Monday, February 25, 2008

The Power of Voice

The ability to communicate with others is something that many of us take for granted.

But, there are students in our public schools who are unable to communicate using their voice, students who are non-verbal and unable to use traditional communication methods. Are there students in your district who depend upon alternative methods to communicate with their peers or teachers?

Watch these two videos that demonstrate the power of voice using technology. The first video was on ABC News and profiles a 13 year old girl who is autistic. It appears that she is using a laptop computer with WordQ, word prediction software which also offers text-to-speech. Even her father was astonished when she demonstrated her skills using technology. She was now able to read, write, spell and articulate her feelings!

How often are we selling our students short? How often are we presuming capabilities far below what our student's actually possess?

I learned about the second video from Kate Ahern's blog. Watch "My Power is My Voice" here:


For additional videos, go to the Assistiveware website to view effective augmentative communication device use by individuals of all ages.

Monday, February 18, 2008

"Just Give Him the Whale!"


Love the concept behind this book for educators who work with students who fall on the autism spectrum. How often we try to usurp what a student finds comforting - typically trains (Thomas anyone?), trucks, dinosaurs or any other "fascination."

Now there's a book which suggests we view these fascinations in a new, constructive way. Here's a blurb about "Just Give Him the Whale!"

When learners with autism have deep, consuming fascinations—trains, triangles, basketballs, whales—teachers often wonder what to do. This concise, highly practical guidebook gives educators across grade levels a powerful new way to think about students' "obsessions": as positive teaching tools that calm, motivate, and improve learning.

Written by top autism experts and nationally renowned speakers Paula Kluth and Patrick Schwarz, this guide is brimming with easy tips and strategies for folding students' special interests, strengths, and areas of expertise into classroom lessons and routines. Teachers will discover how making the most of fascinations can help their students

  • learn standards-based academic content

  • boost literacy learning and mathematics skills

  • develop social connections

  • expand communication skills

  • minimize anxiety

  • and much more

Just Give Him the Whale! is packed from start to finish with unforgettable stories based on the authors' experience, firsthand perspectives from people with autism themselves, research-based recommendations that are easy to use right away, and sample forms teachers can adapt for use in their own classrooms. An enjoyable read with an eye-opening message, this short book will have a long-lasting impact on teachers' understanding of autism—and on their students' social and academic success.

Books that help me to see things in new ways, that challenge accepted wisdom, are always intriguing. I will add this one to my library. How about you?

Friday, February 15, 2008

Awards for Graduating Seniors with LDs

Noticed this one in my email and want to pass it along. Spread the word.

Nominate one of your graduating seniors who is an RFB & D member identified with learning disabilities - Deadline is March 3, 2008.

The Marion Huber Learning Through Listening Awards are presented to RFB&D members who are high school seniors with learning disabilities, in recognition of extraordinary leadership, scholarship, enterprise and service to others.

Offered since 1991, the awards are given to six students who are chosen by a selection committee. RFB&D presents the three top winners $6,000 each and three special honors Winners $2,000 each.

For the purposes of this award, a learning disability is defined as a neurological disorder that affects a person's ability to receive, process, store, and/or respond to information, and which affects the person's ability to read standard print.

Applicants must meet all of the following eligibility criteria:

  • Have a specific learning disability (please note visual impairment alone does not indicate eligibility for this award)
  • Have been registered as an RFB&D member for at least one year, up to and including the period of March 3, 2007 - March 3, 2008 (individually or through a school)
  • Be a member of the 2008 graduating class of a public or private school or home school in the United States or its territories, including US military installations
  • Have an overall grade average of B or above (or equivalent), based on grades 10 through 12
  • Plan to continue formal education beyond high school at either a two- or four-year college or vocational school.


Thursday, February 14, 2008

Free Professional Development - A Starting Place

Being an educator in 2008 requires using a different set of skills, tools and strategies than used even ten years ago. Many have blogged about the paradigm shift required to reach/teach/promote learning with the current generation of students in our classrooms.

We know how crucial professional development is to ensure effective (seamless) technology integration. Hardware availability alone has never produced the results promised.

So, where to begin? How do we promote effective technology integration in an age where some teachers continue to resist change? Crafting your own PD plan is a great place to start, a plan that you control. This post is the first of a two part series that will serve as a starting place for "just-in-time," FREE professional development.

Check out these resources:

Online journals:

1. Edutopia - Published by the George Lucas Foundation
2. Learning & Leading with Technology - Published by ISTE, preview the current article, or search the archives
3. eSchool News - Technology News for Today's K-20 educator
4. T.H.E Journal Online - Technology Horizon's in Education
5. Technology and Learning -
6. From Now On - Jamie McKenzie's Publication

Online Resources for Web 2.0 Newbies (Learn from two of the best Media Specialists)

1. Connected Libraries Wiki - Carolyn Foote's excellent resource wiki for all things Education 2.0
2. New Tools for Learning Wiki - Joyce Valenza's excellent resource wiki for all things Education 2.0
(This list is intentionally short so as not to overwhelm you).

Within each link, are numerous additional resources that will inspire you to reflect on your own educational practices and think about what best practice looks like in your classroom. Explore, ponder, reflect. Choose one or two tools that you have never used which support learning with your students. Model lifelong learning for your students. Isn't that why you chose to become a teacher in the first place?

Additional resources welcome.

Saturday, February 09, 2008

Promoting Student Success

I had another one of those conversations with a teacher the other day. You know the one, where they say the student just sat in front of the computer for 45 minutes and produced a five word sentence. The student is used to dictating to a scribe because output is an issue for him (legibility issues, organizational issues, etc.) He has been dictating to a scribe for five years now. The teacher wanted to help the student increase their output. But how?

How does this occur when a student has relied on a scribe for years? How do we move a student from dependence to independence? How do we help improve a student's output in the face of "learned helplessness?"

Suggested strategy:

1. Recognize that the way we improve our writing is to write. About anything. Preferably of interest.

2. Identify topics of interest to the student. Sit down with them and list everything that interests them - TV programs, music, movies, hobbies, things they text or IM about, clubs they belong to at school, what they do with their free time away from school, favorite anythings. (You get the drill).

3. Let the student decide the top three choices that are of interest to them. Rank them in order - 1, 2. 3.

4. Brainstorm writing ideas considering the top three areas of interest. Narratives are easiest to start with. But together come up with anything you can that will motivate your student(s) to write about their preferred topics. Tap into the reality that we learn best that which we enjoy (The Neuroscience of Joyful Education). Use various comic strip creator tools. Detail everything you can about the preferred topic to someone who is visiting from another planet and has no idea about what interests you, the student. The possibilities are endless.

5. Allow the student to use their preferred method of output - paper/pencil, word processor, speech recognition, even consider alternating with the "Power of Voice" - use sound recorders built into Word or Powerpoint, create a Podcast, use Jott, etc.

6. At this point, do not worry about the mechanics of the product. Just encourage and promote student success. And if you worry that this doesn't align with the curriculum frameworks, compare what the student produced independently before (a five word sentence in 45 minutes) to what they are producing today after you have decided to step back and allow your student to work with preferred subject material.

Other thoughts that have worked for you?