I really enjoyed the skype chat with Ira Socol. It was interesting to hear some of his background and theories about learning. I "googled" him and read much more about him. I would like to read his book, The Drool Room . The most frustrating thing with kids and their specials needs is all the criteria teachers have to follow and not enough time to get it all done. This is an ongoing battle. It's great when the regular classroom teacher tries different techniques for learning with special needs kids, sadly to say that doesn't happen often. But once again they already have a ton off things to accomplish in a day with their regular classroom, that's where I come in!!! The teacher that I am with had many questions about the skype chat and Ira, so she has been reading about him too! Our classroom will only get better for the students and us adults. I wish we had some assistive technologies in our district.
In chapter 4, some of the technology talked about we use in our classroom, like recorded books, augmentative devices,and computer use. I didn't know about screen magnification or screen readers. We enlarge worksheets or text on the printer for a few students. Until next time.
Jody, I just finished The Drool Room a few days ago and I really enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI think you are right about the problems with teachers trying different techniques to address deficits by all learners. There is definitely a question of time. What I think is that if we integrate the principles of universal design, all students will benefit. It really shouldn't be an add-on, it should be what we do.
Computers really can help assist students learning through text to speech, being able to zoom in and out of a page, and even using the keyboard or voice dictation. It seems to me we should have an entire semester class dedicated to using these tools and integrating them into our regular classroom routine. Unfortunately, many teachers do not have the access to the technology I have.
What do you think?
It would be great if we could have a semester dedicated to using different tools, just maybe new ideas for tools. It would be great also if every educator had the opportunity to have a seminar in their own building to maybe refresh some new tools? I would benefit. Thanks for commenting.
ReplyDelete