The good news is that all my dedicated work in the last year to justifying the need for more SLPs in our district helped make our case. The result? We hired an extra .5 person (half-time) to alleviate some of our caseload numbers and allow us to think more in a workload perspective. It was great to be able to sit down with the Director of Special Education and the Superintendent and make my case. Both listened and were completely on board. Wahoo!
The meeting came with a bit of a twist, though. After they agreed to more SLP time in one of my schools, they asked if I wouldn't mind moving to the Early Childhood program (ages 3-5). It's a great opportunity, but it means learning (another) whole new caseload, and leaving behind my students that I've worked with for the past few years. And the worst part? This all happened after the school year ended, so I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to them!
I've shed quite a few tears for the students as well as the buildings/staffs I'll be leaving (I found my nameplate in my mailbox the other day when I went to pick up materials and started crying again!), but I'm optimistic about my new position. I had the opportunity to do part of my internship in an Early Childhood program, which was pretty amazing. I'm super excited to jump in and create materials for those students. I'm already signed up to take a LAMP Training in my area in September on Core Vocabulary, and know I will be working to implement that. I'm pretty comfortable with Boardmaker, which is good, because I am going to need to spend quite a bit of time making visuals, schedules, and things like snack mats!
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| Hello new office! |
I've also hit the thrift stores and yard sales this summer, and have some great things to share in the upcoming weeks!
What are your must-have items for the 3-5 year old population? For classrooms that have no visuals right now, what would be on top of your to-do list? I'd love to hear your ideas!
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