Wow! What a crazy semester! I will be the first to admit that this semester I was stretched and stressed. Was it easy? Absolutely not! But, I learned so much about myself and my profession. I am here to share 3 things I learned providing hybrid speech therapy so that you can be a little less stressed and feel more confident!
During the fall semester, I provided a hybrid model of speech therapy services for my entire caseload. What did this look like? I transitioned from my physical speech room to a virtual speech room ALL DAY! For reference, I had 40% of my students face-to-face and 60% of my students virtually. I tried my best to not have students engaging in person and virtually for the same session. I would only do this if a student was placed on quarantine. Here are 3 things I learned providing hybrid speech therapy that helped me!
Use Google Slides for Lesson Planning
Using Google Slides to plan my lessons save me so much time and allowed me to easily transition from in-person services to virtual services. On my slides, I added links to everything to keep everything in one place. Here are a few examples of my Google Slides.
I added the YouTube videos directly to the slides and them added a link to the Boom Cards that I was using for that lesson.
I also added the visuals that I would be using during the lesson or activity. For this lesson, I took my students on a virtual field trip. I was able to target multiple language skills. You can read more about virtual field trips and grab this free download, HERE.
In my lesson plans, I linked books (from Vooks) that I would be reading along with visuals from the story. For this lesson, I took screenshots from the story and made an easy sequencing/story re-tell activity.
I also added links to PDF documents in my Google Drive that I could print and use with my face-to-face students or open the document in Kami to use with my virtual students.
The best part about using Google Slides for lesson planning was that when a student switched to virtual learning (due to being placed on quarantine), I was able to seamlessly change my delivery model since I had all the links in one place.
Use Resources with a Digital and Printable Version
Finding resources that had both a digital and printable version made lesson planning extremely easy. I was able to complete the same activity with my K/1 articulation students whether they face-to-face or virtual. Digital versions my include Boom Cards, Google Slides or Interactive PDFs. Here are a few resources that made the fall semester less stressful.
Articulation Plus Describing with Boom Cards
Basic Concepts: Prepositions with Boom Cards
Dough Dab Mats: Articulation and Language with Boom Cards
Articulation Homework Packet (with Google Slides)
Be Flexible
This is a skill that we have mostly mastered as an SLP, but this year, I have learned a new level of “flexibility.” We can all relate the dreadful day at the beginning of the school year that we spend playing Tetris with our therapy schedules. It takes FOREVER and when it’s finally finished (or at least until our first referral), it feels so good!
With the ever changing dynamics of the coronavirus, my schedule changed WEEKLY! As students transitioned to virtual learning (sometime with less than 24 hours notice), I have to rework my schedule to continue to uphold their IEP. I learned very quickly that this was a pattern and I was going to have to BE FLEXIBLE with these on going changes. If you are in a similar situation, know that you are not alone- that you are capable of doing great things and that your students ARE making progress.
I hope these 3 tips are helpful and you’re able to apply them to your situation.
