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The skill I focused on for my Sway was Self Regulation. Working in a special school setting I feel this is an important skill that all students need to learn. It may take years to learn and it needs to be broken down into very small learning activities. This is an area that would have focus in our annual IEP meetings and IEP goals. Setting a self regulation goal would be child focused, involve key stakeholders: teacher, parents, SLT, OT etc… The Sway I created would be an example of a piece of work focusing on what to do when feeling angry, sad or worried, A prerequisite skill students would need to be able to identify and label emotions. We strive for student to become as independent as possible so teaching them about how they can manage their emotions and feelings is an important lifelong skill. When teaching this topic students would need assistance from their teacher to speak about each emotion and scenario for each. https://sway.office.com/VHPby92FcZJ9vbdL?ref=Link
Digital Technology holds an important place in my classroom and school setting (special school). Many of our students use Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) apps such as Proloquo2go and Snap Core as their communication. As teachers we need to be able to troubleshoot these apps quickly as they are often the child’s only way to communicate. These apps need to be updated regularly with new pictures and content relevant to the child’s learning. We also use learning apps such as Rainbow sentences and Articulation Station for SLT goals. Again, we need to be able to navigate these apps to teach students their goals. We also use Boom, an app where we create flashcard type resource. Some students who enjoy learning from technology respond really well to this type of platform. In order to be able to use this app we have to set up a student account, design cards and monitor the student’s progress. When applying SSE into my practice digital technology provides me with many platforms to self-reflect whether it be typed, audio or video. Having my own self reflection saved onto a device means it is easily accessible to me and also easily editable.
I used OneNote in a post primary school setting where we as a department designed our own book/workbook for the year. It was a whole school initiative with all students and all staff using Microsoft surface. This allowed using OneNote as a subject book for the year much more accessible and also more successful. When designing our book for the year each department collaborated together to design a chapter following a template that everyone used. The whole school also used this template across each subject department. As designers we could include checklists at the end of each chapter, learning checks throughout the chapter, include learning objectives at the start, video/ website links, highlight key words and definitions and include specific questions at the end of the chapter. Each student had the same copy on their OneNote and when they made changes to answer assessment pieces of questions teachers had direct access to them to correct and to give immediate feedback. Although setting up a subject textbook as mentioned above is time consuming, it is a valuable tool in any department. OneNote can be continued from one year to the next and is easily editable.
<p class=”MsoNormal”>I don’t have experience using Teams but having learned about it in the slides and exploring it I feel it would be a beneficial tool in any education setting. The calendar feature could be used to set important deadlines for staff allowing all staff members to see it with a clear plan for the year. This feature could also be shared with parents for upcoming events throughout the year. I do feel all staff would need training on how to use Teams as it can look a bit daunting initially especially when staff may be used to other platforms. There might be a tendency to use something already familiar rather than give Teams the time to become familiar with and get the most out of it. Teams may also prove useful for sharing of resources with staff, parents or other support staff.</p>
<p class=”MsoNormal”>The recording feature on Microsoft PowerPoint could be used during a whole school assembly in my school setting (special school) allowing students to interact during the lesson. It could also be useful when teaching new skills through video modelling or breaking down tasks into steps.</p>I have mostly been a Google user using google forms and email I feel forms are similar to google forms. I work in a special school and although my students wouldn’t benefit from using forms I feel I can still use them in other areas. I believe forms can be a very useful tool for management and teachers. For management it can be used as a tool to gather data from staff and parents for SSE, feedback from staff or parent training, confirmation of completing compulsory courses or reading important documents. For teachers it can be used for consent of trips or outings from parents. Forms would be better than paper consent forms as afterwards they can be downloaded and stored online rather than taking up space in paper form. They can also be used to organise meetings with parents and getting feedback from parents on priority learning areas. I believe both staff and parents are more likely to engage in surveys etc… if they are in digital form as most people own a smart phone which makes completing these forms a lot quicker and easier.
From playing around with Sway I feel it could hold a place in my classroom in making resources such as social stories for students or visual task analysis. They can be viewed by students on an iPad or laptop which they are very good at using and it may be more appealing when presented in a digital form.
