Quality Education

Assistive technology is a device or piece of equipment that can help a student with a disability work around his/her challenges so they can have a quality education. These tools can also help them with their strengths. (Millstone, 2014) There are different forms of assistive technology tools to help students who struggle with listening, math, reading, writing, and motor skills (gross and fine). Not all assistive technology tools are high tech. They range from low-tech to high-tech tools. Low-tech tools are devices that do not require much training.  Assistive technologies that range in the middle have some complex features – electronic or battery operated. High-tech tools are the most complex devices that have digital or electronic components.

 In the video, “Assistive Technology: Enabling Dreams” it shows how students with disabilities use assistive technology as their lifeline to communicate with everyone around them. It is their major foundation of life. The video shows that they start introducing these assistive technology tools at an early age to prepare the students with disabilities and to make it easier down the road.

In all of my Special Education courses, I am required to go into the classrooms and observe for a certain amount of hours.  I have seen students use their assistive technology to communicate with the teacher or their paraeducators. In one of the elementary schools that I observed, a student who has Autism uses Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) to communicate with the teacher. This student used the AAC when transitioning from one task to another.  Augmentative and Alternative Communication includes simple pictures, gestures, phrases and pointing.

When I become a teacher, the steps I will take to create a revised activity to include students with disabilities will be to look at the student’s IEP (Individualized Education Program). I will look at their IEP first to see what is the student’s present levels, what goals does the student need to work on for the school year, and what assistive technology they use for their disability (Kid’s Health). After looking at the IEP, this will help me make some modifications to my lesson to meet the student with disability needs in order to succeed.  To help me meet all students needs I will find resources where it is at their level but still the same lesson as their peers.

As educators, we must be aware what type of students we have in our classrooms so we can accommodate their needs. We also need to be cognizant of what assistive technology is out there so we can help our student with disability get the right tool to get them quality education. Assistive technology is a major foundation for a student with disability.  When I become a Special Education teacher, I will advocate for my students to get the best education they need in order to succeed in school and post-secondary.  

 References:

·      Millstone, J. (2014). Assistive Technology: What it Is and How it Works. Understood for learning and attention issues. https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/assistive-technology/assistive-technologies-basics/assistive-technology-what-it-is-and-how-it-works

·      Kids Health. (2016). Individuals Education Programs. Kids Health from Nemours. http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/iep-teachers.html

·      Edutopia. (2005). How Assistive Technology Enables Dreams. Edutopia: What Works in Education. http://www.edutopia.org/assistive-technology-enabling-dreams-video

What's Next?

            With schools incorporating eating healthy and make wise decisions on what to eat, I want to help my students who are in the 3^rd grade make healthy decisions. Schools play an important role in a student's way of eating because they consume at least half of their meals at school. If we provide the students healthy food choices or ways to make healthy decisions it has long lasting effects whether in the classroom or at home. Since these students are in a Special Education room, I had to break each step down to were they can fully understand the lesson.  

When I first started my lesson, I had to introduce what three types of cereals they will be using. Since most of my students were visual and kinesthetic learners, I brought in actual cereal for them to see and feel what cereal looks like. From the nutrition label I choose salt, fat, and sugar to focus my lesson on.  I used different methods to show my students what a nutrition label looks like through YouTube videos, pictures, and bringing a cereal box in with a nutrition label. Since my students are in the 3^rd grade, I thought using Microsoft Excel would be too difficult to create graph. So I did some research and found a website that is geared to students in the primary grades to create a graph. Before creating the graph, I had my students compare what nutrition label is healthy and unhealthy. I made them look to see what cereal had the most or least sugar, salt, and fat. They used the data collected and inputted into the graph.

The lesson that I created for my class touched on their math skills. I would gear my next plan for this class will be on Health and Nutrition. I will like to teach Health and Nutrition in my class because the benefits of nutrition education can reach far beyond the classroom (Cobb). With this lesson, I will introduce them to the Food Pyramid and MyPlate by using songs that I came up with so it can stick to their heads. After making them learning a song for about 2-3 days, I will move my lesson into creating a collage as their project called the “Healthy Food Collage.” With this project, I will have students cut out pictures from magazines that are healthy food and make them post it on construction paper. As they are posting pictures onto the paper, I am going to have them sort out the foods into the 5 food groups such as grains, vegetables, fruits, dairy, and meat section.

The information from the evaluation will determine if the lesson was effective for the students. It will also show me if the students mastered the skills they need to move onto the next of skills they need for the next grade level. This evaluation will indicate which set of students needs help and if they need that one-on-one support with the teacher. According to Edutopia, assessments and evaluation is an integral part of instruction. It determines whether or not the goals of the lesson are being met (2008).

 Using the ASSURE Model Lesson Plan gives teachers a template to use to plan out their lesson for the day or week. This assignment showed me ways to incorporate different techniques to include in my lesson. ASSURE Model made me break down what type of students I had in my classroom and what type of learners that I need to know in order for me to accommodate them or if I need to modify my lesson to meet their needs.  This activity in making a lesson plan will help me in the future as I become an educator.

References:

·      Cobb, P. (2016). Top 5 Reasons to Teach Nutrition Education in Your Classroom. Dairy Council of California. http://www.healthyeating.org/Schools/Tips-Trends/Article-Viewer/Article/521/Top-5-Reasons-to-Teach-Nutrition-Education-in-Your-Classroom.aspx

·      Edutopia. (2008). Why is Assessment Important? Edutopia. http://www.edutopia.org/assessment-guide-importance