How Not to Teach Social Communication What is the opposite of using scaffolding to teach social communication skills during your speech therapy sessions? “Read this story about ____ (insert social communication skill), answer these questions and then show me how you mastered the skill.” Yikes! No structured learning, no vocabulary review, no self-assessment, no practice, no feedback, no safety net…and… Read More
Perspective taking Older Students: beyond thoughts and feelings?
Perspective taking with older students: beyond thoughts and feelings As SLPs and therapists, we often define perspective taking as the ability to identify the thoughts and feelings of another person. A common perspective taking IEP goal is improving the ability to provide a plausible thought or feeling of another person in a social scenario. Perspective taking is a complex… Read More
Understanding Polite Lies!
What is a polite lie? A “polite lie” is also know as being a “social fake” or telling a “white lie.” We consider telling a polite lie when the unfiltered truth would unintentionally hurt someone or cause an unintended conflict. So, we filter what we want to say to avoid hurting someone’s feelings. When I tell a polite lie, I… Read More
Marzano’s Model for SLPs!
updated 1/2023 Do you have an observation coming up? Impress your supervisor with your knowledge of Marzano’s model for SLPs. Are you attending school-wide trainings that discuss the work of Robert Marzano? Marzano’s model is about supporting the needs of all learners, a task tht SLPs and special educators know well. Marzano proposed a new taxonomy of educational… Read More