Outside+the+box

Outside the box - Social Media Reflection Jackie Hersh

As I was reflecting on my self assessment results for a Professional Development Coordinator, the two areas I would like to target include:

 I. Integrate AT to promote access to the general curriculum  1. Providing Free Software to show how AT can help all students  a. Glogster  b. Go Animate  c. Character Scrapbooks  II. Implement models of Professional Development  2. AT for Professional Development ( free)  a. Doodle

 Brain Research Support  Glogster is a virtual online poster that you can add media, images and sounds to make your research come alive. The application and presentation appeals to many of Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences, which is what we want for our students. It also reduces stress, which causes the brain to file more learning into the long term memory file. Our brain is designed to read and understand patterns, so introducing or creating meaningful assignments using Glogster can help the student identify patterns and connect to prior knowledge. Glogster can be an expressive tool for a student which is beneficial to their learning if the environment they are in, is a positive one that respects individual learning styles.

 Here is an example of how a teacher can use Glogster for students and parents, [|Glogster]

 Go Animate is an easy way to make a cartoon any way you would like. Go animate is an excellent example of how learning is both conscious and unconscious. This tool can be used as a students motivators to increase personal connections hence strengthening prior knowledge and motivation to learn. Academically, It can be used to introduce, support or review a lesson. Socially and emotionally it could be a great tool to use in social groups, social stories and social remediation.

 Here is an example of how easy a teacher can use Go Animate in their classroom, [|Go Animate]

 Character Scrapbook is an interactive online scrapbook that helps a student analyze a book that they have read and make a print out scrapbook. Our brain understands information and skills that are natural so it is important to create experiences in which that content can become natural ( ie. projects, demonstrations). It is also important to note that this software is not stressful but does provide increased challenge without being threatening.

 Here is an example of a student’s work using character scrapbook- [|Character Scrapbook]

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #800080; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Doodle is an online tool that helps you create a poll, cast a vote and choose a final date to inform participants. It is a great way to schedule meetings or take a poll with people that helps you stay on track with your Google calendar. Doodle is easy to use ( not stressful) so it makes people more likely to use it. It is helpful, productive tool that will help you manage multiple schedules and tasks.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #800080; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Here is an example of how to use Doodle for an IEP collaboration - [|Doodle]

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #800080; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">