Speech-language pathologist from Merrick helps fellow educators adjust to remote learning

Like most teachers, Merrick resident Hallie Sherman, a speech-language pathologist at Caroline G. Atkinson Intermediate School in Freeport, is teaching students from a distance amid the coronavirus pandemic. She is also helping fellow educators adjust to online learning by promoting digital teaching tools available on her website, speechtimefun.com. 

"As speech pathologists, there's a crazy learning curve to transition to online learning since we don't use these platforms on a regular basis," she said. "We're accustomed to face-to-face learning, so we have to adjust to this whole new frontier."

Sherman's resources have been utilizied by thousands of teachers worldwide. She first began developing digital teaching tools back in 2012 after she noticed a lack of online resources for SLPs. On teacherspayteachers.com, which Sherman calls "Etsy for teachers," educators can browse her more than 400 "low-prep, effective, engaging" learning materials to use in their virtual classrooms. 

During the pandemic, Sherman said SLPs  may be "struggling" to figure out what to do with their students on Zoom if they left their hands-on resources at school or at work. Using digital materials, however, could help them adjust to remote teaching. 

Her resources include digital flashcards, worksheets and activities for students in pre-K through 12th grade. The materials cover such skills as articulation, auditory comprehension, fluency, grammar, inferencing, sequencing and vocabulary.

Sherman also posted a read-aloud of her children's book, "Ella Bella Just Can't Tell Ya" on YouTube, which teachers and parents can use for entertainment as well as education.