New Year, New Vibes: Rebooting Speech After the Break Without Losing Your Mind

In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, Hallie tackles the chaos of returning to work in January. If you're feeling like you need a vacation from your vacation, this one's for you. She's dishing out practical strategies for easing back into therapy mode, getting your students re-engaged (even when they'd rather be literally anywhere else), and turning that New Year energy into actual buy-in. Hallie also shares how one simple activity can hit multiple goals across your entire caseload—because who has time to prep five different things? It's all about working smarter, not harder, and remembering that relationships matter just as much as data.

Bullet Points to Discuss: 

• Starting light: connection before data collection 
• Quick check-ins and warmup games for the first week back 
• Getting student buy-in through goal-setting conversations 
• New Year's themed activities across all goal areas 
• One activity, multiple goals: the SLP magic formula 
• Why student voice and choice matter 
• The secret sauce: creativity, adaptability, and compassion

Here’s what we learned: 

• Stretching before the sprint—ease into the first week instead of going full throttle. 
• Your students are coming back just as tired and unmotivated as you are (totally normal!).
• Asking "what would make speech more useful or fun for you?" is a game changer. 
• One activity can work for your entire caseload when you know how to adapt it. 
• Show students their voice matters, and they'll actually want to show up. 
• You don't need to be perfect—just present, creative, and compassionate.

Learn more about Hallie Sherman and SLP Elevate:  

📝 Website: https://speechtimefun.com/

🎲✨ Check out the Secondary Secret Podcast here! https://www.speechtimefunpd.com/secret-podcast-signup

📘✨ Grab your copy of The Secondary SLP Roadmap here! https://www.speechtimefunpd.com/stf-book

Subscribe today and get access to my secret podcast filled with my juicy secrets for planning with ease for secondary speech students. 6 quick episodes that you can quickly listen to and feel refreshed and inspired! https://speechtimefun.com/secondarysecrets