Observing Peers

The special education department at our school has been working closely with school and district administrators to create a clear vision for our department and prioritize our many requirements. This in itself could be the subject of numerous blogs.

As we are working on arriving at this vision, I am often reminded that I am the only speech language pathologist in our building. The rest of our department is comprised of 3 teachers for Learning Disabilities, 2 teachers for Mental Retardation (yes- our district still uses that term) and 1 teacher for the Emotionally Disabled. Despite being the only SLP at our school, I know that there is a strong network of SLPs in our district.

This led me to thinking about the significance of observing peers. I have learned much by engaging in conversations with other SLPs, but nothing beats old fashion observation of other SLPs at work. We were all required to complete a certain number of observation hours during our undergraduate studies and have benefited from watching videos of therapy techniques during workshops and conferences. These observations should continue throughout our career. By observing our peers we can gain fresh ideas. We learn what works in different situations (and what may not work). We can take these observations with us and adapt the skills and techniques to our teaching style, setting and student's needs.

So think about making time to observe your peers. As a result of writing this blog, I am considering proposing to our district SLP team leader that we incorporate observations into our monthly SLP meetings!