Powtoon - Free Accounts for Teachers!

Powtoon is a fun platform for creating animations.  I've personally used it to create the trailer for the EdCeptional Show.  So far that's all I've done, but I can see it would be a fun way to engage students and excite them about a topic or lesson.  So, that's why I claimed my FREE Powtoons account!

Powtoons is giving away over $5 million of teacher and student accounts before October 2014.  All of these accounts will be valid for 1 year, and include 1 teacher account with 60 student accounts!  You can get yours now at Powtoons ToonUp.

Patrick

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QR Codes for Vocabulary

Matt Bergman, at Learn, Lead, Grow, shared a great post on ways to use QR Codes to teach and retain vocabulary.  I love the ideas of engaging students with technology to teach this skill.  Check out all his ideas at his blog:

3 Ways to Use QR Codes to Make Word Walls Assessable to ALL Students #UDL

Patrick

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#AppMondayTAS - Doodle Buddy

Each week I will be featuring an app from BridgingApps.org. These apps are features in the Bridging Apps newsletter each week and are reviewed by Speech Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, and Special Education Teachers. Come back each week for a new review. If you’d like more information on how to use the BridgingApps.org website, or to find more app reviews, please click here.

Doodle Buddy - Free (Universal)

Reviewer Comments

This is a simple and fun drawing app. Because of the simple interface, most children can use this app completely independently and just have fun creating all kinds of drawings. This app can also be used as a teaching tool when encouraging someone learning how to write.

The app offers the user many choices to draw. They can choose to draw with crayons, spray paint, stamps, glitter, etc. Placing "stamps" on the blank page is as simple as using an index finger to select a stamp and the stamp appears every time the screen is touched, making it a great cause and effect exercise. There are two options for "erasing" or "clearing" a drawing - selecting to clear the screen or gently shaking the iPad.

There is a running advertisement at the top of the screen in this app. Sometimes the children would touch this and it would send them to a site on the Internet. We suggest enabling Guided Access in this app to block out the ability for the user to get out of this app and go to an advertisement.

This app was used in a Pre-K classroom with children who have Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Developmental Delays, as well as typically developing children. We used this app to work on drawing shapes and letters, connecting dots, finger isolation, and tracing.

The children especially loved making letters with the stamp feature. The stamps make a sound when you touch them and the children enjoyed this. They also liked using the stencils that the app offers to make perfect shapes.

Mobile Devices

iPad

iPhone

Embedded Skills

finger isolation

follows 1-2 step commands

handwriting skills

letter & number tracing

letter and number tracing

letter formation

letter tracing

tracing

Independent Traits

Fine Motor

Assistive/Independent

Independent

Assistive

Independent

the child can operate independently, with verbal prompts or dictate the response

iTunes Categories

Productivity

Lifestyle

Educational

Kids

BridgingApps Categories

Colors and Shapes

BridgingApps Reviewed App

Fine Motor skills

Disclaimer:
You may copy, modify format, distribute and perform the work(s), including app reviews and any data even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission provided that you: a) cite our research project and publications as follows: BridgingApps, a program of Easter Seals Greater Houston; b) agree that we make no warranties about the work(s) or data, and disclaim liability for all uses of the work(s) or data, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law; c) when using or citing the work(s) or data, you should not imply endorsement by us; and d) do not misrepresent the work or its content, or any part thereof, or present it any manner which would have the effect of disparaging BridgingApps, Easter Seals Greater Houston or any affiliated entity or person.

Patrick

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TEDx - The Myth of Average

An interesting video came across my G+ stream the other day, not more than an hour later I received an email about the same video.  Now, I typically ignore emails like that for products and videos (I get some each week), but since it came up in 2 different places and 2 different feeds I figured I needed to check it out.  I've watched a few TED talks, but have never seen one from TEDx.  I am glad I watched!!!

L. Todd Rose is a high school dropout, and now Harvard faculty member.  He shares some very profound stories about how fighter planes were built 60 years ago vs. today, as well as how we teach all students.  Head to Youtube to see the video (it's about 18 min. long)

The Myth of Average

What struck me most is the obvious connection to UDL principles.  Teaching to all students and giving them the tools to learn in their unique way is what we need to be focusing our time on.  We have so many tools we just need to make sure students have a way to access them.  We need to provide materials that help them achieve all they can.  This talk is inspiring and I hope it inspires you to share these ideas!!

Patrick

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UDL Movie Review - Monsters University

I stole this idea from my good friend Chris Bugaj (@attipscast) of the A.T.TIPSCast.  He posted several interesting movie reviews, where he talked about the use of Assistive Technology tools and ideas in the movie.  They are very thought provoking, and I would suggest you check them all out on his blog - Assistive Technology Movie Reviews.  I saw Monsters University recently and I had an idea about how it showed us some interesting things about UDL.  So here's my UDL Movie Review for Monsters University.

Monsters University was released by Pixar recently, and it features the Mike and Sully as they head to college and get to know each other.  That being said, they are not the friends that we know and love from Monsters, Inc.  In fact, they start off as rivals, who have to work together.  They are both students in the School of Scaring, and are attempting to become scarers.

The first thing I noticed is diversity.  In the monster universe there are no two monsters alike.  They are unique and throughout the universe adaptations are made.  Silly little things like 2 sets of push bars on the doors, for big and little monsters.  Or the fact that just about any vehicle is specifically built for it's user.  Or it is considered normal for a monster to just fly around and there are places for them to land or get into buildings.  All these little things add up to a place that is accepting of differences and even celebrates them.

During the movie we meet the frat of Oozma Kappa.  All of the the members of Oozma Kappa are unique.  It isn't until they realize and embrace their uniqueness that things start to turn around for them.  In the same way we need to be looking for our students strengths and capitalize on them.  We need to provide unique challenges and unique solutions so they can master what we are teaching.

Team work was another essential message of the movie.  Just as they couldn't accomplish their goals without each Monsters' unique ability, they also could not have accomplished them individually.  Just as we need to support each other to help students meet goals.  OK, so it's a little cheesy, but it is something we have to remember.  Each of us individually don't have all the answers.  There is always another teacher, staff member, secretary, parent, or really anyone who might have another way to look at a student and/or their unique needs.  We need to remind ourselves it is OK to ask for help and use our teams to our advantage.

Lastly, I was struck by how much motivation factored into the movie.  Early on in the movie, we realize the our friend Mike Wazowski is not the scariest monster in the Monster universe.  This will not come as a surprise to anyone who has seen him.  But with the right motivation, Mike makes huge gains.   We too have to look at students motivations and how to engage them in a meaningful way.  We have amazing tools at our disposal and we need to think about how they can be used with all students.

Patrick

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#AppMondayTAS - Kids Book Report

Each week I will be featuring an app from BridgingApps.org. These apps are features in the Bridging Apps newsletter each week and are reviewed by Speech Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, and Special Education Teachers. Come back each week for a new review.


Kids Book Report - $0.99 - iPad Only

Reviewer Comments

This is a simple book report template appropriate for grades K-2 or for students struggling to organize ideas or identify key aspects of a text. The template has 6 sections to enter information that helps the user organize thoughts.

First the student need to identify the title and author information. Next they need to enter the main characters of the story or text. On a concrete level the student needs to answer the WH questions. The main problem and solution follow with the student's opinion as the finale.

If in a school setting students can send the book reports via email to their parents or vice versa. It would be nice to see an opportunity to bring the 6 ideas into a complete book report, but the app is limited in that it simply provides the template in a visually appealing way.

We have trialled this app with older students who are developmentally disabled, but functioning at a cognitive level of 6-7 years. This app provides a nice structured format to help a child record key facts of a story and encourages beginning writing.

Common Core Standards:

K-Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.K.1a Follow words from left to right, top to bottom, and page by page.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.K.1b Recognize that spoken words are represented in written language by specific sequences of letters.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.K.1c Understand that words are separated by spaces in print.

Grades K-2 Reading Literature-Key Details-

With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.

Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic.

Mobile Devices

iPad

Embedded Skills

understand main characters

Understand the main idea of a story

Understand the author, illustrator, title

expressive receptive language

increase fluency

increase memory

increase vocabulary

increase writing skills

increased sentence length

must have some reading skills

reading comprehnsion

writing skills

written sentence construction

Independent Traits

Written expression

Assistive Traits

Language & Literacy

Assistive/Independent

the child can operate independently, with verbal prompts or dictate the response

iTunes Categories

Education

Games

Kids

Family

BridgingApps Categories

BridgingApps Reviewed App

Language Arts

Disclaimer:
You may copy, modify format, distribute and perform the work(s), including app reviews and
any data even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission provided that you: a)
cite our research project and publications as follows: BridgingApps, a program of Easter Seals
Greater Houston; b) agree that we make no warranties about the work(s) or data, and disclaim
liability for all uses of the work(s) or data, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law; c)
when using or citing the work(s) or data, you should not imply endorsement by us; and d) do not
misrepresent the work or its content, or any part thereof, or present it any manner which would
have the effect of disparaging BridgingApps, Easter Seals Greater Houston or any affiliated
entity or person.

Patrick

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Learning About UDL by @CaileyRicher24 #edchat #tichat #spedchat #spedtech

Source:  UD4All wiki

This is a guest post by Cailey Richer (@CaileyRicher24).  Cailey is a student at Illinois State University.  She originally posted this on the Classroom 2.0: Help or Feedback Needed Forum.

Today, I attended a discussion in my SED 379 class. In the discussion we were supposed to talk about UDL. Here is what I said:

When I first learned about UDL freshman year of college in my SED 101 class, the first example of UDL that came to my mind was a ramp.  A ramp is a great way to provide a different way of access to individuals with disabilities.  But there is so much more to UDL.  UDL gives all individuals equal opportunities to learn.  It is not a single "one size fits all" solution. Because, realistically, one size never fits all.  Everyone learns in a completely different way from everyone else and this is especially for children with disabilities.

On the CAST website, it explains that UDL can assist teachers in creating instructional goals, methods, materials and assessments that work for every student.  There are 3 important concepts that UDL can provide.  According to the CAST website, UDL can help teachers present information and content in different ways (multiple means of reprsentation), differentiate the ways that students can express what they know (multiple ways of expression), and stimulate interest and motivation for learning (multiple means of engagement).  Besides the ones I listed, there are many more ways to provide multiple means of representation, expression, and engagement.

Source: CAST

UDL also plays a big part of being a 21st century learner.  Being in the 21st century, technology is important.  Since all students with disabilities learn differently and may need some source of technology to do so, this is where UDL and 21st century learning correlates.  Multiple means of expression could be showing a student a video on a projector in order for them to understand a concept.  Without UDL, learning efficiently would be almost impossible for students with disabilities.


READERS:  What is your opinion on UDL and in your past experiences how have you met the needs of all students?


-  Cailey

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Dare to Differentiate #differentiation #edchat #sped #spedchat

The Dare to Differentiate wiki is an amazing resource all about differentiated instruction.  This wiki is organized by Leslie Grahn, professor at Goucher College and Resource Teacher with the Howard County Public School System.  This wiki provides an in-depth overview of differentiation.  Background information is presented on differentiated instruction, Understanding by Design, curriculum mapping, and concept-based curriculum.  Other topics include Planning & Managing, Supportive Learning Environment, 21st Century Learning, Pre-Assessment, Continuous Assessment, Leadership for Differentiation, Professional Development for Differentiation, Universal Design for Learning, and Personalized Learning.  Additionally,  there are pages full of examples and templates for various differentiated instruction strategies.

Below is a Prezi that Leslie created on Navigating the Dare to Differentiate wiki.

Additional Resources on Differentiation:

• The Differentiator
• Differentiate-with-Technology wiki
• #elemchat (09.10.2011) - How Can Technology Be Used for Differentiation

-  Jeremy

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Guest Post: Thinking outside of the box for Inclusion #edchat #spedchat #tck

Guest Post

This week we are excited to have a guest post by Sarah Rose.  Sarah is a special education inclusion teacher at Oak Park Elementary School in Illinois.  Her guest post this week is all about inclusive education.  We hope you enjoy the post and find the resources Sarah shares with us useful.

-  Jeremy and Patrick

Thinking outside of the box for Inclusion

When imagining what inclusion will look like for any one student you must take the same approach you would when developing his or her IEP. Think about the students individual needs, how you can make that happen in the general education setting, and how you can use any opportunity to promote the child’s independence while improving their social status. As anyone who is involved in inclusion knows, it is 50% about having the student academically involved and 50% about having him or her be socially involved. How sad would it be to only focus on one; having a student who shares with his friends, does great in groups and is the coolest kid in the class but hasn’t gained independence or learned new information. Vice versa, having a student who is learning all new things, gaining tons of knowledge, but the other students aren’t sure how to say hello, or have a million questions, or are to scared to invite their classmate over to play. Balancing these two aspects of inclusion takes a team of educators and parents who can think outside of the box and come up with new and creative ways to meet all of the social and academic needs of one student.

Below I have shared some of my favorite resources and examples of the many ways educators and families think outside of the box to promote inclusion and meet student’s individual needs.

Teaching Philosophies: Creating an inclusive culture

As Response to Intervention takes over our nation teachers are becoming “independent differentiators” and often have the best ideas, I get to spend more of my time asking “What do you think we should do?” instead of arguing why we must make accommodations and modifications and explaining why “it really is fair”. I get to spend more time working on helping develop an inclusive culture and less time creating tools and adapting materials, it is wonderful!

Great Resources for creating an inclusive culture

Paula Kluth

Inclusive Teaching Facebook group

Inclusive_Class Livebinder

Outside Consultants

We recently began using outside consultants to help create an inclusive culture, at first I was timid but they have become one of my favorite resources. They can say something in a new and interesting way that will motivate staff and parents, and help them team solve problems we thought we would never find solutions for, I have worked with the following and have really enjoyed their input.

Patrick Schwarz (Inclusion specialist), Chris Flint (Autism Specialist), Paula Kluth (Inclusion Specialist), and online Patrick Black and Jeremy Brown have been some of my favorite guys to go to for ideas!

UDL tools

Universal Design tools are great for helping teachers get started, discover where problems may be occurring, and help a team think outside of the box. These links have resources for accessibility and planning. 

CAST UDL Toolkits

UDL Tech Toolkit

Teaching Interaction skills: Bringing inclusion to all!

Best Buddies

Reverse Inclusion- Peer tutoring

-  Sarah Rose

holmesschoolrockstars.blogspot.com

Facebook page


Would you like to contribute a guest post to the Teaching All Students blog?  Please contact Patrick or Jeremy.

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"Assistive Technology Broadens Its Range" #edchat #spedchat #assistivetech

Source:  Ramin Rahimian for Education Week

An article published yesterday by Education Week discusses how assistive technology has become more mainstream than it use to be. The author uses the vibration option on mobile phones as well as Google's voice-activated searching as examples of how society as a whole benefits from assistive technology. 

Such features are the result of developers striving to design and refine tools so that they are accessible ALL - typical users as well as individuals with a wide range of disabilities.  The reason why developers began to consider the needs of ALL users - with regards to access and ability - is something that is familiar to us, the emergence of universal design for learning.  A number of assistive technology tools address both cognitive disabilities as well as physical limitations.  There is an increasing use of such tools by students with disabilities to access digital curriculum resources and participate in online, or virtual courses. 

...Experts recommend looking for ways that a single platform might accomodate the learning differences of a number of students with disabilities - but without losing sight of each individual's needs, and without assuming that two students with the same diagnosis will benefit equally from a single technology or tool.

The article continues with discussion of how professionals best connect, or match, students with the appropriate technology or tools.  Dan Leibowitz, a learning specialist in San Francisco, shares two questions he asks when considering an assistive technology tool, "Does it help students access information? And does it help students demonstrate their knowledge?"

What I took away as one of the key messages in this article was

While universal design is making assistive technologies useful to an ever-wider cross section of students with learning disabilities, individuals’ needs are paramount.

What does this mean for educators?  I think Heidi Silver-Pacuilla, former deputy director of the National Center for Technology Innovation, or NCTI, explained it well.

The mainstreaming movement means regular teachers are learning more about assistive technologies and applying the same technologies for their whole classrooms

This statement is interesting, as assistive technology has generally been perceived in the field of education to be related to special education and not a concern of general education teachers.  This is a significant and must needed change in terms of how the term "assistive technology" is perceived.

Unfortunately, not all are happy with the broadened range of assistive technology. The disability community worries this emerging trend could mean students with multiple or severe disabilities won’t get the tools they really need.

The author responds to this concern with what I thought was another key point:

Acquiring assistive technology tools is a multistep process that involves testing, and further study and coordination with a district assistive technology specialist. Many technology providers offer trial tests of their products, and educators can test-drive the various assistive technologies on display at education conferences.

Just because some assistive technology features and tools are becoming more mainstreamed does not mean the disability community and special education professionals should do away with the established best practices in considering and determining the most appropriate assistive technology solutions for students with multiple or severe disabilities.

This article also provides universal advice for schools with regards to selection of assistive technology tools:

• Do not overlook technologies or tools that are already available.
• School computers are likely to have some basic assistive technology tools built in at the platform level.
• Explore the accessibility features of software your school or district currently has installed on school computers, such as Microsoft Office.
• Consider comprehensive software packages that have many features
• Look software\tools that are easy to install and learn—for teachers and students alike.
• Products offering free or relatively inexpensive upgrades
• Finally, and perhaps most important, rely on research by education-technology groups like the Tech Matrix by NCTI.

-  Jeremy

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