AT Manual by Hope Technology School (@Hopetechschool) #assistivetch #spedtech #spedchat #inclusion

I am excited to share one of my new favorite assistive technology resources with our readers today!

This resource has been developed by Hope Technology School (HTS).  HTS is a not-for-profit school in Palo Alto, California established in 2001 with the mission of providing an exceptional learning experience for typical and special needs children in a fully inclusive, technology rich environment.  HTS educates over 100 children from preschool through 8th grade.  They also have a Vocational Education Program for middle and high school aged students.  

At HTS, they utilize technology in innovative ways to provide students with an exceptional inclusive education and to help them attain his/her personal goals.  Their hope is to use technology, particularly computers, to include students with special needs and their typically developing peers into the same classroom environment.  As a result of a decade of hard work by a team of therapists, teachers, and parents as well as ongoing development, innovation, and collaboration,  the folks at Hope Technology School have written an AT Manual.  

The HTS AT Manual begins with a discussion of Assistive Technology (with a focus on communication), who can benefit from assistive technology, examples of High-Tech Tools, and the Building Blocks, or foundational skills, for communication (pointing & typing/speaking).  Next, readers are provided with an overview of technology resources (websites & FREE downloads) for Academics as well as the HTS Technology Toolbox.  The HTS team also shares helpful Technology Hints.  The most valuable section of the HTS AT Manual has to be the collection of Activities.  For each activity, the manual outlines the objective, rationale, technology tool, basic instructions, things to consider, & progress for the activities.

In a recent entry on the Hope Technology School blog (The Secret to Success with Assistive Technology), Morgan Brown explained how this entire document could be summarized in 2 basic secrets of success:

1. Believe each student has something valuable to communicate.
2. Just go for it - whether you're an expert or not, just try, who know what you'll discover.

As the Hope Technology Group is constantly developing new opportunities and evolving in their approach, the team at HTS will continue to update this manual.  Their hope is for this evolving document to be used to assist individuals and families to communicate, discover new methods of learning, and inspire others.

Exciting things are happening in the classrooms at Hope Technology School!  Current technology projects at HTS include use of the HP TouchSmart, Android tablets, and iPad apps.  I recently have had the pleasure of interacting with several staff and parents at HTS on Twitter.  You can follow the school on Twitter, @hopetechschool.  They are truly innovative group of professionals and parents who are totally open to discussing assistive technology and sharing what they have learned.  I look forward to learning more about their innovative uses of technology.

-  Jeremy

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The Whole Child Blog (@WholeChildAdv): Inclusion: What Do the Kids Think? #inclusion #edchat #spedchat #tck

Following up on Sarah Rose's guest post about inclusive education, I would like to share several videos about inclusion posted by Klea Scharberg of the The Whole Child Blog.

-  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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Creative Art Experiences For Children with Special Needs #spedchat #specialneeds #tck #inclusion

Source: disaboom.com

Thanks to a tweet posted to the #SpEdChat hashtag by @Michelle_Horst on Twitter, I discovered a wonderful resource published by Crayola titled "Creative Art Experiences For Children with Special Needs".  This colorful PDF document starts with a discussion on how to create an environment that encourages creative freedom.  It then presents a variety of appropriate arts & crafts activities (drawing, painting, sculpting, & outdoor activities) - using Crayola products of course.  There's even a highlight box all about "Painting Experiences to Offer in Inclusive Programs"!

What I like most about this resource document are the grids outlining the benefits of art exploration for children with special needs across the major areas of skill development related to art (physical, sensory, communication, cognitive, & social/emotional).


-  Jeremy

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Adaptive Use Musical Instruments #accessibility #inclusion #assistivetech

Adaptive Use Musical Instruments (AUMI) is software that enables students who have very little voluntary mobility or other impairments to create music simply by moving their head!  This software would make it possible for ALL students to participate in solo and ensemble electronic music improvisation and composition.

How Does It Work?
The AUMI software incorporates camera tracking technology.  Through improvised head movements, students are able create rhythmic patterns and communicate with others musically. Additionally, a virtual keyboard is played with lateral head movement along the virtual keys to create scalar melodies.


Register & Download
Visit the Deep Listening Institute site to register and download the AUMI software for Mac or Windows for FREE.  For guidance on how to use the software, check out the provided step-by-step instructions or video tutorial below.

Participate!
Now in the third year of use The AUMI program continues to be revised and improved with input from the technologists, students, therapists and feedback from registered users.  The latest initiative is the development of a training program for therapists, aides, parents and teachers in the use of AUMI software and improvisation.


- Jeremy


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Hands On Music: An iPad Band for Students with Disabilities

This is truly a MUST WATCH! It is the full version of the video shared by the Inclusive Design group at the Apple Distinguished Educators' 2011 Summer Institue. As Luis Perez (ADE & member of Inclusive Design group) explains, "This is what happens when you believe that people with disabilities have the same right as everyone else to creativity and self-expression."

The video footage was captured in District 75, which is the Special Education District within the New York City Department of Education

Hands On Music: An iPad Band for Students with Disabilities

- Jeremy

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#ATIA2010 - Orlando, Friday

I had intended to write each evening before going to sleep about the day I had had....as you can see that clearly did not happen!  As I got back to my room last evening, I need to get a few things finished with my own presentation - My Crazy Idea..., pack, and get a good night rest.  So I never got around to talking about Friday's presentations.  So here's what I thought.

I attended a great session Friday morning by Penny Reed & Gayl Bowser (both very active QIAT Leadership type people!).  They presented a great session about ways to work smarter, not harder by using web tools like - Blogs, Nings, & Wikis (hmmm...seem familiar!).  Some of the blogs they mention were Teaching Every Student, No Limits to Learning, & TLWMSN.  They also talked about the AT Help Desk they created to help teams diagnose the best way to fix problems - AT Help Desk.

I went to a great session by Libby Rush on how to teach writing!  While she had way to much material for a 1 hour session, she was thoroughly engaging and fun to watch!  There was a lot discussed and most of it is in my notes (but she talks really fast, and I can't type that fast!).  I'll do my best to try and put up a post soon about her ideas.

My favorite sessions were by last two.  First I saw Marie Duggan, a Mom-NOS (not otherwise specifed), of 6 kids, one with Autism!  She had filled her sons life with symbols, schedules, and communication.  I'm amazed at all the solutions she came up with.  When a problem arose they found a way to to help him.  I think what I was most impressed by was that she didn't just work on the problem, she worked on the WHY!  Then she worked on a way to help him understand!  An utterly amazing woman.  I wish she had had more time because we never got to hear about the new software she is working on.

Last, but certainly not least, was SMART Inclusion in the 21st Century:  Integrating SMARTBoards with AT.  A long title, but worth every second!  A SLP, Alexandra Dunn at a small school board in Ottawa, Canada decided that the best way to integrate their students with SCD in the general ed classrooms was through SMARTBoards!  The results were profound and AMAZING!  All students increased participation and showed skills they never had before.  Each SMARTBoard was used with BM, Classroom Suite, Notebook Software and they used it with all the students (not just the ones with IEP's!).  They had Airliners (think portable mouse), Intellikeys, and switches so that there was a lot of alternative access, just depending on what the student needed.  They even let some kids use their Bluetooth enabled devices to interact directly with the SMARTBoard!!!!!!  They have some research, and as soon as it is posted I will let you know.  This was some exciting stuff!


As you can see, I'm quite excited by my experience at ATIA.  It's always amazing to me how much it helps to go to conferences and meet with other professionals, it's just an electric atmosphere.  I have some information about today's sessions to post, and it will have to wait (I should be boarding momentarily).  Again, if you are interested in reading my notes from the sessions please feel free to check them out here - ATIA Notes.


Patrick


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Reflections on a new year...

So today is the last day of the school year.  By the time most of you are reading this my students will be coming for the last hour of the 2008-2009 school year.  This year has been quite different for me, in many, many ways.  This was the year that I started writing this blog, it was also the year that I really started paying attention to social media, and started managing my PLN.

This was a year, where I started at a new school district. It was frightening, and I wasn't sure I had made the right decision.  Now I know, it was the right move for me.  I moved from a district where I constantly felt like I was not good enough, to a district which has treated me like a king.  I am so glad to have found this district, and can't believe the overwhelming support I've been given.

This was the year I discovered what true inclusion and acceptance was like.   It started with a simple thing, I don't take attendance.  That may seem like a little thing, but what it really and truly means is that my students homerooms are theirs, and they come to me to work, but socially have a connection not truly possible any other way.   I have difficult students and all my colleagues made an effort to help and include the students in every part of the day.   Taking it upon themselves to treat them as they would any other child that was in their classroom.

This was a year, with little drama, trouble or strife.  My kids were great, the administration worked with me, and I had wonderful instructional assistants who listened and supported my decisions (even if they disagreed from time to time).

This was a year, and in just 3 short months, I'll be back here again.  Starting all over, and planning for another great year. I can't wait!

Patrick

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Communication 4 All

While looking through my unread links on my Diigo toolbar, I came across a very interesting site, Communication 4 All. As the site says:

Hi, and welcome to Communication 4 All.
My name is Bev Evans and I set up this site because I struggled to find the
classroom resources I needed to support inclusion.
There have been changes to the site recently! I no longer have a catalogue: everything available is already on the site. Just email me if you have any requests for the site

There are so many resources on this site. The game section features math, color, and matching board games. The early years section has thematic units on many different topics. Other sections include literacy (many materials for Jolly Phonics), numeracy, science, & singing. The materials are available mostly in .pdf format, and some in powerpoint format. Check it out here.

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All Students Meme

I've been reading a blog from Christine Southard recently. She is a special education teacher in NY and a very big advocate for inclusion of all students. In fact she currently co-teaches in a classroom with both general education students and special education students. This unique setting gives her a very interesting take on teaching. She participated in a internet Meme (sort of a thought that gets passed around) and I thought it would be interesting to share my feelings on the meme:

There are 3 things I believe about all students:

1. All students can learn
2. All students deserve the opportunity to communicate
3. All students are children first

As teachers, I believe it is our responsibility to help our students achieve these 3 things EVERYDAY.

I'm going to tag a couple of people to help continue this meme:

Jeanette Van Houten
Sam Sennott
Kate Ahern
Richard Byrne
Ricky Buchanan
Yuichi Tamano

Patrick

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IEP at a glance

So the beginning of the year is upon us, and I have been looking at ways to share information with other staff members. A great idea that was suggested by Kate at Teaching Learners with Multiple Special Needs, an IEP at a Glance. This is a 1 page form that allows staff to see information about the student, and see it quickly, and without extraneous information. This is the template that Kate created. You can download a copy of it here:


IEP at a Glance

Have a great year, and make sure to keep reading!

Patrick