Technology Applications and the Cognitive Process

I had the opportunity to present to admin council last spring about educator use of technology.  I had recently come across the work of Ruben R. Puentedura, who has examined how we can stack the use of technology onto Bloom's taxonomy of learning.  I felt that particular opportunity was a good time to look at how technology can be used or infused in the classroom, while projecting Puentedura's SAMR model up on the wall.  I approach many teacher PD presentations with this model in mind. Technology can be used in the classroom, but it can also be infused in ways that allow learners to explore, create, collaborate, and blow down the walls of the classroom in ways that wouldn't otherwise be possible without technology.
This past fall, I had the opportunity to listen to a keynotes presentation at the Manitoba School Library Association's SAGE, delivered by teacher-librarian Kathy Schrock, who has woven Puentedura's SAMR framework throughout her website. Kathy Schrock's Guide to Everything is a goldmine of resources on  literacy, assessment, and technology- many of the targeted areas of our school division's strategic plan.  If you are interested in both the SAMR model and the use of the iPad, Android, and Web 2.0 tools in instruction, then please have a look at her Bloomin' Apps page.  I would also recommend perusing the rest of her webpage for countless resources, rubrics, and links that you can use tomorrow.

Writing IEP Goals for Students that Use AAC

We are upon IEP season, which means we are busy coordinating and hosting meetings for our students and are thinking of ways to support students across the span of the school year.  If you are already working in collaboration with your school's Speech and Language Pathologist to develop goals for students on your caseload that have a communication device, it would be worthwhile for you to review this document which provides some guidelines for creating IEP goals for AAC users.  It has a list of considerations for you to use when formulating a goal that you would like to have your team assist in supporting the student who is an AAC user.  Robin Parker and Carole Zangari have developed this amazing document that you may want to consult, along with your division's Speech and Language Pathologist, to consider some ways to further your student's progress and development with AAC use.  See a few other resources on their blog page.

Great Blog for You

If you are a resource teacher working with a student who has communication needs and you haven't started following Robin Parker's PrAACtical AAC blog, I would highly recommend it. Parker's posts on Wednesdays are themed, Watch it Wednesdays and today's post has all to do with considering ways that you can build communication opportunities into your students' daily routines.  When I clicked on the link to the YouTube video, I was directed to a great collection of video resources that you could use with students who have a variety of disabilities or social concerns.  Check out the Watson Institute's YouTube Channel here if you are interested in watching some short and valuable videos to support students with whom you are working.

Connected Educator's Month

October 31st is the final day of Connected Educators month.  Since hearing David Warlick speak about creating your own personal learning network (PLN) at last year's MANACE SAGE, I have been on a journey to become a more connected educator.  Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano's graphic explains it all. You can view it on her post about connected educators, leaders, and schools.

What I like about #1 is that it is attainable.  Spending 15 minutes out of your evening to learn a new teaching strategy or what a quick YouTube video on a school that is incorporating UDL in their classrooms is reasonable and doable.  It is the kind of professional development that may be more worthwhile because it is self-directed and self-determined, and only lasts as long as you have energy for at the end of a long day of teaching.  When you create a PLN using social media, you access the information that is relevant to your own personal learning needs. 

In my journey to become a more connected educator, I feel like I have stalled a little in stage four.  That is only because I feel like I have little to add to the conversation when I am following such strong educational leaders such as Dean Sharesky, George Couros, and Richard Byrne.  They have contributed a vast amount of knowledge that has allowed me to add a few new tools to my tool belt and has shaped my own personal pedagogy in significant ways.  Part of being an educator is never settling, always learning and growing, just as we would want our students to do. Creating a PLN is one way of making this happen every day.  Just today, while passing out treats to costumed kiddos, I browsed Twitter and found a great post on scaffolding student learning.  I'll share that treat here. 

Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano

At the end of a long day at work, I have precious minutes to spend on developing myself professionally.  It is one of those professional requirements that we, as educators, find most challenging to meet.  I have, over the past year, started swimming in the sea of educational information on Twitter and have found myself a few gems to follow.  Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano is one of them.  Her Langwitches blog is a treasure chest of information related to professional development, pedagogy, and technology infusion.  It has been a source of great insight for me and has provided me with some great resources to use in my own role in the school division.  If you have those few minutes at the end of the day, I would highly recommend perusing a post per evening.  It is definitely worth your time.  I recently read this post on her blog, which discusses the ways that we can use technology to turn students into master learners by giving them the tools to learn and teach others what they have learned.  We all know as teachers that one must have a strong understanding of the subject matter being taught before teaching it.  She coins the terms workflow and learnflow to describe how learning can be effortless using the tech tools we have at our disposal, rather than making the learning about how to use technology the purpose of our lessons.  Whether you teach Language Arts or not, please have a look at her Langwitches blog here.

Social Stories

If you are new to the concept of social stories, here is the 'go-to' resource for learning how social stories can be used to support students with Autism.  A social story is written in a, "patient and reassuring manner that is easily understood by its audience". Carol Gray, the creator of the social stories concept, outlines how social stories can be used to strengthen social learning, prepare students for transitions, and provide information about situations and events to the audience.  A comprehensive outline of the purpose and method for creating social stories can be found at The Gray Centre for Social Learning and Understanding.

Update

I just updated my post on accessible books to add additional resources. If you are looking for electronic books to engage your emergent or struggling readers, you should definitely review the resources listed in that post.  I know that both classroom and resource teachers in our school division will want to check out the updated list of resources.  See September's archives on this blog to locate the post or search the blog using the search engine at the top left side of the home page.