Weekend notes

Well, I have been tardy about writing in my blog.  Not because I have been not doing work, but more daunted because I was having trouble with the iPod.  I should know that it is better not to stick your head in the sand, but I have been sticking my head way in.  I have been working away however, and finally feel like I am making a breakthrough!

First off, above is my web that I did with Mark Toomey (one of my classmates) on the stages of the reading process.  So many steps involved in reading!  As Barbara, the instructor pointed out, with just one of these many, many steps being out of sync, children (or anyone for that matter), can have difficulty with reading.  With so many steps involved, the chance of something going wrong is very high.  It is a wonder that more of us do not have trouble.  This is not to discount the many that do, being a resource teacher, I am well aware that many of our children struggle.

For another course that I am completing at the moment (Curriculum Practice for Students at Risk0, I have been reading some articles about dyslexia, and the lifelong struggle that it is for people.  As I am learning about the iPod Touch and actually starting to understand it a bit, I am getting very, very excited.  I am so excited that I can almost not wait to get back to school (although I am enjoying my summer holidays quite a lot).  I am looking forward to sharing my new-found knowledge with my students and to helping them engage in a different way.  I am certain they are going to be pretty pumped with the progressive, hip technology.  I am almost as certain also, that a few of them are going to have a weight lifted off of their shoulders if I properly utilize the iPod with them.  Many of them already have iPods.  I had not paid attention before to the kind of technology students were using (I had assumed games and music).  Even if that is what they were using them for, it is a great leaping off point; already their interest is there.  It is an exciting time.

Re: the 20 reading apps;  I have a bunch downloaded.
I am going to post them at the end of my weekend postings, as I have been playing with them and learning about them, and I will put them all together at once.

I am in touch with my co-worker and head of my department, Maria; she is in university again like myself, but for a different degree and in a different university.  I was telling her about this assistive technology course and the fact that I think we should fund raise for some iPod touches.  She wished that she was here for the course.    I had been looking forward to this course and am even happier with what I am learning in it.  Maria and I are going to have a pow wow when we begin work.   I am lucky because I feel like I have the best co-workers around.
Barbara had mentioned the possibility that another online course might be offered in assistive technology;  I am not certain about the specifics or if it is going to go through, but if it is available, I would love to take it. I will be done my masters at the end of the summer, but need a few post masters courses for pay scale grading, so I would leap at the chance if it arose.

Things I am working through/ learning about my iPod:
-when I buy my own, I will purchase (if I am correct) the iPod Touch 4G, so that it has video and camera capabilities.  The one I am using now does not.  It took me a while to figure this out.  I did not know is something was not installed that should have been, etc.  It seems from my playing and my webinars that mine just does not have that capability.
-the iPod I have does not have the accessories feature.  I am going to call my nephew on Sunday and ask him to fill me in on whether my iPod does not have that capability or whether it just is not installed (I am guessing it does not have that capability)
-I could not get the microphone working, but I have gone into Walmart this evening and bought the proper brand name one.  I have used the earphones and the sound quality is great.  I have not yet tried the new mic, but am hoping it will work (my fingers and toes are crossed).
-i have emailed from it, facebooked, youtubed, signed up for games (never thought I would do that), read the Globe and Mail, went to the hardware store with it (and used my previously created list and the calculator).  I can see how for children who have organization problems, this can be a great gadget.  All this may not seem like much to those that use the iPod all the time, but to me it is huge.
-I bought a pretty pink gel cover for my iPod.  I want to protect it, but also want to Helen-ize it, which I have now done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A-ZVCjfWf8

I am posting a video from my other class, A Vision of K-12 Students Today.  It is a great video.  When I watched it, I really had a sense of how archaic some of my teaching is.  It is funny (well, not ha ha funny), I think of myself as a fairly progressive person.  I think, I am a doer, and I love learning.  However, I am realizing what a dinosaur I am compared to the world that is out there.  If I truly want to engage my students (which I do), I should be embracing what options are out there for students.  For my students that are struggling, I should go that extra mile.  The thing is though, before I started taking the course, I did not know that these options existed. I have been stunned by the iPod.  That is where proper training starts to show its effect.  I want Barbara to come to Corner Brook and give some workshops.  I think the school board would love her.

Watching the webinars makes me both sad and excited.  Sad that I have not been using the iPod with my student.  I think every single one of them would be ecstatic to use it.  I can also DEFINITELY see how I would be able to reach a couple of my students who now only work in fits and starts.  Some of the apps will open up new worlds for some students: silent reading time, they can read along on their iPod, text to speech software will make it much easier for them for studying and comprehending.  If students are struggling with pronouncing the words, and that is taking up so much of their time, they HAVE to be missing out on the understanding component.  I am pumped to try it out.

Signing off for now.
HH