Assistive Technology in Action!

Saturday’s class was wonderful - so many great experiences and students! Here are my reflections on the presentations we had:

Christine:

Lilly sounds like a student that I work with who is in Grade 12 - she is fully capable of speaking for herself, and telling others what is what! I was not surprised that she used up all of the spaces in the box - but I was shocked to find out that the paper was 11x17 size!! I thought that her use of AT expanded her ability to express herself so much - she clearly loves her Dad, and I loved her story about Harry Potter. I thought it was awesome that she recognizes when the capitals are necessary and that she can recognize sentences that don’t work - pretty amazing for a Grade 3 student!

Amanda:

It is interesting that you work with a student whose first language is French. She sounds like a model student that anyone would want to teach! I am happy that she is finding success with Google Read & Write to express herself. As a high school teacher, I share the challenge of students resisting the use of AT while they are at school. It is hard to encourage any teenager to ‘stand out’ in any way. When I was using the Talk & Type feature myself, I was also frustrated if it said comma instead of putting in a ‘,’ - I think this must have to do with pausing while speaking. You really need to have your ideas organized when you’re using speech-to-text, which I didn’t when I was using it myself! I found it easier to delete things myself as well - I think that, as it says, using both typing and speech is useful!

Katie:

The student you worked with sounds like such a hard worker! It is amazing that with Spanish as his first language, he is able to spell phonetically in English - it is no wonder that he gets frustrated with rule breakers. Why wouldn’t he? I really liked that you incorporated a chart for matching the AT with your student as it shows you were really putting some thought into picking an appropriate AT to use. I couldn’t get over the level of detail in his second story using Word Prediction on Google R&W for the vocabulary. It is clearly evident that his ideas are more advanced than his written output was allowing. I also thought that playing his story back was a great strategy for self monitoring and editing. His quote summed up exactly why AT is so integral to student success: “it’s easier to write what I want to write”. The format shouldn’t be the focus, it should be allowing students to express themselves clearly.

Kareen:

Rebecca sounds like such a sweet student to work with. As others mentioned, it’s amazing what anxiety can do with some students - she is lucky to have you on her side! As a former Math Essentials teacher, I was really enthusiastic myself about the digital version of the Camping Project - I remember that project well and I would have loved to receive this one! I haven’t used Adobe Spark, but it looks really awesome and I am always looking for ways to switch things up in Math for my current students, so I will be keeping that one in mind. I also find that high school students are resistant to using assistive technology in high school, as you mentioned in regards to Jack. I wonder if this will change as technology becomes more of a ‘norm’ in the years to come.

Teresa:

I thought it was neat that you were able to work with your nephew for your case study! I didn’t know about the different names for pencil grasps, but good for you for looking into that with James. I really liked the use of visuals that you had in your presentation. I hope that when James transitions to his new school, he is able to integrate some of the assistive technology to help him out. His baseball story was so detailed - a clear indication that using Word Prediction was helpful!

Abby:

It must have been interesting to work with your daughter for your case study! I had never heard of Childhood Absence Seizures before, so I learned something new! I had never really considered before how playing the piano is another form of reading, and may be the cause of frustration. I am not an elementary teacher either, so I am never sure about what reading levels mean, but it was lovely hearing her reading in French! It sounds like she is doing well. I enjoyed learning about how Raz-Kids works, as I have heard lots about it but never seen how it works. I think it really motivates children with reading - and you could clearly see that Madison made progress!

Cathy:

Your description of Student A describes one of the students I worked with in our BIRT program last year to a tee! My student was really good at reading people as well, and always manipulated a situation to get what he needed. Just as you described, he would show up and say “I need you to…”, so I completely understand where you are coming from. I agree with you that using the assistive technology instead of scribing for them prepares them better for the future, because they will not always have a person for them to do that! I think it’s awesome that you are planning to talk to your teachers in September, as the access we have to GAFE should be taken advantage of by more students. I thought it was great that you included Student B as an example of how speech to text does not work for everyone!

Damion:

I thought it was an interesting perspective that you took with your case study, as it shows that it is not always your typical struggling student who can benefit from use of assistive technology. I think Brady sounds like a neat kid! I love how aware he is of the education system, and that he has figured out how to advocate for himself. I found his “fringe” to be a really unique adaptation that he has come up with for himself when writing on paper. I also found it interesting that of all of the apps we have learned about, the one that he prefers most is the Notes app. It really goes to show that assistive technology is best matched on an individual basis!

Sue:

It must have been neat to get to work with your daughter for your case study! It sounds like she is building some good skills that will help her with her spelling and expanding her writing. Her story about PEI using speech-to-text was so much more detailed than the one about her grandparents! I thought it was cute that you included her personal reflections, especially her line about not being afraid to use words because the computer would know how to spell them - this is such a struggle that so many kids must face, and I think it’s important to keep them in mind as teachers. I also thought that your idea about using speech-to-text as a spell checker is a great one!

Sarah:

It can be so hard for some students in school when they have trouble regulating their emotions - I work with a student in Grade 11 who also has those troubles. It sounds like Blake is wonderful to work with, and I understand working with students who never seem to want to work independently. It is unfortunate that in our current system, the resources are so limited for some students to get the help they truly need. I hope that the word prediction continues to be something that he can use to build some of those independent work skills!

Jolene:

Your case study was the most emotional one we saw. My heart goes out to MacKenzie, and to you as someone who experiences a totally different student than the one that you worked with before. It is clear that you want what is best for her, and for her to be maximizing her potential. It is definitely puzzling as to why you would see such a regression in her skills - like it was discussed, it almost seems that there is some kind of trauma that has taken place. Anxiety can be so debilitating for students, and it is so important to have this in our minds as teachers. It sounds like she is lucky to attend a school like Bridgeway where they are so accommodating to her. I also found it interesting that she responded to some of the apps like CloudArt as being too chaotic - it really makes me wonder about how many students feel that way about some of the things they are presented with, but keep quiet. It sounds like MacKenzie had developed her own strategies around avoiding text - I work with some students who are like that in many ways. I thought the project she did that was of interest to her was really well done, but it was such a shame that it caused her to have a meltdown afterwards :( This profession is definitely not an easy one to navigate when we are dealing with so many sensitive cases and real life struggles. I really hope that she gets the help that she needs.

Nick:

It was interesting for me that you got to work with a student that you had worked with in previous years - this must be a unique opportunity to experience! It goes to show you that no matter what programming is put into place for a student, it needs to carry forward into the following years. Austin seems to fit the same pattern as other students that we heard about during these presentations - not wanting to be singled out as needing something “different” than other students seemed to be a common theme. Hopefully when you continue to work with him, he will start using the technology again!

Allison:

It’s great that you were able to be in a school frequently enough to work with Liam for your case study! I loved getting to see him using the technology on video - and thank you for sharing what PECS is with us, as I had never heard of it before. I liked the idea of helping him with creating a picture dictionary using Google R&W. It sounds like he was starting to get the hang of it by the end of the time you spent with him!

I really enjoyed learning about what everyone experienced during their case studies. Aside from a few technical difficulties, I also felt good about my own presentation, which doesn’t normally happen! I really thought, as Barb assured us, that today was the best part of the course!