And now for Implementation! (and) A Fond Farewell !

Viewing all the tremendous case studies of our last class reminded me of how much we have covered in the last few weeks. I really enjoyed seeing the applications of the technologies and, several times while watching I thought ,"Wouldn't that be perfect for so and so." So, I have my work cut out for me.

I noticed that over the past weeks a recurring comment was, "But it takes so long!" That is a very fair concern and, I think, one of the reasons that expensive AT is sitting dormant. Barb W. , you are very right when you say 'baby steps'. I notice myself that, because I have been working a lot with Clicker 5, the process is a lot faster and not as frustrating. I hope that soon I will be playing it like a piano!? In trying to pass it on to others, it will be important to remember the principles of good teaching: introduce it in manageable increments, make it relevant for the students they are teaching, and give lots of opportunity to practice. It is a fault of mine to go in to many directions at once, so I must be wary!

It has been my experience that in introducing any new idea, part of the process seems to be to over use it until one is familiar enough with it that it can be relegated to it to it's proper spot in the student's program. There is a danger that criticism may be leveled against the instigator (me) that the AT is taking over the program and I think I need to be ready with assurances that it is just part of the process.

One thing that has been helpful to me in the past is to ask for those who are interested in a trial of the new program. In that way you get people who are open to the program, making it easier (and more pleasant) to implement. When they have success others will, if not become enthusiastic, at least have fewer people to whom they can complain!

I have very much enjoyed this course. It has opened many opportunities for me and my students and in that way, it is just beginning. You have all taught me things and I hope to hear how things are going for you, both the things that work and perhaps, more importantly, the things that do not!

I must confess that while I have found this course tremendous, I am glad to become reaquainted with my family again. We went out to dinner last night at the Port Bistro in Port Williams (5 stars from me, but don't get the calamari) and then decorated our tree. I am happy for those of you who no longer have to get up at 5:30 on a Saturday, and have time in your lives for nonacademic pursuits.

A Great Holiday To All and to All a Good Night,
Barb M.

Move over Jane Jetson!

I had a nifty techno moment on Monday. My husband took the all wheel drive into work, while the kids and I chose to be  storm -stayed at home. Normally I give him a call if I want him to pick something up, but today I had a long list so I thought I would email it so he could print it off and save him writing it down. He did one better than that and took his new blackberry to the grocery store and read the list straight from the machine! It was a Jane Jetson moment.... 

 

I just received a post from the Learning Disabilities Association regarding the new policy they've adopted on educational Accomodations for LD students.  you can check it out at:   

www.ldans.ca 

One more plug for for the LDA. The "Blind Date with a Star " fund raiser is coming up in January . I have been 3 times and it is a lot of fun (tickets make a great christmas present) especially if you get a group of friends to go. I have included the picture of me and friends at one of the fabulous venues with recording Star Lana Grant. They did provide other dishes for non- sushi lovers. Proceeds go to the LINKS program which provides tutoring to LD students. It is a quality program and I have sent several student with fabulous reviews from parents and students.

Clicker 5 Comes Alive!

Our last class was particularly valuable for me. Since taking my last assistive tech course, I had been using Clicker 5 with some students both as a drag and drop reader (I like the voice quality better than Read Please or Premiere Tools) and for the Bookmaking component. There had always been little things that escaped me though-like how to get it to read the cells, or how to view all the grids in a grid set (I could do this occasionally but only by accident.) I can do things so much faster now and do not feel my blood pressure mount as frequently.

This year I am working with a student with communication difficulties and must dust off my memories and hand outs concerning  Clicker as a communication board....For more info on that (communication boards), see  EDUC 5173 - great course!

Writing?

I found last class gave me even more to think about. Certainly the steps involved in writing are very daunting and I appreciate the fact that this process comes relatively easy for me. I must say, though that as someone who has come recently to typing, there is a different thought process going on in my head and I notice myself thinking about individual letters more while composing- not as efficient a process for me as writing with pen.

The inspiration webbing exercise was perfect for me-a random abstract thinker. I know of several students for whom this program would save much time and decrease the number of forgotten ideas. As well, I like the idea of having the outline made for me. I have never enjoyed hammering random thoughts into linear form (although I imagine it is good for the development of new pathways in my brain). My partner and I discovered that our different brains gravitated to the organizational structure that best reflected how we thought (webbing vs outlining)-a good illustration of how important it is to be sensitive to students learning styles.

I have been continuing to try Clicker 5 on a variety of students- and at the same time get EA's excited about it. Mylatest was with a young fellow who is just beginning to read words. I tried a story in which you have to hit the cells in order, to send the words up. I must admit I hadn't given that much thought, but after he used it I realized what poor left-right directionality he has. The exercise was motivational because it was about him and he loves that. I think the EA's perked there ears up when they saw it in action!

The Class of Nov. 1/08

I found the last class, designing a Kurzweil lesson, was  frightening. I really wish there was an "undo" button for those times when you just want to see what a button does, and it is not what you hoped ! Trying to include all the components makes it a bit unwieldy for the student I have in mind, but it will be easy to edit when the time comes (I hope).

I was really interested in Rachel's presentation on Kidspiration and, in my head, I quickly compiled a list of students  who would benefit from the program. I downloaded the 30 day trial (which is quick and easy to do). I am especially interested in phonemic awareness and I found several exercises that would be appropriate.

On Friday our school had an inservice on adaptations and many of the programs we looked at were mentioned. People were excited to hear about Premier Tools and couldn't believe all the computers had them. What we need now is another day to play with the program.

Who Knew !?

After the last class I was so pleased to discover "Read Please" and "Premier Tools" that I dashed back to tell our tech guy about them and to see about putting them on our computers. His response was," Gee, I think I've seen those on there already." Sure enough, we are good to go, we just need people to know about them and work them into our daily planning. I see some workshops in the future.... The most difficult thing about this seems to be finding the time for staff to get comfortable with the tools. I showed several students about "Read Please" and of course  they were so slick. It's a start.

I attended the LD conference last week at the World Trade Center. Of great interest was the demonstration of  new speech -to- text program- Liberated Learning.  The application they suggested was for teachers to use this for student's who have difficulty taking notes. It was interesting to see it in action and I would say it is pretty accurate although we all tittered discretely when it made an error. The Keynote speaker, Sam Goldstein,had his address recorded through this method and it was to be made available on line, although I haven't found it yet. I did find, on the Goldstein site, several useful looking references:   http://www.php.com    (parents helping parents) and    http://www.schoolwork.org   (for teens looking for help finding AT)