New Haiku for Vocab and the Students' Storybird Books!

Unit 2 Week 4

I spent 10 minutes making the above vocabulary presentation. Even though we've been working on these words all week, the kids enjoyed a different representation of each word. It's also good for them to see meaningful sentences written differently than the ones that come with the curriculum. I'm wondering if I can put this into Nearpod to make it more interactive...

These stories were written after planning their beginning, middle and end with illustrations. I was impressed that J.K. who has autism and a very hard time with language was taking his time. He was asking for feedback and using it! I think he took pride in making his own book. This took him two weeks to complete. Whereas K.K.'s was done in about 45 minutes. ;)

J.K.'s Story

I'm having so much fun learning how to use these new sites and apps. My fear is that I will not continue to stretch myself once this class is over.

Shadow Puppet Edu

Everyone has Something To Say.

The majority of my students with social and cognitive issues initially hate writing. They shut down at the mere mention of a sentence. My primary goal every year, is to motivate them. When they are motivated, wonderful things happen. Three of the best moments in my young teaching career have involved writing.

The first one was a student with a learning disability, living in an unstable home. His positive attitude about writing was rare and refreshing. 

He said, "I love writing, because it helps me get my feelings out."

Another moment involved a student with emotional disturbance, who had rarely been in the classroom due to behavior issues until 5th grade. Although an extensive amount of scaffolding was required, he ended up having such a powerful message to share. He wrote about his brave dad helping the US Army in Iraq. He described feeling safe for the first time, when his family landed in the States. His dad was dying from cancer at the time my student was writing his story. Writing was a way for him to sneak out from under his anger to express himself. 

The final moment was a student with Aspergers, who wrote a story about his 4th grade teacher. It began with his first impression of her being an old hag! By the end of his story, there was no doubt he loved her and she was the best teacher in the world! When he shared with the class, he was a one-man show; extremely entertaining and not a bit self conscious. 

Most of the time, my students are convinced they have nothing to say. Shadow Puppet was a great motivator for them, making it a perfect first writing project of the year. Shadow Puppet is easy for students to use. There is no visual clutter on the site; just simple steps to follow. They loved choosing the background music and recording themselves!

I have shared the students' puppets below. Unfortunately, one of them works in the app, but when I share it via a link or in email, it doesn't play the music. It's a small draw-back.

AC's Puppet

JK's Puppet

A Bit About Me

Mrs. Michalski's Technology Goals '15-'16

To be honest, technology and I have a love-hate relationship. You know how it goes; I love it when it's effective and easy. I hate it when it's time-consuming and frustrating. 

My attempts at using technology with my students have been few and far between. Sure, we use laptops to access the reading curriculum, take tests and practice math facts and spelling words. Some of my students are able to create Google Docs and share their process pieces. I want to do more!

Years ago, after purchasing my iPad, I was eager to use Dragon with my students who have dysgraphia. My hope was that they could speak their answers or narratives, and copy the resulting text from the iPad to write down their thoughts. Working memory is taxed for students who must labor to accomplish the physical task of writing. Unfortunately, their speech was too poor to make use of Dragon. The iPad stayed at home after that.

Last summer I attended a workshop that was focused on using technology to help deaf or blind and deafblind students access information. The four days blew my mind! I had no idea that my iPad came with so many accessibility options built right in. It has the potential to be a much more powerful tool than I ever realized. 

As a result of that class, I now have a few favorite apps that I would like to use as a way to help my students with disabilities access information, show what they know, and if possible, make my lessons even more engaging!

My Goals on this New Adventure are:

• Be fearless and brave about trying new technology that will benefit my students.
• Ask for support when I need it, so that I can be confident in my application.
• Celebrate and share the successes, while learning from the flops.

A Little About Me