6.3 Field Experiences
Candidates engage in appropriate field experiences to synthesize and apply the content and professional knowledge, skills, and dispositions identified in these standards. (PSC 6.3)
Artifact: Field Experience Log
Reflection:
I chose this field experience log on Assistive Technology for standard 6.3 because it had a tremendous impact on me and it shows how I applied what I learned from the experience. This field experience was an observation of a child I had known for several years and I am very close to his family. However, I did not what he was capable of until I visited him at his school. M.H. was born with cerebral palsy and is wheel chair bound and non-verbal. As with many children he does not perform at home in the ways I observed him to do at school. This field experience occurred during ITEC 7400 and I am very pleased that Assistive Technology was addressed so early in our course work as it equipped me with experience and knowledge I would later use with other students.
M.H. attends Gretchen Everhart School which is part of Leon County Public school system, in Tallahassee, Florida. If you ever get a chance go by there, they are an amazing staff and what they do with disabled students using technology is utterly amazing. I am a veteran teacher and I found this to be a jaw dropping experience. This field experience helped me to view assistive technologies as just good teaching practices for all students. After this experience I used voice recognition software and recording software with at-risk kindergartners, to allow them to speak when writing was too difficult. This allowed them to be successful in learning objectives with just a little assistance.
Upon my visit to Gretchen Everhart, I helped M.H. to read using several different devices. M.H. is non-verbal and he uses tapping as a way to communicate. To read he uses the Start to Finish literacy program. This assistive technology asks him to tap a touch screen monitor so as to advance the story to the next page. Each time he taps, it reads the next line of the story. The story is built so that he can’t advance to the next page until the current page is finished talking. This helps keep his tapping under control and to stay on task, as he loves to tap. M.H. used a voice output device (VOD) to communicate. His teacher gave him the choice to play with a shoe or the Tiger animated toy. He chose the toy but he had to tap the VOD at the appropriate time before she would let him have it. Her strategy was to offer him what he didn’t want first so that he could practice wait time. Additionally, he played a game through Classroom Suite, using an alternate keyboard. I placed the teacher mouse on the game board at the advance arrow button, and again M.H. needs to only tap his textured keypad to advance the game.
The purpose of this field experience was to view assistive technologies. I visited Gretchen Everhart School without any prior knowledge in assistive technology and how they can enhance learning for those with special needs. If I had more prior knowledge I probably would have asked different questions and I would have had a keener sense of what I was experiencing. I should have visited the special education classes at Hand in Hand before my visit and that would have made a difference. After my visit to the school I conferenced with our principal, who has a special education background, in reference to sending some of our staff to visit Gretchen Everhart School. She agreed we should send staff, however, I suggested before teachers make this visit they should observe our own special education classrooms, as they are already using some assistive technologies. Visits to Gretchen Everhart will have a profound impact on the faculty’s knowledge and philosophy surrounding assistive technologies not just for special needs students but for all students. The impact on teacher’s use of assistive technology can be assessed as administration conducts walk-throughs.
I chose this field experience log on Assistive Technology for standard 6.3 because it had a tremendous impact on me and it shows how I applied what I learned from the experience. This field experience was an observation of a child I had known for several years and I am very close to his family. However, I did not what he was capable of until I visited him at his school. M.H. was born with cerebral palsy and is wheel chair bound and non-verbal. As with many children he does not perform at home in the ways I observed him to do at school. This field experience occurred during ITEC 7400 and I am very pleased that Assistive Technology was addressed so early in our course work as it equipped me with experience and knowledge I would later use with other students.
M.H. attends Gretchen Everhart School which is part of Leon County Public school system, in Tallahassee, Florida. If you ever get a chance go by there, they are an amazing staff and what they do with disabled students using technology is utterly amazing. I am a veteran teacher and I found this to be a jaw dropping experience. This field experience helped me to view assistive technologies as just good teaching practices for all students. After this experience I used voice recognition software and recording software with at-risk kindergartners, to allow them to speak when writing was too difficult. This allowed them to be successful in learning objectives with just a little assistance.
Upon my visit to Gretchen Everhart, I helped M.H. to read using several different devices. M.H. is non-verbal and he uses tapping as a way to communicate. To read he uses the Start to Finish literacy program. This assistive technology asks him to tap a touch screen monitor so as to advance the story to the next page. Each time he taps, it reads the next line of the story. The story is built so that he can’t advance to the next page until the current page is finished talking. This helps keep his tapping under control and to stay on task, as he loves to tap. M.H. used a voice output device (VOD) to communicate. His teacher gave him the choice to play with a shoe or the Tiger animated toy. He chose the toy but he had to tap the VOD at the appropriate time before she would let him have it. Her strategy was to offer him what he didn’t want first so that he could practice wait time. Additionally, he played a game through Classroom Suite, using an alternate keyboard. I placed the teacher mouse on the game board at the advance arrow button, and again M.H. needs to only tap his textured keypad to advance the game.
The purpose of this field experience was to view assistive technologies. I visited Gretchen Everhart School without any prior knowledge in assistive technology and how they can enhance learning for those with special needs. If I had more prior knowledge I probably would have asked different questions and I would have had a keener sense of what I was experiencing. I should have visited the special education classes at Hand in Hand before my visit and that would have made a difference. After my visit to the school I conferenced with our principal, who has a special education background, in reference to sending some of our staff to visit Gretchen Everhart School. She agreed we should send staff, however, I suggested before teachers make this visit they should observe our own special education classrooms, as they are already using some assistive technologies. Visits to Gretchen Everhart will have a profound impact on the faculty’s knowledge and philosophy surrounding assistive technologies not just for special needs students but for all students. The impact on teacher’s use of assistive technology can be assessed as administration conducts walk-throughs.