Blog Post #16

Would I change my school?
THEN
I want to teach in an elementary school, teaching grades one through fourth. I would prefer to use a student oriented way of teaching. The students will learn from each other as well as me. This type of learning is based on building relationships with peers and learning the material. I want my students to think for themselves but have enough direction from me to know how to do that.

There are four things that I wanted my students to know. I want them to know that they will not and cannot know everything. Technology is constantly changing. They should know how to adapt. They have the ability to teach themselves. And lastly, I am there to teach them how to be better learners and thinkers. I will never tell them they are learning or thinking wrong.

There are three things that I wanted my students to be able to do. Be able to think with an open and thoughtful mind. They should be technologically literate. And they can teach me something that maybe I didn't know how to do before them.

My primary way of teaching will be student oriented. I want my students to build good communication skills while learning the material. I will show them to an extent how to do something, but I expect that they finish it and excel in whatever they are learning at the time. It is not my job to do anything for them. It is their job to learn. I am only there to show them how. I would use a class blog to keep up with current work of students.

NOW
At the beginning of the semester, I claimed to use the tools such as the SmartBoard, iPad, and class blogging. Now, I would use podcasting in my classroom as a project based learning technique. I created lesson plans that involved students getting creative and using podcasting as a way to gain an audience for their work. I think elementary aged children, especially third grade, would love to really do that. My classroom would be set up in pods, small groups of students seated together. This will enhance student-to-student communication.

I would still use a class blog. After reading and responding to all the C4K’s this semester, I believe that students will benefit from blogging. Many students connect through technology better than through pen and paper. It is, after all, what they know best. Blogging will help students with their writing skills, their communication skills, critical thinking skills, and sometimes collaboration skills. These aren’t really changes to my original methods. I simply learned how to use my methods in a more beneficial way to me and my students.

My Final Reflection

Blog Post #15

Assistive Technology in the Classroom; A Collaborative Post by Dufy
Touch Screens for Students with Autism
To know what assistive technology is available to you as a teacher, you must first know what it is. Assistive technology is any piece of technology that helps students learn with a disability. As elementary teachers, we will come into contact with students with disabilities that are just learning how to learn with that said disability. One newer form of technology is the touch screen on many computers and tablets. This is an extremely useful assistive technology for students with autism. Students with autism may struggle to grasp the concept between the mouse and the actions on the screen. When they are able to use their finger on the screen as a guide, they learn more easily. A great website with a few tips on how to use assistive technology for autism is SpecialEd. -Michelle Detar

Tools for Students with Sight and Reading Disabilities
Teaching students will always be a challenge. One of the more difficult things to do is teach students with learning disabilities. Learning disabilities can affect every aspect of learning, like writing, reading and math. There are many assistive tools that can help make these disorders a little easier to manage. Braille embossers convert text into Braille output. This tool allows teachers to convert things into Braille for better assistance with blind students. There is also software tools designed to make text-based materials more accessible to assist students with reading disabilities. Options can include scanning, reformatting, navigating, or speaking text out loud; this is a very good tool for students who have problems seeing or maneuvering print material. Prufrock Press is a word prediction program that requires a few keystrokes to generate word lists. This can help students with dyslexia or dysgraphia that has severe spelling problems, which do not benefit from spell-checkers.-Demetrius Hamner
Sources:
Yale University
Microsoft Tools

Tools for English Language Learners
There are several ways to accommodate children with disabilities in your classroom. A great form of Assistive technology would be a program called “Read and Write Gold”. This program allows students to do several things to help them with their education. One feature this program allows you to do is convert speech to text. This program also allows you to translate foreign languages to English, if your student happens to be an English language learner. This can be easily downloaded to a Mac, PC, iPad, or tablet, so it can usually be easily accessed in your classroom. We would use this program for any student that could benefit from it and We believe it would be rather useful. For more information and uses of Read and Write Gold, visit TextHelp.-Miriah Grantham