I’ve been there. Each year during my professional development conference, I sit through another “push into the classrooms” seminar. Every year I try. And every year…I feel disappointed in myself with the way it goes.
I really want it to work and I thought I was doing what I was supposed to. After all, we’re told again and again that the research is pointing to speech therapists getting into the classrooms.
So…in order to be a “good speech therapist,” here’s what I did my first three years at my district:
Once a week, I taught language lessons for my kindergarten and first grade classrooms, as well as for one resource room.
And here’s why it failed:
1. I painstakingly planned and prepared the lesson…and then taught it. In an ideal world, both the teacher and I would plan the lesson. However, I know of very few, make that zero speech therapists who can line up their planning time (if they have any) with a teacher’s.
2. Since I was teaching around 25 students, I could never seem to collect data on my kiddos with IEPs.
3. Because I was unable to collect data on my students having IEPs, I felt that I still needed to pull them out for their required minutes and gather data. So…essentially I was doing double-duty with these kids. I was pulling them out for speech and also (as an extra) going in to their classrooms.
4. I never felt like I accomplished what I wanted. Yes, I was teaching in the classroom….but I was simply “teaching in the classroom” so I could say I was “teaching in the classroom.” I had this idea that it somehow made me a better speech therapist. All throughout grad school, I was taught that pull-out for therapy “just doesn’t cut it anymore” and so strived to make the classroom model work. In all reality, I wasn’t getting much accomplished.
This fall, I attended a session titled “Alternative Service Delivery Models: Trials, Tribulations and Triumphs” by a Dawn Belacic and came away with some fresh ideas.
Here is my new spin on entering classrooms (it actually works)!
Find out if your school implements Daily 5 or a similar program. This incredible program was developed by two sisters to help students develop daily independent skills in the areas of reading and writing. Students are given a choice of 5 activities to do and must work at each one until a timer goes off and they switch (usually around 20 minutes). The five activities include:
1. Read to Self
2. Work on Writing
3. Read to Someone
4. Listen to Reading
5. Word Work
Here’s a video of Daily 5 in action:
Many schools around the nation are adopting this type of model for small groups. If your district does not implement this, choose a few classrooms and find out when they do independent work, especially in the area of reading and start there. If they do implement Daily 5 or something similar, here is our chance as SLPs to pop into the classroom.
Getting set up:
1. Choose the classrooms you feel would be most beneficial to go into. This year, I chose 1 kindergarten classroom and 2 first grade classrooms to go in on Fridays. I chose these based on the number of speech and language students they contained.
2. Talk to the teacher and ask when they do Daily 5 or independent reading work. Ask if you may join their classroom once a week. It’s much less intimating to have another person in the classroom when a routine is in place. Every teacher I’ve asked has been more than receptive and are usually really excited to have me in during Daily 5.
3. Set up your schedule to include this time.
Okay, so you’re ready to go in….but why will this work?
1. No lesson to teach! When I go in during Daily 5, I see students camped out on the floor reading to self or partners, on the computers, or at their desks doing word work or writing. They do this for 20 minutes and then switch activities. The fact that there is no lesson means no prep work and less stress on you and the teacher!
2. Target any area! By this point in the year, students have the routine down and are doing independent work. That means you can easily assess their speech and language skills while they read to you or to a partner. Here’s what I do. I walk in, sit next to a student and ask if they’ll read to me. The kids love it! They love people listening to their reading and feel great when I give them encouragement. I usually stop and ask them questions to gauge their understanding. When they’re working on word work, I can help with phonological awareness skills and the writing session makes it easy to work on sentence structure and grammar. My students with articulation have responded well when I correct them while reading and it seems to “stick” better since they’re in their own environment.
3. Better use of time. Since Daily 5 happens in 20 minute increments, I can simply walk in between therapy sessions, without disrupting the students routine and stay for 20 minutes. If I have more time, I can stay longer. For some reason, 20 minute walk-ins make classrooms much more appealing to me than trying to plan for a 30 minute language lesson.
4. I can see students who are not on my caseload, making RtI extremely doable. Now, I can work with those kiddos who might need help with a few sounds or need some language intervention but don’t qualify for an IEP. The teacher usually pulls a small group around her table to work with and I can pull one as well. It’s literally like doing pull-out therapy within a classroom!
5. I have a better sense of “average.” I’m able to hear what average readers sound like and what students who are not on an IEP can do with writing. This awareness of “what students are expected to do” is extremely helpful when working with my own students.
6. Students and teachers see me. This is what always appealed to me about working in classrooms. I’m not the “speech teacher who stays in a little room all by herself” anymore. I’m out and about and I’ve learned that teachers feel more comfortable approaching a person they have contact with.
7. Data collection made easy. When I go into the classroom, I take a sheet of labels with me. Then, I can quickly assess a student and record it on a label.
When I get back to my therapy room, I simply peel off that label and stick in onto the student’s data sheet. No copying or transferring! You can download my free data sheet HERE. Just print them on 2″ by 4″ labels. I used the Avery 5163 template.
This method is working for me. I actually feel like I’m benefiting my students and others that are not on my caseload. The teachers appreciate this method and I’m grabbing some great data!
Comment below on how you’re doing teaching in the classroom. I love any new ideas!
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TeachSpeech365 says
December 3, 2013 at 11:06 pmThis is great! I’ve actually been doing this in one of my 2nd grade classrooms without even realizing it. They do Daily 5 and I’ve found it to be a great time to work on goals!! It sort of just happened this year, but I’ll definitely do it next year as well! Love the label idea, I’ll have to try that!
Nicole Allison says
December 4, 2013 at 1:41 amThanks TeachSpeech! It’s really been working for me and the labels make data simple!
Carrie Manchester says
December 3, 2013 at 11:22 pmOur school is implementing Daily 5 for the first time this year. I ended up having a caseload of ONLY preschool kids (who are doing a much simplified version), but I’m definitely passing this info on to one of the other SLPs int he building!
Nicole Allison says
December 4, 2013 at 1:42 amI love that you’re doing Daily 5 with your preschoolers! Starting them early doing some independent work is really benefiting them, I’m sure!
CC says
December 3, 2013 at 11:30 pmI’m merging into our language block (aka ELL) and it is working really well for the same reasons!!
APittCat says
December 4, 2013 at 1:30 amThis is a great post- my schools do not use the Daily 5 but I think it is a great idea to pass along 🙂
Nicole Allison says
December 4, 2013 at 1:42 amThank you! It’s really working for me!
Casey says
December 4, 2013 at 6:55 pmThanks for sharing! Our school is implementing this, and I was not sure that I would be able to be a part of it. It is nice to see that it is working so that I can try to bring it up to teachers as they get things going.
Sarah says
December 4, 2013 at 7:49 pmWhat size labels do you use? I have tried using return address labels, but they can be too small.
Nicole Allison says
December 4, 2013 at 8:00 pmOops-forgot that part! Print them on 2″ by 4″ labels. I used the Avery 5163 template. Thanks for the reminder!
Lauren LaCour says
December 5, 2013 at 12:32 pmGreat post Nicole! I love seeing the way other people do inclusion. 🙂
-Lauren
turf says
December 10, 2013 at 3:40 pmThis sounds like a great idea. I currently have 60 children in three buildings. I am wondering how you document service minutes into the IEP? We were just reviewed by ODE and told that if we go into the classroom we must link it to a goal and write separate minutes in the reg.ed setting on the service page of the IEP. Did you go back and amend the IEP’s or did you plan ahead and list the minutes? How do you document /choose the number of minutes?
Thanks so much.
Terri
A. says
April 23, 2015 at 3:40 amI am wondering the same thing – how do you document service minutes for push-in? Do you count it as 20 minutes with each child with speech-language services in that classroom? Or only for the amount of time you work directly with the student (e.g., five of the twenty minutes). I have not found clear guidelines on this.
Nicole Allison says
April 23, 2015 at 12:17 pmAs of now, I have only done push-in as “an extra.” Students still receive their pull-out time to address IEP goals, but then I schedule a block of time for my extras to benefit students (push-in, social group,consultation with teachers, etc.).
Renee says
October 26, 2021 at 7:27 pmAnd there’s the kicker. I want to have a positive mindset but just don’t see how I can accomplish “extra”.
Queen's Speech (Rachel) says
July 24, 2014 at 10:15 pmNicole!!! OMG Why has it taken me this long to read this! My school DOES DAILY 5!!!!!! I love you for posting this! I am going to try Hallway therapy this year with my articulation students (pull-out right outside their door for 5-10 minutes everyday) and I would love to try to do push-in (my principal is ALL about it right now) for Daily 5 for a few classrooms. Thank you for the idea! Sharing on my page right now!
adminASP says
July 24, 2014 at 11:24 pmYou are too sweet! I know I’ve been overwhelmed at times trying to get into classrooms so this is what worked for me last year. I plan on doing it again this year!
Kari says
July 24, 2014 at 11:00 pmThis is great! I have a preschool-only caseload, and these ideas can even be applied at that level in some way. I will definitely be passing this on to the elementary SLPs I work with– I know it can be a struggle to get into the elementary classrooms and feeling like you’re being effective, and this post is full of great, simple ideas! Thanks for sharing!
adminASP says
July 24, 2014 at 11:21 pmThanks! They’ve helped me out a ton!
Mary says
August 2, 2014 at 2:15 pmI’m glad to see using labels is catching on! It’s been a lifesaver to me in my therapy room!
Marisha says
August 17, 2015 at 1:28 amI’m so glad you mentioned this during your Periscope chat! Super helpful read.
Mallory Dunn says
August 18, 2015 at 4:22 amDo you do the daily 5 with students on your IEP caseload? (not just the RTI kiddos)
Do you include these minutes as part of their minimum/week or are these just extras?
Thanks in advance!
Nicole Allison says
August 18, 2015 at 1:13 pmHi Mallory!
When I go into the classrooms, I try to see a little of every student, especially the ones that are struggle, so not just my IEP kids. I don’t include this time as part of their minutes (it’s always an extra I do for a few classrooms that have a lot of struggling kids). Hope this helps!
Lindsey says
August 19, 2015 at 2:06 amWow! I am so excited and grateful to be reading this. I will be starting my 3rd year at an elementary school as an SLP. I have helped my students make great progress with all pull-out therapy but I felt like I wasn’t getting the teacher involvement and carryover that I wanted.
I had never seen push-in speech therapy…EVER, not even in graduate school. I tried searching online and felt defeated not finding the specific information I needed. When I tried to wing it, it didn’t feel right and I chickened out. I felt like a terrible SLP. I watched your Periscope last night and I’m so glad I did. This post is like pure gold to me right now. Thank you so much for giving me straightforward pointers and a realistic perspective about how to go into classrooms!
Nicole Allison says
August 20, 2015 at 10:42 amYay! I’m so glad these ideas helped. This type of push-in is much less intimating for me. Hopefully, you will find that perfect teacher this year to work with!
Simone Pendergraft says
July 24, 2016 at 3:18 pmHa! Reading this 3 years after you posted. Lol! But, I’ve been wanting to try more push-in therapy with my kiddos but was always unsure of how to be effective in doing so! Thanks for sharing your post! I also love the data tracking labels!
Nicole Allison says
July 24, 2016 at 7:36 pmThanks Simone!
Lauren says
March 11, 2017 at 12:52 amDo you see groups of students during the Daily 5 in the classroom? I’ve struggled to see students in groups during this time when they are all reading different books. It’s difficult to stay within a time limit and to address goals.
Nicole Allison says
March 12, 2017 at 12:43 amI see them both individually or in groups. When they’re in groups, I usually have them read the same book. It’s definitely a balancing act!
Annelise Lund says
August 1, 2017 at 1:20 amHi Nicole! I just listed to your webinar and loved it. Thanks for referencing this post, too. I so look forward to your newsletters now!! I have a couple questions, if you don’t mind:
1) Would you mind please re-sharing your label link? It is no longer available via google docs. Sorry… It is probably easy to make, but you’re a pro, so would love to imitate yours exactly!
2) How do classroom minutes work for meeting individual students’ minutes? As in, are those just extra minutes for all students? Or if I’m in a classroom with 4 of my students and I pop around to each of them within my 20 minutes there, do each of them get credited “20” or the actual minutes I worked with them directly (e.g., “5”). I know the tricky thing in the past for me has been trying to work with all the students in a classroom (not just the struggling ones) so I don’t make my students feel singled out, but still getting some meaningful intervention time into the schedule.
I appreciate your thoughts! Thank you!!
Nicole Allison says
August 1, 2017 at 5:44 pmHi Annelise!
Thank you so much for tuning in last night (and being patient with the technology issues!) Here is the new link to the labels (it must have been broken): https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1z0y6MtFjYgSmtmcEJONzJvUlU/view?usp=sharing
As for the minutes, I have not figured out a way to get adequate minutes in with my students I see in the classroom so I still pull them. The classroom time is additional. Somehow, when I worked in the public school, I was able to see 65 IEP students, 20 intervention, and still go into the classrooms and hold additional social groups (not sure how!). If you figure out a way to really track minutes in the classroom, I would love to learn and hear about it! Thank you again and hope you have a great year!
Susan says
September 24, 2017 at 1:46 pmThis is perfect! Just what I was looking for to improve my practice.
I’ve been reflecting on the changing role of the SLP in schools, especially public schools. I’ve done push-in and pull-out speech therapy. I still
question what is the best for preschoolers that often come to school half days, have behavioral challenges, and very short attention spans.
Ilene Kupferman says
December 19, 2017 at 7:28 pmMy principal asked me to do more “push-in” (I’m in a K-5 NYC public school). I left one session/week pull out and 1 session/week in the classroom. When I made my schedule I tried to line it up with the literacy and reading time and I work almost exclusively with my IEP students. Once the IEP is revised for location, your bases are covered in terms of compliance. Your comments are very helpful and I will apply them.
Jackie Sniadecki says
April 13, 2018 at 3:15 pmI’m not SLP but a COTA/L. I do push in with a lot of my kids and was looking for some inspiration when I stumbled onto your site. I do see a bunch of kids for consult services as well and I do these as push in with group time. I keep track on a scrap of paper how long I spend with each kiddo and then bill it all as group and give each kids the amount of time I spent directly with them. Not sure if this is helpful for all you SLPs but I think I like the daily 5 idea as well. I could see the writing, transitions and social participation that goes along with a daily 5 group. Thanks for the great info!
Laurie Stubblefield says
July 24, 2018 at 8:52 pmHi, Nicole,
I loved your article and want to put it into practice, but scheduling is daunting. I am the only SLP in my district, serving 88 students with each child seen at least twice a week, 20 minutes each session. So it’s been pull-out group therapy. How often do/did you see your students per week, and how long are your sessions? Perhaps telling the parents up front that pull out time is reduced to once a week but the kids are seen in-class is a thought….