Instructify

BY JASON DON FORSYTHE

This particular item comes from a teacher in my daughter’s elementary school and it’s an excellent resource for reading comprehension and literacy. Tar Heel Reader is a free online repository of downloadable books. File formats vary somewhat but they’re all mainstream file types so there shouldn’t be any compatibility issues.

These books are also fully compatible with augmentative communication devices so this resource is much more valuable if you are working with mobility-impaired students, as reading tools are often hard to come by or there is a great lack of variety.

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BY BILL FERRIS

Google, apparently fed-up with the stereotype of programmers being a bunch of pasty white dudes, is trying to open up the computer science field to women, minorities, and special-needs students with a series of scholarships. These $10,000 scholarships will go to qualifying students who intend to pursue computer science in college.

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BY LISA HERVEY

Many K-12 teachers are very interested in and/or are already effectively leveraging free Web 2.0 tools and other forms of media (audio/video) in their classrooms. This reality was especially evident to me this summer as I worked with teachers from all over the country at The New Literacies Teacher Leader Institute, a week-long professional development institute that focused on new literacies and associated Web 2.0 tools and multimedia.

Several of the teachers attending the institute work with student populations such as English as a Second Language (ESL), Hearing Impaired (HI) and Visually Impaired (VI). Many of the internet-based tools and applications available to teachers are certainly wonderful, but may immediately marginalize these same students. Tools that use English in text or audio may not be accessible to an ESL student. Videos and podcasts may prove difficult for students with hearing impairments. Engaging with tools or media that have small fonts and or images may be untenable for visually impaired students.

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BY GRETCHEN SCHAEFER

For people with a vision disability, technology can be invaluable. From screen-reading programs to the general accessibility features in an operating system, technology has narrowed the divide in ways that previous generations may not have imagined. However, getting quality books in hand can still be a challenge. Instead of sending cases of cassettes or CDs, or enlarged (and often abridged) books by mail, technology has enabled instant access to books via the web.  Bookshare is an online library that provides immediate access to a huge library of books available in multiple formats for people with vision disabilities.

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Unless you were living under a rock (like Mr. Snail over there), you’ve probably heard about the recent federal stimulus package. You’ve probably also heard that some of that money will be for schools and education. Now that the legislation has passed, and been signed by President Obama, you may wonder, oh reader, what does this mean for me?

This handy dandy link (provided to the writer by Larry Ferlazzo), breaks down the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) estimates of how much money will go to each school district. Hint, the money is only for Title 1 and IDEA (Special Education). Happy spending! -ALICE MERCER

Photo credit: jciv on Flickr.

I’ve been trying to learn to draw faces since I was a kid, but I’ve never quite had the knack. Then again, I have never had an anatomy lesson either. Artnatomia is just the type of resource that is perfect for budding artists and anyone who has an interest in understanding the anatomy of the human face. Not only that, its developer boasts the application’s uses for worlds of psychology, in that it can help to understand emotions more accurately. He also notes that it can be valuable for anyone else from dermatologists to actors.

I can believe it, too, as the tool is an in-depth exploration into every muscle in the human face. You’ll never think of your mug in the same way again once you see how many muscles move to create any given facial expression. Each set of muscles listed has information available for the etymology, situation (area of the face), shape, actions, and expression. It’s a helpful tool when it comes to drawing and sketching, as it also allows you to choose the transparency of the muscular and skeletal structures. This could be a great way for your students to learn about the anatomy of the face, while learning which muscles are necessary to make certain facial expressions. More importantly, this could be a helpful tool in understanding emotions in expression in order to find better ways to teach special needs students, such as those who struggle with autism. -JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

Artnatomia

I have been using VoiceThread a lot this year with my students. VoiceThread is a great online tool that lets you link or upload pictures, add video, and audio narration, and leave text comments and “doodles.” Many folks end up using it like PowerPoint for final projects, but I like to use it for concept development from the start of a thematic unit. I’m going to go through the steps I used in one Voice Thread as an example. Are we ready campers?

This is an important part of vocabulary and language development, critical when you are working with English Language Learners, or students with a learning disability. We’ve all used K-W-L (Know, What I want to know, what we Learned) charts. VoiceThread is a great way to make them interactive and visual.

The VoiceThread was for a unit on friendship. Since I have a large number of English language learners, starting with the visual is the best approach. Even if they don’t have the vocabulary, they know what friendship looks like. I started by locating Creative-Commons-licensed pictures on flickr with the word “friend” in the title or the tags. I then shared the pictures with the class by showing them on the digital projector, and had them help pick out the pictures they thought showed friendship. In addition to letting them show what they knew about friendship without reading or writing, their choices also let them express their creativity.

These were the first photos I added to the VoiceThread. The important thing is to get the URL for the photo (you can do this by right clicking on the picture in your browser and selecting “copy image location”). The tool in VoiceThread to add flickr photos will only access your photos, not pictures posted by others.

Next, I had students “show” what friendship looked like. This is an important part of vocabulary development because it lets students show what they know, AND it helps them create examples for others to view. Acting out is great way for both language learners and students with social/emotional issues to show what they know, and to practice appropriate social behavior. You can upload pictures to VoiceThread from your computer or memory stick.

This is where I have students add their voices. I had students tell me what people were saying in the pictures showing friendship. This is oral language practice for the students, and another way to show what they know about social skills.

Next, we’re ready to work with words. This should be at least a little ways into the unit to get the most interesting questions. For primary, I have them come up with oral questions they have about the concept, and I type it into a PowerPoint in front of the class. You can upload a PowerPoint slideshow directly into VoiceThread, just like you can with a regular picture.

You should be far enough into the unit that they will be able to provide some answers to the questions. This is where students can perform higher-order and deeper thinking. I usually do this by calling the students back in pairs or triads, and asking them to pick a question to answer. I have them go through their answers one time before I hit “record.” They then record their thoughts into the VoiceThread, showing what they’ve learned. All during the process, I have students checking to see new things that are being adding to the VoiceThread, so they can see it building. Voila, your K-W-L is done. -ALICE MERCER

Photo credit: Mii Friends from natliej’s on Flickr

Like Joseph Heller once said, “Every writer I know has trouble writing.” Writing doesn’t come easy, and I’m not just talking about writer’s block. But it’s one of those fundamental skills that every student should grasp. Sometimes, though, as a teacher, it takes a little more work and some fresh strategies to help your students become better writers.

The Writing Teacher is a blog maintained by the the creators of eFolio and written for teachers by teachers, writing experts and academics dedicated to improving students’ writing skills and encouraging students to write more. It’s a great resource for teachers because it not only provides tips for improving in-class writing exercises and generally teaching writing, it also discusses modern theories on writing and education. In addition, they have a great interview posted about how to teach writing in a diverse classroom that includes students with disabilities.

You can also check out their Events section to find upcoming writing workshops, conventions and webcasts. The blog seems to be a fairly new project, so add it to your RSS feed to check out the new content they’re producing, or contact them to share your own knowledge and experiences! — LAUREN FROHNE

The Writing Teacher

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Hot tips for even hotter news writing

Use your apostrphe’s correctly: The Apostrophe Protection Society

Kurt Vonnegut shows students how to write with style

The Internet can be an overwhelming place for children, and can prove especially frustrating for those with autism. But these children can benefit just as much, if not more, from educational computer games and activities, as long as these resources are presented with their special needs in mind.

The ZAC (Zone for Autistic Children) browser is the first web browser developed specifically for children with autism and autism-related spectrum disorders like Asperger syndrome, pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), and PDD-NOS. It’s a free, downloadable program that basically takes over your computer, removing other distractions and controls, and simplifies the web, so children can focus and you can feel safe about the content they can access. The browser lets children interact with a diverse, hand-picked selection of games and activities from public Web sites that cater specifically to kids who display the characteristics of autism (impairments in social interaction and communication, restricted interests and repetitive behavior).

ZAC also offers a community forum for parents, caretakers, and teachers to share experiences and resources, as well as informative newsletters that you can subscribe to. The Internet can be a great resource for autistic children, and ZAC ensures that they can get the most out of it! — LAUREN FROHNE

ZAC Browser

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Check out these differentiated instruction resources

Ultimate Guide to Special Needs Teaching

With IDEA, kids with an IEP (which qualifies them for special education services) aren’t relegated to the classroom at the far end of the yard. Many are in classrooms like yours and mine. Yeah, I took a class in “mainstreaming,” but I can always use some new ideas and resources. Here is a quick list of resources for all educators that will help you with all your students.

This post is about resources for differentiating instruction. I recently attended a session on this topic at NECC done by Bill Dolton. He began with the question, is differentiation about having individual lessons for each student? I share this because the answer was, “no.” Many teachers think they will have to have to do individual lesson plans, which is not possible with 30+ students in a class. Instead it’s about giving students some choices, and this term wasn’t used, but scaffolding (which technology can be great for). As he puts it, the goal of DI is not to”cure” or resolve student learning differences, but to harness or cultivate them.

Mr. Dalton has a wiki (an editable Webpage) chock full of resources. The nice part is that these resources are not just a hot list of sites, but articles on how and why to differentiate. Most are in friendly, easy to understand language (e.g., lots of pieces are from Edutopia).

I will also take this opportunity to share a series of posts that Mathew Needleman wrote on the how, why, and when of differentiation. -ALICE MERCER

Tech4D.I. » home

NECC 2008 Reflections from Sessions on Day 1 | The Blog of Ms. Mercer

You may already know about Jott, a fantastic cell phone service that will convert your voice to text. You may have wondered, “how is this useful for me besides giving me another way to make a shopping or to-do list?”

I wanted to highlight a couple of uses that are especially suited for Special Education. When you see them, you may get some other ideas about how to use this tool. Please leave a comment below to share them.

Jott for documentation

If you are a administrator, resource specialist, or some other provider of services that demand you document your interactions and interventions with students, Jott can save you a lot of time. Here is an example: at my school, we have been implementing RTI (Response to Intervention) the new federal special education (IDEA) model. This involves a lot of documentation of interventions. I introduced my administrators to Jott. Now, after an intervention with a student, they step out to the hall, call Jott, leave a message, and voila – their message is converted to text, and sent to their email, leaving a paper record. I’ve heard of social workers, and others using it in a similar manner. It’s really great for field notes.

Jott for differentiation

One trick I recently learned is that the speech to text goes both ways on Jott. You can have RSS feeds from news sources, or your class blog to Jott, and it will turn it into an audio feed that students can phone in to Jott and hear. This is great for students who have an audio delivery accommodation on their IEP. Instructions for how to do this can be found by scrolling down to Step 6 Mobilecast. -ALICE MERCER

[UPDATE 1/14/09: Jott will drop all their free services as of February 2, 2009.]

Slideshare on using Jott for RTI documentation

Cellphones in Learning blog

Cell phones in learning wiki

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Note To Self: Make More Notes To Self

Students with special needs or disabilities present a bevy of challenges for teachers. In the age of the interweb, though, you can find all sorts of resources for special needs education. The nice folks at Teaching Tips.com have assembled a big list of them in The Ultimate Guide to Special Needs Teaching. Here you’ll find more than a hundred sites and resources for students who are blind, deaf, autistic, physically handicapped, terminally ill, and most other afflictions imaginable. They also list ESL resources, as teaching special needs students who also don’t speak English can create a whole new set of challenges, but these can probably be used by anyone teaching students learning English as a second language. However special your students’ needs are, you can probably find a way to meet them on this list. -BILL FERRIS

The Ultimate Guide to Special Needs Teaching: 100+ Resources and Links

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Free Stuff: Resources for SEN Teachers

Check out this nice little Flash web app that is simply a scroll over sign language learning tool. With little other information on the page other than the title – Dr. Bill Vicars’ ABC Slideshow – this is a no frills tool. There’s really not much more to it than that, but it provides a great visual reference if you are trying to learn the sign language alphabet.  If you encourage your students to check this one out, you should probably learn it too. Otherwise, they might be talking in class without you being any the wiser.  -JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

 Dr. Bill Vicars’ ABC Slideshow

ReadTheWords.com is a great text-to-speech site that allows users to upload or copy and paste just about any text and have it read aloud by one of several computery voices. You have to create a free account in order to access all the features this site has to offer, but its actually quite a simple process for what you get. You can upload any sort of file you’d like to have read, even HTML or PDFs. Simply wait for the audio to render, and you’ve got a neat little embeddable player that you can preview right then and there. Also, you can download the file as an mp3 for use in your iPod or other portable device.

This is a great resource for the visually impaired, but it has the potential to be a great learning tool as well. I’m not saying you should, but you could possibly make your own audio books, if you were so inclined. It could also be a great way to break into podcasting or be a great addition to any blog. Once your recordings are saved, they are then stored in an online file management system, appropriately titled “My Recordings.” Here, you can manage and download what you’ve done, or try out some more of the 15 available voices. Personally, I like Elizabeth. -JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

ReadTheWords.com 

I recently discovered the SEN Teacher website, and was happy to find an array of great content. Visit this site for some great free downloadable resources for SEN (special needs) students. There are games, activities, printables, and other sorts of software ripe for the taking. The content bridges several areas including English, Using Computers, Science, and the Arts.

All of the pieces seem to be well put together and most are open source products. This a valuable resource for any teacher, but SEN teachers will really jump for joy at some of the content here. Be sure to check out some of the other content here at SEN Teacher, including a store with hands on products that can provide some excellent opportunities for your students. – JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

SEN Teacher