Changing The Label

Voice Recorder

2010-06-15T08:32:00.000-07:00

One of the things that I do to make my life easier and to help the students is to read tests out loud to them. I have always used Audacity to do this, but the problem is that I have not always had a computer to do this on. The other problem is that I occasionally have paraprofessionals read it for me which means that I then have to train them on how to use Audacity. Hopefully I have found a solution with the new Sony Digital Recorder that I found. Now instead of having to search for a computer, I can just hit the record button and read the test. It is pretty sweet. I will make sue to keep blogging about how it is working.

Entry 43: CPS/Clickers Presentation

2009-07-14T11:20:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I am going to be presenting to a group of teachers on how to use the clickers in their classroom. I know I have talked about this in previous posts, but s you can see below I now have a powerpoint that goes with it. Again this is a quick and easy way to see if students are meeting their IEP goals.

Cps Clickers

View more presentations from Lance Huebner.

Entry 42: Quia

2009-06-24T09:53:00.000-07:00

Today I am giving a presentation on one of my favorite programs ever: Quia. It is a great program that lets you give tests online and breaks the data down for you. What a fantastic program and even better after the updates.

No More Grading Tests

View more OpenOffice presentations from Lance Huebner.

Entry 41: Metaphor Poems

2009-03-27T09:28:00.000-07:00

Today my students wrote and posted some metaphor poems comparing their family to either a zoo, circus, or items in a refrigerator. They really seemed to enjoy it and some have even started their own blogs. I am quite excited about the results so far. If you want to see the poems click below.

Metaphor Poems

Entry 40: Photostory

2009-03-26T10:09:00.000-07:00

Next Friday I am going to be giving an inservice on using Photostory. If you haven't used this software before, you are missing out. It is a program that allows you to use pictures and make a movie. I use this in my classroom quite often for my students to show some science processes. I will put in 4-5 different pictures and have them place them in the order they occur. Great way to study for tests. You can see my presentation below.

Photo Story For Beginners

View more presentations from Lance Huebner.

Entry 39: Assistive Technology Podcast

2009-03-18T19:26:00.000-07:00

I recently found this podcast posted on my facebook group page and found it to be quite good. It is done by a guy who just talks about the latest assistive technology that is out there. Check it out.

Assistive Technology Podcast

Entry 38: Classroom Blog

2009-03-18T19:20:00.001-07:00

It has been about 5 years since I last taught a communication arts class, but this year I finally have the chance. So what my big plan is right now is to have the students help update a classroom blog. The blog might be anything from what we are doing in class, sharing some writing that they might have done, or even what book they might be reading at the moment. The plan right now is to have one student update the blog every Friday. I think this might be another great way for them to get excited about writing. If you would like to follow or even leave comments the link is below.

Room 118 Blog

Entry 37: Zoom It

2009-03-13T09:06:00.000-07:00

I found a great new free download from Microsoft called zoom it. What this program does is that wherever your mouse is it will magnify that part of the screen. It does this just by hitting ctrl and 1. What an awesome screen magnification tool and again it is free where some products cost hundreds of dollars and do the same thing. The link to download it is below.

Zoom It

Entry 36: TechNet Conference

2009-03-12T11:52:00.000-07:00

Today I am attending and presenting at the TechNet conference. It is a great conference and I am really learning a lot. One thing that I found today that I am going to use is a free program from Microsoft called Zoom It. This program with the click of a mouse will zoom in to any part of the screen you like. I will download it later and give m thoughts on it.

Entry 35: TechNet Presentation

2009-03-11T16:38:00.001-07:00

On Thursday I am presenting a session at TechNet titled Technology and Special Education. You can see the whole powerpoint below.

Entry 34: Using The Clickers

2008-11-03T10:14:00.000-08:00

Today I worked with one of the science teachers and administered a pre-test using the clickers. She had a total of 112 students who took the test with the clickers. We made this easy and just did a fast lesson which means that instead of putting in the question, we just put in the answer. The students then had a paper copy of the test sitting in front of them and they just keyed in the answers on the clicker. We even had each student showing up on the computer, so we could see which questions they got right and wrong. We did this in case anyone didn't understand how to use the clicker, we could see and go over and help. It worked well and it is a whole lot easier than grading 112 tests. I will blog about the results when we look at them.

Entry 33: CPS/Clickers

2008-10-28T10:19:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday I had the chance to sit in an all day district tech meeting. During this meeting I had the chance to play with the clickers. What a great way to get students to interact with the lesson and also get immediate feedback on how well students are learning the information. For those that have never seen or heard about clickers they are basically handheld devices that allow you to answer a multiple choice question that is on the screen by submitting your answer on the clicker. You can make the test any way you want and afterwards it gives feedback on how each student has done. I am looking forward to trying this next week with my resource communication arts class.

Entry 32: Assistive Technology Video

2008-10-03T18:46:00.001-07:00

Below is a great video that was recently in Edutopia that shows how assistive technology can be used in the classroom. Click the link below to view it.

Assistive Technology Video

Entry 31: Another Political Game

2008-09-30T10:12:00.000-07:00

One of my good friends showed me this game that really helps show students how the electoral process works. Great game where the students actually compete to become President of the United States. A great tie in with your social studies lesson. Check the game out below.

Elections Game

Entry 30: A Poltical Game

2008-09-30T09:31:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine emailed me this link that I thought was great. The link gives you statements that each presidential candidate has made and asks for you to click on the one you agree the most with. At the end of the survey it lets you know which candidate you have the most in common with. It is a great game that I know I will be using in my classroom. Check out the link below.

Presidential Candidate Link

Entry 29: The Blog Question

2008-09-30T09:15:00.000-07:00

Now I have many people that do blogs and even incorporate it into their classroom. I even did a wedding blog so all of our distant relatives could keep track of what was going on. Whenever I do a presentation though, the one question that I keep getting asked is whether or not kids actually do blogs. My response to them is asking them whether or not the students in their class have a Facebook or MySpace account. If they do have one of these than yes they are blogging because each of those accounts has a blogging feature to use.

Now many of the students we work with have a tough time expressing their feelings. In my mind a blog is the perfect way for them to do this. It basically gives them a chance to write out what they are thinking and at the same time they can come back at a later time and reflect. What a great idea for ED kids huh. Do you have any other ways you are using or can see using blogs in your class. Let me know.

Entry 28: One Note

2008-09-15T06:13:00.000-07:00

How many of you have used one note before? How many of you have papers just laying all over your desk and you can't find anything when you need it? Well this year I have begun using one note and it is making my life much easier. One note is a program put out by Microsoft that allows you to make separate folders for each student and allows you to take notes over them. The best example I can give is that each student on my caseload has a separate folder for them. In each folder I have a copy of their schedules, a copy of their classroom accommodations, a copy of their testing accommodations, a copy of the parent contact sheet, a copy of their IEP, and a copy of parent/student concerns. Now instead of going back to a folder to get the information, I can just get on my computer and pull up everything and jot my notes down on it. Great program that I will be talking more about.

Entry 27: The Team Blog

2008-09-03T14:05:00.000-07:00

I am extremely lucky to teach in a district that embraces technology as much as mine does. Everyone in our building has a blackboard website and they are expected to maintain it. Our teachers are very good at this and actually go above expectations. The only problem we ran into is that you could never access the sites from just one place and also the websites were just so long to remember. This year I decided to change all that by starting a blog that will keep parents informed of what is going on with our team. Just another way to communicate with parents. You can see the link below.

Team Blog

Entry 26: My New Project

2008-08-25T19:13:00.000-07:00

The last 4 years have been very hectic for me when it comes to my job. I am all about the teaming concept, but I was never fully on a team. I always worked with 8th and 9th graders, but this year is different because I am just working with 8th graders. This is nice because I am finally able to keep better track of the student's on my caseload and also apply some of the technology things that I have always wanted to do.

The one thing I have always wanted to do is take my blackboard website to a new level. This year only being on one team I am able to do this. My blackboard link is below and if you go to it you will see a few things.
- An assignments link. This link is updated everyday with what assignments or projects students have coming up in all of my teams core classes (math, science, social studies, and language arts). Believe it or not this only takes 5 minutes a day to do and it is so beneficial for the parents of my students.
- A review games link. I use this link for study games that students can play at home to get ready for upcoming tests. This should be a great way for students to get more prepared for tests coming up. Right now I have a link for students to go to a game to help them study for their states quiz.
- I will also have a tests link. This link will be the audio version of any tests that the students will be taking. So instead of myself or a para reading the test out loud, it can be done on my blackboard site.

I know I will be using this even more over the year, so keep checking back to it. The link is below.

My Blackboard Site

Entry 25: Google Teacher Academy

2008-08-20T07:08:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wanted to be a Google certified teacher and learn how to use their products more effectively? Well now is your chance because on September 24th Google will be holding a conference in Chicago for 50 educators to become Google certified and learn how to use their product more effectively in the classrooms. The application deadline is August 25th and to apply or learn more click on the link below.

Google Teacher Academy Information

Entry 24: Start Of The School Year

2008-08-18T04:24:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I begin my 15th year of teaching and this one will by far be the most interesting. For starters this summer I got married, so I guess this means no more long nights at school. I also gave up a broadcasting class that I have been teaching for the last 2 years (this should clear up a lot of my time because there was just so much to do to keep that program running). This coming year we also hired 3 new teachers which means my department now has 9 teachers and 10 paraprofessionals and this is not counting the students teacher I have. This year like every other year I have set some goals for my classroom.

- Updating this blog once a week with something new and great I have either learned, am currently using, or a share a great resource I found.

- Keep using the mp3 players in my classroom to have tests read out loud to make my life easier by not reading tests.

- Working smarter, not harder.

- Writing a grant for the adaptive PE class to get a Nintendo Wii to use in helping develop their fine and gross motor skills. Might as well put this technology to use huh.

- Last but not least, worrying more about being a good teacher than the paperwork that we all have to do.

These are my goals for the year, if you want I would love to hear about yours. I hope everyone has a great year.

Entry 23: Read The Words

2008-07-28T10:58:00.001-07:00

I have recently come across a free program that allows any text you type to be read out loud (even in Spanish and French). The coolest thing is that you can even import any word or PDF document and have it read out loud. Check out the link below.

Read The Words

METC Presentation

2008-02-06T04:45:00.000-08:00

Right now I am getting ready to do my presentation at METC entitled "Web 2.0 For The Special Education Digital Native". Unfortunately my computer is acting up and not allowing me to place my powerpoint notes on this blog. However if you would like to see the notes click on the link below and you will go to me blackboard site. From there just click on the bottom button that says METC powerpoint and you can see them.

METC Powerpoint Notes

Entry 20: Missouri Techknowledge Day

2008-01-30T09:22:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I took four of my broadcasting students to Jefferson City, Missouri floor the Show-Me Techknowledge Day. This is the second year I have taken a group with me and it is amazing. You get to spend the entire day in the state capital at the rotunda and show legislators and senators how we are using technology in our school. This year the students were also able to meet our representative Tim Flook who was nice enough to have us recognized on the floor. The highlight was probably when the students had the chance to meet our senator Luann Ridgeway and she gave us a personal tour of the senate floor, the house floor, and many other parts of the capital. All in all it was a great day and I will update this blog with some of the amazing things I saw. Below you will see pictures of the students with Tim Flook, Luann Ridgeway, and presenting their project.

Entry 19: A Busy Man

2008-01-24T19:47:00.000-08:00

Greetings from the frozen tundra of Missouri. I know I have said this before, but I have been quite busy lately. My schedule is only going to get more hectic in the future, so I figured I could let everyone in on what I will be doing in the near future.

* Next Tuesday (January 29th) I will be in Jefferson City with 4 of my broadcasting students for the Missouri Techknowledge Day. This is a great event where we get to spend the day in the state capital rotunda showing the Missouri representatives and senators how we are using technology in our school. We were invited to this event last year, and it was a great experience that they will never forget (how many people can say that they were recognized on the house floor?).

* The week after that (February 4th and 5th) I will be in St. Charles, Missouri at the METC conference. I am really looking forward to this event because they have some great speakers. I am really looking forward to hearing David Warlick speak and I also want to hear Steve Dembo speak also. Both of these men are dynamic speakers that make me excited about being a teacher every time I hear them.

* Then the week after that (February 15th)I will be presenting twice at my school district's annual conference called Empowering Excellence. I will be presenting from 7-8 in the morning on how to get the most out of Outlook (beyond just emailing). I will also be presenting a session for special educators on the technology we have and how we could be using that in our classrooms.

As you can see I will be pretty busy, so be expecting a lot more posts in the near future. I have also started another blogging project for my upcoming wedding. It is all about the wedding plans and how we are getting ready. Click here to check it out.

Entry 18: METC

2008-01-22T12:55:00.000-08:00

As many of you know I will be presenting at the METC conference on February 5-6 in St. Charles, Missouri. I found out today that I will be presenting on Wednesday, February 6th at 1:00. So for those of you who are interested you can catch me and my presentation entitled Web 2.0 For The Special Education Digital Native then. For those of you who can't attend, don't worry because a copy of the presentation will be posted on this blog. Hope to see you at METC.

First Ice Storm

2007-12-12T09:04:00.000-08:00

Greetings from my nice and toasty house. Today is the second day in a row that we have been out due to ice. It has been a nice break, but I do have to admit that I am going a little bit stir crazy. As you can see from the picture at the bottom I haven't been able to get out very much due to my vehicle being pretty well damaged beyond belief. I actually slid into another car because of icy roads and the result is seen below. At least no one was hurt.

Busy Month

2007-12-02T07:07:00.000-08:00

It has been forever since I have last updated this blog, but things have completely changed in my life. Over Thanksgiving break I proposed to my girlfriend and we have been busy planning for our wedding on June 21st. It has been quite hectic, but a good kind of hectic. Well let me explain some things that have also been happening to me and some exciting blogs/websites I have been playing with:

- Let me start off by congratulating my good friend Eric Langhorst who was recently named Missouri Teacher Of The Year. What a great honor for a person who truly deserves it. Eric does amazing things with technology in his classroom and has been my mentor since we first met 6 years ago. If you have never had a chance check out his Speaking Of History blog and he has started a blog about what his experiences are like as the Missouri Teacher Of The Year.

- I will be presenting at two conferences in the near future. One of them is our district's annual conference called Empowering Excellence and the other is in St. Charles, Missouri (a suburb of St. Louis) at the Midwest Educational Technology Conference. The topic for both will deal with how technology can be used in the classroom to help special education students.

- My broadcasting class will be going to Jefferson City, Missouri at the end of January to show some of the Missouri state legislators and senators how we are using technology in our school. We did this last year and it is a great day where the students spend the day in the state capital and also get the chance to be recognized on the house floor. I am excited about this opportunity again.

Well I am hoping to keep this blog updated more now, so keep checking back and I'll fill you in on some more exciting things that are happening.

-

First Week

2007-08-18T12:29:00.000-07:00

Well the days of me sleeping in, having more than 20 minutes to eat my lunch, and actually being able to do things on the weekdays are over. Our school began this Thursday and I must admit that I am a little excited about the possibilities of this year. I figured in this entry I would talk about some of the technology goals that I have for my classroom this year. So here goes:

- I have a new document camera in my room and I would love to be able to incorporate it as much as possible in my classroom. Now how I am going to use it is still up in the air, but I can still see endless possibilities with it.

- By the end of the year I would like to have between 10-15 Ipod shuffles for our special education students to use. My ultimate goal would be for them to check them out and to use them at home to listen to books they are reading in class or to review for tests they may have coming up in their classes.

- I would like to make my blackboard website more parent friendly. Many times parents will tell me that they don't know when their child has tests coming up or what they are doing in class. My goal is to make my blackboard site show what students are doing in their core classes everyday and also inform them of when tests are coming up.

- The last goal I have is to use technology more efficiently to evaluate my students IEP goals. One way I would like to do this is by using Quia to do online tests with my students. I plan on doing this two times a month and students can take the test at their own leisure. I will discuss more about this later.

School has gotten off to a great start and I am hoping it will be a great year.

Entry 13: Using Quia

2007-07-11T11:10:00.000-07:00

Do you ever get tired of grading tests and than analyzing the scores to see what the students aren't understanding? Well there is a program out there called Quia that will do this for you. Quia allows you to make your own tests using a variety of questions (multiple choice, true/false, fill in the blank, short answer, essay, chronological order, etc...) and than allows the students to take it online. Afterwards the students get immediate feedback with their scores and it breaks it down for the teachers as to how each student did and also what questions students struggle with. I do this frequently with evauluating IEP goals and objectives and it is great. Click below for the powerpoint notes over Quia and how to use it.

Powerpoint Notes On Quia

NECC: Second Life

2007-07-05T19:16:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted for awhile, but my birthday was last Friday and I went to visit my family back in Iowa for a few days. But now I am back and ready to keep posting about some of the sessions I attended at NECC.

In this post I am going to talk a little bit about the session I attended on Second Life and how it can be used in the classroom. I went into this session intrigued about Second Life because I had heard how people have been using it in their classes and it seemed to be the big thing at NECC this year. I left this session quite skeptical about the whole Second Life thing and here are the reasons why:

1. The biggest problem I see with this is the security risks. I was not aware of this, but in Second Life only teens can go to the teen islands. Now someone asked during the sessions how they made sure that adults stayed out of it and they said the biggest way they do this is by having the child's parents put in their credit card number to verify the child's age. Now call me crazy, but couldn't someone very easily pretend that they have a child and then create a teen account using their credit card.
2. I would also be concerned about the fact that you can chat and instant message in Second Life. We hear all the time about students being cyber bullied and this could be another way for this to happen.
3. This program requires a huge amount of bandwith.
4. The lady that presented this session asked her students afterwards what their favorite part of Second Life was. Guess what, none of them said it made learning easier or even talked about learning for that matter.
5. The whole fact that you have to pay for your avatar bothers me. I guess my big question is what is going to stop the creator of Second Life from saying that everyone now has to pay an extra $20 a month to keep your avatar? Now I realize people will say he will never do that, Second Life is a community. I thought the exact same thing about the Discovery Educators Network a few months ago, but guess what they laid off field managers because it is a business just like Second Life is a business.

Now I know that some people very strongly believe in Second Life, but from what I saw there are other options that are more educational than Second Life. As a special education teacher I just can not see myself ever using this program in my classes. As always if you would like to email me your comments you can at jayweekly@gmail.com

NECC: THE AFI Session

2007-06-28T20:17:00.000-07:00

The second session I attended at NECC was titled AFI Screen Education Center: Digital Filmmaking in the Core Curriculum. This session was presented by a few people that are associated with the American Film Institute and it was a step by step way to show students how to produce movies. What made this program unique is the fact that it is narrated by Sean Astin and even has some advice from Steven Spielberg. This video is absolutely something I plan on using in my classroom and especially with my broadcasting class. The best part of this program is that it is available from United Streaming for free. If you don't have United Streaming you can either sign up for the 30 day free preview or the AFI plans on producing this on DVD for purchase. I know I plan on downloading this from United Streaming because I can also get the teachers manual. Just some of the things they go over are: what a shot really is, the different types of lighting to use, how to shoot someone properly, and the steps that students should go through before maiking a film. I would highly recommend checking this valuable resource out.

NECC Report: The Baseball Hall Of Fame

2007-06-27T20:21:00.000-07:00

Well I just got back today from the NECC Conference in Atlanta. I can sum up the conference in one word: incredible. There were so many great sessions that I was having difficulty figuring out how to blog about it all. What I am going to do over the next couple of days is blog about each individual session and give you the links so you can find out more yourself.

Let me go ahead an start off with the very first session I attended. It was called Sliding Across The Curriculum: Bringing Baseball Education To Students Electronically and it talked about how you could incorporate the Baseball Hall Of Fame into your classroom. I absolutely love baseball and was quite intrigued by the possibilities. I wasn't really sure what to expect when I got there, but was really surprised by what they had to offer. The session was done by videoconference with James Yasko. I had absolutely no idea that the Baseball Hall Of Fame had lessons that would help teach children science, social studies, language arts, math, and even character education. Mr. Yasko gave us examples of what each lesson looked like and it blew me away how they were making the lessons fun and interactive by incorporating memorabilia from the museum. You can go to the Hall Of Fame museum to see what they have or you can have an actual videoconference with someone from the museum for a pretty reasonable price of $70. I know that the $70 sounds expensive, but from what I saw it is money that is very well spent. If this sounds like something you would like to check out click on the links above or you can even email James Yasko (the coordinator of the program) at jyasko@baseballhalloffame.org

Entry 9: NECC In Atlanta

2007-06-26T15:28:00.000-07:00

I am sitting here in my hotel room in Atlanta typing this before going out to eat supper tonight. I don't have a lot of time, but I figured I would give a real quick update. So far I have gained a lot out of this conference. I went to session that had to do with the Baseball Hall Of Fame and how to use its resources (very interesting) and saw a great session on how to doing video editing better. I did go to a Second Life session today, but am still a little skeptical. Well I will update more when I get home tomorrow.

Entry 8: Google Earth

2007-06-20T11:07:00.001-07:00

Today I spent the day at school presenting to various teachers about google earth. For those that have never played with it before, it is a great program that actually allows you to take virtual field trips with your class. You just have to type in an address and it will take you to a sattelite image of that location. The best part about this whole program is that it is a free download. It was great hearing new ideas from teachers about how you can use this program. You can click the link below to go to my webpage and see the powerpoint about how to use google earth. You will see how to find addresses, go on virtual tours, and even how to make your own virtual tours. As always enjoy and if you have any questions you can email me at jayweekly@gmail.com

Link To My Webpage And Powerpoint Notes

Entry 7: School Board Video

2007-06-18T10:38:00.000-07:00

As well as being a special education teacher, I am also the broadcasting teacher in our building. What we do in the broadcasting class is broadcast the daily announcements live and also do a 15-20 minute Friday news magazine show. It is very time consuming, but I absolutely love it. We do everything using Adobe Premiere Pro and it never ceases to amaze me how quickly the students pick up on this high end video editing program. This year 4 of my broadcasting students took it upon themselves to do a school board video that was shown at a school board meeting to highlight our year. These students put in a lot of time and it really shows in the end. I was hesitant with their original plan, but in the end it came out really nice. I recently posted it on teacher tube and you can view it below. I will talk more about teacher tube at a later date.

Entry 6: Ipods Part 3

2007-06-17T08:03:00.000-07:00

There was recently a story on a Kansas City news channel that talked about how Ipods shouldn't be used in schools. One of the guys I work with, who is on the cutting edge of using technology in his class, saw this and email the reporter from the show. He was interviewed on how he is using this technology and the link is below.

Link To Ipod Interview

Entry 5: Using Games To Study

2007-06-13T08:36:00.000-07:00

Summertime is great because it gives me a chance to do some traveling and recharge my batteries. I actually just got back a few days ago from visiting my relatives in Iowa and it was great. I also did some work with my brother where we tore up a woman's whole front yard and then laid new sod down. Lets just say that after that I am glad that I became a teacher. My brother also came back with me and we had the chance to see my beloved Royals trounce the Cardinals 8-1 last night. It was great.

Well let me get down to business. A few years ago I noticed that my students were turning in all of their homework, but they were just completely bombing their tests. I began asking them what was going on and I came to find out that they either weren't studying because they thought it was boring or they weren't studying the right information. A few months later I stumbled on some amazing review games that I decided to start trying with the students. There were two game I started with: Jeopardy and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. These are both powerpoint templates and literally all you have to do is type in the question and the correct answer. The jeopardy game can hold 20 questions and the millionaire game can hold 15 questions. What I started doing is getting a copy of a test that was coming up about a week ahead of time, see what material was going to be important for them to remember, and make a review game from there. I then email any special services student taking that test a copy of the review game and I also email it to their parents (if they have email). I began finding the students were doing better on the tests because the games were visually appealing making them want to study and it also showed them what they needed to study. Some parents even got into the act and made their own review games for their child and some students have even asked for copies of the template to make games. The best part about this whole concept is that the games are all free!!! That's right you pay no money at all.

At the current time I have the Jeopardy, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Home Run Derby, Hollywood Squares, and Deal Or No Deal template games. If you would like a copy of any of these please email me at jayweekly@gmail.com and I will be happy to email you any of these. You can also see what the games look like by clicking on my website below and then clicking on review games.

Next week I am going to do an inservice on using Google Earth in your classroom and will be going to NECC the week after. So keep looking back for more updates.

Direct Link To Review Games

The Ipod Experiment Part 2

2007-06-02T06:45:00.000-07:00

In my last post I promised to put up an example of how we are using the Ipods and down below you will find it. This is a copy of the science semester test that the students took. It was 5 pages long and nearly 75 questions. This made it a whole lot easier when the test came because the students could work at their own pace and it freed us up to work with the students that were struggling on the test.

The Audio Version Of The Test

The Ipod Experiment

2007-05-31T19:59:00.000-07:00

Last Friday our school was officially out for the summer. Like all good teachers I am taking a few days to decompress from the year, but I also have made a list of things that I would like to do. One of the things on the list is to devote more time to this blog. Hopefully this summer I will be able to write down all of my ideas and things I am doing in the classroom.

Let me talk a little bit about my entry for today. As most special education teachers can tell you we are always strapped for time with all the things we need to do. I always felt like I was neglecting the students because I wasn't able to give them all the modifications I should and I was always confused on what I could do to help my students learn the material better. Then one day I was sitting with the other special education teachers in my building and someone asked if there was a way we could incorporate Ipods to help students learn. That was when the switch went on and an idea was born.

Now I know there are going to be some skeptics out there about using Ipods in schools, but hear me out. Let me explain how we are using these devices:

We are reading tests out loud to the students, so when it is time for them to take the tests they just put on the headphones and listen to the test in the classroom. So basically instead of having to read the test to 30 different students at 6 different times during the day, we only have to have one teacher read it once and then place it in the Ipods.
We have many students that are in a CWC language arts class and when they are reading novels the students are expected to go home and read between 20-30 pages a night. For a child with a reading disability this is nearly impossible. What we have done is bought the audio versions of the novels and we then download the chapters that need to be read into their Ipods.
We were finding that many students were not fully listening to teachers lectures. So we made a point of putting an Ipod in the science classes and audiotaping the lectures. Then during the school day if the students didn't seem to understand the assignment they could listen to the lecture again.
Finally we also decided to do review sessions the day before the test. This is basically a special services teacher going over the study guide and then putting this review on the students Ipod. What better way to study for the test than to look at your study guide and also having someone explain it to you at the same time.

Right now out setup for this is pretty primitive. Our 3 LD teachers all have their own Ipod Nano's. This was bought for each of us through our special education budget. We were also worried about some students not having an Ipod, so we also used our building budget to purchase 3 Ipod Shuffles. At the beginning of next year we plan on purchasing 5 more. The results we have seen so far are really encouraging and we are hoping that next year this will really take off. As the summer rolls on I will show some examples of what we have done. If you have questions for me please email me at jayweekly@gmail.com

Entry 2: Conference Powerpoint

2007-03-02T15:20:00.000-08:00

I recently presented at a conference with another special education teacher about the different ways we are using technology in our classrooms. We showed how we are making computer review games with students, how we are having tests read out loud, how we are evaluating our IEP goals with a computer program, how we are using mp3 players, and many other things. This session we presented was just an introduction for teachers and what we plan on doing now is holding after school workshops to show teachers how to do the things we presented. Look below for the link to the powerpoint and thing we discussed.

Conference Powerpoint

Entry 1: The Beginning

2007-03-02T15:00:00.000-08:00

Well since this is my first entry I guess I should explain what I hope to do with this blog. As a special services teacher I work with a variety of students who have difficulty keeping up with their peers and the one thing I have found that "levels the playing field" is using technology with these students. I try to integrate technology into my classrom as much as possible and have been having great success with it. What I am hoping to achieve with this blog is to show how technology can be used to make special services students successful and hopefully also get ideas abut different ways other teachers are using technology. I guess the best place for me to start is with my website (which is just a Blackboard account) which will give you a short idea of some of the things I am doing.

My Website