Miss D'Addio's Class

Welcome

Welcome parents to our class fundraising blog. Our PTA has been talking about their yearly fundraising and has come up with a wonderful idea-technology. They would like to have a Art Wine and Cheese Event with a silent auction component. This event would happen in May 2013, place to be determined. What we as teachers have been asked to do is come up with a basket with a theme of objects for the silent auction. The theme for our class's basket is "Family Game Night". If you could either take some time to come in and help with the basket or ask friends for donations of games, snacks, drinks, etc for "Family Game Night", that would greatly help our classroom and school get some new technology.

Why Technology?

  There are many items of technology out there for students with varying disabilities. I know that I have heard people voice their concerns over the use of technology in the classroom, but there are many ways that technology helps our students with their school work. In our class, we use the computers for Accelerated Reader, which works on Reading Comprehension and Accelerated Math which comes up with math worksheets on the students' individual levels. We also work on typing paragraphs. According to an article in the Journal of Special Education Technology, a study was done to determine how computer modeling helps students with reading comprehension. "Computer modeling has the advantage of providing increased opportunities for students to practice skills without relying on a human model, thus decreasing the amount of one-on-one teacher instruction needed.Computer-assisted instruction, including computer modeling, opens many possibilities for access that are otherwise unavailable for students with physical disabilities. Software that visually tracks as the text is read on screen may be beneficial in increasing fluency for students who frequently lose their place in a text but lack the ability to physically point to each word."(Coleman and Heller, 2010). For math, a study was done using a computer program called " Memory Math" for students to learn their multiplication facts. It was found that "not only did the students' facility with basic multiplication facts improve over a short period of time, but it also continued to improve during the maintenance and follow-up periods. The program appeared to offer an acceptable addition to the arsenal of strategies required by teachers to provide access by their students with disabilities to the regular curriculum."(Irish, 2002).

Our class technology wish list

1. 2 iPads http://www.brighthubeducation.com/special-ed-inclusion-strategies/123140-using-the-ipad-for-learners-with-special-needs/ From looking at this website, you can see how the iPads will help our students such as for paragraph writing and speech for our speech impaired students. It would be a great mobile device for our students writing and they can use their fingers on the screen for fine motor help. For our speech impaired students, there is a program with PECS icons to help them communicate their needs to the teachers and other students.

2. Boxlight ProjectoWrite3 LCD Projectorhttp://www.boxlight.com/Products/Classroom/ProjectoWrite3-X32N

This projector would keep the students attention during whole group lessons by being colorful and interactive. The projector goes onto the whiteboard and makes the whiteboard interactive for lessons such as reading. The students can come up and circle the nouns or verbs in different colors on the screen. Also, the whiteboard enhances group work and social skills by having the students work together on problems.

In conclusion,

  I hope this page has given you some good information about our newest fundraising idea and how it could impact our classroom. I believe that if we all work together, this Art, Wine and Cheese Event can be a great fundraiser and our students would benefit greatly. Let me reiterate, that I am not asking for money, just for your time and effort to make a great "Family Game Night" silent auction basket. Please feel free to email or call me if you have any questions. Thank you and look forward to talking to you all about this more as we get closer to the event.

 

References:

Coleman, M. B., & Heller, K. W. (2010). The use of repeated reading with computer modeling to promote reading fluency with students who have physical disabilities. Journal of Special Education Technology, 25(1), 29-41. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.nu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/304668335?accountid=25320

Irish, C. (2002). Using peg- and keyword mnemonics and computer-assisted instruction to enhance basic multiplication performance in elementary students with learning and cognitive disabilities. Journal of Special Education Technology, 17(4), 29-29. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.nu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/228484338?accountid=25320

Disclaimer;This is an assignment for an educational technology course at National University. It is not a real fundraising blog.