Ira Hits it Out of the Park Again

We are living in a time of drastic paradigm shifts and revolutionary game changers. Social media (read/write web) is an invaluable game changer and allows me to access great educators throughout the world. I have learned more in the past few years because of new media and have developed a Personal/Professional Learning Network (PLN) as a result.

Ira Socol is one of the most brilliant members of my PLN and today I refer you to two of his recent blog posts filled with practical recommendations for classroom instruction change and home/school communication change.

The tools are readily available - back channel conversation tools, text-to-speech, speech recognition, Do Not Disturb signs (a personal favorite), Google Calendar, Google Docs, etc. Read how Ira recommends using these tools to promote student engagement and learning. His ideas incorporate "21st century teaching" and Universal Design for Learning to benefit all students. As always, he says it better than I ever could.

Writing Analysis

High school students are required to write essays pertaining to a variety of topics. It's one of their roles as a student. The ability to write well is a life skill. Never underestimate the importance of teaching a student to write effectively.

Unfortunately, many students with special needs fall far behind their peers with regard to written expression. Often, they are allowed to write less, or allowed to dictate to an adult scribe or receive so much support, the final product does not reflect their effort. Nevertheless, it is imperative we provide opportunities to improve independent writing skills following explicit writing instruction.

Now there is a free, online tool, called Paper Rater, which analyzes writing across five distinct categories:

• Plagiarism detection
• Spell Check
• Grammar Check
• Word Choice
• Style
• Vocabulary Builder

And not only is writing analyzed, but additionally, writing instruction is also offered. It's easy to use, no sign-up required. You copy and paste your original text, select the type of paper you are writing, agree to the Terms of Service and click "Get Report." Instantly, you receive your analysis for review.

I used the tool recently myself; I submitted an abstract for consideration to present at a national AT conference and thought it the perfect time to evaluate the use of this tool for students. The feedback it offered was intuitive to follow, yet basic, possibly a "just-right" combination for struggling writers.

Share this tool with your students. Do your own data collection. Have them submit their work prior to having Paper Rate analyze their work and then compare to what is submitted after they use the tool. Does it make a difference in the quality of the work? Does it change how they approach the writing task? Does it change student performance?
Another tool to share with your students as they build their own toolbelts for a lifetime. (Thank you, Ira Socol).

Writing Prompts May be Obstacles to Quality Writing

Writing prompts are ubiquitous in this age of high-stakes testing. The belief is if we allow students to respond to (daily) prompts, their writing will improve. But this doesn't always happen.

This morning, via a tweet from Ira Socol, I came across a post entitled The Over-Prompting of Young Writers. The excellent points made in this article may cause you to rethink your use of writing prompts. What are the unintended consequences? Do writing prompts, in fact, stifle quality writing? What do we do when students are unable to make connections to the prompt because it does not relate to their life? The author, Heather Rader states:

Some teachers tell me their students respond to a writing prompt every day. Here are a few prompts I've read student responses to:

Write about your favorite TV program.

Write about a time you wished you could fly.

You discover a magic egg. Tell the story of what happens next.

While many kids will compliantly write to these starters, their responses are often formulaic, lacking both elaboration and voice. Because for every prompt there are obstacles. Maybe seven. Maybe three. Or if you are lucky, just one, and his name might be Zachary. When Zachary tries on the prompt it doesn't fit.

What the prompt says: Write about your favorite TV program.

What Zachary says: "I don't watch TV."

What the prompt says: Write about a time you wished you could fly.

What Zachary says: "I'm afraid of heights."

What the prompt says: You discover a magic egg. Tell the story of what happens next.

What Zachary says: "I think magic eggs are stupid."

The obstacle is that one prompt doesn't fit all because kids need to make personal connections to their writing topics. (emphasis mine)

How do you deal with the Zachary's in your classroom? Read the rest of the post to learn new strategies that help you create an environment which recognizes one-size-does-not-fit-all.:

Image attribution http://www.utsa.edu/today/images/graphics/writing3.jpg

Tech Tools for Success

One of my favorite deep thinkers about all things special education, UDL and learning is Ira Socol who blogs at SpeEdChange. Ira has eloquently and persuasively advocated building the skills necessary to allow students to create personal toolbelts in his post, Toolbelt Theory for Everyone. If you haven't read it yet, you need to. Here's a sample:

The only way to allow students to assemble this essential toolbelt for information and communication is to to throw open your classroom and let the world in. How will your students know which calendar works for them - the one on their phone, Google Calendar with SMS appointment texting, Microsoft Outlook, or any of a dozen paper systems unless you allow them to try them out? How will your students know whether they 'get' a novel better by listening to an audiobook, or reading it on paper, or using text-to-speech, if you don't let them experience all repeatedly and help them decide? Will their choice be the same when they are reading history texts? Math texts? Again, how will they know? How will they know which is the best way for them to write, by hand (either on paper or on a tablet system), by keyboard (and which keyboard), or by voice, if they do not get to try out all the kinds of writing they need to do with all these tools?

They won't know. And you - the school, the teacher, the education system - will have deprived them of these essential skills.

With Toolbelt Theory in mind and thanks to a tweet from Paul Hamilton, I learned about a great post that needs to be shared. 100 Helpful Web Tools for Every Kind of Learner details specific tools according to learning style. Are you a Visual Learner? Auditory Learner? Kinesthetic Learner? Each category is covered and tools are described so that you can determine what works best for you. Most people are a combination of learning styles, so there will be a great deal of overlap.

The post is written for college students and helps them identify tools that promote their own learning success. K-12 teachers can review the list and apply the tools considering the learning styles of the students in their classrooms.

It's not an exhaustive list for teachers - for example, one of my favorites, VoiceThread, isn't listed. VoiceThread IS a tool for every kind of learner; it's great for differentiated instruction and helps kids demonstrate what they know, no matter what their strengths or areas to strengthen. But that's the difference between providing kids with tools for their toolbox and providing teachers with tools for their instructional toolbox.

And a number of other free text-to-speech (TTS) tools exist that aren't mentioned in the post. (My post Free Tech Toolkit for UDL in All Classrooms includes additional free TTS).

Keep building your own instructional toolbox and empower your students with suggestions that they will want to try. The summer is a great time to explore new possibilities to be equipped for the next school year.