Penlight to Help Support Independence May 21, 2008
Posted by anne marie in General, SMART Board, Special Education.Tags: Penlight, SMARTBoard, Special Education
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Often when I am teaching a lesson with the SMARTBoard my students may require some extra support to complete an activity or follow a verbal request. Initially whenever a student was encountering difficulty I found myself gravitating to the SMARTBoard to assist and perhaps, in some instances, giving more assistance than might be required. So in comes the penlight to the rescue! The penlight allows me to highlight specific words, pictures, (perfect for counting activities), etc. on the SMARTBoard to give enough support for students to successfully complete a request without me being with them at the SMARTBoard. This technique helps to eliminate my temptation to give too much support–YEAH! It has definitely increased the indepedent interaction on the SMARTBoard for my students. When reading passages on the SMARTBoard I am now regularly using the penlight to highlight the words we are reading– just another support that has been beneficial.
Penlights are relatively inexpensive (starting at $15) and, in my opinion, well worth the investment! Just remember that the less expensive penlights may not be as powerful and may limit the distance you can be from the SMARTBoard to be seen. So as my students say “Follow the red light”!
Disability Law Lowdown ASL Podcast May 17, 2008
Posted by anne marie in Sign Language, Special Education.Tags: American with Disabilities Act, ASL Podcast, Sign Language, Special Education
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I learned about this first ever Disability Law Lowdown ASL Video Podcast from the Blog Talking Books Librarian and wanted to share the information.
“The Disability Law Lowdown ASL podcasts will bring a new level of service to the Deaf community by expanding traditional audio-only podcasts to include video that allows subscribers too see native Deaf speakers signing the show’s content. The podcasts will deliver the latest in disability law information every other week via American Sign Language, captioning, voice-over, and transcripts to maximize accessibility. Free subscriptions to the ASL podcasts are available to have shows automatically delivered to MP3 players. The hosts for the ASL Disability Law Lowdown are native Deaf signers Danny Warthling and AJ Roupp. They will provide the latest information about disability rights and obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and other disability-related topics.”
The ASL Video Podcasts can also be viewed at YouTube.
Shedd’s Aquarium April 27, 2008
Posted by anne marie in SMART Board, Science, Special Education, Websites.Tags: Science, SMART Board, Special Education
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Spent the day sprucing up our pond area and getting reacquainted with our fish after a long winter’s hibernation! Our neighbor, who is 10, also discovered LOTS of frog eggs on the edge of the pond– too cool! Took a few pictures to share. Since fish, water and frogs were on my mind today I thought I’d share a website that has some terrific K-12 information, lesson plans and interactive activities regarding aquatic science- Shedd Aquarium. It is very user friendly, but remember to stay out of the water when the sharks are swimming!!!!
Back to school tomorrow after a week’s vacation- wish me luck!!!!!
Sharing Notebook 10 Ideas April 26, 2008
Posted by anne marie in Autism, ELA, Notebook 10, SMART Board, Special Education.Tags: ELA, Notebook 10, SMART Board, Special Education, Spelling
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I had some time today to explore some of the new features in SMART Notebook 10 and thought I’d share some initial ideas/thoughts I came up with. I am very pleased and excited that some of the interactive options are image friendly– this feature makes a HUGE difference when creating lesson for my students who need visual supports/PECS to complete and be successful in participating in lessons. So if you want to check out some of my ideas click here: sharing-some-ideas.notebook
And if you have some ideas you’d like to share, I’d love to hear from you!
Symbol World April 24, 2008
Posted by anne marie in Autism, SMART Board, Special Education, Websites.Tags: Autism, SMARTBoard, Special Education, Symbol World
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“SymbolWorld is a website created by Widgit Software, dedicated to people who use symbols. It has material for all ages and includes personal contributions, stories and learning materials.” Symbol World has 4 main sections- My World, Stories, Learning and eLive.
“eLive is an on-line magazine within SymbolWorld especially for older readers.”
Symbol World is speech enabled with Browsealoud- you download Browsealoud and then hover over the symbols to have the words read. How cool!!
I have been a huge fan of this website and use in my classroom quite often for two very important reasons: 1. it saves me LOTS of time in preparing lessons that incorporate symbols (they do the work for me, for which I am very grateful!) and 2. the site is very user friendly and it is ALL FREE!! It also is great to use with the SMART Board. I would mention that because the site does not originate in the US some of the words that are coupled with the symbols are spelt differently. It definitely is worth a visit to this amazing site!
The Rain Deer Orchestra April 23, 2008
Posted by anne marie in Math, Music, SMART Board, Special Education, Websites.Tags: education, Interactive, Math, Number Recognition, SMARTBoard, Special Education
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The weather here in New England this week has been sultry- the mercury reached 84 today-so I thought I’d write about a site that might cool us off a bit! It’s called The Rain Deer Orchestra and is a great motivating site for number recognition 1-10 because it incorporates music… and my students LOVE music! Using the SMART Board students simply touch the nose of the reindeer ( a white glove squeezes the nose) and it elleicits a musical note. I should mention that for some of my students the fact that the number is listed below the nose can be confusing (they want to touch the number). It also is effective for addressing cause/affect objectives. It does give you the option of following a pattern to play 3 Christmas songs or you can opt for free play and create your own beautiful music! Hope you enjoy a little Christmas in April!
“AblePlay”- a great resource. April 21, 2008
Posted by anne marie in Special Education, Websites.Tags: Children with special needs, Resource, Special Education, Toys
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AblePlayshares independent ratings and reviews of toys for children with special needs. Over the years I have ordered toys for my classroom only to find out that they weren’t quite what the catalogue had indicated or what I had hoped. This website helps to eliminate this outcome by rating specific toys within 4 disability categories- physical, communicative, sensory and cognitive. The explanation from the site — “There are thousands of choices but finding just the right toy to match the varying abilities of each child with special needs can be a challenge. AblePlay’s independent toy reviews and detailed information help you get “beyond the box” to understand each toy’s unique features, creative ways each toy can be used with children with special needs and skills that will be enhanced as a result.” So it may be worth a visit to this site if you are looking for just that “right” toy or for ideas for a specific student. Just keep in mind that the site is limited and may not have rated the toy you are interested in.
“The Lives They Left Behind” April 20, 2008
Posted by anne marie in Books, Special Education, Websites.Tags: , Autism, book, Special Education, Website
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I learned about a very interesting, thought provoking website today from a college friend. She thought I might be interested in this site knowing that my teaching career had started at a state institution. An institution where, when it was first opened, the primary diagnosis for admittance was Epilepsy and not MR. I often wondered about the circumstances that the people who lived there had faced when they were placed. This institution became their “home” and a place that many chose not to leave, when given a choice. So many “what if” questions would pop into my head when I would come to know many of the folks who lived there. Anyway, back to the website– it’s called The Willard Suitcase Exhibit Online. As explained on the site: “When Willard Psychiatric Center in New York’s Finger Lakes closed in 1995, workers discovered hundreds of suitcases in the attic of an abandoned building. The suitcases and their contents bear witness to the rich, complex lives their owners lived prior to being committed to Willard. They speak about aspirations, accomplishments, community connections, but also about loss and isolation.” After more research I discovered that this site is based on a book:
“The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic” by Darby Penney and Peter Stastny. Photographs by Lisa Rinzler. Based on almost 10 years of historical
detective work…. about the lives of 10 people who were committed to Willard State Hospital in New York’s Finger Lakes during the first half of the 20th century.” The book is now on my- “to read” list.
AbleNet Acquires Tash April 19, 2008
Posted by anne marie in Down Syndrome, SMART Board, Special Education, Websites.Tags: , Ablenet, Assistive Technology, Communication, Special Education, Switches, Tash
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My friend, who is a SLP, emailed me the following information: On April 14, 2008 AbleNet acquired Tash. “Including Tash products in the AbleNet family of products is a win-win situation. Tash brings an outstanding combination of products that enhance our capacity to deliver the best and broadest assortment of assistive technology solutions to persons with disabilities by way of the educational, physical therapy, rehabilitation and daily living assistive technology markets,” stated AbleNet CEO Jen Thalhuber.
To visit the new list of prodcts available please click on this link: http://www.ablenetinc.com/tash/
StarFall- an oldie, but very goodie!!! April 17, 2008
Posted by anne marie in Down Syndrome, SMART Board, Special Education, Websites.Tags: computer, literacy, SMART Board, Special Education, Starfall
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Today as I was assisting some of my students set-up on the computer for their free-time activity, I realized how much I LOVE the StarFall website, but more importantly how much my students enjoy using the site- it’s AWESOME! There is a wonderful variety of activites at the PreK-2 grade level (perfect for many SpEd classes). I know it’s one of the oldies, but deserves an updated round of applause with two thumbs up! I also use StarFall with the SMART Board since many of the activities are interactive and are perfect for review of ELA objectives.
