...is yet to be learned.
I planned to get to bed earlier tonight. That was until I started browsing through the blogs. Now it's 10:45 and I really do have to toddle off very soon. But first, one last thing.
The big ideas, and how to put them in words when I am so tired, are escaping me just now. Surfice to say there were a lot of them. There is an AT (app) for that ...whatever the disability. It's just a matter of assessing the individual and their needs ...I know given enough time to google and pole experts it's out there to find. They say that "assume" makes an ass out of u and me ...but if you assume the learner "can do" with AT you'll be headed down the right road. The world is changing almost daily. What seemed impossible 20 or 30 years ago is ordinary today. So in the words a my favorite Star Fleet cammander, "Make it so."
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Hearing Impairment ...a personal story
Hearing loss/impairment is a disability that has personally affected me my entire life. When I was a kid in the 1960s and my younger brother called a popular musical variety television program “Jawmesser’s Jewminy”, my family thought it was so cute. Turns out he had a severe hearing lass and the show was Don Messer’s Jubilee. He began wearing hearing aids in elementary school. My older sister was diagnosed with the same type of hearing loss about the same time but was very resistant to aids for many years.
Both James and Kathryn were/are proficient lip readers but hearing aids have made life ad work in the “hearing world” more manageable. They both did B.eds. Kathryn retired three years ago and James now works as an employment counsellor for the Department of community services. I have never really considered them to be disabled as they have always done everything the rest of the family did.
I asked James to describe his new hearing aids.
“My name is James MacCormack and I have severe bi-lateral sensory neural hearing loss. I have recently purchased 2 digital Latitude hearing aids made by Unitron. Previously, I wore analog hearing aids. With advances in hearing aid technology digital hearing aids are able to automatically adjust to various hearing environment. In the past I would have to manually adjust the volume of the analog hearing aids depending on the sound level of where I was. The digital aids are continuously monitoring the audio input and making appropriate adjustment based on my hearing loss. In addition, the digital technology is also Blue tooth compatible. This allows me to automatically connect to the Blue tooth feature on my cell phone for improved reception and ease of use. I’m still trying to work out the feature of the new hearing aids that will allow me wireless connection to my television and stereo speakers.
Overall, there has been a significant improvement in the quality of the sound with the new digital hearing aids. There has been a period of adjustment to the new technology, but the benefits outweigh any drawbacks.”
I was first introduced to this video three years ago while working closely with an APSEA teacher and a student's ASL interperter. They did amazing work. Because I have such a close family connection to hearing impairment, I have come to know the challenges faced by my siblings. There have been lots of frustrations but humour has always helped.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Low Tech B
The student we are programming for is a nine year old girl with profound autism. Danni works on the Star program and has many tasks to accomplish each day. She also has a reward system. She has been using a visual task management strip with first/then set ...first task and then reward.
As we wandered through the Dollarama in New Minas we tried to be conscious of Danni and her IPP outcomes. We wanted to be sure to match our low tech device using the MPTT model and make sure that Danni’s needs would be addressed. We considered many items and found several that could be of benefit.
We bought a portable folding clothes hanger that can be used as a “next step” task manager. It is red and white with little clips. Danni likes these colours and enjoys using clips such as clothes pins. Task cards can be clipped to red and reward cards can be clipped to white. Given that she currently works with a very limited set of choices, our low tech device will allow for her to progress toward dealing with more choices.
The environment in which Danni’s has been working will be expanding so that she will be incorporated into the regular classroom as much as possible. She spends a large part of her day working through the tasks in her Star program. She has a good receptive language and some spontaneous vocabulary that she used to request preferred items and activities. She is very motivated by food items. As Danni works through her program she will be surrounded by her class mates and supported by her teacher and EA. All those in her environment will be taught about the use of the “Hanging Task Manager”.
Danni enjoys the company of her peers and we hope to have them interact with her more as one of her reward tasks. Currently peer interactions is at a parallel play stage. Having them familiar with her program will be helpful in the success of the program.
10 Other Off the Shelf Items that could be used as A.T.
1. Cig out - a little cube to butt out a cigarette - could be used as a pencil holder making it easier to grasp if standing up rather than laying down on the desk.
2. Squishy gel neck cushion - could also be used as a seat cushion for those that like to wiggle in their seat.
3. Plastic cocktail picks, coloured Popsicle sticks - easily attach to pages for creating adapted books
4. Themed felt or foam play board sets - used to build comprehension, vocabulary or various speech and language goals.
5. Blurp, stretchy worms, sticky tack, Glorb - as hand held fidgets
6. Lemon squeezer - use with play doh as relaxation tool or develop hand strength
7. Scribble writer - writing tool that allows squiggles and tactile feedback
8. Wind chimes, reflective wind socks, kaleidoscopes, or mirror balls as visual/relaxation sensory tools
9. Multipurpose storage kits of differing sizes or muffin tins to use for sorting, categorizing or matching activities
10. Silicone mats - use for gripping things or as a work stabilizer at work space
Extras
- Bug magnifier - role play collecting bugs or magnifier to hunt for words, letters, objects etc.
- Frog spray/water can - it could be used as part of a plant care vocational activity, the spray lever could be used to improve hand strength
- One handed tape – when two hands are not able to be used
- Clear plastic squeeze bottles for condiments with measurement on side – for paint and glue and to teach volume (how much is left)
- Bag clips, fasteners, turkey baster, and elasticized plastic bowel covers – fine motor strength and pincer grasp
- Multi - colour/decorative shoe laces – incentive for those who resist wearing shoes
- Modeling clay/beading kits – fine motor and rewards
- Blow out party favours, classical music and nature sounds CD’s - stress relievers
- Silicone egg ring - use as an upper body muscle/proprioceptive tool
- Etch a sketch drawing board or plastic light coloured plastic plates - used as writing (whiteboard) surfaces
Whew! The wheels were turning.
Low tech
The picture above is the "before" of our low tech Assistive technology and the "after" invented adapted picture is at the bottom.
Student (personality): Jay is an 11 year old boy. He has gross and fine motor difficulties. Gross motor skills have developed greatly in the last two years. He is very low cognitively. His speech is difficult to understand most times and he also has weak grammar and articulation skills. He enjoys participating in all physical education classes though some activities are a challenge. He is persistent in doing the activities and having his speech understood by his communication partners. The teacher needs to be mindful that Jay is fairly competitive and can become fixated on winning games or being part of the winning team.
Milieu: Jay will have opportunities built into his day to use the adapted low tech device individually so that he can practice and improve with the device. He can use the device with a classmate as part of a reward choice and also for socializing skills. He could also use the device in a phys.ed class where the same or similar item is being used by everyone.
Technology & Time: The low tech A.T. device is a press and catch ball toy. It can be adapted in a variety of ways to ensure Jay is successful with its use and it can possibly be used over a lengthy period of time depending on Jay's rate of development with it. The device is lightweight and portable. It is easy to use and easy to adapt. The device can have a larger funnel wrapped around the top to help keep the ball in and a larger target field for catching. Varying size, weight and color balls can be used to ensure Jay is successful using the device. Adaptation to the pressing level could be created with a strong rubber band that decreases the amount of force needed by Jay to activate the ball popping. A string or large rubber band that is cut could be attached to the ball and the catching device to improve the chance of successful attempts. The materials for all adaptations are cost effective. The device could potentially be the exact same item as classmates are using in physical edcation classes or outside on the playground.
Task: Jay's main task with this device is to be successful in catching the ball. The device could easily be written into Jay's IPP as a resource for several of the following goals: improve strength in the hand and fingers, develop hand / eye coordination and develop appropriate social skills such as turn taking, sharing and dealing with losing.
Switches: Bridging the Gap
Without the use of a vocal output communication aid (VOCA) the world might never have come to know the voice of Stephen Hawking. Without the switch he needs to operate his VOCA, he would not have been able to bridge the gap between his brain and the equipment and programs used to speak to us. In his own words, “More important than the right to speech is the right to speak.”
Hawking uses visual scanning to operate his switch but there are many other ways people with limited motor ability can operate switches. I was amazed early in our course to learn of something called the Mouse Camera (see links) which will allow even the smallest facial movement to be used to operate a switch. The possiblilties are endless.
A few sites that seemed worth a second look:
http://www.newhorizons.org/spneeds/inclusion/teaching/sax.htm
http://www.webaim.org/articles/motor/assistive.php
http://typingtraining.com/at/switches/assessment.htm
Hawking uses visual scanning to operate his switch but there are many other ways people with limited motor ability can operate switches. I was amazed early in our course to learn of something called the Mouse Camera (see links) which will allow even the smallest facial movement to be used to operate a switch. The possiblilties are endless.
A few sites that seemed worth a second look:
http://www.newhorizons.org/spneeds/inclusion/teaching/sax.htm
http://www.webaim.org/articles/motor/assistive.php
http://typingtraining.com/at/switches/assessment.htm
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Alright Mr.De Mille, I'm Ready for my Close-up
What an experience it was making my acting and filming debute with Terry, Janice, and Darlene. Did you guess that I did the upside-down filming of our “blooper footage”? Sad to say I filmed the whole thing that way. I had a supporting actress role in our second attempt you’ll notice. You can be sure when I next get my hands on an ipod Nano I won’t make that mistake again!!
Getting on Board with Boardmaker Plus
Boardmaker Plus is an amazing tool for supporting the communication and learning needs of special populations. There is even capacity for low vision and sign language. The fact that switches and scanning can be used makes it fantastic for even those with minimal physical ability. I do have to say that the text reading voices are disappointing and remind me of those in Word Q. I also found the clip art somewhat limiting and outdated although there is the ability to import images and photos which is great.
My work with AT this summer is timely as my new job in September will have me working with very high needs Gr.10-12 students. I haven’t had a lot of experience with Boardmaker so I now have the basis to begin to use it with this population. I see endless uses for all the uses of the visual supports, schedules and adapted curriculum materials. I like that there are ready made templates to adapt to my own uses.
I was very lucky to have Darlene around to help me through the rough spots but the tutorial and Help menu was also good.
My work with AT this summer is timely as my new job in September will have me working with very high needs Gr.10-12 students. I haven’t had a lot of experience with Boardmaker so I now have the basis to begin to use it with this population. I see endless uses for all the uses of the visual supports, schedules and adapted curriculum materials. I like that there are ready made templates to adapt to my own uses.
I was very lucky to have Darlene around to help me through the rough spots but the tutorial and Help menu was also good.
Frayed and Frazzled on Friday
After two intensive jam-packed weeks of learning (and teaching) our class kinda hit the wall on Friday. We all struggled with patience and focus and tried to remain upbeat. Some of you seemed to have more success with this then I did. Maybe it was the heat, the late nights or just school-year-end fatigue catching up, but I couldn’t cram in any more. My little ADHD brain was fried.
My buddy Darlene did double duty and pulled me along as best as she could. Saturday morning found her at my door in Windsor at 9:30 to begin work on our group projects for both classes. We set up duelling laptops side-by-side at my dining room table and cranked the air conditioner. By 4:40 we were done in ...if not done all the work we’d hope to accomplish. We agreed on tasks to complete independently and Darlene headed back to Canning.
We’ve all learned/worked/accomplished so much in a short time. It has been a privilege to share this experience with such a diverse and committed bunch of professionals. I know we could learn a lot more from each other but our time together will soon be coming to an end and as much as I’m looking forward to the R&R I will have some regret in knowing that many of us may not cross paths again.
My buddy Darlene did double duty and pulled me along as best as she could. Saturday morning found her at my door in Windsor at 9:30 to begin work on our group projects for both classes. We set up duelling laptops side-by-side at my dining room table and cranked the air conditioner. By 4:40 we were done in ...if not done all the work we’d hope to accomplish. We agreed on tasks to complete independently and Darlene headed back to Canning.
We’ve all learned/worked/accomplished so much in a short time. It has been a privilege to share this experience with such a diverse and committed bunch of professionals. I know we could learn a lot more from each other but our time together will soon be coming to an end and as much as I’m looking forward to the R&R I will have some regret in knowing that many of us may not cross paths again.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Sir Ken Robinson
Chris Boulter showed us a video today in our afternoon Disability Studies class and I of course had to google the guy. Take a look at his site.
http://sirkenrobinson.com/skr/
http://sirkenrobinson.com/skr/
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Assignment Two
After the frustrations of last night I got to do lots of shopping today and finally managed to download two apps on the ipod. The Dollarama was good fun too.
I’m going to post my second assignment here but I realized tonight that I could have a documents gadget and post them there. I may do that when/if time permits.
This past year “Danny”, who has a severe learning disability, came to me daily for intensive resource and was also on the SLD caseload (his second year). He has made great progress with this support. Although I won’t be teaching Danny next year I emailed his LD specialist last night and told her about ipod touch and how it could help him.
Danny is a tall handsome 14 year old boy who will be in Gr.9 in September. At his last PPT meeting we discussed the possible need for an IPP as his learning gaps are closing but his academic achievement is still well below grade level. It is feared that he is near the point of not being able to meet outcomes even with adaptations and intensive support. The team decided that it was not yet time for an IPP but we would investigate others strategies to support Danny’s learning.
Strengths:
Good receptive/expressive language
Uses verbal skills to solve problems
Hands-on/Auditory learner
Manipulatives/discussions preferred
Able to apply great general knowledge
Challenges
Very weak phonemic awareness
Weak automaticity – word recognition/retrieval
Severe visual perceptual difficulties
Visual-motor integration delayed
After my initial frustrations with going into the Apple site instead of using the itunes download, I was able to find lots of great apps for programming with Danny. It was difficult to limit myself to three choices and I actually snuck a fourth in.
I chose the free (at least for now) Dragon Dictation to help Danny with writing. He has great ability to verbally “write” about what he knows but gets bogged down when trying to get it on paper. (His grapho-moter isn’t great either). I have been using WordQ with him but the word prediction was not great as his spelling approximations are so far off. (The SLD specialist is using the LiPs program to address this). I felt a voice to text option would be optimal but was not able to get it in place for him.
Dagon Dictation would be great for Danny. Once the app is downloaded and launched he can just press the record button and talk. He will need to verbally input punctuation by saying period, comma, question mark, etc. Once editing is complete the text created by Danny can be sent to email, text message, or clipboard to be downloaded into a text document that can be printed later if a hard copy is needed.
With his other adaptations and using this great app to demonstrate what he knows and is able to do, Danny should be able to continue to meet grade level expectations and outcomes in writing and other ways of representing. I also see him using it for oral testing as he is usually not able to adequately express his understanding without a scribe.
Danny struggles greatly with automatically and accurately retrieving sight words. This has been impeding his reading fluency. See Read Say is an app that will help him practice and solidify 220 of the most commonly used words up to the Grade Three level. By using the ipad and headphones Danny can do this activity in privacy as he wants to avoid having his friends know about his extreme reading struggles. As he develops a stronger sight word vocabulary and experiences more success with reading, Danny’s confidence and reading ability will both improve. The words are presented and then read aloud at the push of a button and then you shake the ipod for the next word. There is also an option to track progress so Danny can monitor his progress.
Danny is very interested in nature and the natural world and has developed very good general knowledge. This has always allowed him an opportunity to shine when he can contribute a lot to discussions in science and social studies. Nature.com is a free app that will allow Danny to build on his strength. He will become more knowledgeable about science and continue to shine in a content area that has always enhanced his confidence. This app will present challenging reading for Danny but using the Voiceover setting on the ipod he can have sections of text read to him. There are also apps (Speak It or Talk To Me are two possibilities) that can be downloaded to read text.
Danny also enjoys audio books and has been using tapes and cds when they are available. This is beneficial in building his vocabulary, hearing how these words are pronounced and how sentences are constructed through the multisensory input of reading along. Stanza is another free app that can be down loaded. He can connect to a wide variety of free online sources for books (I have included a list). By using this app with a text reader app Danny will continue to have access to a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction.
http://www.booksshouldbefree.com/
audio Anarchy
Aurora-Audiobooks
"NetLibrary now available thru Atlanta Fulton County Public Library
Toldbooks
Free Stories from Thriller / Brilliance Audio podcasts
Podiobooks
Complete Podiobook (Podcast audiobook) directory
LibriVox
Project Gutenberg's Audiobooks
LiteralSystems.org
AssistiveMedia.org
Stories to Go
Miette's Bedtime Story Podcast
Audiobooks For Free
The Story Spieler
Storyline Online
LearnOutLoud Free Audio/Video Directory
Escape Pod
Many Books
Free Classic Audiobooks
Telltale Weekly
New CCEL Website
The Spoken Alexandria Project
Simply Audiobooks
Free Christian Audiobooks
NAXOS audiobook download shop.
Audiobook Store Portal
Listen-Here Free Audiobooks
Thought Audio
Audiobooks.net
I’m going to post my second assignment here but I realized tonight that I could have a documents gadget and post them there. I may do that when/if time permits.
This past year “Danny”, who has a severe learning disability, came to me daily for intensive resource and was also on the SLD caseload (his second year). He has made great progress with this support. Although I won’t be teaching Danny next year I emailed his LD specialist last night and told her about ipod touch and how it could help him.
Danny is a tall handsome 14 year old boy who will be in Gr.9 in September. At his last PPT meeting we discussed the possible need for an IPP as his learning gaps are closing but his academic achievement is still well below grade level. It is feared that he is near the point of not being able to meet outcomes even with adaptations and intensive support. The team decided that it was not yet time for an IPP but we would investigate others strategies to support Danny’s learning.
Strengths:
Good receptive/expressive language
Uses verbal skills to solve problems
Hands-on/Auditory learner
Manipulatives/discussions preferred
Able to apply great general knowledge
Challenges
Very weak phonemic awareness
Weak automaticity – word recognition/retrieval
Severe visual perceptual difficulties
Visual-motor integration delayed
After my initial frustrations with going into the Apple site instead of using the itunes download, I was able to find lots of great apps for programming with Danny. It was difficult to limit myself to three choices and I actually snuck a fourth in.
I chose the free (at least for now) Dragon Dictation to help Danny with writing. He has great ability to verbally “write” about what he knows but gets bogged down when trying to get it on paper. (His grapho-moter isn’t great either). I have been using WordQ with him but the word prediction was not great as his spelling approximations are so far off. (The SLD specialist is using the LiPs program to address this). I felt a voice to text option would be optimal but was not able to get it in place for him.
Dagon Dictation would be great for Danny. Once the app is downloaded and launched he can just press the record button and talk. He will need to verbally input punctuation by saying period, comma, question mark, etc. Once editing is complete the text created by Danny can be sent to email, text message, or clipboard to be downloaded into a text document that can be printed later if a hard copy is needed.
With his other adaptations and using this great app to demonstrate what he knows and is able to do, Danny should be able to continue to meet grade level expectations and outcomes in writing and other ways of representing. I also see him using it for oral testing as he is usually not able to adequately express his understanding without a scribe.
Danny struggles greatly with automatically and accurately retrieving sight words. This has been impeding his reading fluency. See Read Say is an app that will help him practice and solidify 220 of the most commonly used words up to the Grade Three level. By using the ipad and headphones Danny can do this activity in privacy as he wants to avoid having his friends know about his extreme reading struggles. As he develops a stronger sight word vocabulary and experiences more success with reading, Danny’s confidence and reading ability will both improve. The words are presented and then read aloud at the push of a button and then you shake the ipod for the next word. There is also an option to track progress so Danny can monitor his progress.
Danny is very interested in nature and the natural world and has developed very good general knowledge. This has always allowed him an opportunity to shine when he can contribute a lot to discussions in science and social studies. Nature.com is a free app that will allow Danny to build on his strength. He will become more knowledgeable about science and continue to shine in a content area that has always enhanced his confidence. This app will present challenging reading for Danny but using the Voiceover setting on the ipod he can have sections of text read to him. There are also apps (Speak It or Talk To Me are two possibilities) that can be downloaded to read text.
Danny also enjoys audio books and has been using tapes and cds when they are available. This is beneficial in building his vocabulary, hearing how these words are pronounced and how sentences are constructed through the multisensory input of reading along. Stanza is another free app that can be down loaded. He can connect to a wide variety of free online sources for books (I have included a list). By using this app with a text reader app Danny will continue to have access to a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction.
http://www.booksshouldbefree.com/
audio Anarchy
Aurora-Audiobooks
"NetLibrary now available thru Atlanta Fulton County Public Library
Toldbooks
Free Stories from Thriller / Brilliance Audio podcasts
Podiobooks
Complete Podiobook (Podcast audiobook) directory
LibriVox
Project Gutenberg's Audiobooks
LiteralSystems.org
AssistiveMedia.org
Stories to Go
Miette's Bedtime Story Podcast
Audiobooks For Free
The Story Spieler
Storyline Online
LearnOutLoud Free Audio/Video Directory
Escape Pod
Many Books
Free Classic Audiobooks
Telltale Weekly
New CCEL Website
The Spoken Alexandria Project
Simply Audiobooks
Free Christian Audiobooks
NAXOS audiobook download shop.
Audiobook Store Portal
Listen-Here Free Audiobooks
Thought Audio
Audiobooks.net
Jamie Jamie Jamie
Just spoke to my 18 year old son JAMIE who is in Montreal at a film festival. I had sent him a link to my blog. He said the first thing he did when he checked it out was to click "control f" (find) and typed in his own name to see if he had been mentioned. I explained that the blog was about our course and not my life. However if he comes back he will see that I have now devoted an entry to him.
I didn't know about "control f". There are so many things that this e-generation just takes for granted ...they've grown up with the stuff. This is part of the reason why it's so important for educators to buy-in to the technology that has becomes so second nature to our students. If we want to have meaningful communication we need a common language and more and more, technology is their language.
I just read this entry to Shayne who said, "You didn't know about control-f !?!" And again I am struck by our generation's piecemeal knowledge of technology. In class this morning I showed somebody how to do a google search for an image of an itunes app icon, copy it and then paste it into a document. I wish somebody could find a way to download all this stuff directly into our brains.
Monday, July 12, 2010
How do we spread the word?
As I sit here this morning with my coffee trying to shake of the groggies, I find myself thinking about ipod touch and all my former students who could have benefited from using it. How do we get other teachers on this band wagon? I worry about the time lost for kids who could be advancing with AT. How do we get some of this stuff into their hands?
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Frustrated Swimmer
I have spent a lot of time today reading and commenting on blogs and I am struck by what an amazing group of educators we have assembled in one room. The other thing that strikes me is that although many of us approached this course and our plunge into AT with some trepidation, everyone has taken the leap into the deep end and now seems to be gamely swimming about, dog-paddling or at least treading water. I had been lulled into a false sense of security as I was feeling fairly comfortable doing the “blog-stroke” and felt all else would come about easily.
The whole-group planning process on Thursday was not as smooth as we might have liked. We got bogged down at several points as Bev mentioned in her blog. I’m not sure why this happened but I can certainly see how important forming a dynamic efficient program planning team is required to implement the process of planning the use of AT that effectively addresses the assessed needs of the learner (primary user). The student, environment, task and tools (SETT) must all be incorporated into the plan .
It makes little sense to simply identify a need and then blindly grasp for an AT device that may work. The user’s performance of an IPP task must be improved by the introduction of any AT. I believe upon completion of this group task we were well on the way to supporting Sally and her communication partners in using Proloquo2go and the ipod/pad to engage in meaning effective communication.
As my swim in the AT pool continued Friday I found myself going under as we began our first individual assignment. As we began our app shopping I found out that itunes was not on my laptop as my darling children had assured me. The last hour of the class saw me thrashing wildly about trying to catch up to the “already shopping fish”.
Today when I tried to download my chosen apps I was locked out because my password was not correct. I used the “forgot password” only to wait endlessly for an email with it. I then tried to access my account with my security question only to be told that March 13 1959 is not my birthday ...at least not at itunes.
So here I sit frustrated and stubborn. I want to do some shopping darn it!!
The whole-group planning process on Thursday was not as smooth as we might have liked. We got bogged down at several points as Bev mentioned in her blog. I’m not sure why this happened but I can certainly see how important forming a dynamic efficient program planning team is required to implement the process of planning the use of AT that effectively addresses the assessed needs of the learner (primary user). The student, environment, task and tools (SETT) must all be incorporated into the plan .
It makes little sense to simply identify a need and then blindly grasp for an AT device that may work. The user’s performance of an IPP task must be improved by the introduction of any AT. I believe upon completion of this group task we were well on the way to supporting Sally and her communication partners in using Proloquo2go and the ipod/pad to engage in meaning effective communication.
As my swim in the AT pool continued Friday I found myself going under as we began our first individual assignment. As we began our app shopping I found out that itunes was not on my laptop as my darling children had assured me. The last hour of the class saw me thrashing wildly about trying to catch up to the “already shopping fish”.
Today when I tried to download my chosen apps I was locked out because my password was not correct. I used the “forgot password” only to wait endlessly for an email with it. I then tried to access my account with my security question only to be told that March 13 1959 is not my birthday ...at least not at itunes.
So here I sit frustrated and stubborn. I want to do some shopping darn it!!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Not overwhelmed ...really excited!
After a long difficult year I had been dreading being “in school” for the early hot days of July. I was feeling so ready for a break. Now I’m feeling that Mom was right and sometimes a change is as good as a rest.
I have been an AT dabbler for years. In 2006 I did some in-servicing on WordQ/SpeakQ, Intelli-tools and low tech AT. I also got a PD grant for a Writer Plus. I used these with some of my students but I/they were often frustrated with glitches. I hadn’t know enough to either appropriately assess the needs nor support the use of the applications the way I wanted to.
This year I found myself in a new school teaching a different level, and commuting. My computers were in bad shape and I never did get things up and going as I had in my previous school.
In just three days I’ve gone from feeling pretty burned out to being really hot about the possibilities for introducing more assistive technology into my programming. I know I have lots more to learn about the assessment process and how to use the various tools for optimum benefit, but at the very least I feel I’ll have more knowledge and skill by July 20. Even with just a bit of exposure to the ipod/ipad I can see how powerful they are in terms of opening doors, windows, and worlds to kids with learning challenges.
I have been an AT dabbler for years. In 2006 I did some in-servicing on WordQ/SpeakQ, Intelli-tools and low tech AT. I also got a PD grant for a Writer Plus. I used these with some of my students but I/they were often frustrated with glitches. I hadn’t know enough to either appropriately assess the needs nor support the use of the applications the way I wanted to.
This year I found myself in a new school teaching a different level, and commuting. My computers were in bad shape and I never did get things up and going as I had in my previous school.
In just three days I’ve gone from feeling pretty burned out to being really hot about the possibilities for introducing more assistive technology into my programming. I know I have lots more to learn about the assessment process and how to use the various tools for optimum benefit, but at the very least I feel I’ll have more knowledge and skill by July 20. Even with just a bit of exposure to the ipod/ipad I can see how powerful they are in terms of opening doors, windows, and worlds to kids with learning challenges.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Battle Cry for Teachers of the 21st Certury
Let me just admit it now ...I am a google and you tube junkie. I stumbled upon this while doing another search and felt it resonate in terms of my renewed determination to stick with teaching. Over the past 25 years there have been many times when I felt the demands and expectations of teaching were too high. At others times I was rittled with self doubt about my ability to meet the needs of the learners, expectations of administrators and concerns of the parents. In 2002 I decided I'd had enough and stepped back, substituting instead for five years. This led me to working with Karen Wallace who helped me to see that perhaps Resource was where I belonged. Over the past four years I've had my ups and downs but today I feel stronger then ever that our most vunerable students need champions. They need teachers who will advocate for them, facilite the development of the student's "voice", and stand up and fight for their needs.
Effective communication
Communication partner+common language+joint attention=effective communication
The equation looks simple enough and yet so often we/I get it wrong. Non-verbal messages, tone of voice, and emotionally loaded topics are just some of the issues that can cause communication to be derailed.
Modes of communicating:
touch - hand on shoulder, pat on back, hug
eye contact - purposeful or meaningful look
facial expression - smile, raised eye brows
gesture - point, wave
body language - hands on hips, arms folded across chest
utterances - screaming, grunting
verbal - conversation
art - song, music, dance, drawing, painting
Components for effective communication
Clear message goal
Listening vs waiting your turn to talk
Showing interest in speaker/topic - empathy
Timely appropriate response
Example of a personal communication experience
My 19 year old daughter has been using my car since she's been home from university and I am driving her father's car as he recently bought a truck. Yesterday she loaned my car to her boyfriend without asking permission. Her father and I were not pleased. I told Megan clearly that this was a breach as the car was not her's to lend and reminded her that we has spoken about this several months ago. She stated that she thoughts things had changed as we now had three vehicles. I explained that in fact her father and I were not ok with her lending the car and do not want her to do it again. She apologized and said she understood our feeling and would not do this again.
The equation looks simple enough and yet so often we/I get it wrong. Non-verbal messages, tone of voice, and emotionally loaded topics are just some of the issues that can cause communication to be derailed.
Modes of communicating:
touch - hand on shoulder, pat on back, hug
eye contact - purposeful or meaningful look
facial expression - smile, raised eye brows
gesture - point, wave
body language - hands on hips, arms folded across chest
utterances - screaming, grunting
verbal - conversation
art - song, music, dance, drawing, painting
Components for effective communication
Clear message goal
Listening vs waiting your turn to talk
Showing interest in speaker/topic - empathy
Timely appropriate response
Example of a personal communication experience
My 19 year old daughter has been using my car since she's been home from university and I am driving her father's car as he recently bought a truck. Yesterday she loaned my car to her boyfriend without asking permission. Her father and I were not pleased. I told Megan clearly that this was a breach as the car was not her's to lend and reminded her that we has spoken about this several months ago. She stated that she thoughts things had changed as we now had three vehicles. I explained that in fact her father and I were not ok with her lending the car and do not want her to do it again. She apologized and said she understood our feeling and would not do this again.
July 6
In the early 80's I was convinced widespread personal computer use would be bad for society as a whole and education in particular. I suspected it would isolate us and change how we existed in the world together. During my B.ed in 85-86 at the Mount I took an introductory course from Bill Hunter. He challenged us to consider the upside of what the technology could mean for all students but especially for special needs kids.
I was hooked almost immediately. I was caught up by exactly what had initially worried me. Computers did have an amazing effect on learning and communication. This was my first experience with word processing and spell check ...God love them both and how they made my life long issue with spelling and cursive writing melt away. My classmates and I were able to chat with each other and Bill via email ...also my first encounter with another exciting form of communication. As a group we celebrated the dawning of a new era when all classrooms would have smart boards and there'd be a computer on every desk!! I remember a class trip to Bill's office where, using a modem that the phone hand piece locked into, we were given our first taste of the "world wide web".
So here we are 25 years later and as you all know, much has indeed changed. We're still waiting for the smart boards and laptops for every student are still a long way off. However today I'm feeling just as excited about the possibilities that technology offers.
I was hooked almost immediately. I was caught up by exactly what had initially worried me. Computers did have an amazing effect on learning and communication. This was my first experience with word processing and spell check ...God love them both and how they made my life long issue with spelling and cursive writing melt away. My classmates and I were able to chat with each other and Bill via email ...also my first encounter with another exciting form of communication. As a group we celebrated the dawning of a new era when all classrooms would have smart boards and there'd be a computer on every desk!! I remember a class trip to Bill's office where, using a modem that the phone hand piece locked into, we were given our first taste of the "world wide web".
So here we are 25 years later and as you all know, much has indeed changed. We're still waiting for the smart boards and laptops for every student are still a long way off. However today I'm feeling just as excited about the possibilities that technology offers.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Did you learn anything at school today?
I have tried to let a few guiding principles inform my teaching since 1985. One is that there are no children who cannot learn, only children we fail to teach. A more recent one comes from Ross Green, "Children do well if they can." I was told recently by an administrator that the first of these will put me at odds with a lot of my colleagues. If that's true then perhaps somebody is in the wrong profession. I have been questioning my place here since before I became a teacher in 1986. So often I fall short of what I'm trying to achieve in my work.
Today's class and our introduction to the amazing Sue Rubin makes me feel that perhaps I have a chance of getting it right yet. I can only imagine the excitement and satisfaction of helping to facilitate a person's voice as we saw in this video. So often we fall victim to assumptions about those around us ...who they are, what they want, where they're going. Perhaps if we could facilitate communication more then block or misinterput it, we would see the real person rather then our projection of who they are. Do people fail to reach their full potential because society is unable to allow them the tools necessary to construct themselves.
Today's class and our introduction to the amazing Sue Rubin makes me feel that perhaps I have a chance of getting it right yet. I can only imagine the excitement and satisfaction of helping to facilitate a person's voice as we saw in this video. So often we fall victim to assumptions about those around us ...who they are, what they want, where they're going. Perhaps if we could facilitate communication more then block or misinterput it, we would see the real person rather then our projection of who they are. Do people fail to reach their full potential because society is unable to allow them the tools necessary to construct themselves.
First Class
Once again Acadia has demonstrated that "snafu" is their modis operendi. How many times is this now that our cohort has gotten a curve ball thrown our way. Luckily we're all pretty flexible. Just going through introductions and we have a pretty diverse group.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
First Blog
It's a blazing hot Sunday afternoon and here I sit with a sprained ankle learning how to blog. Sure hope things take an up-swing from too hot and limping.
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