Class Info
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2006 August/September Speech-Language News at Schrop and Spring Hill
Summer vacation is over, but summer was a wonderful opportunity for me to acquire new ideas and strategies for working with students. I attended workshops on communication skills, multisensory approaches to phonics instruction and writing, and reading comprehension. I am putting to good use this wonderful information.
The start of the school year marks a new beginning. It is an opportunity to look at and think about new information or old information in a new way. Describing is an important skill students need to have. Understanding it opens up the door for analogies, comparing/contrasting, explaining, and persuading. It is one of the structures used in the middle school textbooks. I think it is important to engage students in an overview of it using common concepts before the features are broken down and explored. This year I have added a link to what students already know to help them make sense of describing. Also, I have decided to help students see how this model changes for them over time, how it can be used with more abstract ideas, and how it can be applied to textbooks. With this information covered, the door opens for working on strategies for answering different kinds of questions. As for grammar instruction, a multiisensory approach really can be an exciting way for students to learn and use parts of speech. The same information gets covered but by a different method.
Regardless of whether language skills or speech sounds are being addressed, my style reflects the same progression. I break down the task to be accomplished into a hierarchy of sequential steps. With language and in speech production, I believe it is important to give students an idea of the big picture first so that they have a sense of where they are heading.
Mrs. Finn,
Speech-language pathologist
2006 October Speech-Language News at Schrop and Spring Hill
As I reflected on my various lessons throughout October, three points became obvious to me. One concerns how students learn. Another relates to multiple exposures to new concepts for retention. The last concerns the connection to the bigger picture.
No matter what is being taught, whether it is speech sound production, phonological awareness skills, describing, or multiple meaning words, an approach that involves multiple senses really targets different learning styles. Not all students are auditory learners, so it is important to involve as many modalities for learning as possible. In this way, all students can benefit.
To learn new concepts, it is important that students receive multiple exposures to aid in the retention of this information. Students recall the information if they are presented with it multiple times in different and fun ways. They always enjoy games that are based on TV game shows.
As I present lessons, I try not to become so immersed in the details that I lose sight of the bigger picture. I also do not want this to happen to students, either. At some point in the presentation of a new concept, I tend to step out of the details and model for students how whatever we are doing is tied to some big outcome.
Mrs. Finn,
Speech-language pathologist
2006 November Speech-Language News at Schrop and Spring Hill
There is one observation about this past month that I want to share, and it concerns a multisensory approach to teaching. No matter what is being taught or practiced, a multisensory approach helps students to learn and solidify the concept or skill. Whether the describing framework is being analyzed, a part of speech is being taught, a phoneme-grapheme relationship is being introduced, or a speech sound is being drilled, multisensory involvement really helps in the learning. Students relate to drawing, acting, watching a video, or using a mirror and getting oral feedback, depending on what they are learning. Students respond so well because learning is not only enjoyable but also attuned to their key modalitites for learning.
Mrs. Finn,
Speech-language pathologist
2006 December Speech-Language News at Schrop and Spring Hill
It is so important to connect with our students through as many modalities as can be incorporated into our teaching. For describing students started to apply this framework by way of a movie. Cueing and guidance helped to make the connections between the describing framework and the main character in the movie. It was not only fun to watch the movie, but it also became an avenue for writing a group description. So, I plan to continue doing this activity with students.
Mrs. Finn,
Speech-language pathologist
2007 January and Februray Speech-Language News at Schrop and Spring Hill
Applying what is being taught about the describing framework needs to occur in steps. One step involves manipulating the level of vocabulary difficulty. In another step analyzing material is increasing made more complex by the amount of material used. Yet another step concerns taking describing out of speaking and into writing.
Once there is a good understanding and application of describing, then comparing and contrasting can be introduced. It is upon a good foundation of describing that this communication task is built. This understanding opens the door for the transfer of information into an organized essay. However, at the same time, it is valuable for students to be learning the target vocabulary that signal comparing and contrasting.
If at any point, there is confusion about the language tasks. it becomes necessary to make some changes. Perhaps, reintroducing concepts in another learning modality is needed. Maybe, more time needs to be spent on a particular concept.
Sometimes, students need to understand that acquiring the little pieces provide important stepping stones for success down the road. Especially, in speech prodution, it is important to drill on the syllables with the target sound and achieve ease of production and high mastery at this level, since these components make up words.
Mrs. Finn,
Speech-language pathologist
April 2007 Speech-Language News at Schrop and Spring Hill
As the school year is approaching the end, several language tasks are important for students to accomplish. Students need to apply structures they learned. With testing a focus at this time of year, too, they need to review strategies they could use to be more successful test-takers.
Once students can own the describing structure, they can apply it in various ways. One way is to read a book and use the structure to organize ideas for a written description. Another way is to watch a movie about a particular character who will be described as a whole or with certain features.
It is important that after students have demonstrated understanding and application of the describing framework, then they will need to understand how easily they can compare and contrast. Describing gives students the structure to complete a Venn diagram. As always, it is important to start with familiar vocabulary since the goal is to understand and use the new structure. More difficult vocabulary can come later.
Shortly after the introduction of comparing and contrasting, signal words to indicate similarity and difference can be practiced. Taking one feature to compare or contrast and using the signal words will help students see how the various sentence structures can accompany the comparing/contrasting structure.
Students need to realize that they can be empowered with strategies to take tests. There is a step-by-step way of approaching a test. Just as with any new task, students need to try this procedure with simpler reading material first. Once the strategy is learned, then it can be used with more difficult material. The reward comes when students see that the strategy can help them find answers that otherwise might have seemed to be too challenging.
Mrs. Finn,
Speech-language pathologist
June 2007 Speech-Language News at Schrop and Spring Hill
In this last communication before summer vacation starts, there are two topics I want to mention. The end of the year is the time to wrap up whatever has been taught. It is important for students to come full circle in their learning. There are differnt types of information processors. One looks at the whole picture, and the other looks at the parts that make up the whole. In reality, we need to use both types of information gathering. With this in mind, I try to end with the whole. I begin the school year with the whole picture, dissect the whole into parts, then pull all the learning back together into the whole.
The second topic concerns ongoing learning. Just because there is a break from school, that does not mean learning should stop. Over the summer I will be learning, too. I am going to take more workshops on multi-sensory language instruction, including phonics instruction, as well as workshops on the functioning of the brain. So, I would hope that the students will also engage in learning. Learning can take different forms, for example, read books with a certain limit as a target, take away some new information from each new experience over the summer, or keep a daily journal of a new word learned for the day. However, have fun, too.
Mrs. Finn,
Speech-language pathologist
September 2007 Speech-Language News at Schrop and Spring Hill
I am glad to be back in school, but the days seem to be moving along quickly, just like my summer vacation did. I want to share with you how I spent my summer. A good number of days were occupied with workshops. I went all over the place with learning. I studied about the human brain and its effect on speech, language, thinking, and emotions, compared and contrasted several multisensory language programs, learned about an alternative communication system, and found out about the benefits of structuring the learning environment. Now that we are back in school, it is exciting to put into place what I learned.
You can find me at the two same schools but on different days than last year. I am at Schrop every day but Wednesday, and on Wednesday I can be located at Spring Hill.
Two themes run through what I do with students, one concerns how they organize information and the other relates to how they learn best.
I think that it is important to approach students' learning in two ways. I begin with an overview of a concept before I address the components. After this introduction, I focus on the parts. At the end I return to the overview to pull together what has been taught.
I approach speech and language areas from a multisensory point of view. For speech I insist on tapping the auditory, visual, and tactile/kinesthetic modalities for improved productions of target sounds. As for language, I use a multisensory grammar program and aim to increase comprehension through linking the visual modality with spoken and written words.
If you have anny questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at my schools.
Mrs. Finn,
Speech-language pathologist
October 2007 Speech-Language News at Schrop and Spring Hill
Over this last month four thoughts regarding teaching repeatedly came up. One is that information needs to be relevant to students. I believe that it is important to connect what I teach with classroom material that students see daily and/or to their personal lives. Students need a hook to anchor new information. It makes learning much more meaningful.
The second thought concerns the information being presented. I think that students need to understand the whole as well as the components of a concept. This style of teaching not only targets those students who see only the trees in the forest but also those who see only the forest. Reinforcing this way of looking at concepts can help students to see the complete picture.
The third is that using a multisensory approach to teaching concepts provides for the opportunity for all learners of different learning styles to learn. It is exciting to see students tap into different sensory modalities to access information.
My last thought concerns time. Time flies by quickly! However, there must be patience as learning through different pathways takes time to develop. The steps in learning must be small, progressive, and continually adjusted to the students' pace.
Mrs. Finn,
Speech-language pathologist
January 2008 Speech-Language News at Schrop and Spring Hill
I have been impressed with one imortant consideration over the last few months, and it concerns patience. I realized that positive change takes time. To rush whatever you are doing may defeat your original intent. New speech sounds, new communication skills, new understanding and application of grammar skills, or new phonological awareness skills take time to be developed. It is necessary to have a solid grasp at the basic levels before proceeding to the higher levels. A strong structure, whether it be articulation, phonemic awareness, describing concepts, or communicating for varied purposes, needs a strong foundation. A hierarchy needs to be followed so as to take sequential steps along the path to the ultimate outcome. Furthermore, it is important to value the gains, though they may be considered small, along the way. I see progress when patience is honored.
Mrs. Finn,
Speech-language pathologist
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