5 Reasons Why 1:1 Coaching Will Work for You
We know how hard it is to be a brand new SLP. You passed all of your graduate school classes, got your clinical hours, took the Praxis, and maybe even completed your CF and earned your C’s. But when you finally land your first job, you quickly realize how unprepared you feel. Graduate school didn’t tell you how to schedule your 50 student caseload when every student has a different alternating schedule. Graduate school didn’t prepare you to talk to parents of all different backgrounds about their child’s progress (or lack thereof). Graduate school didn’t prepare you to deal with all the paperwork that your school requires. Graduate school didn’t prepare you to write 5 IEPs in October when you just met your students in September. And, it’s more than likely that graduate school did not prepare you to work with older students in middle or high school. You got tons of clinical experience working with the little ones, playing games, and making cute crafts to target lateral lisps. You’ve got all the game boards and articulation activities that money can buy. But now you’ve got your first job working with teenagers (gasp!) and you feel like you’re in WAY over your head.
Sound familiar? We’ve all been there.
Luckily, we were fortunate to have met kind, supportive, and friendly co-workers who helped us get through our first years as high school SLPs. But we know that is not always the case. Sometimes, you’re the only SLP in the whole building. Other times, you’ve got seasoned co-workers who might not be willing to share their ideas with you. We know that sometimes you just get unlucky and end up feeling isolated, overwhelmed, and totally burnt out.
This is exactly why we created our coaching program. We know how hard it can be starting out and we hope to make the transition to your new role easier. We are 3 seasoned SLPs with over 20 years of experience working in high schools. With so much experience under our belts, we want to help you by providing individualized support based on your needs.
Read on to see the 5 reasons why a 1:1 coaching call will work for you:
1. INDIVIDUALIZED TO YOUR NEEDS
Our coaching calls revolve around YOU! We want to make the call as relevant to your needs as possible. That means we will take your lead and let you guide the conversation. We’ll answer your questions, address your biggest concerns, and provide as much feedback as possible. If you don’t have many questions and just want support in one area (such as IEP writing or lesson planning), we are happy to provide that as well. It’s whatever you need.
2. PRACTICAL ORGANIZATION TIPS
We pride ourselves on our organizational skills. We are three SLPs with (mostly) type A personalities, so you know we’ve got tips and systems for everything, from room organization, Google Drive organization, IEP organization and so much more! We know how much there is to keep track of in our profession and how overwhelming it all can be. Let us help you get organized!!
3. THERAPY IDEAS FOR OLDER STUDENTS
Our biggest hurdle when we entered the high school SLP space was that we had never worked with older students before and couldn’t find materials that were age-appropriate. We also didn’t know how to manage mixed groups (combine that with teenage attitudes and lack of motivation). Over time, we developed our own materials and unit plans containing evidence based strategies that have proven to be extremely beneficial to our students. We want to pass these lesson plans, units, and strategies along to you! Tell us where you’re stuck and it is likely we will have a resource to help you!
4. JUDGEMENT FREE ZONE
We know there are some questions you might feel silly asking. Believe us – there are no silly questions! We will never judge. We’ve been there and we know exactly how you feel. We hope to provide a safe space where you can come with honest questions and concerns, no matter how silly they may seem to you, we can assure you – we’ve already had that same question.
5. 3 FREE RESOURCES
At the end of every call, we will decide on 3 of our resources that will help you the most. Since we started NYC Speechies in 2016, we’ve created resources specifically designed to help SLPs working with older students. We will share a Google folder containing the 3 resources and any other links or information that might be helpful to you after our call.
If you feel like you could benefit from 1:1 coaching, click here to schedule your first session! We are so looking forward to meeting you!
