My Learning Blog

Welcome to my blog. 
I hope you enjoy moving around and taking advantage of the information and links I have gathered here. Blogging is new to me, but keep coming back I plan to work at it and make it a tool for my classroom and one I hope you can use in yours or in your home. Our topic is writing and how children learn to do it and the many wonderful tools out there to help them along the way. These programs and APPs I mention  are highly motivating and fun capturing even the most reluctant writers.
You will see that much of my focus is on helping learners with specific challenges but I have also tried to  include information, links, and apps that will help all students, parents and teachers. If you peak at my profile you'll see where my heart is and I am sure this collection will reflect that. As we begin this journey together I can't help but think of the Dr. Seuss Book, Oh The Places You Will Go. I often use it at the end of the year with students. Well at the beginning of this process I did not know what an iPod was and had only just received an iPad as a gift I barely comprehended. As you will see in these posts these magical devices can and will open new doors for us. Oh the places they will take us. I am a late adapter but I am sold now. I hope you will be as well.

Let's start with some of the common challenges faced by students in our schools today.

Misunderstood Minds

Misunderstood Minds is a touching series produced by PBS in the United States. Take the time to watch and you will see why it is so important for those of us in education to gather as much information as we can and to grasp at every tool out there. The technology today can help us be better teachers and as you will see here we owe it to the students to take all the help we can get.    

Writing the brain and technology

Reluctant Writers
 We all know sometimes students have trouble writing and because of it don't want to try. This can be  because their brains have difficulty performing everyday tasks such as organizing, planning, paying attention etc, as well as making connections to ideas and experiences. The more we know about these challenges the better we are as teachers. Here are a couple of links to help us better understand the challenges and solutions.

www.pbs.org/wgbh/misunderstoodminds/writingbasics.html
http://www.creative-writing-solutions.com/learning-disabilities.html

SymWriter and Clicker

SymWriter is an interesting software program designed around students with significant reading and writing difficulties. It uses symbols, speech, and activities to help students write. The symbols are voice activated and so students can hear what they've written. Click an image and the text appears allowing students to make the connection between the words and the images developing their comprehension skills. Another similar program is called Clicker Five. It seems to have a few more options than SymWriter. Take a look at what their producers have to say and see what you think. The software supports a wide range of students with challenges such as autism, dyslexia, speech and language impairment and graphmotor difficulties.

http://www.cricksoft.com/us/products/tools/clicker/home.aspx

http://www.widgit.com/products/symwriter/index.htm

 

The Brain

A peak inside the old computer.
Here is a link to show us how it does what it does

.http://www.ncld.org/ld-basics/ld-aamp-executive-functioning/basic-ef-facts/executive-skills-and-your-child-with-ld


www.kidsmemory.com

www.eyecanlearn.com

Inspiration 8.0 Lesson 1

Inspiration 8 is a software program designed for students from grades 6 to 12. This one is for students with lots of creative ideas but who require help initiating, organizing and planning which are lower level content skills. Here is a You Tube video to show you what it can do. 

  

Draft Builder is a software program aimed at students in grades two through nine. It is a tool that helps students brainstorm creatively and then organize the ideas they come up with. Here is an interactive demo put together by Don Johnson that shows us how this software can help us.

http://www.donjohnston.com/support/DB-ID_Preview.html


Another handy graphic organizer to have is called iThoughts. It costs $9.99 and can be purchased as an iPhone APP.

Also Kidspiration is another version of Inspiration but designed for the younger student. There is a free 30 day demo you can download and have fun with.

Co:Writer

Co: Writer
Here is a helpful tool for students who have the ideas and energy, even the aptitude for writing but get hung up by spelling. There is no need to let spelling stand in the way of writing. This software gives struggling spellers hints at what the word might look like to help them chose the right word and move on. The company demonstration video gives you a sense of what it might do in your classroom.

Apps For Stroryteller

Not all of the programs out there are designed around specific learning disabilities. Here are a few that can help young writers struggling with writers block. 
Sometimes students just have a difficult time coming up with and formulating ideas in order to create a story.  This App seems like a good way to help kick start the imagination. Students get to select from a large number of themes, characters and ideas in order to create a story. Sentence starters as well as picture cues are provided to give students lots of rich ideas to work with. Students using this App need reading skills in order to choose the words to create the story. This App costs $1.99 and works on the iPod and iPad. Here are a couple of screen shots from the iPhone to show you how it looks in action.

Another App for writers block is called the Writing Toolkit. It will cost $3.99 and can be used on the iPod, iPhone or iPad. Her are some of the tools it offers to students.

Story Cubes
This is a fun way to motivate and engage students in the writing process, especially those who have difficultly formulating ideas. It makes writing into a game to take some of the pressure of students. It costs $1.99 and runs on the iPod or iPhone. Take a look at the information and the video on the company website..


www.storycubes.com/products/iphone

Strip Designer

Have fun creating your own comic strips using Strip Designer. Strip Designer allows students to select pictures from their photo albums and then add text to their photos. It is designed for students who have difficulties with written output due to motor planning issues and problems with visual motor skills and spelling. This devise allows the writer to feel like he/she is part of the writing process. In essence they are able to create their own picture strip that ends up similar to an old fashioned comic strip. I downloaded it and in only a few moments was able to create the tiny strip above. I found it easy to use and it is something I would not have any difficulty introducing to students in the classroom.       It runs on the iPod, iPhone and iPad. It costs $2.99.

Here is a slide show I found that helps show you how to use it too.

Digital Storytelling with Strip Design for iPad/iPod

View more presentations from Lucas Gillispie

Instant Poetry

This app is best suited for students who have trouble initiating ideas. It also supports students who have graphmotor difficulties. There is an ease of use for these students because they can touch and drag words on the screen.
The program allows the student to select a familiar picture and use it as the background for the poem. The program puts words in blocks on the screen and the user can move them around with the touch and drag motion to make sentences. The words can be arranged in any way the student wants. There are themes of poetry for the student to select as he or she builds the project. In order to work in this program the student must have some literacy skills in order to recognize the words on the screen and use them appropriately. The App costs $1.99 and can be used on the iPhone, iPod or iPad

More Apps To Support Reluctant Writers

Wordle is a wonderful little app. It allows students to type words in the window and then hit create and watch as the words change shape and seem to take on a mind of their own. It allows students to create a word-bank around a theme and have fun doing it. They then can use the words in the writing process. Take a peak at the always changing online gallery the company keeps on its website.



http://www.wordle.net/gallery
Wordle is a program you can access from the computer. Brainstorm, create poetry build a word wall with Wordle. It is highly motivative and fun to use.



iThoughts is a graphic organizer that can be used to help those students who have lots of great ideas but need a little help organizing their thoughts visually. It can be used for scheduling and planning an to create concept maps. Once completed the student can then email it to the teacher, therefore the student has the option to work at home if needed. It costs $9.99 and can be accessed form the iPod or iPad.

Jack and The Beanstalk Children's Storybook for iPhone / iPod Touch / iPad

Here is a little iPod fun. It is not an educational app designed to show students how to write but it sure lets them become an active participant in a traditional fairy-tale. 

I think it could be helpful in the early grades. It will certainly get students comfortable with the devise itself.

Visual Impairment

Students challenged with physical disabilities also benefit from the world of technology. There are many applications out there offering to enhance the writing experience for these students.


Here is a link that takes us to a list of apps aimed at helping visually impaired learners. The site shows the price and gives you a good understanding of the pros and cons. It is a tool to help us find the best tool.


http://www.spectronicsinoz.com/article/iphone-ipad-apps-for-magnification-and-vision-support

Hearing Loss in the Classroom

Here is a video worth watching. For some students the challenges are not so much about writing as they are about understanding what we as teachers are saying. 

Kurzweil 3000

Kurzweil is a neat program that helps writers by suggesting words as they type. It is ideal for students with spelling challenges because words appear in a drop down box as they type and the voice actually pronounces the word when the student selects it so even if the young writer is unsure of the spelling the voice confirms they have the correct word.  This will be a good program for students with graph-motor difficulties as well.