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| Carly Kloack |
What's your
typical work day look like?
In my current job at a K-8 School, I get to work at 7:15, and
catch up on my emails before students come at 7:45. Once students come, I begin
seeing groups or individual students who benefit from specialized
Speech/Language therapy services, as stated in their IEP (individualized
education plan). My day is spent with students playing games or working on
assignments, all targeting their individual speech/language goals. I also talk
a lot with teachers to see how my students are doing in their general education
classrooms, as Colorado is an inclusion state. If I have breaks between speech
groups, I screen (quickly listen to) students’ speech and language skills of
whom parents and/or teachers have concerns. These students are typically not on
IEP’s yet. I also have parent meetings throughout the day sometimes, depending
on the day. These can consist of referral meetings (referring for special
education services to better support their child), IEP meetings, evaluation
meetings, and more.
What’s the best thing about your job?
The best thing about my job is getting to be with kids all day
long! They are so joyful and it’s the best!!!
What’s the worst thing about your job?
There’s not really a worst part of my job. There’s a lot of
people, including school staff and parents, who don’t fully know what SLP’s do,
so that requires a lot of education, but I enjoy that! We are all always
learning and teaching throughout life. However, if you don’t enjoy explaining
your job to people, this might be the worst part for you.
Career duration in years:
I just graduated grad school last December of 2018, so I am
currently in my first year of my career. Your first year out of grad school as
an SLP, you are what we call a “Clinical Fellow” (CF). It’s similar to being a
“Resident” instead of an “Attending Physician” when you graduate Medical
School. This first year being a CF, you are supervised an average of 30 minutes
a week for 36 weeks, and then you can obtain your Certificate of Clinical
Competence (CCC) if your supervisor finds you meeting all requirements.
What’s the stress level of your job?
The stress level depends on the day and events, since everyday
is different from each other. I see different groups, have different parent
meetings, different conversations, etc. Stress can be low some days when
everything happens as expected; it can sometimes rise to a medium level when we
talk with parents about special education and what that means; or it could get
to a high level when a student has an escalation and tries to escape the
building. The world of Sped (Special Education), as we say, is sometimes chaos.
Always expect the unexpected.
Number of hours sitting at the job:
I typically sit during most groups during the day, as well as
when I reply to emails, and eat lunch. Probably about a total of 4-5 hours
sitting.
Number of hours moving at the job:
I am constantly moving. Bringing students back to class, picking
up different students. Our school has 9 grades and over 900 students, and I
work with students in all of the grade levels, so I walk about 2-3 miles
everyday.
Number of hours standing at the job:
Sometimes I stand for speech groups, if we’re doing therapy
outside or doing some fun movement activity. I’m also typically standing when I
talk with teachers in their classrooms. Probably about 1-2 hours a day I’ll be
standing.
Total number of daily working hours:
7:15-3:15 Monday through Friday. Students are at school from
7:45-2:30.
Number of working hours during the weekend:
No weekend hours! School hours.
Best personality type for the job:
You definitely have to be comfortable talking to people to be a speech-language pathologist (SLP). A lot of SLP’s are also very kind, since the population we work with can
be very difficult. It definitely is a benefit to have a lot of patience in our
field.
Shift:
Day shift (school hours)
Need a license for the job?
Colorado Department of Education (CDE) Special Service Provider
License and a Department of Regulatory Agencies License (DORA). We are a
healthcare profession, so when we work in an education setting, we must have a
healthcare license as well as an education one.
Minimum education required?
Master’s Degree.
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