Special Education Technology

Technology: We love it, but a fine balanced is needed in order for us to make sure it’s use is appropriate for our students. We know that technology is a tool, but it is not something that we should use solely or without generalization instruction.

Below you will find a few different resources that will give you some tech tools that you might want to try with some of your students. We hear a lot about making sure our students are 21^st century learners because they are living in a 21^st century world. Technology is certainly one aspect of that. Many jobs require our students, no matter what level of learning, to access some type of technology. In addition to requiring our students to become 21^st century learners, we also have to be 21^st century teachers and leaders.

Take a look at some of these tools and see what you think might work well in your classroom.

Favorite Simple Apps for Special Education: This is a compiled list of apps that the Simply Special Ed blog has put together. Some of these apps do have a cost, but this Special Education Teacher has found them worth it for her students. There are free apps on this list as well. Just taking a look at them might spark some ideas for you.

Favorite Simple Special Education Apps

Data collection in Special Education can be such a cumbersome process. We are trying to teach kids, schedule groups, schedule paraprofessionals, and encourage learning in every aspect of the students day. So how can we minimize the data collection time but not the quality of the results. 

Google forms has been one way of decreasing the time and energy of data collection but not the information you will be able to gather. Putting the form in live view and sending out the link will allow general education teachers, paraprofessionals, and any other team members be able to take data in many different settings as well. 

Google Forms can collect information. These can be used by teachers to record student data.

This box shows how teachers can collect missing work for their students from other teachers.

This image shows how a teacher can collect data about a specific student. This data can be used for interventions, IEP data, or simply tracking progress. Additionally, the image to the right shows the spreadsheet automatically created when using forms.

Teachers can use forms to give quizzes with automatic feed back for their students. Pictures, videos, and text can all be entered into the forms.

*And some of the themes move on the page as well!

First Days of School

Starting the year out in the right way is one of the most important things you will do as an educator. Make sure you give it the time and energy it deserves. 

This book is one of the best road maps to setting a standard of routine and procedure in your classroom. The effort spent here will impact behavior, amount of instruction, and acquisition rates of your students. 

 Think about your routines and procedures in your classroom. How do you instruct on these, what is your process, how do you make sure your students know them? 

As we reach the beginning of the school, it is important to think…What can I do this year, to make the year better than the last?

We are not looking at this as a way to beat ourselves up, but an opportunity for growth in the future.

Our students deserve our best, and we deserve our best.

I encourage you to think about the routines and procedures that you will be putting into place from day one. How will you practice those for the first two weeks of school? I know the pressure of getting into curriculum is high; however, the practice of routines and procedures will save you an enormous amount of time on the back end. Your instructional time will be structured clearly and the depth of your teaching will be immense.

If you haven’t before, take a look at Harry Wong’s First Days of School. It may not be a brand new tool, but it is an effective one! I have seen many classrooms succeed using this model.

Take a look at a couple video links below to begin thinking about the structure of your classroom, the routines and procedures in place as we begin the new school year. We are striving for constant and consistent student engagement.

As always, please let me know if you would like to do some brainstorming together. I look forward to a great year!

The Power of a Positive Greeting - Rosemary Wong

Week 1 - Day 1 - First Days of School - Harry Wong – Mr. Hester

Take Aways from the Videos: ·       Be at the door to greet students and tell them where to sit. ·       Spend the first several days teaching routines and procedures. ·       Practice doing simple tasks A LOT. (i.e. how we will get quiet, where things are located in the room, walking into the room, getting into cooperative learning groups, etc.) ·       Hold students accountable for the routines and procedures. (ask comprehension questions, give a class quiz, make a Kahoot, etc.) ·       Content will come later…and it will be effective.