Course Wrap Up

     I have learned a lot this semester about how to use technology in the classroom.  I did not realize just how much technology can help not only in the general education classroom, but in the special education classroom as well.  I think that all teachers should utilize technology because in the long run, their students will really benefit from it and learn even more than they would have with out technology.  I feel that a lot of the activities we did with technology in class can be used in my future classroom and help make my students more engaged in learning.
     I think that one activity I would consider doing is making a webquest for my my students.  While I had a very difficult time completing the webquest activity, I think if it was done differently and made for children to understand, that it could be a great tool in the classroom.  Especially if students are working together it could be great because children who excel in school can help those who are having difficulties.  Webquests give children a chance to look up the answers in another medium besides a textbook.  Using the computer can make students more interested in the content and enjoy learning.
     I think that many of the assignments we completed in class are fabulous, and I definitely will consider using them when I have my own classroom.  Technology is a wonderful thing and should be utilized fully by teachers.  I think that by using technology, the students will be more involved in their learning, and by being more involved, they may even do better. 

Social Stories

     Many articles we have read this week have read this week have given examples of and implementations of social stories.  Polyxo.com stated "social stories provide an individual with accurate information about those situations that he may find difficult or confusing."  This statement actually tells the reader what social stories are.  Social stories as well as digital social stories are used to help students with disabilities understand different aspects of education that they may have difficulties understanding.  Social stories must be accurate to what you are trying to convey to a the students.  For example, if you are trying to teach your students how to properly take a test, I would not use something fictional like monsters in my example because that would be incorrect and possibly cause confusion to students.
     According to Cartledge,"Teachers must learn about diverse cultures, avoid stereotyping, and talk to families to learn about values and cultural practices".  This shows the reader how important it is for teachers to consider the history of each student and that we should not assume that all students will be interested in the same thing.  For example, I cannot have a social story about eating dinner and say that you must say grace before you eat.  This is because not all families say grace before dinner, and not all families even eat dinner at the same time together.  By talking to each family about their daily life, it would be easier to create a social story that all of the students can relate to.  
     Social stories can be very beneficial to students because they can help students understand how to handle certain situations.  Digital stories can be beneficial as well because they can give students a visual depiction of how to behave in different social situations.  Social stories I feel should be done in a way that can make students better understand the social situation.  If a social story is only related to one student, then it doesn't help any other students.  

Using MS Publisher and Sign Up Genius

    I really liked using Microsoft Publisher.  I have used it before for projects back in middle school and high school so it was not a completely foreign program to me, but since there have been updates to the program since then, the layout of the program was slightly different.  I really liked using Publisher for the newsletter.  I feel that this program is a wonderful tool for teachers.  I would be very interested in using it for newsletters for my future classroom.  I think that monthly or weekly newsletters are a wonderful idea because it can help teachers keep the parents involved in what is going on in the classroom.
     I also really liked Sign Up Genius.  I think that it was so easy to use and it prompted you every step of the way to make the process easy.  I thought it was cute that there were different layouts to choose from because it made the page look fun and exciting.  I would definitely consider using this in my future classroom because it is easier than printing out 20-30 copies of sign up sheets to hand out to parents.  I think that this website is a wonderful idea!

Blogs Worth Looking At

     I have looked at quite a few blogs on special education and and assistive technology, and have found four blogs that are very informative and helpful to future teachers or even teachers who have been educating children for many years.  
  The first blog that I decided to follow is called "Special Education" by Jerry Webster.  Webster blogs about numerous techniques for teaching individuals with special needs from his book titled Teach Like a Champion.  His blog is current, which I like a lot because it shows that he cares about the blog and wants to inform people.  In one of his posts, he talks about a program called Best Buddies in which young people with intellectual disabilities and developmental disabilities are paired with a member of a community of varying ages and they do things together.  I think that this program is a fabulous way to help people with special needs make new friends and work on social skills.  I also know that there is a Best Buddies chapter at Buffalo State, which I think is a wonderful way for students, especially Exceptional Education majors to get experience working with people with disabilities.
   The second blog i followed is called the "Assistive Technology Blog".  This blog discusses different ways people with disabilities can function well in society using different types of technology such as voice recognition software, or subtitles on Netflix.  One point in the blog that I found interesting was that there are now elevators with voice recognition so that people who have visual impairments are able to say the number of the floor that they desire to go to instead of having to search for the correct button to press.  Also, there is a system in these elevators that can detect wheelchairs (when 30 CM away from the sensor).  When the sensor detects the wheelchair, voice recognition is detected and the person can say what floor they want to go to so they will not have to struggle to reach high buttons.
   Another blog I followed is called "Reality 101:CEC's Blog For New Teachers".  I chose this blog because as soon as I saw that it was written by the Council for Exceptional Children, I knew that it would be an informative blog.  I found it interesting that they talked about diigo.com, a bookmarking website that helps people  save websites that are useful to them.  I thought that it was funny that they talked about this and so did we in class.
   The last blog that I followed was another assistive technology blog also called "Assistive Technology Blog".  This blog talks about many different types of assistive technology that people can use.  One of the posts on this blog discusses something called reference cards.  These cards are small enough to fit in a pocket or purse/wallet, and contain different cues, symbols, and devices that can be used in the classroom.  I thought this was interesting because it is a good way for teachers to have a reference on how to better assist students with special needs.
   These blogs are very interesting, and I feel that they are good resources to help one learn more about special education and assistive technology.  I definitely think that I will look more at these blogs and hopefully I will learn even more about how to better teach individuals with special needs.

Adaptive and Assistive Technology

     


     I learned so much about adaptive and assistve technology for students with disabilities this week.  I didn't realize all of the different tools that were out there to help not only children, but adults with disabilities as well.  Adaptive and assistive technology not only helps those with learning disabilities, but it also helps those who have disabilities that make it difficult to communicate with others such as hearing, sight, and verbalization impairments.  I also learned a lot about different laws regarding technology in education.  I knew the basics of some of these laws, but I didn't realize that schools are required to supply students with assistive technology if the student truly needs it.  I think that it is very important for people to understand the rights that their children have when it comes to assistive technology because it could greatly benefit their child.
     One item that I learned about that I found very interesting was the laser pointer augmentative board.  A person who is unable to speak or does not speak clearly can use a laser to point to letters on this board and spell out what they want to say as well as have certain spots with frequently used words that they can point to.  This can help a student greatly with their communication skills because they would be able to talk to their peers and teachers.  It also could improve their academics because they would be able to participate in class and become more involved.  This would help their families because they would be able to communicate with each other which is very important to families.  Adaptive and assistive technology is a very important part of special education that greatly impacts the lives of students, and I am very glad that I learned about it.
     Adaptive and assistive technology make it possible for students with disabilities to learn with their peers and not feel different than everyone else.  They can join in on class discussions, and do their assignments easier with the aide of technology.  I feel that Adaptive and assistive technology are a great resource for students with disabilities.  Many of the tools are expensive, but there are others that are low cost and just as useful.

Webquest

I truthfully was not a fan of the webquest assignment.  I think that the idea of a webquest is promising and could be very useful in the classroom, however this webquest in my opinion was very difficult to understand and I feel that because I had trouble understanding,  I did not do a good job on the assignment.  I did like that there was a very detailed rubric with specific things to look for while grading, and I also liked that there were links in the webquest, however the rest of it I did not like very much.  The questions were worded poorly and I feel that the expectations were unclear.  While I was very confused, I did do the assignment, and I tried my best.

Google Docs

     I really liked using google docs for this week's assignment.  I think that it is really cool that multiple people can write on the same document and share information that way.  The first time I looked at my team's google doc, I noticed in the corner that it said someone else was online looking at the doc, and I could see everything that they were typing.  I thought that it was so cool.  I also really like that it auto saves every couple of seconds.  I am the type of person who will click the save button every 20 seconds, and it was really nice not having to do that during this assignment.
     I think that using google docs would be a great tool for the classroom.  I was unsure about it at first just because it was all really new to me, and I never tried it before, but after using it, I can definitely see how it would be beneficial in a classroom.  Students could use it to work on research projects together, or just talk to each other in general.  A teacher could even make their own google doc for the whole class for if students have questions, that way everyone can see the question and answer which would benefit everyone.