Technology for Students with Disabilities

This summer I took 9 hours of summer school classes. Yes, I’m crazy. 9 hours. I’m working on becoming certified in Special Education for Mild/Moderate students. In my Edtech class, I wrote a Literature Review on Technology in Special Education classrooms. Although I did not even chip the iceberg on the topic. The paper was helpful for me. I am a dinosaur when it comes to technology. The paper helped me learn how to use technology to help my students and also reflect on my own teaching practices.

I wanted to share a website resource I found in another class I’m taking this summer. PACER is a resource for parents of students with disabilities. They have a wealth of resources and programs in Minneapolis. I found these videos on the PACER website showing how kids are using technology in the classroom. I like the videos because I’m visual. I like to see students in action working with technology. It’s easier to envision using it in your classroom.

You can find the videos at: http://www.pacer.org/stc/videos/

What website do you use as a resource for technology integration in the classroom?

Engagement in the Classroom

As the new school year is fastly approaches, I started thinking about the past year and what I want to do differently. I came across an article about engagement in the classroom. I agree learning should be fun but I always have a hard time racking my brain of how to accomplish this. Some lessons are easily engaging but what about the ones that are important but dull? I was always a student who sat quietly and listened to the teacher. I would listen and quietly take my notes engaged the learning process. Not all, or even most, students are like me. What strategies do we use to engage all learners?

In her blog Caitlyn Tucker gives some easy strategies of how to easily engage students in learning. You can find the blog post here: http://catlintucker.com/2014/07/kids-will-be-kids-8-easy-strategies-for-engaging-students/

 

Do you have any strategies you use in your classroom that are engaging and gets the kids moving and learning?

Getting ready…. 2nd Year in Special Education

When I decided to go back to work, I never saw myself teaching Special Education. Although I had experience working with students in Special Education through tutoring and another school, I never saw myself being a Special Education teacher. But here I am. I will be starting my 2nd year and working towards my certification in Mild/Moderate.

When my daughter turned 3, my husband and I decided it was time for me to go to teaching. I am certified in Social Studies and was going to be certified in English, I started looking for a job in these areas. I went to job fair and took advantage of every contact I had. Not being from Ascension Parish and wanting a Social Studies or English position, I knew it would be stiff competition. I emailed and emailed every person and principal I could. When July rolled around, I felt like it was time to look into other options.

Mid July came and I got a call from a school. The principal told me she had a position open up. My heart skipped a beat. Then, she asked me how I felt about teaching Special Ed. I told her it was not my first choice but I wanted first and foremost to work and help students. After I accepted the special ed job, I had three schools call me with openings in my content areas. I second guessed myself so much before school questioning whether I was cut out for the position.

The first six months was so intimidating and hard. I felt like there was so much information to take in but I loved working with my kids. In Special Education, I got to tutor my students in weak areas and work with them Social Studies and English. I’m learning to appreciate math….. I think working with them in Algebra I was the only reason I passed the GRE. I learned so much this past year, but I know I still have A LOT more to learn. I will have a whole new bunch with new strengths and new challenges.

So with all this said, what advice, thoughts, memories do you have from your 2nd year of teaching? What thoughts do you have about returning to school this year?

Blogging…. 1st Post !

This is my first post as a blogger. I started this blog as a requirement for a graduate course I’m taking on Education and Technology. I enjoy reading blogs on teaching and parenting but never considered writing one. One of the reasons I’ve never blogged is because use of technology is not one of my strong points.,  So far the Education Technology has taught me  it is not as hard as you think. Once you get the hang of it that is.

Our teacher shared with our a class a video on creating blogs. If you ever thought about creating a blog, you should check out the video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN2I1pWXjXI&feature=youtu.be This video explains blogs and makes the process seem less intimidating, especially for the technology challenged.