Pacing during a treatment session can be crucial in maintaining a child’s attention and focus. The easiest way to do this is using a schedule and a pattern of an opening and closing activity. Using a timer to go off five minutes before the end of a session can help you have closure to the session. Closure is important as it gives you a chance to once again speak about the focus of the session.
I use folders with the student’s work in it including attendance and the student’s personal goal. When they come in they get their folders and head to the treatment table.
The student’s personal goal is a breakdown of their IEP goal written in a way that the student understands and is really more of a short-term objective. The student has picked out a picture that they like to go with this personal goal. We begin by them taking out their goal and attendance. We then do a listening set which is done with them pointing to and reciting the rhyme about listening rules.
The schedule for the day is reviewed and sometimes I will use a timer to mark the different parts of the lesson (ex. we will do vocabulary for 10 minutes then move on to our story). Having a schedule is often not enough for the student but they also need to have how much work or how much time each part of the lesson might take especially if it is one that is cognitively challenging. When I make my lesson plan I try to calculate how much time each activity will take. If it takes longer I might forgo another activity and leave it for the next session. If it goes quicker than I thought I might add more repetitions, expand the topic or have the apply the knowledge to a new situation.
I believe in a multi-sensory approach so I look for ways during the lesson that I can get the student’s moving. We might act out the vocabulary, or see a clip related to the theme or story, or use white boards to record our answers or write sentences.
Motivation is always a key component and that will be different based on the age, ability and frankly,sometimes just what else has happened in the child’s day. Here is a great article on motivationTips for keeping kids motivated in speech therapy: a Speechbuddy blog.
If you start to see a pattern in behavior ( ex. child always needs to go to the bathroom, or the child has a hard time leaving a favorite activity) you then need to establish how you will behave when faced with this. So for the example about the child going to the bathroom have them go right before the session if you are in the schools when you pick them up tell them to go to the bathroom first. If a child is focused on a particular material incorporate that material into the session so for example if a preschool child has difficulty leaving car play have the child either drive the car into a parking lot with the sound card you want them to articulate or have the name of the car be a word they are practicing. Here are some other great ideas for articulation using simple materials. There is one activity described that talks about hiding pennies however for the little boy with the car obsession it could be cars instead of pennies. http://www.home-speech-home.com/articulation-games.html by Lindsey.
I end with an exit question. These I usually determine from what has gone on during the session so it might be a vocabulary word that we have reviewed or the name of a character from the story etc. It allows me to review what we did and reinforce the concepts. I then have the students put their materials away as soon as they have answered their questions which alleviates a crowd at the file folders bookcase.
How do you arrange your session so that the student’s are motivated throughout?
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Read! I liked the idea of the client’s personal goal being a breakdown of their IEP goals written in a more understandable way- understanding what they are working on and why may make the treatment more meaningful and motivating to the client. I also would like to add in a review of the schedule at the end of the session and have my clients check their schedule off as we go, as I have not done those things in my session yet!
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Read! I also try to predict how long each activity will be. Using a schedule is great, especially if it is interactive (for the little ones). Thank you!
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Thank you for the insight! I think estimating the amount of time each activity will take is really important.
Read, thank you!
Read, thank you!
Read – I really love the idea of giving the students their “goal” written in a way they can understand. I think that’s a great way to keep them engaged and motivated.
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Read! Awesome advice about pacing the session and keeping the child engaged.
Read! All of these blog posts are so helpful and I plan to incorporate some of these ideas in my sessions!
I appreciate it Cassidy!
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Read. these are very helpful!
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Read! These are great suggestions. Thank you!
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The tips on Articulation therapy with preschoolers was very helpful! Thank you!
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Read! Love the idea of an exit question, especially for a group setting. Thanks!
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Read. This is one thing I really need to work on with both my clients. I am trying to find the most appropriate way to keep them involved and have a clear start and stop to activities. This post has really good suggestions!!
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I like the idea of having closure at the end of each session. Great advice. Thanks!
Read! I haven’t incorporated an exit question yet – definitely will help to reinforce what we went over.
Read, I love seeing how motivated the children are to reach their goals!
Read, thanks Pat!
Read! This is great!
Read, thanks Pat!
Read! Thanks!
Read, love that the students are aware of their goals
Read. Great advice
Read! Thing out the activities and using a timer to keep track is a helpful tip!
I will definitely try using a timer for some of the more chatty clients!
Read! I think the 5 minute timer will be extremely helpful for both myself and my clients. Thank you for the reminder of a recap for closure!
Thank you! This is very helpful! I will definitely consider how long each activity takes and informing the client of the end point.
I really like the idea of having a color-coded folder for each child. I feel that it really gets the children in the zone for speech (e.g. getting their folder, looking at their goals). I think it’s great when the children are excited about meeting their goals/objectives, and also tackling new ones.
I also really liked the paragraph about children who have questionable behavior patterns (e.g. having to go to the bathroom in the middle of a session). I feel that these types of behaviors are very common. Your advice is very helpful!
Thank you for the advice! Each of my student’s have a very different pace, so it can be challenging at times when planning how long an activity will take! Thank you for the suggestions!