SLP Grad Intern Welcome Binder

Supervising grad students has become one of my favorite things about being an SLP. I love how it challenges me in this season of my career, the relationships I get to build with up and coming SLPs, and all the new things I get to learn about myself and this field. With each student, I feel like I get better at supervising (Dear Tracie, my first SLP intern. I’m sorry I had no idea what I was doing. Glad it turned out fine and we’re still friends 🙂 ). I’ve come to realize that I needed to front load a lot of information, so I just wanted to share with you about this binder that I’ve created with everything I’m giving students now.

Goals & Expectations

In this tab, I hope to give a clear picture of what my expectations are for the student, what they can expect of me, and a formal way for us to set goals for the student’s growth over the course of the semester. Here’s the pages I included:

• Goals page, where she identifies at least three for the semester with a plan for how she will get there. This is her first ‘assignment’ from me.
• Helpful information, this includes my phone number, ASHA number, school phone & address, grades & disabilities served
• Expectations are clearly laid out, these include things like dress code, start and end times, privacy laws for the children, ASHA Code of Ethics, the activities I expect her to participate in that are not direct treatment, etc.
• Semester Plan will outline week by week what she is responsible for. We usually start with one week of observation, then co-treatment, then slowly taking over the groups. The goal is a full takeover by 6 weeks in, but sometimes that depends on the student. I’m a huge proponent of just throwing them in there… I really don’t think observation gets you very far at this point, the best practice is hands on!

Caseload Information

This tab is full of the good stuff!

• My current schedule
• Student roster, with minutes and disabilities listed
• Goal Cheat Sheets, with each student by grade level and their current goals

Procedures

I really want grad students to feel prepared, but also to have something to reference when they get out in the real world.

• IEPs procedures and required documents for every part of an IEP, from scheduling to making copies
• Prompts/Cues reference pages
• ASHA’s Roles & Responsibilities for School SLPs
• Observation Feedback forms
• Self Reflection forms

School Information

• District Calendar
• School Map
• Phone List
• Behavior Management Systems

Helpful Forms

I give my intern TONS of examples of forms for various things because I want her to know that my way, is not the only way. I want her to find things that work for her and her brain! A lot of these forms you can find in my blog or TPT store, so I’ve linked them in case you want to check those out too!

• Lesson plans
• Data sheets
• Theme Therapy Calendars
• Evaluation Log
• Screening Log
• Parent Contact Log

While it seems like a lot, I know it will be helpful to those anxious, young SLPs who walk in my door not sure of what to expect. I know that when I was in grad school, I would have loved something like this! It’s such a crazy time, why not make it a little easier?

Do you make a welcome binder for your grad student interns? I’d love to hear what you include, or what you think I’m missing!

P.S. I’ve had lots of questions about whether or not I will share the contents of this binder and I’ve decided that since it is so specific to my school it doesn’t make sense. BUT check out these from my friends, I own both of them and they definitely helped me:

SLP Graduate Intern Supervisor Forms from Jenna Kirk

Student & Supervisor SLP Organization Binders from The Speech Bubble SLP