Speech Therapists Don’t Need Apples
My first blog was mostly from 2012-2013. Below are all of it’s posts. Beware some of the links are probably broken.
BIG CHANGES ARE ON THEIR WAY!
April 2024
Thank you for the nice reviews on teachers pay teachers website! With this encouragement and the support of my editor-in-chief (wife), I am restarting this blog. Big changes to the blog will be coming. I am going to readjust the focus to tools and tips for educators. In addition to my day job of being the lead speech language pathologist (and teletherapist) for LSG and Associates, I am now homeschooling my 5 year old daughter. With this experience and the help of my wife, I’ll be redesigning this blog. I will be sharing updates to some of my files and sharing a lot of new ones. The updates will continue to be free.
In the next few months some new tools will be available for a very small price on teachers pay teachers website. I plan on changing my Bell Curve Bar Graph to graphing the standard error of measurement and sharing an all-in-one Caseload/Class spreadsheet. Among many other things, I am working on a flashcard/data collection system that can be used for individuals and groups. This should be helpful for not only SLPs, but any educator (e.g., school teachers and homeschooling parents). I will also be sharing tips for SLPs, tele-therapists, and homeschooling. In addition to the basic tutorials and information on this blog.
UPDATED LINKS AND FREE TPT STORE
After many requests, I have finally updated the links to the Evaluation Performance Graph and the Highlighted Evaluation Performance Graph. If for some reason the links embedded in the text of the last sentence did not work you can also access these files for free in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store.
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Roger-Wagner
DOCUMENTING CONTACTS, SCHEDULE THERAPY, AND EMAIL REMINDERS FROM GOOGLE SHEETS
I am back! After a very long break from blogging, I am back with a free gift for the holidays. I created a Google Spreadsheet that combines contact information, contact log, schedule, and automated reminder email system into one spreadsheet. I call the file Contact&Schedule+Ultra as a nod to my family’s favorite anime series. This file simplifies emailing reminders for teletherapy. With one click you can email an entire day’s students/parents to remind them that they have a scheduled session. With two clicks you can open automated emails for all the scheduled day’s sessions with the meeting information for each session.
Unfortunately, there are some limitations to use the file to create emails. As far as I have tested, it only works if you have web email client (Gmail, Outlook.com, etc.) set as default to open your emails. To figure out what your current default email app click on this link. If the link opened another tab or window of your web browser then you should be set. Copy the file at the end of this post and try it out.
If the link opens your Mail app on your computer and asks you what account you want to use, email automation will not work. You can either change your default email app/handler or not use the email automation part of the file. Here are a couple of links to how to change your default email client to Gmail.
Below is a link to the free Google Sheets File in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store. The first tab is a tutorial on how to use the file.
WEBSITE WEDNESDAY: READING FUN
This is going to be my last Website Wednesday, at least for a while. I am going to focus more on reviewing Android apps on this blog and in Yapp Guru this summer, using my new Nexus 7 tablet. I also am working on a flashcard Excel file and will be giving away a promo code to Puzzingo at some point in the next few months.
The website this week is resource developed by Mrs. Carney a teacher with Appleton Area School District in Wisconsin. She has organized a list of games, Powerpoints, and other resources in different topics. I found several useful activities for my upper elementary students here (http://www.aasd.k12.wi.us/staff/boldtkatherine/ReadingFun.htm). I have used some of the games from the subject predicate area. Other areas that look useful include the plurals, homophones, idioms, and parts of speech.
Everyone have a great summer!
APP REVIEW: AVAZ
| Name (Google Play) | Avaz For Autism |
| Developer (Amazon) | Invention Labs |
| Price | $99.99 |
| Size (MB) | 344 |
| Type General | Language |
| Type Specific | AAC |
| SD Card | Yes |
My wife got me interested in becoming a Speech Language Pathologist. I was actually going into computer programing at the time I met her. The second biggest influence was a teenager that had cerebral palsy. I became his caregiver, and began to program his DynaVox. Realizing that I could help people communicate though computers (AAC) motivated me to become a SLP, but after starting my career I haven’t had the opportunity to work with many AAC devices.
With that all being said I am excited to be able to review my first AAC app on my blog. I was contacted by someone from Invention Labs and asked to review their app Avaz. I found Avaz very intuitive. It was fairly easy to navigate and setup. I was able to create a new page, take pictures and setup communication buttons on page without any instructions. The app design reminded me a lot of the DynaVox I programmed 10 years ago, but this app was much easier to use.
Avaz is highly customizable. It has five voices to choose from. There are a child and adult voice for both male and female USA accents as well as a female Indian accent. The speed of the voice can be adjusted along with the size of the pictures and caption text within buttons. There is an option to enlarge the buttons when they are selected. The default starting screen can be changed and returned to after each selection. A message box can be used or taken away, allowing the choice of building a complete sentence before speaking or speaking after each selection. Other options include high contrast, speaking as you type, speaking action keys, and using a password to access the settings. The app makes it easy to switch between it’s picture and keyboard mode. The keyboard can be in either a QWERTY or ABC format.
I have contacted the app developer with a few ideas for improvement. The menu, home, and back buttons that most Android devices could be utilized better. The back button can be used to exit the setting menu, but if pressed anywhere else it exits the app. The home screen also exits the app and the menu button does nothing. While within Avaz, the volume buttons on my tablet accessed the ringtone volume instead of the volume for the app (media), preventing me from making adjustments. I recommended that they add the option of locking within the android app, to prevent accidental exit.
I was only able to try this app on my Lenovo A1. I used this app as a starting AAC system for a child with autism. It worked well for him and I could see this app working as day to day communication for someone at the picture or keyboarding levels. The app is currently $99.99 in both Google Play and Amazon Appstore for Android. I know $99.99 is a lot of money but when you compare it to the current DynaVox which costs over $4,000, it makes it look cheap. With a great $200 Android tablet like the Kindle Fire HD, Nexus 7 or $180 for the Samsung Tab 2, you can get a AAC device and a tablet for less than the price of an iPad Mini.
JO FROST REWARDS – AMAZON APP OF THE DAY
Amazon’s Appstore for Android has a behavior tracking app as the free app of the day. I have installed and briefly looked at this app. It looks like it could come in handy in therapy for tracking kids behaviors. A list of at least 44 kids can be added and different behaviors can be added to each student. The tasks and behaviors are currently setup for home use but can be modified. Multiple points can be added at once by completing a task. Points can also be added or taken away one at a time. Percentages of right vs wrong are not tracked, only a total of points, but if you are an SLP that tallies correct answers (e.g., number of times /r/ is said correctly) this could be a very handy app. Download it for free today only here. If you would like to check Amazon’s free app of the day frequently bookmark this link. If you don’t have the Amazon Appstore for Android you can download it by following the instructions here.
WEBSITE WEDNESDAY: GOTKIDSGAMES
GotKidsGames.com has some great language and phonics games for grades K-6 in it’s Word Games (http://www.gotkidsgames.com/GotKidsGames%20Word%20Games%20By%20Grade.html) area. The link to this area is currently at the bottom of the second column in the homepage. Some of the games keep score and some do not. There are plural, pronoun, subject-verb, adjective, and punctuation games to name a few of the ones that could be used in therapy.
Some of the games are short race the clock games to see how many correct answers can be done in a minute. I have found these most useful in therapy because they are quick, track data, and the kids enjoy them. 5 of these are subject-verb agreement games: 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, and 5th Grade. There’s also a racing homophone and pronoun games. If you click on a few of the links in the last couple sentences you may notice some of the games have no ads. Playing around with this website, I noticed that you can change a few of the the .html ending to .swf and the ads go away. The .swf links a may eventually stop working, but I have enjoyed them the past few months.
APP REVIEW: PUZZINGO
BY RWSLP
| Name | Puzzingo |
| Creator | 77SPARX Studio, Inc. |
| Marketplace | Google Play & Amazon Appstore |
| Categories | Preschool, Elementary, Vocabulary |
| Price | Free w/ in-app purchases (for Google Play) |
| MB | 33.5 (bigger w/ in-app purchasing |
| Operating System | 2.2 |
| SD Card | Yes |
| My Rating | 5/5 |
Puzzingo or “Kids Puzzle Game PUZZINGO for Toddler and Preschooler with Animals, Numbers, Letters, and More” is a puzzle based vocabulary game. Puzzle pieces are inside boxes which can be shaken to open. Each piece is a noun with a written label and is named when selected. The pieces can be placed into shaded areas to complete a puzzle.
There are currently two versions of this app available for Android Devices. The version on Google Play (3.81) has the option of in-app purchases of additional puzzles. The current version in the Amazon Appstore (3.36) does not have in app purchases. Both apps are free and ad-free. Many people are reluctant to purchase apps where in-app purchases are available. The in-app purchases in Puzzingo (Google Play version) require parent verification. As I talked about in my Security and In-App Purchasing post, I recommend all SLPs set up a pin code for on device purchases. This will prevent clients or thieves from purchasing unwanted apps as well as in-app purchases. For more information on how to set up the pin code, click the link to the post above. With a pin code you can be assured there will be no accidental purchases on this app.
I was given an “all access pass” to the Google Play version by the developer to review this app and I am very impressed. I can see why this app is one of the most popular apps on the market. This is the best play-based vocabulary game I have used. The Amazon Appstore version currently has (free) puzzles for toys, numbers, jungle animals, ocean animals, farm, picnic, and alphabet. In the Google Play version, you have free access to juggle animals, picnic, dune bug, steam train, farm, sand castle, and costume shop for free. With in-app purchasing you can get puzzles in each of the categories and sub categories below:
Trains: commuter train, train yard, city train, country train, space train, clown train, train station
Princess & Fairies: fairy house, fairy tailor, fairy rock band, fairy flight school, frog race, pirate princess, princess
Holidays: Lunar New Year, Santa’s stable, snowball fight, Santa’s workshop, Christmas tree, harvest, New Year,
Cars: mini van, chopper, indie car, stock car, 4×4 truck, clown car, bulldozer, super bike, sports car
Animals: Jungle Animals (another), forest animals, fresh water animals, safari animals, polar animals, grassland animals, Australian animals
Space: observatory, alien hair salon, space station, consolations, solar system, astronaut, space shuttle
Core Concepts: numbers, colors, counting, ocean animals, shapes, toys, alphabet.
There are 12 – 32 pieces (vocabulary words) in each puzzle. Some of the puzzles have short games to play after they are completed (e.g., racing game with the cars). The developer occasionally adds more puzzles, so this list may be incomplete in a few months. I recommend this app to be used as a play-based game during speech language therapy as well as for home use with all preschool and elementary kids. This app is great for a preschooler, yet still engaging and educational for older children. My 7, 9, and 10 year old children all like this game. I have even learned a few words from this game. I will be giving away a free “all access pass” to the Google Play version of this app this summer, so check back here for more details later. You can view the developers video below.
WEBSITE WEDNESDAY: MINIMAL PAIRS FROM JOHN HIGGINS
This week’s website is not online activities for therapy but a resource I discovered several years ago. John Higgins organized complete lists of minimal pair for English consonants and vowels. This is a very handy resource for speech therapy. Two warnings before the link; the lists includes swear words, and it may be blocked by schools’ web filters. Check out this amazing resource here
https://www.britishaccentacademy.com/higgins-minimal-pairs-for-received-pronunciation/
WEBSITE WEDNESDAY: CANDO’S HELPER PAGE!
Cando’s Helper Page (http://www.candohelperpage.com/index.html) is a website created by Ray Beaudoin. It has been around since 2001. It has a lot of games and worksheets that can be used for language and articulation therapy. The games are what I would call “old school”. They are not as fancy as stuff from Funbrain, but my students still seem to enjoy them. I have frequently used the Practice Activity #3 in Final Consonant Blends and both of the Mixed Bossy R Practice #5 and #6 in R-Controlled Vowels to provide a break from normal articulation therapy.
All of the games use Flash Player, so they will work on Android tablets that have it installed. Flash Player can be found in Google Play here and enabled on Kindle Fires by following the directions here.
Check out the two new pages I created at the top of my blog: SLP Android Apps and My Free Microsoft Office Files.
SLP ANDROID APPS
I am in the process of improving my list of Android SLP apps to include apps from Google Play, Amazon, and Nook. I recommend using the Amazon Appstore when possible, because these apps can be shared with more devices than a Google Play account and it allows all the apps to work on Amazon devices if one is purchased. While I work on putting together the detailed list like the one I made for SLP Android Apps in the Amazon Appstore, I have posted the names of 225+ speech therapy apps I have found in Google Play on my new page SLP Android Apps.
AMAZON APP OF THE DAY: TIMERS4ME & STOPWATCH PRO
If you have an Android device and you don’t have a timer/stopwatch, you should download Amazon Appstore’s app of the day. It is a highly customizable timer, stopwatch, and alarm. The timer and alarm clock has a log which can be emailed. Multiple timers can be created and saved. The stopwatch works well as a counter if you want to track something during therapy, but as far as I can figure out the data cannot be saved. This app can be downloaded or saved to “your apps” for free today (4/21/2013). Click the app picture above or here to view the app. This timer appears to be much better than the one Amazon had for free in March and it has an alarm.
The Amazon Appstore can be downloaded on almost any Android Device. Find out how to install it here.
APP REVIEW: SHAKE-A-PHRASE
| Name | Shake-a-Phrase |
| Creator | Artgig Studio |
| Marketplace | Google Play & Amazon Appstore |
| Category | Story Starters, Parts of Speech, Vocabulary |
| Price | $1.99 |
| MB | 7.1 |
| Operating System | 2.1 |
| SD Card | No |
| My Rating | 4/5 |
Shake-a-Phrase is a fun app for students to get story starters, identify parts of speech, and learn new vocabulary. There are three parts to the app Shake It!, Story Starter, and Quiz Me!. Shake It! is a random sentence generator with definitions provided. There are five themes: animals, fairytale, monsters, sports, and shake starter. The shake starter (story starter) provides ideas of how to begin a narrative. Favorites can be saved to a list. Options in the quiz area let you select from 1 to 5 parts of speech you want to practice: nouns, verbs, adjectives, prepositions, conjunctions. Students are asked to find these parts in sentences. Correct answers are rewarded, but incorrect answers are not tracked.
I recommend this app for classroom and home use for students functioning in the upper elementary to middle school range. This app would also be good to fill in the last few minutes of the therapy. I was given this app to review it, but I am receiving nothing for my review.
WEBSITE WEDNESDAY: QUIA
There are a ton of speech therapy materials at www.quia.com/web. The trick with this website is finding what you want when you want it. The resource I found for SLPs is Pamela Bordas’ Homepage (http://www.quia.com/pages/pbordashome.html). There are a lot of language and articulation activities available. I particularly like to use the challenge board games for therapy with two students. You can also search for shared activities here (http://www.quia.com/shared/). With flash player many of these activities work on Android devices.
WEBSITE WEDNESDAY: THE COMMUNICATION MATRIX (EVALUATION FOR THOSE IN EARLY STAGES OF COMMUNICATION)
Last week, I ran across this website while reviewing an evaluation conducted at a university in my state. If you are like me, you have treated some children with very severe language delays. One of the hardest things with these students is figuring out what to use when testing them. The Communication Matrix looks like a great solution to this problem if the client is in the early stages of communication, and best of all it is free. You register and fill out a survey on the website and a free results page is created. For the cost of a testing protocol ($6.00) a custom report can be created.
Check out their video here:
Their introduction YouTube video cuts out 17 seconds before their video on their website. The rest of the video talks about how you can go back and repeat the survey multiple times to show progress, and that all the information is completely secure and can’t be identified. They have a YouTube channel with 3 other short videos here.
I have only looked at a summary report from this website, but this will definitely be my go-to place for testing kids in the early stages of communication. The website again is: http://www.communicationmatrix.org/. Please comment below if you have used this evaluation.
WEBSITE WEDNESDAY: QUIZLET
Quizlet is a flashcard website, that allows users to create and share sets of flashcards. Unlike some of the other flashcard websites Quizlet allows use of images in their sets. Users can form classes (groups) to share their sets. I have created two classes, one for speech and another for language. Both of these classes have over 40 cards; check them out by clicking the links in the previous sentence.
The flashcards in Quizlet can be accessed without signing in. Registering and logging in allows you to create cards, favorites, and join classes. If you log in information in some sections are saved, but can be easily cleared for the next client by clicking “Start Over”. After you are logged in you can join my “Speech Therapy For Use With Clients” class by clicking here and my “Language Therapy For Use With Clients” by clicking here. If you create your own flashcards don’t forget to share.
There are currently 7 ways to study flashcards directly from the website. The flashcard mode just allows you to navigate through the cards just as you would real flashcards. There is a new flashcard mode (below the flashcards), which is showing up on my Chrome browser but not on Internet Explorer. This works very well during therapy because it allows you to mark (wrong) cards for further study by clicking the star on the top right corner of the card, making it easy to track data. The new mode allows the card to be spoken if desired. Both modes allow you to choose which side of the card you want to show first. I will contact Quizlet about its new mode and when they are planning on making it the default.
The “Speller” mode shows a picture if available, says the target word, then prompts you to type it. If typed incorrectly it repeats. The “Learn” mode shows or speaks one side of the flashcard and prompts you to type the other side. Data is tracked and you can complete another round until all incorrect cards are correct. This works great with language cards. The “Test” mode provides a quiz with part fill-in-the-blank, multiple choice, matching, and true/false.
There are two games also. Scatter is a timed game to match flashcard sides. Space Race prompts you to type one side of the card before the other side moves across the screen.
Much of this content can be accessed through the internet with a mobile device, but there are a lot of apps which allow offline use. The best one I tried is Quizard which is available on Android, Amazon, Nook, as well as iOS. There is a free lite verison of Quizard on Google Play and Amazon. Apple also has an official Quizlet app. Windows phones and tablets can find apps here.
Multiple flashcard websites can be accessed from Quizard. To download Quizlet cards click Download Sets and Download From Quizlet. From here you can search for “subject”, “creator”, “my cards”, or “my groups”. If you become a member of one of my classes, click my groups, log in and allow access. Then you can view your groups (classes) and select (download) the desired set. Similarly you can view your favorites, or you can search for rwslp to find my stuff.
Explaining the details on how to use Quizard further would be quite lengthy. If there is enough interest (comments) in a tutorial, I can create a video.
With Quizlet you can now create and access hundreds of flashcards on your computer, smart phone, and tablet.
GOOGLE NOSE AVAILABLE ON ANDROID DEVICES
GOOGLE BLOGGER RANT
Google shut down (for the second time) and completely locked me out of my rwslp.blogspot.com blog over a month ago (2/16), because it thought it was spam. Luckily I just happened to have backed up my blog the night before, so I could copy to WordPress.com. I requested that they review it at least 8 times. Each time I got a email saying they would get back to me about the blog within 2 business days. I never got response explaining why or what I could do to get the blog back. Two days ago, I requested they review my blog again, and yesterday they finally unlocked my blog, sending me a “no-reply” email apologizing for the mistake. In my opinion an apology with a “no-reply” email is not really an apology.
I am sorry if you are one of the many people viewing my BlogSpot blog and lost me during my switch to WordPress.com. After all the fun (I could use other words but they wouldn’t be professional) I have had with Blogger, I think I will stay here at rwslp.wordpress.com.
SECURITY AND IN-APP PURCHASING
I work on a Native American reservation. Last week one of the special education teachers I work with had her iPad stolen by a student. Fortunately, she was able to find out which student took it. She took the student home announcing “I am here for my iPad”. She then got it back, but all her photos etc., had been removed. I think she was fortunate that they didn’t purchase any apps using her account. It probably helped that a lot of Navajo don’t have access to internet at home.
After seeing this story unfold first hand, I realized I need to beef up the security on my devices. I added pin codes to all my devices to prevent a thief from purchasing apps on the device with my money. Here is a link of how to add pin codes on Android, iOS, and Windows phones/tablets. The pin code will be required for all app purchases after it is added. If you have the Amazon Appstore on your device don’t forget to set up pin codes for it also.
Not only does using pin codes provide an extra layer of security if someone steals your device, it prevents accidental in-app purchases as well. There are some great (freemium) apps that use in-app purchasing like Puzzingo. With pin codes, it is much safer to use these apps with children.
Lock screens also can add a layer of protection. The Android lock screen even stumped the FBI, so it should make it hard for a thief also.
There are some great security apps that can help find a lost device and lock it from use if stolen. I personally use Lookout Mobile Security. It can help you locate a device by making the device scream, send you a picture of the person using the device, and showing you where it is located on a map. It can also lock your device remotely. I have heard avast! Mobile Security is another good security app. Both of these apps are free.
LITTLE IMPROVEMENTS IN MY EVALUATION PERFORMANCE GRAPH (DXGRAPH) FILES AND CASELOAD DATA TOOLS
I recently noticed that there was a few formatting issues (e.g., bold cells) from my personal use in my some of my files. A user also brought to my attention a problem with the Highlighted Evaluation Performance Graph file. The age calculation didn’t work in a previous version and the highlighted region wasn’t adjustable. All of these problems have been fixed in my new version you can download below (My Microsoft Office Files post, and My Teachers Pay Teachers Store).
Highlighted Evaluation Performance Graph
Caseload Data Tools (with macros): find and download CaseloadDataTools.xlsm from ge.tt when you click the picture
WEBSITE WEDNESDAY: FUNBRAIN
Many speech language pathologists who work in the schools have probably heard of FunBrain, but did you know it has stuff you can use in therapy. I use some of the games from the Word Games section during therapy. All of these games keep score and the kids enjoy them. Below is a list of the ones I have found useful.
2Bee or Nottoobee – works on the “be” verbs
The Plural Girls – works on regular and irregular plurals; two levels in both multiple choice and fill in the blank
Vocabulary – works on making words (text) to pictures in the areas of alphabet, animals, fruit, tools, machines, and shapes
Word Confusion – works on homophones in two levels
Scramble-Saurus Game – works on unscrambling words with a provided clue with three levels and multiple topics
Grammar Gorillas – works on identifying parts of speech within sentences
There are also Mad Libs a and spelling games.
I apologize for anyone who checked out my blog last Wednesday expecting a website. Amazon had a free app that could be used in therapy so I posted on that instead. I will try to keep my Wednesday posts on websites (except for when Amazon has good therapy app on Wednesday). Next week will be a great resources for both online and offline (app) use. Be sure you check back next week!
ANDROID ARTICULATION APPS
I have tried 3 Android flashcard articulation apps and thought I would compare them all in one post. All of these apps are set up for individual therapy. None of them work well for doing articulation therapy within a group, unless you are crazy like me and have two tablets and a phone.
| Name | Pocket SLP – Articulation | Quick Artic | Sly F & V |
| App Store | Google Play; Amazon | Android Pit | Google Play |
| Developer | Synapse Apps | Virtual Speech Center | SlySpeechApps |
| Price | $14.99; $14.99-Kindle Only | Free w/ Registration | Free |
| Size (MB) | 44 | 93 | 11 |
| Minimum Operating System | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.2 |
| SD Card | No | No | No |
| Data | Track & Email | Track | Track & Email |
| My Rating | 4/5 | 3/5 | 4/5 |
Pocket SLP – Articulation
Pocket SLP – Articulation is currently my go to app for articulation therapy. First you type in or select the client’s name and then you can select the phonemes you would like to work on. This is the only app of the three that allows you to select more than one speech sound. It has 30 different speech sounds. Once inside the flashcards you can select which the desired target position for the phoneme: initial, medial, final, or mixed. Speech sounds can be worked on at the word or sentence level. The photographs are good quality. There are also model sounds as well as side and palate pictures available showing how each sound is produced.
You have a choice between correct, incorrect, and approximation when tracking the client; a normal or silly sound can be made with this choice or no sound if desired. The app auto advances to the next card after the choice, but you can swipe forward or backwards. Data from each session is saved into summary page and this combined data can be emailed. While using the flashcards correct, incorrect, and approximation totals are tracked, but when you finish and go to the summary page the data is separated into the different sounds and positions. The overall total is not available in the summary page. I find this annoying when making my session notes. If I want to report on the combined sounds (e.g., velars or final consonants), I have to add it all together again. It is nice to have the summary, but I have found it sometimes difficult to work with this long list of data.
This app does have a few problems. Most of these are typos within the sentence level flashcards, but some of the model sounds don’t work well either. I have contacted the company multiple times over the past year about these problems. They have thanked me for the emails, saying they would work on them, but I haven’t seen any changes. My latest email to Pocket SLP, detailing all the typos, can be seen here.
Synapse Apps recently upped the price of their Kindle Tablet version available on Amazon from $4.99 to $14.99. This version only works on Kindle Tablets. Pocket SLP newsletter frequently advertises that all their apps are under $5.00, which is true for their apps on iTunes. The app has a lot to offer for $14.99, but I feel like this price is inflated when I look at their stuff in iTunes.
Quick Artic
Quick Artic is a very basic flashcard app with high quality photos. The flashcards are separated into final, initial, and medial of the phonemes “ch”, “f”, “g”, “k”, “l”, “r”, “s”, “sh”, and “z”. It also has medial “th”, initial voiceless “th”, as well as the blends “f”, “fl”, “fr”, “g”, “gl”, “gr”, “kr”, “sk”, “sm”, and “sn”. Only one set can be used at a time. Data is kept by clicking “Correct” or “Wrong”, but the data isn’t saved when you exit the set. The cards have to be manually changed. The app is free after you register on the developers website and login when you open the app for the first time.
Sly F & V
Sly F & V has auto advancing cards and email options like PocketSLP-Articulation. It doesn’t have an approximation button or save each session’s data into a summary page. The app has initial, medial, and final sets for both /f/ and /v/. Only one set can be used at a time. Each flashcard has a picture (not photo), written target word, and sentence. The pictures are not the highest quality, but they are not terrible either. This app is the only one of three that has a voice recording of each target word (if card is tapped). You have a choice between correct and incorrect. Swiping to another card is not available. The emailed results include a total score and a chart showing whether each target word was correct or incorrect. Sly F & V is SlySpeechApps’ only free app, but they have 11 other speech apps ranging from $3.99 to $29.99. The developer’s articulation screening, apraxia, and final consonant deletion apps look promising, but I haven’t had a chance to try them yet.
Overall Impressions
All of these apps sized properly on both my phone and tablet. None of them store on SD cards or track multiple students at the same time. Currently, I find myself working on more than one sound at a time, targeting phonological processes with my younger students. Pocket SLP – Articulation has worked well for this, but I find its data summary cumbersome. It is currently the only one of the three that is available on Amazon. SlySpeechApps’ pictures are not as good as the other articulation flashcard apps, but its data summary is superior. I recommend Quick Artic for any novice app users, SlySpeechApps for slps who work with one sound and position at a time, and Pocket SLP for slps who work on multiple sounds and positions at a time (e.g., phonological processes).
AMAZON APP OF THE DAY: COUNTING WITH THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR
Amazon’s free app of the day is Counting with the Very Hungry Caterpillar. This app works on counting, vocabulary, quantity, and addition within five levels. Kids are asked to select the food items that the very hungry caterpillar eats within the story, quantities are of the food items are also targeted (e.g., “Please eat two apples”). I tested this app and would recommend it to speech language pathologists and parents with preschool and early elementary kids working on labeling food and quantities.
The Amazon Appstore can be downloaded on almost any Android Device. Find out how to install it here.
WEBSITE WEDNESDAY: WWW.FREERICE.COM
I have decided to add a weekly post on a website I am using in therapy. There are so many great websites for speech therapy. I seem to find one or two every week.
One of my favorite language websites for upper elementary to high school students is Freerice.com. This website is great for working on vocabulary and grammar. In the vocabulary section it works on identifying synonyms of a target word from a choice of four, and the grammar section works on selecting a grammatically correct sentence from a choice of two. There are many other subjects, but I haven’t found them as useful for therapy.
As the student answers several questions correctly they advance to the next level. If they get a question wrong it moves back a level. This provides a general way to track progress; unfortunately it doesn’t track wrong answers. The levels can be adjusted to a desired starting point. All correct answers provide 10 grains of rice to the Word Food Programme, helping to feed those in need. Ads are used on the website to get money for the donations, but I haven’t found these ads too bothersome.
I like to use this website with students if I have a few minutes left after completing my main activities. It is also a great website to recommend to other teachers. There is an app for this website in Google Play, but it is basically just the website, with quick access to the different subjects. It requires an internet connection.
CHECK OUT MY NEW FACEBOOK GROUP: SLP FILES AND FREEBIES
If you are on Facebook, I have created an group for SLPs to share files they have created. You can promote something you have made on http://www.teacherpayteacher.com or just share a self-made data tracking sheet for free. Please make sure that you don’t violate any copyright laws when sharing.
http://www.facebook.com/groups/SLPFilesAndFreebies/
There are some excellent resources on Facebook for SLPs. One of the best is SLPeeps. Check out their files tab for some great lists.
AUDITORY ANALYSIS
| Name | Auditory Analysis (USA Version) |
| Creator | Talking Talk |
| Marketplace | Google Play & Amazon Appstore |
| Category | Phonological Awareness |
| Price | $ 4.99 |
| MB | 33.1 |
| Operating System | 2.3.3 |
| SD Card | Yes |
| My Rating | 5/5 |
Auditory Analysis is one of the more interesting and engaging apps I am using in speech therapy. It uses the built in microphones (in phones and most tablets) to record and repeat audio clips. This allows students to compare their answers to the target answer then choose if they got it correct or not. All of the students I have tried this with love this feature. They enjoy the ability to hear themselves. My students also like the two fun games which can be used as rewards. It has worked well with groups of students or a student using it by himself.
This app works on phonological awareness in 7 different levels: omitting part of compound words, omitting part of a two syllable words, omitting the initial phonemes, omitting the final phonemes, substituting initial or final phonemes, omitting part of consonant blends, and substituting part of consonant blends. The data is tracked and can be emailed.
This app is currently only available on Android devices. The creator has made a video. Check it out here:
AMAZON APPSTORE: FREE TIMER/STOPWATCH TODAY AND DISCOUNTS ON DR. SUESS BOOKS UNTIL MARCH 11TH
The app of the day in the Amazon Appstore is StopWatch & Timer Pro. Amazon is also running a even bigger sale on Dr. Suess books, including one of my personal favorites The FOOT Book. I frequently use this book to work on /f/ and opposites in therapy. The Dr. Suess sale will end March 11th. They are also discounting lots of children’s apps today. Check out all these deals here.
The Amazon Appstore can be downloaded on almost any Android Device. Find out how to install it here.
DISCOUNTS ON DR. SUESS BOOKS IN GOOGLE PLAY TODAY
Happy Dr. Suess Day. Theodor Geisel is one of my heroes. He significantly improved children’s literature. His books are discounted to day on Google Play. I will be purchasing The Cat and the Hat and Oh the Places You’ll Go! after I am done with this post! The Cat in the Hat is only a $0.99!
P.S. These apps store on your SD Card so you can store them all. The Cat and the Hat is great for vocabulary.
MY MICROSOFT OFFICE FILES
I think I lost some people in my move to WordPress. So I thought I would link to all 5 of the Microsoft Office files I am sharing for free. With WordPress all of these files can be downloaded directly from me except for Caseload Data Tools because it has macros. Even if my blog gets shutdown, my files will always be saved in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store. I know that many schools block access to blogs, but you should be able to download them from ge.tt anywhere.
If anyone would like me to share these files in Google Drive, comment on this post with your email address. I approve all of my comments before they become public. If you give me your email address, I will add it to my share list on Google Drive and then delete the comment.
Click on the file picture to download it and the file name to go to the post with more information.
Highlighted Evaluation Performance Graph
Caseload Data Tools (with macros): find and download CaseloadDataTools.xlsm from ge.tt when you click the picture
In addition I have created a list of Android apps in the Amazon Appstore in Excel
Check back here in April to get a free flashcard Excel file.
ANDROID BATTERY SAVER APPS
| Name | Easy Battery Saver | GreenPower | Juice Defender – Battery Saver |
| Marketplace | Google Play | Google Play; Amazon Appstore | Google Play; Amazon Appstore (not with Fire) |
| Price | Free | Free/$2.90 | Free (Paid Version not Tested) |
| MB | 1.7 | 2.4 | 1.8 |
| Operating System | 2.0 or higher | 2.1 or higher | 2.1 or higher |
| SD Card | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| My Rating | 3/5 | 4/5 | 3/5 |
Is your android phone or tablet dying in the middle of a therapy session or do you have to keep it plugged in all the time? I would recommend trying a battery saver app. With a good app and the right setting, I have nearly doubled my the battery life of my phone and tablet from a little over 1 day to 2 days. There are a lot to choose from but a lot of apps that just display battery information show up while searching. Some don’t work well; one says it is a battery saver but appears to just collects your search data. Battery Saver [2x Battery] says it’s a placebo and doesn’t boost battery life in it’s description, but has almost 5 stars with over 12,000 reviews. Many of the reviews say it improves battery life!
There are some that actually do improve battery life by helping you control your data, wifi, display etc. I used Easy Battery Saver for about a year. It worked well but the ads got very annoying. They got so bothersome I had to uninstall it. I tried a few others. A major feature, I wanted was quick access to turn on/off my data of my 2.3 Android phone. Easy Battery Saver data toggle worked well on my phone. Juice Defender’s data toggle did not work on my phone. Juice Defender worked ok on my Tablet, but I wasn’t impressed enough to try a paid version of it. My battery life was a little better than without it, but not as much as I hoped.
Last month I switched to GreenPower Premium after trying the free version. It has worked well on both my tablet and phone, but has taken some time to tweak to my desired settings. The data/wifi toggle works well. After getting the setting adjusted, both my tablet and phone now can last about 2 days. GreenPower also works on the Kindle Fire. I have noticed a significant increase in data usage with GreenPower (in comparison to Easy Battery Saver). I am guessing that this is because GreenPower is allowing my phone to check my emails with much greater frequency. If you don’t mind paying for an app, I recommend GreenPower Premium. If you want a free app try Easy Battery Saver, but you have been warned of the ads!
THIS BLOG IS UNDER DEVELOPMENT
Please excuse my blog, it is still in transition. I recently and abruptly moved from Blogger to WordPress. Blogger twice temporarily closed my blog because it thought it was spam. The second time, I decided just to close my blog on Blogger and move to WordPress. I will be participating in the development of an exciting new website called Yapp Guru, and I would like to have a blog that I don’t have to worry about being temporarily closed when I step away from it. Yapp Guru should be up in the next couple months.
For the next month I will be focusing primarily on the Android part of my blog. I will be updating my posted reviews and adding more. A users guide to buying Android Tablets is in the works. I also will be further discussing Bluestacks (running Android apps on Windows computers), and adding to my lists (Android apps in the Amazon Appstore and other SLP blogs). There may be less new posts in the next few weeks as I work to improve what I have.
I have several more Excel files in development, but would love to hear ideas of what you would like. If something can be done in Excel, I can probably figure out how to do it. Comment if you have wanted to do something in Excel but can’t figure it out.
With either the A2017 or the Kindle Fire you can access the Amazon Appstore, providing a free app every day, several of these in the last year have been great for therapy (not available in iPads). There are plenty of speech and language apps in the Amazon Appstore (see my list of over 101) and with the A2107 you can access even more in Google Play. If you are not interested in either of these tablets there are 100’s of other Android tablets available cheaper than iPads.
On top of all this, Bluestacks can be installed on Windows computers and run Android apps from the Amazon Appstore. Check back here next week for more details.
77+ SLP BLOGS
Update: Google Reader is closing down. I will be looking for a new place to share these blogs.
I have found 77+ SLP blogs and put all of them into Google Reader. Using Google Reader, you can keep updated with all of these blogs at once here. You may need to update this feed as I add more, so check back.
SLP Blogs
2 Gals Talk …about speech therapy-http://2galsspeechproducts.blogspot.com/Activity Tailor-http://www.activitytailor.com/blog/
all4mychild-http://all4mychild.com/
ASHAsphere-http://blog.asha.org/
SLC Therapy, P.C.-http://slctherapy.com/blog/
Blog | Erik X. Raj: Speech-Language Pathologist-http://www.erikxraj.com/
Carrie’s Speech Corner-http://carriesspeechcorner.blogspot.com/
Chapel Hill Snippets-http://chapelhillsnippets.blogspot.com/
Child Talk-http://www.talkingkids.org/
Cindy L. Meester’s Blog- Speech Therapy with a Twist-http://meesterc.wordpress.com/
Cochlear Implant Online-http://cochlearimplantonline.com/site/
Consonantly Speaking-http://consonantlyspeaking.com/
Cooking Up Good Speech!-http://speechsnacks.com/
Crazy Speech World-http://crazyspeechworld.blogspot.com/
Deaf Village-http://deafvillage.com/news/
Dysphagia Ramblings-http://apujo5.blogspot.com/
Early Intervention Speech Therapy-http://community.advanceweb.com/bloggroups/3/Home.aspx
Easy Speech and Language Ideas-http://easyspeakideas.blogspot.com/
Eric’s RSS Feed-http://feeds.feedburner.com/
Expressions Speech-http://www.expressionsspeech.com/apps/blog/
Frances Evesham SpeechContacts Human Communication Blog-http://speechcontacts.blogspot.com/
GeekSLP: Your source of educational apps and technology-http://www.geekslp.com/
Hanna B. gradstudentSLP-http://hbslp.wordpress.com/
HearMyHands ASL-http://hearmyhandsasl.blogspot.com/
Heather’s Speech Therapy-http://heatherspeechtherapy.com/
If Only I Had Super Powers….-http://ifonlyihadsuperpowers.blogspot.com/
In Spontaneous Speech-http://cjmonty.wordpress.com/
iSPeak App-http://ispeakapp.com/
Iteach2talk’s Blog-http://iteach2talk.wordpress.com/
Jill Kuzma’s SLP Social & Emotional Skill Sharing Site-http://jillkuzma.wordpress.com/
Language Fix-http://languagefix.wordpress.com/
Let’s Talk Speech and Language-http://www.letstalkspeechlanguage.com/
Let’s Talk Speech-Language Pathology-http://letstalkslp.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
Lexical Linguist-http://lexicallinguist.wordpress.com/
listentalkdraw.com-http://listentalkdraw.com/
Little Stories | Early Speech & Language Development-http://thelittlestories.com/
Live Speak Love, LLC-http://livespeaklove.com/
MedSLP-http://medslp.podbean.com/
Mommy Speech Therapy-http://mommyspeechtherapy.com/
Ndnspeechmom-http://ndnspeechmom.com/
OliviaSLP-http://oliviaslp.com/
Pathologically Speaking-http://pathologicallyspeaking.blogspot.com/
Pearson Speech and Language-http://www.speechandlanguage.com/
PediaStaff Pediatric SLP, OT and PT Blog-http://www.pediastaff.com/blog/
Play On Words-http://playonwords.com/
Playing With Words 365-http://www.playingwithwords365.com/
PrAACtical AAC-http://praacticalaac.org/
Say What, Y’all?-http://saywhatyall.wordpress.com/
Smart Speech Therapy LLC-http://www.smartspeechtherapy.com/
Smart Talkers:Talking about childen’s communication from Small Talk SLT-http://www.smarttalkersblog.com/
Speech Gadget-http://www.speechgadget.com/
Speech in the Schools-http://community.advanceweb.com/blogs/
Speech Lady Liz-http://speechladyliz.blogspot.com/
Speech Room News-http://speechroomnews.blogspot.com/
Speech Therapist – Talking Talk-http://talkingtalk.co.za/
Speech Therapists Don’t Get Apples!-http://rwslp.blogspot.com/
Speech Therapy Ideas & Speech Therapy Activities-http://www.speechtherapyideas.com/
Speech Time Fun-http://speechtimefun.blogspot.com/
speechie apps-http://speechieapps.com/
Speechie Freebies-http://speechiefreebies.blogspot.com/
SpeechTechie- Technology, Apps and Lessons for SLPs and Teachers who like Words-http://www.speechtechie.com/
Speechy Keen SLP-http://www.speechykeenslp.com/blog/
Sublime Speech-http://sublimespeech.blogspot.com/
Talk It Up-http://talkituptherapy.blogspot.com/
teachmetotalk.com-http://teachmetotalk.com/
Technology and Speech Therapy Corner-http://technologyandspeechtx.blogspot.com/
Testy yet trying-http://testyyettrying.blogspot.com/
The Learning Curve-http://slplearningcurve.blogspot.com/
The Spectronics Blog-http://www.spectronicsinoz.com/blog/
The Speech Guy-http://the-speechguy.com/
The Speech House-http://sherm04.blogspot.com/
The Speech Ladies-http://thespeechladies.blogspot.com/
Therapy and Learning Services, Incorporated – Blog: SpeechladyJen-http://www.therapyandlearningservices.com/
Therapy App 411: App reviews by SLPs, OTs, and other special education professionals-http://www.therapyapp411.com/
Therapy Ideas Blog by Rhiannan Walton-http://blog.therapyideas.org/
TheSpeechPathWay.com-http://www.thespeechpathway.com/
Thinking of a better blog name-http://myramblingsonstuff.wordpress.com/
TiPS: Technology in Practice for S-LPs-http://technologyinpracticeslp.wordpress.com/
Topics in Speech and Language-http://topicsinspeechandlanguage.blogspot.com/
Speechy Musings-http://speechymusings.wordpress.com/
EMAIL TO AUTISM IHELP
I downloaded the Android version of Autism iHelp – Play yesterday. The home screen is not sizing properly on most of my devices. This app was tested on a LG DoublePlay, Lenovo A1, and Kindle Fire (1st Generation). The start screen only sized properly on the Kindle Fire. Access to games and options in cut off on my tablet and only the toys and outdoor activities are accessible on my phone. I tried both the Google Play and Amazon Appstore versions. Besides this major drawback this app works well. Thanks for storing the majority of the app on the SD card. Let me know you fix the home screen and I will update my review on my blog and Amazon.
INDIVIDUAL CLIENT TRACKING SHEETS
I was cleaning out and reorganizing all the files in my computer and found two sheets I used track client data before I created my Caseload Data Tools. One file is in Microsoft Word and can be downloaded here.
The other is an Excel file and can be downloaded here.
I figured out how to put all of my files in one folder (album) on ge.tt. They are all here, but all the download counts have been reset to zero.
AUTISM IHELP – PLAY
| Name | Autism iHelp – Play |
| Developer | Autsim iHelper |
| Price | Free |
| MB | 18.4 |
| Type General | Language |
| Type Specific | Vocabulary |
| Operating System | 2.2 or higher |
| SD Card | No |
| My Rating | ««¶¶¶ (2/5) |
Autism iHelp – Play is another Android App that the start screen is not sizing properly on most of my devices. This app was tested on a LG DoublePlay, Lenovo A1, and Kindle Fire (1st Generation). The start screen only sized properly on the Kindle Fire. Access to games and options in cut off on my tablet and only the toys and outdoor activities are accessible on my phone. Besides this major drawback this app works well. It provides flashcards with good pictures and voice output (which can be turned off if the options can be accessed).
The games feature is nice. It’s too bad it only worked on the Kindle Fire. It is a multiple choice game for labeling pictures where the audio is optional.
GOTOAPP
Rating 5/5 Stars
If you are looking for an app to organize all your other apps look no further. GoToApp allows you to create unlimited folders to organize your apps within. You can create shortcuts to the folders on your home screen or place folders within other folders. Apps can be arranged alphabetically, or you can position them. When placing apps in folders, they can be filtered into new apps or apps that aren’t in a folder. You can try the free version, which is the full version for the first few weeks. All information is saved when switching to the full version. The app creator was quick to respond to questions.
EMAIL TO POCKET SLP
Below is my Email to Pocket SLP
Dear PocketSLP,
I am enjoying your speech therapy apps for android devices. I have a tablet and phone and am using both your Pocket SLP Articulation, and Little Jude Sky 1 apps. I like them both, but have a few suggestions for improvement. Many android apps let you store most of the app on the SD card. Both your apps are over 20 MB. Please give your apps this feature, because I am running out of space on my tablet.
The Pocket SLP Articulation app works great on both my tablet and phone. It is by far the best articulation app I have found. There are a few mistakes/glitches I have noticed while using the sentences feature though. There are no sentences for ‘z’. It just goes to the word level for both the word and sentence level.
Some sentences aren’t really sentences.
- One thousand kids.
- The smoking volcano.
- The number four.
- The number five.
- A smoking volcano.
- The number seven.
There are a few capital letter mistakes.
- Look at the Chalk stick. (C)
- The Orange is good. (O)
- The Gorilla is mad. (G)
- I bought some Art today. (A)
- We went to oregon state. (o)
One sentence is missing an apostrophe.
- The kitten lost its mittens. (it’s)
Two sentence missing a letter.
- The went north yesterday. (They?)
- Buy some tomatos. (tomatoes)
One sentence missing a period.
- Game starts with G(.)
The start screen in Little Jude Sky’s Very Strange Day Pt. 1 isn’t sized properly on my Lenovo A1 or my phone. “I can read” is hidden behind the “Cancel” and “Read” buttons on the tablet and completely inaccessible on my phone. When the app is run in ‘Read to me’ mode on my tablet, there is a glitch on the fourth page if ‘window’ is selected for ‘moon’, the app consistently crashes and closes.
I really like your apps. Fixing these problems and allowing SD card storage will make them even better.
Thanks,
BATTERY SAVER APP
I have been on the search for a good battery saver app this week. I got fed up with the advertisements on Easy Battery Saver. In addition to the annoying ads within the program it has started putting ads in the notifications bar. I decided it was worth the 3 dollars to purchase an app without ads. My favorite feature of Easy Battery Saver was the easy access to turning on and off data, and of course the improved battery performance. Without a battery saver my phone and tablet last about a day and with them at least 2 days.
So after much deliberation, I decided on GreenPower Premium. I tried the free version (with ads) first. I am happy so far. It has lots of good features. I ended up disabled having it control my Wi-Fi on my phone, so I can use it to quickly disable/enable my data. It can also disable or enable Wi-Fi/data for specific apps and has night options. My battery life is still around 2 days. If ads don’t bother you, I suggest Easy Battery Saver which is free.
CASELOAD DATA TOOLS AN EXCEL FILE WITH MACROS
Ok, so I have decided I will probably never be done, tinkering with my Excel file named Caseload Data Tools, but I have decided to release what I have so far to the public. I first started using Excel to record the data of my students’ sessions over a year ago and this file has seen a lot of improvements since. This file includes macros (programs written inside Excel to automate tasks). With macros, I have hopefully simplified charting of student data and making individual worksheets for each student. For more information about macros with Excel, check out my post here. There are lots of cells with red spots in the upper right corners. When you scroll over these, they display comments to help explain what to do and where to do it. Here is some (ok a lot) of the information. All the names and information in the pictures are fictitious, and were fabricated to illustrate how the file functions. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. You will need to enable macros in Excel to use most the the file’s functions.
The file starts with four sheets. The most important sheet in the file is ‘Caseload’. Data entered into this sheet is copied into other worksheets. Goals, minutes etc. can be changed at any time here, and the information will automatically be changed in the other worksheets. At the bare minimum student first names need to be entered. After students’ names are entered click “Click to here to make new client sheets”.
Data can be entered into the client sheets (in Date, Target Area, and Percent and charted by clicking “Click here to make a Chart”.
A macro creates a pivot chart. Data can be filtered by selected by selecting “Target Area” or “Date”.
If one “Target Area” is selected, the chart can be changed to line graph by right clicking on the chart, selecting “Change Chart Type”, then selecting “Line with Markers”.
Line charts usually do not work, when there is more than one target area, because days when only one target area is tracked the other area is tracked as zero. “Cluster Column” works best with multiple target areas.
After you enter dates into the ‘Attendance’ sheet, minutes from the student sheets are automatically transferred into this sheet.
Goals from the ‘Caseload’ sheet are also in the ‘Goals’ sheet for easy printing.
The workbook also has a ‘Schedule’ sheet. Without using macros only the ‘Caseload’, ‘Schedule’, ‘Goals’, and ‘Attendance’ will work. I should probably include a disclaimer, so I don’t get sued or anything. Macros contained in this Excel file are not intended to cause harm, but use at your own risk. Hopefully you will find this file as useful as I do!
EMAIL TO ABITALK
Hello Abitalk,
On Tuesday, I purchased your Irregular Verbs – English Language Art Grammar App from the Amazon App Store. After downloading it, I discovered that the app doesn’t work properly on my tablet or phone. The home screen of the app is cut off on both devices preventing access to the majority of menu. I could enter into one of the areas I had access to and start an activity, but when I selected a verb the app entered into a continuous audio loop which only stopped after I shut off the device. I was unable to get a refund immediately after the purchase from Amazon. Please fix these problems or refund my purchase.
Thanks,
EVAULATION PERFORMANCE GRAPH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE HIGHLIGHTED REGION
At the request of multiple users, I have created another copy of my Evaluation Performance Graph with the average range highlighted. I used within 1 standard of deviation of the mean as average. I know what is considered average can vary and others may want different areas highlighted so the highlighted region (shape) can be adjusted.
CAUTION PURCHASING THIS APP
I hate to pick on a specific company selling Android apps, but if an app isn’t working I want to let others know! I purchased and downloaded the ‘Irregular verbs – English Language Art Grammar App’ today from the Amazon Appstore. It doesn’t work on my Lenovo A1 or my phone (LG DoublePlay); I couldn’t figure out how to get a refund. It does work on the first generation Kindle Fire. If you don’t have a first generation Kindle, I don’t recommend downloading it or probably the ‘Irregular Plurals – English Language Art Grammar App’. They may not work on your devices. I will contact Abitalk this week and see if they can get it working. Amazon.com Widgets
USING MACROS IN EXCEL 101
If you have downloaded my Evaluation Performance Graph, you have seen what I can do without macros (little programs within Excel that automate tasks). I am almost done with my Student Data file, so soon you can see what I can do with macros. I have used macros to simplify complex and tedious tasks in my personal files for years. Macros can contain virus, so you need to be careful and make sure you trust your sources of .xlsm files. I promise my files do not have viruses. I would rather create useful programs instead of destructive ones. I have password protected the programming to prevent others from adding a virus.
With that said, if you are still interested in using my .xlsm files, you will need to enable the macros. In Excel 2010 this is usually easy; click on ‘Enable Content’ the first time you open the file and you are good to go. If this doesn’t work your Trust Center Settings need to be changed. Comment below this post if you run into this problem and need help. I will explain further.
In Excel 2007 things are more complicated.
You will need to click on this ‘Options’ button, select ‘Enable this Content’ and then click ‘ok’ every time you open the file or . . .
you can select ‘Open the Trust Center’, find and select the ‘Add new location button’
then add the location of your file. Note: It is best not to have my file in main folder such as “My Documents” for this option. It is better to have it in another folder within “My Documents” like “rwslp”. Hopefully at least some of this makes sense. If anyone needs help with an older version of Excel let me know. If your company/school is like where I work you can’t access blogs while at work so you may need to print this post off at home. I should probably put a disclaimer so I don’t get sued or anything. These Excel files are not intended to cause harm, but use at your own risk.
UPDATED EVALUATION PERFORMANCE GRAPH
Well the world did not end yesterday, so I have updated my Evaluation Performance Graph (DxGraph.xlsx) with a few minor improvements. This is my Christmas gift to all the other SLPs who work so hard to improve other people’s lives. I decreased the side margins, creating more room to type in the test names. In addition, very long test names will now auto adjust to the size of the cell, this will hopefully prevent the chart from overflowing into a second page. You are welcome to remove the footer and modify the file for your own personal use. If you unprotect the worksheet from the Review menu in the ribbon (menus at the top), you can make a lot more modifications, but be careful not to change the column widths of the cells under the Normal Distribution Curve. In my personal file, I have filled the columns on both sides of the standard score 70 with a different color to emphasis my qualification cut-off area. I didn’t include this in the file I shared, because of the variations in our qualification scores. If you are interested in instructions on how to do this let me know.
Please send others to my blog or ge.tt (http://ge.tt/9pvrztX?c) for downloading this file instead of sharing your copy, so I have an idea of how many people are using it. I am working on adding automated graphing to a data collection Excel file I have been using with my caseload for the past few years. I will be posting this in a few weeks, so check back if you are interested.
Merry Christmas!
EVALUATION PERFORMANCE GRAPH IN EXCEL
I have created an Excel file which provides a visual of standard and scale scores for evaluations. I have a lot of parents who find all the scores from tests confusing, so I made this to help them understand. All you have to do is enter the student information and then enter the test name and standard or scale score and Excel will graph the score beside it. The student’s age will be automatically calculated from the date of birth and report. You can download this file DxGraph.xlsx from ge.tt here. Comment if you have any suggestions.
40 OTHER SLP BLOGS
I recently ran across an ASHA article about SLP blogs. Using Google Reader I have created a feed for these blogs here. With Google Reader you can keep up to date with these blogs on your computer, tablet or phone. Please comment if you have any other SLP blogs I should add to the list.
ANOTHER LANGUAGE GAME AS AMAZON’S APP OF THE DAY
Amazon has another great word association/word finding game as the free app of the day. Bleep is a word guessing game which looks like it would work great during language groups with older elementary students. Two teams play against each other, taking turns guessing a target word described by other single words (e.g., puppy described by dog, pet, cat, kitten, cute). If you are an SLP or want to practice your students’, kids’, or your own language skills, download this app for free in the next few hours. It is normally only $0.99.
FREE LANGUAGE APPS FROM AMAZON
Everyone loves getting stuff for free. Here are some Apps that I use or recommend for language based activities; these apps can be used in therapy or at home and best of all they are all free. On the down side many of them have ads, but can be purchased for a dollar or two without ads. I recommend trying the free version and if you like them than purchasing the ads-free version.If you don’t have the Amazon Appstore on your android device find out how to get it here.
FACT OR OPINION APP BY SUPER DUPER UPDATED
Super Duper updated their Fact or Opinion App last week. I tested it today with some students and it is working much better. The student data is sent within the email and as an attachment. Previously it wasn’t sending the data at all. Overall I am impressed with the response to my email. Now let’s see if they get around to updating the rest of their apps. Hopefully they will make all of them send the student data within the email.
The Fact or Opinion App is a great app for older elementary, middle school and high school students. It works great with an individual and groups.
TABLET BUG GAME AND FROG
Watch this for a good laugh. I guess here is another use of a tablet. You can set up a bug game on your tablet and see if a nearby frog wants to eat, but the frog doesn’t look too happy.
FREE APP OF THE DAY ON AMAZON APPSTORE FOR SLPS TODAY!
A word association game is the free app of the day in the Amazon Appstore today. Check it out and download it here. It is only free for four more hours. Sorry for the short notice I just got back from a family trip.
DO AND DOES FUN DECK
Update: this app has been fixed. It now gives you the option of emailing in text and/or an attachment.
Rating: 5/5
This is another good language app that is working well on my Android devices. Like the Super Duper Inc. other apps, if SD card is on the device it will store most of itself on the SD card so it only takes up 2 MB. My only problem with it is that it sends the data in an attachment instead of within the email.
SUPER DUPER NAME THAT CATEGORY FUN DECK
Rating: 5/5
This app provides you with all of the Super Duper “Name that Category” flashcards. It works well with single student or a group, providing automatic switching between students. All of the Super Duper flashcard apps provide a high quality audio of the flashcard option if it is touched, this one has a correct and incorrect button which keeps score. The data can be sent within an email. The data for the email is created in an html file which is saved on the device/SD card. I would recommend this app for lower elementary students working on basic categorical skills.
HEARBUILDER FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS SOFTWARE
Rating: 5/5
As a SLP, I use the professional version of this software with my students. It provides an engaging way for children to learn basic concepts (e.g., if, or, first, all, and after) as well as improve their abilities of following directions. I would recommend this software to be used with elementary age child who is having difficulties in these areas. Parts of this software would be appropriate for preschool children. It is currently cheaper to purchase here than it is to purchase it directly off of Super Duper Inc. website.
OPPOSITES FUN DECK
Opposites Fun Deck provides you with access to all of Super Duper Opposite flashcards on you Android device. Like many of the recent Super Duper apps, this one provides the student with a choice of 2 words (e.g., “full” or “empty”) to complete a sentence.
All of the Super Duper flashcard apps provide a high quality audio of the flashcard option if it is touched. Their apps work great for single student or multiple students at the same time. The data can be sent in an email when completed. The data for the email is created in an html file which is saved on the device/SD card. This app is currently sending the data as an html attachment and not within the email.
For some reason this app is not storing itself on the SD card of my devices. It takes up over 14 MB of space on your device. All of the other Super Duper flashcard apps I have tested store most of app on the SD card by default, so if you have an device with and SD card, you have more room for other apps and stuff. Kindle Fires do not have SD cards so it doesn’t matter for them.
I am giving this app 3 stars until it is updated to send the data within the email and store itself on the SD card; otherwise it works well. I would recommend using this app for preschool and lower elementary students.
ANOTHER EMAIL FROM SUPER DUPER INC.
I got another email from Super Duper Inc. today. They said the email problem with Fact or Opinions should be fixed with the updates that are on there way.
REPLY FROM SUPER DUPER INC.
I got a reply back from Super Duper Inc. yesterday. They said they would work on the problems, so I guess now we wait for app updates.
EMAIL TO SUPER DUPER INC.
Below is an email I sent to Super Duper today.
Hello,
I am a SLP who is enjoying many of your great Apps on my Android Devices. I currently own 14 of you them, most of which I have purchased through the Amazon market. I am currently in the process of reviewing all of these apps on Amazon and my website. I have noticed some issues with a few of the apps and thought I would let you know.
I have been unable to get the Fact or Opinion? app to send student data through email. Every time I click email results, it says “Error email file not created”. I have tried this on my Lenovo A1, LG Doubleplay, and Kindle Fire and gotten the same result on all of them.
Opposites Fun Deck and Data Tracker do not store themselves on or allow me to move them to my SD card. It would be nice if these apps stored themselves on the SD card like your other apps especially Opposites Fun Deck which takes up over 14.5 MB of space.
I enjoyed the change in some of your initial apps that placed the student data within email instead of an attachment. Having the data within the email makes it a lot easier to find and view as well as takes up less space. I was surprised that this change didn’t continue with the new apps. Of my 14 apps Understanding Inferences, Name That Category!, Let’s Name Things, Wh Questions at School, Wh Questions at Home, All About You, All About Me, and Fun Deck Following Directions send the data within the email; Data Tracker, Regular Past Tense Verbs, Opposites, Irregular Verbs, Plurals, and Homophones send it as an attachment. Fact or Opinion? isn’t working.
Storing a copy of the html file used to create the email on the device may be helpful for some people, but I just find it annoying to have to go and delete sometimes fifty+ files on the device. You may want to let your customers know that a file is being saved on the device so they don’t run into problems. Not too many people look at the folders on their tablets or phones. If possible in future versions of the apps you might want to at least provide the option of deleting the html file after the email has been sent.
Overall your apps are great tools in therapy. I use them every day and look forward to new additions and improvements.
Thanks,
PLURALS FUN DECK
Update: Super Duper allows the users to to email in text and attachment in an update with this app.
Rating: 4/5
Another good Super Duper App for SLPs. This one provides the student with a choice of 2 words (i.e., plural & singular) to complete a sentence. The program can read the sentence and choices. Singular and Plural forms are both targeted. Irregular and regular plurals are included.
One thing I don’t like about the app is that there is no quick way to just select irregular or regular. Another is that when you email the data it is in an attachment instead of within the email. Like the other Super Duper apps the data for the email is created in an html file which is saved on the device. If these aren’t deleted occasionally they can build up. I had over 50 when I first found them.
SUPER DUPER WH QUESTIONS AT SCHOOL
HOW TO GET FREE BOOKS ON A KINDLE OR COMPUTER WITHOUT USING A CREDIT CARD
This post is probably useful for anyone who wants to read, but I did actually have to figure this out for a student I provide services for as an SLP. The student had won a Kindle as a prize for having perfect attendance at his school out on the Navajo Reservation. Of course he didn’t have WIFI or even electricity at his house, so there was no way for him to get anything on his Kindle. I couldn’t bear to see the technology being wasted so I figured out a way to get some free books on his Kindle. Making a short story long, here is what you need and need to do.
Things needed:
· Amazon account or email account to create one (described below)
· computer with internet access
· WIFI to transfer books to Kindle (Not needed for computer)
Summary: You can use an email address to create account on a computer, by leaving the credit card information blank when creating the account (this doesn’t work on a Kindle).
If you want to read free or purchased books on your computer, you can download software from amazon and then send e-books from the Kindle Store to the computer and read them.
If you want to read them from your Kindle, smartphone or tablet, you can send them to your device using your computer and then connect to WIFI using the Kindle or Kindle app on the device.
Details
If you don’t have an Amazon account, go to www.amazon.com and create an account by scrolling over “Sign In” on the upper right and clicking on the “New Customer click here”. Complete all the steps required to create an amazon account (using your email address), leaving the space requesting credit card information blank.
Now with the Amazon account you can send free books to your computer or Kindle.
· If you are sending books to your Kindle click “Manage your Kindle” from the “Your Account” area in the same location as the previous “Sign In”. Follow the directions from Amazon. Please note: you have to use your computer to create the Amazon account and send books to your Kindle from your computer; you are required to enter credit card information if you try to do this on your Kindle.
· If you are sending books to your computer or any other device go to http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=sv_kstore_1?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771 and download the desired software.
Now you can go to the Kindle eBook store on your computer and start looking for free books. An easy way to find free books is to click on “Top 100 free” towards the bottom right of the web page or the desired category. You can also go to “Free Collections” section in the lower left of the Kindle eBooks page. Select your desired book and click “Buy now with one click” and then send it to where you want it to go.
POWERISO
PowerISO is another awesome free program, I have been using for years. If you have a lot of computer games on CDs, you will probably find this software very helpful. This software allows you to copy CDs and some DVDs and store them as a file on your computer. You can then play the game on the computer without having the disc, using a virtual cd/dvd drive from PowerISO. You can even have multiple virtual drives to allow you quick access to the discs you use the most. I enjoy the quick access to all of my therapy games (e.g., Earobics & Hearbuilder), without having carry the discs around or worry about them being scratched. Download it here. Make sure to uncheck all of the extra stuff cnet and PowerISO tries to make you install.
BULLZIP PDF PRINTER
Check out my video on Bullzip PDF Printer. My students and I use Bullzip everyday to save their data, instead of printing on paper. It allows you to merge multiple print jobs into one pdf file. Save a tree by using Bullzip PDF Printer! 🙂
BLUESTACKS
I downloaded BlueStacks this weekend. It is a free program that lets you install and use android apps on your Windows computers. As far as I can figure out, it doesn’t connect to the Google Play (the new Android Market), but it does connect to Amazon Appstore for Android, Get Jar, and 1Mobile Market. I have tested some of the Super Duper Apps on it and they worked well. So I recommend installing your apps from the Amazon Appstore. If you do, you can install the apps on your computer also.
BACKING UP AND TRANSFERRING HEARBUILDER DATA
This week I figured out how to transfer Hearbuilder data from one computer to another. So if you are switching computers and want to keep your data from Hearbuilder software (e.g., Following Directions, Phonological Awareness, or Sequencing), here is how you do it.
First if you are planning to transfer the data to a new computer, open the Hearbuilder program on the new computer and add student name. This will create a location to transfer the data to.
Now the tricky part, you have to locate where Hearbuilder stores the data on your computer. Hearbuilder uses Flash Player and stores data as cookies in the flash player folder stored on your C drive within your username. Hearbuilder warns that these files can be erased from cleaning out your cookies (which I’ve done twice). The simplest way to locate where they are stored will probably be to search for one of the file names.
In Windows 7:
Open the start menu, click on Computer, and click on (C:). Click in the search box located in the upper right of the window. Type in one of the following (depending on what you are looking for):
FollowingDirections.exe (for the Following Directions game)
HB_Sequencing.exe (for the Sequencing game) or
HearBuilderPA.exe (for the Phonological Awareness game)
Then click search. When the searching is done a folder within the C drive should be found. Right click on that folder and click open folder location.
Copy the folder or folders named above to a flash drive or sd card.
Use the same process described above to locate the Hearbuilder software file you created on your new computer.
Replace the folder/folders on the new computer with the folder/folders saved on you flash drive or sd card.
Let me know if you have any problems with any of these steps or if anyone is interested in instructions on how to do this in Windows XP. I have successfully transferred Hearbuilder data for all three of the programs above, so yes it can be done, even though the Hearbuilder website says it can’t.
Educators Don't Get Apples! 
