Me...a very frenzied SLP

Well, hello!! 

If you’re reading this you’re either...a regular reader (wow, I never thought I would have those) or you’ve clicked on a FRENZIED SLPS link that led you right here to my little blog. 

In any case, I’m glad you’re here. If you’re new - be warned - I’m wordy.  Stick it out through this long post, though, and you’ll be handsomely rewarded :) (I'm serious!) 

I’m stoked to announce today that I’m part of a primo group of speech-language pathologists called the FRENZIED SLPs! We’re just a bunch of friends who’ve ganged up to bring you regular posts about how to manage your frenzied SLP life!    

Let me introduce myself ...

1) BOOKISH BOY MOM Like most SLPs, I AM BOOKISH.  I’m a big reader and word nerd (if you doubt me, just read this nerdy wordy post). I’ve completely shunned eReaders of all kinds; I'm hopelessly devoted to the real-deal-paper-pages-between-2-covers.

In our home, there are books everywhere you look.                                         

                                         Don’t even get me started on the whole subject of Harry Potter.  If you follow me on Pinterest you know I’m a little bonkers over everything HP! Although I love libraries, I can’t stand to part with a book I’ve fallen in love with after reading it.  So...I am a book hoarder.  My "sciencey" hubby humors me and hangs out with me late at night at bookstores.  I have successfully managed to bring my two sons, however, to the “book side” with me.   

My oldest son, Ferris, was a journalist who quickly jumped ship from that profession to pursue a grad degree in creative writing and life as a novelist in New Orleans.  My "baby," Riley, plans to chase those same dreams.  My little bookworms.  We are so easy to please---all we need is our blankies, our books, and something to sip on. 

2) CAJUN FOODIE Born and raised in the heart of Cajun country, I’m all about our culture, music, language, and FOOD.  My husband and I travel far and wide basically just to eat at cool places, but I swear there’s NO food on Earth like Louisiana.  In fact, I’m thinking about adding a section to my blog about our old school Cajun cooking and our eating adventures. Whatcha think? If you follow me on instagram you already know I’m a food fanatic (and one of those annoying people who won’t let anyone eat until I’ve taken pictures of the food).  

3) CRAFTER/CROCHETER     You see, this is probably why I’m so frenzied- I have TOO MANY HOBBIES! I sew a little, scrapbook a bit, and I crochet like crazy.  Like with food, I'm constantly sharing my crochet on instagram. Something about the repetitiveness of it relaxes the frenzied me.  

My husband gets on the crafty bandwagon with me, too.  There’s nothing he won’t paint, refurb, or reinvent if I get a crazy idea. We love taking junk from zero to hero, and we love traveling to find unique pieces of trash to turn into treasure.   

We’ve been collecting old books lately....to turn into a headboard like this: 

(I love it when my passions collide!) 

4) PIANIST   My mom made me start taking piano lessons when I was 5 years old.  I whined about it ALOT.  I didn’t realize at the time that she was blessing me with a hobby for life.  Playing piano was a huge stress reliever for me growing up.  

I played at church and have played in weddings. Even now in my job, I’ve played for school plays and Christmas caroling outings with my Jr. Beta students.  My boys say their favorite Christmas tradition is us sitting around the piano while we sing carols at the end of Christmas day.  Since both my sons play trombone and my husband plays the Cajun accordion, we joke that we could have a family band,  but what a strange band that would be! 

So I’ve already confessed that I crochet and play piano to help with stress.  The good food and reading helps, too! 

People think I’m all...

Uhh....no way.  I might appear that to have my act together at first glance. My cutesy therapy activities might make you think I’ve got it under control, but here's the truth.....I'm really more like.... 

I somehow manage to hide my stress (on the outside), but all the while, I swear most days I think my head will explode.

When it comes to our jobs as SLPs (managing our caseload, staying on top of paperwork, holding conferences, individualizing therapy, yada yada yada)are overwhelming. Truth be known, I’m overwhelmed on a daily basis.  

I work in the school system, and the education world keeps trying to shove me (us) into a little teacher box.  I don’t know about you but, I don’t need "lesson plans."  Shhhh don’t let the administrators hear this!!  SLPs keep lots of detailed records.  I have my students' goals on tally sheets and I could recite them to you backwards and forwards.  I have a wealth of therapy supplies and I KNOW what I need to do with each child to get their communication in gear.  I could easily wing it and pull an activity for therapy 2.2 seconds before each student walks through the door, but.....principals and supervisors don't always take kindly to that. 

In our district, we are now being evaluated much like teachers - on a rubric that addresses (among many things) lesson plans.  Even though I address my students’ IEP goals, keep excellent data, and make note of the activities I use on my data/tally sheet, some administrators wanted evidence that I had planned.  I protested. I told them that the IEP goals are the lesson plans and the activities are just a frilly sideshow.  No kidding; I stomped my feet and used my whiny voice and everything.  However, being the perfectionist  healthy achiever that I am, I have now caved.  I caved to the lesson plan.  

I put away my rebel ways and made a doggone lesson plan.  To be honest, I did it with no intention of using it.  It was only a means to an end to get myself a good evaluation.  Now, I’m ashamed to say, I kinda like it.  I don’t have to wing it anymore.  It’s keeping me organized and ahead of the game, and dang it, it’s grown on me.  Now I do weekly lesson plans (just the activities) to go along with my tally sheets. I just type in this nifty form I made, print it, post it on my board, and then at the end of the week, I hole punch it and put it in a binder.  

My evidence of planning all year long :)

It’s decreased my frenzied-ness.  Maybe it will help with yours, too.  You can grab my editable pdf weekly lesson plan {freebie} here.  

Just add your name and title, circle the dates that the plan encompasses, type in your activities (I do it by age group and disorder)and get on with your business.

If you like it or use it, I'd love to hear from you!! 

Your feedback is what keeps me going on my most frenzied days. 

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