Blog #3

Thoughts on Peer Editing Tutorials

Dr. Strange gave us a list of videos and a slideshow to learn from. They are:What is Peer Editing?,Peer Edit with Perfection Tutorial, Writing Peer Review Top 10 Mistakes. The video "Writing Peer Review Top 10 Mistakes" was my absolute favorite!! It was adorable! It's a short quick video with young children acting out all different types of peer reviews. I thought it was hilarious! There were 2 children acting out each situation and they did an outstanding job on the lines they said.
"Peer Edit with Perfection Tutorial" was a slideslow informing the readers on how to perform a great peer review and gave suggestions as to what to look for and say. I know I'll refer back to this again throughout the semester for ideas and tips.
Lastly, "What is Peer Editing?" was a video that said almost verbatim what the slideshow said. It was a good reference to use if you're an auditory learner but the video only showed one or two words at a time and could be hard to keep up with.

Technology in Special Education

This video was very touching. The teacher of a vocational class shows how each one of her students have different special needs and they use technology to help them learn. She gave a few different examples of how a special needs student would use certain technology to help with their specific need. Such as, one boy had trouble reading small print so his laptop had a program to magnify his text for him to be able to see it better. Technology such as laptops, iPads and iTouches help keep the student engaged while she is teaching the whole class. Many special needs students aren't able to communicate easily and these products help give them the voice to say what they need.

I really want to teach special needs students so videos and other references I can take advice and learn from would definately benefit me. When teaching these students I would do just as that teacher did and find any product or technology that would personally benefit my students. Not only am I trying to educate them about academics but I'm also helping them grow as a person and find what helps them with daily living needs when they aren't in a classroom.

How the iPad Works With Academics of Autism

The video shows a young boy with austism using his iPad to learn how to count, write, and say words. Autistic students have an exceptionally shorter attention span than students without it so having this iPad interact back with them keeps them engaged. I recommend Proloquo2go for anyone needing an app for a special needs child or adult. This app has many different phrases and items the person can pick from and then it will read aloud what they want to say. After watching the young boy with Austism use the iPad it made me interested on seeing more special needs children interact with iPads and the different apps they offer. I went on YouTube and watched other children interacting and realized how useful iPads really are!

Harness Your Student's Digital Smarts

I'm actually a follower with this @CoolCatTeacher on Twitter! This video is really cool. Ms. Vicki Davis teaches her students how to use technology to broaden their horizons. She has over 6,000 followers on her Twitter and just won blog of the year!! Ms. Davis is from a rural part of Georgia but her students are being educated world wide by their teacher's love for technology. She mentioned that teachers don't have to already know things in order to teach, the students can learn some stuff on their own and then teach it to the teacher. I've personally taught one or more of my teachers something over the course of time and I've seen other students teach also. This gives the students a feeling of self accomplishment when they learn something on their own!