Differentiation and Devices

Devices:
I have been really interested in learning all about the assistive technology because my Aunt has severe Autism, in that, she is non verbal and easily gets frustrated. I have been in contact with my granny about the things we have seen in class and today we saw a lot of great objects which could help my aunt connect with other students. I have also been keeping in mind "Jimmy" and so far I haven't seen too much that could help him other than some of the computer programs. Jimmy and Trent actually used Inspiration to create our characterization map for one of the projects which was pretty neat to see. However, what they were able to do was very limited as compared to other students which was definitely a draw back when it comes to technology.

Cindi told us a story about a boy who holds auditions for the voice of his assistive technology and I thought this was a fantastic idea! Now here is a perfect way to get him to interact with other students and for others to interact with him! I absolutely loved that idea and would never have thought of it without hearing her story.

Are we helping our students learn when we differentiate their products?

My UDL and DI assignments have made me begin to struggle with this question: "When is it appropriate to Differentiate, and when isn't it?"

The problem I see, is that if we differentiate product, such as, a student who has a writing disability is allowed to sketch out a cartoon instead of writing a short story for a short story writing assignment. In this case, he is still able to show what he has learned from the unit but would be presenting it in a different format, therefore, his product would have been different from the rest of the class. However, how does this help him learn to write? Should we really be changing things to suite students 'needs' by not making them practice how to do something? I wonder if what the student really needs is a shorter, more condensed assignment which forces them to practice their writing skills because how else will they get better if they don't practice?

I almost feel like if you differentiate the product for a student then he/she will not get the practice he needs in order to do well and whatever issues he is having. If we don't make kids practice things I find if very unlikely that they will practice on their own; when they are not 'forced' to. 

This is not to say that I believe in forcing students to do something they can't, but I don't see how we can be helping them succeed when we are 'cutting corners' for them so that they can still do well in our course.

I guess the point is that you should not always differentiate the product for a student who has issues in one area, instead, you should differentiate sometimes when it is most appropriate for the student. Also, if you work with the student's strengths, they are more likely to get a good grade and get that extra confidence boost that they might need on the next project in which they may have to practice their weakness. Or, you could always require a student to practice something they are not good at in a project but mix that in with their strength and perhaps weigh their strength more in marking. For example:

Stephen has a hard to expressing himself in writing, however, he is very social and enjoys giving presentation.

The final assignment for a Novel Study Unit is to write a newspaper full of articles about the occurrences in the story.

Since Stephen is stronger in his verbal skills than his written skills, the teacher has allowed him to create a television news cast which discusses the important events in the novel as if they were really happening. Stephen must also hand in his notes for each broadcast for marks.

Total Assignment: 40 marks

Draft (Notes): 5 marks

Information Given: 20 marks

Creativity: 5 marks

Engagement: 5 marks

Expression: 5 marks

In this example, the draft is only worth 5 marks, where as, in the Newspaper Assignment the Draft of the newspaper might be work 10 or 15 marks. 

Smart Boards:

I have only seen a smart board here at UVic but we were finally able to see them in action. Some highlights of the smart board: Colour, Interactive, Touch Screen, Games, Magic Pen (which can hide things, zoom in, have a spot light) and it can transfer bad chalk board writing in to text (which is a must have for me). However, I felt that I didn't learn as much as I would have if I actually had the program in front of me so that I, too, could interact with the smart board. Watching her present just wasn't the best way for me to learn. 

Assistive Technology... the way of the future?

The bulk of today's class was focusing on different assistive technologies and watching demonstrations on how many of them work. A woman with a visual impairment was able to use a program called Kerswell 1000 which read things aloud to her. Also, a gentleman with a physical impairment was able to use a program called Dragon which typed out the words he spoke in to a microphone. These technologies made me think about a lot of things.

a) These devices would be fantastic for students with learning disabilities in reading and/or writing. They could use these programs to help them express themselves, as well as, to understand or read text which is assigned in class. These technologies could really help non-literate students.

b) But then I thought... Is literacy needed in the future?

If we can have technologies such as these, do we really need to learn how to read and write if we can get computers to do it for us? Granted, you would need to know how to edit some of your work, however, maybe this would change the way language is used. Jaws is a program which takes scanned copies of things and reads them out. Also, we were show a 'pen' which scans pages upon pages of text and images. These items could be used to scan in books, newspapers, etc. and then the program can READ them back. So, why do we need to teach students how to read? 

I decided to ask some of my fellow students this question and it began a good dialogue. One classmate was saying that they enjoy escaping and reading is apart of that. She said that she doesn't think life would be the same without being able to read and lose yourself in a book. At the time I didn't respond, but now I think: can you not do that when someone is reading to you? Isn't that what happens when you are a young child and your parents read to you? Is it absolutely necessary that you actually READ something in order to be immersed in the story? It has been a long time since someone has read to me so I really don't know the answer.

I am an English Major, so this thought of future literacy is really interesting to me. It is all too obvious that technology literacy is the 'new big thing', so if we become technologically literate, will we be okay in the future? Will we soon rely on technology for reading and writing? Will signs soon just be symbols without words? Will a stop sign soon be a a solid red octagon with a white boarder? 

I truly wonder. That maybe, one day, only the 'learned' will be the ones who can actually read. Like doctors and Latin. Or, like web designers and CGI code. 

The Football

Today we discussed 'The Football' which is when you structure a class so that everyone starts together and then is separated in to groups and then they come back together in the end. This is something I did often with my grade 9 class but did not do very often in my grade 11 class. Perhaps, this is one of the reasons that my grade 9 class went better than my grade 11s.

Throughout this month of schooling, I am hoping to maybe find some answers as to why I felt my grade 9 class went so much better than my grade 11 class and I'm already starting to understand that.

In my grade 11 class, I had one student who hated it when we read stories as a class. He often would read it quickly on his own and then start doing something else (like listening to his iPod). This was frustrating to me because I often thought he was just not interested in the story but then found out he was actually ahead. Therefore, in my UDL and DI assignments I have chosen to allow students to read the story in groups according to reading ability and readiness. Therefore, for the higher-level readers, students may choose to read on their own and come together as a group to discuss the story while all the other groups finish up reading.

I also have decided that my UDL and DI assignments will have to be based on the same lesson because I honestly do not have time to pick apart more than one lesson, which is a shame, because I really wanted to have two amazing lessons to put in to my portfolio.

ELL:

ESL is a very high area of interest for me. I have been tutoring ELL students for two years now and even took a course online on how to teach ESL. The online course, however, was not very helpful but I did feel it discussed a lot of the things we are talking about in class right now (except now we are talking about it in a lot more detail). So far, this summer institute has given me two different lesson planning approaches which can help me keep ELLs in mind. I honestly think I will be able to apply these to my future lesson plans. When I got 'out on the field' I felt like I had forgotten many of the things that I had learned. I was actually really excited to go back to class and review some of the things we have learned and to learn more. I am happy to say that I really do feel like it was worth it to take this summer institute because I am able to reflect on what happened during my practicum and apply what I am now learning to real-life situations that occurred.

Assistive Technology and My Group Presentation

Group Presentation:
My group was the first group to go. I felt like we were a little unprepared because we were not all on the same page of who was doing what when it came to the project. I really enjoyed facilitating the small group activity though. It was really great to hear the opinions of other English majors on how to teach a tough subject, like Poetry. I honestly wish we could do this more often! My group had a lot of great ideas and I think the whole class really understood Chapter 5 because of it. In our groups we were able to work through the chapter headings and realize how differentiation can come in to play even before you start presenting. Pre-assessment is one thing that I know I have not done so well in the past and this chapter really helped me understand how important it can be. Furthermore, it helped me to realize that I could create groups according to readiness (which previously I had just randomly selected my groups). This also re-itterates how important it is to KNOW YOUR STUDENTS so that you can appropriately place them in groups.

I also started to work on my paper that will be due in two Mondays. It was suggested to us that we could use the same lesson plan for the next two assignments. Although this might be 'easier', I feel like it would be better for ME if I did two DIFFERENT lessons so that when I go in to teaching I KNOW I have two very good lessons to teach. Therefore, I think I've signed myself up for some extra work in order to have two very useful lessons for my upcoming practicum.

Assistive Technology:

My Aunt is highly autistic and is non-verbal. This class really helped me to see how much she missed out on because of the lack of technology that was available to her when she was in school. Being able to link today's presentation with my Aunt in mind really helped me to see how important Assistive Technology is. Recently I saw a video about a non-verbal Autistic girl who learned to use a computer in order to speak. This is something I have recently brought up to my Granny to try to see if she can introduce this technology to my Aunt. Today, I was able to see how students who have physical disabilities could benefit from the use of switches.

Today's class also applied to Jimmy in a big way. I wish that Jimmy had been given a switch to push that would make a light appear so that I knew he had a question or an answer. Often, his EA would have to raise his hand for Jimmy but I think giving him a switch would have made it easier for him to participate. At first I thought a switch that made a sound would work but I could see how this could be embarrassing and distracting to other students. However, a light would be less obvious to other classmates but would be obvious enough for me so that I could call on him.

Today's lesson was all about learning how important it is for students to be able to take part in everyday activities in class, as well as, be independent and I think this would have been something Jimmy would have liked to be able to do for himself.

Group Project

First Class:
Today's class seemed to lay down the foundations for the course. While working in my group, it was interesting to hear other people's great ideas for our presentation on Friday. One of my group members suggested we apply what we have learned in the chapter to our specific content areas. We have decided to group our classmates in to their subject areas and allow them to pick a PLO to work with in order to go through a process which keeps readiness in mind. This allows us to apply what we have read and, hopefully, remember it more readily. In the last year, I have finally realized that I learn best from watching and doing and that I have a difficult time listening. I also find it easier to listen to someone who is explaining something specifically to me then listening to instructions given to the entire class. This is something that differentiated learning is all about-- recognizing that all students do not learn in the same way and making sure you incorporate different kinds of teaching in to EACH and EVERY lesson.

One thing I learned today is that you do not just have to differentiate the actual 'stuff' but you can differentiate how students get access to the stuff. Another thing I really liked about Chapter 5 was the helpful and USEFUL tips they supplied. I can't wait to do our presentation and be able to apply some of these helpful hints to my subject area. The application is really where I feel I will learn the most.


School Funding:
I was really surprised to hear how much money schools get per student and for ESL students and Aboriginal students. All I hear is about schools needing more funding but I feel like the amount is a fair amount. I understand that schools need money to run certain programs etc, but it just seems like a lot of money. Where does the money go? It makes sense that many of it might go to hiring extra help like speech therapists, special assessments  and EAs. The more we discussed it in class, the more the funding issues began to make sense to me so I can see how some people might argue that schools are getting enough funding, however, if they analyze the costs and needs they can see that there is still a big deficit in funding of Canadian schools.

People with Disabilities:

I was terribly saddened to hear how many persons with disabilities do not have jobs or income. This makes me think that one of the things that need to change is the way the WORLD thinks about people with disabilities. The movie we watched highlighted how hard it is for able and willing people to get jobs (I can understand how this could be that much more difficult now with the current economy issues). Unfortunately, these people apply and apply for jobs and are over looked because the interviewer only sees their handicap instead of their unique perspective. That is the way I want to teach my students, to learn about the unique perspectives these people can bring to a job place. In my grade 9 class we read the book "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" which is about a teenager with Aspergers. My students LOVED the unique perspective this main character had and they really enjoyed reading the book. This shows me that students have the interest to learn about different disabilities and are also able to pinpoint the unique perspectives these people may have.

Education Blog Baseline for EDD 425 and 487

We have just begun to skim the surface of Differentiated Learning and SETT in the last two days of classes. In order to create a useful final project for myself, I have decided to continue my Education Blog and discuss the diverse needs of the students I had in my practicum and how I tailored to their needs.  I then plan on applying the new skills I learn each day to these students in order to relate what I am learning to real life scenarios.

Jimmy * (Names have been changed for privacy reasons, of course)- Jimmy is a grade 9 student with Muscular Dystrophy.  He is confined to a wheel chair and has very little use of his hands. He is constantly tired and sore and lacks energy in class. He also relies heavily on the Education Assistant for help with his schoolwork. Jimmy is also unable to take notes during class but does enjoy reading from time to time.

Before I began my practicum I was told that Jimmy had been absent from school for a few months and would be coming to class on my first day, therefore, I was quite nervous and had no idea what to do to help him succeed in my class.  After my second week, I was made aware that it would be helpful if I had handouts for him and if I was able to keep extra hand outs in the classroom for students who were absent. I was surprised that I had not thought of this myself and honestly felt a bit foolish.

The only adaptation I incorporated in to my lessons for Jimmy was to make sure that the group he was in was always meeting by his desk so that he did not have to move around the classroom.

Looking back now, I wish that he had some sort of light or something that he could turn on so that I would know he wanted to answer a question. Our EA was very good at raising his hand for Jimmy but it would have been nice for Jimmy to be able to do something on his own.

Trent * - Trent was another grade 9 student of mine who had previously been pulled out of school because of his bad attitude. However, he was now working successfully in an integrated classroom setting. Trent had exhibited issues with writing and so had been given a school laptop to use during class to take notes. However, it became quite apparent that Trent was not taking notes during class and so the Education Assistant suggested I also give handouts to Trent.

Cale* - Cale was a student of mine who missed class and was not afraid to say that he had just decided not to come. He was very unorganized and did not hand in assignments on time. However, we had a fantastic working relationship and he often listened to my suggestions. I just wish I had ‘stayed on top of things’ better with him and encouraged his good work habits. Unfortunately, his final project was due on my last day there and I was quite disappointed when I saw it but was not able to follow up on it with him. Looking back now, he sometimes came early to class, and I should have taken that time to a) Help him organize his binder a little and b) discuss that weeks project/last weeks project with him to keep him on track.

As you can see, I felt very unprepared and had little experience with diverse students and was unable to appropriately cater to their needs. Therefore, I am overly excited to begin my learning journey in hopes that I can better assist my future students and help them succeed in my inclusive classroom.