Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
The idea of basing the material on a pre existing topic of interest is an important one. Not only is the learner more motivated, but there is inherent familiarity with context, character and sight words Mammy, Daddy etc.
The SETT model is a way for teachers to think about how best to support a child in school. SETT stands for Student, Environment, Tasks and Tools. First, the teacher considers the Student—their strengths, needs, interests and current skills. Next, they look at the Environment, such as the classroom layout, noise levels, routines and people supporting the child. Then they consider the Tasks the child is expected to complete and identify where difficulties are occurring. Finally, Tools are considered, including teaching strategies, adaptations, visual supports, technology or other resources that could help the child participate more independently.
Assessment should be linked directly to the child’s targets and should use appropriate means, such as classroom observation, teacher checklists, work samples, curriculum-based assessment, reading or numeracy assessments, questioning, pupil voice and information from parents and other professionals where appropriate.
The key is to assess what the child can do, what is creating a barrier, what support is being provided, and whether that support is making a measurable difference, rather than simply assessing the child in isolation.
Alana, I find the eye gaze activities you reference really interesting and would definitely see potential for this in terms planning for some of our pupils also in terms of supporting understanding and promoting independence.
I have in mind a 7 yer old student with Down Syndrome. I would want to emphasis visual learning whilst reducing demands on fine motor, language and working memory skills. Looking at At as means of reducing barriers to curriculum access I would use the following to promote inclusion through technology:
* I pad w/ PM Reader app. Use text to speech function to enable child to read the text. He can highlight words being read, slow down rate of read aloud and record himself reading the same sentence and listen back for self editing.
* Teacher made word document literacy activities using Microsoft immersive reader and dictate functions
* Seesaw to respond to text, use recording function and create digital portfolio also accessible to parents.
* Nessy Reading spelling app to provide daily visual, gamified practice
* Nessy fingers for typing skills
* dolchworld.com for personalised sight word flash cards and gamified sight word practice.
* Little Bee Speech App to support speech sounds and record self making these sounds (also digital portfolio of progress) useful for liaising with speech therapy.
* L’escapidou App for fine motor control, letter and word recognition.
In relation to to school development planning, schools are asked to demonstrate a clear commitment to inclusion through effective deployment of resources. Having this suite of apps readily available on an iPad for this learner demonstrates to me an effort to provide meaningful, personalised differentiation and allows the learner to participate in whole class and small group literacy activities.
I agree with the idea/problem that many teachers feel the learning stops when we get the job. The real elephant in the in the room is how to get teachers to engage with CPD meaningfully. This needs reflection on access/availability/cost/motivation and other barriers to CPD being meaningfully engaged with in may schools.
Part II Cosán
Cosán primarily promotes the idea that teachers are lifelong learners. It encourages teachers to keep their skills and knowledge current and in line with developments in education. It also points out the importance of continuous assent and reflection on our own practice.
I think CPD it’s important to embrace because it diminishes the fear many teachers fear of change and new ideas and tools. Education is changing rapidly. Particularly in relation to SEN – current thinking, best practice, terminology changes all the time. It can daunting and without engagement in CPD teachers can be left to feel incompetent and open to cynicism and quiet quitting.
This is especially felt with regard to AT and digital literacy, which has become a requirement of teachers without really having been given adequate training.
CPD is a way to quieten those doubts and negative noise and embrace both experience and learning.
I would use Microsoft Word & Dictate function to create a sequencing activity for a young learner (7-10) years experiencing significant fine motor difficulties.
The activity could be used to demonstrate the learner’s understanding and use of langue of sequencing in context.
Repeating the exercise at the beginning and end of a short module would be useful in terms of assessment and for purposes of a digital portfolio to share with home.
The activity could also be differentiated to remove the cue/key words as visual prompts to assess if the child can recall and use the word in chronological order.
In tandem with language of sequencing the activity could also be used to teach vocabulary. The dictate feature would allow the student to produce ‘stretchier’ sentences (for example, he has seeds can be stretched to become the little boy is planting some sunflower seeds).
Providing this opportunity to respond to text and demonstrate learning speaks to UDL principals. It acknowledges both the learners challenges and capabilities and tweaks an exercise to adapt to both.
It also makes assessment, recording and feeding back to parents much more straightforward from a teacher perspective.
I would pre teach language of sequencing (first, next, then, finally) and provide these prompt words.
We would also practice stretching our sentences (to include more complex adjectives and richer sentence structure, etc). The student can listen back to own recordings and self assess. Are there other words which might be a better fit here? It gives opportunity or student to edit and re record own work,
Student can also share via teams with teacher.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1k0Bbjwy-AOVPVHNu1IfAx0BJBZMDz1SLmDFBfWvpMhk/edit?usp=drivesdk
I would use Microsoft Word & Dictate function to create a sequencing activity for a young learner (7-10) years.
I would pre teach language of sequencing (first, next, then, finally) and provide these prompt words.
We would also practice stretching our sentences (to include adjectives, etc).
Student would then use dictate function to record sentences and share via teams with teacher.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1k0Bbjwy-AOVPVHNu1IfAx0BJBZMDz1SLmDFBfWvpMhk/edit?usp=drivesdk
Similarly, I have found this been under using the tools already available. There is far more potential with the tech we have, so many useful tools. I think all teachers should readily have this type of trainign available to them.
Immersive reader can improve literacy outcomes for learners in a number of ways including the read aloud function, this is something that is particularly useful in my experience with older students who might be going through a stage of feeling self conscious about literacy difficulties. Using this feature at home especially to help wade through larger chunks of text is a super tool.
For pupils with dyslexia, the syllabification feature can chunk words making them much more manageable, as does being able to adjust the spacing of the words. In my experience I found this tools also crucial for pupils who are experiencing visual difficulties, where large pieces of text are difficult to navigate.
With pupils and parents for whom English is not a first language, being able to translate is an incredibly useful feature in home-school communication.
Microsoft Word itself support Literacy in our schools, with spelling, grammar and editing tools, helping learners to focus on their creativity rather than on often the laboursome effort of actually producing text. I have found this helps to support self esteem and motivation of learners experiencing literacy difficulties.
For pupils whose fine motor skills are severely limited, being able to dictate and use voice to text feature similarly supports creativity, self confidence and inclusion.
Being able to share homework assignments which ave been recorded in this way with your teacher via Microsoft teams, is another benefit to teachers and pupils alike. It promotes independence, better communication, record keeping and assessment. it also makes these things much more efficient and less time consuming from a teacher perspective
Definitely there is scope for better connection between and AT and SSE, which would give greater autonomy and voice to pupils with SEN. Would definitely explore and expand this in my own practice.
The SETT framework is a long overdue aid for SETs to address the role AT plays in the lives of learners. As has been expressed by many of the other contributors, we have been playing catch up with AT, often feeling under skilled to utilise At effectively.
It enables teachers to make better decisions, unique to the needs and capabilities of our students and to identify and access specific activities which enable students to access the curriculum, something which unfortunately does not always happen, not because of a a lack of willingness but a lack of understanding about AT itself.
Inclusion is a much used word in education. As a SET I have often felt frustration with regard to AT. Going through the process of sanctioning, applying and purchasing AT for a student is cumbersome in itself. However, once it has been obtained, we often don’t know exactly what to to do with it in order to unlock the curriculum for our students. I think the SETT framework is a welcome foundation for making his happen, not lip service, but real efforts towards inclusion.
The digital learning framework similarly provides structures and support for teachers trying to use AT more purposefully to cater for the needs of pupils Being able to use digital tools to adapt classroom activities is something teachers need more support and training for.
We all see the need for meaningful differentiation, but have not felt able to do so due to a lack of support and training in relation to At. The digital learning framework goes some way to making that happen. This improves professional practice and most importantly learner outcomes for our pupils.