Good times in Lesotho and in life.

Assistive Technology

2011-05-05T18:46:00.001-07:00

I really enjoyed watching this video and learning about all sorts of assistive technologies. I like watching interviews with some of the students but was saddened to learn how excluded they are from certain activities. I did though, appreciate that some of these students honestly wanted to be excluded (a couple of the students in gym class or gym club), but then were forced to be included! Some of the solutions to mobility issues and positioning are not as difficult as one might have thought. It could just be a matter of asking the student whether or not he/she feels comfortable in a certain type of chair. There are also assistive technologies pertaining to manueverability and situating oneself at a table.

In terms of classroom materials, I love the picture of the board book "Brown Bear Brown Bear" with page fluffers. This is a great idea for students with fine motor impairments. Although I think the page-turning device and electronic page turners seem great, I think the page fluffers would suffice just fine. Book stands are also a great idea for students who can't hold their own book. My point is that it looks like a lot of these assistive technologies are not actually high tech and are still extremely useful to these students.

bookshare.org

2011-03-20T20:51:00.000-07:00

Bookshare.org is an awesome website that allows people with print disabilities to still access books and periodicals. I looked through the website and even tried signing up, but since I don't have any proof of being a U.S. student with a qualifying disability, I was unable to sign up - so I signed up as a volunteer instead! I love the idea of helping someone with a print disability get information. Since I had a hard time really understanding what this program looked like, I had to go on youtube and look up videos of students using bookshare themselves. This is great because students can read and listen to books at the same time through Kurzweil. The books are downloaded from bookshare and then used with assistive technology devices. I did not understand that just from reading through the website. The students in the videos seem to be really thrilled with the the fact that they can read books they want to read and also books for classes. One student says it's helped him a lot with his classes because since he can now also listen to the words, he can remember what he read/heard and use it in class. This device sounds awesome and I'd love to sign up my students to become members, so maybe I will talk to my administration about doing that! Since I teach in a kindergarten, we sometimes go on New York Public Library's website called On-Lion for kids and listen to/watch Tumblebooks. I like this website a lot, as well, because of the cute videos that come along with each story - but they are narrated by the same voice every time and although I like simple animation - my students really have no interest in sitting around and watching this story book. I have a feeling though, if they could use Bookshare to find picture books that they might enjoy, and read through it interactively and in control - then they would be so excited. I'll have to check this out sometime soon - once IEP's are finished!

Universal Design... solution?

2011-02-06T19:35:00.000-08:00

Here's what I came up with for my Universal Design Challenge. It's really simple AND someone already made their millions off of it. The type of messy MESSY desk I have is called a secretary desk - it can take up a lot of space but doesn't have to. Even though I cleaned off the counter of the workstation, I actually decided to just close the top, so it's not as intrusive (see photo). Although I had peoples with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) in mind when I took on this challenge, it does meet most of the seven Universal Design Principles. For starters, anyone can use this desk in the same way I have done tonight. All you need to do is close the top and the mess disappears! It is flexible in the sense that it can be both used for storage (to hide a mess) or as a workstation - which also stores your stuff. It is simple and intuitive since it is a serious space saver in a small space! Although it might be confusing at first, I think everyone will be able to understand (perceive) a reason for its use. In terms of tolerance of error - well, it's a desk. I would be worried if a screw fell out and one of the cabinet doors couldn't shut (which is the case with my desk). This would get really frustrating for someone who does not like to see clutter or can't stand it when things are even just a little bit off kilter. It doesn't take much effort to go from having a huge messy workstation to having a beautiful solid-wood storage unit. However, if you want the messy workstation to become a clean workstation - that would take some cleaning effort, but still not much. The size and amount of space it takes up is perfect for any area, particularly a small one. I chose this desk (both in buying and using for this project) because I love how accessible it is. It does have many different uses and although I mostly use it for storage, I love that I can easily open it up and use it as a workstation to get actual work done. It's amazing! The size is perfect because when the desk part is down, it's only slightly intrusive but still doesn't take up much room. When the desk part is up it doesn't take up any room at all! I'm not sure if I chose a great object or space for my Universal Design Challenge, but as I was looking through my apartment - this was the only one I could come up with. I checked out the websites that were mentioned in this challenge, and I found the Cornell University Ergonomics Web one to be particularly interesting. It listed all the parts of a workstation and then the parts of your body that are affected when you are sitting at your workstation. I like to take these into consideration when I am sitting at my kitchen counter (usually my workstation) slumping over my laptop. I really should start using my desk and sitting up straight when I do. This assignment was very interesting for me and I think tomorrow I'm going to clean up the clutter in my classroom so that my students don't have a field day playing in it.

Universal Design Challenge.. AHHHH!

2011-02-06T17:40:00.000-08:00

So I was looking around my apartment at something that would NOT fare too well in the Universal Design Challenge. I was trying to think of a space that would be accessible to anyone and everyone and for a while it seems like my apartment fit the bill. As I was looking around I couldn't help but think "well, it mostly seems wheel-chair accessible - except for our tiny bathroom which is barely able-bodied accessible, but I can't change that..." Then I started thinking about someone who was blind or visually impaired and I thought too, that our apartment was doing all right for that person, too. THEN I took a look at all the clutter on my desk (see photo) and realized, "WHOA, this is not accessible or livable for someone with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder)." I've been told time and time again by my Assistant Principal at school that one of the key factors for having a happy environment for my classroom is to keep the clutter to a minimum. Clutter can be very distracting and overwhelming to someone with ASD (or anyone, for that matter). I know, for example, that when my room is cluttered, some of my students can't help but touch EVERYTHING before sitting down or becoming refocused on our work. This cluttered desk is one problem that I plan to solve (well, I already started by throwing all my papers on my bed, which means that by the time the night is through, I should have filed them away or thrown them out.. so that I can go to sleep in my bed). Since I knew I couldn't solve the problem of our tiny-inaccessible bathroom OR the fact that most of our storage units/cabinets are up really high - I figured this was a problem for the Universal Design Challenge that I could definitely tackle (get my Superbowl Sunday reference?? tackle??).

HBSE 4005 - First post!

2011-01-23T13:06:00.000-08:00

Lumela ("Hello" - in Sesotho - the language of Lesotho),

My name is Jennifer Warren and I'm new to the blogging world, although I did make a small attempt at keeping a blog in May, 2007 (apparently) before leaving for Peace Corps! I grew up in NJ and after college, lived for 2 years in the tiny mountainous kingdom of Lesotho (which is INSIDE South Africa). Now, I'm studying to teach Special Education at TC and am also teaching a 6:1:1 class of autistic students in Brooklyn!

I'm hoping to learn a lot about different technologies to use with my students, particularly, which ones and their functions and how I would go about using them with the resources I already have. I'm expecting to become more familiar with Boardmaker and SMART technologies, and all those other programs that were mentioned at the first class (and whose names I've already forgotten). Although I work in a brand new BEAUTIFUL school, I still don't feel like we have very many useful resources in terms of technology. We have 2 SMARTboards which don't work (because, as I just found out, the key to the projector cabinet is lost). We also have a touch-screen Dell computer and a beautiful new Mac, but no Boardmaker program to go with it. We just got a color printer - so I'm hoping that soon I'll be able to download the student version of boardmaker and start using that to enable my students to learn communicating with pictures. I'm not bringing much experience to this class, since I've been out of touch with technology for 2 years and counting. I'm familiar with using SMARTboard and Boardmaker, but not proficient. I'm new to using a wiki and keeping a blog, but am excited to learn how to do all of these things (well)! I don't know what my technological learning style is, but it's probably not through reading about technology, but more asking people who are knowledgeable, how to do things, and then trying to do them myself.

Problem solving -

I thought the problem solving article was really interesting, since I definitely share Martinez' thoughts, that if no mistakes are made, then no problems will ever be solved. I also agree with his idea that is is so incredibly important to teach problem solving skills in school. In my classes at TC over the summer, we had engaged in lots of discussions about how students aren't taught enough problem solving skills in school. I don't know how much of this is true, since I work in a District 75 school and can't really see what is being taught in a general education classroom. Although I had never heard the word "heuristics" - I am thinking of them as being rules of thumb. He says that heuristics are the tools in which problems are solved. Some ideas from the article are about taking the problem at hand, breaking it down into pieces, and setting goals for each piece in order to solve the problem. I like this idea but I'm not sure if I have the organizational skills to do that. To actually break a problem down, solve each piece separately (which seems straight-forward enough for me) and then actually put the pieces back together (this part sounds difficult for someone who isn't meticulous) looks tough! I like the idea he shares of moving backwards to solve a problem. I probably use this one a lot in problem solving. Other heuristics that Martinez mentions are successive approximation, drawing a picture (which I love), and using public documents (which I'm doing, and which I also love). Lastly, Martinez talks about Metacognition - which is essential for problem solving. When you are exercising metacognition, you are continually asking yourself "What am I doing?" and "How am I doing?" This is a great way to keep yourself in check and on track. This was a really interesting article and something I hadn't really considered before.

- Jen

Africa in just a couple weeks...!

2007-05-23T16:06:00.001-07:00

Lumela! (hello!)
Jen Warren here. This will be hopefully where I post about my life in Lesotho for the next 27 months! My name is Jennifer Warren and I depart from Washington, DC for Lesotho (that little country inside South Africa) and I'll be there for a bit over 2 years with the Peace Corps. I'm so so so excited. If you've come across my blog please feel free to comment or send me an e-mail at jenewarren@gmail.com. I don't know how often I will get on the internet, but I would love to hear from anyone while I'm out there! I've never kept a journal before, so this may be a bumpy start for me, but I'll get there eventually... well hopefully! So yes, I am freaking out about Lesotho, in that kind of excited way. So far I've packed up 2 suitcases, but now I'm rethinking how I packed them and might unpack and repack them.. ARGH! Packing for 2 years, when everyone under the sun has told you to "pack light" is proving to be really difficult. That's it for now I think... but 2 weeks from now I WILL be all packed up and boarding a plane for my 15 or so hour long flight! :)
wish me luck!