Technology in the Real World

So this post it a little off the main topic, but it does tie in.  I was at Disney the other day with some family and while standing in line while my niece went on her first ride ever, YAY!!!, I thought about all the technology the surrounds us.  While standing there you see all different people talking or texting on cell phones.  Many different types of digital cameras and camcorders taking pictures or videos of loved ones enjoying their time.  Then I was thinking even more and started to think about all the technology it takes to run the rides.  Sometimes I forget how much technology goes into a ride as simple as the TriceraTop spin.  There is a piece of technology devoted to making the entire ride spin, then you have an arm for each dinosaur, and then that dinosaur tilts forward and backward and can be moved up and down.  There are so many technological aspects that go into just one ride.  The same goes for one of the shows at Disney, there are so many pieces of technology from the lights to the sound, to some of the props, it is truly amazing!

So when I thought about all this technology I thought about how at one point all the people running this equipment were in school and learned about technology.  Technology is something that leads this world right now and as a teacher I need to make sure my students are equipped with the basic skills necessary to work in a field that uses technology.  I want my students to be successful in any job that they decide to choose and I know that they will be using some type of technology with their job so I need to make sure they are prepared.

What do you think?

All About Me Project

This week we had to create an example of the presentation we want our students to create.  For my presentation I am going to ask my students to create an about me project.  I work with students in grades K-2 who have disabilities.  In my class we work a lot on social skills so I figured by doing this lesson not only can I teach my students using technology, it can be a social studies and social skills lesson on community and getting to know your classmates.  I am keeping the presentation simple because I work with the younger students, as well as I know to help complete this project I will need the assistance of families, so I did not want to include a whole lot of elements.

I am looking for any and all feedback on my presentation, including but not limited to what you liked, what you didn't, and what I can do to make it better.  Thank you for taking the time to view my project :-)

All About Me on Prezi

Digital Storytelling in MY classroom

So this week we were asked to think more about how we would integrate digital storytelling into our own classrooms using our given curriculum.  I had to take a couple of days to think about how I could do this in my classroom.  I teach in a K-2 ESE (exceptional student education) classroom so I don't really have a main curriculum that I use with all my students.  I have to pull materials from several sources and focus mainly on my students IEP (individualized education plan) goals.  But when I think about how it could be incorporated in my students I think about how I could work with my students and their parents and create digital stories about the students themselves.  I would send home a survey with my students to fill out with the help of their parents that discuss information about themselves, their name, age, favorite things.  I would create one on myself that I would use to introduce the project.  This would be a very hands on project that both myself and my paraprofessionals would work with the students to manipulate the story to incorporate what the students would like.  I would use this for my curriculum unit on Community/All about me which is the first unit I teach in my classroom.  I am thankful enough to have access to 3 student computers and 2 iPads in my classroom.  By having all these different forms of technology allow me to be able to work one on one with my students that need the most assistance.  This also allows me to work with different forms of technology and introduce them to my students.

Personally I can see using digital storytelling to project different stories that I use in my reading curriculum.  Using digital storytelling I would be able to introduce more pictures and sounds with the stories that will keep my students more engaged in them.  I could also use it to make my own lessons on the letter of the week.  My students are very visual so using digital storytelling will work very well with my students.

Digital Storytelling

Digital Storytelling on Prezi

Troubleshooting what's that?

So when I saw that the topic for class this week was troubleshooting it really got me to think about myself in regards to it. I will fully admit that I have become spoiled when it comes to troubleshooting, because I really don't have to do any of it! My roommate works for a computer company and is really handy with computers and networks and pretty much anything along those lines. If I run into an issue I usually just ask my roommate to look at the device, with very, very little troubleshooting done on my part!

This weeks assignments although many things were what I would consider "common sense" and things that I do with out calling it troubleshooting, were good to hear again! It's funny how many issues we have with technology can easily be fixed just by doing something as simple as making sure all the wires are plugged in all the way.

So in regards to school based technologies I wonder how many schools have a tech person on hand that can help them when they run into daily problems? Because I know I can run into at least 1 issue a week and it is difficult to get things fixed on a timely basis because our tech person is only at our school 2 days a week. What do you do in the mean time? All thoughts are welcomed!

Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage!

So this week I had a training about an educational technology program that is web based for creating IEPs (individual education plan) for all the students. This is a great program because it is a state based program that allows all IEPs to be the same so if a student comes from another district it will be the same. This is wonderful because it creates continuity across all schools and makes it easier for all teachers to be able to read.

My main problem with this program is that if the server goes down either the school server or the server from the department of education you can run into a major problem that can creat a giant headache. When doing an IEP I have had the error message "Internet explorer cannot display the web page" and it is extremely frustrating! With having 12 students in my classroom the IEPs already take a lot of time to complete, time that follows through into my evenings and weekends. Now working with this technology the process has become even longer for me! Don't get me wrong I love the job and everything that I do; paperwork is a part of the game, something I must do.

I just wonder at what point does the technology begin to hinder us? When I have to take 4 hours of time to complete an IEP because I keep getting an error message, that is taking 4 hours away from planning for my students. So I love the use of educational technology but at what point does it hinder us more then it helps us?

HELLO? Can you hear me?

This past week I was fortunate enough to attend a training session for the benefit of several of my students.  Being an exceptional student education (ESE) teacher I use many pieces of educational technology just to help my non-verbal students communicate effectively with myself, other staff members, and their peers.  I have five students in my classroom that use an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device on a daily basis to help them communicate.  Four of my students currently use the same device, which is what I went to a training on.

Communication devices have always fascinated me just because of their shear ability to help a non-verbal person connect to those around them.  This particular device is actually a tablet with a communication board application on it. Can you believe how far we have come in our technology that we can now have a deceive that we not only can watch movies, connect to the WWW, get our email and communicate with others!  During this training I was able to really see the full depth of the program.  The memory on both the program and the device is unreal!  You can program anything you would like into the AAC that will be helpful to the student.  During the session we went through and personalized our students device.  By personalizing I mean, adding their name, their age, their birthday and so on.  You can add mom and dad, brother, sisters, other family members, family pets, pretty much anything imaginable.

While going through the program another really cool feature that I learned was the pronunciation menu.  This was a place where you could actually program the device to say words and names in the correct form so they don't sound so computerized.  Being able to work with this program gave me another jump start back into my love for educational technology, specifically AAC devices.

I also use many over AAC devices in my classroom such as an IPad, a big switch, and general picture cards with my students to help them begin to communicate their needs and wants to others without becoming to frustrated or overwhelmed.  I also this is in important to get those kids who are non-verbal to begin starting their own conversations with others, which sans these devices would be impossible.

In an ESE classroom educational technology in the form of AAC devices are essential for the communication needs of the students as well as to be able to teach them to become independent and possibly participate in the general education classroom.

So I ask you this, have you ever had to use an AAC device in your classroom?  If so did you find it difficult to incorporate into the routine?  Why?