The end of the school year is coming to a close, and while it’s tempting to sprint out the door as soon as the final bell rings, taking some time to pack up your speech room will make your life so much easier when it’s time to start back this fall. Check out how to pack up your speech room in 4 easy steps to finish the year strong and set yourself up for a smooth start next year!
Why Spend Time Organizing?
Simply put, your future self will thank you! There’s nothing worse than returning to your classroom in July or August to find a chaotic room full of missing materials and mystery bins. By taking the time now to pack up efficiently, you’ll be gifting yourself:
- Lower stress
- More time during the first week back to school
- A more relaxing summer break
4 Steps for Packing Up Your Speech Room Before Summer
There are 4 important (& simple!) steps you can take to pack up your speech room before beginning your summer fun:
Step 1: Check with Your School Administrators
Before you get started, talk with your school administrators about specific instructions they might have.
Find out if your school will be doing a deep cleaning over the summer or if you might be moving rooms. You may need to move your resources into the hallway or label everything clearly with your room number and name to be transported easily to another location.
You don’t want to come back after summer break to find your perfectly stacked piles have been moved into a mystery closet by a custodial team because they weren’t sure what it was or who it belonged to!
Step 2: Organize Your Physical Materials
Next, instead of tossing all your physical materials into a few empty bins, organize them with intention. There are several different ways you can do this, so think about what makes the most sense for your therapy approach and the students you serve.
You can do so by grouping items by time of the year or theme. For materials that can be used year-round, organize them by disorder:
Year-Long Articulation Resources
- Articulation Coloring Sheet Bundle
- Rock Paper Scissors Articulation Game Bundle
- Articulation Worksheets Fill-in-the-Blank Activity Pages for Carryover Bundle
Year-Long Phonological Resources
Year-Long Language Resources
PRO TIP: Be very specific when you label your boxes! What you think you’ll remember when you arrive back at school in the fall, likely won’t be the case. Instead of writing generic titles like “games”, try something like “Articulation Games for /r/ & /s/ blends” or “Fall Themed Language Activities”.
Step 3: Create a Spreadsheet of Your Games, Books, & Toys
Next, create a spreadsheet to keep an inventory of your games and toys. Don’t overthink this step, though— just keep it simple!
This will help you remember everything you have and be able to work to locate specific items in case they are misplaced during summer cleaning or switching rooms.
In your spreadsheet, add descriptive columns for “theme”, “disorder(s)”, and “targeted goal(s)”. When you need a resource for a particular student or group lesson, you will be able to find it quickly instead of digging through bins and thinking, “Do I actually have that book, or did I dream that?”
Step 4: Organize Your Digital Materials
Finally, don’t forget about your digital materials— they need attention too!
Create digital folders in Google Drive or Dropbox in a similar way to how you organized your physical materials.
Make folders for:
- Evergreen resources you can use all year
- Create sub-folders for different disorders like articulation, social skills, fluency, etc.
- Themes or holidays, so you aren’t accidentally buying duplicate activities
- Specific therapy goals like R-blends, answering questions, and final consonant deletion
Remember to rename any files that don’t have clear names so that you can search for them easily when it’s time to plan next year!
Next Step: Plan for Summer Break
Once your room is organized and all packed up, take a moment to reflect on the year. Remember a couple of your favorite, positive moments you experienced, then think about what’s next—
Do you want to brush up on new therapy techniques this summer? Maybe just take a complete break for a few weeks?
If you’re looking for more ideas, check out this guide to summer options for school SLPs.
Packing up your speech room may not be the most exciting end-of-year task, but it’s definitely one of the most beneficial! With a little effort now, you’ll walk back into a well-organized, low-stress space next fall— ready to be fully present as the amazing SLP you already are. Roll up your sleeves, turn on your favorite playlist, and get packing. Future you will be SO grateful!
You may also be interested in reading:
4 Steps to Stay in Love with Your SLP Job
Creating Systems: 3 Ways to Make Life Easier as an SLP
