll have something to look forward to and give yourself enough energy to make it through the day.[spacer height=”20px”]
And maybe even have some time for yourself at the end of the day.[spacer height=”20px”]
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by Anne Page | Dec 7, 2015 | Blog, Freebies, Therapy Materials and Ideas
December already! I am looking forward to the holiday break for some time off to spend with family and friends.[spacer height=”20px”]
It can be a hectic time at school and the kids attention spans are short because they are so excited. I created this high interest, visually fun FREEBIE activity just for these days.
Click here. [spacer height=”20px”]
Laminate each of the four pages (perfect for group therapy) and grab some play dough (so cheap and fun, I think 4 containers are under $3 at Target). If I’m working with a group I roll the snowballs ahead of time.[spacer height=”20px”]
You can work on “her”. Child says “her mitten”, gets snowball and gets to smash it on the mitten. Or you can work on “she”. Child says “She has a mitten”, gets snowball and gets to smash it on the mitten. (Same for “his” and “he” for the snowman and boy snowbaby)[spacer height=”20px”]
The next level would be “She wants her hat” (using both forms of the feminine pronoun).
The males of course would be “He wants his hat”.[spacer height=”20px”]
The sheets can also be used for labeling winter vocabulary or for increasing MLU (I see a snowman).[spacer height=”20px”]
Play dough makes everything fun so your students will love this. You will too, enjoy![spacer height=”20px”]
If you are doing some planning and want to have some materials ready for when you return, my
Winter Plurals will provide activities for two-three sessions. This is a fun way to teach plurals with an introductory flip book, practice game, and follow up flip book to support the skill. The Reading activities support
connecting the skill from the vocabulary word level to the reading comprehension level. [spacer height=”20px”]
Whatever you are doing for the next couple of weeks, I hope you can enjoy the contagious excitement and joy of season.[spacer height=”20px”]
by Anne Page | Nov 10, 2015 | Blog, Social Media
Facebook can be used for a lot more than looking up old high school friends or posting vacation pictures that make your friends envious. Here are a couple of other ways to use Facebook to your professional advantage, making you a better speech language pathologist (SLP) by helping you connect, consult your peers and have access to great therapy ideas.[spacer height=”20px”]
Many SLPs have Facebook pages that are separate from their personal pages. They’re used to share interesting links to articles, tell therapy success stories and let followers know about therapy materials (including Teachers Pay Teachers items). I use mine as a way to connect.
Click here to like and follow. As I mentioned in my last post, I am also a member of Speech Spotlight, our page is
here.[spacer height=”20px”]
SLP group membership Facebook pages are a great resource. Members connect and collaborate around a common theme. Most times you ask to join and then the administrator will confirm that you know someone in the group and that you are in fact an SLP, and then invite you to join. Here are some of my favorites:[spacer height=”20px”]
SLP Bloggers and SLPTPTSellers
The name is pretty self explanatory. Currently at 165 members this page is a goldmine. Here you can find out about linky-parties, blog hops, ask members to proofread new products for you, ask questions about TPT and learn about ASHA meet-ups. This very welcoming and supportive group has taught me a lot.[spacer height=”20px”]
School-Based Speech and Language Pathologists
With almost 17,000 members, this a a great place to ask questions and keep your finger on the pulse of the school SLP. You can share job highs and lows, ask specific therapy questions, share concerns about caseload and workload. It is amazing to be able to connect with this many SLP’s.[spacer height=”20px”]
Speech Pathology Positivity
Looking for somewhere to share good news? Speech Pathology Positivity is a newly formed group that is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging SLP’s with happy stories and awesome speech pathology experiences.[spacer height=”20px”]
And finally, here are three groups recommended by my SLP colleagues at Speech Spotlight:[spacer height=”20px”]
SLP Student Help Desk
A group of experienced SLPs from a variety of settings offer a safe, non-judgemental place for undergrads, grads and CFY’s to ask questions, share ideas and look for advice.[spacer height=”20px”]
Speech and Language Pathologist’s Role in Language and Literacy
Designed for SLP’s to discuss all things literacy and language. I just asked to join this group since I love language and literacy.[spacer height=”20px”]
AAC for the SLP
This group is to discuss anything related to AAC and to share useful information. I just joined this group and am looking forward to some discussions.[spacer height=”20px”]
I hope you try connecting with one of these groups. With so many talented SLPs using Facebook as a way to collaborate and build their tribe, a panel of experts is always just a few clicks away.[spacer height=”20px”]
Did you like this post? If you did please sign up to receive new blog posts, insider sale information, and stay connected. If there are other facebook groups that you like please mention them in the comments below.[spacer height=”20px”]
Stayed tuned for the next post in this series about the impact of Instagram.[spacer height=”20px”]
by Anne Page | Oct 26, 2015 | Inspiration, SLP Social Media
I remember my first few years as a school speech language pathologist (SLP). I had a lot of questions and doubts. Wishing I had a wise counsel to turn to, I just kept solitarily moving forward. I checked the literature and research but sometimes it was just too formal. I wanted a connection.[spacer height=”20px”]
This was before the social media search. Now we have blogs, YouTube, Pinterest, Google, Facebook, Instagram and more. So much information and knowledge at our fingertips.[spacer height=”20px”]
The new challenge is in sifting through it; finding resources that speak to me and that are in line with my way of thinking as I build my practice and my skills as an SLP.[spacer height=”20px”]
This summer, I had the great fortune to attend the teachers pay teachers sellers conference in Las Vegas. Our Facebook group of SLP’s on TPT made arrangements to meet up and tentative digital connections became warm personal connections.[spacer height=”20px”]
We exchanged stories and ideas; shared links and tips. We realized that working together not only makes us better creators of therapy materials, it makes us better SLP’s.[spacer height=”20px”]
This is how the blog
Speechspotlight.com came to be. Nine of us jumped on board when Sarah Wu (Speech is Beautiful) said “why don’t we start a collaborative blog?”[spacer height=”20px”]
Up and running since July this year; we share articles, tips, and therapy materials.Now, I have my wise counsel and I’d love to share it with you. Go visit
Speech Spotlight. Follow us on
Facebook for daily updates. New blog posts are every Monday. You don’t have to do it alone, now you have us.[spacer height=”20px”]
Come back next week to learn more about SLP social media sites to add to your SLP digital tribe. Join my email list (at the top of the page) to receive new blog posts right away (and get a great FREEBIE).[spacer height=”20px”]
Have fun connecting,
[spacer height=”20px”]
by Anne Page | Oct 13, 2015 | Reviews
October is here and that means Halloween. I love capitalizing on holiday excitement by using Halloween themed therapy materials.[spacer height=”20px”]
Looking for some Halloween vocabulary building fun? Kim Lewis from Activity Taylor put together a colorful, engaging and FUN
Halloween Attributes: Compare and Contrast game. This is available in her Teachers Pay Teachers Store (where she has so many wonderful products).[spacer height=”20px”]
And guess what? She gave me one to give away.[spacer height=”20px”]
With this game students can practice comparing and contrasting with QR codes, charts and even a Cariboo option. Kids love the colorful comparing sets: jack-o-lanterns, witch hats, and costumed characters.[spacer height=”20px”]
To play, one set of cards is placed face-up on the table. SLP reads first clue on clue card. For example when using the Jack-o-lantern set, first clue is “I look angry”. Student removes all the pumpkins that don’t look angry. Next clue “I have a triangle nose.” Remove cards that don’t have triangle nose. One more clue and they are down to one card. Use the QR code to check the answer (they love checking and seeing that they are right). It reminds me of the classic “Guess Who” game.[spacer height=”20px”]
Plus there are bonus Cariboo cards (if you are lucky enough to have a Cariboo game). You can have students describe the hat they are going to open or you give them 2 or 3 descriptors that let them know which one to choose. If you don’t have Cariboo, there is a cool little chart option to use.[spacer height=”20px”]
Want a FREE copy? Kim has given me one to give away. For your chance to win, just tell me your favorite-ever Halloween costume in the comments below. Winner will be randomly chosen after Midnight Thursday, October 15.[spacer height=”20px”]
Good luck!
Hey there I’m Anne Page. I help heart centered SLPs and educators put the fun in functional communication. 