What I learned...

I feel like I have learned a lot about blogging and the many options it provides. I found the class to be very helpful. I loved learning about all the fun widgets. I was also pretty proud of myself when I successfully linked the video. That was something I had never done before. My goal is to use my blog as a way to provide “speech homework” for my speech students. I'm excited to see how it works out this year.

Emotions Video

Great to use with children who have difficulty understanding their own emotions and emotions of others (e.g., children with high functioning autism)

Classroom Expectations

Speech is a time to work on improving how we communicate with others. That may include working on speech sounds, language, fluency, or voice. In order to improve, we need to follow basic rules in the speech room.

1. During a lesson, only share things that will help us learn. Save personal items for the beginning or end of speech.
2. Don't interrupt.
3. Be a good listener.
4. Try your hardest!
5. Always feel free to ask questions

Looking forward to a great year in speech!

Two Springs Tour



Welcome to Two Springs Elementary!



The hallway to the speech room

Mr. Polak's basset hound bulletin board. It was helpful when teaching my kindergartener's how to get to the speech room - "go towards the tail side".

 

My undecorated speech room



Computer lab with model students included ;)

Mrs. Fripp's Reading Lab Room

Our library

Gym

Our Playground

Parking Lot - Time to go home!

Introduction

Hello. My name is Emily Kurz. I am a speech-language pathologist at Two Springs and LeMay Elementary. I graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with both my BS and MS. I grew up on a farm in the small town of Chapman, NE. I attended high school at Grand Island Northwest. I have been happily married for three years and my husband and I just bought our first house this summer. We are excited to move in July!

I am comfortable with technology and am looking forward to learning more about it. I am not a naturally “tech-savy” person, but I am great at asking questions or “googling” for assistance. I would call myself a PC person. As a speech teacher, I use technology with small groups or in 1:1 situations. I use the video camera on the computer to record my students so they can see/hear their “new sounds” vs. “old sounds” or “smooth speech” vs. “bumpy speech”. I have created adapted worksheets for students who have difficulty writing and like having the students use Co-Writer, when appropriate. I also assign online speech homework.

My goal for this blog is to create a place for my students to find “online speech homework”. If they complete this homework, they can earn extra stickers for their sticker chart (this chart has proved to be motivating for most of my students). However, I am flexible with the concept of my blog and may be adapting it/changing the purpose as I learn more.