Today is another day full of sessions, a few IEP’s, and caseload management. Let’s be honest, a To-Do list is rarely done in the SLP world. Even when it is close to being completed there is still the one task that lingers in the back of our minds or is written on each week in the planner for that last who knows how many months. FIND MORE MATERIALS. This pursuit tends to be indefinite.
You can google, you can subscribe, maybe your employer has materials. Either way, when we get the materials, we use them up and fast. Are they quality? Are they rooted in best practices? Are they even available to download? Are they for the right age range? Are they spendy? These days you can even make your own materials… and sell them! But is there time for that between sessions and charting??
I have found that the plethora of materials can be overwhelming. My first step in finding new materials is to lean into my peers and co-workers. What do they find useful? Having the worksheet or spinner game vetted by another SLP helps you know if it is worth the time. Then I am off to search, search, and search some more for materials made by others in the field. I have found that a vague Google search leaves room for things that aren’t done well or aren’t related to the type of task I want. When you find a website or a provider of materials that you enjoy, it can be quite the time-saver. Once one finds these golden nuggets, what’s a Speechie to do?
We are online all day, so let’s start with storage there. I always like having the locations of these resources saved in my Bookmarks bar for ease of access. Utilize folders that store each area of clinical reach by category; it will save you a lot of “Where did I put that?” time. You can even make it better by opening up these folders to share with co-workers. Thank goodness for the cloud, right? And yet, still, we have the analog way of printing out some of the materials. I find this helpful for lists that multiple students use. These are clutch in the times when a website decides it needs the day off.
When you have put in all the time to search and share materials, then you get to move into using them. Putting them to use, particularly in a telepractice setting, will help you identify the material styles that you and your students jive best with. Once you find your groove, hopefully, you won’t need to be in the revolving door of materials pursuit as often.
eLuma Online Therapy is hosting a Partnership Showcase with Everyday Speech to discuss quality online content. Three experienced eLuma telepractioners, Erin Nelson, Megan Beaver, and Rachel Keener, will share experiences and strategies for finding and identify quality content. There is so much content at a telepractioner’s fingertips, an infinite amount, and not enough time to comb through it all. The three eLuma clinicians will share their strategies to coordinate with colleges, organizing materials, and structure lessons specifically for telepractice. They will highlight the potential technology and online therapy have to shorten telepractioners caseload management time.
Cal and Brittany Brunell, co-founders of Everyday Speech, will also share their passion for creating research-driven content.
About the Author
Megan Beaver is a Speech-Language Pathologist at eLuma Online Therapy. She has been an eLuma telepractioner for more than 3 years and is currently a Team Lead. She loves spending time with her family and outdoors.
