Editor's Note: This four-part series offers tips for increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery in the public school setting.

When I first got into the field of speech-language pathology, I knew I wanted to serve the pediatric population. I was a teacher before getting my master's degree in communication disorders and felt that the public school was my "calling." However, I quickly realized that group therapy in a school setting was very different from the individual therapy sessions I had done as a graduate student. The therapy techniques were the same, but the way they were presented had to change. My first step was to get organized.

Organization is one of the best methods for ensuring a successful therapy session. It puts you in a place of authority and makes you confident about expecting good responses from students. Organization also helps eliminate stress in the therapy environment.

The "3 Rs" of good organization are room, routine and resources. We want to create a calm and organized atmosphere, which may be difficult for therapists who work in a former storage room or reconditioned janitorial closet. However, there are steps you can take to create a pleasant environment:

• Arrange the room to create an area of "flow" so children can enter and exit with minimal difficulty. Remove unnecessary furniture, and box up old supplies that you don't use regularly. Keep current materials in view and within easy reach.
• Keep the walls plain to eliminate distractions. I decorate my room with a basic theme and then leave it that way for the entire year. It may be boring for us, but it keeps the students focused.
• Create a space for tissues, the pencil sharpener, the trash can and other things that the children need to get to. Valuable therapy time is wasted if you are sharpening a pencil or getting a Kleenex. Let the children take care of themselves as much as possible.
• Set up your desk so you can get to folders easily and can see the door. Use stacking trays or a similar system to keep track of speech referrals. My labels include "Screening Due," "New Referral" and "Testing Needed."
• Hide the clock so students aren't distracted from therapy. Use a watch or place the clock behind them.

Children who know what to expect are more likely to focus on the task at hand, so set up a routine to follow every time they come in the room. Post the schedule in the room and add pictures to the text to accommodate non-readers. This approach encourages independence and quickly engages children in therapy. The basic routine should be flexible enough for any session you plan. This is a sample routine that can fit into almost any therapy session: "Come in quietly and get your notebook. Sit down at the table. Do good speech work. Get your checks on the rewards poster."

Preparation is the name of the game. Avoid "down time," when children are most likely to find inappropriate ways to occupy themselves. Make sure you have all your materials at the beginning of a session.

Regular supplies should be close at hand. My speech-language pathology assistant keeps a filing cabinet next to the therapy table filled with pencils, crayons and scissors in the top drawer and boxes of articulation drill cards in the bottom drawer. She can easily find materials for any project.

Be sure to keep filler activities ready for children who finish early. A special "reward" game or crossword puzzle can be modified to address specific goals while keeping children on task until the session is over.

Finally, make sure you have a copy of the children's objectives nearby. Having a notebook with the objectives on the therapy table makes it is easy to keep track of their progress by making notes on the goal sheet during the session, and you will have a ready answer when a child asks, "Why do I have to do this?"

Melita Watts is on staff at Irving Independent School District in Irving, TX. She can be reached at (972) 263-4338.