Do you struggle to keep up with the demand of a bus school week and all of the documentation that comes with it?
One of my biggest struggles as an SLP has always been staying on top of the paperwork. I’ve definitely dreamed of a world where I could just focus on therapy – no meetings, no testing, no writing reports or progress notes, no writing IEPs. Just treatment all day long – a girl can dream, right?
But since that dream isn’t exactly realistic, I’ve found better ways of bridging the gap between those “ideal systems” and real life.
Why Setting up a Better Workflow Matters
- Decrease stress
- Increases efficiency
- Keeps documentation organized and consistent
- Helps ensure compliant without last minute scrambling
- Frees up more time to focus on your students
Daily Documentation I do as an SLP
- Personal attendance – I take attendance right at the beginning of each session so it’s done and I don’t have to go back later.
- Brolly/Medicaid attendance – I enter this into the system when my students put stars on their sticker charts. It’s an easy habit stack that helps me stay consistent.
- Quick session notes – I jot these down throughout the session while students are in front of me, instead of saving everything for later.
- Data collection – I focus on 1–2 students per session so I can be intentional and not overwhelm myself trying to track everyone at once.
- Writing IEPs – I use the Speech Therapy Plans goal bank for new goals/objectives and an accommodation bank I created, so I can mostly copy and paste instead of starting from scratch.
- Meeting notes – I use the same template for every meeting, which keeps everything organized and in one place.
- Writing reports – I use Speech Therapy Plans evaluation template and just type in the background information, scores, and notes on each student. I have my own recommendation bank that I copy/paste from for each evaluation to save on time.
- Parent and teacher communication (emails, updates, follow-ups) – I handle these at the beginning and end of the day before I see students so it doesn’t interrupt my sessions.
Use Free Time Wisely
Another key to documentation is protecting any small pockets of time you have (if you have them at all!). If a student is absent and I don’t have a make-up session, that becomes prime documentation time to catch up on notes, billing, or anything I’ve fallen behind on.
Sometimes I even use those quick 5–10 minute gaps just to reset and get myself organized again. Honestly, staying organized is half the battle when it comes to keeping up with documentation.
None of this is fancy, but having simple, repeatable systems like these is what helps me stay on top of everything without constantly feeling behind.
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