Module 3 – The Inclusive Curriculum & The UDL Framework

[Pat Brennan]

Part 1: Participants will design an activity for a specific student using a a tool from the office 365 tools shown and Post a short descriptor (150 words minimum) on the presentation/activity and its relevance to the specific learning needs of the student.

Part 2: Reflect on the principles of Cosan the National Framework for teachers Learning. Are teachers’ lifelong learners? Why is CPD so important?

Post both parts 1 & 2 as a reply to this post.

[Catherine Terry]

Part 2: Cosán

One of the fundamental principles of Cosán is that teachers should be on a pathway to a lifelong journey of learning. It is one that teachers, in order to teach well, must continue to learn themselves.

CPD plays an integral part of this learning journey. It is important to recognise that not all learning is formal and sometimes the greatest learning experiences for a teacher come from a conversation with a fellow colleage, a post on a teachers forum, a team teaching lesson you were part of etc. The value of informal learning from day to day cannnot be underestimated.

Formal learning also plays a part and CPD courses upskill us all and are important to keep our teaching relevant.  Cosán also highlights the importance of reflection on our own teaching. Whether school based or external, individual or collaborative or personal or professional courses… all are a necessary part of teachers being lifelong learners.

[kathleen O’Connell]

<p dir=”ltr” style=”line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 12pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;”><span style=”font-size: 12pt; font-family: ‘Comic Sans MS’; color: #333333; background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;”>I designed a power point on the class novel Kensuke’s Kingdom.I like the fact that powerpoint creates accessible and engaging presentations.  I had a fifth class child in mind who has dyslexia and speech difficulties. I based it on a debate idea. The argument being that Michael should attempt to escape the island, as his parents would presume him dead. I included a short youtube video of Michael Morpurgo introducing the book, which lasted 1 min 23 secs. I paused the powerpoint a few times to make the lesson less passive, and had the children become involved eg talk in partners to come up with ‘arguments’ for each side of the debate. We summarised the ideas together. I included a map of the Pacific island, and a world map, to give the children some idea of the distances involved. The conclusion of the lesson was that the children had to pick ( with a show of thumbs up or down) if they agreed that Michael should try to escape. </span></p>
<p dir=”ltr” style=”line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 12pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;”><span style=”font-size: 12pt; font-family: ‘Comic Sans MS’; color: #333333; background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;”>If teachers are not life long learners, then they will make poor teachers. I have been teaching for over thirty three years, and would be so stale and jaded now if I had not engaged with new methodologies and practices over the years. It’s crucial to keep ourselves up to date with new approaches, and I love to learn from other teachers in an informal setting too. Team teaching has opened up classrooms and allowed us to learn from each other. The needs of any particular class change  from year to year too, and it’s vital that the teachers adapt to meet their needs. The principles of Cosán and the fact that it recognises that learning which has an impact can happen individually or collaboratively, make it very meaningful for me as a teacher. </span></p>
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[Deirdre Maye]

Hi Kathleen,

PowerPoint is an invaluable visual tool for the classroom.  It is very easy for both teachers and students to use.  I feel it develops confidence in students too.  The class novel Kensuke’s Kingdom is a lovely novel to use as a whole class activity.  I like how you paused the powerpoint so the children could discuss ideas, and aslo see the slide too.  it includes all children and keeps them engaged.

Teachers continually reflect on practice in a variety of ways. Teachers need CPD to help them improve their teaching.  Like you Kathleen I like to learn from other teachers too, either from my  own school or outside teachers.

 

[Catherine Terry]

Part 1:

I decided to look at an Up and Away  lesson for an EAL pupil. I chose to use Immersive Reader. Firstly the passage was translated on google translate. Then it would be read on the AT app… Immersive Reader… breaking it  into paragraphs.. with parts of the sentence nouns, verbs etc highlighted which will help with comprehension. The use of an app when introducing topic based vocab would improve fluency and boost confidence.  The spacing between words and syllables will aid in pronunciation also.

The microphone/speaker icon can be used to repeat a difficult word and as you are online, images can be imbedded to aid comprehension. I think a lesson like this using Immersive reader would greatly benefit our EAL pupils.

 

[Grace Ní Fhallúin]

I decided to design a lesson embedding the SAMR Model. Using a text or a play, I substituted the text book for the Ipad and to enable students with literacy difficulties to access the lesson with ease.  Including augmentation, the text to speech tool read the text to the child which functionally improved the accessibility of the child to the lesson. the highlighting tool enablee important text to be identified. For modification, the child could answer the questions orally and speech to text tool would type out the answers. Spel check could be used, images could be inserted to redefine the activity.

Cosán incorporates the essential facets of learning for teachers.  We all are conscious of personal learning through practice. Courses and programmes, seminars, workshops provide professional education to teachers to enable us to ensure that we are making learning accessible for all of our students.

CPD provides a means of continued ongoing professional training and development to support us as teachers to provide a stimulating, inclusive and accessible platform for all of students to learn socially and emotionally.

[Diarmait Grogan]

Part 1 

In the lesson that I have designed, I have installed Lens and Office 365 on the tablets in my classroom. The class will be going on a ‘noun hunt’. A 9-year-old pupil in the class, who is dyslexic, will complete the activity using Lens on his tablet to photograph the signage in the classroom. He will be asked to do this for 3 different signs or posters of his choice. Then, he will use Immersive Reader to help him to read the signs and identify the nouns in each of them (using Immersive Reader‘s in-built ‘Parts of Speech’ function). He will use the dictate function on Word to categorise the nouns as person, place or thing. As an add-on to the lesson, the pupils will be asked which sign they think is the most important one in the room, and why. They will discuss their answers and write a short paragraph afterwards. Again, the dyslexic pupil can use dictate to write his answer to the question, after he has discussed it with his group.

One potential issue that I could see arising with pupils using the dictate function to complete written assignments, is the disruption it could cause if someone is speaking aloud in the class while individual work is going on. I wonder if anyone has any suggestions about that?

Part 2

For me, the idea of a teacher being a lifelong learner should mean more than keeping up to date with the latest classroom technology. I believe that the most important aspect of being a lifelong learner is being open to collaborate with your colleagues and peers throughout your career. This would include team-teaching, collaborative planning, and perhaps most importantly, group CPD.

One of the principals of Cosán is that it is a flexible framework. This means that it should be differentiated to suit the unique context of each teacher’s work. I think that in order to get proper buy-in from teachers, CPD should be tailored to suit each given school and also the individual career-paths within schools. I suspect that much of the CPD that is undertaken by teachers today is done to ‘tick the box’, as many professionals feel that what is offered does not have great relevance to their own practice. As a teacher in a special class, I can attest that this context is often given just a cursory mention in training and development. This is out of necessity; teaching is such a broad church that it is impossible to cover everything. But that is why I think that a variety of professional networks and tailored CPD should be established for the many different contexts and cultures that exist in the contemporary Irish education sector.

Those courses that I have done which were specifically geared towards my own teaching setting have been invaluable, most of all due to the opportunity to exchange ideas with others who are working in the same area. This is just my own experience, but I do feel that each teacher has their own strengths and weaknesses, areas of interest, personal goals, etc., and that more could be done to ensure that CPD reflects the unique needs of the professionals who take part, and that it is more embedded in their everyday practice. Cosán seems to have this as its aim.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Diarmait,

Thank you for your post and for sharing so much valuable information with us all. Your use of Immersive Reader and Dictate showcases just how useful these accessibility tools can be for learners with a specific learning difficulty. Unfortunately, I don’t have a solution for the problem you have identified. I have ran into the same problem when recording digital videos and podcasts in my own class. The only workarounds are to ask the child/group to step into the corridor, record with a support teacher or ask the rest of the class to remain silent. While these are suitable for ‘one-off’ occasions, they are far from idea for a pupil using Dictate regularly, Potentially, some others on the course will have suggestions?

[Clairemarie McGrath]

<p lang=”en-IE” style=”caret-color: #000000; color: #000000; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in; font-family: Cambria;”>Lesson synopsis – I considered a lesson based around novel work for children in a 4<span style=”vertical-align: super;”>th</span>class setting who have a diagnosis of dyslexia. In addition to scanning in and uploading the chapter to SharePoint for the parents who requested the ability to prepare children with new content before it’s taught in class. I would be present in the class for the novel and work with a group of my children using the <span style=”font-style: italic;”>alternative teaching </span>model of team teaching. The 6 children would all have access to an iPad and headphones. They would use Microsoft lens, followed by immersive reader to listen to the chapter of the story being covered (with the option of line focus and coloured background where appropriate for specific children’s needs). The picture dictionary function would be turned on for the children so they could check the definitions of any unfamiliar words. Following on from the reading of the extract, we would focus on key paragraphs and children would be asked to summarise the key point of the paragraph in 10 words. Having had an opportunity to <span style=”font-style: italic;”>Think, Pair </span>& <span style=”font-style: italic;”>Share </span>children would then use the dictate function in One Note to write their 10 word synopses. They would then listen back to the sentences ensuring they made sense. This group work would then support them to participate more confidently in the comprehension activities that would subsequently take place in the whole class setting.  Another fun activity that would work for this lesson would be giving children the opportunity to create their own Flipgrid response to the selected paragraphs or to the comprehension questions. This could be through the original SharePoint link that was sent to parents. Flipgrid has the immersive reader function built in so if children have been set comprehension questions as a whole class, this would support their accessability too. What I felt children would most enjoy about this approach is the ability to add emojis, this would be particularly effective for inferencing how characters might feel or children’s own response to an event in the story.</p>
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<p lang=”en-IE” style=”caret-color: #000000; color: #000000; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in; font-family: Cambria;”>CPD and lifelong learning</p>
<p lang=”en-IE” style=”caret-color: #000000; color: #000000; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in; font-family: Cambria;”>Like all others have said, I too believe in the power and necessity of lifelong learning of teachers. The needs of our children are ever changing, the diagnostic criteria and suggested supports for our SEN children are ever changing, the world out children are growing up in is ever changing. If we are to provide an education that is appropriate to the ever changing needs of our children and the world they are growing up in, we too must be committed to continuously evolving our knowledge and practice. In one of the Dyslexia videos I watched as part of the module Keira Kneightly said of teachers CPD:</p>
<p lang=”en-IE” style=”caret-color: #000000; color: #000000; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in; font-family: Cambria;”>“It is absolutely vital because the world is changing and imagination is key to everything and there’s going to be a lot of kids whose potential are lost unless we train our teacher to effectively teach them”</p>
<p lang=”en-IE” style=”caret-color: #000000; color: #000000; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in; font-family: Cambria;”>This for me summarises the needs for committed to continuously evolving our knowledge and practice.</p>

[Aine Byrne]

Part 1:

I would use Immersive reader to help a pupil with autism for a comprehension lesson.  He finds it difficult to focus on answering comprehension questions etc independently. The tool would help him to focus on the important parts of text and build his confidence with his answers. He can be easily distracted from the task at hand and I think the responsibility of using the tool with help with his focus. He also responds well to visuals and the picture dictionary would increase the accessibility of the text for him as well as add interest. I also think the novelty of the tool will increase interest! We are also working on his syntax and use of the correct grammar for answers e.g. he may use the incorrect tense of a verb so the addition of the aural stimulus is a great help for variation of the task to avoid boredom after too much repetition.

Part 2:

CPD is such an important part of education and I am delighted that is seems to be getting recognised more and more recently with initiatives such as the Cosan framework.  As we well know the world can change so quickly and we need to be able to move with it. CPS also takes away the fear of change. Teaching can be a very isolating profession where it is easy to fall into a rut and CPD is an enjoyable and beneficial way out of this. I like how it is recognised under Cosan that CPD can be school based or external as I believe that some areas should be studied as part of a school team while all teachers have their specialisms etc that would be greater improved outside the school. Collaboration is also so vital for a well running school and if we learn together we are more likely to put things into practise together as a staff.

 

[Lauren Newman]

Part 1- The dictate feature in Office 365 will be very helpful for my ESL students. Most ESL students initially need more time speaking so the dictate feature would be a great resource for this. They are practice their speaking while seeing how the words look in written form. I feel like it  will make them more comfortable to speak in their own language especially at the beginning of the school year. I will tend to get them to talk about their weekend on a Monday. Normally I would have picture cards with a word or two on them to facilitate with this. If there vocabulary is limited, I will use the dictate feature to have them tell me about their weekend. Once they are done, I will show them how to use the translate feature to listen to their response in English. As an extension: the student can dictate back to you in English or write their response in their copy.

Part 2- Learning is the only thing the mind never exhausts, never fears, and never regrets. – Leonardo Da Vinci

This reflection question made me think of the this quote I read recently. We are constantly learning as teachers and if we aren’t there is no growth being made. I particularly like the teacher learning processes section  in the core values section of Cosan. There are so many other ways that we learn as teachers besides professional development. We do it everyday we teach. I love how our students are the teachers as well and we learn so much from them. I am a teacher that was certified in the United States and one thing I particularly like in Ireland is that the teacher has the autonomy to choose what he/she thinks will be relevant to further study. Most of the time, we were not given the option as to what we felt as individuals that we needed to learn to grow as teachers. A teacher’s learning is a journey that is a steady and ongoing process.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Lauren,

The ‘dictate’ feature is an excellent one and one that really helps students with literacy difficulties and EAL students. I find that it can make the ‘writing’ process much less daunting and bring out some creativity with these pupils. It also promotes forming speech correctly and orally using the correct sentence structure. Similar features are also available on the iPad keyboard and within Google Docs.

Your reflective piece really speaks to the need for continued professional development and that of teacher’s being ‘lifelong learning’. By constantly engaging in reflection we are identifying strengths and weaknesses within our practice. It is then our responsibility as teachers to learn or upskill in these areas so that we can deliver the best experience possible for our students.

[Shane Forde]

I worked on a lesson for a third class pupil who has a diagnosis of dyslexia .The child will be given a stimulus of a picture from pobble.com. The picture I chose included two children and a dragon.  The lesson will begin as an oral language lesson with the child using dictate to record and give a description of the picture. The child will be asked to use as many adjectives as possible to describe the picture. The child will then be focusing on narrative writing and focusing on the skills of summarising. The task will include answering the following questions: what will happen immediately, what will happen after that, and what will happen in the end? The pupil will use flip grid to record his thoughts, to encourage his imagination and to support his creative thinking. Following that, the pupil will use dictate to assist in the writing of his story. I am looking forward to using these tools in September as I have never used them before.

 

 

Teaching and learning in our schools is constantly changing. We are educating children for careers of the future. As our teaching environment is constantly changing, CPD is critical to our role and comes in various formats.  Teaching is an ever evolving profession where we must continue to meet the needs of our pupils in ways that they can relate to in today’s society. CPD  is necessary to continue expand our minds within the classroom.   One of the principles of cosan is that teachers “are reflecting critically on their teaching and learning and identify areas for further professional learning and celebrate their learning experiences”.  Schools are key in identifying their own areas through collaboration and reflection with staff that need further development.

 

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Shane,

The lesson you have described is extremely well suited to the needs of a third class pupil with dyslexia. It really shows how the carefully planned use of digital technologies can be transformative for a pupil with a specific learning difficulty. Pobble365 is a great resource for providing a stimulus for writing genres. ‘Once Upon A Picture’ is another really good website for this. Your use of the ‘Dictate’ feature really allows a dyslexic learner to access the writing process in a much easier fashion, which will improve their self-esteem and their attainment of learning outcomes.

[Orla Blaney]

<p id=”docs-internal-guid-55670986-7fff-ee0b-a27f-0e74aad8346f” dir=”ltr” style=”line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;”><span style=”font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;”>. I have chosen a child with mild autism who has great difficulty with reading, writing and also poor comprehension. Using immersive reader I would be able to highlight small passages of text concentrating attention on a particular point, enlarge the font size to enable the child to track the words with ease. In addition to this the picture dictionary would support her understanding of difficult words by illustrating the word in pictorial form. By incorporating the use of different senses this will aid comprehension and make the learning process more enjoyable and inclusive. I feel using Immersive reader as an AT will encourage the child to become an independent learner. As the child has difficulty with writing I will use the dictate tool on Microsoft 365 which will help transcribe her thoughts into words,thus boosting her confidence when she sees her thoughts in the written format. I feel this is essential to forward learning as confidence is an important part in learning. </span></p>
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<p dir=”ltr” style=”line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;”><span style=”font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;”>Of course teachers are lifelong learners and with the rapid pace of innovation and technology CPD supports the teacher in acquiring and having the confidence to use this  new technology. Having discussion forums, the sharing of ideas, collaborating on the use of assistive technology all give the teacher the confidence to use these to the benefit of the students. Personally I would not have know about immersive reader, Dictate etc. had I not signed up to do this course and Microsoft 365 which I hope to use in my new role in the coming year.</span></p>

[Orla Comerford]

Part 1

My activity is for a lower ability literacy group in 3rd class based on a comprehension text. I would first show them a picture relating to the text and have each of them make a prediction using the dictate tool on 365.  I would use Immersive reader to read the text in full first to the children on a tablet. I would then split the text into three parts and use the text selection option, having modelled it before and allow the children to hear the first section and then respond to two questions using dictate. I would then differentiate within the group giving some of the children the pictorial dictionary function to add further support on word meaning. The children would then complete parts 2 and 3 continuing to use dictate to submit their answers. We would then as a group listen to the answers and compare them to what the children had chosen as their answers. Lens or immersive reader could be used here again. To conclude the lesson, we would listen to the predictions the children completed at the beginning of the lesson and again compare that to the story.

Part 2

Teachers are of course lifelong learners and CPD is extremely important to continue to allow us to teach our children using the best, most up to date practices. As others had mentioned during these last few modules alone, I have learned many new tools and techniques that will enhance my teaching ability and be more child centred in my approach as an SET. I had never heard of Lens or immersive reader before this course and already have plans to use these with students in the coming school year. The principles of Cosan recognise how we as teachers can learn both formally and informally and in structured learning environments such as this one and also through our colleagues. It reminds us that self-reflection is not just for our early years in the profession but something that we should consistently consider throughout our careers.  I also think CPD allows us to become the students, choosing new subject areas to discover and become more confident in which is often very enjoyable. By continuing to learn we can also put ourselves in our students shoes and overcome barriers to our learning. I had felt a lack of confidence in my digital learning teaching abilities and was slightly apprehensive about this at the start if this course but I now feel I can participate in our digital learning plan with more confidence and hopefully this will be beneficial to my students.

 

[Kate Brennan]

Activity – my activity would be for a middle to older class. This would be an English comprehension lesson. Possibly based on the novel they are studying. Children would use Immersive reader to read the text and to pick out key moments and areas within the specific chapter they are currently reading. This can be done individually  or  in mixed or similar ability groupings depending on class size and technology available. Immersive reader can allow for highlighting key points in which children will then share with the class. These points can then be spoken using the dictation tool and stored in a file. Each group or child’s contribution can be kept in a specific folder and organised by chapter of the novel. Therefore when the novel is complete, the children can return to the specific folders/files and find summaries of the key moments of each chapter. This would be particularly helpful when answering questions based on the novel. Children that struggle with their working memory and task focus will have a large benefit from this. Assistive technologies such as these can help every child individually. Each child can find a particular benefit from tools such as these in the classroom and an English comprehension lesson.

Cosan and CPD-  cosan or pathway highlights the importance of CPD (continued professional development) and how the nature of teaching is every progressing. There is always more to learn as new techniques, methodologies and learning tools become available in our modern world. Cosan hughlights the personal and professional and Forman and informal learning of teachers and emphasises the ongoing need to educate and refresh ourselves as teachers. Teachers and students are similar in that we are all in a continuous cycle of learning.

[Pat Brennan]

Hi Kate,

I agree, ongoing professional development is essential for educators. Gone are the days when graduation from college marked the conclusion of studies. As you’ve mooted the education is changing continually and we as professionals need to reflect and upskill to best be able to adapt to change. We are indeed all lifelong learners. However, just like our students as you mentioned in module two, there’s no one size fits all here, CPD needs to be relevant and meaningful to each teacher. If this is not the case, it becomes just a box ticking exercise.

[Suzann Byrne]

Part 1:

 

I decided to look at the JCT1, I have a particular student in mind they are struggling to engage/access   the work and work sheets independently. They usually have a scribe that would read the passage and then ask the questions and then the scribe would write the answers for them. The student has cerebral palsy, moderate learning difficulty and poor hand function. His peers in the classroom have good typing skills and he is the only one that uses a scribe, this sometimes can lead to negative behaviours around his learning and being different to his peers.

 

I would scan in the work using office lens and then use the immersive reader to read the piece for the student. A lot of work would have to go into showing the student how to access these tools themselves to give the student independence. For the student to complete the work he could use dictate to answer the questions needed for the pieces of work. To the JCT Assessment this could be stored on the student’s laptop or google drive.

 

These simple tools in Microsoft 365 will give the student a lot more independence around accessing their work and hopefully make the feel more like their peers, reducing the behaviours around work time. That would only be a start for this student as there would be many more features he could use.

 

[Deirdre Maye]

Hi Suzann,

You have given a great description of your  lesson. It is very well suited to your pupil. It really shows how the carefully planned use of digital technologies can be transformative for a pupil with a specific learning difficulty.

The immersive reader  will actually increase student engagement. All this together is a great start.

[Suzann Byrne]

Part 2

Teaching is about teaching and learning. Learning for both the student and the teacher. I feel CPD is very important  for teachers in all areas of the curriculum. Education is evolving all the time and so are the methods we use. Especially in the area of technology and how it can make all areas of the curriculum accessible to all students .Its important as teachers we keep up-to-date with these as the needs and type of learners in our class is changing constantly.

[Katherine Dee]

PART 1

I will be teaching 1st class children next year in my role as SET.  I am moving forward with them as I taught these children last year in Senior Infants.

One particular child would benefit hugely from the Dictate function on IPAD or word. He has a diagnosis of DCD and really struggles with attending to written work for any period of time. However he is extremely creative and is always verbalizing stories but never wanting to put them in writing due to the physical effort involved. Dicatate would provide the opportunity for him to put his stories down on paper and really get an opportunity to address his creative language side. For this child Immersive Reader is not necessary as he is an excellent reader but the opportunity to edit and self-correct would also be available to him and by using Dictate function it would be possible to develop the skill without having to put pencil to paper. I really think this would engage this pupil and provides a real opportunity to separate out the teaching of the physical act of writing (which I will continue to address and work on) from the creative writing process – too often children with DCD etc expend so much energy on the physical aspects of writing that their creative skills are not tapped into or are severely restrained.

 

 

[Katherine Dee]

PART 2 The principles of Cosán are sound – a framework giving ‘teachers autonomy to plan their professional learning to take account of their changing needs and those of their pupils/students.  At the core of this is critical thinking and reflection by teachers around their teaching and learning so that they are open to developing their skills and moving in different directions around teaching and learning where such new approaches are evidence-based.

Teaching and Learning should be a lifelong process for teachers – we will never know it all; we are continually striving to just be better and do the best that we can for our pupils;

Cosán incorporates many areas outside of literacy and numeracy such as inclusion, well-being and ICT – it is vital that our CPD is rounded. As an example, educating teachers and students around their emotional well-being is vital to ensure learning can take place in other areas, such as literacy and numeracy for example. Understanding that we are the sum of many different parts is critical to ensure a rounded teaching and learning experience.

The diagram really outlines the key elements very well – I have printed this off and will put it up in my own room on return as it will be good to check in and ensure that rounded learning is taking place; to ensure that I am addressing the different areas of learning throughout my CPD – continued professional growth and practice, commitment to quality teaching and learning.

[Sue Earls]

<p style=”box-sizing: inherit; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #163c42; font-family: ‘Hind Madurai’, sans-serif;”>Participants will design an activity for a specific student using a a tool from the office 365 tools shown and Post a short descriptor (150 words minimum) on the presentation/activity and its relevance to the specific learning needs of the student.</p>
<p style=”box-sizing: inherit; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #163c42; font-family: ‘Hind Madurai’, sans-serif;”><span style=”box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: bold;”>Part 2:</span> Reflect on the principles of Cosan the National Framework for teachers Learning. Are teachers’ lifelong learners? Why is CPD so important?</p>
The pupil I have in mind is quadriplegic. She has no movement below the neck and currently utilises eye gaze to interact with the computer. She has a good standard of reading and comprehension. For her literacy lesson, I would use Microsoft lense to take a picture of the page in the textbook that the class is reading and engaging with and change it into a Word document. In an effort to reduce eye strain, I would set up immersive reader to allow her hear the text using a set of earphones and encourage use of the picture dictionary for unknown words. She could turn off the reader function and read aloud once using the restriction to one line at a time to reduce strain. Then I would take the questions from the text and set up a question and answer game where she can use dictate to input the answers or select from multiple choice.

I graduated in 2006, at a time when IWBs were a pipe dream and chalk boards hung on the wall. 16 years is not a long time to be teaching, but in those years so much has changed and progressed that had CPD not existed, I would literally be stuck in the past. The problem I find with CPD, as brilliant as it is, is that there is not the time made available to SHARE our learning. We need to put solid effort into ensuring that what one has learned is put into the reality of classroom life. If all that the staff learned across the year not only on summer courses but in their own professional development, was shared across the school systematically, I believe the standard of teaching and learning would dramatically increase.

[Shona Muldowney]

Part 1:

I designed a lesson by installing Office 365 on the tablets in my class. I planned a Literacy lesson where pupils would learn about using the correct punctuation in their writing. Both pupils have dyslexia and find the dictate option and spell check very useful on Office 365. Pupils will also focus on correct use of capital letters, commas, full stops and speech marks.

We will discuss the lesson orally and then pupils will complete a written task, on google documents.

The pupils will then go on to use Immersive Reader to review their typed piece of writing.

 

Part 2:

The principles of the Cosán National Framework allows teachers to plan their professional learning. It is fantastic that it also takes into account the changing needs of their pupils/students.  Critical thinking and reflection by teachers is crucial when planning a framework for pupils learning.

It is excellent that Cosán includes a vast amount of areas outside of Numeracy and Literacy such as Inclusion, ICT, Wellbeing etc. The diagram is brilliant and outlines the key elements clearly.

CPD is crucial for teachers to improve on their planning and keep up to date with new resources, policies and ideas.

Thank you, Shona Muldowney

 

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