Quick & Easy Back-To-School Tips {Guest Blogger Beautiful Speech}

For the entire month of August, I have a fun little series starting on the blog. A few of your favorite bloggers are coming together to provide us with some “Quick and Easy Back-to-School Tips.” We all need these don’t we? I just love being part of a community that is so generous and giving! Today, Kristin from Beautiful Speech is sharing a few of her tips.

Thank you, Nicole, for having me as a guest blogger this week! I have enjoyed reading through the back to school tips your guest bloggers have been sharing, and I am excited about sharing one of my tips with your readers.

I may sound crazy, but back to school time is one of my favorite times of the year. Sure, I will miss summer break and sleeping in, but there’s just something about this time of year that makes the end of summer exciting. Students are excited about buying new school clothes and supplies. Teachers are excited to implement all the great ideas they spent all summer finding on Pinterest. Everyone is rejuvenated and ready for the new school year. It’s just wonderful!

One of the ways I get ready for the new school year is by creating a caseload summary sheet. This is a simple form that has much of the vital information needed for each student on my caseload. I fill this out at the start of the school year and keep it in a sheet protector at the front of my speech therapy binder at each campus I serve.

There are several ways to organize this summary sheet. I have been blessed with a very manageable caseload, so I actually make one for each campus I serve and only need one sheet per campus. You may have more students than I do and might prefer to have one sheet per grade level. You can organize students alphabetically, by grade, or by IEP due date, whichever way works best for you.

This caseload summary sheet is a great quick reference when I need information about a student but don’t have time to look it up in the computer system. I also use it to keep track of upcoming IEP meetings and re-evaluation dates. Once an IEP meeting has been held, I mark it on my summary sheet. I also highlight information that I need to stand out and sometimes color code information on the sheet as well. By the end of the year, this baby is definitely not as pretty as it is on the first day. I mark all over it. One advantage about putting it in a sheet protector is that you can mark right onto the sheet protector and keep your original safe and sound inside. Then, you can use nail polish remover to wipe off the sharpie and highlighter marks on your sheet protector.

There are so many different ways to keep track of your caseload information. I also like to keep a sheet in my planner alongside each month’s calendar page with all the IEPs, evaluations, and re-evaluations that will be due that month. The caseload summary sheet is just an additional form that I find helpful for organizing my student information and using as a quick reference as needed throughout the year. It is so helpful to have all of that information in one place where I can access it quickly when needed.

If you would like to use my caseload summary sheet, you can find it for FREE in my Teachers Pay Teachers store by clicking here.

Be sure to click back and read the other great back to school tips that have been shared. There are some great ones!

You can read more from Kristin Immicke on her blog, Beautiful Speech. You can also follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.