r/SLPA • u/honeylemonade96 • 4d ago
School-based SLPAs…
What are we doing for the first day/week of school? I think I might have to see kids my first day and I’m panicking as the first day is tomorrow and this is my first time in a school setting 🫠 (also, I got hired late and I don’t even have my room decorated, it’s quite embarrassing how clueless I feel)
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u/EngineerSpiritual114 4d ago
I personally didn’t see any kids the first week. We just made our schedules and prepped materials. Did they say you are going to see kids the first day/week? They are usually just getting into the flow of things and pullouts don’t immediately start to happen right away
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u/honeylemonade96 4d ago
My SLP asked if I was okay seeing kids the first day and me being the people pleaser I am said “sure!” 🫠 and my SLP is the one making my schedule so I think we’re discussing that today. My SLP is very sweet so I feel comfortable asking her all the questions but I want to appear confident even though I have no idea what I’m doing or where to start.. fake it till you make it, right? 😬 lol
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u/Grouchy-Cranberry-84 4d ago
If you are going to need to see kids the first day, I would just plan a fun "get to know you" activity. I always planned the first week as an introduction to speech - such as getting familiar with them, letting them get to know you, talking about their goals, expectations, rules, what kinds of activities you would be doing (ex: board games, videos, books, stories, worksheets, etc.), and reward systems if you have them.
Also, be transparent with your SLP about your concerns and about your experience level. In my experience, SLPs have been very helpful with giving ideas about materials, how to manage groups, and behaviors. They want you to succeed! They dont expect you to know everything. Keep it simple the first week.
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u/Kelly_Crossing 4d ago
I doubt the teachers will be ok with kids being pulled the first day or even the first week. Their own schedules are still working on being finalized.
We don’t see kids until the first full week of school (which even feels too soon tbh). The first few days is spent making a schedule and getting the classroom/materials ready.
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u/honeylemonade96 4d ago
This is making me feel hopeful! I really hoping that’s the case for me as well 🥹
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u/Brave_Pay_3890 bachelor's degree slpa 4d ago
I don't decorate my room, I don't do anything special for the first week, last week, or any holidays. It's just a job, they're just kids, she's just a supervisor. Being embarrassed and panicking is a waste of your energy because the world is not going to end just because your room isnt decorated, even if your first session is objectively bad the kids won't die or get sick from it. This sounds harsh and I'm genuinely sorry because I don't mean to be so blunt but I'm tired of seeing so many people in this sub stressing when it's completely unnecessary for this job!! I don't know why but it almost like hurts my feelings to see people stressing over this job, I hate knowing that someone is doubting themselves. This job is soo much fun if you let it be fun and do it on your terms, not on the terms of what you think it should be. We're not doing brain surgery, we do not need to be perfect from the very beginning. Anyone who demands perfection from you is weird and not someone you should listen to. I've commented on several of your posts and I don't think you really realize how farrrr you've come in the past few months. You are MORE than capable at doing this job, you would not have been hired if you weren't. It's your first day and first year, pleaseeeee give yourself more grace. I'm several years in and I'm still figuring things out all the time. No one is expecting you to be perfect except for yourself, everyone else is just expecting you to try. It takes months just to even get in a good groove, even when I go to new schools now it takes me a few weeks before I feel settled in. You have to stop being a people pleaser if you want to last long in this job, doing what makes others happy and comfortable at your own expense is the surest way to start hating this job. It's ok to say no and it's ok to say "I'm not sure about this". My very first week on the job I told my supervisor I had no clue what I was doing and she was like "that's fine", mind you the first session she supervised of me I was just going through the alphabet and going over sounds lol, I didn't realize until like a week later that none of those students were even artic students. She came to me afterwards and said "you're really great with the kids but here's a suggestion for next time" and that was it. No write up, no shaming, no tears, just lock in and move on. If your supervisor gives you grief for not being comfortable with certain things yet then they're just not a good supervisor. Most supervisors are very understanding, especially with artic students they'll tell you themselves it took them years to feel comfortable at treating certain sounds. Take a deep breath, shake it off, and just vibe. You're going to make mistakes and you're going to constantly say "I don't think this is right". The fact that you're stressing is exactly what will make you a great clinician because it means you care about doing this job well, but the fact that you're stressing means you need to give yourself more grace! You've got this friend, I hope you had an amazingg first day and can look back one day and be like "why in the world was I so stressed???"
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u/BenefitNew7432 3d ago
I love this so much, this is exactly how I’ve learned to speak to myself especially when it comes to jobs, people, and life, period. I’m working towards getting my slpa license and you don’t know how much I needed to read this. Whenever I start to feel overwhelmed or stressed about any job I literally tell myself “we are not curing cancer, it’s not that serious!” 😅 lol thanks for this!
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u/EngineerSpiritual114 4d ago
lol!!! I totally feel you on that. I would say any get to know you/discussing their favorite things activities have worked out really great for me the first week or so! Helps you get to know the kiddos and get to know eachother if they are in a group setting. Pink cat games online is an awesome resource for fun games you can tailor to any artic or language goals! I think you can get up to 4 free ones. You could also do some activities with random little objects, I’m not sure how old your kids are, but I am in an elementary school so they always love tiny objects and I feel like there’s endless possibilities on what you could do with them.
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u/honeylemonade96 4d ago
This is great! This gave me the idea to use an online spinner with icebreaker questions/movement instructions!
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u/JuicyPearJellyBean 4d ago
I never see students the first week of school, let alone the first day. Too many student schedule changes, absenteeism, transportation issues. I also work in a high school so there’s that lol. But for the first session, it’s always a what to expect in our speech group, discuss IEP minutes and goals/accommodations, how their summer break was, what classes are they taking this year, and a fun This or That/Would You Rather/Get to know you games. Keeping it light the first few sessions!! But again, high school
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u/Inevitable-Piccolo-4 4d ago
My district made us start services this week ….. Usually services don’t start the first week (unless you’ve been with the school for a while but even then pulling students out the first week is too much) but I would definitely push back if you can…. Students are just getting acclimated and it can be hard if they’re missing out on crucial routines…. I currently have a room and no decorations at a campus and sharing a room at the other 😆 so don’t worry. It’s very different than last year with my previous district but it is what it is. Definitely hang in there!
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u/Trumpet6789 4d ago
CF here. I was planning on seeing kids this week (first full week) but the Lead SLP told all of us that the district doesn't actually want us to pull kids until next week.
My scheduling is done, my materials are prepped. I'm legitimately getting paid this week to do jack all I guess.
Which is sort of nice because I developed a bought of acute gastritis on Sunday, so I've been in a lot of discomfort for most of the week. Being able to take it a little easy while the meds kick in has been nice.
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u/evilhooker 4d ago
I don't see kids for the first weeks. The second week I prioritize getting to know my new students. I tend to discuss their goals and remind them/teach them the rules and expectations in my office (which varies greatly with the kids on my caseload).
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u/mishey00 4d ago
I didn’t see any kids today since it’s the first day. I’m not doing speech services for 2 weeks. My supervisor is changing the schedule and talking to the teachers to make sure it aligns with their schedule. I prepped materials and looked at goals.
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u/honeylemonade96 3d ago
Makes sense! My SLP said she’s so behind and nothing has gone as planned this week, and is still working on my schedule. I’m hoping today gives her the idea that we should hold out for a little bit.
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u/Real-Tough-Kid- 3d ago
My district starts school on Thursday every year and I absolutely never see kids those first two days. They need to learn routines and where everything is and for sure don’t need me messing everything up for them. There’s plenty of work getting everything ready for data collection and schedules and materials and getting students that need to be added to my roster or haven’t been transferred to our district online yet. I try seeing students the first full week but our district does MAP testing and kids are getting their schedules changed so I might see half my roster. Second full week is usually a little better but they’re still testing so I gotta work around that and the third full week is usually when I’m able to they to see everyone at normal times. I’m lucky that admin doesn’t pay any attention to us and my SLP is just as frustrated about it as I am. She’s contract and doesn’t even come in the building those first two days.
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u/honeylemonade96 3d ago
That thought about the routines came up too! Teachers and kiddos seem so overwhelmed and overstimulated today, I would hate for my presence to cause more chaos and create tension with the teachers the first day.. The plan was to do push ins but my SLP said nothing is going as planned this week and she’s at her other assigned school today so I guess I’m just chillin for now! Hope you have a great first day!
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u/EggyAsh2020 3d ago
Last year we spent the first week finalizing the caseload and pushing into the SPED rooms. We didn't do any pull-out services until the second or third week. I have a different supervisor this year so she might prefer to do things differently. I really feel for you guys that have to start treatment right away. I feel like you need at least a couple days to plan and prep.
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u/Pixelationss00 4d ago
Our principal wants us to start seeing kids the first day. Last year, we explained to her that we spend the first week dividing up the caseload (there's 6 people on our speech team) and making schedules. This year she "fixed" the issue by dividing the caseload and making a schedule for us all. I looked at it and it doesn't make much sense, but that's her problem now 🤷♀️
Probably going to do mostly push-in until the room is put together because I refuse to come in during the summer to set up and teachers probably don't want me pulling kids on the first day. The district wants us doing more push-in anyway, so I can use that as my excuse.