Higher-Level Language: Developing Critical Listening and Self-Advocacy Skills Part 1

What Do You Mean You "Weren't Listening?!"

How many of you found yourself in a general education classroom watching your students and thinking to yourselves, "What are you doing??" You see them zone out, miss information, get on their phones, and write down only what's on the board and not what the teacher was saying. You think to yourself, "When I was in school, the teacher couldn't say two words without me analyzing their importance and writing down what was meaningful!"

But alas, our students are not us and there they sit… often feverishly copying the board or staring out the window. It drives me nuts to see students copy an entire PowerPoint word-for-word and devote so much mental energy to the task of copying that they miss the entire spoken lecture - especially when many of them have accommodations in their IEP to receive copies of PowerPoints or have note-taking assistance!!

But how many of our students are actually aware of their IEP accommodations? How many can self-advocate for their use? How many students miss assignments or turn them in half-complete because they failed to get all the instructions? And how many come to high school ill equipped to decipher what is important and what’s not over the course of their school day?

Join me for a two-part series as we look at students who fit this profile and how to help them make the most of their IEP accommodations, understand the concept of "critical listening," learn to become self-advocates, and change their note-taking habits.

Let's Try a Riddle!

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of lesson plans, let's examine the basis for why we want to cover critical listening and self-advocacy skills. Let's also examine how good we are at listening critically. As an activity, I ask my students to watch this riddle as I read along with it and ask them to take notes on what they find important. Try your hand by watching this YouTube video below...

Did you get the correct answer? Or had you forgotten the beginning of the riddle by the time you reached the end? If it stumped you, you’re in good company! Essentially none of my students write down the statement "you are a bus driver" and instead, they’re immediately drawn in to the “facts” of the numerals that follow. It mimics their classroom behavior of stressing to copy down the “facts” that could easily be located in their books instead of the instructions or analysis that the teacher is likely providing verbally.

Students have gotten defensive with me, saying things like, "You never told us the color of the bus driver's eye!!" Their emphatic frustrations remind me of the conversations they have with their teachers after failed tests... "You never told us why the Holocaust is meaningful to life in the 21st century! It wasn't in the notes!! Not fair!!" And you bet that throughout the unit on the Holocaust, the teacher was verbally making ties to life in the 21^st century that our students failed to write down (because they weren’t included with the “facts” in the PowerPoint).

Our students with auditory processing and language disorders generally struggle with taking in the auditory stimulus of the teacher talking. On the other hand, writing down notes off the board or PowerPoint (and in doing so, tuning out the teacher's lecture) is often something they can do easily. It may be scary and foreign to them to take a break from the rote copying and focus on what the teacher is actually saying.

Riddles like the example above help to highlight the fact that while solely copying down information may be the key to success in certain classes with certain teachers, it will hinder them in other classes where they are expected to take notes on the information the teacher is presenting verbally. These skills are also essential for college and can easily be incorporated into transition plan goals.

And now as high school students, they must be prepared to inform their teachers of their needs. Their teachers work with 120+ students a day and they need to understand what is expected of them. I've noticed that many teachers seem to respond more positively when the student themselves tells them "I need to re-take this test because I got less than a 60% and it's written in my IEP," instead of hearing it from a SpEd staff member and feeling as if a colleague is creating more work for them. 

So the take away this framework should be straightforward: As SLPs, it's our job to encourage the development of critical listening skills and encourage our students to stand up for their needs!

So how do we get started on that lofty task? Goals, of course!

Goal Ideas for Critical Listening

Goals are always my starting place for designing therapy units, activities and teacher consultation strategies, so writing authentic goals is something about which I’m deeply passionate. Here are some ideas for goals I might write that target critical listening activities and self-advocacy skills:

- Receptive Language Goal Ideas (Auditory Comprehension)
   By 10/17, given verbal directions and a prompt, Bobby will demonstrate understanding of 3- to 4–step classroom instructions by repeating and/or rephrasing them to his teacher with 80% accuracy in 4/5 opportunities as measured by SLP and/or teacher data.

- Expressive Language Goal Ideas (Self-Advocacy)
   By 10/17, Bobby will independently provide an IEP Accommodation Worksheet to his teacher, verbally provide 2 reasons why it must be followed, and provide explanations for 80% of his classroom IEP accommodations as measured by teacher report/SLP observation.

- Transition Goal Ideas (College Awareness)
   By 10/17, given minimal clinician assistance, Bobby will identify 3 note-taking and/or critical listening strategies that will lead to success in college-level courses as measured by student work samples.

As you can see, the development of critical listening skills and self-advocacy can be applied to a variety of student needs. I'm sure you all can think of some other awesome goals that target these skills as well!

Join me next week for a continuation of this series - including two lessons plans on engaging critical listening and self-advocacy skills! And as always, it doesn't have to be fancy, just keep it fun and functional!

• Jillian, the No-Frills SLP

General Use: First Day Goal Setting Activity

As many schools are heading back into the thick of it, I'm sure many of you are thinking about what you want to accomplish in your first session with your students.

Here are some goals I strive to accomplish with all my students in the first session:

1) Introduce all group members and establish some common interests or preferences,
2) Build relationships by learning new, personal information about both my returning and new students,
3) Build relationships by letting my students learn new information about me,
4) Discuss communication goals and why they are important,
5) Set personal goals for my students' academic and personal success,
6) Understand what my students are concerned about for the upcoming year.

That may seem like a lot to accomplish in one 20 to 30 minute session - especially when there are 3 or 4 students in a group! But in my opinion, there's nothing more important than starting the school year off on the right foot.

I start this process by beginning each year with a Communication Goal Setting Worksheet and Communication Contract, which you can find at my TPT store here:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Communication-Goal-Setting-Worksheet-for-SLPs-2747406

Students are given an opportunity to discuss their communication goal - I read a student-friendly version of the IEP goal/s to them. I encourage them to tell me what they think of the goal/s; do they think it will help? Does it seem too hard? Too easy? Do they have something else they would like to work on?

Next, I elicit a personal goal the student wants to achieve this year. Some real goals I have encountered have included: getting better grades, getting a job, making new friends, making a sports team, getting more subscribers for their YouTube channel, getting a girlfriend, getting a driver's license, and getting no detentions. 

We then discuss how their communication and personal goals are related. Sometimes a lot of creativity has to be employed, but I always drive home the point of how working on their communication goal will help them attain their personal goal. For example...

  - Will learning to take the perspective of others help you make more friends?

  - Will developing your summarizing skills help you study for tests and get better grades?

  - Will developing your explanation skills help you when you get in an argument with your parents?

  - Will learning about stuttering reduce your anxiety and help you talk to the girl you like?

  - Will becoming more understandable help you when you interview for a job?

If the student's communication goal cannot (even creatively) be applied to their personal goal, I highly suggest thinking about why they are working on that goal in the first place. If the goal is not meaningful to the student, then they have no incentive to actually work towards improvement!! Student buy-in is EVERYTHING.

After discussing goals, I have a space on the worksheet to identify strengths and weaknesses. Strength identification obviously helps me get to know my student, but sometimes it can tell you even more than that. For example, just last Monday I was working with a sophomore and two freshman with language delays in our first session.All three were unable to generate a single thing they were good at. I had to do some modeling and extreme prompting to finally draw out a single positive trait from each of these students. Next, of course, they all identified 3 - 4 classes and modalities (e.g. math, writing, reading, and science) that they anticipated would be troublesome this year.

What did that experience tell me?

I learned that this group consists of the type of students who are used to failing, being confused, and labeled as under-achieving students. They don't see themselves as smart, creative, or even good at non-academic tasks like sports or games. This activity informed me that with this particular group, I would really need to employ the "Oreo" strategy of sandwiching a hard task between two easier tasks in order to build their confidence. In contrast, for other groups where the students could easily list 5 things at which they excelled, the "Oreo" strategy may not be as important.

My last question on the worksheet asks the students to write down why improving their communication is important. This is one last way I try to drive home the point that what we cover during "communication improvement" (I hate using the word "speech" for what we do with high schoolers!) matters to them for a real, tangible reason. They don't just come to me because they "have to." Maybe they don't particularly enjoy practicing their auditory memory strategies, but at least they know why they're doing it!

After learning a lot about my students, I also like to include some fun facts about me in order to grow our relationship. I have a PowerPoint I created that lists some facts about me with the answers hidden underneath. The students guess the answers and some of them are surprised to learn we have some things in common, such as favorite TV shows, music, and video games! I also include a picture of myself when I graduated from high school because the kids seem to LOVE seeing teachers when they were their age. I always get a "That was YOU?!?" from at least one student in every group, it's great.

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The last part of the session consists of a contract that both the students and I sign. It outlines the guidelines that I want them to partake of in my room - I want them to do their best, have an open mind, know their goals, and recognize the important of good communication skills in their lives. I think this contract sets the mood for the year as well; my students are all 14 or older and they are starting to see themselves as adults. It's only fair that I start treating them as adults, too.

I encourage you to check out the worksheet and the contract combo for free at my TPT store here and modify it to your needs and the needs of your students! I hope your first week/s of school are off to a great start!  

As always, it doesn't have to be fancy, just keep it fun and functional!

• Jillian, the No-Frills SLP

The Mod/Severe Population: Matt and Molly, Not Just For the Littles!

        Last year when I was taking stock of all the things I inherited from the previous SLP, I noticed a wide assortment of Matt and Molly kits, which you can find at LinguiSystem's website here. Matt and Molly kits consist of sequences of 4 pictures that use stick figures to explain daily activities, interactions, and themes (e.g. seasons, animals, etc.) that come with pre-scripted sentences to say about each picture. They are simple, colorful, and targeted towards working with students with Autism. They are structured to include an introductory scene, 2 "bad choices," and 1 "good choice."

        My previous experience with these sets of pictures had been in grad school where I used them with young children. I wondered to myself, "Why are these here at the high school?" Every single one was still in the shrink wrap, so I knew the previous SLP hadn't even attempted to use them. Maybe they were sent to the wrong school? Maybe she ordered the wrong item? There were certainly other very juvenile items in my room; I was tempted to toss them in the pile of items I didn't want. But they weren't that juvenile - Matt and Molly are drawn so vaguely that they easily could be viewed as pre-teens and the situations they find themselves in are not only applicable to small children!

        I had an idea. Many of the students in my Mod/Severe classes fit the cognitive profile of the target audience for Matt and Molly - why not develop use of the Matt and Molly stories for my exceptional learners?

Matt and Molly Are Secretly Teenagers

       I quickly learned that not every Matt and Molly sequence is appropriate for the adolescent Mod/Severe classroom. I removed the sequence that involved hand-holding when crossing the street (because we teach other strategies for street safety). I removed the sequence that taught how to hug relatives (because I believe all of our kids should be allowed bodily autonomy and not be forced to hug a relative if they don't want to). I removed a few other stories that were just plain silly and too immature for teenagers.

       But what did I find was appropriate? I discovered a sequence on using a tissue and not your sleeve - an issue that plagued the classrooms for weeks this winter. I tweaked several sequences about how to ride the bus. There are sequences for standing in line, touching dogs, interacting with guests, and greeting someone at the door. I realized that, even though they are made for young children, my students still needed to work on these life skills! In fact, Matt and Molly are sometimes so willfully defiant that I really think the creators modeled them after teenagers!

What Does a Matt and Molly Lesson Look Like?

         Every session with my Mod/Severe classes begins with a reminder of the rules, which you can find in my TPT Store here. Nowadays, my students are very familiar with Matt and Molly and will call them by their names. But on the first day, I introduced them as "new friends" and described them as teenagers who sometimes make bad choices. I told my students that Matt and Molly needed their help to figure out good choices.

         I laminated cards with a green "yes" and a red "no" on opposing sides. I instructed my students that after Matt and Molly make a choice, they will be asked to hold up their cards and vote on whether Matt and Molly are making the right choice. This is the main way my non-verbal, poorly engaged students are involved in the lesson. My verbal students also use the cards to vote, but in addition they are asked WH- questions about better choices. A few of the highest students can give explanations of why the poor choice is wrong.

        After introducing Matt and Molly, I reveal the introductory picture. In one classroom, there is a document camera I can use to project the image onto the SMARTBoard. In other classes, I assemble the students together in a group and show them the actual picture.

        When "telling the story," I never use the pre-scripted sentences that come with the sets because they are not language-rich and written for an audience of small children. Rather, I construct my own version that typically includes more details, target vocabulary, and appropriate conversational slang. I identify other characters in the picture (e.g. mom, dad, grandpa) by their name or I may ask students to make a guess who is in the picture.

       For example, in the example below, I asked my students to look at the character's height, dress, and haircut. Does this look like Mom? Why can't this character be Dad? (Lessons in my Mod/Severe classes are, unfortunately, not the best place to combat gender stereotypes based on appearance!). Typically my students require quite a bit of prompting, but understanding why this character can't be Dad targets important critical thinking skills.

In this sequence, we see Molly attempt 2 poor choices - grabbing the music and pulling hair - before coming up with the correct solution of getting her own headphones and music.

      For each picture, I ask the students some WH- questions. For example, the above pictures might elicit questions like "What does Molly see?" "Who has the headphones?" "Where is Molly's hand?" The Matt and Molly drawings also explicitly target emotions - I might ask "How is she feeling?" and point to Molly's friend's mouth as a cue to elicit the response that she is angry or happy.

      Continuing on in the progression, I typically reveal the second picture to be a bad choice although you can present the pictures in any order. The students generally find the poor solutions to be hilarious and will burst into laughter when they see Matt and Molly engaging is poor behaviors. For example, when Matt blows snot into his sleeve, they giggle and point at how silly Matt is. They, of course, need prompting to make the connection that that they too blow snot into their sleeves on a daily basis!

      After explaining the choice Matt or Molly has made, I ask more WH- questions and attempt to elicit explanations of why the choice was not a good one. At the end, we conduct a class vote and tally the number of "yes" and "no" on the class white board. Sometimes, the teachers then use these numbers in their math lessons to construct simple graphs and pie charts to demonstrate the concept of "most," "more," "less," "few," etc. (e.g. "Most people in the class thought Matt made a good choice!").

         At the end, you can also ask students to sequence the story themselves. Sometimes I ask students to stand in the front of the class and hold individual pictures in order to sequence them as a class. I have also contemplated scanning the pictures and shrinking them down to the size of a 3 x 5 card for each individual student to sequence at their desk, but I have not done this yet. Something to work on this year! It's also fun to ask the students to role play the situations - proper nose blowing and line forming work well for this activity!

         During a typical 30 minute session with 6 - 8 students, I use 2 or 3 Matt and Molly sequences. However, it would be possible to fill an entire session with 1 sequence if you conducted multiple different activities involving the same sequence.

Modifications
 - For my students with limited verbal abilities, I created conversation sheets with key icons that relate to the story. You can find an example here at my TPT store - it correlates to the "Hungry Turkey" Matt and Molly sequence found in the "Fall" set (see the picture above).
 - My students with AAC use their devices to comment and answer WH- questions. This year, my goal is to provide the para-educators with a vocabulary list ahead of time so they can program relevant vocabulary into students' AAC devices.
 - My students with intelligibility concerns use their strategies (explained here) when answering questions and practice target words related to the story (e.g. choice, stop!, rain, etc.)

       If you don't have access to "official" Matt and Molly materials, I would highly encourage you to make your own! The key takeaway here is that the students seem to really respond to simple drawings with relevant stories told in an interactive way. They love participating by voting and correcting me when I "accidentally" praise Matt for a bad choice! It doesn't have to be fancy, just make it fun!

As always, it doesn't have to be fancy, just keep it fun and functional!

• Jillian, the No-Frills SLP

Life as an SLP: My Classroom

     Welcome back to a new a school year! Our first day of school was yesterday and things are already in motion - assessing students, meeting the new freshmen, contacting teachers, and getting the campus excited for another year of my Circle of Friends club.

     I hope your summer was restful and fun - I spent a month in Ecuador in a Spanish immersion program and the results are already paying off as I met Spanish-speaking parents yesterday! I thought that as we all prepare for another school year that it might be a good time to give you a glimpse into my classroom (before the chaos of the year truly sets in!).

      At my main high school site, I am fortunate enough to have a full-size classroom to conduct therapy, hold Circle of Friends meetings, and host IEP meetings. I really can't imagine having a smaller room, but I know that most secondary-level SLPs aren't as lucky!

Welcome to my classroom!

That's my main therapy table at the front - I generally have the kids sit facing the SMARTBoard so I can use it in lessons. The rest of the desks are arranged in their formation for ease of small groups during Circle of Friends. The other free-floating chairs are then pulled up the pods of desks to facilitate interaction between the gen ed and Mod/Severe students. You can see my beloved Time Timer next to the SMARTBoard on the left!

  

At the back of my room, I have a small student library with popular young adult books and books at a 2nd - 6th grade reading level.

I'm trying something new this year! This is my "Good News" Board where students are encourage to write anything good that's happened to them and sign and date their contribution. I'm hoping to fill it up soon!

My collection of yard sale and thrift store games we play during Circle of Friends! Pop the Pig, Connect 4, Uno, Don't Break the Ice and checkers are the big favorites. I decorated the edges of this shelving unit using washi tape that I bought at the $1 store.

This is my collection of therapy materials... but to be honest, I don't even use half of them. I greatly prefer my self-made materials and curriculum-based resources. Most of these resources I inherited from the previous SLP and they have to stay at the school, so here they are. In a future blog post, I'll detail the ready-made products I do actually use on a regular basis!

I post announcements here - as you can see, Circle of Friends is coming on Wednesday! I call my classroom my "Communication Improvement Class" for a reason. My students are not with me to work on "speech;" they are young adults preparing themselves to enter the real world and for that they need good communication. Phrasing is everything when it comes to student buy-in!

This year I tie-dyed t-shirts for my Circle of Friends club members. Gen ed students receive a free t-shirt if they attend 5 meetings!

This is my desk - gotta keep it fun and young-spirited! The students definitely appreciate my lava lamp, action figures, and nerdy references (Star Wars, Star Trek, Final Fantasy, and Dr. Who are all represented on my desk)! I got the little chairs as swag from a conference one time... so far I haven't had any brilliant ideas to use them, but they're so cute I can't toss them just yet!

 

This is the area right next to my desk - I specifically brought over the rug and comfy chairs so that way when students and parents need to talk to me one-on-one, they feel a little more at ease and comfortable!

So that's my classroom! What do you think, am I ready for a new school year? I hope so!! How are you preparing for the start of the new school year? Is your room ready?

I recently read this (http://www.cultofpedagogy.com/flexible-classroom/) article about a flexible English classroom and it really inspired me to offer some more variable seating, lighting, and atmosphere to my room. I think next I'll be on the hunt for some bean bags and soft lighting!

I'm back to posting weekly now that school is in session and I have lots of therapy and assessment ideas to share this year! 2016-2017 is going to be great!

As always, it doesn't have to be fancy, just keep it fun and functional!

• Jillian, the No-Frills SLP