Since this week's AT class was about the writing process, I thought that this Peanut cartoon was a cute opening...since I am guilty of doing just as the comic says...:(
Now that I am more aware of UDL... I am definitely re-thinking this assignment and how to make it less about writing and perhaps more about photography, creating an art piece, making a collage, producing a drama piece, etc...to share what the students did throughout the summer holiday! LOL!!! :)
Again, Wednesday's AT class was fantastic! Lots of useful, purposeful and meaningful information shared about AT, the brain and the writing process that MY brain hurt! I have spent the last few days just digesting it all and really assessing how all this information impacts me and my students that I come in contact with on a daily basis.
The Brain and the Writing Process
WOW!!! I knew that our brains were amazing machines but never truly sat and thought about our brain and how it functions with our body....until...the past few classes. Breaking down the processes needed for the brain to
The writing process for many of us is somewhat easy. However, if you struggle this task is now a daunting, excruciating process. Take a look at the
critical steps needed to occur between the brain and the body in order to complete a writing task. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!
I know that prior to last Wednesday's class, I had not given much thought about trunk posture of a writer...which is extremely important in the writing process too... therefore I will definitely be more cognisant of it from now on ... BUT I had observed many students with incorrect pencil grasps. The correct positioning of the fingers to hold a pencil is shown below...however, guidance and support from an Occupational Therapist....like the one in the video... should be sought before implementing programing or low assistive technology tools for students.
In addition, we viewed a video about a variety of low assistive technology tools that students use to help support them with improving their pencil grip or to help support them with written output tasks. Over my years of teaching, I have used several different pencil grips and the rocket pencil. I had never seen a writing bird....but thought that I was pretty neat!
1. ROCKET PENCIL
2. VARIOUS PENCIL GRIPS
3. WRITING BIRD
4. WEIGHTED PENCILS
ORGANIZING AND WRITING ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY
In addition to the above tools, there are a variety of programs that can support students in our diverse classrooms with written tasks. Whether a student needs assistance with organizing thoughts and ideas or support writing in a legible manner, there are assistive technology tools, programs and devices designed to meet their individual needs. However, it is important for you to ensure you make appropriate decisions about which AT to provide a student. By doing so, you are matching the AT to the student's individual needs...an important process if they are going to embrace the technology and use it effectively.
1. Clicker Sentences was introduced to the class and I was very excited about how this program support students learning early literacy skills.
"Clicker Sentences is a wonderful program that assists student with understanding sentences and how they work which is a critical part of early literacy. Students who are emergent writers, English language learners or older children struggling to acquire basic literacy skills, Clicker Sentences will enable them to produce work they can be proud of while learning the key skills necessary for independent writing."
Below is a link demonstrating how to use Clicker Sentences.
2. WRITE OUT LOUD
Write Out Loud is another wonderful AT tool that struggling writers use as a support to complete writing tasks. "Write Out Loud is an easy-to-use talking word processor that can be made to speak letters, words, sentences, or any combination of the three. Listening to words encourages reluctant writers and eliminates frustration. Write:OutLoud gives students the satisfaction and success that motivates them to write more and want to write."
A tutorial on how to use Write Out Loud can be found below.
3. WORDQ
This program is one that my students use often when completing written tasks in class. WordQ...
- Learns which words you like and predicts them faster
- Predicts words even if they are spelled creatively or missing parts
- Offers a list of words with similar meaning to add variety to your writing
- Uses clear and pleasant spoken feedback
- Gives examples for words that sound similar by using them in a sentence
- Reads aloud any text you can highlight, including websites, emails and instant-messaging
- Reads exactly what you write, so poor grammar sounds off and bad punctuation disrupts the rhythm
- Helps only as much as you need with functions that easily turn on or off
- Lets you modify word prediction to use specific vocabulary or topics
- Works with all commonly-used programs Now includes English, French, Spanish and German
To learn more about WordQ check out the link I provided below.
4. CO-WRITER
"Co:Writer 7's is another great AT tool who's word prediction helps your students write with the correct spelling and grammar. As they write in any application, Co:Writer interprets phonetic and inventive spelling, offering word suggestions in real time. It is the only word prediction program to use the context of a whole sentence to predict the next word, making it really easy for your students to get their thoughts down on paper. They can also select topic-specific words or phrases from Co:Writer’s word banks!
- Speech anywhere – highlight and read out any on-screen text.
- Predicts words in the context of complete sentences.
- FlexSpell interprets phonetic and inventive spelling.
- Simple interface – discrete and ready to help.
- Hundreds of ready-madeTopic Dictionaries.
- Create your own Topic Dictionaries from any text or web page in 3 simple steps."
In closing this week's blog, I just wanted to say that these days teaching encompasses many things...from how to be thoughtful and kind towards others to teaching our students how to become independent readers and writers. Our job as teachers is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT! Ensuring each and every child is given what they individually need in order to achieve and reach their maximum potential is critical to their growth and success at the present moment and on into the future. It is up to us to make this happen. CRAZY!!!
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