Monday, May 6, 2013

Assistive Technology with Jennifer Weir

WOW!!!!!! This was so amazing! I have been a member of disabilities services and a Special Education Major for three years and I never knew this program was there! Jennifer Weir knows so much and is so helpful. There are so many different technologies offered at TAMUCC. One of my favorite technologies was the Perkins Brailler, which is a braille typewriter. I thought this was so cool. I had always wondered how braille was created. It seems like a very difficult process, based off a system of numbers. But I think that once you get the hang of it, it would not be to bad. There are are so many types of technologies! I think this is absolutely fabulous!!!

Library Day!

Copyright Presentation
Library session notes
There was tons of information at our library session! I could not believe all the information  It was honestly a bit overwhelming. I never knew that there was so much to know about copy writing  WOW. The main topics were Creative Commons, Teach ACT and Fair Use. I go into more detail in my note listed above. 

Final Session!: Service Project

In my final session with Nolan, he created a video about firefighters. He did not want to be recorded. So instead he found pictures on the internet that followed the topics he covered in his L-Learned Column of his KWL. In order to give credit to the photographers we created a Google Doc of his picture sources. He was very particular with his picture choices. He wanted them to "be real" and not seem staged. He also wanted the pictures in the video to follow in the same order he talked about them in the KWL. Once Nolan picked his pictures I set him up on Windows Live Move Maker. He was able to control the flow of the pictures and the amount of time each picture was displayed. Nolan then used a sound recorder to put his voice into the video. He was not very motivated to do this. I think it made him feel awkward  I was so impressed with his speaking voice and what he was saying. However, he was not happy and refused to keep any of the recordings. At this point we decided to make a script instead and then create subtitles in his video so he did not have to verbally say all of the information. I know he was capable of recording all of his information, but he seemed to be getting stressed and it was "his" project. Overall I am so proud of him. Here is Nolan's Video.

Sessions Two and Three: Service Project

Next Nolan and I created a blog so he could post about his educational journey. He is a very simple teenage boy so he was not very interested with making his blog "fancy." I was very impressed with how he designed his blog. It fit him perfectly. In addition I also created him a Google Doc folder so he would be able to link his work to his blog.

After we created the blog I had Nolan create a KWL chart. When I first mentioned the KWL he looked at me like I was crazy. "What is that?" he asked. I was surprised that he had never been exposed to this strategy. I showed him some examples and then he was like "Okay." I used a template off of Microsoft Word for the KWL. He was very particular about writing in complete sentences. I was very impressed with his set up. He is his Final KWL. He looked through the internet to find the answers to his questions. He has some learning difficulties when it comes to reading and writing so I would help him determine if the site was credible or not. I was extremely impressed with his ability to remember facts and interpret them. We created a Google Doc. for his sources. Here are the sources that he used.

Over all I am very happy with these sessions and I am so impressed at what a hard and dedicated worker Nolan is.

Session One: Service Project

For my first session I want to introduce the student I will be working with. His name is Nolan, he is 13 years old and in 7th grade. He is home schooled and is my younger cousin. I asked him what he wanted to learn more about in his school work. We immediately hit a road block. He has a very religious curriculum and did not seem to want to know more about anything. He seemed to be looking for me to tell him what he wanted to learn. This is where I was able to pull the cousin card. I was able to prompt him off what I already knew he was interested. He is very interested in public service and what type of career he will pursue after high school. I knew he was interested in training service dogs, welding, and the army. From there he continued to talk about all the different things he found interesting about each profession. Before I knew it he had connected it to firefighters. He reminded me that on his Mom's side of the family had a family history of firefighters. Then he suddenly proclaimed that he would like to know more about firefighters. I told him that this would be what we would be focusing on.