ELO 

When reading "The Importance of Deep Reading", I was immediately struck by the three lives that Aristotle speaks of.  I absolutely agree that the life of contemplation is what is often lacking in our modern, fast-paced era of massive and unprecedented access to information, travel, and communication.  In many ways our society has continued to grow and has benefited by the increased connectedness, but at what expense?

Young brains are still developing the processes needed for deep thinking such as inferential and deductive reasoning, analytical skills, reflection.  Even us as adult learners are vulnerable to losing hard-learned and earned skills of reasoning and reflection.  In my personal and professional life, I often find myself having to remind myself to slow down.  To give myself time to relax and just take-in what I've just seen, read or heard.  "What we read and how deeply we read shape both the brain and the thinker."  Am I providing my students enough opportunities and time to really become or develop their brains so that they will be deep readers?  To give kids opportunities to question and talk about the information they are seeing or hearing.  It's difficult when life seems to push you to move forward quickly and when pressures seem to increase over time rather than decrease.  We ourselves as teachers are under so much pressure stemming from high expectations placed on us by administration, parents, society and even ourselves to effectively teach all students the content and skills that children are expected to master.   I often fear we are pushing students to meet these benchmarks without stopping to provide enough time for reflection. I worry that in pushing my students so hard day after day, I am missing an opportunity to allow them to really focus on and engage in what they are learning.  They may enjoy success, but are they having fun and identifying themselves as lifelong learners?  

I find it interesting that the ancient Greeks argued against learning to read and write for fear that they would lose the oral tradition and the constant quest for knowledge.  For us as teachers that may imply that we have to systematically and strategically throw wrenches into our students lives.  We are responsible for introducing intentional problems for students to see that knowledge is maliable and often changes.  We have all probably heard that now people know less about more.  I am excited and concerned about the fact that people's brains are being re-wired.  I do think that it will be interesting to see how we can change our brains to be more efficient.  How we can work together as a society to tackle problems on a mass scale?  How can we re-wire our brains to make them even more efficient or phenomenal?  The article mentions that reading is a 'new cognitive function', that the very organization of the human brain enables it to go beyond itself.  I think that we are potentially on the precipice of a time that may be marked by amazing human achievement and cohesion.  Conversely, not knowing the direction that we are heading, brings fear that we could be raising children that are disconnected from one another or that perceive a skewed reality.

Technology can allow information to be easily accessible and readily available,  but this leaves us wondering what that means as far as creating next steps or goals as educators and learners.  Where will we go with this information?  How will we extend our knowledge further?  How can we independently explore these topics?  We need to think of how to teach critical thinking skills, how to encourage a questioning or even a wariness of information garnered through the internet.  Online skills need to be explicitly and carefully taught.  Online exploration and research should be taught within a framework and teachers need training on how to use technologies within their classrooms before jumping in.  My biggest fear is that we are fully embracing technology and programs without first being adequately versed in the dangers of these technologies.  Too often we focus on what the solutions will fix rather than on what the cost of these solutions are.

How do we avoid the costs of pervasive digital environment in the classroom in the presence of adaptive and instructional technology?

The introduction and dominance of technology in our lives has resulted in continuous, but partial thinking.  Technology has made information more readily available and accessible, but this constant input of information can create unforeseen difficulties in processing and in using that information.  Those that use and rely on technology for communication or for information often skim and scam information without actually allowing themselves the chance to fully process or understand the information they are being exposed to.  For us as educators this implies that when using technology, our work and the work we ask of students need to be supplemented with assessments or tasks that require deeper thinking. 

Without continuing to provide opportunities for deep thinking, we run the risk of losing the ability to be fully engaged and focused on one topic or task.  Students need to be asked to build upon prior knowledge using information from multiple sources.  Students should also be provided an opportunity to work together and to discuss the information that they find so that they do not miss out on social connections and can practice the skills of discussion and collaboration.  As Louis CK joked about on Conan O'Brien, people tend to be more concerned with sharing information than in living their lives.  As educators we need to provide opportunities for students enjoy living in the moment of learning.  It is more important than ever to find ways to engage student in topics or information.  Technology can enhance the ways in which we are exposed to information, but cannot replace deep reading, thinking and intense debate and discussion.  We need to give ourselves and our students opportunities to focus on information and topics so that information isn't entering and leaving our stream of consciousness too quickly, as we saw in the Economist video.  

Although technology will help us to find new and interesting ways to provide access to content and allow students to practice and demonstrate their skills, we do need ensure that we are not allowing technology to become overly dominant at the expense of allowing students to really explore and engage in material in depth. We have to remember that technology requires explicit instruction and that student use of technology should be guided and monitored.  We have to make sure that students are not using or seeing technology as a short cut to the end product, but as a way to enhance their knowledge and understanding.

What did you think? What were potential accessibility issues? How would you change it?

I think that the OXO angled measuring cup was a really great example of people working to help others solve problems.  The fact that this was created because of the desire to help a wife who had difficulty holding things due to arthritis.  It's something that I had not known, but I think it goes to show you how creative thinking and ingenuity are what drives real and powerful change.  As educators this change will only occur if we continue to identify student needs and work to design curriculum, materials and assessments that can help to meet these needs.  The pressure that teachers face is immense, and can sometimes feel overwhelming, but instead of feeling like we are never able to do enough, we have to remind ourselves that we are doing what we can and will continue to work towards figuring out how to reach all students.  

As a teacher I sometimes find myself feeling frustrated when I make a change or introduce a new support that works because I tend to wish I had known or thought to use it much earlier.  How do we as teachers continue to push ourselves to developing supports using UDL principles, without becoming too focused on the problems that we are trying to solve?  How are teachers sharing the solutions that they have found to be successful?  How do we limit the time spent 'experimenting' while finding solutions or limit the number of errors we make before finding success?  

I can't imagine anyone not supporting Universal Design principles, but I still question my own personal success in using these principles in developing my classroom lessons and materials.  I do believe that these principles can guide effective, good teaching, and will continue to strive to make the content and assessments in my classroom accessible to all students.  I do think that this is going to be a goal that I am striving towards for the rest of my career and I am trying to balance the urgency of needing to meet the needs of all of my students and the reality that I will still be working towards this indefinitely.  

What did you think? What were potential accessibility issues? How would you change it?

          As a special education teacher, I value the belief that students learn and express themselves differently.  I constantly amazed by the current expectations in education that we as teachers are responsible for differentiating instruction on a daily basis, yet the standardized test itself is not differentiated.  “Pursuant to Section 504, the aids, benefits and services must afford individuals with disabilities an equal opportunity to obtain the same result, to gain the same benefit, or to reach the same level of achievement.” (Pg. 2)  How do we measure achievement?  I have yet to see a test that truly measures a student’s yearly growth, rather I’ve seen tests that tests a students test-taking skills.  The context is often completely irrelevant to our students lives and texts on the ELA exams are often uninteresting and engaging.  My students enjoy reading, but I see a clear slump in engagement in the four weeks leading up to the exams when we have ‘test prep’.  

          “Testing accommodations provide an opportunity for students with disabilities to demonstrate mastery of skills and attainment of knowledge without being limited or unfairly restricted due to the effects of a disability.” (Pg. 3)  Expecting all students to jump through the same hoop is absurd, especially considering accommodations often fall short of bridging the gap for our students with disabilities or newer English Language Learners.  Although test access and accommodations attempts to meet the needs of students, I find that it often falls short as ideal implementation is often nearly impossible.  At the school that I teach at we have over 400 students in testing grades.  Our school is at capacity, and many of our classes are close to state and city limits.  We have large English Language Learner and special education populations at our school.  I would love to give students the opportunity to take the exam over a longer period of time in terms of giving them a week, rather than extended time within the typical three day testing period.  Unfortunately, due to limited staff, space and the large demand of special settings or accommodations, this is not currently an option utilized at my school.  

          I completely support the push to raise expectations and to work to ensure that all students are given equal opportunities to succeed.  I fail to see how these exams truly work to inform our instruction.  We lose so much instructional time in preparation and in the grading of these exams, it seems like a percentage or point system is not a fair trade-off.  Perhaps if the tests were objective and valid enough to be given back to schools, then we would be able to use student work and responses to inform our instructions.  Sadly this isn’t the case.  “The Grades 3 through 8 tests in ELA and Mathematics will help schools to identify students for whom they need to provide additional academic assistance in these subject areas.” (Page 5).  I am still not quite sure how a score 1-4 helps to know what skills students are lacking.  The ELA exam does kindly break down literal versus inferential percentages and points, but in my experience literal understanding is almost always needed before students excel in inferential understanding.  Thanks for giving us the point breakdown to solidify that conjecture?  I spent three days last year grading the ELA exams.  Luckily our school splits the grading and divides it among two teachers for each slot, otherwise I would have missed over a week with my students.  It is shocking how subjective the grading process is.  After having witnessed and experienced grading the state exams, I am appalled at the resources spent and wasted on these exams.  Wouldn’t portfolios and looking at student work over the course of the year be much more beneficial?  

          Our students are at a disadvantage when it comes to the state exams.  The idea that “the conditions of the test allows students with poor reading skills to show their skills and knowledge on tests measuring content areas such as social studies and science and allows students whose disability affects their ability to calculate to show his/her ability in problem solving and math reasoning without being hindered by their inability to calculate” (Page 4), doesn’t even make sense.  Content knowledge is often gained through reading and literacy activities at any grade level.  Difficulties reading isn’t alleviated through testing content knowledge.  Perhaps students may receive partial credit for their problem solving strategies and reasoning, but inaccurate computation drastically decreases their scores.  At the end of the day, whether an assessment that is being used across an entire grade, school, district or state, that allow little room for creativity, individuality or differentiation, in my opinion remains flawed regardless of accommodations.  Are these exams worth the time, money and effort to create, administer and score?  Are the results and information gathered from the exams worth the overall expenditure in both fiscal and personnel resources?

AAC Augmentative Alternative Communication includes a spectrum of devices aimed at helping students to communicate.  There is a considerable amount of Voice Output Communication Aid (VOCA) devices available all striving to offer something that will set itself apart from the others.  Depending on the language or speech needs of a student, the supports or devices range from low to high level technology.  The special education team, usually the teachers, speech and language pathologist, and parents, as well as other service providers, paraprofessionals, administrators and specialists should be involved in choosing the most appropriate device.  Communication is a critical foundation for development both within the classroom and during academic activities as well as at home and in social settings.  Communication is something we think about in any class, and it is important to give all students voice and the opportunity to share their thoughts, ideas and opinions.  Communication devices are intended to provide non-verbal students with access to language with which to communicate, but most seek to supplement and provide students with the opportunity to speak a common verbal language.  Augmentative Alternative Communication devices are used to create a systemic approach to helping students to access and use language in various settings.   

Similar to language development for typically developing peers, the tools and devices available allow for language development that allow for the transition from simple words and phrases to complex sentences that capture the nuances of spoken language.  As the devices become increasingly complex, it seems like the purpose also changes from focusing on creating basic communication systems to creating a way to access languages.  During the video I was having trouble seeing the images that were supposed to be displayed so I later went to the websites of some of the devices that were featured. Low tech or no tech is simple and easy to use.  This may include the use of pictures, symbols, overlays, and PECS sets or books.  We explore this over the past week while using and creating a memory game using the Mayer Johnson symbols in the Boardmaker program.  Low tech systems are great because they don't require a great deal of time to be spent on training students to use the symbols and are generally more widely available across settings.  At the mid-level range, I was really struck by the devices created by PRC, in that the more complex devices actually allow for the creation and development of semantic impaction.  Being able to manipulate pictures or the combination of words to change the meaning of the picture or phrase is essential to clarity of speech and in expressing opinions.  I hope that more devices begin to lean in this direction to allow for more complex social and academic interaction and discussion.  The website even notes and explains that their products go beyond simple commands and pre-programmed phrases to enable  students to express unique thoughts and ideas.  Additionally, it is pretty amazing that Zygote allows for intonation - so important when speaking to be able to emphasize words.  High tech devices require a power source and extensive training to complete the use of the device.  I looked at the website of DynaVox and was shocked at the amount of options and choices available.  

It's pretty incredible to think of the amount of information the team must have to choose the most appropriate devices, but then to also coordinate the use of these devices in the classroom environment.  It goes a long way to showing the importance of engineering the environment to meet the needs of the students.  I imagined in my head what it might sound like if multiple students are using devices that speak as they input their answer and then at the end.  I am left wondering how to best address this situation if it arises in the future so that all students have time to think and create their response without also interrupting the thought and output process of other students.  I am also eager to explore the resources that have already been created to better equip use to help create and modify the devices to meet the cognitive and social needs of students.  The pre-made templates and resources are so important because we all know as educators how time consuming the creation of materials is.  How and when are students taught to create their own boards?  How is language taught similarly or differently for verbal and non-verbal students in regards to the use of assistive technology?

As discussed on Monday, organization is a cornerstone to effective instruction.  Any educator understands the importance and value of being able to organize not only their lessons and the tools that they use, but also their knowledge.  Planning curriculum maps, units and lessons helps us to organize and sequence content and information as well as determine what skills students will need to learn or practice.  As we plan instruction, we also think about what strategies we will use to impart this knowledge and help students to master necessary skills.  In addition to this, we as teachers additionally have to be able to consider student learning styles and needs and to pull on our knowledge of what tools we can use to meet student’s needs.  In order to do this efficiently we need to be able to mentally compartmentalize strategies, and our knowledge of what tools are appropriate to meet this variety needs.   

I found it helpful to list the tools students need based on their learning needs.  I have ten students with Individualized Education Plans.  Of these ten students, eight have stronger visual comprehension than verbal or written.  It was useful to map out the tools that could help with recognition support.  Although making visuals or charts to connect tools to various subjects or topics is helpful, eventually our goal is to internalize these strategies so that we can pull on these tools with automaticity.  In this regard we have to push ourselves to take risks and try new tools and technologies in our classrooms so that the become more familiar.  I have had many instances of technology snafus and understand the importance of ensuring that there is always a plan B.  With proper planning I feel that it is easier to use these new tools in my own classroom without feeling anxiety about the risk that I am potentially taking in trying something new.

I am a strong advocate that best practices for some students generally means that they are best practices for all students.  Students whose needs are not met end up being left behind.  Students who are more easily grasping content will not be hurt by going back and reviewing information or having information presented in multiple ways or methods.   Many of the tools we have been exploring would be useful for students with various needs.  It is important to provide multiple opportunities for practice and to provide feedback. As content become increasingly complex and difficult it becomes ever more important to help students, particularly those with learning needs.  It is important for us as educators to remember that the technology tools that we are learning about today will itself take practice to implement and perfect.  It will be more difficult at first, as it represents taking risks and learning through mistakes or mis-steps.  We will encounter problems and we will encounter difficulties.  It is up to us to demonstrate and use our own problem-solving skills in determining and practicing the use of technologies to determine best practices.  We will only be able to truly best educate our students if we ourselves are willing to experiment with new tools and technologies to determine how to best use them in our classrooms and in supporting our students.

How can we best share this information with students and their parents?  How can we help students to independently identify programs and supports that will help them to complete necessary tasks?  

The article and video, Disabled Bodies, Able Minds:  Giving Voice, Movement, and Independence to the Physically Challenged, demonstrate that whereas technology is an aid for most in learning and in easing their daily functioning and lives, technology can be  absolutely critical for some to be mobile, complete work or to communicate.  As technology progresses and is constantly being updated or improved, assistive or adaptive technology is also improving.  The video asserted that adaptive technology is not always being used in the planning process or in the classroom, despite the benefits due to various reasons, including unawareness, lack of confidence in using these technologies.  

The article and video assert that adaptive and assistive technology can help to increase independence and self-sufficiency.  Alternately, according to Adapting Classrooms for AT Users:  Challenges and Solutions, it is important to also note that sometimes students need to be given the freedom to ‘adapt themselves’ and to have opportunities to succeed - the dignity of risk.  This idea is echoed in Disabled Bodies, Able Minds.  Adaptive devices can increase independence and self-sufficiency and helps to allow students like Lukas to realize their dreams.  It is important to allow for student input and suggestions, as seen in Adapting Classrooms for AT Users:  Challenges and Solutions, when the student received an adapted, low-tech device to help open the classroom door. It is equally important to remember that low tech can be as effective as high tech.

The Dr. Keller Interview also highlighted the importance of changing opinion from reactive to proactive using UDL as guidelines to increase access and the inclusion of all. The main premise that all three pieces advocate for is that all people deserve equal access.  They should not be excluded, especially based on perceived restrictions.  Although full participation is expected and hoped for, even partial participation is better than none, and educators and society should focus on abilities rather than limitations.  A full-time aide can not substitute technology that can provide students with access and the ability to move and act independently.  When using adaptive technologies it is necessary that we remember that individuals are individuals and the adaptive technologies that are used should reflect that.  What are some strategies that you have used in your classrooms to effectively identify student needs?  How do you determine which tools or strategies will be most effective in meeting student needs?