Presentations

Once again I was very interested to learn how technology is being used in other schools. It is amazing how many different ways the same program can be used to make it match the individual. I feel the teacher and planning team really need to know the strengths and weaknesses of each student to make appropriate decisions about the programs to be used. I found each presentation to look at a different aspect of technology and they covered early elementary through to adults. I really enjoyed working with the class and feel I am better informed with the technology out there to be used and how the schools are developing individual programs to help students succeed in schools.

Class Case Studies

The case studies were very informative and interesting to see and hear. It is amazing how technology can be used by so many people of all ages and abilities. It was nice to see each case study focus on a different topic and age level. They all showed us how the whole is changing rapidly for everyone. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the case studies this week.

November 26

The class tonight was frustrating at times. Our pod spent the first hour trying to figure out how best to set up the programs of Clicker 5 and Cloze Pro. We read the profile of Mary and had a lot of discussion as how to best suit her needs with the technology. It took us the entire night to work on one subject area for one child. The entire content of the ebook, the writing grid and the test would probably take Mary about half an hour to complete. I realize we are new to these programs and hopefully with more practice we will become faster at designing activities. I am glad we worked as a group bceause if we were stuck, usually someone in the group could figure out where we went wrong.

Writing

After reading the paper dealing with the writing task analysis I was amazed at all the details needed in order to write. At my level the content skills are very weak. Some of my students have limited prior knowledge and experiences about how language works. They can not organize ideas and usually find it difficult to keep their attention on the task.
Another problem my children have is the use of their pencil. They do not have the experience of holding a pencil or the pressure required for printing. Again concentration and memory are a factor for these children. In order to write effectively children need to have proper directionality. This skill needs to be taught at the beginning grades for writing and reading. Children need to be able to have automatic letter form recall and motor skills in order to write.
I have seen children use the program inspiration and found it to be helpful in developing writing skills in students who have the ideas but can not organize them.

Programs for elementary students

I really was involved in our last class since the programs discussed and worked with were ones that I am becoming quite familiar. The children in my grade one classroon really enjoy Simon Sounds It Out and Earobics. Even during free time at the end of the day, they want these programs on the computer to play with. I am fortunate to have a full time PSA in my classroom to work on the computer with my child with Autism and CP. Otherwise I would not have had the success with these programs and the children would not be learning at their individual levels. I look forward to learn more programs that I can use in my class to help these children cope with the curriculum.

Presentations

I truly enjoyed the presentations last week in class. I see the program has benefits for all grade levels from grade one to twelve. Everyone worked hard and all students will or could benefit from the hard work. Kathy

Kurzweil

Kurzweil is a powerful program which can be used to assist students who struggle with reading difficulties in the classroom. Using this program would allow these strudents to read the same texts as their classmates. I can see this being used in the junior high and high school classrooms.



As a grade one teacher I feel the program has its limits. The struggling students can not work independently on the computer to read. They can not follow sticky notes or bubble notes and need someone with them every step of the way. They also need a sound to prompt them to turn the page. Most of the early books have beautiful colored pictures which act as an aid for these students.



I need to further practice with the features of the program to see how I can use it in my classroom. Once I find a way I am sure my struggling students will succeed.