With the first half of the school year coming to a close, I took some time before the holiday break to take pictures of my private school space. This is my second year at this part-time position as a contract agent in one of the nicest schools that I have ever had the pleasure of working! The staff is so dynamic and friendly and it feels like I have become part of a family! The only drawback is there is hardly any room for specialty services, so I share a space in the elementary teacher's lunchroom with a few supplemental learning providers. My wheels started turning this summer as I watched my speech peers posting and blogging about their speech room themes and then it dawned on me that my theme was right in front of me: FOOD! I thought I'd post my images now just in case anyone out there was looking for an inexpensive change of scenery when we return from our breaks!
While shopping at the local Walmart, I spied some end of the season table cloths, so I grabbed one and use it to cover my large table space during lessons. Kids of all adults and staff LOVE how it brightens up the space.
The large popcorn bucket from the Dollar Tree in the center holds sharpened pencils, pens, paper, crayons, markers, scissors, glue sticks, and popsicle sticks with various actions for movement breaks. All these goodies are in their own, narrow popcorn containers and right within reach for sessions.
Next up, are my storage bins for supplies. The one on top has all my food-themed activities, Trash Talk by Jenn Alcorn at Crazy Speech World, and a small container with self marking stamps for homework corrections. The blue milk crate by the sink has all my homework sheets, lesson plans, and miscellaneous paperwork that can remain in view. Just behind that crate is a narrow container with all my articulation books, a visual timer, and Speech Buddies for my speedy speech sessions. This year, I blocked eight students for two, 15 minute sessions weekly in an effort to build better muscle memory for articulation of /s/, /r/, and /l/ targets. So far, so good! To read more about Speech Buddies, you can take a look at my posts at these links:
Right next to my speedy speech supplies hangs an articulation hierarchy chart so students can see their progression towards sound mastery! The kids LOVE it when I tell them to advance their clothespin clips up a level.
When I'm not using the large table in the center, I tuck my popcorn supply bucket behind my Kleenex and fancy sign created by Jenn Alcorn of Crazy Speech World. This sits on the other side of the sink.
My absolute FAVORITE creation is my speech and language menu. It not only helps students learn more about what a Speech-Language Pathologist does, but it also helps the teachers gain some insight about my work in the school! All the materials are from the Dollar Tree and I had it laminated at school.
My most recent addition is the, "Word of the Week Pocket Chart." The Queen's Speech has a MUCH fancier version of this available for purchase, which you can read all about
here. Since I already had this mini pocket chart gathering dust in my home office closet, I decided to make a lower tech version for my space.
Thank you for joining me in my speech room tour! I hope that it inspires you to be creative in your unique speech spaces!!
