Tuesday, February 16, 2016

I feel like I should be doing something...

I'm not sure if all schools are closed this week for winter break, however I am off until Friday and continue to have a lurking feeling that I am forgetting to be productive.  In case anyone else is lounging on the couch with the sneaky suspicion you have work you should be doing, here are a few ideas of how to make sure you don't start back at work on Monday already behind :)


1. Catch up on your Medicaid log notes!  There's nothing worse then realizing on the 30th of the month that you abandoned this responsibility for the last four weeks.  Take an hour or two and get yourself caught up.  I like to motivate myself by making some hot chocolate, opening the blinds to get some sunshine inside, and hammering them out.  After I finish each student sometimes I reward myself with a hershey kiss!

2. Take note of any CPSE or CSE meetings that are coming up, as well as when those re-evals and annual reports are due!  Put the dates in your lesson plan book or agenda so that they don't creep up on you.

3. On the same thought, pull out any testing that you have completed and start scoring it!  Nothing worse then having to score, input test results, AND write a report in a single night.

4. Back up your computer!  I know that when that alert pops up on my computer, I am guilty of clicking "Remind me later." Well, now is later!  Take the time and back it up to avoid any hard drive crash emergencies during IEP season.

5. Go through and clean out your therapy purse/bag/suitcase.  Get rid of those scraps of paper and broken crayons.  Trash the dirty tissues and figure out what game that timer and pawn came from.  Be sure to shred any documents that have client personal information on them, that you no longer need and/or are not responsible for holding onto.

6.  Cut and laminate any of those materials you purchased off of TeachersPayTeachers that you have been meaning to get to! There's no better feeling then pulling out a brand new material to use with your students that first day back, plus the kids will be so motivated by something they haven't seen before.

7. Relax - Get together with friends - Spend time with family.  This vacation, I made plans to: have breakfast with my dad, have breakfast with my grandma, get lunch with two of my best girlfriends, go see The Late Show with Stephen Colbert filmed live with my husband, meet up and collaborate with some other Long Island TeachersPayTeacheres SLP sellers, and help my mom pick out a new bedspread.

Be productive but be sure to take time out for yourself, your loved ones, and maybe some Chipotle :)



Am I missing anything? Be sure to let me know!