Access to Technology for Students with Disabilities

 Special Education  No Responses »
Jan 202012
 

In 2009 I was able to go to Seattle and attend the CEC’s annual Special Education convention and expo. One the many pamphlets and papers I came home with was called The Power of Social Media to Promote Assistive and Learning Technologies, by the National Center for Technology Innovation (published January 2008).

They made a point to examine the differences in access to technology between people with and people without disabilities. Bulleted points were:

  • only 44 percent with disabilities had a computer at home, compared with 72 percent of those without disabilities
  • only 38 percent of those with disabilities had access to the internet at home, compared with 64 percent of those without disabilities
  • only 24.3 percent of those with disabilities use the internet at home, compared with 50.5 percent of those without disabilities.

Even without these outdated statistics, it is obvious there is a gap between the access to technology for students with disabilities and those without.  As much as I’d like to change this, these factors are outside of my circle of influence.  Instead, I put my energy towards my classroom, which is inside my circle of influence.

When I first got into my classroom there was 1 old computer in the room and some books on tape (not that there’s anything wrong with them…just really, really, really outdated).  I was lucky to have a principal who was enthusiastic about getting technology into the hands of students.  Before I knew it, I had 3 newer computers, a document camera, and projector in my room!  Last year I received an iPod touch through DonorsChoose.org, which I used to create a listening station and replace those books on tape (which I gave to another teacher who is now using them everyday).

My hope is that my LRC is a technology-rich environment, where my students are exposed to the tools of the future as they work towards overcoming their challenges.

 Posted by Larry Linebaugh at 11:48 am  Tagged with: , ,

Choice Words: Chapter 7, An Evolutionary, Democratic Learning Community

 Special Education  No Responses »
Jan 072012
 

1st and 2nd year teachers in the Salem-Keizer school district take part in the Mentor Program.  One of our assignments this year was to participate in a book study, I chose Choice Words: How Our Language Affects Children’s Learning.  In the upcoming series of posts I will reflect on my learning and share how it will impact my teaching, and more importantly, my students’ learning.

According to the 2011-12 Salem-Keizer strategic plan, the district’s vision is that “All students graduate and are prepared for a successful life.”  This book, Choice Words, has helped reframe the big picture for these students, and the impact school will/will not have on that.

There is more to a successful life than memorizing multiplication tables or remembering to indent every new paragraph when they write.  Increasing attention (chapter 2), personal and social development (chapter 3), sense of agency (chapter 4), and generalizing learning across environments (chapter 5) are all things students need to learn to manage and (hopefully) develop, so that when they are finished with school, relying on themselves everyday instead of teachers, they can successfully navigate the challenges they will face.

I hope I can take this new understanding back to real-life after the break, make it something I can share with parents and teachers during IEP meetings or otherwise.

 Posted by Larry Linebaugh at 10:53 am  Tagged with: , ,

Choice Words: Chapter 6, Knowing

 Math, Special Education  No Responses »
Jan 062012
 

1st and 2nd year teachers in the Salem-Keizer school district take part in the Mentor Program.  One of our assignments this year was to participate in a book study, I chose Choice Words: How Our Language Affects Children’s Learning.  In the upcoming series of posts I will reflect on my learning and share how it will impact my teaching, and more importantly, my students’ learning.

The classic teacher-student interaction goes something like this:
Teacher: “What is 4 plus 5?”
Student: “9.”
Teacher: “Correct, nice adding.”

The above example is known as IRE.  Teacher Initiates, student Responds, and teacher Evaluates.  With IRE, teachers are knowledge givers in a role of authority and students are students are knowledge receivers without any authority :(

I read this and thought, if IRE is the norm, how long before students begin to think to themselves, “Doesn’t wikipedia have the answer?  Doesn’t it say the answer right there in your teacher book?  Why do you always have to ask me when you already know?”  As students become more aware (link to chapter 2), I fear this may begin to bite back (especially in middle school).

This chapters provides ways of questioning which throw IRE out the door and flip the interaction so students are the experienced thinkers who have something to say that is worth listening to.  I suggest reading the book, because this is a great chapter, with many great suggestions.  But I’ll share one example.

Teacher:  “How did you know?”
This questions starts a narrative and emphasizes the production of knowledge instead of knowledge itself.  It assumes the student is knowledgable, even if their answer wasn’t exactly correct.  Production of knowledge is a bigger life skill than knowing things, so this helps prepare students to be productive citizens.  This is also something I learned last year during GLAD training.  It forces students to take their thinking/verbal skills to the next level, something that will benefit them for the rest of their life.

 Posted by Larry Linebaugh at 10:51 am  Tagged with: , , ,

Choice Words: Chapter 5, Flexibility and Transfer (or Generalizing)

 Special Education  No Responses »
Jan 022012
 

1st and 2nd year teachers in the Salem-Keizer school district take part in the Mentor Program.  One of our assignments this year was to participate in a book study, I chose Choice Words: How Our Language Affects Children’s Learning.  In the upcoming series of posts I will reflect on my learning and share how it will impact my teaching, and more importantly, my students’ learning.

In graduate school I was taught a lot about planning, instructing, and assessing for student learning.  Because I also studied low-incidence disabilities, we also talked about generalization.  Back then it was, yes, the student can get on the bus when we meet at the regular bus stop and go on a trip with the entire class, but can the student get on the bus by himself from downtown?  Now it is, yes the student can read the word on a flash card, or in a phonics reader, but can they do it automatically when flipping through their library book?

Another way generalization has an impact on my students is how much of what they learn in one environment (LRC, Gen Ed, home, etc), do they recall and use in other environments (home, Gen Ed, LRC, etc)?  They struggle to learn AND they have to do it in multiple places…places have memories.

There are 2 things I’ve been working on to try and make the transition between environments easier.

First, I am aligning my intensive math curriculum with the Gen. Ed. math instructional plan.  Using their yearly guides and input from the teachers, we can provide additional support and maybe another way of thinking about math skills that students are currently working on in their classrooms.  This is different than the typical, 5th grader still needs to learn double-digit addition with regrouping.  Kind of like life, we’re moving on.  They need to learn fractions, decimals, and division just as much as anyone, hopefully I can provide that support they need to be experience success with it in my room, then they can take that success back to their Gen Ed classroom and experience success their too.

The second thing I am doing to try and improve the generalization of my students is to encourage them, through conversation, that part of the responsibility for their learning is on them.  Yes, your teacher is responsible to guide your learning.  Yes, your parents should help you with homework if you need it.  No, we cannot do the work for you.  No, we cannot make sure you remember what you are learning in the LRC and use it in your classroom.  That is up to you.

I am unsure how much responsibility I can teach to elementary school students, especially K-2.  But I am hopeful that my efforts make a difference for my students, even just one.

 Posted by Larry Linebaugh at 10:50 am  Tagged with: , ,

Choice Words: Chapter 4, Agency and Becoming Strategic

 Special Education  No Responses »
Dec 312011
 

1st and 2nd year teachers in the Salem-Keizer school district take part in the Mentor Program.  One of our assignments this year was to participate in a book study, I chose Choice Words: How Our Language Affects Children’s Learning.  In the upcoming series of posts I will reflect on my learning and share how it will impact my teaching, and more importantly, my students’ learning.

Chapter 4 has many key points, but I’ll highlight just one from author Peter Johnston.  He explains the importance of students’ sense of agency, the perception that their environment is responsive to their actions.  He says they need to understand that their decisions and actions are responsible for their ability and effectiveness in school, sports, life, etc.

Unfortunately, it is not as simple as just teaching a student that their environment can be affected by them.  Students need to believe that they have what it takes to affect it (page 39).

The pros and cons spell it out clearly.

Children who doubt their competence set low goals, choose easy tasks, and plan poorly.  When they face difficulties, they become confused, lose concentration, and start telling themselves stories about their own incompetence.  In the long run they disengage, decrease their effort, generate fewer ideas, and become passive and discouraged.

Children with strong belief in their own agency work harder, focus their attention better, are more interested in their studies, and are less likely to give up when they encounter difficulties.  Feeling competent, these children plan well, choose challenging tasks, and set higher goals.  Their concentration actually improves as they face difficulties, and in the process of engaging difficulties they learn more skills.

Sadly, it is the nature of the beast that my students tend to eventually become more like the student with a poorly developed sense of agency.

Imagine the 5th grade student who returns from time in the LRC to their classroom, to hear the teacher say, “No more questions?  OK, please begin.”  Our 5th grader just missed the teacher instruction/directions.  The directions are posted on the board, but the student is a poor reader, so this doesn’t help much.  She asks a student next to her, but is so focused on their own work they aren’t much help (plus we all know a student can’t explain it like a teacher can).  It turns out it is a writing activity, and our 5th grader writes like a 1st grader.  Over time, day after day, year after year, this repeated battering of small failures, could really put a damper on a person’s outlook of education, and eventually life.

My hope is that I can make a difference by providing learning opportunities where my students experience multiple, small successes on a regular basis.  If I can continually pepper them with these small successes, maybe I can plant the seed that later grows into a strong sense of agency.

 Posted by Larry Linebaugh at 10:47 am  Tagged with: , ,
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