About Me

Friday, December 17, 2010

iDevice Accessories: Tools to Protect and provide Access










This is a changing document. As new accessories are discovered, as flaws are
found, as some become outdated or not found to be the best, as others are
thought more highly of...they will be added or removed. 


So, now

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Math, Math and more Math


 





This section will cover:


AT - Methods and Materials to Support Math
Math Access Support (Assistive Technology)
Concept Support (Instructional sites) 
Visual Supports
Calculator Options
Math App Lists and Math Resources, including:


Andy Borne's Great List of Math-Related Tech
Please see my Pinterest  Board for more: Numbers, Numbers, Numbers



1.  AT - Methods and Materials to

Friday, July 23, 2010

Universal Design for Learning (UDL)






UDL prompts you to look at flexible and multiple methods of representation, action and expression and engagement. Technology tools can help provide these means, but they are certainly not the only means of achieving this.


In 2006, the U.S. Department of Education developed a Tool Kit on Teaching and Assessing Students with Disabilities (Tool Kit) to support the

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Free Classroom Supports Worth Knowing About








With the rising costs of everything combined with the school economy today, we can use all the help we can get for a greater bang for our buck. This is the 2010 list of some tools that are provided free to help your students be more successful in their educational process. So much is available for free these days, is software where we really need to be spending our money? (For those of

Friday, July 2, 2010

Page Fluffing




Page fluffers are helpful in fostering independent literacy skills. Page fluffers are simple adaptations made to books or other reading material that make pages more accessible to turn. Page fluffers increase the space between the pages of a book, allowing those with limited fine motor skills to get their fingers between each page, therefore, making it easier to turn a page. You can use a

Friday, May 28, 2010

Pictures to Support Learning



Research supports the idea that images connect directly to long-term memory. Images are different from text in that they can communicate “lateral thinking, objectivity and global context”. Acquiring new knowledge is difficult for most learners because they go about it the wrong way. Many of our learners will try to memorize difficult concepts from textbooks. However, our brain isn’t geared

Monday, April 26, 2010

MyStudyBar

MyStudyBar is free to download and is designed to help overcome problems that students commonly experience with studying, reading and writing. MyStudyBar is similar to popular commercial programs which use a floating toolbar to support literacy.It helps to alleviate problems with organization, reading and writing. The toolbar consists of programs assembled into one convenient and

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

AAC Resources





 The above graphic is from AAC TechConnect.




When working with students who are using any form of Alternative Augmentative Communication (AAC), it is important to teach several components when using a device. These may be good areas to focus on when writing an IEP: 



How to operate the device and take care of it as independently as possible


How to communicate with it, (Eyes, Ears,

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Writing to Demonstrate Knowledge - Alternative Supports for



A writing-to- demonstrate- knowledge assignment is one that teachers employ when they assign reports, essays, persuasive writing letters and papers, and research papers.

When writing to demonstrate knowledge, students show what they have learned by synthesizing information and explaining their understanding of concepts and ideas. Students write for an audience with a specific purpose. But

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Building Mouse Skills








Helping students to develop mouse skills can be a challenge. There are free activities online for helping children to build mouse skills. There are games and various drawing programs (see previous posting "Sites to Support Students with Special Needs" for a listing of drawing programs) that provide simple mouse practice for the beginning mouser. Below you will find some activities designed

Friday, January 8, 2010

100 Web Tools to Enhance Collaboration


100 Web Tools to Enhance Collaboration 


I love this list by Ozge Karaoglu. Talk about getting people talking! How much fun would kids have using some of these tools in their classrooms. My favorites are listed below.


CoSketch is another whiteboard that you can collaborate to visualize your ideas and share them as images. The good thing is that, you don't have to register or install anything