I was at the speech meeting last Friday, which is a meeting where all (well, most) of the SLPs in the county get together to learn and share. This meeting happened to be a good one, discussing workload vs. caseload (one of my pet peeves is "Average caseload of 30 kids? That must be nice!" no, because we give each kid tons of service and we plan with educators--I work just as much with my 30 kids here as with my 80 kids in Utah, but the kids here make more progress) and Response to Intervention (RTI--working with kids who do not qualify for special education, to remediate small delays before they turn into big ones). These are "hot topics" in my field. The best topic brought up was 3 to 1, which means 3 weeks of direct service (working with the child) followed by 1 week of indirect service (working with the teachers, doing paperwork, planning therapy, etc.). This has been shown to result in better progress for the kids AND reduce burnout for the SLPs. Apparently nearby Anne Arundel county has done this and loved it. Loved it enough to roll it out countywide for the special educators. I was so pleased to see my boss's boss taking notes. :) :) :)
As I was sitting there, looking at the ladies around my table, I realized that this was the first meeting where I knew everyone at my table! Just randomly. She worked with my deaf kiddos last year... Went out to support her with a new hard of hearing kiddo... She shares a room with a gal I supported with a phonology kiddo... Covered for her on maternity leave two years ago... Worked with her at the same school last year... Met her at a non-tenured meeting... It was fun to chat during the "discuss this with your table" times and catch up.
Somehow, just knowing everyone at the table felt like a milestone. Felt like home.
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