Article Response : "iPads as instructional tools..."

It is not surprising that research shows, "the use of technology in teaching and learning for students with intellectual disabilities" is beneficial. There have been major advancements over the past decade, specifically in assistive technology and I agree with the authors, in that we should be incorporating technology as part of our Universal Design for Learning. We should be developing schools and classrooms built around promoting access to technology for all students (disabled or otherwise). Many of the apps we have been shown over the last week and a half would be hugely beneficial for many students, not just those with an LD. In addition, those who have learning disabilities and or difficulties would feel included in a "flexible learning environment".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3ardmq0a0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGLTJw0GSxk

The article points to the idea that, "video has improved the learning opportunities" for many disabled students. "Using video in instruction not only supported students in learning and generalizing academic skills but was also very motivating for them". While this is true, I feel it is necessary to point out that human interaction cannot be discounted. Videos are useful in teaching for dozens of reasons, but I find it hard to support the use of video for social skills. There are certain social skills that are best taught in person. No doubt that video can be meaningful and engaging for kids, but so can human contact.

The students from the study in this particular article were able to work more independently with the use of the iPad. The argument could be made that as a result of students gaining more independence teachers will have more time to develop appropriate teaching and assessment strategies. Student independence could, by proxy, allow teachers to create a better UDL in their classrooms!

July 11th - Webinar Response

WEBINAR TAKEAWAYS:

Let me begin by explaining my Pic Collage, followed by posting my notes from the webinars, followed by the top 3 apps.

The presenters explained Executive Functioning by equating it to the CEO of the brain and or the conductor of an orchestra.  They said that it is about the process of: THINKING, DECIDING and ACTING. This reminds me of a set of traffic lights. I chose the Tools4Students picture because it was one of what will be the most useful apps for my learning environment. KidsDoodle clearly represents the idea of Think, Decide Act. A concept that is crucial to social and academic survival for all kids. 

Notes from Webinars:

• iPad to enhance executive functioning
• EF > driven by frontal lobe - behaviour regulation and time management
• Set of processes (about self-management)
• CEO of brain / Conductor of orchestra
• EF dysfunction = CEO or conductor is "drunk" (GREAT analogy) - makes this easy to understand
• THINK, DECIDE, ACT = Traffic Lights
• impact of EF dysfunction = PSYCHIATRIC disorder
• any form of mental health disorders (ADHD = 100% have EF dys.)
• ADHD= display difficulties with the INHIBIT, FOCUS/SELECT and SUSTAIN and MODULATE CUES
• ODD/CD - multiple self-regulation and self-realization deficits 
• ASD = Difficulties with self-analysis/awareness and determination
• EF and School > executive  demands are MEDIATED by teacher who CUES students
• SCAFFOLDING = step-by-step approach to reduced amounts of info
• Teacher is "surrogate frontal lobe"
• demonstrating what has been learned is very hard when student is alone (ie. tests/homework etc)...
• "Production involves knowledge and the engagement of various combinations of executive capacities at various lines" - not mediated by teacher
• EF dys = disorganized and disengaged
• "inextricably woven into every person"

AREAS OF EF IMPACTING LEARNING:

THINKING:

• planning/prioritizing
• working memory
• time mngmnt
• organiztn
• metacog (thinking about thinking

DOING:

• response inhibition
• emotional control
• sustained attention
• task initiation
• adaptability

TOP APPS:

1) Tools4Students - 25 ready made graphic organizers

2) Take a Chill - grounding yourself before beginning a task

3) iRewards Chart - excellent for Autistic/ADHD kids. 

Thurs July 10th

Response to Article: "Learning from Text..."  (Edyburn)

The article points out that "Learning to read is a developmental milestone celebrated by hundreds of thousands of young children every school year" (p.16) The author makes a point of saying that it is "incomprehensible" for literate readers to imagine what a struggling reader must endure. It is a "milestone" many of us take for granted. I for one, hadn't thought of struggling readers as people with an "eroded self-concept". There is a shift that takes place in learning around fourth grade. We transition from learning to read to reading to learn. Children who have not learned how to read by grade 3 or 4 will undoubtedly have difficulty in almost all subject areas.

The statistic that "80% of students with learning disabilities receive services for a reading disability" is shocking. The article mentions that many different labels are used to describe students. This both disheartens me and makes me nervous. All too often we label the student instead of the disability. Teachers, students, parents and specialists often believe that reading difficulties are irreversible. I believe that with appropriate and timely intervention some reading difficulties can be reversed. The shift in terminology from the word disability to difficulty is encouraging. The term difficulty has fewer detrimental side effects.

"Accountability climate" is not a term I'd heard prior to reading this article but it is certainly one that captures the teaching/learning environment today. There has been a major educational shift over the last few decades which has led to the "No Child Left Behind Act". Educators are transforming their way of thinking from teaching the kids who "want to be there" to "teaching kids to want to be there". We are in an age where we can more easily identify struggling students. In addition, affordable and accessible assistive technology is on the rise. These two elements combines is making education for accessible for all!

Weds. July 9th - "The Myth of Average" - film response

NOTES

• "What good is tech best technology if you can't reach the best instruments of the world?"
• designing to fit the average
• no such thing as an "average" pilot
• "jagged size profile" - no one is the same on every dimension
• BAN THE AVERAGE
• "deign to the edges" of the pilots
• flexible cockpit (classroom)
• adjustable seat - diverse pilots
• designing textbooks and learning environments for the "average" student
• varying dimensions of learning
• jagged learning profile
• nurture individual potential
• average hurts everyone
• design on average destroys talent > leads to boredom/dropouts > also makes it hard to identify (ie. Science whiz who struggles with reading)
• technology allows us to do more than average
• education has gone digital
• tech is already here - what do we want it to be
• using tech to create FLEXIBLE learning environments
• language translation
• simple solutions with HUGE impacts
• new digital science curriculum
• performance improvement through tech
• formula for success from the Air Force

MY ADJUSTABLE SEAT

I teach multiple courses to multiple grades at the same time, so my entire approach to teaching and learning is an "adjustable seat". I have to gear my lessons toward a wide variety of learning styles, age levels and content, all the while ensuring I am meeting outcomes at different grade levels. Next year I will be teaching a combined 6,7,8,9 Health class. I have been working on a plan of attack for how to approach this but am open to suggestions ;) My idea of what works and what doesn't work in classroom is everchanging. Just when I think I have it all figured out, I am thrown a curveball. I suppose a major component to education is that it should be ever-changing and evolving.

TAKEAWAYS: 

July 9th - Reading Task Analysis

Breaking down the reading process is a daunting task. In doing this activity I discovered that the reading process for an "average" reader would be far different than the reading process for a student with a reading disability.

• Engage attention to task
• Phonology (auditory processing) - Breaking down specific sounds by deciphering the alphabet and then "chunking" these sounds into syllables. Turning syllables into words and words into sentences etc.
• Visual Processing (Orthography)
• Semantics (understanding) - Relating what is read to a certain schema

Weds. July 9th App Smash Presentations

Prior to doing this project and hearing the class presentations, I had little to know understanding of most of the definitions. The App Smash Presentations were incredibly informing, both on the specific definitions we were asked to define and on the apps that were used to present the information. After seeing the presentations, I of course reflected on our own project and feel it would have been a good idea to include more examples in the presentation.

Ashley and Ainsley's (apologies for any misspellings), project used terrific examples. The lens through which they did their presentation was fun and informative. Many of the apps used by presenters (save the Google and Camera apps) were apps I had never used and or even heard of.

As mentioned during our presentation today, I am the Resource teacher for our school. Scheduling in a small school with a teaching staff of 6 and a half people, can be a logistical nightmare and I have had to take on a Resource role. Working one on one with students who struggle has been both a test of my patience and incredibly rewarding by times. I have an ongoing list of specific apps that I plan on using with specific kids. Technology is an excellent way to engage learners and facilitate learning.

Tuesday July 8th

Response to Article: The Education of Dyslexic Children from Childhood to Young Adulthood - S.E Shaywitz, Morris and B.A Shaywitz

The authors start by saying, "For good readers, gaining meaning from print quickly and effortlessly, like breathing and speaking, is a natural part of life" (p.452). Although I certainly fall into this category, the statement makes me think about dyslexia (and other reading disabilities) in the same regard as any other disability. Those of us with full use of both our legs find it impossible to imagine the struggles a person in a wheelchair must face. Thinking about reading disabilities from this perspective makes me slightly more empathetic. If nothing else, it gives me new insight into the complicated world that is reading/learning disabilities.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugFIHHom1NU