How do I begin to explain how insulting and hurtful it is to use the "r" word as a derogatory adjective towards people, events, or objects?
How do I put into words the punch in my gut?
How do I sit at a meeting in which we have to tell a parent that their child qualifies for Special Education under the eligibility of "Mental Retardation" when all the parent's affiliations with this word are so negative.
How do my students defend themselves when mocked or insulted? They don't.
How unfair it it to insult someone, who may not be able to fight back, with a label oozing with decades of derogatory connotations?
More than just unfair.
Horrid.
One of my "loves" holding up his speech goals and self-portrait.
Like, say when your alarm goes off at 5:40am after having the luxury of sleeping in for a week?
That's good. Me neither.
But if you ever had a "friend" who was occasionally grouchy, or a "child" (not yours of course!) who dealt with this difficulty, The Grouchy Ladybug might be a great read for them.
The Grouchy Ladybug is determined to be a pain, regardless of how he is treated (ever since the movie A Bug's Life, I can't help but use the pronoun "he" for ladybugs). When another ladybug suggests sharing the aphids on a leaf, the Grouchy Ladybug defiantly screams in frustration. To make his point, he challenges the nice ladybug to a fight. Then he backs away from the fight by saying that the other bug isn't "big enough". He moves on to challenge bigger and bigger animals; each time he leaves the scene with the same excuse. Finally, the largest animal does not respond to his challenge. And the Grouchy Ladybug is put back in his place. Literally.
Eric Carle's art is always amazing. And at least the hardcover version of the book includes progressively larger pages and a flippable whale's tail making even the publishing job a masterpiece. Speech Therapy Ideas:
1. Work on simple vocabulary words with younger children.
/m, b/ are early developing sounds that can be repeated over and over throughout the story. /g/ sounds come early for many children as well.
2. Practice repetitive phrases to encourage language growth. Here are several sentences that can be repeated many times during the story:
3. This is the perfect story for practicing /l/ sounds. Remember to instruct the child to put their tongue tip just behind their front teeth. "No lips" for the /l/ sound.
(Do you like my fab /l/ sound? No, I've never had braces. Yes, my front top two teeth are fake.)
4. I used this story with one of my students with Autism Spectrum Disorder to talk about how the Grouchy Ladybug was "stuck on the idea" that he wanted to fight, when in fact he really didn't want to fight at all. The ladybug was not using flexible thinking to problem solve the situation.
5. Talk about emotions. What is grouchy? When are you grouchy? What is happy? When are you happy? etc.
6. As always, retell the stories using great vocabulary, sequencing, articulation, and language details. Tell the story to another person and see if they understand what happened.
Although this is not a Speech Therapy post, many of my students also have sensory difficulties. Knowing about the sensory system, and ways to alter sensory stimulation, can be extremely effective in working with many children.
Sorry for the lack of original posting today. Have you seen the number of comments on my UBP post??? I'm dying trying to return the visit to all. those. comments!
And on a humbling note... I am honored and ecstatic that my number of followers has surpassed 100. My sense of self-worth has been restored! ;)
One month prior: Get notice from school regarding science fair. Excitedly tell geeky husband he needs to do this event with The Flash.
Three weeks prior: Sign Professor X and The Flash up for Science Fair. Write brief description of the compass they will present.
Two weeks prior: Nudge Professor X and The Flash to get going with their project.
One week prior: Again tell Professor X and The Flash to do the project.
Four days prior: At last! Professor X and The Flash make the compass.
Two days prior: Ask Professor X and The Flash to re-create all the steps involved and take pictures. Stay up too late making a photoshop collage of the steps.
One day prior: Order over-priced 8.5x11 inch photos of the collage with one hour photo processing. Cringe at the price as anything over $1 is too much for me.
Day of event: Professor X asks front office what time event takes place (since none of the posters or sign up sheets actually say the starting time). Told 5pm.
Super Woman is her own work conferences until 8pm and cannot attend.
After school, Professor X hurriedly feeds the kids and rushes them off to the event.
Arrives at 5:10pm to an empty school. No event. Grumpily packs the project back up and goes home.
No science fair for this family.*
Day after event: The Flash shares his project with his Kindergarten class. Somebody better benefit from these over-priced photos!
5 days after event: Super Woman shares the science project with the world on her blog. Have fun compass making!
*It turns out the event started at 6pm and the office had the wrong time! You don't want to see the nasty emails I sent out about that one!
It was spring conferences at my elementary school and I had only a handful to attend (praise the Lord!). So I wrote a to-list list (gasp!) and checked off several items from the list (double gasp!). Several hours of sorting, dusting, recycling, and refiling led to a tidier room and a happier me. Unfortunately, the untrained eye would not notice the slightest difference. :(
Mrs. McBloom is a 50 year veteran teacher (her students are obviously nothing like mine!) and getting ready to retire in a week. But... her classroom is a historic monument of a half-decades worth of papers, lunches, science experiments, plants and memories. She asks her students to "use their noggins" and determine a plan to help clean-up the room. A whippersnapper of a student comes up with a brilliant plan that accomplishes two tasks: cleaning up the room AND honoring Mrs. McBloom.
Speech Therapy Ideas:
1. This story has "Where's Waldo" level of illustrative detail. It is perfect for children to "find" items, describe where items are, describe pictures, and talk about details.
2. Many of the pages contain two adorable rodents (hamsters?) hidden on the page. Find the animals and describe what they are doing using descriptive sentences.
3. Practice /k, g/ sounds throughout the story, including: McBloom, lickety, abracadabra, clean, Pumpernickel, class, noggin, cruise.
4. Predict the meanings of less-familiar phrases based on context: "use your noggin", "lickety-split", "whippersnaper", "mighty fine", "nipper", "pint-sized", "fancy-shmancy", "higgly-piggly", "bon voyage".
5. Answer higher-level questions: Why is Mrs. McBloom's classroom so messy? Why does Mrs. McBloom choose Georgia's idea and not the other students' ideas? How does the town raise money to honor Mrs. McBloom? Why is there an apple tree growing in the classroom? Do you think Miss Bumblesprout will also have a messy classroom? Why or why not?
If Only I Had Super Powers... I would get enough sleep each night, make sure all children are loved and cared for, sing like a diva, provide food for all, teleport, end poverty, get children to stop whining with a "look", teach everyone about Jesus, write amazing posts, cure pain and sickness, have a fabulous body with no effort involved,make people smile, pay good teachers the salary and respect they deserve,make a difference in the world.
Welcome! I wish my name was Super Woman. I am a Speech Pathologist working in an elementary school and wife (for 11 years!) to Professor X.
I am the proud mommy to two children: The Flash and Marvel Girl. Both were born in Korea and joined our family through the miracle of adoption. The Flash is in Kindergarten. He loves to create art and is a natural athlete. Marvel Girl recently started preschool in a bilingual ASL/English program.
Want to know even more about me? Visit my 100 Things About Me post. Leave a comment and tell me what you would do if only you had Super Powers...
If I'm lucky enough to win a prize, my top three choices are: 1.Kitchen Aid Artisan Stand Mixer, Provided by:Moms Who Think 2. 19 — $50 gift certificate to Target Stores, Provided by: Shoot-Me-Now 3. 21 — $50 gift certificate to Target Stores, Provided by: Agoosa
My other choices (in order of preference) are as follows: 22, 26, INTL 61, 91, 118, INTL 18, USC 11, USC 45, USC 47, USC 56, USC 15, USC 58, 49, USC 43, INTL 3, INTL 30, 15, 106
One of my parents just shared this video/song with me today after an IEP meeting. The singer states that parents of children with special needs need love and attention too. It's kinda cheesy, but a great message.
The Speech Room is filled with gorgeous Rainbows as we explore:
Colors (rainbow colors of course!)
Vocabulary (arc, arch, semi-circle, half-circle)
Texture (crepe paper, tissue paper, ribbon, glue)
Size (long, short, thick, thin)
Articulation (/l/ in "glue, long, layer, yellow", /r/ in "rainbow")
St. Patrick's Day brings back memories of drunk family members, so I decided to focus on something other than the Irish holiday.
Fortunately, yesterday only one student asked me to recall my Physics classes as to "what makes a rainbow". I coughed a few times. Then changed the subject. But if they ask today.... I found this website and can tell them, "Here. Read this."
If you are feeling mighty crafty, you can also do these rainbow projects:
3 years ago, she entered her first airplane. 3 years ago, she left her homeland. 3 years ago, she became a sister.
3 years ago, he waited for his family to return. 3 years ago, he ran to embrace his family at the airport. 3 years ago, he became a brother.
3 years ago, we cried to leave our children's birth country. 3 years ago, we waved good-bye to her caregivers. 3 years ago, we became a forever family.
I have a number of students working on using correct grammar in their speech and writing. One older student found it extremely amusing to create a script using "good grammar character" and "not so good grammar character" (aka Daffy and Bugs).
We practiced and then video-taped the interaction.
She found the activity to be highly amusing and asked to do it again. Soon.
I am not sure if I can share students' voices on-line. Does anyone know the legality behind this?
Just to be on the safe side, here is my re-enactment of the fabulous grammar production:
although she admitted to cheating by calling her mom, Tonggu Momma (and her mama) needs to be mentioned with 8 correct answers
Thanks for humoring me and playing!!
Do I need to admit that I probably would have gotten one of these answers correct if I did not work in a room filled from floor to ceiling with books from our Title 1 Reading Program???
1. You can think about Day, a day in Da-Dake. The water is blue and the birds are awake.
IEPs by Dr. Seuss Do you like these IEPs? I do not like these IEPs I do not like them, Jeeze Louise We test, we check We plan, we meet But nothing ever seems complete. Would you, could you Like the form? I do not like the form I see Not page 1, not 2, or 3 Another change A brand new box I think we all Have lost our rocks. Could you all meet here or there? We could not all meet here or there. We cannot all fit anywhere. Not in a room Not in the hall There seems to be no space at all. Would you, could you meet again? I cannot meet again next week No lunch, no prep Please hear me speak. No, not at dusk. No, not at dawn at 5 pm I should be gone. Could you hear while all speak out? Would you write the words they spout? I could not hear, I would not write This does not need to be a fight. Sign here, date there, Mark this, check that Beware the students ad-vo-cat(e). You do not like them So you say Try again! Try again! And you may. If you will let me be, I will try again You will see. Say! I almost like these IEPs I think I'll write 6003. And I will practice day and night Until they say "You've got it right!"
Do you search all day for moose? Or spend time pursuing fame? Instead, try playing Dr. Seuss Seussville is sure to have your game.
Are you looking for a laugh Or a Seussical parody Give yourself some time and a half Don't mind the lack of sincerity.
Did you know that Dr. Seuss (for Geisel was his real last name) Had to author his works by means loose, And thus delay his future fame.
He was caught throwing a wee party During prohibition days And swore he'd never be tardy And "gave up" extra curricular ways.
A doctorate he never earned Though he started for a PhD, He married and moved, but yearned To write stories of hilarity.
Hurray for his perseverance Creator of "Grinch", "Horton" and "Sam" Three cheers for his endurance Our children reading at last, "I am!"
And now, onto the Seuss contest.
How many of the following Dr. Seuss books can you identify?
The winner will get.... (get ready for this) .... nothing. But, I can provide some link love. And since this blog is super happening *muffled laugh* I know that's what you all need.
In the comments, provide your answers. Please NO cheating by looking at other people's answers. And NO web searching! ;) Bonus points if you can figure out my agenda in my chosen pages.
1. You can think about Day, a day in Da-Dake. The water is blue and the birds are awake.
2. Wig hair Bear hair. Everybody seems to wear hair.
3. In bed is where I'm going to stay. And I don't care what the neighbors say! I never liked them anyway.
4. And then Something went BUMP! How that bump made us jump!
5. DAY PLAY We play all day.
NIGHT FIGHT We fight all night.
6. And now good night. It is time to sleep. So we will sleep with our pet Zeep.
7. Mr. Brown can Whisper Whisper ...very soft very high... ...like the soft, soft whisper of a butterfly. Maybe YOU can too. I think you ought to try.
8. Would you sooner be a ballooner or a grand-piano tuner?
9. I don't care. You can go by bike. You can go on a Zike-Bike if you like.
10. Except for me. Please go away. No up. I'm sleeping in today.
Possibly not your average Speech-Language Pathologist--mom to two beauties born in South Korea and wife to a wonderful man whose body has been over-taken by horrid pain.
Feel free to become part of my "free therapy plan" as we struggle through disability, pain, and finding joy in the midst of it all.
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