How to Set Up Working Student Folders for Speech Therapy

Piles of papers stacked on all desks and tables. Therapy materials scattered across the room. A to-do list that’s a mile long.

This unfortunately isn’t an uncommon situation in the life of a school-based SLP.

Sometimes some of that clutter is inevitable, but I absolutely hate it when I can’t find the materials that I need for a session.

I needed a streamlined and efficient way to organize my students’ data and activities.

I tried a number of systems (file folders, binders, portfolios) in attempt to keep track of it all.

The New Student Folder

Here’s a quick peek at how I organize my student folders:

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I was browsing on Amazon for cheap solutions, and I came across these adhesive prongs.

I stick them in regular folders. They make it so easy to quickly add new pages (and flip through old ones).

I keep a two-hole punch by the therapy table. This makes it so that my students and I can quickly add new pages to the folder.

What Can You Keep in the Folder?

• Visuals: I love having easy access to visuals so students know what they’re working on, and it’s easy for me to quickly scaffold a new skill. (I store most of my visuals in my therapy tote, but I use student folders to store visuals that I customized just for the student or visuals that the student created.)
• Vocabulary Journals: Vocabulary journals are my favorite! There is so much research on the benefits of vocabulary journals, and the sheets can be easily stored in the folder.
• Goal Cards: Increasing student goal awareness is related to better outcomes. I want to give my students ownership of their data.
• Therapy Activities: I also add in any paper activities completed during our sessions. It’s nice to have a mini-portfolio to share with parents/teachers at conferences.
• Curriculum-Based Therapy: I set up a folder for every student, but I also use it to keep track of activities that teachers share with me.

Here are links to the different tools that I use to create (and store) the folders:

So there you have it! Do you set up student folders? How do you organize them?

Hi there! I'm Marisha. I am a school-based SLP who is all about working smarter, not harder. I created the SLP Now Membership and love sharing tips and tricks to help you save time so you can focus on what matters most--your students AND yourself.

5 responses to “How to Set Up Working Student Folders for Speech Therapy”

Jeanne Lester

December 27, 2017

I love this idea. I use the same folders that you use and it is definitely a pain. I’ll be using your idea when we come back from winter break.

Reply
Amy M

July 11, 2018

Hello! I know this isn’t a super recent post but I’m wondering if you print out colored visuals for every student for their working folders? Does this seems a bit expensive/ time consuming for you? Do you think it would make sense for me to instead have a binder of visuals in my therapy cart (love your therapy cart post, btw) to use instead of giving 40+ copies to students individually?

Reply
1. Marisha
  
  July 15, 2018
  
  Yes! I store the majority of my visuals in my therapy tote and use the student’s folder for “customized” visuals. I updated the post to be a little clearer. 🙂
  
  Reply
Natalie

January 15, 2019

This is sooooooo helpful. I have a BUNCH of these folders and I stoped using them because they are a pain and TIME consuming. Where is the link for the student articulation folders set up? Thanks a ton!

Reply
1. Marisha
  
  March 13, 2019
  
  Here you are, Natalie!
  https://slpnow.com/articulation-stickers/
  
  Reply