State Convention Take-Away: Finding a Bright Spot

Photo by Johannes Plenio from Pexels

Another state convention has come & gone. While this one will not stand out as a great one in my mind, the networking made it worthwhile.
I started the convention with a presentation with a couple of friends. We stayed up until 1:00 a.m. putting the finishing touches on it. In addition to the presentation, we had a booth in the exhibit hall.

L to R: Me, The Speech Attic, The Speech Owl

Meeting & Greeting

Even though the convention was a little disappointing, there were definitely some shining moments. Besides hanging out with those two, we met and were reacquainted with other SLPs and grad students throughout the state. With the help of some amazing SLPs, we were able to give away a lot of therapy materials and SLP swag.

Using Music in Therapy

Another HUGE bright spot was listening to an SLP from Tennessee present on using music in your therapy sessions. We all know how motivating music is to our kids. Eva Hampton, M.A., CCC-SLP, encouraged us to use songs the kids know and use them to our advantage. "Who Let the Dogs Out" can be used for 'wh' questions and for the /h/. Or, take a popular song that the kids know and make up your own words according to their target. Older kids can make up their own lyrics to popular songs.
She also shared this really cool pie chart that she created to help illustrate the importance of home practice. If you know anything about me, you know how much I stress home practice. Every one of my book companions includes home practice; heck, just about everything in my TpT store includes home practice of some kind! Thanks to Eva's generosity, she has allowed me to share her chart with you:

Not only would this chart be fantastic to stress the importance of home practice, but it would also be ideal to show parents when their child is being referred for additional testing. Once they can actually see the amount of help their child is receiving from the SLP, the parent may agree to further evaluation if they were hesitant before. And...if the student is getting less than 2 hours/week, you can tell the parent that the little red sliver is actually smaller than the chart. I can't express just how much I love this chart and how grateful I am that Eva took the time to do the math and make this chart. 

It's always fun to get away from school and be around "your kind" for a few days. You know what I'm talking about: people who actually "get" you and what you do. 

Do you go to your state convention? Why or why not?