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For this assignment I am planning for a 10 year old boy with Dyslexia going into 4th class. By referring to the School Development Planning section in the Inclusive Education Framework I am ensuring that the needs of the student are first and foremost the most important part of any plan that a teacher prepares for the student in their care. Also considering the SETT Framework will ensure that the most appropriate assistive technologies are matched to the needs of the student in the most suitable learning environment possible.
For Literacy I will chose Immersive Reader to support his reading and comprehension skills development. I will activate the Accessibility features on his iPad allowing him to chose any article independently himself and the iPad to read it back to him. This will give him the independence to develop a love to finding out information for himself. I will encourage him to use Literative and Starfall Apps to improve his spelling in a fun and imaginative way. Also to use Powerpoint Live to help him make school projects more visually attractive and interesting for him to do.
For his numeracy I will use the Maths Assistant and Geogebra in One Note. As a group activity with his peers I will get him to use the Math Duel Fight App and the Maths Solver App. Again using both these Apps will make numeracy fun and interesting and will hopefully encourage him to use them at home in his spare time to support his numeracy development.
<span style=”font-family: ‘Georgia’,serif; color: #333333;”>The SETT Model consists of gathering information across 4 different areas relating to a student with SEN – these being the Student themselves what are the areas of concern where support is needed, the <span style=”background: white;”>Environment – the overall learning environment for the student including equipment and materials used, Tasks – what specific learning tasks are required for the student to achieve the goals and the expectations for the students and under Tools – what tools are currently used to support the student including what additional tools would be helpful.</span></span>
The Student Support File would be very important for gathering information of the abilities and needs of the student in question. By using the Student Support file as a starting point in the SETT Framework process this will ensure that the needs of the student are at the forefront of all plans developed to support them to reach their true potential in education and beyond.
I have a number of students with Dyslexia in my Learning support class. I have taken one of their English Readers and copied the text into Microsoft Office. Then using the text-to-speech feature I highlighted the text and allowed the text to be read aloud as speech. This feature opens up the world of reading to students with Dyslexia. They are no longer reliant on their teacher or parent to help them read a piece of text. By using this great feature of Microsoft they are now independent learners and can work at their own pace and chose what they want to read themselves making them more self sufficient with their own learning.
From the picture – One size does not fit all when it comes to assessment. Students learn by many different means. Our methods of assessments needs to reflect that students learn in different ways.
Cosan Framework has been developed by the Teaching Council which recognises teachers professional learning and reflection on learning as part of the teaching profession. It encourages and supports life long learning and follows on from the Droichead process with the 2 underpinning standards of quality teaching and learning and continued professional growth for enhanced professional practice.
I have used the immersive reader for my own use and I can definitely see how it would benefit not only struggling readers but also many other students in the class who may have other needs e.g, ASD, Dyspraxia and ADHD students to mention a few. It is a very versatile tool and could be used in both the mainstream setting and small class groups. The read aloud facility also works very well and this also supports struggling readers to access the curriculum. Likewise as Gina mentioned above the Dictate facilitate is very useful for these same students to allow them write their own compositions and give them a sense of well being that they are achieving as good as their peers in literacy.
The Microsoft Office Lens tool has very many benefits namely in the capturing of information from documents, whiteboards, menus, etc and then saving them in word format where they can be used when required. I will definitely try this with my students in the coming school year.
Assistive Technology has enhanced the learning experience of all students in the classroom but in particular its introduction has had a particular benefit to SEN students. For example, students who are dyslexic benefit greatly from the read aloud facility on their devices. This has not only opened up the world of reading to them but it has also allowed them to develop as independent learners when they no longer have to rely on asking another person to read a passage of text for them. Similarly ASD students are able to access apps which can help to regulate them in various ways eg. music and mindfulness apps.
Like Siobhan has mentioned above the Digital Learning Framework for Primary Schools also highlights the benefits of using Digital Technologies at primary level. Among these benefits are the promotion of school readiness for the new curriculum, better teaching and learning and student engagement. It also helps facilitate a whole school approach to using digital technologies constructively for best practice in teaching and learning,
Over the recent past in all our schools through the use of online classes during the pandemic, we have all had to adapt very quickly to using technology across the board. While some staff may have been reluctant at the beginning, I feel we have all benefitted from making greater use of the technologies available to us. Our pupils also have embraced these developments also and are continuing to use in their day to day learning experiences in their classes. I believe it is a win win outcome for both teacher and pupils alike.