Overview of MSU ED521 (F3)

At the start of this course, I stated that technology gotten away from me (in the last eleven years).  In that time frame, I earned my second BS and have worked and am still working in an area that is quite low-tech.  Scary as this sounds, I have always been considered quite “techy” compared to other Speechies that I've worked with.  I was able to stay in my comfort zone, but that is a dangerous place to be.  By taking this course, I had to step outside of that comfort zone.  

Through Ed521, I've had the opportunity to experience working with different websites, tools, and apps that I was unaware of.  Some I feel more comfortable with than others.   Some will take more "sandbox" time.  I am so excited about the new resources that I've learned about and different way to integrate them.  

Since I am not a classroom teacher, I will be using the knowledge learned from Ed521 a bit differently.  Working for a Special Ed. Unit in a rural area, I'm especially excited about the possible uses for Google Hangouts and Doodle Poll.  These are two resources that could be of great benefit to our entire unit especially since we are so rural and in recent years have experienced a large population increase.

As Speechies, a lot of the work we do is with older students in the area of social communication.  As a result of taking this course, I have started to ponder the role of speechies now and in the future.  At present time, we cover such topics as eye contact, vocal tone, volume, body language, etc.  What about the social rules of communication on or socially appropriate uses of electronic devices? 

As a Speechie, I also work with students in the areas of science and social studies.  Some of this is assistance with vocabulary and study skills/studying, but we also lend support services to what the teacher is covering in the classroom.  As more and more teachers become proficient 21st Century Educators, Speechies too must become 21st Century Educators in order for carry over to occur.  

Life Expectancy of Textbooks (A17)

Are textbooks going to survive the digital age?  As time goes by, the new advances in technology seem to make this appear less and less likely.  Students are able to access a wealth of information on a given topic through the use of technology.   They hover over a word and have it pronounced, defined, and access more resources/tools related to it (maps, videos, etc).

Having taught in a poverty stricken area, a concern that I have is in regards to students from low-income homes many of which do not even own a computer or personal device.  Often times many of these students attend schools in low-income districts where resources may be limited.  I think until a solution can be found to address this issue, actual textbooks may be around for a little while.  I do expect with time though that they will disappear.  Someday, children may not have the joy of sniffing the smell of a brand new textbook, paperback, or magazine or crawling under the bed covers with a flashlight and a book after bedtime.

We will still read, but the source of reading will be different.  We could compare it to the changes in the telephone:  crank phones, party-line phones (with rotary dials), private-line phones, cordless push-button phones, bag phones, handheld cell phone devices.

Change is coming.  Are we willing to change with it?

Libraries in the Future (A19)

The last time that I went into a public library was three and half years ago.  I went to there to check out books because our Head Start had a very limited number of books on any given topic or appropriate for story time.  Some of the books that I wanted, I had to do an inter-library loan for and then waited 3-5 days for them to come in.  Also, there were times that the book I wanted was checked out and was late in being returned.  It took a considerable amount of pre-planning for the books that I wanted to share with the children on any given unit/topic.  

I noticed that many of the individuals using the library were probably from lower income homes. The vehicles in the parking lot also provided evidence of this.  I noticed that some of the individuals were impaired (hearing, cognitive, physically, etc.)  They had come there to use the internet, read the newspapers/magazines, check out materials and some went into little rooms where they could listen to cassettes/CD's or watch movies.  Some of these individuals needed quite a bit of assistance.   

Digital libraries would allow numerous people access to the same book, magazine, etc. at the same time.  For students doing research, they would have access to a wealth of information.  Teachers would have unlimited access to videos to share with their students.  Digital libraries would allow for instant access to a needed source. 

I would hope that an actual public library building would continue to exist in the future. There are always going to be people with limited financial resources, the elderly, and the impaired.   With technology changing so quickly, it would be hard if not impossible for these populations to be completely successful on their own.  For myself, the first time I entered that library I too needed assistance with checking to see if they had the book, whether or not it was in, or when I had to do an inter-library loan.  After using the library system a few times, I too became functionally proficient; still every once in awhile; I had a question or two. 

Thus, I believe that the actual library building and the librarians will continue in the future, however: I do believe that the library building may change and the librarians' roles may change some.  The librarian will continue to assist people with technology.   The actual library building at some point may be smaller in size, but I do believe that they will still exist.

My Success Story (F2)

My Google site has been a great asset to me professionally.  I already know the changes that I want to make.   The "Useful Links" tab has made locating online therapy games easier, but I want it to be even easier.  Speechies within my Special Ed. Unit commented that they want me to continue to add to the site and have offered suggestions about future updates.  One page that they would like to see added is a home therapy page.

This page would contain activities/links for parents to assist their child with artic activities at home. A page like this would allow parents to reinforce their child's remediation at home outside school hours and continue it over the summers.  It would also be beneficial to children who are weak in some artic areas but do not qualify for services.

Though I am not a case manager, I did share the sample Doodle Poll for scheduling an IEP meeting for student XYZ that I created for this class.  The Speech-Language Coordinator for our Special Ed. Unit was very impressed and passed along the email so that all the speechies in the Unit had the opportunity to participate.  A few days later, she was out at one of my school sites and I shared with her the poll results.  Of course with an IEP meeting, there are some individuals whose attendance is more essential due to their specialty than others.  Also, this is where Google Hangouts could be an option due to the distance that some specialist have to travel and the scheduling element.

Through taking this class, I have learned about different sites and how to use different apps/tools. Some of these will take a bit of  "sandbox" time before I feel truly proficient.  I do love sharing what I've learned or resources with fellow speechies, teachers, & family members.

Maybe, I should have titled this, My Success Stories.

My Top 10 Take Aways & Thoughts (F1)

1.  Doodle - Awesome!  I can see the convenience for scheduling IEP's.
2.  Google Forms - I especially enjoy the surveys!
3.  Cloud Storage - I'm tired of lost thumb drives or finding the right one.
4.  Diigo - Awesome!  Love the ability to highlight, add notes, & save for a re-read or share
5.  Grammarly - Where was this when I went to college?
6.  Google Hangout - Though it is not IVN, it did come in handy on 2/26.  Since some of my adult children live far away, I am anxious to try it out at Easter.  I enjoyed doing a Hangout with my 3-year old grandson two weeks ago.
7.  Child Safe Search Engines (Google Junior/Kid Rex) - I wish I had known about them about 12 years ago when I co-taught an After School Technology Class.
8.  Google Site - I already know the changes that I want to make, but the "Useful Links" tab has made locating online therapy games easier.  Speechies within my Special Ed. Unit commented that they want me to continue to add to the site and have offered suggestions about future updates.
9.  Blog-spot - I enjoy reading other people's blogs especially speech-language therapy related. Writing one...not so much.  But, I can see the educational advantage for students to do journals, creative writing, etc.
10.  Twitter - Love following certain hash tags and observing chats as they unfold.  But actively participating, that was nerve racking.  I'm a reflective thinker and just need time.  So, let me get back to you on that.

21st Century Learners (A16)

As educators (elementary, high school, college), we try to prepare our students to become productive adult members of society.  Part of that preparation includes the responsible use of technology.  In order for students to be 21st century learners, teachers must first be willing to become 21st century learners.  Meaning, teachers must be willing learn new technology.   It is easy for a teacher to operate in their comfort zone, but being a teacher means that you are constantly learning.   About twenty years ago, the internet was very new.  Now, it is almost impossible to function as an educator without it.  Technology is always changing (new apps, devices, tools, programs, etc).  Educators need to be willing to learn, adapt, and share their knowledge that with their students.  When teachers are able to incorporate new technology in their lessons and provide a safe "sandbox" for their students to demonstrate their ability to use it and create a project with it, they will move towards becoming 21st century educators.  We are not teaching our students for today; we are preparing our students for their tomorrows.

The Value of Twitter (A14)

If someone had told me in Dec. 2014 that I'd be Tweeting in two months, I would have said ya right. Now that I've played around in the Twitter "sandbox", I've found that it is quite useful.   I enjoy the ability to network with individuals of the same study.  Articles, research, ideas, techniques, and information are shared through networking.

Especially in smaller, remote rural school districts, there is usually only one Speechie who serves the school.  Thus, collaboration with fellow Speechies is rather limited.   Having serviced one such school for three years, I can testify to some of these challenges.  Though I work for a special ed. unit and have a supervisor, we still encounter challenges.

Among my favorite has tags are #SLPeeps, #SLP, #SLT, #WeSpeechies, #SLTchat, #slpbloggers.
Find me on twitter:  https://twitter.com/slpptchr .

What Does it Mean to be a Teacher (SLPP) (A15)

My parents believed that teaching and nursing were very respectable professions for women.   As a teenager, I worked with kiddos in VBS, children's church, the church nursery, and did babysitting. When I was a Junior in High School, my dad strongly encouraged me to consider a career in education.   After a divorce, four children, and eleven years later, I enrolled in college.

I had grown up in a community and in a time where teachers were respected.  If you had gotten into trouble; you prayed that the teacher wouldn't call your parents.  But, times had changed and as a first- year teacher, I soon realized it.

I don't remember when I first heard the quote "Those who can, do. And those who can't, teach.  What I do remember is that I thought "What a lack of respect"!   As a college student to first-year teacher, I had a bumper sticker on my car that said, "If you can read this, thank a teacher."

Since everyone has experienced a school, many people believe that they know education.  However, education changes with time.  We have moved from "teacher directed" to "child center" to a more eclectic methodology.  The pendulum swings.  A perfect example would be the traditional teaching of reading to whole language.  As education and technology change, teachers also must change their teaching methods.  (from slates to paper, to paperless).

When I went to elementary and high school, children with some special needs ie down syndrome never went to school.  They were kept at home, sent to a special school, or institutionalized.  Now, they are entitled to a free and appropriate education in the school system.  With that passing, school systems and teachers had to adjust to the change.

Working in school systems for fifteen years, I have had the opportunity to work with many so-called "inferior blueberries".  As teachers, we can not change their situation; we can advocate on their behalf.  We can impact their lives, either negatively or positively.  We can turn them on to learning or turn them off.

For me, my pay isn't only measured in dollars and cents.  My greatest pay is paid with that "light bulb" moment or when a former students eagerly greets you.  As an SLPP, I celebrate with my students as they "graduate" (are dismissed) from services.

#ndedchat (A22)

On Wednesday Feb.4, I participated in my first in #ndedchat or rather I lurked for a few minutes and then signed in and observed.  Two weeks later, I participated in it; however, instead of writing A1 at the start of a tweet, I wrote Q1.  I was so embarrassed so I just observed from that time on.  Such a silly mistake!

I would participate again. It is fast moving so next time I will again read the questions ahead of time, but I will also have answers to specific questions typed up so that I just have to copy and paste.

How Has Technology Changed My Teaching (A18)

I went to college for Elementary Ed following my divorce.  My oldest two children were in kindergarten and second grade at the time and were using computers in school.  Having been out of school for ten years, I knew I had to learn to use a computer.  So, the first semester, I took Keyboarding and the second semester I took Intro to Computers (back in the days of Lotus and Word Perfect).  Since then, I have been a certified teacher for 19 years and have worked as an SLP-P for 6 years.

I started writing lesson plans with paper & pencil.  As soon as the teachers were given computers, I created a lesson plan form and started doing them on the computer and printing them out.  One copy was handed into the office and one copy was taped in the traditional lesson plan book to be handed in at the end of the year.

During the summers, I taught full day summer school for first graders.  I was allowed to have the student computers from other rooms (each classroom had one old Apple that needed the boot up floppy).  We had computers set up with a printer.  While I worked with half the class on reading, the other half were typing an assignment (name, address, phone number) and then were allowed to play a game of their choosing.  The shift, enter, delete, and space bar keys were color coded.  The color coding was explained and visuals were created to help the children.  Also, since my children were out of school for the summer and older, I incorporated their assistance in helping the students with the computers.

As time went by, our school got internet and a computer lab; however, the students only had access to the internet in the computer lab.  Having a computer lab, the school started offering an after-school technology program which I co-taught.  Back then, the internet was quite new, child safe search engines didn't exist, and filtering was rather poor.  The children were able to print their science fair information, captions, graphs, and pictures versus handwriting or drawing them.  Also, with internet came the ability to email our lesson plans.  However, we still had to print a copy for the office and put a copy in our binder to be turned in at the end of the year.

About the same time as the internet came, teachers each received a computer for their classroom.  I used Publisher to create a slide show for the first grade reading words that the students would encounter in their new story.  Every day prior to reading the story, we'd review the words learned in the previous story plus cover the current words.  (I had to keep track of whose turn it was to run the slide show as it would cause an argument.).

Now as an SLP-P, the majority of my job is working with students to correctly produce phonemes with the correct use/position of their articulators (tongue, lips, teeth, etc).  My greatest tool in this is a mirror (pretty low tech).   However, I have learned to use different software and Tienet (a state site for IEP's).   Boardmaker is a program that I use a lot to create visual schedules for students and articulation activities.  If needed, I could create a communication book using the program; however, I have not worked with students with those needs as of yet.

With the internet, comes a wealth of resources.  We no longer have to copy, draw, or color most of the resources that we want.  I have used Pinterst and Teachers Pay Teachers on numerous occasions to find various activities to incorporate in therapy.  Also, Quia is an online site that I use quite often in therapy whether it's language or artic.  At first, I used Quia on a touch screen computer with the younger children.

With overcrowding at schools in western ND, others may need our rooms at times.  Having an Ipad, is great for the convenience of having to move to another area without much notice.  With various apps, I can use it for articulation and language.  However, I have found limitations with many of the apps such as the ability to individualize the to specific needs or the ability to randomize or shuffle the order in which items are presented.

I have and will continue to share some of the tool learned in ED521 with case managers and others at our sped unit, but that will be for another blog.

Moves

Since graduating from High School, I have moved several times.  This map shows a few of those moves.  I made the map using Skitch.

From my childhood home to Bismarck
From Bismarck to a farm north of Pollock
From Pollock to Aberdeen
Aberdeen to Herreid
Herreid to Yankton
Yankton to Tioga

Moves

Just for Laughs

"In My Opinion" page link

For some reason, the "In My Opinion" page doesn't show up on my home page.  So here is a direct link.

http://slpptchr.blogspot.com/p/in-my-opinion.html

Blog Help

Since I made a mistake with my blog, I watched a youtube tutorial video.  I'm thankful that he misspelled  a word, because he used the layout option to correct it.  With the layout option, I was also able correct my issue.

Blogger Youtube tutorial video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwjjHngOsLY

What does “Integrating Technology into Teaching and Learning” mean to you?

For myself, I would like to be able to incorporate the smart board into my speech sessions.  There is a Quia site that has a lot of great speech activities on it.  I have observed children in classroom settings engaged in learning through the use of the smart boards.  When I work 1-on-1 with a student, it is easy to just use the laptop; however, when working with 2 or more students at the laptop it becomes difficult for everyone to see clearly.

I also would love for the Unit that I work for to have a Cloud storage where individuals with in a study (Speech-Language, Early Childhood Special Ed, Physical Therapy, etc.) can put up posts so that we are not all trying to reinvent the wheel.  Many of the materials that we (Speech-Language & ECSE) use we create from scratch.  I have found several great ideas on Pinterest; however, some are just a picture of what they made and you have to try and recreate it.  

What is your opinion about allowing students to use cell phones in school?

My first concern has to do with cheating.  How does a teacher control the texting answers?  Having been out of classroom teaching for 10 years, I would have a real concern with this issue at the upper levels.  When I taught in a classroom environment, it was first grade.  Even today, students in fourth through sixth grade still do a lot of paper-pencil tests.  

My second concern would be the noise distraction of vibrating phones.  The majority of the students that I see are Pre-School through 2^nd Grade; however, most of the older students that I see are on IEP’s and are also seen by Special Ed.  Many of these main streamed students would have distractibility issues.

I also understand the potential for students to access information with them, but how does a school regulate their usage?