Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Blog Post 15

blindstudents

With today’s technologies helping special needs students achieve so much more than in the past. The assistive technologies allow students with disabilities to participate in the learning activities and curriculum. In the video, Assistive Technologies for Vision and Hearing impaired Children we see students learning using assistive technologies. The students read a book that uses words like “Zoom” to describe the sound a boat makes. This allows hearing impaired students to imagine what a boat really sounds like. We also see a blind student reading a book written in Braille. These are only two of the more simple assistive technologies available. These simple tools allow students to interact with their classmates and learning environment. With the ever advancing technology world we as teachers should always stay knowledgeable on the tools available to us. Also to ensure that the student is receiving the best possible learning experience a thorough assessment of the student’s abilities should be done to know where they are struggling.

The video about the MountBatton, we learn about a system that is used to help enhance learning for the visually impaired. This system allows students to write Braille and hear what they are writing as they are typing it. This allows students to learn Braille while also staying involved in the classroom discussions and group work. Another way to enhance a student that has learning disabilities to participate in class is to teach the other students how to work with the student. For example, a visually impaired student may be more willing to participate in peer reviews if they know their paper will be read by a peer and not the teacher. So teaching the other students how to read basic Braille may help strengthen the learning environment. When planning lesson plans involving these assistive tools it is important to combine multiple tools to allow the student a single tool will not meet all the needs of your student. While researching assistive tools we found the website EnablingDevices which is a website that sells devices for all disabilities. This site is a very good site to have. It shows you what tools are out there and what tools you could need for your students with disabilities. The most important aspect of helping a student with disabilities achieve their goal is to work together, with the students parents and other administrators to guarantee that your student is achieving their goals.

Learning mathematics can be tough for anyone, but for blind students, it can be a challenging task, in learning math. In the video, Teaching Math to the Blind, Professor Art Karshmer, who is a professor at University of San Francisco School of Management, introduces a tool he has created for blind students. This tool uses blocks and a grid. His device lays out simple math problems to more advanced math problems using small blocks. On the front, there is braille and visible numbers. In the video, he demonstrates that the blind student will use a barcode scanner, on the blocks. The device reads the number back to the student. The student places the block on the grid to set up the math problem. The math problem is laid out on the touch bed. Professor Art Karshmer shows how the problem is laid out the way a sighted person would put it on paper. A blind person can rub their finger across the problem and read it. Now, a blind student is able to work on a two-dimensional problem. By using this program, it will help educate young blind students. It can cover areas like: basic Math and the beginning Algebra.

After watching Professor Art Karshmer video, we did further research on math tools for blind students. We found information on a blind woman named Sheila Schneider. She majored in sculpture at the School of Art Design. Under the supervision of Deana McDonagh, a professor of Industrial Design. Sheila Schneider has created six small hand held sculptures that have mathematical equations written in Braille. The math equations will be written in Nemeth Code, a form of Braille used with math and scientific symbols. This tool will be used to help students with visual impairments that will help them to learn math. It is great that there are assistive technology available for the blind.

It is great that there are assistive technology available for the blind. In the video, iPad usage for the blind Wesley Majerus who is an Access Specialist for the National Federation for the Blind. In the video, Mr. Majerus demonstrations how blind people can use different apps with an iPad. The iPad has a voiceover that tells him, which programs he is opening. The voiceover helps him to navigate around the home screen. There is an app that can read a book aloud. He expresses that it is very liberating to buy and read books. This tool, is a great assistive technology device that can help blind people.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

C4T#4

 teacherblog

For my C4T, I was assigned to read Mrs. Kathleen Morris blog , her latest post was titled Looking Back, Looking Forward She is going, on Maternity leave. She is packing up things, in her classroom. She is deciding what to take and what to throw away. She has been at the same school for a ten years. She is trying to put 9 1/2 years of resources into two to three storage bins. The first thing she is disposing of is worksheets. She feels that hands-on,collaborative opened task have a bigger impact on students than a worksheet. Mrs. Morris offers other reflections on what is important now and in the future. Resources and Ideas are always available to use: She can use Twitter, blog and other online tools to help her come up with ideas. Also, she has her professional learning network(PLN). She points out that digital resources do not take up space.She uses Google Docs. A lot of her work for her classroom is on her computer or in a cloud.

Hello Mrs. Morris, I am a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. I commented on another blog post of yours. I like the idea of getting rid of worksheets. I remember in school; I always got worksheets. After I finished, I would be bored and forget about the topic. As a future educator, I want to use technology than using worksheets with my students.

For my C4T, I was assigned to read Mrs. Kathleen Morris blog , Her latest post was titled "Blogging and the Literacy Curriculum" In the this article, Mrs. Morris discusses that blogging should be a prioritized and planned. Also, she feels blogging needs to be integrated. Mrs. Morris emphasizes the importance of students being able to use a variety of tools and media. Mrs. Morris states that blogging can be used to teach reading, writing, speaking and listening. Her approach is spending ten to 20 minutes a day, on her literacy block on whole class blogging. Her students rotate reading each other blog and posting comments. By doing this, the students' are practicing the literacy goal. Also, her students' student's blogs were used as a digital portfolio. Mrs. Morris encourages teachers to integrate blogging into their literacy curriculum to help their students to learn.

Hello Mrs. Morris, My name is Shernaye James. I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am in a class called EMD 310. We use blogging with all of our assignments. I agree, that it is important to include blogging, in the classroom. I think it is a great way to help keep students engaged.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Blog Post 14 What Did I Leave Out?

specialeducation

During this semester, there have been blog assignments about finding websites that are great educational resources. I am a Elementary/Special Education Major; I like finding great websites. I was able to find a lot of resources for Elementary. But, it was not easy for me to find resources for Special Education. I would like to find more online resources for Special Education. For my assignment, students will compile a list of the best websites or tools for Special Education.

Directions

1. Students will compile a list of resources relating to special education and technology.

2. Students will compile their list by using Google Docs.

3. Students will create a Google Presentation.

4. Students will choose the best four resources found.

5. Students will write a description of the website or tool they found.

6. Students will include a link to the websites, they found.



As a future educator, it is important that I find resources that help all of my students. It is great to find a variety of websites that can help teachers. By doing this project, it may introduce new websites.

Final Report PLN Project#2

Final PLN 2

For my Personal Learning Network, I have continued to use Symbaloo. I have continued to add my teacher blogs. I added the website Ted Talks. I have found Symbaloo a very easy and organized website to use. I have set Symbaloo, as my homepage. I like that I don’t have to type each website. Now, I can just go to a website with the click of a button. I liked having all the websites; I visit on one page. I like that I have the option of adding other useful websites that I will continue to find. After EDM 310, I will still continue to use Symbaloo.

Friday, November 15, 2013

Blog Post#13

tedtalks

Kakenya Ntaiya: A girl who demanded school is an amazing and empowering video to watch. When she was five years old, she found out she was engaged to be married. Her mother was denied an education. So, she wanted her children to receive an education. Her father was a policeman. Her father was hardly ever around. When her father returned things changed. Her mother grew crops, took care of the cows and goats. Her father would sell the cows, and went drinking, with his friends. Since, her mother was a woman, women could not own property. So, her father got everything by default. If her mother, ever questioned her father, she would be beaten and abused. In her county, there is a rite of passage ceremony for young girls. Kakenya Ntaiya made a deal with her father; she would undergo the rite of passage female circumcision, if he lets her finish high school. Kakenya describes the horror of the circumcision ritual, at thirteen. She explains that many girls die from this mutilation. This was very heartbreaking to hear, that so many girls are going through this. After her circumcision, she went to high school. It was very heartbreaking to hear this story.

After finishing high school, Kakenya wants to further her education. Kakenya meets a young man, from her village who has been to a University in America. He has nice clothes, shoes and is very happy. She applied and was accepted at a college, in Virginia. Her whole village, supported her trip to America. She made a promise to the men who sponsored her trip, that she would come back and help her village. While she was in America, she learns that it is illegal, how her mother, other women and herself were treated. She keeps her promise and works with village elders to build a school for girls, in Kenya. This school has saved 125 girls from being mutilated, beaten and being married at 12. With a college education, she returned to her village and negotiated for a school to be built for girls. It was amazing, seeing this one woman’s strength and determination to make a better place for girls, in her country. Written by: Shernaye James

In this video Shane Koyczan talks about how we are given titles and then asked what we wanted to be when we grow up. Shane talks about his experience as a kid and how he was asked what he wanted to be and then as he said what he wanted to be he was told what not to be. He was being told to accept the identity that others would give him, because they were "silly" in the eyes of others. Shane talks about his experience of becoming a bully due to the way society expected him to become. In this video Shane recites his poem "To This Day" accompanied by a video that went right along with his poem. This poem was inspirational and absolutely true. This poem brings to life the damages that are done daily from bullying and the affects of those we trust simply saying "kids will be cruel" and never actually doing anything about the bullying. This poem is one that could be used over and over again to really show the affects of bullying with words and pictures. Shane's poem is humorous and haunting but does a wonderful job bringing forward the ever growing problem of bullying. Written by: Jacquelyne Mckiernan

C4K Summary for November

C4k

Paris's Blog

For my first C4K, I was assigned to Mr. Marks sixth grade class, in Auckland, New Zealand. My first C4K student name is Paris. His post was about a MIHI, that he created. I told Paris, that I liked the Mihi he created, I did not know what a Mihi was, so I looked it up. I learned something new. I have included a link to my blog.

Kaya's Blog

For my second C4K, I was assigned to Mrs. Jenny's She class, Little Voices, Little Scholars 2nd grade Pt England School, in Auckland, New Zealand. My second C4K student name is Kayla. Her post was Kaya Tell Us Why We need to Use the Crossing In the video, Kaya explained the importance of having a crosswalk. I told her, that I enjoyed watching her video, on the importance of having a crosswalk. I told her, I had a crosswalk at school too.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Blog Post #12

KenRobinson

In the video, Changing education paradigms Ken Robinson talks about the changes being made around the world in public education. He explains how there are two reasons for these changes. The first being economics and the second being cultural. He asks how we educate our children to take our place in the economy. He also asks how we educate our children so that they have a source of cultural identity. He starts his explanation by saying we are trying to meet the future by doing what they did in the past. I really agree with this quote, and think it is a very strong and representational quote of today’s society. This type of thinking is alienating many kids who do not understand why they need to be in school, because the education system was created for a different generation.

Robinson believes there are two types of education abilities which are economic and intellectual. The academic are considered the smart people who go on to get higher education degrees and the intellectual are the non-smart people, who struggled in school or could not afford to go on to get higher education and who are judged for it. Robinson states how he thinks this has caused chaos. Robinson goes on to say that the non-smart people have had to suffer the ADHD “epidemic.” He believes that we are penalizing our students with drugs because they are distracted by all the technologies of today. He states how we are getting our children through education by anaesthetizing them, or deadening their senses. I really liked what Robinson says when he states that we “should not be putting our students to sleep, we should be waking them up.” This is a great statement, because many students are bored and uninterested in school today.

Robinson explains how school’s today are similar to a factory line, and if we want our students to succeed we need to change from the factory line mentality. Robinson ends his lecture talking about divergent learning and shows a study that was done on a group of students starting in kindergarten through 9th or 10th grade. This study showed how the students’ ability for divergent thinking or creativity deteriorates as the students grow and go through school. He explains how the students’ have gone through years of school being told there is only one answer and that collaboration is bad. Robinson ends saying that in order to change the way our students learn we must think differently about human capacity and not split education into sections. I really liked the final quote he uses “Great learning happens in groups.” This quote goes right along with project based learning, and collaboration in groups. Jacquelyne Mckiernan

In the video, How to escape education’s death valley Ken Robinson talks about . He makes a comment that who ever thought of the title “No child left behind” understood irony because the program left millions of children behind. The United States spends more on education that other countries but yet still has a 60% dropout rate. He believes that America is going in the wrong direction. He talks about 3 principles for education. The first is that humans are naturally different and diverse. He talks about how no two kids are alike. He goes on to say that 10% of children in America are diagnosed with some time of ADD. He says that most children are not suffering from a physiological condition, they are suffering from childhood. Children learn best when the curriculum is broad and can celebrate their different talents that just one. The second priciple is curiosity. When a child’s curiosity is sparked, they will go and learn themselves with no push. He goes on and says that children are natural learners. Curiosity is the engine in education. He says that the main point of education is learning. He talks about how you can be doing something but not be engaged in it. He applies that theory to teachers. Someone can be participating in the act teaching but no real teaching going on. The third principle is the human life is creative. We create our own lives. One of the points of education is to awake the power of creativity. He talks about how Finland has high test scores and such. He says that the reason they do is because they individualize teaching and learning. By doing this, they don’t have a dropout rate. They realize that you have to spark student interest and support the teachers. He says that education is not in the government, it’s in the classroom. Teachers know what needs to be done. Education is a human system not a mechanical one. The schools should not be command and control, but should be climate control. If you change the climate or atmosphere, possibilities are endless. Savanah Moore

I really enjoyed watching Sir Ken Robinson’s video titled, The Importance of Creativity. Sir Ken Robinson talk is about why creativity is important. He is very funny and engaging. He started his speech by saying that students starting kindergarten this year will retire in 2065. Robinson explains that, we do not know what the world would look like the in next five years, but we are to educate and prepare students for the future. He shares that creativity should be treated the same as literacy. He had a great quote, “If you are not prepared to be wrong you will never come up with anything original.” He speaks about today in education; we are stigmatizing mistakes. In the education system, a mistake is the worst thing you can do. Robinson explains, that the education system has the same hierarchy of subjects, Mathematics and Languages, Humanities and then the Arts. Under the Arts, there is another hierarchy Art and Music are given a higher status than Drama and Dance. In schools, there is not a class that teaches dance everyday to students, like Math is taught to students. During his talk, Mr. Robinson included a quote from Picasso, “ All children are born artists, the problem is to remain an artist as we grow up.” Robinson says that educator’s task is to educate the whole being so, that they can face the future.

I really liked Sir Ken Robinson’s story of Gillian, who became a dancer because ADHD had not been invented yet. The school wrote her parents because they thought she had a learning disability. Gillian went to see a specialist. The specialist turned the radio on, and the girl began to dance. She was a dancer. The specialist recommendation was to take her to a dance school. It turned out that he was right. She found other people just like her; people who could not sit still. She became a ballet dancer and a professional choreographer. Today, in schools too many children are mislabeled. I really enjoyed watching Sir Ken Robinson’s video. I learned that the arts should be held in the same hierarchy of content areas. It is important to create an education system that nurtures creativity not destroy it. Shernaye James

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Project#15 Project Based Learning Plan#3

earlyexplorers

For my lesson plan assignment, I created a social studies lesson plan. The lesson plan is for the fifth grade. The students will learn about Early American Explorers. The lesson starts with students writing about what they know about explorers . The assignment for this lesson plan is a group assignment. The students will create a Prezi about Early American Explorers. Students will create a drawing of their explorer. The timeline for this project is 120 minutes a day for one week. On Friday, students will do a presentation on their Early American Explorer. Here is a link to my googlesite

Monday, November 4, 2013

Blog Post 11

firstgradeblog

I watched the videos, First Graders in Ms. Cassidy's Class and Skype Interview with Ms. Cassidy. Ms. Cassidy is a first-grade teacher in Moose Jaw, Canada. Ms. Cassidy explains how her student's use technology, in the classroom. After watching these videos, I want to use this type of learning, in my classroom. I like that she is introducing blogging to first graders. In EDM 310, it is my first time blogging. However, these first graders look like professionals at blogging. The students blog regularly. The students use blogs, wikis, webpages, Skype and Nintendo DS to learn, in their classroom. I liked that Ms. Cassidy, was provided with just five computers ten years earlier, and she used them to begin her technology journey. A tool Ms. Cassidy uses is Skype. Ms. Cassidy uses Skype to allow her students to communicate with classroom, experts and with different people from around the world. As a future educator, I would use blogging. I think that this is a great tool to use. It can help my students with their writing skills. By getting students involved in blogging, it can help engage students with their learning. Furthermore, it can introduce students to technology; they may not otherwise get. By using Ms. Cassidy's technology strategy, I cannot think of any problems occurring. As a future educator, I hope to use this information, in my classroom.