Friday 6 December 2013

Time to Reflect...

After reading through all of the reflections on our course this term, it really brings me back to William Butler Yeats quotes:
"Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire."

This course has helped to ignite that fire within so many of us.  

The hands on approach to this course and the ability to "play" and learn brings a whole new meaning to playbased learning.  As Primary educators know, playbased learning helps to engage and enhance a students through oral language, exploration and collaboration.  This course has done that and so much more.

Throughout the last few weeks I have often reflected on my own teaching and how I can utilize AT to help support the students that I work with.

Since the beginning of the year I have been working with a student to develop his fine-motor skills.  (I am quite certain that he came to school without ever holding a pencil/crayon.)  I must admit in the beginning I was quite discouraged and felt that I might never make solid gains with him.  As the weeks went on and I learned new apps to help engage him in his learning I have seen a complete change in his approach to his own learning.  He is like a sponge, absorbing everything we have done, always wanting more and giving it his best effort.  He now looks forward to our literacy activities and the "Work Work" apps we are using on the iPads.  Not only do they engage him in English Language Arts learning, they have helped to support and facilitate his finemotor development.



All of this "reflecting" brings me to the words of Ross Greene,

"Kids do well if they can."

This applies to all children, not just the explosive children he talks about on his website Lives in the Balance.  

Check out this video:


Blogger is not allowing me to insert this YouTube video right now, sorry :(


So, it's off on a new journey.  Blogging for this class has motivated me to start a classroom blog with my students utilzing KidBlog.  (For those of you concerned about PIIDPA legislation, KidBlog has servers in Canada where they store their info.)

KidBlog Tutorial




Happy Blogging!

Theresa

P.S.  Hearing all of your case studies and the overwhelming need for technology in our schools prompted me to do a little search for technology funding.

Keep a watchful eye of the following sites for upcoming info about future technology grants. 

Future Shop - Tech Lab Grants










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Saturday 30 November 2013

Case Study Presentations

Anytime someone asks you: 

 "Why choose iPad?"

 (Show them this video)



In Class Presentation of Case Studies

Donna - girl in Grade Primary
  • Writing text right to left, articulation concerns. 
Supports/apps used:
Where to go next? 

  • use of qwerty keyboard, OT referral

Helen - 2 boys in Grade 2

  • Writing & spelling a concern, staying on task 
Supports/apps used:
Where to go next?  
  • speech to text program

Sandy - 4 students in Grade 6
  • Many students working below grade level
  • High needs, low support available (both human & technology)
  • Past intervention = remediation
Supports/apps used:
Where to go next?
  • Ask for time at a future school board meeting, get on the agenda and have the kids do a persuasive video or presentation about the value of technology and how it motivates kids.
Selena - 2 boys in Grade 7
  • LD, Processing difficulties & Dysgraphia
Supports/apps used:
Where to go next?
- use Claro PDF to allow students to add to documents


Lee - 37 students diagnosed with LD in high school

Supports/apps used:
Where to go next?
  • training for staff (iTunes U)
  • touch points & further training for students
Elaine - boy in Grade 8
  • LD in reading and writing (working memory, reading comprehension, written output)
Supports/apps used:

Angela - 3 boys in Grade Primary/One
  • no formal diagnosis, speech support in place, fine-motor needs
Supports/apps used:

Touch Write Phonics app 




Stephanie - young female 
  • OCD, schizophrenia, developmental delay
Supports/apps used:
  • low tech supports for isolating bus schedule
  • iPod touch timer
  • MedCoach Medication Reminder
    • low tech option - cards with reminders
  • Live Scribe pen - mid tech option
Where to go next?
  • exploration of new easy to use apps

Amy - boy in Grade 4
  • written output, reading below grade level, organization concerns
Supports/apps used:
Where to go next?

Mackenzie -  boy in Grade 7
  • reading at a Primary/One level, speech challenges (difficult to understand)
Supports/apps used:
Shawna - boy in Grade One
  • sight word vocabulary in isolation a challenge (recognition & spelling), participates in the PATHS Program
Supports/Apps:
Where to go next?

  • set guided access on iPad
                                  


Building relationships is the key to working with students.  A child therapist Bob Ditter that I worked with in a summer camp setting once described it as "putting money in the bank".  We need to build solid relationships with the students we work with, getting to know them beyond the strengths and challenges they experience with academic skills. School is often one of the only safe and consistent places for them. We need to be in tune with their interests and tap into these to help "hook" the students that we are working with.  It is evident from our class today that people have been working hard to develop these relationships and find what works best to meet the needs of their students.

What we see time and time again is that technology is a motivator and it helps to unleash their voice and support their abilities.

After reflecting on the presentations today it is evident that the level of support for students across the province is not equitable.  I loved Angela's comparison to a carpenter going into their toolbox and not having the things they need to do their job.   This is the same in the education field.  Not only do we need to provide students and staff with the tools, we need to give them the training to use these tools to support learning.

Why use iPads in schools?





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Wednesday 27 November 2013

Here an app, there an app, everywhere an app, app...

Apps, apps and MORE apps....

 I am thankful for blogger and the idea that I can blog in "real time" during class and have a great record of what we have done and the apps we've explored.  I know that in the future I will refer back to my blog often to look for an app that will meet the needs of a student I am working with.

 Here are some of the apps we discussed in class.

iBooks - easy for student to manipulate (accessibility options, etc.)

Book Creator - can't wait to use this app to create personalized books that the students can relate to their own lives (publish to ibooks so it is easy to manipulate)

Readiris - uses in conjunction with Claropdf



Clicker Sentences - $26.99 
  • (Emergent Writers, children with Down Syndrome)
    • scaffold the sentences
      • model/no model
      • cut up sentence
        • guided/random, alphabetical, randomn, 
      • edit/create new sentences
    • learninggrids.com 
      • FREE premade sentences
Clicker Docs - $30.99
  • Word banks 
  • Sentence Sets - downloaded at learninggrids.com
Proloquo2go - $219.99
  • Good for non-verbal student
  • Augmentative communication tool, much easier to use than past technologies.
  • Motivational: Interfaces with iMessages and email.
  • Other similar augmentative apps: 

Symbol Support - $59.99 - Teacher needs this to create, students use Symbol Support Viewer - FREE
  • Similar to Writing with Symbols
  • Copy & paste from another source
  • Documents can be sent to students via Dropbox
  • Great for creating social stories, visual schedules
  • Many options to individualize for students (i.e. color parts of speech, 

 Garage Band - Free
  • Alternate mode of expression
  • Motivational/engaging
  • Audio recording answers
  • Lots of other free apps similar to this one
  • Leads to voice to text
Book Creator - $4.99

  • Alternate forms of expression - any age/curriculum
    • builds in all features
      • drawing, movie making, audio recording
      • add pics from photo library
      • full accessible to those who are blind (add hyperlink, add text description of the photo)
    • publish to the iBook shelf
iMovie - $4.99

  • Alternate way of expressing
  • Motivational & engaging
  • Social collaboration
Here is a quick tutorial


Toon Camera - $1.99

iBooks - Free

  • engaging and interactive text books
  • enhanced text books are now being used
  • closed captioning with this app during videos
  • text can be highlighted and emailed out to another application



iReadWrite -$19.99

Pages - $9.99

  • Go to word processing app

Keynote - $9.99

  • Powerpoint for the iPad
  • voice recording not available - however you can use a program like "Garage Band" to voice record and import it.


Numbers - $9.99

  • Creative spread sheet


Explain Everything - $2.99

  • input video & text 
  • screen capture as you do a walk through lesson
  • Great for math lessons
  • Visually more accessible than Khan Academy.
  • Similar to Educreations


As we begin to dable in iTunes U and developing our own course it is critical to always keep UDL in the forefront and allow it to guide us as we plan our instruction.
UDL (Universal Design for Learning) 
means
 Access for ALL from the beginning



Here is a link to my course in iTunes U:

 https://itunesu.itunes.apple.com/enroll/KSY-6JF-AM4

 I took a bit of a different approach in that I wanted this to be something that I could do with the staff at my school.  I created a course on the Two Sisters "Daily 5" with links for the staff as well as assignments for the teachers and their students.  I provided them with links to tutorials for a variety of apps and features on the iPad to help meet the needs of all of the students in their classes. I am excited to use this course with the staff during some of our site based PD in the new year.




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AT in Action.... Fair is not Equal.


Before, During and After AT

 Each week when I come to class I leave with a sense of inspiration.  I feel like a kid in a candy store, I can't wait to get home and try out all of the new apps we are learning about.  I feel fortunate to work in a school that embraces technology.  I have a supportive administrator who encourages collaboration and looks forward to be bringing back the "App of the Week" so to speak.  

 Some of the apps & computer software we learned about this week were:

This is a great video that shows the basics of Co-Writer.  I am excited to be using this app for a student of mine.  He is able to focus so much on his ideas and not the process of getting the information down on paper.  It has help to free him from the burden of handwriting and reduce the number of keystrokes.



There are some basic skills that need to be inplace to know if Co-Writer is a good fit for your student.  
They need to:

  • know begin sounds
  • be able to recognize what the words look like (although the program does read the text which helps the student to determine whether the sentence makes sense)
The dictionary feature on Co-Writer is an excellent tool to help support student writing.

  • ireadwrite - $19.99 (for younger students, instead of co-writer)

This video shows Clicker 6 in action.




 Writing Task Analysis

 Much like reading, I think that we often take for granted how complex the process of writing can be.  There are so many things involved in the process that we don't even stop to think about:

- translating thoughts into words/language
- grammatical component/sequencing
- filtering out background noise
- seating position
- attending to task
- orientating paper and holding it
- visual orientation to the pen
- knowing the function of the pen
- how to hold pencil , the feel
- placing arm on table
- where to begin (top bottom, left right)
- letter sounds, how to spell letters, does it need a capital?
- how to form letters

 This is just a small sampling of the process involved in writing.  For a person to be successful with writing there are so many things they need to orchestrate.

Writing with my non dominant hand was a real eye opener into the world of a person who finds fine motor tasks challenging.  Not only did I find it difficult to know how to hold the pen, I had to think about every pen stroke I was going to make.  The process was exhausting.  It was hard to focus on my ideas and not on the mechanics that I needed to be able to perform to bring my ideas and thoughts into written form.  With AT apps like Co-Writer and webbased programs like Talk Typer in Google Chrome we are able to help support students and remove the finemotor barrier.

 Reading the Article Take The Pencil Out of the Process helped to solidify my thoughts on the writing process as well as sound some alarm bells inside my head regarding students with ASD and our expectations for finemotor skills.  Despite this article being written in 2009, it has some valuable information in it.  I plan on sharing this with the staff at our school.  Once statement that rang true to me as I think about UDL was:

 "Fair is not giving everyone the same thing, fair is giving people what they need."


 I am excited to try out some of the apps for students with ASD.

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Saturday 19 October 2013

Lost in a sea of Apps?

Do you find yourself lost in a sea of Apps?
Here are links to the Apps/Programs for Reluctant Readers that were presented in-class:
  • Prezi - Free - Presentation Creator
  • Word Bingo - .99 - Focuses on sight/high frequency words
  • The Land of Me - 2.99 - Storybook - You choose lead character/ending.
  • Write Reader - 6.99 - Story Creation (independent/guided/shared)
  • Hideout - Free - Focus on word Families
  • Meet Millie - Free - Interactive Pop Up Story (additional books are free)
  • Learn with Homer - Free - Cross curriculum - variety of  -activities (reading, writing, etc.)
  • Cat in The Hat - $3.99 (lite version for Free) - Interactive Storybook
  • Comics - Free -  (Books $) Graphic Novels - Adventure Books
  • Razkids - Free  (School must have site license) - Interactive Reading
  • Little Speller - .99 (Lite Version - Free) - Literacy - Making & Breaking Words
  • Mad Libs - Free - Creates funny story, focuses on parts of speech




Wishing you had an iPad in your classroom?  
Wanting more apps?


Are you a PETA (Primary Elementary Teachers Association) member?

  • If you are an NSTU member consider joining this professional association.
  • You can apply for a grant of up to $300 
  • Grant Applicaton




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Friday 18 October 2013

Reading... as easy as 1,2,3?

"Reading never just happens."
~PBS Series: Secret Life of the Brain~

 There are so many things that need to be in place to help support reading.  It is such a complex process.  I think we often take this for granted as many of us don't remember not being able to read. 

 Reading has to be explicitly taught. It is a rapid fire process made up of so many components: sounds, visual information, letter naming, letter perception, word perception, comprehension, word recognition and the list goes on.

 Reading Task Analysis

 We used Inspiration ($9.99) to make a chart to show the flow of the components of reading.

      Here is a link to a Inspiration Video tutorial.



 Making Text Accessible to All utilizing the iPad

During class we explored a variety of apps to make text accessible for all learners, below are some link and video tutorials for programs that we explored.


Text to Speech
  • Take a photo with the camera
  • Add in Readiris (limited time $4.99) 
  • Send to Claro PDF (usually $5.99 **Currently FREE)

Here is a tutorial for Readiris which was created by our professor.


If you're new to Claro PDF, here is a video overview produced by the company.






Supporting students with Learning Disabilities & Visual Impairements

NaviDys "How to" Video created by our professor.



    Symbol Support Viewer ($59.99) 
             similar to Writing with Symbols



Check out this video of a child with Dyslexia who chooses book apps over games.


Check out my review of 20 apps for reluctant readers



Name




Video link



Price

Who benefits?

Compensatory vs. Remediation



What makes it a great app?


Rainbow Sentences





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlg8o-p0z-4


7.99


Remediation

Primary – 5
SLP

·         Help supports reading/writing at the same time (grammatically correct sentences).
·         Color codes visual codes & word grouping (setting can be removed)
·         Students can record their own voice

Sentence Builder




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbBUq2lYMaM


5.99

Remediation

Primary – 5
SLP
** Two levels for junior high.
·         Supports composing grammatically correct sentences
·         3 levels of play


Story Builder




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbBUq2lYMaM


7.99


Remediation

Primary - 6


·         Supports paragraph formation, integration of ideas and imploring higher level abstractions by inference
·          Uses audio clips to support ASD or sensory processing disorders
·         3 levels of play
·         Students can record their own voice
·         Stories can be emailed
·         Photos can be imported from camera/library

Reading Comprehension: Fable Edition





.99

Remediation

Primary - 8
Grade 2 – 4 Reading Level

·         Supports reading comprehension
·         10 stories based on Aesop’s Fables
·         Comprehension quiz
·         Words can be defined or read to user
·         Font size can be resized
·         Stories can be read using  iPads Speak Selection option in Accessiblity


Reading Remedies




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amxUBrdvcrY


.99

Remediation

Primary – 5
SLP
·         Conduct assessment in rhyming, blending, segmentation, sight words, fluency, and word attack
·         Quick assessment with recommendations
·         Good for parents & teachers 

Blio



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYk7LPtDwns


Free

Compensatory

Elementary & Junior/High School
·         Features Reading Logic: zooms to next logical place
·         Bookvault: virtual library you can access from anywhere
·         Many reading features: single/dual page, speading reading view, etc.
·         Highlights words


Bob’s Books



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0SUhtLGyaY


1.99


Remediation

Elementary
·         Focuses on making connections between letters and sounds, sounding out simple words and spelling the words they’ve read
·         4 levels

ereading by Brain Integration






1.99/
book

Compensatory

Upper Elementary – Junior High
·         Focus on Gulliver’s Travels & Greek Methology
·         Audio based: words are highlighted while being read by narrator
·         Features can be adjusted on each page (word reading, highlighting, etc.)

Alpha Writer




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyIHy8LHXsE


4.99

Remediation


·         Focus on reading, writing and spelling phonetically, identifying consonants and vowels, phonograms - writing and pronunciation , letter sounds, pronunciation and composition  and how to compose, identify and spell phonetic words
·         Ability to construct own stories
·         Alpha Spy – “I Spy” feature
Word Wizard




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFV2Wv6LKFY


2.99

Remediation
·         Hear sounds with a talkable, movable alphabet
·         Multiple voices, alphabetic or Qwerty keyboard, phonics or letter name when letter is touched, magnetic grid
·         Reads all the words created as a sentence or word by word
·         Adjustable speed & tone


Learn with Homer


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTcaq9vB_ZE


Free

Remediation

Pre Primary – Grade 1
·         Teaches phonemes, starts with sounds and letters, moves to words, and then sentences
·         Focus on sight words, punctuation, blending and spelling
·         Uses fables, rhymes, poetry, folktales, songs, etc.
·         Parents can track progress, access book recommendations, or download printables using the parent website

Reading Rainbow



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P98XyrEbBw0

Free for   1 book

10.00/
mth

30.00/
6 mth

Compensatory

Elementary
·         Library of books themed according to interest
·         Books can be read aloud or user can read book independently

Starfall


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZE_52Jk1JQ


2.99

Remediation

Early Elementary
·         Focus on vowel sound
·         User can hear, touch, read and work toward mastering sound-spelling through a variety  of activities, movies, and songs

ABC Pocket Phonics



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm_-DaESwQc


2.99

Remediation

Early Elementary


·         Focus on letter sounds, first words and handwriting/letter formation
·         User is taught letter sounds and then shown how to blend them to sound out words
·         Parents/teachers can monitor progress online and receive weekly email of progress

Raz Kids



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE7Ojjs4dWg

Free



Remediation
·         Book level selected for each student by teacher
·         Tracks student progress, days since last login, parent views.
·         Highlights words & reads aloud or students can read independently & record own voice
·         Students can access from home
·         Can assign running record or quiz for comprehension

Write to Read

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaWyP8UUXXI


6.99

Remediation

Pre-Primary – Elementary


·         User can make or participate in making books and learn to read at the same time
·         Shared app with parent/teacher/peer who “translates” child’s writing
·         Books can be saved, printed, posted online or emailed
·         Vowels and consonants are framed in coloured squares
·         Record & play function for child to record voice
Reading Monster Town 1




Free

Remediation

Early Elementary

·         Focus on sentence building & structure
·         Word games with pronunciation & illustrations to help solidify spelling & meaning
·         Fiction & non-fiction
·         8 Levels

The Word Monsters




Free
(first book)

Remediation

Pre Primary – Early Elementary
·         Phonics based instruction
·         Voice over audio with highlighted text
·         Sound out words by touching
·         Speech bubbles
·         Read on your own or read to me mode
·         Teaching notes & printable activities
·         Optional supplementary instruction focusing on phonemic awareness, print concepts, reading comprehension, vocabulary, and sight words
·          

Speak It!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqODEciGHqw


1.99

Compensatory

Text-to-Speech
·         Clear, natural sounding speech
·         Copy emails, documents, web pages, PDF files, etc.
·         Create audio files that can be emailed
·         Highlights words as they are spoken
·         Adjustable font size, speech rate and volume
·         Multiple languages




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