Using Speech Therapy Notebooks for Progress Monitoring
Today’s blog post is all about using Speech Therapy Notebooks for progress monitoring and proof. It is part of a series helping you to get the most out of Interactive Notebooks for SLPs. If you haven’t already read the first post in this series, head over here to read all about getting your notebook set up and to snag yourself two great freebies!
Speech Therapy Notebooks for Progress Monitoring: How to Keep Your Data Organized
Progress Monitoring is essential to effective therapy and accountability for SLPs yet it can be so time-consuming. You will be pleased to hear that Interactive Notebooks are a tool that can help with this ongoing task, reducing the workload and making it more easily manageable.
Keeping data on student progress is very much a matter of personal preference and no doubt you have developed a system that works for you.
Some SLPs keep data binders that contain data for each individual student. Others keep work folders in one place and data and parent contact logs in another place.
Notebooks are a great method to combine work, data, and parent contact. While it is not recommended that you write your anecdotal notes or confidential information in the interactive notebooks, you can record data on a data log in the interactive notebook or you can record it right on the page of the activity. Our popular Articulation Notebook bundle even has a pre-written checkbox form for each page.
For those of you who prefer not to have percentages visible on student work (a particular issue for struggling students), SLP Truvine Walker has a tried and tested system to recommend;
“I have developed my own unique system for coding when using interactive notebooks. It requires me to be a little organized, but it works for me. Since I’m a colored pen junkie, I write on the page with the pen that equals a certain percentage. I stock up on the packs of pens with 10 or more colors during the back to school sales. I use increments of 10 so that my percentages are even. For younger students who don’t typically understand percentages, I show them a color chart and encourage them to work towards achieving a specific color. When I’m working with my older students, I do give them number percentages to work towards. However, I still use the colored pen system rather than writing the percentage in the book.”
Speech Therapy Notebooks for Progress Monitoring: Evidence of Work
In the modern world of work, as SLPs we require concrete proof of our efforts with students. Documentary evidence is sometimes needed for conferences, IEP meetings. Using Speech Therapy Notebooks for progress monitoring is ideal for this purpose.
Even if specific proof is not required, I take pleasure in showing teachers and parents what and how their children’s needs are addressed in therapy. Sometimes it’s difficult to help teachers understand what goes on in therapy. It’s even more challenging for parents who are not at all familiar with the need for specialized services and/or how they work. My notebooks are an ideal record for helping colleagues and parents understand what and how our students’ needs are being addressed.
Finally, don’t forget that Interactive Notebooks are a perfect tool for having “proof” of regression – or lack of regression – over extended breaks. If you’ve worked in a school system, then you know this is one of the questions that has to be answered and proved when determining the need for ESY (Extended School Year) services.
We are almost at the end of this section of our mini-series on using Interactive Notebooks to help busy School-based SLPs with therapy planning, practice, progress monitoring, and proof. If you missed any of the sections, click through on the links below to catch up.
Learn even more about Interactive Notebooks by clicking the links below:
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Speech Therapy Notebooks FAQs for Speech Pathologists