As some of you may know, I am expecting my first baby (It's a BOY!) and will be taking some time off from work and blogging before and after his arrival. During that time, there will be several guest bloggers/SLPs that will be featured on my blog. I am so excited to share all of the amazing, informative posts they have come up with. I can not thank them all enough for taking the time to write these posts! Just another one of the many reasons I love being part of the SLP world. I hope you all enjoy reading everything over the next several weeks. Please feel free to leave comments and post questions.
The next guest post is written by Teach Speech 365! Enjoy!
I'm thrilled to be writing a guest post for Kristine! My post will focus on tips for diving into a new school based SLP position. Walking into a new school at the beginning of the school year is something I've done several times now, so I will share with you my tips for managing all the "new-ness"! I will be starting a new school based position in the fall, so I'll be right there with you!
1. Introduce yourself to the principal, assistant principal, and secretary: This is a great ice breaker and will open the door for the rest of the building. The secretary knows everything about the inner workings of the school. The principal will probably be the one to show you around and introduce you to the teachers and other staff. Some things you'll want to find out: what classes you can pull students from, who attends IEP meetings (principal, assistant principal, etc), where
2. Get a map of the of the building: This has saved my life, especially in the first few weeks of school. I usually carry it around with me and look like a tourist as I try to figure out where everything is. Priorities: find the bathroom, faculty room, and copier.
3. Check out your room (if you have one): Trust me, I've been in schools where I didn't have a room. If you are lucky enough to have one, look around to see what kind of storage you have and start making a list of what kinds of things you need. I will not see my room until the week of orientation, so I won't be able to figure out what I need until then.
4. Find the student files: Generally, the last SLP will have left working files of the students. I pull them out and see how many students are in each grade and what goals they are working on. Check out my blog later on to see how I go about scheduling!!
5. Walk around and introduce yourself: I need to hear names a couple times before they stick, so don't be afraid to ask. I like to take some time to talk to teachers about when they prefer I pull students for speech. While I may not ALWAYS be able to accommodate this, I find that this helps open the doors for communication between myself and teachers.
6. Allow yourself a moment to be completely overwhelmed: It happens. It will happen to me at some point. That point where you want to sit under your desk and cry because you have no idea how you will schedule all the kids and learn all the names, and be a good SLP. Don't worry, it'll pass.
More on my experiences as I dive into my new position!! :)
Teach Speech
Teach Speech
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