I love teacher workdays even if I don't get everything done.

I love teacher workdays or any day when there is an assembly (usually I'm the last person to know about them) or field trips (again, last person to know). Why?

I actually manage to get quite a bit of paperwork done and organize my room a bit. I spend roughly an hour and a half getting therapy materials straightened, re-organized, and cleaned on workdays. I use the rest of the day to listen to children's music as I try to get through as much Medicaid billing as possible. When I was doing my school placement, I really didn't get the opportunity to do much of the paperwork beyond writing the daily session notes. The amount of time it takes to bill Medicaid, write the various IEP/evaluation paperwork, update SOAP note forms, update Plans of Care, and review the upcoming due dates is still astounding to me. You could probably have a full time job just doing the paperwork alone as sad as it is to say. If you are still a student, enjoy this time wisely as it will pass all too soon and you will learn the realities of being a "grown-up" CCC-SLP quickly. 

Today, I managed to get the majority of my Medicaid billing done (yay! Only 4 more students to go over Thanksgiving). I also updated all of my SOAP note forms, changed Plans of Care to reflect 3 new IEPs, wrote an evaluation report, doubled checked a DEC 3 (evaluation form for a meeting), and wrote up a new IEP. My manipulatives are happily sorted out again and my closet looks in much better shape. I consider all of this to be easily worth a victory dance considering how badly my room was looking pre-workday and post-ASHA. It really doesn't sound like much in a list, but that is how life goes sometimes in the schools. I'm quite thankful for the rare opportunities I have to catch up on some of this stuff. 

I decided to try another recent EC teacher inspiration and write down all of my upcoming IEP dates on a laminated file folder. I labeled sticky notes with the months and simply wrote down names under the month they are due. It's a great and easy way to get organized if you don't have the tendency to stress out. 

Coming this April/May 2013 courtesy of  16 IEPs.
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Happy Thanksgiving everyone! My thoughts go out to everyone traveling or unable to spend the holiday with their loved ones.