Talking book example

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The End

The end of a class is always so bitter-sweet to me. I am excited that the course is coming to a close but at the same time I always really enjoy working with classmates, and miss this bond you develop. Even though we have worked together online and never have met, I truly feel like we can develop relationships and connect one another. It is amazing that you can do this through technology-that's why I love it! I have really enjoyed this class and learning the about the different Web 2.0 techniques. I look forward to implementing these great plans and tools in my classroom!

Professional Development

Today all teachers in my school system participated in some form of professional development. All of the special education teachers for the district met at our Board of Education. The behavior consultant for our district was our speaker and she presented the CAPS program-Comprehensive Autism Planning System. This program can be for not only students with Autism, but low functioning students or students with behavior. The way it works is you are given forms on the student's daily schedule and academic goals to fill out during an IEP meeting. This system helps decide what supports the student needs to be successful in the entire school environment. It is a very involved program, but with planning and implementation, you can collect great data to determine whether the student is making progress in areas such as academic, social, behavior, etc. Collecting data is so crucial now because IEP's are standard-based and data driven. I would recommend this program to all special education departments--it is very rigorous, but worth it!

Accessibility

Last week, we were asked to create an article on Web 2.0 and accessibility. Many of the topics I wanted to write about were already taken, but I did come up with the idea of discussing Web 2.0 tools and Dysgraphia. To learn more about this disability and Web 2.0 accessibility, check out my article on our  class wiki, Web for All Learners.

This Time of Year

I absolutely love fall time! We have a wonderful Halloween Carnival at school that the children look forward to every year. We also have a great bake sale. I love buying pumpkin bread from it! However, this time of year also brings many changes. As the children begin to get more comfortable in their new class environments, behaviors start to surface that were not seen at the beginning of the year. Yesterday, I had a meeting with my assistant principal and she asked me to honestly tell her her strengths and weaknesses...yikes! I was quickly able to tell her her strengths but had to give some thoughts to what I thought could be improved. I came up with overall school discipline. I feel that this is an area that we are lacking in and need more support from administration. She agreed this is an area that she needs to work on and be more consistent with. It was kind of awkward but I am glad I was able think of something! It's hard to believe we are near the end of this class! Good luck getting ready for the final debate!

Special Olympics

This past Friday, my students went to Special Olympics at a local high school. Special Olympics is so awesome! All of my students came in either first place or second place in their events. Special Olympics has different field events: track, softball throw, shot put, etc. My students usually participate in track events and softball throws. The day usually goes very well and my kids really enjoy it. Parents will come and watch their children participate. Overall, it is a great day for the children, teachers, and parents. I will try to load pictures later in the week.