LAST CLASS!!

Today was project day and: I'm so impressed!!! What a great activity for all of us to be engaged with. It was, without a doubt, a learning experience for all of us. Sometimes being 'forced' to jump in and get started is for the best. We just need to get our feet wet - then to realize it's really not that hard and has the potential to make such an impact on our students. If that's not motivating, I don't know what is!!

On a personal note, I drove home feeling a bit frustrated that in my efforts to go quickly through my presentation, I don't think I made it clear that unlike those of my classmates who were focused on helping their STUDENT learn the AT, I was more focused on helping the STAFF learn the AT. That is, after all, more in keeping with my role as a consultant/SLP in my schools. At any rate, I really do look forward to introducing AT more from the STUDENT perspective rather than the SOFTWARE perspective.

Thanks, Barb, for your extensive knowledge and enthusiasm in this world of AT. I really will go back to work with renewed energy and knowledge not only about software programs, but also about how to suggest and encourage supports within the schools.

Enjoy the summer everyone!!

Janine

Class #5 June 12/10

It was another sunny morning on the drive into the city - the view overlooking the Halifax Harbour is truly spectacular and I've enjoyed it every single morning we've walked into the lovely NSCC building.

Today's class focused mostly on Clicker 5. I have worked with both Clicker 4 and Clicker 5 at my work placement, but I haven't used it in over a year, plus I realize that I have only used Clicker to do the same routine/mundane activities - when there's so much more it can do! I watched the tutorials from Barb's website prior to attending class on Saturday; this combined with the things we learned to do in class have helped move me further along in my knowledge and comfort level with Clicker 5. As with all of the technologies we've been learning about, the more you use it, the more fluent you become... just like any language!

I totally enjoyed working on the ebook using Clicker 5. Things went quite smoothly and I think the finished product is really great (hope you appreciate it Sandy!!). I am motivated to do more with Clicker 5 and more importantly, I want to support the staff at my schools to be using Clicker 5 more as well.

I've had trouble with the Cloze Pro - I think it may have to do with the newer version of Windows that I have installed on this laptop. I hope to clear up some space on my desktop (memory is chaulk full!) and load it on there at least for a week or two, so I can learn more about this software.

I can't believe there's only one more class left! Time has gone so quickly and there's still so much more to learn...

And finally: has anyone heard of this AT support "ghotit" at www.ghotit.com ?
Here's a video clip

Class #4 - Kurzweil assignments + the writing process

Although the presentations on our Kurzweil assignment took most of the morning, it was interesting to see the variations and creativity of the possibilities for using Kurzweil in a variety of ways. Obviously, we took more time in doing this assignment than a classroom teacher is typically going to have time for, however: it was a great opportunity to take time to learn the program. Unfortunately, with many of these technologies, the front time-load is heavy as one has a steep learning curve at the beginning!

Some things I learned about Kurzweil from my classmates that I didn't discover on my own:
* button functions can be read aloud to support comprehension
* in the newer version of Kurzweil, there's a graphic organizer option to support writing
* you need to do zone editing BEFORE you begin text adaptations; or these will be lost once you do the zone editing!
* in order to keep the scanned size of text consistent, you need to set this BEFORE you scan, by going into Tools/Options
* you can get Kurzweil to read French text but there are limitations with this... unfortunately the French version of Kurzweil is very expensive!

In the afternoon, we worked on the writing process - we did a detailed task analysis of what skills are required for us to write. We learned that it's incredibly detailed - it's a wonder really, that we ever learn to write at all, and yet we do this so effortlessly. As soon as Barb asked us to 'write about the rest of the weekend' - I was writing in a split second, with barely giving a THOUGHT to the task... ideas just started flowing and I was writing with NO thought to what skills were required or what I needed to do... Amazing, really. In reflecting on this - I realize the difficulty one might have in determining just the breakdown might occur for a student who is having difficulty with the writing task - there are so many possibilities!!

My goal is to spend time exploring Clicker 5 in the week ahead. While I have had some experience with this software, and have created some basic activities for students, I hope to learn more this week. I also want to find out if we have Close Pro in our school board (another Crick software program - similar to clicker 5) to spend some time learning it as well.

Have a good week everyone!

A colleague showed me this video yesterday - imagine, the technology of the 'book'. It's TOO FUNNY!!!! Check it out:

Thoughts on Class (Saturday May 22nd)

Okay, so it was a bit challenging to be focused on class today, what with the awesome weather outside the windows, my daughter's 15th birthday, and the annual Teachers Union Council (where my husband successfully ran for the position of Vice President of the NSTU). I was thankful it was only a shorter class. Sandy and I worked together on a Kurzweil package for a student at her school. Sandy brought the knowledge of what the student needs, while I had some ideas about how to use kurzweil to help meet the student's needs. It was a good combination, I think.

We both commented on how much time it took to create the bit that we did. Of course, things always take longer when you're learning... no doubt our speed will improve. But it's definitely a worthwhile assignment to have us create a working package for a target student using Kurzweil. It forces us to just jump in and get our feet wet!

Assistive Technology Boogie!

Okay, so check out this: the Assistive Technology Boogie... It's not on 'you tube' so I couldn't add the link in that way. Try this link:

http://irkedmagazine.com/wanderingagoraphobe/leah/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/at30.swf