Students Should Use Teachers Pay Teachers

There has been a large boom in the sharing of materials amongst professionals. Speech pathology (and audiology) is no exception. We've seen more Facebook groups, blogs, link-ups and Twitter handles related to speech, language and hearing and the professionals behind them. In fact, even within these media outlets, like Twitter, new hashtags and weekly discussion groups have been formed (see: Why You Should Join in on #WeSpeechies Chats). Although these tend to be more informational in nature, our profession has found another way to become more intertwined-- Teachers Pay Teachers!

Clinicians have been adding therapy materials to this cite for a few years now. Although we aren't necessarily clinicians yet, that doesn't mean we can't peruse the website or even find some items for ourselves! (Especially since the prices are reasonable and the profits go to the SLPs who take the time to make them.) So here are some reasons why you may want to start looking at this site:

Undergrads:

-Join to see what sort of materials are made and what areas might be lacking.
-There are materials from other professions, especially those educationally related, so you might be able to find some pamphlets on study skills or professional writing to benefit from.
-Study materials-- Although most products are geared towards therapy, there are some informational packets on different communication disorders or for remembering the cranial nerves, which can come in handy when study for classes like speech anatomy.

Graduates:

-You can find an abundance of therapy materials that are creative. This might help for when you have a tough client that you've tried everything with (or that just really likes a certain item, like cars or superheroes).
-Materials for client's families are on there.
-Resources, organization tips and materials and even data sheets are being sold by fellow SLP clinicians!
-You can sell items that you make. Which, as we all know, will probably help you when your wallet is slowly getting thinner over the course of graduate school.

*One item to remember: Therapy isn't about the materials; don't make goals based upon the items you have. Therapy first starts with a goal that you then find/create an activity for.

Can you think of any other reasons for students to use Teachers Pay Teachers? What do you find most helpful about this site?