When my mind was all over the place coming up with ideas the other night, here were some of the leads that I came up with and researched.
One of the most useful programs for blind students is Text Aloud which allows the student to learn material independently.
Dawn and I were discussing the possibilities of the internet for people with special needs. I found a website: Disabledonline.com- internet for people who have disabilities. I thought this might be a great tool for people with special needs to use. The website works as a safer internet and simpler version for people with special needs.
I wonder if there is a place set up that has a lot of tools for people with special needs in one website? I believe that all of the technology and information is out there to make life easier and more technologically advanced for people with special needs. At the same time, how far and wide do people have to search to come up with the resources they need? The technology is usually located in crazy places that are all disconnected.
All kids in some shape or form want to fit in, and the internet can be a great tool for people with special needs to feel more connected. Dawn and I talked about using the internet spaces like facebook or chatting to help students learn appropriate social skills. There are going to be many times and places for these people to write emails, respond, ask questions and communicate with each other and need to do so in an appropriate manner. Dawn and I talked about a fake internet/facebook so that only the class could see or write to each other, and the teacher could monitor what was being written. Status updates could be a great topic of discussion about emotions and what is going on in each other’s lives.
I looked into the programs and services provided in Milledgeville to use as resources to learn more about the adult special needs population in Milledgeville.
Best Buddies: a one-to-one partnership with a GCSU Student and a consumer (an adult with developmental disabilities) from the Baldwin Service Center. I came across a personal success book and thought about all of the adults in this area who are under transition services and need people to help them be successful on their own and in group homes. There are actually about 11 or more group homes in Milledgeville.
The music therapy program also involves a lot of the Milledgeville area special needs population. The music therapy program actually comes to the school where I am working once a week to do sessions with the students in my class.
Huggers: This program provides support for our community's Special Olympics games and the Special Olympics Athletes. Students get to help run the events as well as encourage each athlete.
The No Boundaries Club serves as the umbrella organization for students who want to work with people with disabilities. Its mission is to "Build the leaders of tomorrow by serving people with disabilities today."
Special Olympics: This program, through year-round sports training and competition, empowers individuals with intellectual disabilities. Special Olympics is often the only place where they have an opportunity to participate in their communities and develop belief in themselves.
Life Enrichment Center (Formerly known as the Baldwin Service Center):This program provides individuals with developmental disabilities living in Baldwin County Georgia, with the opportunity to meet goals through Employment and Personal and Social Services. The Baldwin Service Center cultivates community partnership with local and state colleges, civic and service organizations and advocacy groups to provide a variety of community based experiences and opportunities for consumers.
After doing a lot of research, I found a lot of information about group homes and what Milledgeville is doing to help the special needs population here. I did not actually know what groups and services were available in the Milledgeville area for people with special needs. I am especially curious about the adult population after these students are finished with school. This was brought to my attention because of the students in my classroom right now who are in the transition stage where the schools and parents are working to place the students in the best environment for their adult lives and future. I wondered what technology and programs are available to them. What are some of the difficult situations and problems with group homes and other services? I would really like to research about these issues and also take this opportunity to interview with the head of The Baldwin Service Center. I believe I could receive great information and learn a lot from these people who continually work with the adult special needs population in Milledgeville, Georgia. I am going to work on setting up a meeting with these people to learn more about the services provided in the Milledgeville area and what needs there are.
I was so excited to get a text message from Dawn saying that we were on for a meeting with the director of the school where I am working. This is thrilling because I will have the opportunity to learn what this school really needs. Dawn will also be at this meeting to add a lot of validity to what I am doing. Then we can all decide together on the best course of action for this project. For now, that means that I need to come up with questions I want to ask to learn more about the use of technology at this school. In a response email, the director wrote some interesting statistics.
As you may have guessed, our technology is somewhat limited.
Georgia College donated 40 used computers to us last year but, due to lack of funding for software, we were only able to put Ebuntu on each computer. Teachers primarily use their student computers for educational games.
We have a smart board in two of the classrooms but those teachers are really not trained in how to make full use of the interactive board for instruction.
Only 2 classrooms have LCD projectors (the two with smart boards).
Our internet is slow, and goes down often despite a recent bandwidth increase through Alltel.
About my project idea with the powerpoint, she wrote
Your host teacher spoke with you about “taking the American Literature Terminology that is used throughout the state’s End of Course Tests as well as Georgia High School Graduation tests and putting them into a Power Point type presentation with pictures and audio to help students with recalling terms. Depending on resources, this could lead to embedding the presentation with a switch device to assist with turning pages for students with physical disabilities. Katie, you describe the project beautifully on the Digital Bridges Website under ‘student projects.’ ”
As I work with these schools and with technology, it would be a great idea for me to be trained in how to use a smart board because I believe that situation after situation will arise where I could be a help in using these devices and utilizing them with the teachers and schools I will be working with on into my student teaching and teaching years.
(4 hrs)
Monday, November 16, 2009
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