News Hub

January 2021

The Global Difference®

Index

Congrats

Blog

Therapist of the Month

School of the Month

SPEDtalk

Vlog

Meet the Editor

Connect with Us

Congratulations to our new leads!

Dr. Erika Soto, Psy. D., PPSC, LMFT, our new Lead MH Therapist!

Jessica Huffty, M.S. CCC-SLP, our new Lead SLP for RSM schools!

Dr. Erika Ayanaw, PhD., NCSP, our new Lead School Psychologist!

Global Teletherapy’s Blog

8 High-Impact Tips to Raise Remote Learning to a New Paradigm

Although the new school year is underway, many teachers are still uncertain as to how much of the day will be dedicated to remote learning. With school districts and departments of education aiming to maximize both teacher and student attendance while minimizing the risk of COVID-19 spreading throughout their schools, if anything is clear it is that remote learning isn’t going away anytime soon.

School Administrators and classroom teachers are saddled with the responsibility of maintaining academic growth and the social and emotional well-being of their students, in what has become the new norm. Brick-and-mortar walls have temporarily been replaced with Wi-Fi hotspots and routers, facilitating the critical connections between educators and students.

Therapist of the Month

Sharon W., MS, OTR/L

Sharon has been with Global Teletherapy for years. She is always willing to take on additional workloads when asked. Sharon is positive and flexible even when challenges arise. She has received positive feedback from the schools and has been specifically requested to serve students at CASC. Thank you for everything you do for GT, Sharon!

Here’s a little more about Sharon:

Sharon W., MS, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist for a little over 20 years. She has been involved with teletherapy for 6 years. Prior to being an occupational therapist, Sharon was a music therapist. Her interest in occupational therapy came from working with an OT at a nursing home outside of Philadelphia.

Working with school students, particularly in the virtual setting, challenges and inspires Sharon. She loves the interaction with the students and their parents/learning coaches as this is the key, she feels, to the student’s success. “The carryover from working virtually is considerably more than when I worked in brick and mortar or at an outpatient pediatric clinic”, she maintains.

Sharon was born in Fort Worth, TX, and moved to Butler, PA at the age of one. At the age of 7, she moved to Nyack, NY (20 miles west of Manhattan) where she grew up. She currently lives in Savannah, GA with her high school history teacher husband of 18 years. Sharon learned how to knit during the pandemic and is basically addicted. She loves to sing as she was a classically trained singer as well as a voice performance major before switching to music therapy for her undergraduate degree. She has performed in regional theater and community theater productions. She loves to travel, dine, and work out at Orangetheory Fitness.

School of the Month

Congratulations to Reach Cyber Charter School for being awarded January School of the Month! Some of the reasons we enjoy working with Reach Cyber Charter School so much are because of how prompt and helpful they are with communication and how clear they are with their expectations. They are extremely organized and they support therapists and liaisons. Reach Cyber Charter School submits their referrals in an organized and timely manner, and they are always positive and easy to work with.

Here’s a little more about Reach Cyber Charter School:

Reach Cyber Charter School is a tuition-free online public K-12 school in Pennsylvania, connecting students with certified teachers and a high-quality curriculum. Reach Cyber online school can provide a personalized, online learning experience designed to help students achieve their goals. Reach Cyber’s mission is to help each student maximize his or her potential and meet the highest performance standards through a uniquely individualized learning program.

Our Vlog, Globally Focused: OT Intervention

Check out our new Vlog series, Globally Focused: OT Intervention! Traci Gerner, MS OTR/L, gives wonderful tips, activities, and more on how to improve OT skills in this new series of videos! You don’t want to miss it. Check out this great free resource here!

SPEDtalk

Have you been keeping up with SPEDtalk?! Don’t miss any of our other shows! We go live on Tuesdays at 11:15 am EST. Please check out our Pinterest account where we upload all of the resources these wonderful therapists share on our show!

If you missed any episodes so far, you can always watch on our YouTube channel.

Like us on Facebook so you don’t miss any future episodes with Lindsey!

Here is one of our recent episodes, Season 2, Episode 10: Trauma Sensitive Interventions with our guest, Elizabeth Sherman. You don’t want to miss this great information!

A little more about our editor:

Hello! I am your newsletter editor, Olivia Weidner! I am an animal lover, traveler, and baker. I am Global Teletherapy’s Marketing Engagement Specialist. During this month, I am going to have my one year anniversary of working for GT! I currently live in Fells Point, Baltimore and I am a part of Volo Intramurals. I’m trying to introduce some more personal aspects into our monthly newsletter! Do you have any suggestions or ideas to make the newsletter better? Email [email protected] and let me know what you think!

What have I been baking lately? Read below for one of my favorite desserts!

Olivia’s Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

What do you need?

3 overly ripe bananas
1/3 cup of melted butter
1/2 cup of sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
a pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups of flour
1/2 cups of mini chocolate chips

How do you make it?

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 8″x5″ (or similar size) loaf pan with baking spray (the kind with flour in it) and set aside.
In a large bowl mash the bananas until completely smooth. Stir in the melted butter until smooth.
Add the sugar, egg, vanilla, baking soda, salt and flour and stir until the batter is thick and combined. Fold in the chocolate chips then pour/scoop the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Slice and enjoy!