What Do the Schools You Work in Value About You?

What do the schools you work in value about you?

Organization

Helping with academics/flexibility

My different perspective

My flexibility

Helping students succeed. Being Flexible. Working with students that may not get tested.

Professionalism

Commitment to students, roles, and responsibilities

Staring discussions to get the ball rolling, speaking bluntly.

I give kids extra time with a grown up

See kids on consistent schedule, help students

I do a lot of work with our children with autism

Flexibility, easy to talk with, show up and do my job

The ability to help the children grow in speech and language abilities to succeed in school

I do my paperwork, see kids and make parents happy

Being a positive role model and helper to students

I help kids with speech sounds

That I support teachers and those students who need extra help to succeed

That I can help impact literacy skills

I get the job done quietly

Providing accommodations

I help students speak and read more clearly

Helping students with sounds and language skills

They value the additional support, re-evaluations

Supporting student success in the classroom

I don’t think my schools totally get what I can do and therefore don’t value it enough

I help students increase speech and language skills which increase reading, lang, academics, people skills, team skills etc.

Extra language support

Meeting deadlines and having my work complete

Teachers value anything I do extra to save them time or to help their students be successful in their classrooms

What do parents value about your work or school?

That someone has identified that their child needs extra help and is now helping them

Extra attention to needs and support

Fix them

That I believe their child is important and can make progress

That their child is getting the extra help and attention that they need

Building relationships with their child. Knowing we care and want their child to do the best they can.

Help for their child when they don’t know what to do

Parents value my advocacy for their children

The extra support for their child and someone who advocates for them

Parents value that I provide their student with extra support to help them become more confident communicators and learners

Helping their child become more confident

They aren’t always sure what I do or how I help

Taking the time to nurture and support their child’s learning

Consistent therapy sessions per week, which I do not feel my students get

Our work makes a consistent difference. Appreciate our team efforts and expertise.

Additional support, understand what their child needs to be successful to learn.

The support provided to their children and them as families to make positive changes.

Since I work with significantly impaired preschoolers, most parents value the ability to help their children talk (not communicate, but TALK)

That I get to know kids. They like that I see kids individually/very small groups (even though it makes it tougher for me to schedule)

That I’m helping bring their grade up

Communicating with them

Support

Where I work, parent support is minimal

That we care about and want to help their children

The ability to make changes in students education or goals/needs

Communicating needs/successes of their child regularly….feedback on their child’s progress

Teachers really care about their kids

Focusing on specific difficulties that help them understand the general education curriculum

How do you spend most of your time at work?

With students, in REED, IEP, staff meetings, parent meetings, therapy, testing, meetings, paperwork, working in class.

With kids, driving, paperwork

Trying to get stuff off my to do list and still seeing kids

Direct treatment with students

Students, paperwork, planning, meeting with teachers, parent meeting

Interacting with students, staff and families

With students, paperwork, planning, talking with teachers

Most of my time at work is spent helping others. In some way! Even Medicaid billing is helping others and I completely understand that!

Working with students directly

With students or doing paperwork

Direct with student and lots of paperwork, also researching ideas online

With students or on the computer doing paperwork

With students in therapy or doing paperwork and Medicaid

Meetings and students, all paperwork is at home

Working on paperwork and seeing students

Working with students, but not as much as I need to or I used to

60/40 direct/indirect time, all benefiting the families & children I work with

With students, paperwork, IEPs

Working/Playing with students…close second is paperwork

Meetings first, students second

Meetings and then students

Meetings, paperwork and scheduling time to work with students

Roaming the halls

Working with kids, little time for paperwork

My body is with kids, but my brain is on deadlines, phone calls, paperwork, medicaid etc.

Working with kids

Dreading medicaid billing

What do students value about your work or school?

Safe place, fun and focused attention on them

Getting attention

Helping them achieve their communication goals

They like having fun with me and the extra attention

Depends on their age, older want help and younger want fun

Having fun and building relationships

Especially the difficult kids, we may be the only adult who hears them

My relationship with them, do I listen to what they want to tell me?

Do I care about their day and pretzels?

Getting out of class

To improve communication to help in class and be understood with family and friends

One student said “you are helping me put the bread on the table” when he landed an interview after practicing interviews in speech

The relationships over time. That I understand what they need and we have fun while they work

That I make time to listen to them

Individual time, caring students love fun activities and interacting with others

Listening skills, taking notes, having fun

Getting to know them on a personal level, someone who listens

Students value speaking correctly so others won’t tease them

Students like practicing materials they will use in their classrooms so that they can be successful learners

One on one time, attention, games

The opportunity to make a difference to a student, parent or colleague

A safe place where they can ask questions and admit not understanding something without the fear of ridicule. A place where they are respected and valued.

That we work together making something that is hard, less hard

What is the purpose of your work?

So kids can connect with the world outside of them and social media

To increase comfort/skill with communication

To help kids communicate

Make a difference in a child’s ability to communicate, one of our most basic human needs

Give kids the skills they need to interact with the curriculum

To communicate for social emotional and academic purposes

To facilitate inclusion

To reduce frustration

To provide a way to participate

Communication across the board

To increase communication skills in the academic setting related to academic/curriculum/classroom expectations and post high school goals

Be successful learners and communicators

Helping students feel valued, helping them realize their strengths, helping them make connections to the curriculum, the ah-ha moments.

Helping the students communicate in their world

Improved social interactions

It is so powerful, personally, to have a moment when you can clearly articulate an idea you have, supporting another persons ability to have the same opportunity is powerful.

Build relationships, help children

Encouraging and uplifting kids. They can accomplish anything!

Help others

Students

Teachers

Parents, grandparents

Other co-workers

Helping improve communication skills

Help kids become career and college ready

Support the communication needs of others

Improve academic performance and social relationships

To help students be able to understand and communicate for increase quality of life

Helping kids get a better start that can impact them for life

Facilitate communication skills or increase confidence in communication skills

Support developmental growth of young student to encourage success with early childhood curriculum

Helping children and families be successful

Helping children be successful in general education setting

Helping kids access their education by becoming better communicators

What are you passionate about in your work?

Helping children and making families lives easier

Helping children communicate their needs/wishes, best as they can

Helping the students and building relationships with their teachers and families

Helping students increase communication/language and academics/other IEP goals to move forward and improve to meet post high school goals

I love to make a difference in people’s lives

Helping kids who may have been overlooked

Working with kids and making a difference in their life

Life focus future focus for students

Building relationships

Helping children become confident in communicating (friendships)

Building relationships

I am passionate about making a different in the lives of the children I serve. I want to make their lives easier than they would be if they did not get my help.

Helping students be better communicators

That the kids know that I love them

Every child can learn

Helping students feel reassured hat hey are wanted and ok in a world of questions and not good enough social media

Developing positive relationships with the students, helping them realize they can be successful in school

Working with students and seeing when they have an ah-ha moment.

Working with kids and families

Connecting with the students and helping them feel successful

Working with families, being the support they need at initial diagnosis etc.

Helping kids find that light bulb moment

Helping kids know they are not alone, forming a connection to help them when they are struggling

Working with the kids and getting to know them

Kids feeling accepted and worthy, of great value

Forming relationships with children to develop trust and increase progress

Building the relationships and helping families

Smiles and ah-has from kids

Taking kids for what they are and where they are, then helping them learn and grow and change

Being with the kids and helping them

Making connections with people

Knowing students feel safe and respected when they see me. Being a part of the moment when they make a connection and finally understand

What are we proud based on these “chalk talks”?

Individuals feel valued in their school based on their impact on kids

Relationships with students and families

Spend day working directly with kids

Being advocates for student at home and in the classroom

Move the students forward in not only speech goals, but other goals and academics (tied to post school outcomes)

Belief in life long impact on kids, self-esteem

Flexibility

What are we concerned about based on these “chalk talks”?

The amount of paperwork involved, spent on personal time

Caseload, workload

Parent involvement, only advocate for kids

Access to students, GE curriculum vs. specially designed instruction, kids who get multiple services

Time with students, time to connect with teachers

Lack of behavior support, working outside of our roles

Balance of seeing kids and documenting

Work smarter not harder

Special education IEP systems

Pulled to do “other duties as assigned”

Feeling like you can’t speak up to help in areas you have an expertise because you are spread too thin

Professional Learning is geared towards teachers

THE TOP THREE GAP AREAS/PRIORITY FOCUS

Suggestions for Moving forward with this work:

SLPs should have their own PLC and not always meet with other disciplines

This needs to be completed this school year

Look at what we have currently, nationally, in the state, in our county

These need to be open meetings to all Ingham SLPs

If they can be the other half day of PLCs that is preferred

Alternate Days of the week

Send out a Doodle

Keep the same facilitator, partner with SLPs if people are willing