Each round, you can enter to win a product from an SLP Blogger as well as a $50 Gift Card!  Plus, each round’s entry goes toward the Grand Prize drawing for one of three gift cards valued at up to $200 sponsored by YappGuru.  PLUS, if you refer a friend to participate, and they cite your e-mail in their entry, you will get an extra entry to both that round’s drawing as well as the grand prize drawing!  You can earn up to 25 extra referral entries per round – 150 total!  Voting closes at 11:59PM EST on the final day of each round’s games (in the “real” tournament) noted on the graphic below.

Here is the full bracket if you’d like to download/print (See below for updated PDF brackets)! If you’re ready for some fun and hilarity, follow this link to vote (Voting has ended for round 1-5 – vote for round 6 here)!

The 1st round is sponsored by me and voting ends at 11:59 PM EST on 3/18/16!  If your entry is drawn, you will win your choice of product from my TpT Store as well as $50 Gift Card to really get you through this week after DST… your choice of Starbucks/Dunkin Donuts!

Other March SLP Madness Sponsors include: YappGuru, Live Love Speech, Speech Room News, Allison’s Speech Peeps, Busy Bee Speech, Crazy Speech World, & Simply Speech!  Stop by their sites to enter each round!

Have Fun and thanks for stopping by!  Happy St. Patrick’s Day – I hope it’s a lucky day for you!

Round 2 PDF Bracket

Round 3 PDF Bracket

Round 4 PDF Bracket

Round 5 PDF Bracket

Round 6 PDF Bracket

Here are the products that each blogger is offering and links to their store and product:

Sublime Speech: Editable SLP Assessment Templates

Activity Tailor: Articulation and Language Therapy Joke Books: I’m Joking!

Allison’s Speech Peeps: Articulation Context Clue Cards Using Tier 2 Vocabulary

Busy Bee Speech: Interactive Articulation Binder for Speech Therapy

Consonantly Speaking: Playdough Mats for Articulation: S&Z Edition

Crazy Speech World: American Inventors Nonfiction Texts for Comprehension, Grammar & Vocabulary!

The Dabbling Speechie: NO PREP Build a Sentence Activities

Home Sweet Speech Room: Speech Farkle

Kristin Minden: Spring Speech Homework Bundle

Let’s Talk Speech Therapy: AAC and You–Handouts for Classroom Teachers

Let’s Talk with WhitneySLP: Spring-Related Sequences

Live Love Speech: Grab n’ Go Social Skills

Mrs.T SLP: Winning & Losing Games: Social Story Mini Books

Ms.Jocelyn Speech: Social Scripts: Tone of Voice

Peachie Speechie: Shamrock Listening Comprehension Sentences

Rock Chalk Speech Talk: “Woof!” A Dog-Themed Speech and Language Unit

Simply Speech: No Prep St. Patrick’s Day Articulation Homework

Speech Bubble SLP: Language Trifolds

 Speechy Musings: Speech and Language Therapy Centers for Articulation

Speech Time Fun: St. Patrick’s Day Yes No Questions

Speech to the Core: Everything You Need! Spring

Super Power Speech: Spring Up with Language (Level 2)

Queen’s Speech: The Voice Monsters {Voice Therapy Techniques}

Teach Speech 365: Get the Gold Reverse Interactive Book

Word Nerd Speech Teach: No Prep Spring Speech and Language Pack

Good Luck!

(You may enter via the form on this post or HERE)

Almost nothing!

Now before I get to the best part (an insanely awesome giveaway from some of my favorite SLP bloggers) I wanted to tell you a few ways that you COULD use the Oscars to your advantage after this weekend’s big show:

• Host a “Speechies Awards” in your room:  You can give away awards for whatever you’d like.  This would be a great way for children to practice nominating peers and justifying their nomination.  Be creative!
• Acceptance Speeches: These don’t have to actually be acceptance speeches but could be fluency or articulation passages that are said like acceptance speeches.  Have the students get up, accept their “award”, and say their speech.  Don’t forget to thank mom and dad!
• Perspective-taking: If you can find some clips from the Oscars past/present on YouTube you can do a great perspective-taking activity or social skills activity talking about how the winners/losers feel, what they should say to their fellow nominees, why they think they were nominated, why the clip you show is funny/sad/etc.  There are several good clips… just make sure to pre-watch them for content!

Many of your students will probably hear about or watch part of the Oscars this weekend.  They start pretty late so they may only catch the red carpet and first few awards but it could be a fun activity to integrate into your speech rooms!

Now…. for the winner in the category of “Best Giveaway in a Leading Blog Role” goes to…

Click on the graphic above to head to the form to submit your predictions for 16 award categories.  One winner from the most accurate entries will be drawn to win a prize bundle from 18 SLP Bloggers!!!  So awesome!  1 entry per person and all entries must be entered by 7:30P CST on 2/22/15 to be valid (I will disallow entries at 7:31 on the dot so don’t be late!)

Enjoy!

]]> http://sublimespeech.com/2015/02/red-carpet-slps-oscars-contest.html/feed 0 http://sublimespeech.com/2015/02/chicken-soup-for-the-slp-soul-blog-hop.html http://sublimespeech.com/2015/02/chicken-soup-for-the-slp-soul-blog-hop.html#comments Sun, 15 Feb 2015 11:00:18 +0000 http://sublimespeech.com/?p=2124

Being an SLP is hard work.  It’s paperwork, meetings, tough clients, data, evaluations, therapy, materials, parents, teachers, therapists, and more paperwork.  It’s easy to get bogged down by the copious negatives.  Sometimes your SLP Soul needs a little pick-me-up… a little “Chicken Soup”!  This blog hop is the perfect place to be reminded of the amazing occupation we are in and all of the wonderful and funny things that happen in therapy.

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First Words

For most children, first words are uttered around 12 months of age.  It’s an exciting time for families.  However, for many other children, first words don’t come until much later or in an unexpected way.  I have been very lucky to witness first words with a few of my clients and it has been an incredible experience each time.

First, you should know that I didn’t decide to become a Speech-Language Pathologist to rid the world of articulation delays or because I had once needed Speech Therapy.  I originally wanted to teach Gifted Education and was on the path to doing just that when a High School assignment changed my life.  I decided to become a Speech-Language Pathologist after observing a child with Cerebral Palsy utilize an AAC device in her speech session.  I was immediately hooked.  I thought that it was incredible that a child, who if born only 30-40 years earlier may have been placed in segregated schooling or living placement and thought to be “feeble-minded”, was using this device to articulate her incredibly clear thoughts to her SLP during their session.  I have had a love of AAC since that day.

For the first few years of my career, I worked with children with severe delays and disorders including Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, Autism, and other genetic disorders within the school setting.  Many of my students had yet to say their first “meaningful” word.  (Though, as many SLPs and families who know children with these delays/disorders can attest, they communicate in many other meaningful ways.)  I had a particular student whose parents feared that he may never be able to communicate in a way that was understandable by others.  They had very limited resources and were unsure of the best path to pursue for their child’s communication.  We tried several lower tech devices for this child and he was able to utilize them to request basic needs but seemed uninterested in the devices on most occasions as he was fairly independent and able to use gestures or other means to get his needs met the majority of the time.  Because we suspected that his cognition was at a high enough level, we discussed utilizing a higher tech AAC device for the student.  We were able to secure a trial device through the state’s program and I took it home with me to program it with the basic starters for the next day.

When I arrived to work the next day, device in tow, I couldn’t wait for my session.  Though I was uncertain of how much we would accomplish, I was so excited to see what this student could do and what he had to say.  As we entered my office for his session, the student walked over to the device (powered off) and sat immediately.  He looked at it, searched for the power button, and then turned the device on.  Immediately he began exploring the symbols and moving through pages and pages of words simply pressing them to hear what they said.  Some of the symbols must have caught his attention because he would press them multiple times before moving on.  Finally, after we had gone through the majority of the pages with our exploration, we returned to the home page and cleared the sentence (which was of course an enormous run-on of nearly every word that was programmed on the device).  I paused and looked at my student who was sitting fairly quietly at the table.  It looked like he was just processing the mini computer that sat in front of him.  Then, he slowly lifted his finger up to the device and in only a few seconds used it to say “Hi, water go yes” before stopping to reach back to touch the door handle of my office.  We stood up and walked to the water fountain, got a drink, and returned.  It was his first request using more than one symbol and was so incredibly meaningful.  And it was just the beginning for him.

I would love to say that all AAC trials go like this.  They rarely do – there are many tossed iPads and rarely used devices placed in closets until “needed”.  But this student was different.  For him, the device was a way to unlock “our” language for his use.  He was quickly able to map his device that was purchased for him and could move through the device with incredible speed and use multiple word sentences within a matter of months after receiving it.  He still utilizes AAC to communicate as he has never “spoken” with his physical voice.  However, he has become very successful in communicating with his device, now an iPad, and I often think about his “first words” in my office that day.

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We’re so excited that you’ve joined our hop!  In addition to getting some Chicken Soup for your SLP Soul, we’ve gathered a few prizes for those who check out each post.  Below are the prizes that will be raffled.  You will also want to jot down the number below – you’ll need it on the final post to enter the raffle.

If you’re just beginning the hop, feel free to head back to the “First Blog” by following the link below.  If you’re ready to head to the “Next Blog”, simply click on that image and enjoy the next stop!  Thanks for stopping by!

This year, we’re in Orlando!  (I was SO sad about leaving snowy Chicago behind for the short-sleeve weather of Florida…)

If you ARE at ASHA this year, I would LOVE to meet you!  I’ll be having a party with some of my SLP Blogger friends at Booth #1359 and hanging out in sessions!

You can find me at our booth on Thursday morning from 10:30-12:30, Friday from 3:15-5:00, and Saturday from 12:45-2:00!

If you’re at ASHA, you’ll also want to participate in our sweet contests shown above!  Plus, I’ll have a few exclusive goodies on Instagram so be sure to follow and check in to see what those will be!  But if you happen to see any bloggers in Raspberry shirts on Thursday grab your phone and take a selfie… it could pay off!!!

Not at ASHA?  Don’t worry… we’re extending the party to wherever you are with our rafflecopter opportunity!  Don’t miss your chance to win a great SLP survival kit!

Florida is the Sunshine SLP State this week!  #ASHA14

]]> http://sublimespeech.com/2014/11/asha-2014.html/feed 0 http://sublimespeech.com/2014/11/slp-blogger-snippets-simply-speech.html http://sublimespeech.com/2014/11/slp-blogger-snippets-simply-speech.html#comments Mon, 10 Nov 2014 06:00:34 +0000 http://sublimespeech.com/?p=2012

Welcome back!  On this marvelous Monday we continue our fun SLP Blogger Snippets posts!  This awesome blogger and SLP, Kristin Sumstad Cummings, joins us!  Get to know a little bit more about Kristin and Simply Speech in the 15 questions below.

Name: Kristin Sumstad Cummings

Blog Name: Simply Speech

Social Media Links:
Website

Facebook

TpT

Pinterest

Instagram

Twitter

When did you begin blogging? August 2011

Why did you want to start an SLP blog? I spent the entire summer of 2011 browsing Pinterest and collecting amazing ideas for the upcoming school year.  Every crafty idea that I fell in love with linked back to a teacher’s blog.  So, I was inspired to create a speech blog in hopes of connecting with other therapists and sharing amazing ideas.  I would have never expected blogging to be where it is today!

What keeps you going as an SLP Blogger? I am motivated by feedback from readers.  When I know that others enjoy my posts or that it has motivated another therapist to get creative in their therapy rooms, I am motivated to do more!

What is the most challenging thing as an SLP Blogger?  Finding time!  Between being a mommy, wife, and full-time therapist, there is never enough time in the day.  But blogging is something that I love and make sure that I do set time aside for it.  It’s my “me” time

Which product are you most proud of and why?  I am most proud of my Auditory Processing Party!  When I created this activity, I was working with a student with a cochlear implant and auditory processing goals.  I was always searching for fun, new therapy activities without much luck.  So, I created my own.  The activity sold really well, but I am even more proud of it because my student loved it!

Which blog post is your all-time favorite?  I really enjoyed writing my “Final Post on Speech Centers” blog post.  Throughout the 2012-2013 school year, I had been posting about running speech centers in my speech room as part of an Inquiry Project I was doing at school.  This post let me share my presentation and findings on how successful the centers were for both my students’ goals and behavior during the year!

What should SLPs and other followers of your blog know about you as a person?  I love my job.  Before I wanted to be an SLP, I wanted to be a teacher.  I have always loved kids and watching them learn.  I am also a huge goofball and love spending as much time with my family as possible.

Bonus Quick-fire Round:

Books or Magazines? Books

Town or City? City

Facebook or Twitter? Facebook

Pancakes or Waffles? Pancakes (I’m eating one as I write this!)

Call or Text? Text

Kristin has also offered to raffle a great product from her store to a lucky reader of this post!  Enter below and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check back soon for another installment!

T.G.I.F. SLP friends!  On this fabulous Friday we are back with another awesome SLP Blogger Snippets post!  This great blogger and SLP, Whitney Smith, joins in on the party!  Get to know a little bit more about Whitney and Let’s Talk! in the 15 questions below.

Name: Whitney Smith

Blog Name: Let’s Talk! with Whitneyslp

Social Media Links:
Website

Facebook

TpT

Pinterest

Instagram

Twitter

When did you begin blogging? June 2012

Why did you want to start an SLP blog? I started blogging because I was looking for a creative outlet and a way to collaborate with and learn from other professionals.  I also wanted to be able to better explain to parents, teachers, other professionals, and even my own family what it is that I actually do!

What keeps you going as an SLP Blogger? Meeting new friends!  I honestly never could have imagined I’d meet such wonderful friends along the way.  Having them to rely on for advice and help and hearing from other people about how they have used something I made makes me so unbelievably happy!  It has truly been a surreal experience.

What is the most challenging thing as an SLP Blogger?  The most challenging thing about blogging is by far finding the time.  Between a full-time job and part-time job, being a wife, raising a q year-old, exercise, and regular day-to-day chores, finding time to blog and create new materials isn’t easy.  We recently relocated from St. Petersburg, FL back to our hometown in South GA.  We both started new jobs, built a house, and the baby started walking.  Needless to say, I got waaaayyy behind on everything over the past 4 months.  And I’ve come to realize that it’s okay.  I do what I can do, and try not to sweat over the rest.  Blogging and creating materials are relaxing and therapeutic to me.  If it ever started feeling like a chore or another job, I’d have to take a step back and re-examine things.  I don’t need another job.  I already have several!

Which product are you most proud of and why?  I think the product that I’m most proud of is my Monthly Book Club Bundles.  There are 4 companions for each month.  Each month includes a Fictional Story, a Non-Fictional Story, a Year-Round Story, and a Seasonal/Holiday Story.  They make planning for the month a breeze, and my students are loving them!

Which blog post is your all-time favorite?  “Personal Story Grammar Marker Ideas” I LOVE SGM, and use it all the time (even now that I’ve transitioned out of the school setting and into the clinical setting). I’ve received so many follow-up questions and comments about this blog post.  I love hearing from readers and learning from them as well!!!

What should SLPs and other followers of your blog know about you as a person?  I love family, kids, reading, and the beach.  I grew up on an Angus cattle farm in South GA, and have been married to my high school sweetheart, Chad, for three years.  We have two miniature schnauzers, Maia Jane (4) and Maggie May (3), and a human baby girl, Halle Jane (13 months).  While I enjoy working with kids of all ages, I have a particular place in my heart for those children with Autism.

Bonus Quick-fire Round:

Water or Soda? Soda – More specifically, Coke (we served Coke in glass bottles at our wedding!)

Pizza or Spaghetti? Pizza

Ferris Wheel or Roller Coaster? Roller Coaster

Boots or Sandals? Hmmm… I don’t wear shoes unless I have to!  So I guess sandals, because they’re easier to kick off!

Pink or Purple? Purple

Whitney has also offered to raffle a great product from her store valued at $5 to a lucky reader of this post!  Enter below and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check back on Monday for another installment!

Happy Wednesday SLP friends!  We are continuing today with another fun SLP Blogger Snippets post!  This talented TpT Author and SLP, Courtney Gragg, joins in on the fun!  Get to know a little bit more about Courtney and her TpT journey in the 15 questions below.

Name: Courtney Gragg

TpT Store Name: Speech Therapy with Courtney Gragg

Social Media Links:
Facebook

Pinterest

TpT

When did you begin creating materials? October 2012

Why did you want to start a TpT Store?  I have always loved creating original therapy materials for my own students, and I saw Teachers pay Teachers as an avenue to share that passion with others!

What keeps you going as an SLP on TpT? I thoroughly enjoy sitting down to create new products!  There are days when I wish for a giant snowstorm so I can stay cozy in my house and work on materials all day.  Positive feedback from my buyers brightens my mood after a long or stressful day.  Finally, one of the most unexpected aspects about becoming involved with TpT is the collaboration and friendships formed with SLPs around the country!

What is the most challenging thing as an SLP on TpT?  Finding time to create more materials is tough!  In addition to working in an outpatient clinic, I coach group and individual figure skating lessons.

Which product are you most proud of and why?  It is difficult to pick one product, but I will have to go with my book companions.  When working on a book companion, I pick a book that I have used in therapy sessions many times and include a variety of activities to address goals for a diverse caseload.  One book companion usually takes me roughly 30 hours to complete.

Which product is your most popular?  My Match It Quick games are my best sellers!  Match It Quick games come in 13 different sounds and verbs.  Students love the game, and therapists have mad comments such as: “Great compact activity!  Gets lots of practice in and can be used for language kids as well to work on vocabulary and word retrieval.”, “Loved this and so did the kids!  It was especially good to target spontaneous productions.”, and “Great! Quick, compact and good for older kids and visual learners!”.

What should SLPs and other followers of your TpT store know about you as a person?  I’m a Starbucks-addicted introvert who will talk your ear off once I get to know you!  I love traveling and studied abroad in Germany for 6 months.  I would like to work as an English-speaking SLP in Germany some day, but I am still waiting for an opportunity to arise! (Anyone have connections?!?)

Bonus Quick-fire Round:

Country or Pop? Pop

Roses or Lilies? Roses

Bath or Shower? Shower

Ketchup or Mustard? Ketchup

Printed Books or eBooks? Printed Books

Courtney has also offered to raffle a great product from her store valued at $4 to a lucky reader of this post!  Enter below and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check back Friday for another installment!

If you’re a baseball fan like myself and Katie from Playing with Words 365, you’re enjoying this postseason.  Two Wild Card teams playing for “all the marbles” in this year’s Fall Classic, the World Series.

Now, I’m an Army Brat with parents from OH/KY but have spent most of my life in Missouri and most of that time in Missouri in Kansas City where I attended High School and worked for a few years as an SLP.  In my ENTIRE LIFE the Royals have not been in the playoffs.  This year, not only did they make the playoffs, they went 8-0 to make it to the World Series and I couldn’t be more proud of my team and city!  Let’s face it, the Royals DESERVE to win the World Series!

Cheering on my boys in the postseason with the famous KC Boulevard Beer!

I’ve been watching from Chicago this year.

My dad and I at Jeter’s last game in KC this summer.

But, Katie thinks that the Giants (spoiled in the postseason of late) deserve another ring.  So… we put up a friendly bet.  But, we’re letting YOU decide what the losing blogger must do!  Plus, if you enter, you could win a $50 Amazon Gift Card!  HOW SWEET!

So root for which ever team you’d like (and by that I mean root for the Royals) and enter below.  Check back at the end of the series to see what the losing blogger will be doing and which lucky reader has earned $50!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

GO ROYALS!!!

Hello again peeps!  We continue today with another incredible SLP Blogger Snippets post today!  This superb blogger and SLP, Nicole Allison, joins in on the fun!  Get to know a little bit more about Nicole and Allison’s Speech Peeps in the 15 questions below.

Name: Nicole Allison

Blog Name: Allison’s Speech Peeps

Social Media Links:
Website

Facebook

Pinterest

bloglovin’

When did you begin blogging? June 2012

Why did you want to start an SLP blog?  Simply stated – I needed other SLPs.  Being the only SLP at a district can sometimes make you feel like an island.  There’s no one to run to when a student won’t come out from under your table, to cry to when you still have 60 more progress reports to write by tomorrow, or bounce ideas off of.  I received all this and more.  Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the plethora of blessings that would come from starting this blog.  Some of my best relationships are with my readers.  I am so thankful for this amazing journey blogging has brought.

What keeps you going as an SLP Blogger?  Honestly, it’s the relationships I’ve formed with my readers.  SLPs in general are some of the most caring, considerate and thankful people in the world (in my opinion).  When I create a new product or post an article, the incoming thank yous and encouraging comments I receive is so worth the work!

What is the most challenging thing as an SLP Blogger?  Balancing it with my “other life” lol!  My husband and I just had our first baby in April and at times, I need to just take time away from the blog to simply be “a mom”.  on the side, my husband and I enjoy renovating houses and doing volunteer work.  Speech therapy is such a love for me that I could spend hours a day doing “work”.  However, sometimes blogging needs to take a backseat and I need to be okay with that.

Which product are you most proud of and why?  Hands down, it would be my Curriculum-Based Language Assessments.  I create products out of my own need and not only has this product made baseline-gathering easier for me, so many encouraging buyers have also let me know that it is benefiting them.

Which blog post is your all-time favorite?  “Writing Standards-Based IEPs” is my most-proud-of post.  From start to finish it took me about a month to write because I thoroughly researched the topic.  It is meant to be a resource for SLPs around the country trying to navigate the new Common Core Standards and how they apply to our field.

What should SLPs and other followers of your blog know about you as a person?  My faith is extremely important to me.  I believe God led me to this field and my students are sort of like my mission field.  On those days that I want to throw up my hands, He keeps me going and I’m so thankful for that.

Bonus Quick-fire Round:

TV or Movies?  TV

Sunrise or Sunset? Sunrise

Snow Day or Summer Break? Snow Day

Dark Chocolate or Milk Chocolate? Milk Chocolate

Cooking or Baking? Baking – definitely!

Nicole has also offered to raffle a great product from her store valued at $28 to a lucky reader of this post!  Enter below and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check back soon for another installment!