The End of Another Year and a GIVEAWAY!

Wow! I can't believe we are ending yet another year. I am finishing my second year of grad school, I have been a licensed SLPA for more than four years, and it seems like nothing has changed.

This year got so busy, I didn't realize how long it had been since I posted anything for you. I apologize, next year WILL be better. I am going to give you some quick life updates and then I am going to share a SURPRISE!!!

This year:
- I started clinics for grad school. Since my program is online I don't have an on campus clinic, instead I spend a few mornings a week with an AMAZING SLP in my local school district. I am learning so much from my cases and doing lots of amazing activities. (I NEED TO WRITE A POST!)

- I started dating a new guy about 2 1/2 months ago. We are great together and the puzzle pieces seem to fit together perfectly! Once we take some nice pictures I will make sure to share some with you!

- I have been working with a placement coordinator at Nova Southeastern University to get my externship placements set. Graduation is within reach at this point and I am so excited!

-My Thirty-One Gifts business started to take off!! Let me know if you are looking for holiday gifts, wedding party gifts, baby gifts, teacher tools, or just something cute for yourself or your family! Take a look at www.mythirtyone.com/breanaorland

Now for your SURPRISE!!
Complete the entries below for a chance to win a $10 TPT gift card just in time for the cyber Monday sale! The gift card will be emailed to the winner on Monday night with plenty of time to spend it!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy Holidays!!
Breana

Multiple Conference Frenzy

This past weekend was crazy for me. I attended both the California Speech and Hearing Association Conference and the Celiac Disease Foundation Gluten Free Expo. I am still trying to recover from my exhausting weekend three days later.

Going to CSHA this year felt different than past years. Looking at the class availability, I felt like I actually understood the purpose of some of the classes. My selection criteria was different as I find myself about to start my clinical placements. I attended a really great session on using Legos for social skills. I see myself being able to use the information from that session in the future. I also focused my time in the exhibit hall to connect with exhibitors that could be possible future employeers or had products that could be beneficial to my current caseload or any future clients. I may have found myself some possible clinical placements, which is AMAZING!!! I am also really excited for some great product and app reviews that will be published soon.

The gluten free expo on the other hand was just as amazing as in past years. Tons of new companies were pedaling new products and providing samples of everything. I left the first day so full of samples, I didn't know what to do with myself. Everything from bakeries from all over California to the newest cereal to hit the market, GF LUCKY CHARMS!!! I know right! I am so excited for the sample box I got to take home. In the next few weeks keep an eye out for some great new gluten free product reviews and recipes. I am even going to take a field trip to one company's factory and get you a behind the scenes look.

Interested in learning about a new app or product speech or gluten free related, let me know and I will do my best to connect with the company. I don't know if I can get my hands on a product until I try!!

Breana

Grad School Update!!

Hey everyone,

I know you won't be surprised when I say that the reason I haven't posted anything in a few months has to do with the craziness of grad school. I have now started my second year and can't wait to see what this year has in store. By the end of this year I will have started my internships (clinical hours)!!! I am really excited to see where I get placed!!!

Another new thing in my life is my NEW business. I recently started selling Thirty-One Gifts as a way to help pay my tuition. The theme for January is Let's Get Organized! Below are a variety of different bundles of products at discounted prices. They can help with organizing you classroom, speech room, home office, and even your kids room/playroom!

I am currently hosting an amazing giveaway for you!! If you purchase one of the bundles below (in any color combination) before 1/19/16 at MIDNIGHT PST!! I will add an EXTRA special gift to your order.

How to order:
-Go to my business website! (www.mythirtyone.com/breanaorland)
-Click on "scheduled parties" at the top of the page
- Place your order under the "end of season" party.

To earn a second FREE gift, join my VIP facebook group by searching for "Breana's Boutique" and request to join. You must contact me about scheduling a party before the above deadline to get the second gift.

Breana

ASHA 2015 and Freebie!

This past weekend I attended my FIRST ASHA convention in Denver, Colorado. I was very overwhelmed by the amount of exhibitors in the exhibit hall and by the amount of sessions and poster sessions that I had to pick from.

The first thing I have to do is yell a BIG thank you to Linda and Ray from Creative Speech Products!!! Not only did they bring me in as an exhibitor, I got to spend the weekend learning more about Teddy than I could ever have imagined.
Asking yourself what Teddy is? Teddy Talker is an amazing felt board manipulative system with many different components. The felt board kit comes with a variety of letters, mouth positions, a tongue and the Teddy felt board so students can manipulate the lips for different sounds. You can also get sound cards with the different phonemes and poems to help with placement, a toolkit with 5-6 different lessons for each phoneme and worksheets to send home, the B.E.A.R.R. track card game, and the Build and Say kit (review will be published soon). Teddy is great for kids as young as 3 years old who have speech sound disorders, apraxia, or even Down syndrome.

 This is Baby Bear, Teddy cousin. He and I were both saying "Oh, no!" when it was time to clean up.

I think my favorite part of ASHA was getting to meet all of the bloggers I have been following for so many years. Each blogger gave out some fun swag. Not only did the bloggers host a meet up during the conference (with prizes), but other bloggers (not associated with the blogger booth) were also on hand. It's weird to introduce yourself by your blog name and not your actual name.

ASHA also gave me a chance to make some great connections for the blog. Keep checking back for some amazing product and app reviews. I made some connections with Hamaguchi Apps, Colorcards, Northern Speech Products, Fiddle Focus, Virtual Speech Center, and Invention Labs (the creators of Avaz). There are also some product reviews coming that you are no going to want to miss!

I saw Shawn who is the author behind The Speech Wizard. We actually met at CSHA earlier this year. She is a pediatric feeding therapist when she is not working. I am really excited to learn from her.

I met the one and only Michelle Garcia Winner! I wish I had brought my Superflex book so i could have gotten her autograph.

I met Meredith from Peachie Speechie and even bought a few new t-shirts for myself.

 Super Duper had a HUGE booth as expected and even brought friends to watch their products!! Catch that amazing carpet! I wish i could have taken some of it home!

This was just one part of the convention center once the exhibit hall closed. Thank you everyone for making ASHA such an experience.

Oh!!! I almost forgot. I handed out a FREE product at ASHA. Here is the link! Go in and get the product before December 20 or its gone.

Already counting down the days to ASHA 2016!!!

Breana

a SALE and a PARTY!!!

Hey everyone,
I really apologize for being MIA the last few months, but a lot has been going on. Let me fill you in:
- I got fixed up with an amazing guy

 

- I had a rough end of the school year with my old job and decided it was time I moved on. I recently started working in a private clinic handling mostly Early Intervention cases. I am working part time this summer as I adjust to my new surroundings and clients.

-In a few weeks I will be volunteering at the 2015 Special Olympics. I am very excited to be helping with Healthy Athletes Hearing Screenings. I feel like a grad student!!

-And I got a new car!!

Now for the Sale!!

I am participating in the SLP sizzling summer sale!! Shop my TPT store for 20% off July 13-15. Be sure to leave feedback on all of your tpt products so you can use credits to buy more stuff.

and here's info for the PARTY!!
I am currently hosting a virtual thirty-one party. Thity-one is a company that has a variety of bags, organizing materials, and super cute lunch boxes for kids and adults. Pick the style bag you want and then from a variety of different patterns and colors, even personalize your selection. Click here and order by Tuesday night (7/14/15) for your purchase to count towards my party.

Breana

P.S. I finished my first term of grad school with a 3.75 GPA. NSU has been a great experience. Let me know if you have any questions or are looking to apply to grad school!!

What's to Come...

For all of the you that are not following on Facebook or Instagram you may not know that I was accepted to graduate school this year after THREE long years of trying. I am very excited to be starting the last leg of my journey towards the perfect career.

Why did I apply for three years you may ask...
Well, with my BA in Human Development and Linguistics as well as my Post-Bacc certificate in Communication Sciences and Disorders, I found my perfect career and knew that I was going to do whatever it took to get there. I have also worked for the last two years as a Speech Language Pathology Assistant in charter schools around Los Angeles County which only help to solidify my choice.

Where will I be getting my Master's?
I will be attending a hybrid program through Nova Southeastern University, although my program is based in the LA area.

What is a hybrid?
A hybrid is a part-time online and classroom based program. Our classes (taken two at a time) take place over the course of one weekend each per semester (Friday after work, Saturday, and Sunday) and are then finished online with intermittent online course meetings. For the weekend courses, professors are brought to LA to teach and meet with students.

Why did I select this program?
I chose to apply and attend this program because it is the best of both worlds. I get to work on my degree while still being able to work full time. I also get to have a cohort of people I get to know and become friends with, as well as meet my professors. If I had chosen to attend an online only program, I would still have flexibility of completing my work but would not have a cohort or be able to meet my professors.

If you are having the same problem I did with getting into a program consider looking into one of the hybrid programs. There are a few different hybrids offered by Nova and an online only program if necessary. Please contact me if you have any questions or are looking to get more information.

I cannot wait to continue my new blog series about my program and all of the information I am going to learn.

Breana