Excited to share about an epic adventure the four co-authors of Inclusive Learning 365 have planned. It's always an experience attending #ISTE, one of our favorite conferences. So we had to be a force for inclusive learning and design and have planned a road trip from TextHelp Headquarters in Woburn, MA all the way to New Orleans for #ISTE.
To learn more, check this out.
#ISTElive #InclusiveRoadToISTE #EdTech #inclusivedesign #educationalleadership
We are excited to announce that we (the four co-authors of Inclusive Learning 365: EdTech Strategies for Every Day of the Year) are going on a ROAD TRIP!
We want to spread the gospel of Inclusive Learning to educators everywhere. What better way than to have an epic adventure with my besties on a road trip from Boston to the #ISTE22 conference in New Orleans at the end of June!
Stay tuned for more info. There's lots to share and look for more information this next week.
In the meantime, check out the website and the details here.
365 Inclusive Learning Strategies to Help Every Child @coolcatteacher
You've heard this issue before. A parent is frantically trying to help their child receive the assistive (inclusive) technologies they need to independently access content or demonstrate their learning. But there is pushback....
I won't bore you with the details of the denial of the tools or the pushback. Instead, let me share with you how resourceful and resilient the student was.
The student needed access to an accessible version of the book the class was reading to bypass her reading decoding and fluency challenges. She searched on her own and found the book on YouTube with human narration and discovered Closed Captioning on her own to follow along with the audio supports!
She was thrilled to share this discovery with her mother who shared the strategy with me, an excellent approach that allowed her to participate in class discussions and have independent access to the book.
I've written about turning on closed captioning in videos in a previous blog post. How fantastic when a learner discovers that strategy on their own and uses it to bypass their learning challenges! What an incredibly resourceful learner whose initiative should be applauded and encouraged!
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| Example of customized Closed Captioning |
Check out how to turn on and customize closed caption/subtitles in YouTube.
Do you have stories to share about learners who thrill you with their creativity and ingenuity despite the presence of obstacles and learner variabilities? Please share in the comments.
As we teach the significant work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, it is essential to provide resources that support all learners. CommonLit, a free digital tool, offers a variety of inclusive instructional materials to commemorate his important contributions to society. It includes the following embedded scaffolded supports:
With this in mind, we have organized the first annual Technology for Specific Learning Disabilities (TSLD) conference which will be held August 26th at the Four Points Sheraton in Wakefield, MA (just north of Boston). The audience is innovative educators or those who would like to think outside the box to reach every learner. We hope to see many General Educators, Special Educators, OTs, SLPs, AT Specialists, Innovation Specialists, and Instructional Technology Specialists attend the event.Specific learning disability means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.Disorders not included. Specific learning disability does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of intellectual disability, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.
My kid is different than your kid.
He is sixteen; smart, self-aware, kind, funny, loves his friends, loves the Yankees, loves Broadway even more…. and Apple products even more than that.
He’s also in a big electric wheelchair. He can’t speak words, and instead he talks using an app on his iPad. He loves big rare steaks but needs help to eat them. When he goes on a date, someone has to accompany him. And, of course, he needs to deal with the big psychological impact of all that – which he does with amazing grace.
He’s a wonder.
But not everyone sees that. Instead, teachers are often stopped short by the more obvious manifestations of his disabilities. They don’t see his challenges; they see their own.and this:
...It’s not the kids that are disabled; it’s the educational system. But maybe what’s broken isn’t the process, but the belief system: the one that is incapable of processing information like that in this chapter: the one that reacts instinctively to the notion of UDL or inclusion with a tingle in the gut that says, “Hey. I need to be honest with myself. These kids can’t really cut it. And I don’t want to fail…. so how do I change what I teach… not how I teach.”
How do you change a belief system? What parts of the brain do that?Read the rest of his words and challenge yourself to be that educator who recognizes the challenges of your students, and not your own. Who implements instructional methods that reach all learners, no matter their variability. Who starts with the belief system that every student can learn.
Have you ever heard teachers (or parents) disparagingly call the use of assistive technology a crutch?
