Reflections from the Blogosphere

Success Stories are a fun and engaging way for professionals to address social skills, communication, academic skills, behavioral skills, mental health and safety.  Success Stories are personalizable children’s books.  Customize the illustrations to the child’s appearance based on gender, hair style and color, eye color, skin tone, glasses, and method of communication.  Alter the text to personalize the story’s content.  The collection of children’s stories addresses emotional, social, safety, and communication skills to foster character development.  A variety of topics are offered including coping strategies for managing feelings, using appropriate language, making friends, waiting, sharing, taking turns, washing hands and many others.  If a student has trouble tranistioning from one activity to the next, a book like My Day at School can serve as a model for sequencing activities and setting expectations.  Unlimited printing and profiles allow busy professionals to easily and inexpensively create effective visual supports.  I have found that not only can you easily create printable social stories, but you can also open these books in eReader and have them read outloud to your students. 

Do you need a quick and easy way to adapt curriculum content for those readers who benefit from having pictoral support to recognize and comprehend text?  Hopefully most of you in the field are familiar with Writing with Symbols 2000 (WWS 2000). It is a powerful word/picture processing program that allows you to type words with the option of having picture symbols appear with each word.   I use this program all the time to create picture stories for emerging readers, adapt books and curriculum content, write social stories, make visual schedules, and create picture directions for recipes, activities of daily living and academic tasks.   Its companion software is Boardmaker.

Now that you know a little bit about WWS 2000, I will share my little tip of the month.   Did you know that you can copy any document and paste it into WWS 2000 and the pictures will automatically pop up when the document downloads?  If you are working with preschool-elementary students, whether by chronological age or level of functioning, hopefully you are familiar with the the Enchanted Learning website.   I subscribe to it for only $25 a year and it is one of my favorites (you can actually use many of the features of the site free).  There are so many resources and activities for all subject and content areas.  Okay, so here’s the trick.  Say your grade level is working on “whales”.  Go to their link for “K-3 Themes”, find some information you like about “whales”, copy it and paste it into your WWS 2000 document and VOILA!!!   You now have adapted curriculum content for the emerging and/or struggling reader by adding pictures to text.   Give it a try.  Your colleagues will be singing your praises!!!

Are you searching for free, downloadable visual supports and curriculum modifications?  Then you have come to the right blog. 

This is my absolute favorite but you must own the software which is relatively inexpensive and so worth it for what you get.  LearningGrids  is a free site providing hundreds of classroom resources for Crick Software customers.  It is one of the most popular sites for free teaching and learning resources.  New materials for Clicker 5, ClozePro, and Wordbar are added regularly.  Go to the Find Resources tab to browse through their free resources for these products.  Click on the title of the resource you would like more information about and you will find a summary plus a graphic depicting the activity.  I LOVE this software company.  My favorite products are Clicker 5 and Cloze Pro, especially for their ease of use in creating accessible reading and writing activities.   I will often use an activity that has already been created and modify the graphics and content.  It literally only takes minutes to do.  You can then save your activities online in your own folder.  Another one of their great features is an onscreen keyboard that can be resized.  I highly recommend that you request their 30 day free trial demo and check it out for yourself.

Check out the SET website - http://www.setbc.org/ and you will find a goldmine of resources.  PictureSETis a collection of downloadable visual supports that can be used by students for both receptive and expressive communication in the classroom, at home, and in the community. This searchable database allows you to find a wide range of useful visual supports for different curriculum areas, activities, and events. curriculumSET is a collection of resources that facilitate the sharing of customized technology-based content among educators working with students who use assistive technology. This searchable database enables educators to find, download, and customize activities, templates and public domain accessible books based on the ten areas of the curriculum as set out by the BC Ministry of Education.  Both resources are created and updated by dedicated professionals working with students in British Columbia.

Another favorite is speakingofspeech.com.  Speaking of Speech.com is an interactive forum for SLP’s and teachers to improve communication skills in our schools by exchanging ideas, techniques and lessons that work; finding out about materials before you buy them; and exploring a myriad of helpful resource links.  Click on the Material Exchange links, there are 4 of them on the left side of the page, and you will find lots of downloadable visuals created using Boardmaker.  Great thing is you don’t need Boardmaker to use them as they are available in a pdf format.

Beyond Autism is a site created by a parent that contains over 2,700 working links to other resources on teaching methodologies, education and special education resources, IEP information, augmentative and assistive technology information, sensory issues, catalogs, behavioral concerns and much more!  Click on their PECS Pictures  page which contains many free picture resources as well as ready made communication displays.   They have even created boards using real life photos of brand name foods, restaurants, videos covers and games for those children who need specific symbolic representations.

Do you like to cook in your classroom as part of your social skills training?  Then check out Cooking in the Classroom for ready made printable picture recipes.  

Have fun!!!

“Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders and lots of other students with behavior or communication challenges tend to be visual learners.   They understand what they see better than what they hear. Therefore, they benefit significantly from the use of Visual Strategies.  Using visual strategies makes a difference. Visual strategies help students focus their attention, understand communication, and comprehend the demands of their world.   Students thrive in environments that provide visual support.  Use visual strategies for giving information; establishing rules, and providing the structure students need to be successful. “  Linda Hodgon

Linda Hodgdon has been my visual strategies “guru” for many years.  She is  a speech pathologist, national and international speaker, author and consultant who specializes in addressing the communication needs of students with autism spectrum disorders and other communication or behavior challenges.  She has 2 websites that should be bookmarked on the favorites list of every educator who works with population of  students: www.lindahodgdon.com  and www.usevisualstrategies.com. On both websites, you can sign up for her free e-newlsletter that provides teaching ideas, resources, helpful tips, upcoming workshops and products.  It is definitely worthwhile getting and reading.  If she is ever in town, I highly recommend going to her conference.  She is a dynamic speaker and you will leave with ideas that you can immediately implement in the classroom.

For more specific information on the use of visual supports, please click on this link from her website.  It provides general information on visual supports, who will benefit from them, why you should use them and how to use them.  I am sure that you will be just as inspired as I was when I first started using this approach back in the ’90’s. www.usevisualstrategies.com/information.html

Check out the Animal School video from Raising Small  Souls. It’s a  must see.  Even though it is geared toward parenting, it really makes you think about learning style differences and how important it is for us to utilize differentiated instructional methods with our students.  We as educators know that the “One Size Fits All” approach to teaching doesn’t work.  Even though the educational system has become obsessed with tests and standardization,  lets not create more “kangaroos”.  We must remain committed to celebrating differences, fostering creativity and capitalizing on our students’ strengths so that they will view the learning experience as something in which they can be successful rather than a failure.

Just wanted to share a great blog that Karen Janowski sent me.  Although this blog is written by an OT, it is not just for OT’s.   Thriving in School gives lots of great activities for sensory regulation, fine motor skills, writing technology and others that can be used in the classroom.  Thanks Karen!!!

I’ve given this topic a second thought and went back to read Cool Cat’s advice on establishing a “Circle of the Wise”.   It truly is a good read and in Vicki Davis’ words talks about “How do you select your circle of the wise? How do you keep from being overwhelmed? How do you fit it into your already overfull day?”.   The comments at the end of her post are also very worthwhile to read, especially if you are feeling overwhelmed with the amount of blogsites that are out there.  So how does one find the most efficient way to search for blogs of interest?  I haven’t had the best of luck yet with that but I will keep trying.  As I mentioned in one of my last posts, I tried a blog search but so many sites popped up that it was very overwhelming.  If anyone out there in the blogoshpere has some suggestions, I welcome them.  Perhaps I need to narrow my search just as you would when looking for specific websites. 

Anyway, my next mission will be to find some blogsites that I find useful in the communication arena; specifically topics that include supporting students with special needs in the classroom setting,  autism research and best practices, augmentative communication and universal design for learning.  As I already mentioned, Karen Janowski’s blog is a fabulous one.  Perhaps I should also share what I’ve learned about these topics over the years as well as some good informational websites that continue to inspire me as an educator and provide me with useful tools  & strategies.  Thanks Beth for the suggestion! 

I hope my last reflection didn’t offend anyone out there in the Blogosphere.  Beth commented on my last post about “Too Much Information”  and offered some very helpful advice as well as a different perspective on this topic.  I guess that as any new skill we learn, it takes practice to figure out the best way to utilize it.  Please look at her comments.  They are worthwhile to read.

Being a speech-language pathologist and communication specialist, I truly must apologize to those who find the blogosphere an exciting place to share information with others.  I really do celebrate all forms of communication that foster better interpersonal connections.  I use technology all the time with my students and if it wasn’t for augmentative and alternative methods of communication, many of them would be isolated and unable to lead happy, meaningful lives.   I guess that “blogging” is just another alternative means to communicate.  Perhaps I was feeling especially frustrated the day I wrote my last post.  I have to remember my yogic breathing when I feel overhwhelmed!!! I am sure that the blogosphere has opened up a whole new avenue of communication for so many in the global community especially those who who love to write & share their ideas,  have expertise in areas in life that would benefit the universe as a whole, communicate more effectively using technology for whatever reason, etc…While I personally haven’t been bitten by the blogging bug, I celebrate all those who find that it is helping them in their pursuit of happiness, knowledge and betterment of the global community!!!  Namaste

Okay, okay….so I’ve tried this blogging thing everyday since we got back from vacation.   My last post was positive but I am afraid that this one isn’t going to be.  There are just so many blogs and except for a few sites (those of my wonderful colleagues of course), most of what I’ve seen is either not that interesting to me or useful.  No offense to those who have taken the time to write.  Plus blogging just seems way too time consuming.  I think that people are writing way too much and are rambling on and on.  I look at the blog, scan it and then think “Do I really want to spend the next half hour reading all of this?”  Most of my responses to that question have been “No”.  I did read Cool Cat’s post on “How to Create Your Circle of the Wise” and liked what I ”scanned” but again it was long and I didn’t have the time to read the whole thing.  I guess I have realized that while I truly do value technology in the classroom and use it on a regular basis with great success with the students I service, I am just not that motivated to use it for personal reasons except for e-mailing & surfing the net for something specific.  I guess I am more of an outdoorsy person who in my spare time loves to embrace nature, yoga, good food, time with my husband and person-to-person conversation with friends and colleagues.   I tried to find a yoga blog on Technorati that I might be interested in but there were so many and it was way too time consuming and frustrating to find one that I liked.  I think I will stick to meeting with my yoga buddies a couple times a week after class at the cafe.  I’ve learned from this experience that I don’t think that I am going to be an avid blogger.  Don’t get me wrong, it definitely has its place.  I would think especially for an online course or as a forum for classroom discussion or sharing professional expertise.  I am sure that it has done wonders to open up the lines of communication for so many both personally and professionally, but it just hasn’t hooked me in.   Hopefully I haven’t offended anyone.  This is just an honest “Reflection from the Blogosphere”.  I guess I’m the one who’s rambling now!!!  Until next time…. 

As a first time blogger, I feel pretty good about what I’ve learned so far.  I went to Beth’s blog and read her post on Special Ed Blogs & Wiki’s.  What a great resource!!!  I especially liked  a blogsite by Karen Janowski called Ed Tech Solutions - Teaching Every Student.  Lots of links to informative IT, AT & UDL websites.  I could spend lots of time on this one.  I especially liked watching the Animal School video - it’s a  must see.  It really makes you think about learning style differences and differentiated instruction.  Well, not only was I able to navigate between blogs, but I also commented on Beth’s blog and added Karen’s blog to my blogroll.  Good first start I’d say.  Now on to read some others…