5 Things About This SLP

Thanks for stopping over at my blog! Jessica over at The Speech Space is hosting a fun linky party and giveaway. This is a fun post for me because I love letting people know more about myself and learning about other bloggers. Here are 5 things you probably didn't know about this SLP.

1) I love to sing. Whether it's in the shower, the car, or in church choir, music is a major part of my life. In college, I was part of our top concert choir and was also in an A'Capella group before Pitch Perfect made it cool.

2) I snore.  I feel bad for my husband. My dentist said that I have large adenoids and that the anatomy of my jaw likely contributes to this. I'm having a sleep study done soon since I have a family history of apnea.

3) I am pretty good at playing the flute. Everyone expected me to become a music major. During my summers in high school I participated in a competitive marching band. We traveled across the country competing in parades. I still like to play my flute at church but somedays I miss just playing it for fun.

4) My cat, Odin, is like a puma. I love my cat! He is 15 pounds of solid muscle and can leap across rooms or jump on tope of our kitchen cabinets with ease and grace.

5) I have a history of clinical anxiety and depression. This is on a much more serious note, but it isn't something I am afraid to share. Mental illness needs to be discussed to eliminate the stigma. I am a well balanced individual with a chemical imbalance in my brain, an organ that has amazing functions. I feel that my experience with anxiety and depression allows me to relate to my students who may be struggling with mental illness themselves. (Wow, that got deep fast - sorry)

There you have it! 5 things you probably didn't know about me. For extra fun, you can enter the contest below to win a copy of my "Would You Rather" for articulation R bundle. This is one of my earliest products and will be updated on TPT within the next 48 hours. You can take a sneak peak here.


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Ode to Summer

Oh summer, how do I love thee! I know many schools have already started and I am one of the lucky few in my remaining week of summer. Don't worry, I'll be jealous of you all in June when we are still in school. This summer, I did not have a paying job, however, I will share with you ode to summer.

I'm learning. CEUs yes, but also I'm learning about blogging, instagram, twitter, and teachers pay teachers. There is an amazing digital support system for SLPS, teachers, and other professionals that I'm just starting to learn about.

Lack of social interaction makes me talk to my cat and myself. No lie, I was in target and I started talking to myself OUT LOUD.

Over the summer, I tried to be a wonderful wife for my husband. At first, he was sad that he no longer has summer breaks and I was worried he would begin to resent me. However, once I began cleaning, cooking, and doing laundry on a more regular basis, we both saw the advantage of having me home.

Summers off is a misnomer. As professionals in schools, we may have 3 months where we are not required to go to work, but our work never ends there. First, we cram a full year of work into 9 months. Second, I think about my students, dream about them and come up with ideas to use throughout the  summer.

Most importantly, dear summer, I'm going to miss my naps.

Love,
Caroline

My Take on Pixar's Inside Out

When the trailer for Pixar's Inside Out, I became very excited. It was my hope that this movie could help me teach some of my students to understand feelings, particularly with understanding others' perspective. What I did not expect is how accurate this movie would represent depression and trouble with mental health. Don't get me wrong, the movie isn't perfect and many of the things are up for interpretation.

Inside Out is a story of an 11-year old girl name Riley who moves from Minnesota to California because of her dad's job. This move causes an uproar in Riley's emotions. Her emotions are represented by 5 characters - Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Disgust. Not only are these emotions in Riley's brain, but also in the brains of her parents, teacher, and other characters within the movie. 

One unique element that my husband noticed was that in Riley's brain, each emotion is unique. In her parents' emotions and other adult's emotions, they mirror the person they represent. For example, Riley's mom's emotions all have glasses and similar hair-dos and one is primarily the leader. In the mom's brain, it appears that sadness is the "head emotion" and in the dad's brain, it appears that anger is in charge.

While the "anatomy" within the brain is highly inaccurate :-) , Pixar has created a way to talk about the brain and emotions in a very kid friendly format. The main five emotions are all located within Headquarters and control a mechanical panel of buttons and levers that impact how Riley acts and reacts to situations around her. Also located in headquarters are Core Memories, which are snapshots in Riley's life that formed her personality. Riley has several "personality islands" including family, hockey, honesty, and goofball.

After Riley's move, she goes to her first day of school. When asked to share something about herself, Riley begins to talk about hockey, one of her core memories. She starts off happy and full of Joy, but when sadness touches the core memory, she begins to cry, forming a new core memory. Up until this point, Joy has been the emotion in charge; after this new core memory is formed, Joy and Sadness get lost and sucked up a tube to a different part of the brain.

After Joy and Sadness are lost and out of headquarters, Fear, Disgust, and Anger are in control. Through a series of events, Riley's personality islands begin to crumble. As things continue to complicate, Riley's emotions begin to lose control of her actions. While not a perfect example of mental illness and depression, this part of the plot really spoke to me. Having some experience with mental illness and depression, the loss of personality islands was a pretty accurate representation for me of what happens to feelings and personality when depressed. When dealing with depression, you don't just lose all the happiness and Joy in your life, you also lose the other end of the emotional spectrum, Sadness. Most of us have seen the old Zoloft commercial talking about how you're not yourself when depressed, and I feel the personality islands crumbling help to show this in an understandable way.

Without spoiling the ENTIRE movie, the emotions learn that Sadness is just as important as Joy because it causes others to want to help Riley. I found this to be an incredibly touching lesson because often times we tell ourselves or others not to feel sad, but Sadness is a very important part of our lives. Fear, Anger, and disgust are also necessary.

To sum up, I loved Inside Out! I am excited to use the trailers, clips, and plushies to help my very literal students to visualize their emotions and others' emotions.

Another favorite part of the movie for me was the teacher's emotions. Maybe you can relate.

I hope you enjoyed my review of Inside Out!

The Heart of It

Hello world! Welcome to my blog!

I’ve tried blogging before, but most of the time I forget that I even have a blog. Therefore, each blog has little to no posts. Forgive me if this blog becomes one of the forgotten.

A little about me:

I am a speech language pathologist, almost 2 years out of grad school. I currently work for a school district in the Twin Cities metro area. Yes it’s cold here. No we don’t get school canceled unless it’s -40 degrees wind chill or more than 2 feet of snow.

I used to live across the street from my current school, but then I got married. I have a wonderful husband, but his job is on the opposite side of the metro. We split the difference and both have a 20-30 minute commute. I don’t really mind the commute (unless it takes 2 hours) because I can listen to NPR or my latest Audible book. We recently added to our family by adopting a 5 month old kitten. He is adorable, but has more energy than expected. We’re working our way up to a family. If the cat survives, maybe a dog, then perhaps children. I’m sure my mom would be ok skipping the dog though.

I have a passion for speech and language. My current position is at a K-8 school, which is challenging due to the number of teachers, range of student abilities, and the scheduling. If you are, or know anyone who is an SLP, you will understand that scheduling can be one of the most frustrating aspects of the job. I like to keep a record of all my schedules. So far, since September, I have had 11 different schedules. Last year, the total was 22. My caseload is considered full time at 44, but I have several students I am evaluating who will be joining the elite speech squad.

I fell in love with the area of communication disorders because of the blend of science and art. I am a musician at heart and sang all the way through college in choirs and small ensembles. My knowledge of music comes in handy when working with clients (and teachers) with voice disorders. I originally wanted to become a neurologist, but the amount of schooling seemed like it was not worth it. So, when I discovered communication disorders, I knew it was a great blend of science and my passion for music. It's surprising how much music and speech have in common as I'm sure many of you know.

That's just a little background information about me and how I stumbled into this great profession. One of my co-workers always ends her emails with "Teaching is a work of heart. Treat it with love." I feel this applies to speech and language as well. It is a work of science, a work of art, and requires the full heart of the speech language pathologist for clients to succeed and become better communicators. While we pour our hearts into work, our kiddos or patients worm their way into our hearts.