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!

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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!

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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!

Hello again SLP friends!  We are back today with another incredible SLP Blogger Snippets post!  This bubbly blogger and SLP, Maureen Wilson, joins in on the fun!  Get to know a little bit more about Maureen and The Speech Bubble SLP in the 15 questions below.

Name: Maureen Wilson

Blog Name: The Speech Bubble SLP

Social Media Links:
Website

Facebook

Pinterest

Instagram

When did you begin blogging? December 2012

Why did you want to start an SLP blog?  I thought all the speech blogs out there looked so cool and that it would be pretty fun to start blogging.  Also, my husband works in law enforcement so he has a crazy schedule.  It is nice to have something to look forward to doing on those nights when he works.

What keeps you going as an SLP Blogger? What keeps me going as a blogger are the conversations that get sparked by topics.  We read something, we share ideas, and it becomes this awesome conversation.  Since our field is constantly evolving there are lots of new things to talk about.

What is the most challenging thing as an SLP Blogger?  For me the biggest challenge is two-fold.  Finding the time to blog and making sure what I am sharing is helpful and useful.  I don’t want to be repetitive.  I want to share new, fun, creative ideas.  Some of those don’t come as quickly as I would like which means there are times where it can be a bit between posts, but I would rather wait for that inspiration to strike than write some words down to fill space.  I want to give you my best!

Which product are you most proud of and why?  Right now, I am most proud of my Intervention Survival Kit. I put months of work into it and it turned out just how I hoped.  I wanted there to be a tool that could be used to make intervention easier to plan.  Everything is all done for you: sessions planned, materials included, and data tracking all in one kit.  It is all laid out to take the stress out of planning activities and make tracking data for RtI easy but still effective.

Which blog post is your all-time favorite?  So far my favorite post has been “How to Make Your Room a Sensory Safe Haven“.  I got a lot of great feedback from it and loved that it was a post that was helpful for everyone and their students.

What should SLPs and other followers of your blog know about you as a person?  I am a big goofball and terribly sarcastic, it’s a family trait ;).  I love to relax and be outdoors.

Bonus Quick-fire Round:

Vanilla or Chocolate? Chocolate!

Halloween or Christmas? Christmas

Baseball or Football? Football

Cake or Pie? Cake, definitely cake.

Photography or Painting? Photography

Maureen has also offered to raffle a great product from her store valued at $25 to a lucky reader of this post!  Enter below and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check back soon for another installment!

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!

Another awesome SLP Blogger Snippets post today!  This awesome blogger and SLP, Felice Clark, joins in on the fun!  Get to know a little bit more about Felice and The Dabbling Speechie in the 15 questions below.

Name: Felice Clark

Blog Name: The Dabbling Speechie

Social Media Links:
Website

Facebook

TpT

When did you begin blogging?  September 2012

Why did you want to start an SLP blog?  I wanted to start a new hobby that involved writing and being creative.  It was natural to pick speech therapy as my focus because it is my job and I love it!  I needed something to help inspire me again in my job.  Paperwork and all the “non” speech therapy responsibilities that we have can deplete your energy and passion.

What keeps you going as an SLP Blogger?  All of my new blogger friends and support from other SLPs.  You all rock!

What is the most challenging thing as an SLP Blogger?  Letting go of deadlines.  I have so many ideas that I would love to get out in a timely fashion, but LIFE sometimes gets in the way and interrupts my perfect schedule!

Which product are you most proud of and why?  I love my Social Skill Breaks because it covers so many areas of social skills and can easily be used by other support staff and/or by the classroom teacher.  Once prepped, it really is a great time saver!

Which blog post is your all-time favorite?  I really liked writing my blog post “10 Songs SLPs should blast in the car on the first day back to work!” because music boosts my mood, so it was fun asking all of my blogger peeps for their favorite jams!

What should SLPs and other followers of your blog know about you as a person?  I am a storyteller, so if I ever get the chance to hear some of my wild speech tales, you are in for a good chuckle (I also have some pretty memorable life stories too)!  I have two children ages 6 and 2 years old.  My husband is a hair instructor at a beauty institute, so I get FREE snazzy hair styles (I know you are jelly right now).  Besides dabbling in all things speech and language, I also dabble in all sorts of fun activities.  A few of my faves are line dancing, knitting (started when I was 20), cooking, and reading.

Bonus Quick-fire Round:

Bicycle or Motorcycle? Bicycle

Rain or Snow? Rain

Hot Coffee or Iced Coffee? Hot Coffee

Money or Fame? Money

Noise or Silence? Noise

Felice 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!

The fun SLP Blogger Snippets marches on today with another insanely talented blogger and SLP, Jenn Alcorn!  Get to know a little bit more about Jenn and Crazy Speech World in the 15 questions below.

Name: Jenn Alcorn

Blog Name: Crazy Speech World

Social Media Links:
Website

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

When did you begin blogging?  June 2012

Why did you want to start an SLP blog?  I started reading blogs and fell in love with the enthusiasm I found.  After a few months I thought, “Hey, I wanna do this myself!”

What keeps you going as an SLP Blogger?  The community of SLPs and the relationships I have been able to form through this adventure.  I love the conversations I get to have with SLPs all over the world.  I am constantly inspired by others and blogging helps me be a better SLP.

What is the most challenging thing as an SLP Blogger?  Putting yourself out there in such a public way leaves you open to criticism, and that can be hard to take.  Obviously, I want everyone to love what I have to say and share, even though I know that not everyone will and that’s okay.  But, it is a little nerve-wracking to put my heart into something and press publish!  Luckily, the critics are few and far between.

Which product are you most proud of and why?  My Common Core Rating Scales.  These have helped me in my own school to make my therapy relevant to the classroom, but also for helping teachers understand how a student’s communication skills impact their academic performance.

Which blog post is your all-time favorite?  “If You Call Me a Speech Teacher One More Time…” has sparked some great conversations and it’s interesting to hear how differently people feel about it.

What should SLPs and other followers of your blog know about you as a person?  I would rather be at home with my family than anywhere else.  I am loud and crazy with my friends, but put me in a group of people I don’t know, and I am super quiet!  And I think there is no problem that a good laugh over a glass of wine can’t fix.

Bonus Quick-fire Round:

Morning or Night? Night

Cats or Dogs? Dogs

Instagram or Facebook? Instagram

Red or White? Red!

Dolphins or Whales? Dolphins

Jenn 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!

The fun SLP Blogger Snippets continues today with a little be more about me!  I would love to tell you some quick snippets about Sublime Speech and about myself in the 15 questions below.

Name: Danielle Reed

Blog Name: Sublime Speech

Social Media Links:
Website

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

When did you begin blogging?  January 2012 (Take a look at how it began)

Why did you want to start an SLP blog?  I started blogging as a way to document the different ideas that I had for spicing up my therapy.  I was striving to make therapy sessions fun and interesting and new for my students.  Putting it out there in a blog was to possibly help anybody who happened upon it.  I wanted to push myself to create and learn through the blogging medium.

What keeps you going as an SLP Blogger?  Networking with SLPs from across the globe and seeing how inventive and creative we, as a group, are keeps me going.  I love seeing my products or ideas in use in your therapy sessions.  It is also a great personal challenge to me to maintain my creativity and learning.  I love to learn new things about our field from other bloggers, readers, articles, apps, reviews, and  so much more!

What is the most challenging thing as an SLP Blogger?  Finding time to fit it all in each week can be a challenge.  After working a full-time job as an Early Intervention SLP, I also need to find time to create products, post reviews, and author blog posts.  I typically work on blog “stuff” on most evenings and weekends.

Which product are you most proud of and why?  I definitely have a love-hate relationship with all of my No Print materials because they are such a hit but they take an incredible amount of time.  I think my most recent material, Mason & Mia Mouse, is my new favorite because it is a comprehensive pack targeting skills that Pre-K clients need!

Which blog post is your all-time favorite?  I put my all in each post but my 2-part series “Dear SLP… Love, Your CFY Self” and “Dear CF… Love, Your Future SLP Self” was a joy to write because I got great ideas from readers about what to include and it was well-received by so many SLPs and future SLPs!

What should SLPs and other followers of your blog know about you as a person?  I have always been a traveler at heart (blame it on my Army Brat roots) and have visited 30 states (no, airports don’t count) and a handful of other countries.  When I’m not blogging or being an SLP, you can usually find me with a camera in hand, exploring my amazing city (Chicago) or hometown (Kansas City), or checking out a local antique mall.

Bonus Quick-fire Round:

Summer or Fall? Fall!  Love the leaves, warm drinks, and hoodies!

Pen or Pencil? Pen all the way, I hate the way pencils feel!

Early Bird or Night Owl? Night Owl

Washing Dishes or Doing Laundry? Dishes… I hate folding laundry!

Gum or mints? Mints

I would LOVE to raffle a fun product from my store to a lucky reader of this post!  Enter below and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check back soon for another installment!

The fun SLP Blogger Snippets continues today with another incredible blogger and SLP, Lauren LaCour!  Get to know a little bit more about Lauren and Busy Bee Speech in the 15 questions below.

Name: Lauren LaCour

Blog Name: Busy Bee Speech

Social Media Links:
Website

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

When did you begin blogging?  October 2012

Why did you want to start an SLP blog?  When I first started out, the main reason I began blogging was honestly to distract me from some personal situations I had going on.  I was also creating a lot of my own materials and loved the idea of being able to share and connect with other therapists around the globe!

What keeps you going as an SLP Blogger?  I love hearing how much your students enjoy using my products or therapy ideas!  Knowing something I created is helping a child across the country or making a therapist’s life a little easier is so amazing.  Plus, I absolutely love getting to network with the SLP community.  All of your encouragement keeps me going for sure.

What is the most challenging thing as an SLP Blogger?  The most challenging thing is probably trying to manage my time.  It can be hard to juggle work life, social life, church, blogging, and creating materials creation all at the same time.  Gotta keep the priorities straight!

Which product are you most proud of and why?  Even though I LOVE my planner, the product I’m most proud of would have to be my Common Core Based RtI Assessments.  It was something that was super needed for me, since we have to have pre- and post-RtI scores on all evaluations.  It definitely comes in handy a lot, and I’ve loved getting all of your great feedback on it as well.

Which blog post is your all-time favorite?  I try to work hard on all of my posts, but the one that was the most heartfelt, yet necessary for me to write was “Dear Teacher, Love Your SLP“.  It even won an edublog award, amazingly enough.  (Read the blog post here)

What should SLPs and other followers of your blog know about you as a person?  I love Jesus and my family and am super involved in my church.    I also like to read and cook and craft a lot.  I’m often found reading on my Kindle, searching for a new recipe, or drowning in ribbons and glitter.

Bonus Quick-fire Round:

Coffee or Tea? Both but probably coffee

Elmo or Ernie? Elmo

Salt or Pepper? Pepper

PC or Mac? Mac

Sky Dive or Bungee Jump? Neither!!

Lauren 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!

As one of the most followed SLP Bloggers, Jenna has helped to transform how SLPs find and use materials and ideas in their speech rooms.  Get to know a little bit more about Jenna and Speech Room News in the 15 questions below.

Name: Jenna Rayburn

Blog Name: Speech Room News

Social Media Links:
Website

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

When did you begin blogging?  September 2011

Why did you want to start an SLP blog?  I wanted to start a blog because I loved reading teacher blogs.  I loved the community that teachers had built and was hoping to find something similar with SLPs.

What keeps you going as an SLP Blogger?  Feedback from fellow SLPs.  I learn twice as much as I share!  I love when people comment and tell me a spin off idea or another idea to target the same goal.  I just love the collaboration across the world that can happen!

What is the most challenging thing as an SLP Blogger?  Finding time to do it all.  I work full time in a school, work a part time job in a clinic, and blog in my spare time.  It takes a lot longer than you might think to write a blog post!  The other thing that is time consuming is managing the old information!  A lot of times people email me because a link is broken in an old post.  30 minutes later I have it fixed and open the next email and find the same thing! I can always find a way to waste a few hours managing my blog.  The challenging thing is finding the time to keep it up to my standards!

Which product are you most proud of and why?  Right now I’m most proud of my Interactive Vocabulary Books.  People are writing heartfelt messages thanking me for giving them something that they can use with parts of their caseload they struggle with.  They can print, prep, and then walk into their most severe classroom and get functional communication.  It makes me really excited to make a difference for people!

Which blog post is your all-time favorite?  My all-time favorite post is one I wrote about what I learned at my first job.  When I sat back to reflect, everything important I learned was about my relationships with fellow professionals.  (Read the blog post here)

What should SLPs and other followers of your blog know about you as a person?  I’m happiest at the beach with a book in my hand.  I love my family.  I wish we could all live on the same street and see each other more often.  I love to play games and craft.  Game and craft nights are the best!

Bonus Quick-fire Round:

Fruit or Veggies? Fruit

Theatre or DVD?  DVD

M&Ms or Skittles?  M&Ms

Silver or Gold?  Gold

Lake or Ocean? Ocean

Jenna 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!