Stepping Out Beyond Our Four Walls {From Super Power Speech}

I am so excited to begin a new series right here on this blog titled “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 Cheri Chin over at Super Power Speech. Co-Teaching can often be intimidating so this post is full of great ideas on how Cheri jumped in.

Six years ago, I was faced with a new situation. We had an influx of first grade students on IEPs with social skills goals. These students needed not just group social skills instruction, but also one on one specific instruction for each student. Additionally, they all needed full academic support from the special education teacher.

Using our previous model, these six-years-olds would have been pulled out of their classrooms for two (or more) hours per day for special education instruction. This was definitely not, the least restrictive option.

Because my special education teacher and I have a great working relationship, we brainstormed how we could better serve these students. We wanted to ensure that they were receiving the support that they needed while missing less class time. We decided to co-teach.

The co-teaching model that we developed began with one group of first graders. Every Friday, I would join with the special education teacher in her room and we would engage these students in a variety of activities to promote thinking of others, expected behaviors, and role playing situations. You can read my tips about running a social skills group in this blog post.

Over time, our co-teaching has expanded and evolved. I now spend my entire Friday afternoon co-teaching in the special education teacher’s room. We work together with a variety of students, not all of whom are even on my caseload. Because of our great relationship, we are able to provide input and ideas on each other’s students, regardless of case manager.

What have I learned? I have learned that getting out of the four walls of my speech room can be empowering and amazing. It has developed professional relationships within my building. It has given me a chance to help and love students that I would never have served otherwise. Leaving my room to provide a different kind of therapy method has made me a more well-rounded, skilled, and understanding speech pathologist. I highly recommend that you try it too! 🙂

Do you co-teach with others in your building? And if so, what does it look like? Email me and let me know! cheri@superpowerspeech.com

Bio: Cheri Chin is the creator the longest running blog for speech pathologists, Super Power Speech. She is a national presenter and has been featured numerous times in the ASHA Leader. She works full time in an elementary school in the Pacific Northwest and loves to organize, read and run. Her groundbreaking course, “The Organized SLP” begins this week, so sign up now! And make sure to sign up for her email list to gain access to an entire library of free materials for speech pathologists.

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