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:
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:
- Dexteria - $3.99
- Dexteria Jr. - $2.99
- Bugs and Buttons - $2.99
- Co-Writer - $17.99
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:
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)
- Clicker 6
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.
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.
You are so right in that fair is not the same for everyone; it is giving them the tools they need to be brought up to the same level as others. These are different tools and different strategies.
ReplyDeleteStephanie