In this video, speech-language pathologist Carrie Clark shows you how to make 5-minute speech sessions work when you have a busy, noisy environment to work in.
Strategies for Getting Those Sessions Done Without a Ton of Transition Time:
- Pull into the hallway right outside the classroom. If too busy, bring along a tri-fold poster board and create a barrier around you. Place a Do Not Disturb sign on the side facing the hall. Or, for younger kids, bring along a pop-up tent!
- Pull them to the back of the classroom where you can work quietly for a few minutes (explain to the teachers that this is better than the child missing 30 minutes of class to join a group).
- Find empty classrooms or offices that you can use in a few different locations around the school so that you have spots you can go to that aren’t as far away as your speech room.
- Use the space between two sets of double doors on a doorway that isn’t used much during the time of your session.
- Step right outside the school at a nearby doorway and work on the ground for a few minutes.
- Schedule fewer kids in each 30-min block so you have more time for transitions.
- Schedule the same number of kids per 30-min block, but pull two at a time and have them do their words rapid fire.
- Bring along the Maxwell Smart Cone of Silence.
More Resources for Speech-Language Pathologists:
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Hi! This was very helpful. I am about to start in a school. How would this change how we write their therapy time? If we recommend 1 hour a week but aren’t pulling them in a 30 minute group (even if they’re getting the same amount of true therapy time) do we write that differently? It would sound funny recommending 10 minutes a week in lieu of 1 hour but I don’t want to do anything wrong my first year (8-O
Hi there,
Did you figure out how to write this into the IEP? I have the same question. 🙂