Unite for Literacy is a free resource that allows digital access to over 100 picture books. The added bonus to this site is that the books can be read aloud to students in many languages, even ASL! This site does not require a sign-in and is extremely easy to navigate, making it user friendly for the youngest students to use. It is theme-based, and you can actually search for any subject. What a fantastic resource for alternate access and inclusion for ALL students!! To view the site, simply click on the image above.
Check out the video for a little more info:
Take Away #2: edWeb
edWeb is an excellent educator resource. It provides a multitude of webinars on many topics and thus providing many opportunities for virtual professional learning. Once you sign up for an account, educators may then sign up to attend live webinars or can take advantage of the pre-recorded webinars that are available in the archive. You can visit the site and create your profile by clicking on this link: https://home.edweb.net/ I am looking forward to exploring this resource further and taking advantage of the free webinars.
During our class, we had the opportunity to watch the webinar titled "Supporting Learning from Home for Students with Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities" presented by Kara Magee-Arick. This webinar was also sponsored by Star Autism Support. Within this webinar, Kara Magee-Arick discusses some challenges that we must overcome when teaching students with Autism and remote learning. The big problem is that some believe that students with Autism or other developmental disabilities cannot access or learn from remote learning. The solution? That we spend time supporting parents and caregivers, to combine instruction and parent learning. She suggests 3 types of learning from home that may be implemented depending on the student's needs. The types of learning are as follows:
1. Support Caregivers
This type of remote learning focuses on helping parents with everyday routines. Caregivers are trained through visual supports and through webinars.
2. Instructionless Learning
The teacher provides work packets that may be completed at home.
3. Synchronous Remote Learning
The teacher is delivering the curriculum to the student in conjunction with the caregivers. This method allows the teacher to support the individual IEP goals and meet the unique needs of the student.
Star Autism Support also provides some excellent resources for caregivers, especially for COVID 19. This site provides Home Support, Home Support Webinars, and Home Supports for Routines.
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Take Away #3: Case Study - Jake
My final take away for this class comes from the UNC School of Medicine. We looked at the "Deaf-Blind Model Classroom" where there were 2 case studies we could follow, Jake or Matthew. I chose to follow the case study of Jake.
Jake was a 15-year-old high school student who had no formal means of communicating. School focused on functional skills. His mother and home care providers were instrumental in helping Jake succeed in communicating with others. It was amazing to see the excitement when Jake began to communicate using a 2 switch step scan and interacting with his family. Jake also used a light-tech flip chart to access the alphabet and begin writing. Jake could communicate with his partner what letters they should write for him. He did this by moving his arm which would then cause the switch to light up green telling his partner to move to the next letter. Once his partner pointed to the letter that Jake wanted, he would move his knee which would then light the red light letting his partner know that was the letter he wanted and they would write it for him. Over time, Jake clearly begins to understand the concept of print with letters representing sounds and inserting spaces between words.
This case study shows that students with complex needs can be successful and that we should ALWAYS presume competency! We have to allow all students to learn literacy skills. With AT, patience, consistency and TIME, great things are possible!!!
I love the Unite for Literacy site. I shared with my parents and other teachers. The edweb sight is a great resource for teachers. I look forward to viewing some of the webinars over the summer.
ReplyDeleteSo many great takeaways in this class. edWeb.net will be a great resource to explore as we continue throughout our masters program and especially throughout our careers. I'm sure there will be many webinars to complement all that we are learning and will continue to learn.
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