Let's Salute the Week

Book Review: Real Kids, Real Stories, Real Character Choices That Matter Around the World by Garth Sundem

Book Review: Creating an Online Presence by Cat Rambo

Let's Salute the Week

Happy Easter!

Christ has risen!  Christ has risen, indeed!

The middle cross is where our Lord was nailed and on either side the thieves were also nailed.  Please, be like the thief on the side that asked our Lord for forgiveness and was granted it, even though he hung for his sins.  Our Lord hung for our sins!  WE are forgiven!

A quick note, I am learning how to use the scheduler and as many of you may have noted, I am not very good at it.  This week I will be taking Charity Preston's course, "5 Days to social Media Scheduling . . " I am very excited, especially since I will have an accountability partner for the whole time. Trisha Katkin is my accountability partner and her site if  "The Seven Step Social Story" at  http://trishakatkin.com/.  

Also this week I will be sharing my technology project from my course on Canva, it will be a very busy week, but I am hoping to learn a lot, sharpen my skills (writing and social media) and get better at this who blogging!

Take care everyone!!!

Book Review: The Cyber Effect A Pioneering Cyberpsychologist Explains How Human Behavior Changes Online by Mary Aiken

A cyberpsychologist, really.  Yes really, we have progressed in our world to the point where we need someone to explain the type of person who is online.  In this case the character of the psychologist in  CSI: Cyber, (i.e. played by Patricia Arquette) is based on the author, Mary Aiken.  I loved that show and I learned a lot about that field of cyber, this book explains more . . 

Synopsis

The author explains the behavior of people who spend a lot of time online or use online. Mary Aiken's  coins the phrase "cyberchrondria" to describe a whole suite of anxieties related to online search of real and imagined health ills.  In addition, she discusses why people develop relationships online as opposed to in person. 

Aiken has a number of recommendations to help avoid some of the pitfalls she sees in her research, for example, a separate Internet for children, which would be walled off from the dangerous Internet of porn and predators. Parents need to be vigilant, but unfortunately they don't have all of the information the need to adequate and informed decisions. 

Book Review plus 4. 6 stars:

This book is fascinating and, but not a quick read.  While reading the book does each you a lot about safety . y, especially what to look for when searching the Internet. It is an interesting outline of a world that most of us touch every day but know so little about.  

This ARC was provided to me from the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review. 

Mentor Books: Good/Bad

"A mentor text is a written piece used in education as an example of quality writing used by an individual to illustrate a genre or text." (ehow.com/about_5324946_mentor_text.html (2016)

Artists use other paintings and drawings to learn techniques. Teachers follow other teachers around to learn their styles. People use models of like material or models that represent something that they want to create. Writers in and out of the classroom are no different, they need inspiration, a good model or just an idea so that they can make their  improve their manuscript

I spent a lot of time looking at webinars to find the best approach and presentation.  However, I noted that in one of my presentations, it wasn't very good and needed to understand the problem.  People who use mentor text in a similar method in order to help them correct a problem that they may be having with their manuscript.  I know that when I have attended trainings in the past most of the presenters encourage people to underline or take notes as they read a book.  I know that I have done that! I have found a passage or way the author has written a scene and wrote down my interpretation of the author's style. I DO NOT COPY IT!

Copying a style of writing, it is just copying.  When you see how a writer has written a manuscript in a genre or trying to find a good rhyme,  it is good to take notes and use it for future or  current manuscripts.  Ralph Fletcher encourages the use of mentor texts in his books, when teaching during writing workshop. Reading for research is a month long "challenge" to read various types of mentor texts and blog posts on all different kinds of genre and techniques.  I didn't really get into this year, but I will be going through it on my own at a leisurely pace.  What I really want to do is include the technology so that I can save my notes, the books and keep it handy for curriculum materials.

In the next coming months, I will be developing curriculum materials with one eye on educational technology and the other eye on working a skill or technique into a writing lesson.

Let's Salute the Week!!

April 3 is the first day back to school.   Spring break has been busy, our dishwasher broke and the new one we bought did not quite fit, so now we have to wait until Tuesday to get the other new one. However, my husband has been good about washing and drying the dishes.  

In addition, I have been active in my special education Face book group, which is great!!.  They are a wonderful group of people and we have really interesting discussions.  In addition, I have been brushing up on my Educational Technology skills by taking some courses

through Canvas: 

* Instructional Design Service Course: Gain Experience for Good

* Integrating CCRS and Literacy K-12

* E-Learning Environments and E-learning Design

* Copyright for Educators

* Accessibility: Designing and Teaching Courses for All Learners

* Instructional Evaluation Service Course: Gain Experience For (K-12) 

* BL-101: Beginning to Blend

My license is due in September for renewal and I want to add instructional design certification my teaching license.

In addition, we have been clearing out boxes from a family members house, beginning my round of doctors appointments and visiting people. 

The week begins, onward and forward!!

Accommodating Students with Special Needs: Five things to remember!

 When a students requires an accommodation(s) in order to access the general education curriculum that are at least five items that an educator needs to remember when developing their plan.  Not all students need an individual education plan.  They may need an accommodation, a general plan or specifica plan, but they all need to be written up in order to provide students with the instruction they need to learn!   

1.  It’s not about following the letter of the law but the spirit of the law.

An educator needs to remember that the law is designed to protect and help the students learn and access the general education curriculum in the classroom. The student should be spending as much time in the general education classroom as possible,while the students receives the instruction that they need. The spirit of the educational law is just that, it needs to utilized to provide the student with an education. 

2.  Listen to the students when assigning the accommodations.

The individual education plan that is designed for the student should be provide the accommodations that he or she needs to access the general education curriculum.  That is why it is important for the students to receive interventions prior to the during the development of the IEP.  This way the students and the teachers provide the accommodations that the students need and are good for that student.  Cookie cutter accommodations do not work for the students, nor should they be used to help the student. It is important to listen to what the student is saying and not saying as they are working in the classroom.

3. Students also have invisible disabilities.

The students may not have an educational disability that impacts their educational career.  It could be that the students have a chronic illness that may not be visible to the teacher. The educator needs to watch how the student is learning and what is causing the student to struggle in the classroom.  This would be up to the educator to make sure that they are aware of the laws that protect their civil rights.

4. Two laws regarding the protection of students with disabilities:

It is important to know and be aware of the following laws when setting up their students educational plans.  Instruction is not just the curriculum, but how it is provided in order to measure of how the educator can provide the student(s) access to the curriculum.  An individual educational plan may not be the route to go in order to provide them with access. 

       1. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504)  

       2.  Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)

       3.  IDEA The Individual with Disabilities Act

5.  Disability is a protected class that we can all someday be a part of temporarily or permanent

This is the most important item to remember when setting up the accommodations for the students. Someday you may be have a temporary disability that requires you to need your civil rights protected and have accommodations put in place in order to do your job.