Examples of Universal Design

Universal Design Examples

Definition: an approach to designing environments and products so they can be used by the widest range of users without adaptation. (Center for Universal Design, 1997) It is also a way to conceptualize access and to maximize learning for the greatest number of students.

Examples of Universal Design:
- An entrance with no stairs at all
- Doors with a large switch installed
- Toilet rooms with more than one stall that is larger
- “family” toilet room
- Sidewalk curbs
- Closed captioning
- Captioning course videos
No stairs: means that instead of providing a separate entrance for those with disabilities, that the entrance accommodates everyone at the same time. This allows for everyone to use the same entrance and benefit from it even they do not have a disability.
Large switch installed: Means that instead of having a large door for only wheelchairs that there is a switch that can be used for someone using a wheelchair as well as a person carrying a large box who needs helping getting into a building. This shows how the door is being used universally.
Large stall bathrooms: Means that there would be more bathrooms with larger stalls to accommodate other needs besides using a wheelchair. Another reason for this is having a baby changing station, or a station for a mom to breast feed, or help child who is potty training.
“Family” toilet room: is a bathroom that is accessible to men and women with closed stalls so that if a mom needs to take her son in the bathroom or a dad needs to take his daughter to the bathroom it wouldn’t be awkward or unacceptable and allows for one facility instead of two.
Sidewalk curbs: were originally designed to help those using wheelchairs, but they also are used for people on skateboards or moms and dads walking with strollers , or for a delivery staff with rolling carts, and bike riders etc.
Closed captioning: allows for television programs including movies, shows, weather, sports, and weather for the deaf or hearing impaired. Closed Captioning also allows for people to be able to watch and understand television when in nosy environments like the airport, a restaurant, or with a group of loud friends. Also if you want to learn the lyrics to a song, closed captioning helps.
Captioning course videos: makes course videos for hearing impaired more accessible, along with redundant information for the non hearing impaired student- also benefits those when English is not the primary language.

Universal Design and Special Education

I. What is Universal Design-Universal design means that the design accommodates those without disabilities also. Accommodates for young or old, and male and female.
II. Misconceptions
A. Common Misconceptions of Universal Design
1. Wheelchair ramp
2. Automated doors
3. Separate facilities for those with disibilities
4. Elevator for wheelchairs
5. Wheelchair accessible bathrooms
B. Who Universal Design accommodates
1. Those with or without disabilities
2. Young or old
3. Male or female
C. Examples of universal design
1. To come in the next Blog
III. Future of Universal Design-
A. In Homes 1. Stewardship Remodeling of Seattle, Washington is focused on universal and green designed homes
1. Idea is to combine both concepts to help prepare for the future
2. Universally designed homes combined with green homes will sell for more money and help the real estate
3. Goal is to build homes that are seamless and provide homes that don’t look generic. Stewardship Remodeling wants to bring out the appeal in Universal Design
4. Company makes an effort to stay away from commonly heard Universal Design terms
a. “Curb-less shower” rather than a “roll-in shower”
b. “step-less grade changes” rather than ramps
A. In Schools
ii. CAST- Center for Applied Special Technology
iii. Founded in 1984 they create universal design for learning products and policies for all students and teachers
iv. CAST is doing continual research to create new products for schools
v. Examples of products by CAST
1. UDL Editions- classic texts that are put online with individualized support for struggling learners
a. http://www.cast.org/movies/udleditions.html video demonstrating the capabilities of the product and showing examples of some common UDL tools
2. CAST UDL Curriculum Self-Check– free online tool to help teachers use UDL techniques to reach all students
a. http://udlselfcheck.cast.org/ the website – briefly show the capabilities of
the product.

What is RTI

RTI Stands for Response to Intervention

What- RTI is a way for the school system to integrate instruction with assessments and early interventions. This program is a multi-tiered model that is designed to be implemented to help identify struggling students earlier rather than later. RTI is designed to help all students.

Who- Alabama's instructional model has 3 tiers. Teachers are expected in the k- 12 range to teach the students in a way that meets the varied needs of their stuhttp://www.blogger.com/dents. This is the purpose of the tiered system. Most students can better their knowledge in the first tier. That means that that about 80% are addressed in this tier. The general education teacher is the main voice of instruction. The second tier addresses those who do not respond to tier one. This is about 15% of the students. The special education teacher may be brought in. The third tier is is an intensive form of intervening and this is done by the special education teacher to intensely address these problems the students have.

Important- It is important for the principal, general teacher, special education teacher, and central office to collaborate to ensure that the needs of the students are met.

Relfections on Technology

Reflecting on technology and its advancements is very nostalgic for me. Looking back at how technology has changed really makes me reflect on my life as a whole and how I have progressed as a person. Over the years technology has changed in numerous ways. Since I was in elementary school, computers have been around. The ability of those computers however is no where near the abilities computers possess today. Looking back I can remember in the first grade going to computer lab once a week. The computer lab was the only central area where a large amount of computers were grouped together to allow for the whole class to get on at the same time. There were no computers in the actual general education classroom. The computers used were Macintoshes and the floppy disk was just that, floppy. These floppy disk were very large and black and the games that we played on them now seem so outdated. I remember a game in particular called Oregon Trail. Odd as it my sound, new technologies such as a social networking site called Facebook has an online interactive game called Oregon Trail that you can play with your actual friends instead on avitars on the game. At the time just being able to get on a computer was so amazing.
In the second grade, accelerated reader was becoming very popular in my school. The ability to take Accelerated Reader test on the computer made reading so much more fun. We as students received immediate feedback on our test to see our scores and would receive points based off the grade level. With these points we were able to shop at the AR store and purchase prizes with our points like money. In a sense it was a form of a token economy to reinforce reading.
In the third grade I had an opportunity to write an essay for a contest. The most amazing thing I remember was the fact that the computer I was using had a screen like a computer but printed out like a type writer. This device however, did have spell check. That was the first time I was introduced to a new function on the computer other than just playing games and taking AR test. The following year in the fourth grade I became the secretary of student council and was spending a lot of time in the library. Loving the library so much, pushed me to become a library aid. While being an aid, part of my tasks was entering the card catalog into the computer system to allow for the books to be checked in and out electronically.
A few years later in sixth grade, my mom bought my sister and me our first computer. It was smaller and the abilities were more advanced, still though very outdated by today’s standards. The computer had the ability to type on word processor, and the ability to access the World Wide Web! This was my first encounter with the internet. After entering middle school, teachers assigned papers that were to be typed, but not mandatory, because not everyone had the ability to access a computer and teachers were not going to punish the student for not having a computer. In my seventh grade computer class, my teacher Mr. Cannady thought before we could ever turn the computers on, it was important to understand the functions each part of the computer played. So we as a class learned how to build a computer given the parts. This way if there was ever a problem in the future with a computer we owned, we could use critical thinking to figure out what was not working properly. After the course of building the computer the class was introduced to new software that that made the computer do what the dictionary defines it as, “a machine that stores and organizes data.” Over the next few years of middle school, I was really introduced to the wonders of technology by producing a television news show that students watched in the mornings to receive announcements. The final computer class I took in middle school taught me how to use a Mac and a P.C. to make movies to use as the television show. The technology at my fingertips was almost overwhelming. The advancement of technology from my elementary ages to my middle school days was so drastic. Now I was being taught how to use PowerPoint, Excel, Microsoft word, I-Movie, and the internet to aid in oral and visual presentations.
High school really opened my eyes to the advancements of technology. I was accepted to a Technology Magnet High School. The school opened in 2000, and at the time was the first of its kind to open in the United States. Reflecting form elementary school to just high school really shows how fast and innovating technology is and how it has progressed over the years. Every classroom in my school had a smart board. This was the first time I was introduced to a smart board and remember thinking “how amazing is this!” The teacher was able to present the content of the lesson in a PowerPoint and was able to draw on the smart board and make additional notes all while the computer would be automatically saving them. This was a great feature for students who were absent. At this technology school each student was fortunate enough to have a desktop computer in front of them in every classroom. Each student had there own email address and this forced students to communicate electronically, not only with other students and faculty, but with parents and others from outside the walls of the school. Upon implementation of the email policy, over the years new rules and regulations were put in place to avoid distractions during the course of class. Graduating from a technology school made me think I knew so much about technology. That was until I started to attend Auburn University and began taking this class, Utilization of Instructional Technologies for Educators.
Upon entering this class, the very first day I felt overwhelmed hearing all kinds of new terms such as a Voicethread, an instructional architect, and integrated lesson plans. I am, however, able to reflect more on the impact technology is going to have on my teaching career now because of all the new ways I have been introduced to it through this class. Understanding how everything began and seeing technology used the way it is today is just amazing. The advancements made with the internet and new programs available on the internet is breathtaking to that little first grade student I was some fifteen years ago.
My learning has been affected drastically for the better with all the new advances in technology. By being able to access PowerPoint’s online form school and being able to search for things I do not understand on the internet, puts the world of knowledge at my fingertips. This is an advantage my grandmother never got to see as a teacher. I believe with all the advancements in technology thus far, my abilities to be a good teacher have grown to make me a better teacher. There is no telling what new ideas and innovations inventors will come up with in the future because it seems to me now where else do they have to go! Undoubtedly whatever new technologies inventors come up with, I am sure will only benefit me as a teacher. In the future using all these strategies I was taught with and modifying them to be able to be understood for my special needs children will greatly benefit my students. No matter what needs my students have, they will be living in a technological world and it is imperative that I utilize technology in my teaching strategies to help them succeeded in life. Technology will also play a major role in my future teaching career because of the assistive technologies my students will be using for themselves to help better a sense that is weakened by their disability, like cochlear implants for hearing impairments, or a Dinovox for students with autism. The world is full of possibilities because of technology and I feel the world is full of opportunities for my future special needs students because of the advancements in technologies. Technology will give my future students advantages in areas that they would not have if not for the wonderful inventions of all the assistive technologies. Technology helps make disabilities abilities for so many people.

Single Subject Review ABAB Design

1. APA Citation - Cited within the review
2. Article Elements
a. Type of Design
- ABAB or Reversal Design
b. IV
- The Intervention or called the Mystery Motivators Intervention
- What can be manipulated, effects the dependent variable, and in this design the dependent variable is the disruptive behavior
c. DV
- Disruptive behavior
- 1. Keep hands and feet to yourself
- 2. Remain on Task
- 3. Sit or Stand properly on the rug
d. Functional Relationship
- The reversal design or ABAB Design shows a functional relationship through the data observed and recorded on graphs for 8 students between the ages of 3-5. With the reversal design the intervention is implemented after baseline data is observed, then baseline data is observed after the intervention is stopped, a time period passes and the intervention is reintroduced and then the data collected shows whether or not the intervention changed the behavior, and in this case it did therefore a functional relationship exist.
- All the students attend a head start program and all had one or more disruptive behaviors being observed to test an intervention on and that was successful in decreasing the amount of inappropriate disruptive behavior.
e. Experimental Control
- Is easily demonstrated throughout the intervention because the students are all observed from a Head Start program ranging in age 3 to 5 together, and all were of Hispanic descent, also spoke two languages, and Spanish was the main language spoken in all the children’s home.
- With the use of a mystery motivator students stay focused and actually improve on their disruptive behaviors, and with “interdependent group contingencies reinforce the group based upon the entire class meeting a specified criterion” (Murphy Theodore, Aloiso, Alric-Edwards, & Hughes 2007)

f. Functional Analysis
- Is demonstrated throughout the graphs of the data provided in the article.
- “This research-into-practice study implements an empirically validated intervention into an applied setting that is similar to what would be expected in typical classrooms across the country.” (Murphy et al. 2007)
g. Operational Definition
- Operational definition to “keep hands and feet to yourself”: “no intentional bodily contact between two or more people, including touching, kicking, hitting, biting, and removal of another person’s clothing accessories.” (Murphy et al. 2007)
- Operational definition to “remain on task”: “not leaving the rug area or being oriented in a direction other than the teacher or the assignment for more than 10 s.” (Murphy et al. 2007)
- Operational Definition to “sit or stand properly on the rug” “not laying on the rug either on one’s stomach or back, not swinging one’s arms and legs, not standing or kneeling, or not running around in circles.” (Murphy et al. 2007)
h. Social Validity
- Social Validity, in my opinion is reached because the treatment and the behaviors that are targeted for change are socially accepted and the treatment and implementation of the intervention is ethical.
i. Reliability
- This intervention is reliable because the data and graphs prove that the intervention increased acceptable behavior in the preschool classroom especially on the eight students observed and put through the intervention. The graphs show that after the reversal design intervention is implemented the changes are for the better.
j. Baseline Phase –
- “Baseline data were collected for 8 days. During this time, the teacher employed her typical method of classroom management. This included verbal reprimands and time-out techniques.” (Murphy et al. 2007)
- Student 1: Female, 4 years old, “happy, and even mannered,” generally on task, gets along with others, about to start kindergarten. (Murphy et al. 2007)
- Student 2: Male, 3 years old, generally distracted even so by peers misbehaving, described as mainly off task and uninterested in participating in class instructions. (Murphy et al. 2007)
- Student 3: Female 4 years old, usually on task, and easily liked, at times non compliant to instructions and directions, about to start kindergarten. (Murphy et al. 2007)
- Student 4: Female, age 4, could be domineering at times, but friendly also, was about to start kindergarten. (Murphy et al. 2007)
- Student 5: Female, 4 years old, could be easily distracted by off task students, displayed some problems with interactions that were appropriate to her age. (Murphy et al. 2007)
- Student 6: Male, 5 years old, gets along with other students, excited to participate, but could go off task especially if others were already off task. (Murphy et al. 2007)
- Student 7: Female, 4 years old, quiet and shy and needed encouragement to participate in class activities, and remained on task. (Murphy et al. 2007)
- Student 8: Male, 3 years old, did not share well with others, and somewhat distracted. (Murphy et al. 2007)
k. Intervention Phase
- Disruptive behaviors were observed in 15 second intervals over 15 minutes and graphs were created.
- The teacher was trained with respect to proper treatment administration.
- “Must follow the classroom rules. Rules posted on a sheet of oak tag in the front of classroom, and pictures accompanied the rules to help the preschoolers understand them more clearly.” (Murphy et al. 2007)
- each need to earn five or fewer checks to receive motivational reward
- Example of rewards included: games, free time, stickers, dance activity, books, pencils, or a puppet show.
- The first part of the intervention phase was introduced in the first morning activity. This activity was a 15 minute group activity of many children that continued for 8 days. Before each day the students were reminded and read the rules of the intervention and were able to hear the rules in English and Spanish to be sure that they were clearly understood by all. The students were informed that if all the students met the criterion of 5 checks or less per day they would all receive a motivator from the mystery motivator box. Checks were accumulated by not following the rules; therefore each student had 5 chances to still receive a motivator. Wrapping up the end of the day, the teacher would inform the students on if they had all passed and got to receive a motivator or if they did not pass followed by why they did not all pass. This method allowed for not just one child to succeed or one to fail.
- “After two weeks the intervention was withdrawn for 6 school days, and then the intervention was reinstated for another 8 school days.” (Murphy et al. 2007)
- After the intervention had then been implemented again, and after it had been withdrawn the first time, the data collected showed that the intervention did in fact work and with the mystery reinforcers the students disruptive behaviors did decrease. The graphs of each student show a functional relationship that the intervention did decrease the amount of disruptive behavior.

l. Misc
- The title of the article is Interdependent Group Contingency and Mystery Motivators to Reduce Preschool Disruptive Behavior by: Kelly A. Murphy, Lea A. Theodore, Danielle Aloiso and, Jolie M. Alric-Edwards
- The graphs that are in the article that show the functional relationship, the data observed, data plotted on a the graph, the change in behavior after the intervention is introduced, change in behavior after withdrawal of intervention, and then the behavior after the intervention is reintroduced. The graphs are on page 59 of the article.

Single Subject Review on an Article on ADHD

1. APA Citation
Flood, W.A., Wilder D.A., (2002). Antecedent assessment and assessment based treatment of off-task behavior in a child diagnosed with adhd. Education and Treatment of Children, Volume (25.3)331-338.
2. Article Elements
a. Type of Design- Multiple baseline across task design
b. IV- Functional communication training and the sessions on the x-axis.
c. DV – Off task behavior
d. Functional Relationship- No a functional relationship is not demonstrated because there is not multiple trials shown and no way of knowing if an outside event affected the outcome of the intervention.
e. Experimental Control- Was demonstrated because the sessions were conducted in a therapy room equipped with a one-way at a psychology clinic.
f. Functional Analysis- No
g. Operational Definition – Off task behavior is defined as looking away from the academic task for three or more seconds, not writing or erasing for 5 consecutive seconds, or emitting a verbalization that was not related to the academic task he was working on.
h. Social Validity – This intervention was accepted by his teacher after the intervention evaluation was done. She implemented it into the classroom and found it to be successful at reducing off task behavior. Even though there was no actual formal data collected it was concluded that form telephone conferences with the first author and teacher that his on task much more often than before.
i. Reliability- The reliability of the data collection was assessed by dividing the number of agreements by the number of agreements plus disagreements and multiplying by 100%. Mean total agreement averaged 85% because the range was 62% to 100% for the assessment and 92% for treatment because the range was 62% to 100%.
j. Baseline Phase- Johns was asked to perform difficult word and division problems. Word problems were introduced because John’s teacher reported the he had trouble with those types of problems. The level of difficulty John had with the word problems was around the same level of difficulty as the division problems he completed in the conditions of the AA.
k. Intervention Phase- Intervention started by John being told that he could use the FCT response whenever he reached a problem he had a question about the academic task he was asked to do. John sat at the table in the therapy room and was asked to perform difficult word or division problems. The Therapist sat about 5 feet away and would help John with his request for assistance but she ignored all other statements. There was a contingency contracting also used. John was told before each of the sessions began that for every two division problems or ten word problems that he answered correctly, during a session he would get to choose an appropriate number of items based on his problem completion for that session.
l. Misc- In this article, there was a pre-treatment phase that taught John how to ask for help when he needed it or if a problem was cor

Progress Monitoring Module

1. List three advantages of progress monitoring over annual achievement tests.
1. The assessment results assist in instructional planning
2. The skills assessed are aligned with the curriculum
3. Students’ skills are assessed frequently
2. List two key differences between mastery measurement and CBM.
With mastery measurement the skills are broken down into sequenced sub skills, where as with CBM the skills can be taught in any logical order. With MM students must meet a desired criterion to be considered demonstrating mastery and with CBM growth of the entire skill is tracked over the entire year. A key difference is MM each new skill is assessed one by one but with CBM each test or probe contains samples from other skills to check the retention of the previous knowledge.
3. Name three ways CBM can be used to help at-risk students.
1. The assessments are giving multiple times throughout the year to track progress and areas of weakness.
2. CBM can address the problem with the at risk student and provide extra practice
3. CBM is easy and able to be implemented easily with assessments to show wither its working or not.
4. What are the six steps in the CBM process?
Step 1. Create or select appropriate tests (probes)
Step 2. Administer and score the probes
Step 3. Graph the scores
Step 4. Set goals
Step 5. Make instructional decisions
Step 6. Communicate progress
5. How would you use CBM when teaching multiplication fact families (e.g., times tables for 2, 3, 4)? Describe what you would do for each of the six steps.
First it would do an overall assessment of the times tables to see where the students stand and what prior knowledge from 3rd grade they had. Then I would score the tests and graph them to see where the weak areas are and the weak students are. After graphing the test scores I would set a group goal followed by individual goals for struggling students who would get extra help in small group math time. Then I would develop specified test with certain numbers to focus on finding patterns and tricks with times tables. After each day I would give the students assessment son the times tables adding more and more problems to solve in a given time frame. At the end of that the test would be graded and decisions would be made on which way to go, review or move on. After all that is I would communicate the progress with each student and send progress reports home so parents would know what the child needed to work on.
6. Create a CBM implementation plan for your classroom. Make sure you include the academic subject, frequency of administration, how you will score and graph the data, and how you will use the information for your instructional planning.
The academic subject is multiplication. The students will be given a list of multiplication problems every morning and have a certain amount of time to complete them. This would happen every day of the week for a total of 5 assessments that would be timed every morning. Each day the students will receive a grade and at the end of the week the students g=would get an average of those five days to count as one test grade to be recorded. The student’s math problems would be sent home with the students so they could receive extra practice at home so they would do better on the next quiz. The scores will be graphed individually for each child as the years goes, this way to avoid public humiliation, and a class average will be graphed in the classroom for the class to see. This way when the students reach certain bench marks they can receive incentives to keep doing better.

Iris Module on Scaffolding

1.What are the two critical elements to keep in mind when using instructional scaffolding?
Modeling and Practice. Modeling means that students can watch the teacher and see how something is done and practicing is where the students work in groups or individually on the task shown by the teacher.
2.Briefly describe the three approaches to instructional scaffolding presented in this module.
The three approaches to instructional scaffolding are Content Scaffolding, Task Scaffolding, and Material Scaffolding. Content Scaffolding is where a teacher a teacher selects content that is not too difficult or the student, this allows the student to focus on the lesson. Task Scaffolding is where a teacher begins by specifying the steps in a task, then the teacher models the steps in the task, and she allows thinks out loud how he/she is doing these steps, followed by allowing the students to practice. Material scaffolding is involving the use of written prompts or cues to help the students perform a task or use a strategy like a word web.
3. List at least two reasons why error detection and correction is important.
1. Students understand what they should be doing
2. Students learn mistakes are ok as long as you know why you made the mistake and how t fix it and not make that same mistake again.
4. Imagine you are a fourth-grade teacher and one of your students, who has a learning disability, is experiencing difficulty with long division:
a. Which of the approaches discussed in this module would you use to scaffold instruction for this student?
First I would use task scaffolding to show the steps and how it is done then I would use material scaffolding and use visual steps to show them how it is done.

b. Why did you choose this approach?
I choose these approaches because students with disabilities can learn from visuals and also by seeing and doing. Me choosing both of these allows for the student to be taught the same thing in different ways so they can for sure learn it.
c. Give a detailed description of how you would use this approach to scaffold instruction for this student.

First I would get make sure I had my lesson plan that I worked out with me, then I would sit with the student and go over each individual step, followed by verbal explanations as to how and why I got a certain point and how they too can get to that point, followed by letting the student practice exactly what I did by writing each step out as I do and after I do and then by himself. After all that then I would get out to material scaffolding work sheets I made for this particular student and have the student use the worksheets to help perfect long division followed by going back over everything and grading it together to see where the student went wrong and why it as wrong and how to make it right!

.

Iris Module

An Iris Module is a website that has a series of situations and questions about different disabilities. It ask questions about actual situations that would happen in the classroom and asks you to reflect and think about what you would do. The first one Im posting is about scaffolding and the second one Im posting is about RTI or Response to Intervention.

Single Subject Review on an Article on Autism

Single Subject Article Review
1. APA Citation
Delano, M.E., (2007). Use of strategy instruction to improve story writing skills of a student with asperger syndrome. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities Volume (22.4) 252-258.
2. Article Elements
a. Type of Design-a multiple baseline across responses
b. IV- writing probes/skills
c. DV- number of revisions, describing words, and action words
d. Functional Relationship- There is a functional relationship and it was demonstrated because of the increase in the number of revisions, describing words, and action words as illustrated by the graphs after the post training and follow up.
e. Experimental Control- Experimental control was demonstrated because all of the experimental sessions took place near the researchers office.
f. Functional Analysis- no there is not
g. Operational Definition- the operational definition for writing probes/skills is the number of action words, the number of describing words, and the number of revisions.
h. Social Validity- The article states that there could be a threat to the validity because of the small size of the sample used for this intervention. In my opinion this intervention is socially valid because the treatment targeted for change and the treatment are accepted and consumer satisfaction is reached. There is enough recorded data to show the effectiveness of this intervention therefore showing a promising future with this intervention.
i. Reliability- Interobserver agreement was assessed across all of the experimental conditions. An agreement check was conducted with all of the writing samples. There was an agreement ratio that was calculated for each dependent measure by dividing the smaller total by the larger total and then multiplying by 100. An agreement ratio of 100% was obtained for total words written and revisions. The agreement ranged from 83% through 100% for action words (M = 97%), 80% to 100% (M = 96%) for describing words, and 80% through 100% (M = 95%) for quality.
j. Baseline Phase – Vincent’s stories consisted of short sentences and he wrote no more than 11 words per writing sample. His stories had only one or two action words and did not have descriptive words. Vincent also did not make any revisions to his writing. The baseline information was collected from the researcher, who randomly selected three different picture prompts and asked Vincent to write a story about the prompt, then after a break he would ask him to read the story he wrote and if Vincent thought there needed to be revisions he would record that on a flip chart.
a. Intervention Phase- The intervention phase s where Vincent was the self-regulated strategy development. This intervention consist of three involves planning, drafting, self-monitoring, and revising text. This intervention provides specific instruction and Vincent was trained in each of the four strategies before being asked to do what it they were teaching and assessing him in those areas. Overall the intervention was a way to teach Vincent self-regulation and writing strategies.
b. Misc- the use of picture writing prompts.

Reflections on Technology

What is a voicethread? What is an inspiration floor plan? How do I create any of this? And how does any of this pertain to me becoming a teacher? These are a few of the first thoughts that popped into my head the first day of my Utilization of Instructional Technology for Educators Class. After my initial thoughts of the class, as a student, I found myself becoming overwhelmed at the realization of all the technology available to help assist the educator, and the realization of how little I actually knew in the technological world. Throughout the first month of class, and with the help of my instructor, my mind has been opened to new ideas and programs available for me to utilize in my classroom as a special educator. The first assignment given was to complete a classroom floor plan with a program called Inspiration from Microsoft. I had never heard of this program before and was a little intimidated after seeing the basic requirements for the assignment along with not knowing how to navigate the program instructed to use. After Mrs. Nunes-Bufford went over the assignment and showed the class a few examples of how to use the toolbar within Inspiration, a light bulb turned on in my head. I thought to myself, “How cool is this!” This program is a tool any student and any teacher could use in the classroom. This reminds me of how teaching really helps you learn. This program could be used to construct diagrams, review games, or even allow the students to help with these different ideas.
After playing around with Inspiration, I realized that this program was a lot like Paint except more advanced. Realizing this made the program easier to navigate. Inspiration allows you to make different shapes with different colors and use pictures to place in the screen you are using at that time to construct ideas such as a classroom floor plan, review sheets, review games, along with anything else a teacher can come up with. For example: Inspiration allows you to make word boxes. The cool thing though is you can link boxes together and a line connecting box A to box B appears on the screen. This means that if you are doing a review a teacher can place different questions in different boxes followed by linking an empty box to the question and print this out and voila! The teacher has a review sheet made to copy and pass out to the students. Reflecting on this wonderful program Microsoft created, it is amazing all the ways I will be able to utilize this program in my classroom. Special Education teachers use a lot of visuals when teaching the class. This program will allow for a quick and efficient way to place words and pictures on a page to help aid the student all while enjoying creating it with this easy to use program by Microsoft.
The next assignment the class was instructed to complete was a voicethread. First we had to learn what a voicethread was and the best way to do that is take a tutorial of it. I was excited when I found out that a voicethread is not a program created by Microsoft but a site online created by a man. This site has a tutorial you can follow explaining exactly what a voicethread is and how to use it. Without looking on the website, the program can be best described as an instructional interactive learning tool. The interactive part of the website allows for anyone in the world to comment on a voicethread and essentially these comments could be questions. Through the assignment, I learned that a voicethread can be very helpful to students when learning difficult content as a part of the required curriculum. With the site being an interactive instructional learning tool teachers can use to upload PowerPoint’s for students, students get more involved with the learning process making learning fun! This website created will be very useful for me as a special educator. I will be able to upload PowerPoint’s to voicethread.com, record my voice to them, and inform the parents of the different lessons I have created to help the parent help the child at home! This is a fundamental part of being a special educator, working together with the parents to help the child with special needs to help themselves. This interactive program allows for interaction with peers and aims at a goal of independent learning.
Reflecting on the first day of class, I remember having all these questions as to how and why any of this matters to me becoming a teacher. I understand now, what the meaning of this class is and how big an impact technology is on educators and future educators. The utilization of these different programs as a teacher makes learning fun, easy, and sure to help with the retention of knowledge. In the future, there is sure to be more programs created to help me with educating my students and it is my responsibility as an educator to continue learning about these programs rather than be intimidated by them. They are all actually a lot of fun and really simple to use in comparison to the vast amount of knowledge my students will gain from me simply by utilizing technology in my classroom.

Interview with a friend

This blog is an interview I did with a friend. Her mom has a disability and I wanted to know how her life was affected. The insight I gained from her was bountiful and I am grateful for her letting me into her personal life and sharing this with me.

Interview with Lauren
Interviewing a family member of a person with a disability is very enlightening to understanding what life can actually be like for those who have a family member with a disability. People tend to ask questions like, “how would your life be different if your family member didn’t have a disability?” The truth is that is a question that I honestly think no one can answer because that life is the only life they know. Besides, all anyone can do in life is learn to make the best of any situation. This was the key idea that my friend Lauren wanted me to leave with after concluding our interview.
Lauren is a twenty-three year old college graduate with a bachelor degree in psychology, who will be graduating in May of 2010 with her masters in Mental Health counseling. The main reason Lauren went into the field of psychology after graduating high school is because of her forty-five year old mom. Lauren’s Mom has a mood disorder called bipolar disorder, or also known as manic-depressive. Lauren explains to me that manic-depressive is where her mom will have periods of depression, and periods of elation, or mania. This mean that she can be really sad at one point to really happy the next. Lauren’s mom was diagnosed in 1989 after she was hospitalized for multiple suicide attempts, Lauren was three years old. She further explains how her life and her mom’s life have been affected by this disorder. “My mom is a very loving mom, and so is my dad, after my mom was diagnosed with bipolar disorder my dad felt relieved because it explained a lot. All the days when mom wouldn’t get out of bed, to all the days when mom was just spontaneous and would on a whim make a life changing decision such as getting a new tattoo.” Lauren further explained that her dad eventually divorced her mom because of her I love you, I hate you behaviors.
Lauren showed a look of sadness when she explained how her life was personally affected, “I never had friends spend the night over because I never knew how my mom was going to act. She had problems with drinking alcohol while taking her prescription medications and the outcome was always the same, she would constantly repeat herself and never remember how she acted.” Lauren said her mom never really had many friends because she did not know how to be a good friend herself. She, without regard to her own behaviors, was always kind of selfish. Lauren expressed that her mom was on three different kinds of medicine, a mood stabilizer, an anti-depressant, and an anti-anxiety pill. She said along with the medications her mom deals with her disorder by going to counseling two times a month and meets with a support group one time a month. Lauren stated that her mom is in between jobs a lot and at times cut off from society. If not for the help of Lauren’s grandparents, Lauren knows that her mom would not be able to pay her own bills. The last question Lauren was asked was “Is there any advice you would like to offer?” She replied, “Just know that the person who has this disorder cannot help it and to always try and be supportive. There will be times when you feel like why me? So have a support group for yourself.”
Upon closure of the interview I was moved hearing Lauren’s life story. Although it was her mom who has the disability, her life is affected by it also. I have known Lauren over a year, and learning about her past made me respect her more. Lauren’s decision to major in mental health counseling is perfect because of the life experiences she can bring to the table. Her positive outlook on life is inspiring because she stated how she maintains a great relationship with her mom despite the ups and downs. My initial reaction was to feel sorry for her, but she would never want anyone too. This life is all she knows and she said “I would never trade it for anything.” Lauren has made me appreciate my family so much more.

Changes For the Better

This article was published in September of 2007. Since the end of World War II, assistance for those with special needs began because of a group of parents who began to advocate for those with special needs. Around 1947 this advocacy group surfaced and reform for the assistance for those with special needs began. Because of different advocacy groups in the 1950s, special education was introduced to the school systems in the 1960s on a federal level as opposed to what had been in effect before. The foundation was laid by the parents who advocated for their children who needed special assistance in schools. Congress passed legislation in 1975 called the “Education for All Handicapped Children Act.” Or public law 94-142. This law was essentially the beginning for federal funding for children with specials needs in the classroom across the nation. This article also talks about “FAPE” or “Free appropriate public education”, stating that this new public law passed was a big milestone for students with disabilities with major or mild. Eventually in the 1980s, the previous law that was passed in the 70s was changed and called IDEA, or Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Because of this law being passed over 6 million children are now being offered assistance based in their disability funded by the government. As the years go on and the amount of students in special needs classes rose, it became apparent that a majority of these students in special needs classrooms all had weak cognitive skills. Cognitive skills are the skills that a child has mentally that allow for the student to learn and actually retain what they learn. These skills are where a student can associate pictures and words to identify something or artistic abilities rather than say a math or English course which is an academic skill. Assistance has come so far from where it began once parents started advocating for equal rights. Now there is freely funded testing available to help identify these disabilities at younger ages so that early intervention can take place and the student can begin to work to conquer their learning disability.

reference web address: http://www.edarticle.com/special-education/special-education-has-changed-over-time.html

Article form New York Times Magazine on Reimbursement

This article talks about the 1997 amendment to Individuals with Disabilities Education Act on wither a mom of a junior in high school could be reimbursed for having to enroll her son in a private school that cost $5,200 a month. He attended a public school in the Forest Grove district and was evaluated for special education classes but was found ineligible. After he was placed in a private school he was evaluated by a doctor where he was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder some other disabilities. The 1997 amendment to IDEA states that students have a right to a free and appropriate public education( FAPE) and if that is not made available to the student with a disability, IDEA confirms that a reimbursement is in order for private school tuition. The courts ruled in favor of the mom of the junior in high school, 6-to-3, because even though he never received special education services in his public school, doesn’t mean that he didn’t need them and therefore resulted in him being enrolled in a private school to get the education he deserves.

reference web address: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/23/education/23special.html

Why I Chose to Major in Special Education

I chose to major in special education for many different reasons. The first reason, most importantly is because I care. If I didn't care about the well being and future of these children's lives i would tell myself what are you thinking? Caring is a quality that every teacher should possess. The second reason I chose special education is to help make a difference in the future of the special needs children I will be teaching. Making an impact on a child's life for the better is one of the best ways to say you have succeeded in life. I don't have to become a millionaire to say I am successful, just knowing I can make a difference in just one child's life means that I am very successful. The final reason I chose to major in Special Education is because today more and more children are being diagnosed with different disabilities. In my opinion there are not more special needs children today than when my parents were in school, it's just now doctors know more about these different disabilities than they did twenty years ago, and because of all the new discoveries children are actually being diagnosed at earlier ages. This means that a demand for special educators is higher thus the demand to help make a difference and help a child's quality of life better is higher.