Denise Nott
EDU 507
July 26, 2012
Reflection
Lesson Reflection
Many of the low-tech and high-tech solutions included were similar in each lesson plan as the lessons were developed and delivered in alike fashion due to Framing Your Thoughts being structured. In addition, many of the potential barriers were the same for each lesson.
Potential Barriers:
Clara: Seeing the items being presented (i.e., sentence frame, pictures, worksheet),
writing on the given paper (not enough space, etc.), seeing items on the given
worksheet
Josh: Understanding the directions, understanding the lesson (i.e., Lesson 1 – beginning
with a capital letter and ending with a stop sign), learning the definitions
Sara: Hearing the teacher’s instruction, directions, definitions, other students’ responses
Sam: Keeping engaged in the lesson, understanding the directions, understanding the
lesson, reading the items on the given worksheet, learning and understanding the
definitions
Low-tech and high-tech devices used throughout the lessons:
1. I implemented the use of body movements, such as signing the definitions of subject, parts of a subject, and action predicate. In addition, movements were used for “skywriting” the symbols like the sentence frame. The physical movements, which add to the mutli-sensory approach of Framing Your Thoughts, assist Sara with relying on her eyesight more to see and understand (since she has difficulty hearing) along with Sam and Josh to better internalize the writing skills being taught.
2. Sit students near the front of the classroom or close to the point of instruction. This allows the teacher to see if additional supports are necessary. It also allows the students the chance to be able to see, hear, and remain engaged easier.
3. Tracing the sentence frame and each symbol is another part of the multi-sensory approach that helps to internalize the writing skills. The symbols on the cards were raised (using puffy paint) for Clara and Sam so that they could better feel the lines rather than having to see them to focus.
4. Many visuals were used in all of the lessons, such as pictures to go over the subject and the action predicate. The pictures can be held up by the teacher and a second copy given to Clara; they can be placed on a document camera and zoomed in upon to make them larger on the board; they can be shown using a SMART Board from a PowerPoint presentation; or certain individuals, such as Clara, can have the images appear on a computer screen in front of them as well as the teacher displaying it at the front of the room. For this lesson, the images were mainly shown using the document camera. The document camera allows the teacher to zoom in closely.
5. The teacher activated the students’ prior knowledge by using the picture frame to introduce barebone sentences. Also, the teacher recorded the definitions on the board where they stayed during all of the lessons, and she reviewed what was learned in the previous lesson before adding on. Referring to prior knowledge and reviewing is crucial to students with learning and cognitive disabilities.
6. The students were given their own materials to manipulate, like the sentence frame, subject symbol, and action predicate symbol. This helps with the multi-sensory approach and keeps the students focused and engaged, which is great for learning and cognitively disabled students.
7. The students were able to act out certain action predicates, which is helpful for all individuals because they can become involved, the actions are easy to see, and nothing has to be heard (which is good for Sara).
8. The print size on the given worksheets can be enlarged, which will be helpful for individuals like Clara.
9. In addition to enlarging the print size, the worksheet can be completed using Microsoft Word for students like Clara who would benefit from having APHont (a special font for low vision). Sam might benefit from the use of the computer while utilizing other methods of adjusting the computer screen like changing the style, size, and color of the font, altering the background contrast, enlarging the mouse size, and slowing the speed of movement for the mouse. Computer programs like Don Johnston’s talking word processor, Write:OutLoud, is capable of reading the sentences, phrases, and words aloud along with repeating back the text that was typed. A larger or modified keyboard may also be helpful. Intellikeys is another program that provides access for larger items, picture cues, and word prediction. Using the computer may be motivating for the students too.
10. Instead of sorting the given cards Lessons 2 and 3, the students can complete a similar assignment using Inspiration on the computer with the different organizers and maps available. In addition, to go over the answers together as a class, the students and the teacher can interact using a SMART Board. The teacher should already have a flip chart created prior to the lesson so the students can quickly take turns coming to the board to drag the image to the proper spot. By having the students rate the responses using simple thumbs up and down, the teacher can easily progress monitor to see if she can go on or if she needs to go back and re-teach.
11. If students, like Josh, are not using the computer but are writing (such as completing the practice worksheet H in Lesson 3), they should have access to a Franklin Spell Checker.
12. Because Sara has a moderate hearing disability, using an FM system will greatly benefit her. With an FM system, the teacher wears a small microphone clipped to an article of clothing and the student wears a hearing device (such as hearing plugs or small headphones that curve around the ears). The microphone amplifies the teacher’s voice so that the student can hear better. If a classmate is sharing an idea, the student should wear the FM system, etc. Another version of an FM system is an actual microphone that can be passed around to whomever is speaking. Throughout all three lessons, the teacher should wear the FM system.
The lessons were planned to be short, to be given in small steps, and to have a great deal of repetition; the students are to be given plenty of immediate feedback from the teacher. All of these things help with students who are diagnosed with disabilities, especially those with learning and cognitive disabilities. Additional activities for the lessons that can be implemented if the students are showing they need more practice include watching BrainPop videos (viewed on a large screen and displayed with closed captioning) about subjects and action predicates and playing games like charades. Throughout this project, I have found that the support given to one particular student due to a disability may benefit other students in the classroom too who may have a different disability or who may not have a disability. For instance, using body movements and acting out the action predicates could be beneficial for students with hearing impairments, learning disabilities, cognitive disabilities, and students diagnosed with ADHD.
While deciding which assistive technology supports and devices to include in the lesson plans, I referred to multiple resources that gave wonderful suggestions. Before beginning the assignment, I first referred to the SETT website created by Joy Zabala. The acronym SETT stands for Student, Environment, Task, and Tools, and it helped me to focus upon what exactly the students with disabilities need to be successful. I first looked at each student to see the area of concern, if they had any special needs, what their current abilities were, and their interests. (I had to be creative with some of those questions since we were not given that information). I next looked at the environment, which for this project was the general education classroom during ELA time. Typically, all environments would be focused upon, such as the playground, math class, and ELA class. After that, I looked at what I was asking the students to do. I wanted to make sure they could be active participants. Finally, I attempted to find the appropriate tools that were necessary to allow the students to be successful.
I also referred to the Maryland Assistive Technology Network (MATN) website prior to beginning because it defined the specific roles that are necessary in order for the assistive technology supports to be helpful. I learned that it is necessary to collect data as to how the tool or strategy is impacting the student’s learning in order to help with progress monitoring. The progress monitoring helps the teacher and student(s) determine if the assistive technology is in fact benefiting the student and allowing them to be more independent. The “AT Cycle in Practice” was useful to me because I got to read about how the teachers implemented AT for “Lilly,” which then allowed me to compare my lesson to the case study.
The Assistive Technology Consideration Wheel provided great ideas to assist with writing skills. It was extremely helpful to have the supports categorized to make it easy to locate the necessary topic, like the subject of writing, in my lessons. I also liked how the supports were listed from low-tech to high-tech. I wanted to start at the first item listed because I believe it is important for the student(s) to be as independent as possible and to complete a task with the least amount of support necessary. For instance, I do not want to provide a student with a portable word processor when the student can complete the same task by simply being given sentence starters, a word bank, and an adaptive grip.
The Adapted Pencils to Computers Guide gave me great ideas of supports I could implement for writing while using the least restrictive solutions. For instance, the website suggested to break down the instruction into smaller steps, to provide structured activities so the students could not fail, to enlarge the sheets for students to see, provide tactile feedback, and color code (I coded by using symbols instead).
The Wisconsin Assistive Technology Initiative (WATI) website was helpful because it divided the types of assistive technologies into categories so that I could search specific target areas easier. Some ideas that I got from the WATI site are using a computer and word processing software, a writing template (sentence frame), a spell checker, and voice recognition software to word process.