Stepping Out Beyond Our Four Walls {Speech Me Maybe}

Today I’m continuing our series “Stepping Out Beyond Our Four Walls.” Earlier this year, Jenna from Speech Room News, Desiree from SLPTalk and I presented at OSLHA on ways we were getting out from our therapy walls and promoting our wonderful profession to our districts and communities. We received such a great response I thought I would ask a few of my friends to share ways they are also making a big difference in their districts. Today’s guest post is from Speech Me Maybe. The Career Day and volunteering to take on some of the load with DIBELS (always a favorite, right?) makes Lacee a valuable contributor in her district. Read on to see how she does it.

I am honored to be a guest blogger for this series! It is so very important to become a familiar part of the staff as a school SLP and branch out of our therapy room.

I have been at three different schools in the last three years so I am constantly rebuilding trust and relationships with teachers, principals, and other service providers. I think the most important thing to do at the beginning the of the school year is to do a quick in-service about your role as an SLP. If that isn’t possible, I like to place a handout in everyone’s mailbox with a sweet treat (so that maybe they’ll read it 😉

Another way I step out of the therapy room is volunteering for different roles within the school community. I was the site leader for the 21^st Century after-school tutoring program and it was truly a great experience. Trough that program, I was able to work with teachers, work along side the principal, and meet administrators within the district. They even sent me to Palm Springs for a national conference. Although it was A LOT of extra work, I gained so much more.

Our school also holds a career day and I presented on what an SLP does and their role in a school setting. To my surprise, I got more “I didn’t know that.” comments from teachers than I did students. It almost served as an in-service as well! A few students also mentioned they wanted to be an SLP when they grow up.

Something else I do every year is volunteer to be on the schools team when completing DIBELS testing. I was lucky enough to have the flexibility to do this and it was very beneficial. Not only did I build report with the psychologist, principal, and other team members, but I also got to see some of my students in the general education classroom. I also served as a resource when volunteers questioned articulation errors or dialects during reading samples.

Lastly, I think it is the little things that matter most. Attending the school assemblies, staff meetings, and being a present, active member of the staff really goes a long way.

Isn’t it always the little things? 🙂