Assistive Technology

Assistive technologies are tools that are available for those in need of something to make using technology easier and adaptable to their abilities. Such tools allow for students to use technology despite any special needs or disablities they may have. All sorts of tools are available depending on the need. Windows Vista includes several assisitive technologies such as special mouse properties, different magnifiers, assistive keyboard properties, speech recognition and narrator features.

The Speech Recognition tool allows a user to hook up a microphone to their computer and control their computer by voice. This would be beneficial for those who may have very limited motion and are incapable of controlling a computer with their mouse and keyboard.

The On-Screen Keyboard feature allows people to type by using the mouse or another point-and-click device. A tool such as this would be beneficial for students who have difficulty using their fingers to type on a keyboard.


The Narrator tool reads aloud the text on the screen. It also has the option to read whatever keys the computer user is pressing. This tool would be especially beneficial for those who struggle with reading and spelling, or for those with some sort of visual impairment that would make reading on a computer screen difficult.

Cyber-Bullying Comic Strip

Case: You are a 4th grade teacher, and there has been three students in your school who have been the victims of cyberbullying outside of class. You want to have a lesson that you hope will help students know what to do, how to avoid it, and possibly avoid it from happening as much as you can.

Description: We created a comic appropriate for 4th graders which explains what to do if they are the victims of cyber-bullying: print out the page as evidence and show it to an adult. We also discourage other students from becoming cyber-bullies themselves. This was created on www.toondoo.com.

Visit the comic on the web here.

Personal Learning Network Exploration

I explored the personal learning network called "The English Companion." It is a ning designed for English/Language Arts teachers and offers several useful tips, guidelines, and a sense of community for those in this profession.

To give a brief overview of this P.L.N., I created a Prezi presentation.

Cyberbullying -- What it is and how to prevent it

Definition according to stopcyberbullying.org: "'Cyberbullying' is when a child, preteen or teen is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted by another child, preteen or teen using the Internet, interactive and digital technologies or mobile phones. It has to have a minor on both sides, or at least have been instigated by a minor against another minor. Once adults become involved, it is plain and simple cyber-harassment or cyberstalking. Adult cyber-harassment or cyberstalking is NEVER called cyberbullying."

Cyberbullying is a very serious issue because it has ended in suicide and murder. Threats made from one student to another should be stopped and dealt with as soon as they are noticed. It is important that as a teacher, I keep a look out for cyberbullying, especially if it is occurring within the classroom. It is difficult for schools to get involved in cases of cyberbullying that occur off school grounds, for that matter exactly. They would be attempting to work out of their boundaries.

However, schools and teachers can get involved at the level of prevention. Teachers can inform their students on what cyberbullying is, how they can notice it, and what to do if they come face-to-face with it. Teachers can also educate students on cyberethics and laws surrounding cyberbullying. The more students know about the problem, the easier it is to report before it goes to far, and hopefully will help prevent it from happening in the first place.

In this case, a blog was created to spread harmful gossip about a high school's various students. The creator can be charged for what they have created, however the creator still remains anonymous. (http://atgeist.com/blog/cyber-bullying-case-at-lawrence-central-highlights-online-issue/).

In this case, a woman posed as a teenage boy and targeted another teenage girl, ulitimately leading to her suicide. (http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20241577,00.html)

When exploring cyberbullying, I found this site very helpful: http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/index2.html

Formative vs. Summative Evaluations

At the beginning of the semester I noticed that I did not realize what formative and summative evaluations were and I did not know the differences between them.

After researching the two assessments, I learned that formative assessments are ongoing and made to realize strengths or where improvements are needed, while summative assessments are used to look back on an event in retrospect of the event.

As a teacher, I would use formative assessment to mark progress in my classroom and decide whether or not changes need to be made in order to better my students' learning or change certain habits they may have. These assessments will also provide opportunity for students to give me feedback as well as for me to provide my students with feedback. These are gradual and allow for changes to be made along the way.

In my classroom I would use summative assessments to note my students achievement over the previous grading period or semester, show evidence of achievement or lack thereof, or to document habits rather than assessing them and changing them, as a formative assessment would allow. These are to look back on what has already been done.

Communication Outside of the Classroom

Communication:

As I have learned through experience in my previous classes as well as through my courses in education, having effective communication with the teacher is very important for the success of the classroom.

Parents:

To communicate with parents, I plan to have a specific section of my class website designed for them. Here I plan to update monthly or weekly, depending on the schedule, upcoming events and activities for our classroom. I will also post permission slips here, as well as classroom policies and rules. Parents will have access to other ways of contacting myself, such as a phone number and email address.

Students:

Students will be able to access the website as well. Here I will post assignments, classroom worksheets and notes, resources to help them complete assignments if I feel they are needed, as well as a forum posting section if an assignment requires interaction among students. They will also be able to see a calendar of upcoming events and assignments to prepare them ahead of time. Students will also be able to contact me via email or the forum if they have individual quesitons.

Both:

I will have a classroom website that will include information for everyone to have access to. There will be specific parts for both parents and students, but each group will still be able to view both. I also plan to send home with the students, as well as email to parents, a monthly newsletter with students for those who may not check the website frequently. In the newsletter I will include recent and upcoming events, as well as a section dedicated to students who have shown improvement or done outstanding on a recent assignment. This will hopefully encourage students to strive to do well in order to get their name in the newsletter.

Other Teachers:

I am hoping that the school I work out will have some sort of wiki or website that will allow for communication with other teachers. However, if this is not the case, I hope to connect with both other teachers in my department as well as those that will also be interacting with my students and create a page or forum in which we can all communicate with each other. I feel this is important because oftentimes teachers can connect lessons across subject areas, unifying learning for the students. I think it is also important that I know what students went through in previous Language Arts classes as well as future ones, so that I can know where they are coming from and where they are going in their studies and hopefully make the bridge from one year to the next easier.

Station Workout: Persuasive Speaking Survey

Communication Tools Workout

My group was Claire and Nick and we chose to communicate via facebook chat and message threads. We communicated a lot in the beginning to figure out how we split up the assignment, but did not much after that except when we had questions for each other. I think facebook was the best way to go. It was easy to use and everyone knew how to use it. It went well, but probably would have been faster still to just talk. I haven't ever done anything like this before, so it was a new experience for me. It was hard to have a conversation with three people using technology; a three-way feature would have made it easier, which is why we switched to facebook threads instead of chat. I would have liked to figure out what we were doing quicker, so we could have had more class time to complete the assignment.

Strengths to this assignment include using creativity to figure out the best method of technology to use, as well as getting students to communicate in a different way than they normally would on a school assignment. Students use technology to communicate everyday, so this put a whole new perspective on it. A weakness might be that a more complex assignment would be nearly impossible to complete, unless students had a more advanced way of communicating with each other.

Inspiration Software

I explored Inspiration Software which is a great tool that aids in creating diagrams, charts, graphs, etc.  This would be very useful to build a concept map or a web chart.  It features many different icons and pictures that can be incorporated into whatever you create.  It will aid in students' understanding of concepts by provided an effective visual representation of information.  It also allows them to build on their own thoughts and ideas if they use this software.

Here is an example of how a teacher created a concept map using Inspiration to show her students "6 traits of Writing". 

There are several different tutorials on the various feature of inspiration software at http://www.learningelectric.com/inspiration7.htm.

Scavenger Hunt

Lesson Plans: http://www.lessonplanspage.com/LAJH.htm
--This is a good site because it offers numerous lesson plans which include different means of learning. It would be easy to find a lesson plan for each of the three E's on this site.

Assessment: http://www.rubrics4teachers.com/languagearts.php
--This rubric site makes grading and assessing students easier. There are several different types of rubrics to choose from. This would fit the "efficient" category, because it makes grading go quicker and smoother.

Video Website: http://school.discoveryeducation.com/homeworkhelp/english/english_homework_help.html
--This site offers tons for videos for each subject area and grade level. Each video has something for a different lesson. This would fit the "enhancement" category because students are able to get a more hands on feeling of learning.

Organizational Website: http://www.suite101.com/reference/how_to_organize_lesson_plans
--This site offers ideas on how to organize everything from classroom setup to your lesson plans. I would consider this to be "efficient" because it helps a teacher to stay organized and allows you to find things quicker and easier.
http://www.ncte.org/
--This site also has several ideas specifically for English Teachers.


Technology Tutorial: http://eduscapes.com/tap/topic76.htm
--This website, made specifically for teachers, includes several sites that offer videos on how to use several different technology related programs. I might consider this to be "enhancement" because you can watch and learn at the same time, through hands on experience.