Summer – a time to take chances!

Yikes! Using my Feeling Tracker to assess how I am feeling…

For me, this summer is a time to try new things – to take chances. I am going to Cello Camp this month – trekking all the way to Maine (cello in the airplane seat next to me the whole way! ✈️) for a week on focus on improving my playing. Tackling the Bach Suites with concentration and LOTS of practice! Practicing not just Bach, but being brave as I play in front of people I don’t know. Okay, after a day, I will know them, but, the point is, I will still be nervous. Since I have a full-time job, it’s hard to carve out time for a musical hobby, and I am very excited about this adventure. I will let you know how it goes!

I have decided to also be brave in my private practice this summer! As many of you know, I have quite a few books and products related to social cognition and am always thinking of new ideas to try. Over the years, I have had quite a few interesting discussions with other clinicians about how we make such products. 🤔 What is the process? How does an SLP move an idea from concept to product? What happens along the way with the expected glitches and hoped-for accomplishments?

Lots of us are innovators and entrepreneurs. And lots of us have questions along the way. So, with the encouragement of a number of colleagues, I have decided to do a “Fly on the Wall” 🪰 project – to commit to 6 weeks of showing you my process.

The project I have decided to showcase is…continuums for social learning. I have been experimenting with them the past few years, and they have been so massively helpful to my students that I want to share them with you! A visual support, so what’s not to love? But, also a tool that helps our students see where they are in the moment, as well as some places to which they might consider moving.

What will my process look like? Well, I am not quite sure, but I will be following the guide that WAIM (one of my business “helpers”) provides me – they emphasize the importance of sharing not just the nuts-and-bolts of product creation, but the feelings side as well – the joys and frustrations that are bound to accompany my efforts.

I will be posting on IG (so find and follow me!) and putting out some videos as well as blogs. I will use the subject line: Watch Me Build It, so if you aren’t interested, just skip over that email and catch up with me when my experiment is over. I will send out some regular posts also, unless I end up overwhelmed!!! Love to hear what you think about my idea, or any specific questions you might have now or at any time in the process. 📧

I hope all of you are having a part-restful, part-energizing summer that fulfills you!! ☀️🕶️🍉