In the fast-paced world of school SLPs, time is a precious commodity. Between juggling large caseloads, attending meetings, and managing mountains of paperwork, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. For SLPs, effective time management isn’t just about being productive—it’s about creating a balanced workflow that allows you to provide the best possible care for your students while maintaining your own well-being. In this post, we’ll explore practical time management tips designed to help you simplify your caseloads and paperwork, ensuring you can navigate your day with greater ease and efficiency (after all, that’s all we really want, right?!).

SLP Toolkit is a powerful website offering a range of tools and resources for speech and language therapists. Its user-friendly interface and features cater to therapists of all levels. The comprehensive library of assessments helps evaluate clients' speech and language abilities, while the customizable goal bank simplifies IEP writing. Caseload management and reporting features ensure timely completion of deadlines and generate informative reports. The community feature fosters collaboration and idea sharing. With ongoing updates and improvements, SLP Toolkit is an invaluable asset for therapists, providing support and organization in their daily tasks.

Avoid the burnout of taking work home as an SLP by making strategic changes. Adjust your schedule to have one day dedicated to paperwork and other tasks. Simplify activity planning with no-prep/low-prep materials. Streamline Medicaid billing with tools like SLP Toolkit. Take a day to focus solely on progress reports. Create templates for IEPs and reports. Learn to say "no" and delegate tasks. Don't hesitate to ask for help. Consider changing your work environment if necessary. Prioritize self-care and find a setting that respects your time and workload.

If you're an SLP looking to enhance productivity and therapy effectiveness, check out these must-know websites. SLP Now and SLP Toolkit offers comprehensive productivity features, including caseload management, lesson planning, data collection, and progress monitoring. Swivel Scheduler provides unique IEP goal scheduling, data collection, and charting capabilities. For therapy resources, SLP Now offers an extensive library of themed, skill-based resources. EdPuzzle and Jeopardy Labs offer engaging activities, while ReadWorks provides free access to age-appropriate reading material. Video Learning Squad offers social language resources, and SpeechPathology.com and The Informed SLP provide affordable CEU courses and evidence-based practice resources.

Tired of forgetting to target your students' goals? Meet Swivel Scheduler, an IEP goal-scheduling service that helps you rotate through goals and track data. With Swivel, you can create schedules, collect data, and generate graphs effortlessly. Try it with the free trial and see the difference it can make in your therapy sessions. Check out their YouTube channel for tutorials and start Swiveling your way to better goal management!

Discover essential reference books to simplify your SLP journey. From "Language Disorders from Infancy through Adolescence" to "Eliciting Sounds," these resources offer research-based interventions and practical solutions. Don't miss "The Reading Teacher's Book of Lists" for vocabulary ideas and "IEP Goal Writing" for aligning goals. Explore bonus resources like "Advanced Review of Speech-Language Pathology" and speechpathology.com for targeted topics. Simplify and enhance your practice with these invaluable resources.

Discover three tips for making report writing quick and painless with Google Docs. Use the platform for observations, create templates for different sections, and leverage the voice typing feature to dictate your reports. Streamline your process and save time with these Google Docs tricks.

Writing IEP goals can be challenging, but with a few "make sure" tips, you can create better goals. Include the ABCDEFs (Audience, Behavior, Condition, Degree, Evidence, Frequency) to cover all aspects. Know how to measure the goal clearly and simplify as much as possible. Keep goals specific, targeting specific skills instead of combining multiple skills. Be realistic in your expectations and aim for progress. Lastly, have a peer proofread your goals to catch any mistakes or clarity issues. Writing better goals will lead to more effective therapy and better outcomes for your students.

Preparing for a snow day? Make phone calls to reschedule meetings, use a 7-day waiver form to pull meetings forward, and consider scheduling meetings in advance. On a snow day, relax and enjoy the perks. As for makeup sessions, ASHA states they're not necessary, but check with your district. Non-traditional instruction days may require sending activities home, like speech/language calendars or book assignments. Most importantly, stay informed about your district's guidelines.

SLPs are not teachers, but they can write lesson plans tailored to their students' goals. Lesson plans ensure that each student's goals are addressed and prevent last-minute scrambling. Lesson plans can be simple memos or detailed themes. Taking a few minutes to plan student-centered lessons leads to productive sessions and avoids wasted time. Planning allows for preparedness and ensures that no goals are overlooked. Examining student information and creating short lesson plans guide therapy and keep everyone on track.

Data collection can be a challenge, but I've found a few methods that work well for me. Speech folders with individual data sheets keep goals organized and easily accessible. I've also used data tracking apps like Super Duper Data Tracker Pro, but the distracting sounds led me back to good old pencil and paper. I created an editable PowerPoint document that allows me to copy and paste student goals, eliminating repetitive writing. This system saves time and keeps everything organized for progress reports.