[Deirdre Judge]

Plan a lesson for a student in your class who has Dyscalculia..

Task: Addition without renaming ~ to a first class student.

– Explicitly teach the language prior to the lesson. Have the boy demonstrate understanding.

– Provide a range of concrete materials (unifix cubes, blocks etc), Place Value mat, ICT Resources, visual animations, Videos on YouTube, manipulatives, games etc.

– Teach Step by step. Can be useful to cover the tens while adding the units and then covering units with adding tens.

– Scaffold the child in their learning and give lots of opportunity to use concrete materials to physically experience the concept. Give one to one time and allow lots of time to practice and engage.

-Evaluate understanding through assessment for learning/ assessment of learning. Require boy to demonstrate understanding by teaching another boy in the class how to do this.

[Deirdre Judge]

Universal Design for Learning is a set of principles for curriculum development that give all individuals equal opportunities to learn. UDL provides a blueprint for creating instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments that work for everyone–not a single, one-size-fits-all solution but rather flexible approaches that can be customized and adjusted for individual needs.

[Deirdre Judge]

Assistive technology tools can help students with certain disabilities learn more effectively. Ranging in sophistication from ‘low’ technologies such as a graphic organizer worksheet to ‘high’ technologies including cutting-edge software and iPad or smartphone apps, assistive technology is a growing and dynamic field.
For this assignment I will refer to a 11 year old, 4th Class EAL student with a recent Dyslexia diagnosis. There are a number of digital technology tools to support EAL students and children with reading and other literacy difficulties in their learning. Schools should consider these in the formation of their school development plan. “School development planning includes policies, practices and procedures in all areas of school life.” It involves strategic planning for “the inclusion of pupils with special educational needs through the equitable and effective deployment of resources, funding and staffing” (Inclusive Education Framework).
The Immersive Reader App will offer many benefits to children needing support with their reading and is an excellent support for EAL students alike. It aids reading comprehension, with the provision of features such as, text to speech, and the added option of translating words into many different languages. Hearing words being read aloud in English, will also support EAL students improve their pronunciation. EAL students can gradually build their knowledge of English vocabulary and sentence structure through other features such as a picture dictionary and parts-of-speech labelling.
Office Lens, which is a scanning app, makes textbook content more accessible and inclusive for EAL students. The app enables students to take an image of a textbook page or whiteboard using a tablet camera and quickly translate the content. The app supports many different languages and if used correctly, could be used to support syntactic awareness for students and build their knowledge of key academic vocabulary.

[Deirdre Judge]

The SETT Framework is an excellent guide that will help Special Education teachers in collaboration with classroom teachers and parents, in selecting the best assistive technology to address a student’s specific needs. When selecting appropriate AT tools for students, there are many variables that must be considered. The SETT framework encourages teachers to examine the variables in a systematic way. It is important to understand and gather data about the following: The SETT framework is used to evaluate the assistive technology needs of a student. The framework encourages teachers Firstly to gather information about the Student: their strengths and weaknesses. Then to find out more about the Environment in which it will be used. Next, to find out what Tasks will need to be performed and finally which Tools are best suited to help the student succeed with the task.

https://1drv.ms/w/s!AlMnQfnglf21gS2JmwOyaJmnSNua

[Deirdre Judge]

Part 1: The student is a 6th class girl with strengths and interests in horse riding, fashion and art. She has a dyslexia and dysgraphia diagnosis and has been granted the support of assistive technology last year. The student has good comprehension skills, however, struggles with reading pace and fluency and sight word recognition. With the help of the Immersive Reader, the student will have the support to read a piece of comprehension, highlighting key words and completing the same task as the rest of the class. I will download the Office Lens app and this will be a great resource for the student going forward, as she will be able to take pictures of any document and use the Immersive reader function to support her reading, of area of interest to her e.g. horses. The Dictate in word will also be a very useful application to support her writing and answering of questions based on the comprehension. Both applications could be used with the class novel. The Share point will be another beneficial support for the student, by condensing lengthy texts from SESE chapters into small chunks, highlighting key words, drawing in diagrams, inserting questions and attaching audio and u-tube links etc
Part 2:“Teaching is such a complex craft that one lifetime is not
enough to master it…”Cosán is the Irish word for “pathway”, reflects the idea that teachers’ learning is essentially a journey, and one in which the act of travelling on that journey is more important than the
destination. In other words, Cosán is about steady and ongoing progress, rather than elusive perfection. It is about lifelong learning and shows that teachers’ learning can be formal/informal, personal/professional, collaborative/individual, and school-based/external to the school or workplace. It is proposed that teachers would chose a combination of learning processes in a range of areas
including inclusion, ICT, literacy and numeracy, leading learning, well-being and supporting other teachers’ learning. Continuous learning and CPD is very important for teachers as it keeps their thinking fresh, their skills relevant and their motivation high.

[Deirdre Judge]

The various Microsoft 365 and Windows applications offer built -in ease of access settings and learning tools to enhance reading and writing experiences of people with all abilities. The Immersive Reader provides a full screen reading experience, that will help to improve reading comprehension, reading fluency and build confidence for reading. It is an excellent tool that
• Helps students with Dyslexia and Dysgraphia
• Helps students with visual impairments
• Built into Word, OneNote, Teams and Office Lens.
• Built into new web browser called Microsoft Edge
• Built in picture dictionary for visual learners
• Built in translate options for ESOL students
• Avoids Visual Crowding with the line focus option
The Dictate in word, uses dictation to talk instead of type and is good for students with dysgraphia, writing made easier with Dictate.
Another impressive application on the office 365 Platform is the Share Point, which allows you to create your own content for students e.g. condensing a large chapter into small chunks for student, highlighting key words, inserting diagrams, inserting exam questions, attaching teacher’s audio and or u-tube links etc

[Deirdre Judge]

Assistive technology (AT) is and device, software or equipment that helps people work around challenges so they can learn, communicate and function better. These tool can help people work around their challenges, while also playing to their strengths.
Assistive technology has many benefits, but chiefly it creates an inclusive learning environment, in which students with additional learning needs are supported in participating in class activities. Assistive technology removes barriers to learning by reducing challenges faced by students through tools such as Immersive Reader etc. Assistive technology caters to the specific needs of a student. The SETT Framework guides teachers in selecting the best assistive technology to address students’ specific needs. When selecting appropriate AT tools for students, there are many variables that must be considered. The SETT framework encourages teachers to examine ecological variables in a systematic way. It is important to understand and gather data about the following: The SETT framework is used to evaluate the assistive technology needs of a student. The framework encourages teachers Firstly to gather information about the Student: their strengths and weaknesses. Then to find out more about the Environment in which it will be used. Next, to find out what Tasks will need to be performed and finally which Tools are best suited to help the student succeed with the task.
Both the Digital Learning Framework and Looking at Our School 2016 – A Quality Framework for Primary Schools are designed to provide the widest possible scope to teachers, school leaders and others to identify and achieve excellence in teaching and learning and leadership and management. The Digital Learning Framework recognises that schools are at different stages of the school improvement journey with regards to embedding of the use of digital technologies into teaching and learning. The Digital Learning Framework should be viewed as an enabler of self-reflection and improvement and not as an inflexible check-list. It is crucial from the outset that the leadership team in each school has a shared understanding of why and how the school seeks to embed digital technologies in teaching and learning and is committed to doing so. Schools may decide to adopt the methodology of the six step School Self Evaluation (SSE) process to implement the Digital Learning Framework. Schools may also choose to adopt the Digital Learning Framework as the area of focus for the development of teaching and learning as part of its SSE process. The Framework will be accompanied by digital learning planning guidelines – a resource designed to support schools in the embedding of digital technologies in teaching and learning and in the development of a Digital Learning Plan.
Using the Framework will promote a school readiness for new curriculum, better teaching and learning and student engagement. It will facilitate a whole school approach to understanding what it means to embed digital technologies using constructivist principles for teaching and learning. The Framework will help generate internal discussion of how embedding digital technologies can lead to improvements in teaching and learning. The Framework can be used as a planning tool by individual teachers, or groups of teachers, to plan, and reflect on, their daily teaching and learning practices, at all levels and across all areas of the curriculum. The Framework will also help schools and individual teachers to identify, and plan to address, their continuing professional development (CPD) needs in the area of digital technologies and enable them to take ownership of their own development and improvement in this area.

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