A Great New Resource for Teachers: The Teaching Channel

Wow!  Over at the Massachusetts DEN Blog, they just shared a wonderful new resource for teachers!  It's called the Teaching Channel and you can connect with this organization in a variety of ways.  WDYT? 


http://www.teachingchannel.org/
http://www.youtube.com/teachingchannel
http://www.facebook.com/TeachingChannel
https://twitter.com/#!/teachingchannel

It's That Time of Year Again!

A teacher somewhere in your neighborhood today is preparing lessons for a new school year. In the minute it takes you to read this, teachers are using their "free time", and investing their own money for your child's literacy, prosperity and future. Here's to a safe and successful 2011-2012 school year! Re-post if you are a teacher, love a teacher, or appreciate a teacher. 

Good luck in the new school year to all my teacher friends!

Instrument Evaluation: Google Scribe

You shouldn't be too surprised, but Google came out with a cool new tool this month called Google Scribe. However, if you work with students with writing disabilities, you should definitely get excited about this new and free assistive technology that is web based and is universally accessible to all.

Google Scribe is a word prediction application that allows you to 'Type away as usual. When you like Google Scribe's suggestion, use Enter or [a] numeric shortcut to choose the suggestion.' It's just as easy as that.

For students with writing deficits such as fine motor fatigue, memory issues, or difficulties with grammar or syntax, I anticipate Google Scribe to be a seamless writing tool for students to access at any location with Internet access. Unfortunately, lack of Wifi is a challenge I foresee a student may have with this application. 

As an inclusion teacher, I like how this application can be seamlessly integrated into my writing instruction. Since it is easily accessed via the Net and I already encourage my students to use Google Docs, a student that would benefit from Google Scribe would be perceived, in class, to be using the same tool as his or her peers. To some students, this is very important. If that is the case, this particular student would be spending less time focusing on how different he or she looks and just focus on the writing task at hand. There is even an option to download this application to the Google Chrome Browser so it could be used when surfing the net too.  That is a bonus!

Unfortunately, Google Scribe is not yet integrated into Google documents unless you download the extension to use Google Scribe on all webpages. If you do not have the permission to do this without the help of your I.T. people, students would have to be sure not to close the Google Scribe webpage before they were done with their writing as there is no save option in Google Scribe. Students would have to learn how to copy and paste their final writing piece into a Google Doc or a Microsoft Word document and must learn how to save it there. This is a small price to pay for such a wonderfully designed free tool.

Google Scribe is going to be a blessing for many teachers and students this school year. 

Click here for more information on Google Scribe.  Happy Writing! 

Thanks to my friend David Grapka for passing this on to me. :) 

NYS CEC Special Education Conference

The New York State Council for Exceptional Children is holding their annual state conference in Saratoga Springs on  October 8-9, 2010.  I will be presenting two sessions at the conference. A poster session entitled: Where I.T. is A.T. and a lecture on How to Run a Successful Inclusion Class.  Please visit the council's website for more information on how to register for this event. 

Desiging UDL Contest

CAST wants to know what UDL means to you.  They are sponsoring a contest in which you describe how UDL has influenced you as a learner or as an educator. These submissions can come in a variety forms (text, audio, video, photo/drawing) - be creative, we want to see "multiple means of expression"!

Watch this video for specifics and then upload your creation at the Designing UDL Ning.  

IEP Checklist App

There's a new app on the market for special education and it's FREE!  Check out the IEP Checklist App for  your iPhone or iTouch created by the Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center (PEATC.)  It's a helpful app for all sides of the CSE table, is a basic tool to prepare parents and teachers for their meeting.  As stated on their website:

[The] IEP Checklist is a tool for parents and teachers to consider as they develop the IEP. Not every item on the checklist is required by special education regulations. For more information, consult the Federal regulations and other information that can be found at http://idea.ed.gov

What do you think? 

Where I.T. is A.T.!

It was wonderful meeting many of you at the Hudson Valley NYSCATE conference and Suffolk County ASSET conference over the past few weeks.  I had a wonderful time at both events and I hope you enjoyed learning about Where I.T. is A.T.!  Here is a direct link to the wiki of resources that I shared during my presentations.  

Do you know of any other free or fee based tools that could universally benefit all learners?  If so, post your link as a comment below.  Keep in touch! 

UDL at a Glance

Do you understand what Universal Design for Learning is?  You can learn more about UDL by watching this video.  Thanks to CAST for creating it.  Thanks to Anita Strang for passing it on.

When Everyone Gets What They Need...

When everyone gets what they need... they can be more independent. 

The video below was created by DO-IT, an organization based out of the University of Washington. The acronym DO-IT stands for Disabilities, Opportunities, Inter-networking and Technology.

DO-IT serves to increase the participation of individuals with disabilities in challenging academic programs and careers. It promotes the use of computer and networking technologies to increase independence, productivity, and participation in education and employment.

I liked this video because it showcases individual students and introduces you to their learning tools based on their individual needs. 

Scholastic Webinars

 Thanks to the Assistive Technology Blog for passing this on. 

Join Scholastic for a series of free interactive LIVE webcasts to learn from, and speak with, expert leaders, thinkers, and practitioners, without leaving your office.

The embedded webinar below is entitled: Learning and Instruction in the 21st Century.  It is a conversation between Milton Chen, Ph.D., Executive Director of The George Lucas Educational Foundation and Tony Wagner, Ph.D., Harvard Graduate School of Education and author of The Global Achievement Gap. 

However, I'm very excited about the April 21, 2010 webinar with David Rose, Ed.D., Founding Director/Chief Scientist for CAST (Center for Applied Special Technology)  .  I am already registered and have the date saved on my calendar.  His presentation will be on The New Digital Classroom, Building Expertise through Technology.  Will I see you there?  You can register here.