Neurodiversity in the Classroom

Thomas Armstrong’s book, Neurodiversity in the Classroom, from ASCD focuses on helping students with learning disabilities, autism, hyperactivity disorder, intellectual disabilities, and emotional and behavioral disorders. Armstrong believes in strength-based strategies that focus on what these children can do, not what they can’t do. In the book’s chapters, he discusses the joys of ADHD, the gifts of autism, the strengths of students with intellectual disabilities, the multiple talents of the learning disabled, and the bright side of students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Armstrong points to the success of famous people in the sciences, arts, entertainment, sports, politics, military, business, and literature, who suffered from disorders such as hyperactivity, autism, and emotional and behavioral problems. The book contains “Strengths” Checklists, which educators can use to identify each student’s strengths.

Read&Write GOLD Assistive Software Use Training for Teachers

textHelp, which provides excellent software for students with special needs, has teamed with Atomic Learning to provide free training videos for teachers. Using 2-3 minute videos for each of the features of the software, those who work with students who need special help are better able to meet the needs of their students.  Atomic Learning’s learning sessions takes users on a “walk” through the menu options for reading, writing, and self-editing. Both Mac and PC training versions are available for you to browse.

Self-Confidence for Students with Learning Problems

Designed for all ages, textHelp’s Read&Write GOLD provides students with literacy support for applications they’ll use at school, at home, and in the Cloud. Documents in applications such as Microsoft Word and Apple’s Pages can be changed from text to speech. The program allows students to hear what is on a PDF or text that may be inaccessible. Options include a picture dictionary, pronunciation tutor, and a translator that can translate single words and paragraphs from English to Spanish, French, German, or Italian. Some of the writing, editing, and study skills options are: Spell Check, Word Prediction, Sounds Like, Confusable Words, Verb Checker, Fact Finder, Fact Mapper, and Vocabulary List Builder. textHelp’s  Web apps are compatible with Mac, PC, iPad, and iPhone. If you are interested in Read&Write GOLD, download a trial version.

Neurodiversity in the Classroom

ASCD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) has released the Thomas Armstrong book, Neurodiversity in the Classroom: Strength-Based Strategies to Help Students with Special Needs Succeed in School and Life. Available in both paperback and as an eBook, the book explores cutting-edge research featuring the strengths of students who have learning disabilities, ADHD, autism, and intellectual, emotional, and behavioral disorders. Included are success stories about neurodiverse adults who have achieved success. Information is given on computer apps and strength-based learning strategies.

iPad Apps for Students Struggling with Language Arts

On 11/07/12, beginning at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time, ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) will offer the Webinar, iPad Apps to Support Learners Who Struggle with Reading and/or Writing. The 60-minute learning session ($39 for members, $99 for non-members) will explore how to use a set of iPads to help  “learners of all ages to overcome barriers to reading and writing. “ Those attending will learn about free and inexpensive apps to use with students who are experiencing learning problems and also about the accessibility features available on iPads. Teacher Paul Hamilton, who works with schools on Vancouver Island, will lead the session.

Apps for Special Needs Students

The TL (Technology & Learning) Advisor Blog has selected Common Core Apps for Special Needs students. Part I of the selections features Apps that meet all of the Grade One standards, and some for other grades as well. They include Explain Everything ($2.99), Popplet ($4.99), Feel Electronic (Free), MeeGenius (Free), Inspiration Lite (Free), Inspiration Maps (Free, Full Version $14.99), 1^st Fiction ($2.99), Wordweb Audio Dictionary ($3.99), Tumblebooks to go—Munsch-6 pack ($5.99), and National Geographic Kids (one free sample, individual magazines $3.99, subscription $19.99). Find out more about each of these Apps that can be put to work for Special Needs children by clicking on the TL Advisory Blog. Also make sure to look for Part II of the recommendations.

Understanding Developmental Delays

Nothing is more difficult than having to talk with parents about a child who is not succeeding in school. A book that might help you and your students’ parents know what to do is available from Brookes Publishing Company. The Common Sense Guide to Your Child’s Special Needs, by Louis Pelligrino, M.D., is written for parents, but should be useful for teachers as well. The book covers signs of a disability and steps to take. Information is offered on speech and language development; motor skills; learning and cognitive development; vision, hearing and sensory processing, and other issues. You can request an examination copy of the book.

For those working with children with special needs and/or students having difficulty in school, Brookes Publishing has a library of titles that may provide information on the type of problem a student is facing. Some categories available are autism, behavior, child development, medical disability, early childhood education, inclusion, intellectual disabilities, ADHD, screening and assessment, reading and literacy, math and science, and more.

What is Blended Learning?

Although the Edutopia article, “From the Classroom: What Does Blended Learning Look Like?” (February 8, 2012), gives an example of a high school English class, the ideas in the piece by teacher Melissa Meyers, should be of interest to all teachers. Meyers, who teaches in a private K-12 special education school, discusses the teaching of Dante’s work with her Grade 12 World Literature class. Her students, even though they have disabilities such as severe dyslexia, writing disorders, and speech and language difficulties, are taken to Hell through the Website Virtual Inferno, which leads them on a journey through the nine levels. They play Dante’s Inferno video game using it as a step off to their research and writing.  “Franz Liszt’s A Symphony to Dante’s Divide Comedy is accompanied by Gustave Dore’s illustrations on Youtube, and ... Dante-era Florence through the “Firenze-Virtual History” iPad app.” To help with their reading of the Inferno, they have it available as an audio book on their iPads. That’s what blended learning is all about—integrating technologies in order to invigorate learning.

What Makes Finland’s Students Excel?

Finnish students score tops in the world in reading, mathematics, and science even though the schools include many immigrant children who come to Finland not knowing the language. Why are the students doing so well when we in the U.S. don’t seem to be making progress? According to Finnish teachers, they do whatever it takes to make their students successful. This might mean having boys read Captain Underpants to encourage them to get going with reading or “park” a student who needs private instruction next to the teacher’s desk. LynNell Hancock’s “Why Are Finland’s School’s Successful” (Smithsonian Magazine, September 2011) explains that: Finnish teachers are “selected from the top 10 percent of the nation’s graduates to earn a required master’s degree in education”; about 30 percent of students are given additional help; each school has the same broad national goals; students learn how to learn instead of how to take a test (only one test is required and that is in the senior year); students begin school at age 7, but most children attend a public preschool at 5 or 6; there is an emphasis upon physical activity between studies; students do not have much homework; there are no Internet filters, and very few students are pulled out for special classes (mostly for Finnish language instruction). Teachers have the same status in the country as doctors and lawyers, usually have aides or learning specialists to help them, and the student to teacher ratio is low—about 7-1 in one school. Towns guide school policies and accountability is determined by the teachers and principals in the schools. Medical care, food, and other forms of help are provided in the schools for students who need it.  Whatever the ingredients that go into Finland’s success with its students, “teachers are trusted to do whatever it takes to turn young lives around.”

Cassette Tapes? Do You Have Some You’d Still Like to Use?

Do you have some cassette tapes you’d like to keep using in your classroom? Maybe they include some of your favorite songs for young students or perhaps you use them in your foreign language teaching? Some of your aging tapes might contain perfect stories to introduce a literature unit or fun learning for children with special needs or English language learners. When CDs and DVDs took over, you might have had difficulty finding resources like these. The good news is that Califone has come out with a quality product that’s perfect for learning languages as well as for playing those cassette tapes you couldn’t bear to throw away. Called Deluxe Cassette Player/Recorder, it has excellent sound for classrooms and seven built-in headphone jacks for small group learning. If you want to learn more about it, go to the Califone site and watch the video.