Rock Chalk Speech Talk

Sharing Speech & Language Therapy Ideas!

  • Rock Chalk Speech Talk
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Shop
  • Free Resource Library

Organizational tips!

This post is all about functional, easy, time-saving tips to help you GET and STAY organized. These tips are coming from a non-Type A SLP so I promise these are totally doable! I implemented these ideas at the start of the school year and they have continued to work wonders for me thus far, a full 9 weeks in, so I wanted to share them all with you! I’m quickly approaching 60 preschool students and counting, so I HAVE to be extra organized in order to make it through this year alive!


You may have seen some of these tips and tricks on my Instagram over the last couple months, but some of these tips will be new ideas! I hope these tips are helpful for you guys, because we all know… #speechinainteasy #neitherisorganization 😉



1. Organizing books by theme:


Mayyybe you don’t know this about me yet, but I love themes. As in, I love themes in every aspect of my life– themed therapy, themed parties, etc…(check out the “Saying Goodbye to the Roaring 20s” party I recently threw for my husband and several friends’ 30th birthdays!).


Since I plan my therapy by themes, I keep my books organized by theme/time of year, too. Now that I’m using cardboard magazine holders from IKEA, it’s SO easy each week to grab a box and pick books to use, and it’s really easy to put books back in their spot.  I don’t have any wall cabinets and have limited shelving, so I love that I can store them above filing cabinets and my bookshelf.  BONUS: They’re only $1.99 for a 5pk!


2.  Organizing artic card decks by initial/medial/final position for each phoneme


Guys.  This has been LIFE-CHANGING!! Life. Changing.  I cringe to think about all the time wasted sifting through card deck tins to pull out the specific phoneme position I needed for each kid.  I can switch out sounds and specific positions so quickly now!  I bought french fry boxes from Hobby Lobby for cheap and stuck magnets on the back, inner portion of the box to hold it to my filing cabinet.  I’ve had to tape the sides of some of the boxes that have come slightly undone, but overall they have held up well.


3.  Using 3 ring page protectors for play dough mats

Using the page protectors cuts down on lamination (and subsequent cutting) time, which is a win-win for me! I can swap themed play dough mats in and out quickly, and I can save on the number of page protector sheets I need if I can swap in and out, as well.  


For example, If I know I’m only going to be using the “All About Me” or “Apple” pages during those units, then I can swap them out for another set of mats I know I’ll only be using for another specific unit.  For more general ones that I might be using year round, I put each individual page in a protector with copies behind the originals, so I can add those to the empty page protectors if I need multiple copies of the same page in a group. I keep them all stored in a 3 ring binder, either in a page protector or in pockets/pocket folders within the binder.


4.  Keeping Memory games/puzzle pieces in pencil cases from the $1 store

I love that these are clear so I can see what’s inside.  This method prevents you from losing puzzle pieces that might otherwise fall out when you try to store the puzzle, and it also saves space when you don’t have to keep the whole box for games like Memory!


5.  Keeping all testing manuals together in one spot for easy access


When I didn’t have a designated spot for the manuals, they might have ended up on two different bookshelves, or in the testing material bag, or who knows where, and I’d have to waste time looking for them.  No more! This year, I have a magazine holder specifically for testing manuals.  I have easy access to all of them when I’m ready to score an eval, and I always put them back in their designated holder now! (Why did it take me so long to come up with this idea?!)


6.  Having an assessment tub

This has worked SO well for me since last Spring.  I have folders that hold my play-based assessment forms, and all the other informal assessment forms/stimulus items I might need for evals or annual IEPs (check out Busy Bee Speech‘s free Preschool Quick Probes and Speech Room News‘ evaluation forms!).  I keep my WH question card tins and object function rings from The Speech Summit in here, too.  The tub keeps everything together and I can just pick up and go when I am needing to do more informal or play-based assessments in the classroom or in the preschool pod!


7.  Grab & Go activities by sound/language target
 
As much as I try to plan therapy activities by the thematic units being used in the classroom, sometimes, it just isn’t going to happen. I have print and go activities from various SLP bloggers/TpT sellers divided up by sound or language target (ie “categories” or “grammar”), so on days when I need to grab something quickly, I just pull something out of these folders! I have things like artic puzzles, do-a-dot pages, roll and cover/roll and color pages, etc… in the folders. These activities also double as easy homework pages to send home for parents! I also keep other general items like blank data sheets, parent handouts, etc.. in these, too.

PS- how stinkin’ CUTE are the front two folders?! I snagged these at Home Goods in August during Back to School and I couldn’t possibly adore them any more than I already do!



Well, what do you think? Which one of these tips was your favorite? What easy organizational tips do YOU have for ME?! Leave a comment below and share your ideas with me!

«
»

Filed Under: Uncategorized Leave a Comment

Comments

  1. stacey says

    October 18, 2015 at 4:25 pm

    I use the magazine holders from IKEA too. I have three together that I used duct tape with to keep them together. They are labeled, need to do, in progress, and completed for my testing

    Reply
  2. Kari says

    October 18, 2015 at 9:13 pm

    Awesome idea, Stacey! Maybe I need to try that!

    Reply
  3. Courtney DeLorenzo says

    April 2, 2016 at 8:09 pm

    I love that your post is full of ideas that I have not seen on other blogs! Thanks!

    Reply
  4. Mary Scoville says

    September 7, 2016 at 12:43 am

    Where you get your file holders and where do you store? The magazine holders and artic card holders..love..I am.so so non type a a s unorganized .goal for myself this yr

    Reply
  5. Mary Scoville says

    September 7, 2016 at 12:43 am

    Where you get your file holders and where do you store? The magazine holders and artic card holders..love..I am.so so non type a a s unorganized .goal for myself this yr

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe Via Email

Categories

Search

Latest on Instagram

3rd time’s a charm trying to post this 😆😅 3rd time’s a charm trying to post this 😆😅 Loving 10 Lucky Leprechauns for a St Patrick’s Day book for the littles— my own 2 year old has loved it and so did a lot of my preschoolers last week! 

Super similar in style to “10 Fat Turkeys” — each page adds a leprechaun doing a different action (great for -ing verb practice!) and has a fun repetitive line (“Fiddle de fizz, tis magic it is”) 

Use this book for /l/ and /f/ sound practice too, with your speech sound kids! 

For an easy no prep activity, have a character swing from a vine (pipe cleaner, ruler, string, etc) to a target card like one of the leprechauns in the book! We worked in s-blends too with “swing” and telling the leprechaun to “stop” 💚🍀
❄️ It’s the most wonderful time… of the ye ❄️ It’s the most wonderful time… of the year! ❄️ 
“Turkey Claus” is the best way to transition from Thanksgiving to a Christmas theme and no one will ever prove to me otherwise 😂 🦃 🎅 

And not to get ahead of ourselves, but… Did you know there’s a Valentine’s version coming out in a couple weeks, too?!
Turn your @learningresources sorting houses into s Turn your @learningresources sorting houses into spooky houses for trick or treating!

1️⃣ Decorate them with Halloween stickers (turn it into a speech sound trial reinforcer or following directions activity!)

2️⃣ Put candy mini erasers in the houses (or, make it a silly game and do categories! Put different categories of mini erasers or mini objects in the houses and have them give the trick or treater something from a named category)

3️⃣ Put a person in the house 

4️⃣ Pull up Knock Knock Trick or Treat from @supersimpleofficial on YT

5️⃣ Use Super Simple’s free character printables and use them to go trick or treating at each door! Practice things like predicting who comes next based on the shadow, WH questions, “he/she/they are….” and imitate actions from the characters on the video (steer the ship like a pirate, dance like a ballerina, etc!) 

So easy and minimal prep! Tag an SLP friend below who could use this idea! ⬇️
Who else loves Room on the Broom?! I love it for t Who else loves Room on the Broom?! I love it for the core vocabulary modeling opportunities, rhyming text, repetitive lines, and the great vocabulary used throughout the story! 

ROTB unit with all kinds of story printables is now available on TPT… grab it for your next 2 weeks of Halloween therapy! 🧙‍♀️🎃
🍎🍎 Therapy materials don’t have to have to 🍎🍎 Therapy materials don’t have to have to be fancy!

Grab a cup, stick some apples on, and you have yourself an apple tree for “10 Red Apples” (or any other apple book!)

Some of my kids just aren’t into paper materials so I needed something that would add a “3D”/tangible aspect to the tree besides just sticking paper apples on a paper tree.  This did the trick!

What other books would you use this apple tree with? 
🍎 🍏 🍎
Dressing up book characters is always a fave in pr Dressing up book characters is always a fave in prek! 

“Pirate Jack Gets Dressed” is short and sweet with rhyming text and a focus on clothing and body part vocabulary and colors! All great for the beginning of the year themes like colors, pirates (Talk Like a Pirate Day is on Monday!), and All About Me!

I sent these free story pieces to my email list last week but if you missed them, grab them with the link in my profile! ➡️ @rockchalkspeechtalk
Is this book in your ocean themed collection yet? Is this book in your ocean themed collection yet? I *finally* checked it out this summer and I’ve been using it with almost everyone!

This book works great for…

⭐️sp and sw blends (repeated lines “I spy” and “Swim away”)

⭐️long a sound (“way” is repeated on every page) and I used “hey!” instead of “hello!” on each page

⭐️ Bilabials: I seem to always have 1-2 kids these last few years working on bilabials! “Me” is on every page, and you can use “bye” instead of “see ya later” on each page, too. The last page has tons of bilabials! (up up up, deep, mama (x3), me)

⭐️initial /d/ if you have a backer (down and deep are repeated on each page)

⭐️CV words “hi” and “me” (and “bye” if you use that instead of see ya later

⭐️Core words: down, in, I, see, look, me, go (when I pair with a sensory bin, I also use “like” “get” and “out”

⭐️Repetitive Lines: Makes it more engaging when the kids can chime in and “read” it with you!

⭐️Verbs: I love a book that has actions to act out on each page! Movement always helps keep my kids’ attention in sessions and especially at circle time in a bigger group!

⭐️Describing the ocean animals

⭐️Comparing and Contrasting ocean animals

Literacy based therapy is the easiest way to structure therapy sessions- centering it around a book always sparks ideas for play activities to use with and after the book to work on goals, too!
A Camping Spree with Mr Magee is always one of my A Camping Spree with Mr Magee is always one of my go-to books for a camping theme! 

⭐️ Full of s-blends and initial /k/ opportunities, it’s a great choice for when you have to have mixed speech and language groups (and who doesn’t have kids working on those sounds?!)

⭐️ Lots of opportunities for pronoun + be verb + -ing verb structure sentences, and regular past tense verbs, too!

⭐️ Lots of AAC core word modeling opportunities

⭐️ Multiple opportunities for “why” questions which aren’t always easy to come by!

⭐️ Rhyming text that has a great flow to it— especially love this during whole group!

⭐️ annnnd they make s’mores in the book, which is *obviously* a necessity in any camping theme 😂

Take a look at the mini unit with printables you can use for circle time and small group therapy- I just updated it so redownload from TPT if you already own it! I added ingredient icons and sequencing/retell pictures for the science experiment, 3 sets of Cariboo cards, and basic concept play dough mats for this unit to help you have even more of your goals covered with super easy planning!

We “packed the camper” at circle time this week and it was a hit! Easily adaptable for different language skills, too— Target receptive id or identifying based on descriptors like function, appearance, location, etc! 

Find it on TPT with the link in profile ➡️ @rockchalkspeechtalk

Copyright © 2023 · Website Design By Jumping Jax Designs