This webinar will introduce participants to the intricacies of teaching students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds in general education classrooms. We will be joined in conversation by Maureen Fox and Tom Talarico, both teachers of English Language Learners in the Portland Public Schools. They will share their knowledge and expertise, drawing on personal experience, to provide a background and understanding of the issues facing English Language Learners in our classrooms. We will also look at how technology, specifically applications on the MLTI devices, can be used to support multilingual and multicultural learners.

The webinar presenters will be Jim Wells and Cynthia Curry.

Image from the Kentucky County Day School on Flickr, used with an Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic license.

Academic vocabulary through images

We had two informative sessions last Thursday and I’d like to publicly thank my guests, Hillary Brumer and Jamie Jensen of RSU 21, and Robyn Bailey of Lincoln Middle School in Portland.

I’ve been promoting and teaching universal design for learning (UDL) for ten years, and as a former science teacher, I look at UDL through the lens of content area teaching. So when Response to Intervention (RTI) came along, I immediately made a connection with Tier 1, which is general education classroom instruction for all students. Now that schools are planning and implementing RTI, the demand has grown for strategies that work with the widest possible number of students. How to leverage technology with those strategies was what we aimed to deliver in both the afternoon and evening shows.

A Primer on RTI

Although most of us are either aware of or woking within RTI in schools, we introduced the webinar with a brief overview by defining it as a system of tiered interventions. One part of the history of it’s origins is that it was a response to the shortcomings of the existing referral process for special education, which is the discrepancy between a student’s IQ and how far they’ve fallen behind in general education.

The first tier of this system (Tier 1) is general classroom instruction. Tier 1 is made up of universal interventions or strategies that are known to work for most learners. According to RTI’s mandate, 80% of students are expected to respond successfully to Tier I interventions by the general education teacher.

Tier 2 interventions are more targeted than Tier 1 and are provided in the general education classroom, and Tier 3 interventions are the most intense with one-on-one instruction, typically by a specialist.

The most important message that I wanted to send about RTI is that the tiers are fluid. Students who don’t respond to Tier 1 instruction at any given time should be expected to move between or among the tiers, rather than remain in either Tier 2 or Tier 3 for extended periods of time.

For more information about RTI, please visit the Maine Department of Education and the National Center on RTI

Adopt a Capacity Mindset

“Capacity thinking” means that we believe that all students have the capacity to learn. Tapping into that capacity is the first step of Tier 1 instruction. To collect information about students’ capacities, such as their preferred ways of learning, interests, prior knowledge, culture, and content readiness, we introduced a variety of systematic learner profile tools and methods:

Learning style inventories

• Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences (MI)
• Gregorc’s Mind Styles
• Dunn & Dunn Learning Style Model

Conversations

Observations

Interviews

Surveys

Home visits

Family conferences

The Tools & Strategies

Because the specific topics of the morning and afternoon sessions differed, we’ll branch off here and review the 3:15 to 4:15 PM show, followed by that for 7:15 to 8:15 PM.

Afternoon show: Strategies & tools for students with diverse learning needs and preferences

This was really a “don’t they all?” hour because the most important message that emerged was that there’s no strategy or tool for all students. As we talked about the featured MLTI applications, we continuously returned to the need to remind ourselves that technology opens up options, and not one of the tools that we demonstrated should be used without considering or combining with the others. All of the applications can be used for both teacher instruction and student learning, leading us to discuss the power of having students understand their own learning preferences and, therefore, to independently apply the strategies that work best for them. To accomplish that, explicitly teaching learning strategies to students needs to be as much a part of Tier 1 as selecting the most appropriate instructional strategies for our content areas.

Here are the tools and associated strategies:

Readability

Readability converts a “distraction-full” web page into a “distraction-free” and customizable display that clearly presents the content of the page, allowing kids (and grownups) to free themselves of the temptation to pursue an advertisement or conduct any other other off-task task.  It’s easy to set up in 2 steps at the web site of Readability

Text to Speech

Your MacBook has built-in speech, meaning that any digital text that appears on your screen can be read aloud by your computer. The history of speech synthesis might lead you to assume that all system voices are mechanical and without inflection, but recent research has contributed to great strides. Apple introduced “Alex” in Leopard and this voice continues to be a favorite among speech synthesis users. With inexpensive earphones or earbuds that many kids carry with them, the possibilities are endless:

Support for students with specific learning disabilities who benefit from both seeing the text and hearing it read aloud (with the independence to stop/start/rewind as needed)

Focus for students with ADHD

Scaffold for English learners

Proofreader for writers

For instructions, see my QuickTip at iTunes U

Additional voices, including world languages, are available for download from commercial vendors, such as

Cepstral

AssistiveWare Infovox iVox

Add (text selection) to iTunes as a Spoken Track

Another option is for students to convert digital text to a separate audio file spoken by Alex, which can be transferred to an MP3 player or iPod. This can be an appealing option for students who are strong auditory processors and for whom seeing the text is actually a distraction. Being “digital natives,” many students might simply prefer to listen to the audio file because it’s an opportunity to use the technology they more typically use outside of school. (But don’t forget to do checks for understanding to make sure this method is actually working for them.) Here’s how to create a spoken track of digital text, which will work in any application that is native or built for Mac OS X, including but not limited to Safari, TextEdit, Pages, Keynote, Numbers, Mail, and NoteShare:

1. Highlight the text that you want to convert to an audio file
2. Go to the application’s menu (e.g., if you’re in Safari, go to the Safari menu in the upper left corner of the window)
3. Choose “Services”
4. Choose “Add to iTunes as a Spoken Track” (If you don’t see this, choose “Services Preferences…” at the bottom of the same menu. This will open System Preferences. In the scrolling area on the right side, find the Text section, and then choose the box for “Add to iTunes as a Spoken Track”)
5. The file will open in iTunes.

If you’re unfamiliar with iTunes or otherwise need help beyond this step, don’t hesitate to contact me or any MLTI Integration Mentor.

Speech Recognition

We discussed both the successes and the pitfalls of speech recognition, which is a technology that allows users to control their computers by speaking. It is commonly suggested as a potential solution for students who have difficulty with writing because the spoken words appear on screen. It’s true that speech recognition has been shown to work for this purpose, but only when the software has been purposefully matched with the needs, preferences, and strengths of the student for whom it is being suggested. You can learn more about speech recognition for the Mac at the web site of Nuance.

GeoGebra

Jamie, who is now the K-12 Technology Integrator for RSU 21, is a former high school math teacher. He gave a demonstration of how he used GeoGebra to help students interactively visualize and graph algebraic equations. GeoGebra is pre-loaded on all MLTI MacBooks.

Voice Recording

For some students, speaking what they know is the most effective way for us to measure the extent to which they are making progress toward meeting unit objectives. And, as teachers, conveying information in both text and voice can mean the difference between some and most students’ understanding of our message. This can be accomplished using QuickTime Player on your MLTI MacBook. Here are the steps:

1. Open QuickTime Player
2. Go to File > New Audio Recording (note that this version of QuickTime also supports movie and screen recordings)
3. Press the red record button on the Audio Recording floating window
4. Make your recording
5. Press stop button
6. Play your recording back to confirm your satisfaction
7. Save the file to your computer and share it via email, web site, blog, wiki, pen drive, etc

iCal

Hillary shared with us a screenshot of a student’s iCal calendar. It’s color-coded by subject area. Beyond due dates, it includes projects that the student is working on to make sure they are completed by the due date, as well as activities outside of school. iCal can also be shared across computers, enabling parents and others to support students’ organization and schedules. iCal is pre-loaded on all MLTI MacBooks.

Concept Mapping

We concluded with the process of concept mapping, which is a meaning-making strategy. Sometimes called mind mapping, visual mapping, or webbing, among other terms, this has shown to be effective at helping learners make connections among ideas, facts, and concepts. When used as formative assessment, it’s a way to identify learning misconceptions. MLTI MacBooks have two concept mapping applications that we discussed and demonstrated: OmniGraffle and Freemind.

Resources that were shared during the afternoon show:

CITEd TechMatrix

UDL Toolkit

EdTech Solutions

LD OnLine

WestEd’s Using Technology to Support Diverse Learners

Evening show: Strategies & tools for English learners

We began the evening show by discussing the unique needs and preferences of English learners. Robyn provided us with a description of teaching science to English learners. We chose to focus on strategies associated with academic vocabulary because, although a unique process for English learners, it is a need for all students across the content areas. Robyn introduced us to Juto, whose picture appears on this blog post, a student whose first language is Japanese and was the mini case study of our webinar.

Robyn walked us through the steps of a strategy that she commonly uses when introducing a new unit. We broke the steps down into individual strategies and accompanying tools.

The first strategy we call “multiple means of accessing text” by using Open Education Resources (OERs) in digital text format that can be accessed via text to speech, conversion to audio file, text enlargement, or Braille.

The second is “differentiation of text types and complexity” by providing tiered instructional materials at her Portaportal page (Lexile level, use of images, amount of text vs white space, etc).

The third strategy we identified is “supporting legibility and readability of text” by utilizing Readability.

The fourth is “student identification and recording of unknown words,” for which Stickies, pre-loaded on all MLTI MacBooks, was chosen.

And, finally, “analysis of words and building of vocabulary” was demonstrated through the use of a digital Frayer Model.

Resources shared during the evening webinar included

MARVEL (Maine’s Virtual Library is host to numerous databases and can be searched by Lexile levels)

IRIS Center’s Cultural and Linguistic Differences:  What Teachers Should Know

IRIS Center’s Anchoring Math Instruction to Cultural Relevance

IRIS Center’s RTI and Cultural Considerations

English Language Learner Instruction in Middle and High School

Pre-reading Activities for ELLs

NCCRESt Practitioner Briefs

Across both the afternoon and evening webinars, we concluded that

• Tier 1 universal interventions are based on what we know about how most students learn;

• We need knowledge of our students in order to select the most appropriate strategies, and therefore the right tools;

• Technology opens up means and modalities by which students can meet the same high expectations.

We set out with two essential questions:

1. How can we support the learning needs of students with blindness and low vision?
2. In the process, how can we be better teachers of all students?

I paired these questions because if we don’t apply what we know about the typical learning needs of students with blindness and low vision to our broader population of students, we miss an opportunity to critically reflect on our existing repertoire of teaching strategies. Indeed, we made several connections between learning needs and learning preferences during both webinars. For example, a typical accommodation for students with blindness is tactile curriculum materials, such as raised maps. Folks almost immediately recognized this as a universal design for learning (UDL) strategy in that it reflects the principle of multiple representations of information, in this case, both seeing and feeling the content of the curriculum. Another way to consider this is differentiation of the methods that we design for all students to process concepts and information.

In preparation for the webinar, Nancy and I had the fortune of interviewing a local middle schooler, Tyler, who demonstrated various ways that he accesses learning. We captured video of him and his TVI. These videos set the backdrop of the webinar as Tyler explained and showed us how he combines the use of his MLTI MacBook and his BrailleNote to accomplish collaborative projects with his peers, stay electronically organized, use accessible instructional materials that he receives in a timely manner (i.e., same time as his peers), and communicate with his teachers. Most enthusiastically, Tyler shared with us how he uses technology for social and recreational purposes, which included staying updated with friends on Facebook; watching video at YouTube; downloading music, video, and TV from iTunes; and communicating via Skype.

Here are the resources that were presented during the webinar, as well as shared by folks in the Chat Pod:

Maine AIM
National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM)
E-description of curriculum materials
How to access descriptions of NOVA programs
Bookshare
National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC)
American Printing House for the Blind (APH)
American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)

VoiceOver is known as Apple’s built-in screen reader, but can be better described as an accessible interface for everyone. Not to be confused with text to speech, VoiceOver provides voice description of all onscreen elements, features a caption panel, and allows users to control their computer using only the keyboard. Our guest, Steve Sawczyn of AT Maine, will demonstrate why VoiceOver is a tool that all educators should get to know. Most importantly, we’ll discuss how we can improve our UDL practices by understanding the unique learning needs of students who are blind or have low vision.

Please join us Thursday, December 10, at 3:15 or 7:15 pm (or both!). Click on the WebCasts tab at the top of this page to find links for registration and directions for joining the webinar.

Say you want to: Make changes to how your desktop items appear
Do this: From the Finder, press the Command-J keys together or select View > Show View Options from the menu. A “Desktop” floating palette will appear.

Say you want to: Make changes to how items appear inside folders
Do this: Open the folder, then press the Command-J keys together or select View > Show View Options from the menu. A floating palette will appear. The palette is contextual, meaning the options listed in the palette depend on how you have selected to view the items in the folder (i.e., icons, list, columns, or Cover Flow). In the Cover Flow view, you can get a “quick view” of the featured file by pressing the spacebar.

Say you want to: Enable Text to Speech
Do this: Open System Preferences > Speech pane. The System Voice field is a drop-down menu. Recall that Alex is a relatively new voice and based on what is known as “concatenative” technology. That is, Apple took a human-recorded voice and synthesized it together to create words that might not have been recorded. If you listen closely, you’ll even hear him breathe. As good as Alex is, individual students may prefer or need a different voice. Among others, Cepstral and Infovox iVox offer additional naturally-sounding voices, including world languages, for download. Once you’ve selected a voice from the System Voice menu, adjust the Speaking Rate slider until you get the right voice-rate combination. Then, select the box next to the statement, “Speak selected text when the key is pressed,” and the Set Key… button. A drop-down box will appear. This is the field in which you press your self-assigned key combination to activate speech. Remember to make it something unique (i.e., if you choose command-S, that keyboard shortcut will no longer be applicable to saving files). In my experience, “option-`” has been a reliable combination, where “`” is the grave/tilde key, just below the esc key in the upper left corner of your keyboard.

Say you want to: Zoom
Do this: Open System Preferences > Universal Access pane > Seeing tab. Remember to choose the Options button to specify the magnification range, as well as to select the box next to “Only when the pointer reaches an edge.” This will keep the screen image from following your cursor, which causes the “sea sickness” sensation. Recall that an alternative route to Zoom is the “2-finger scroll.” For this method, open System Preferences > Trackpad pane.

Say you want to: Use Sticky Keys
Do this: Open System Preferences > Universal Access pane > Keyboard tab. When you turn on Sticky Keys, you can press shortcut keys in sequence rather than simultaneously.

Say you want to: Enlarge your cursor
Do this: Open System Preferences > Universal Access pane > Mouse & Trackpad tab. Adjust the Cursor Size slider.

Say you want to: Show Universal Access Status in your menu bar
Do this: Open System Preferences > Universal Access pane. Select the box at the bottom.

Say you want to: Change or add keyboard shortcuts
Do this: Open System Preferences > Keyboard & Mouse pane > Keyboard Shortcuts tab.

Say you want to: Customize laptops for students from diverse geographic backgrounds (or any students who are learning another culture or world language)
Do this: Open System Preferences > International pane. Under the Language tab, you can drag the language you want to see in menus and dialogs to the top of the list. Under the Formats tab, you can change the date, time, and number formats used by your laptop to match conventions of other world geographic regions. Finally, under the Input Menu tab, you can select a keyboard layout for another language. If you check the box next to “Show input menu in menu bar,” the input menu will appear in the upper right corner of your menu bar (near the sound icon). Show Character Palette and Show Keyboard Viewer will be listed under that menu.

Say you want to: Use closed captioning in QuickTime to provide an additional mode to convey content from movies and other motion media
Do this: Enable captions in QuickTime by opening the QuickTime menu > General > Show closed captions when available. You can also self-caption your video, which is a topic for another time…

As teachers, we are diligent in our efforts to differentiate the curriculum. Offering choices is an effective strategy to ensure that kids have opportunities to learn and express themselves. To the same end, the best learning tools have student choice built in, resulting in customizations that support access and engagement. Join this webinar to learn how your MacBook is both universally designed and culturally responsive! Get in under the hood and choose to change everything from the size of your cursor to the language of your keyboard.

Joining this webinar

Make sure to choose the correct time for the webinar you want to attend and click on the link provided (links will be provided the day of the event).

Thursday, October 29 – 3:15pm Webinar

Thursday, October 29 – 7:15pm Webinar

Please follow these steps to connect to the meeting:

• Click on the link for the webinar you want to attend.
• Enter your name in the box when prompted.
• In order to listen and speak during the meeting, you will need to be connected by telephone as well as the Internet. To help you connect by phone, a box will appear asking for your phone number so the Connect conference room can call you back. If you have a telephone with a direct-dial phone number, please accept this option, enter your phone number, and we will call you right back.
• If you have a telephone with no direct-line phone number (if your phone is only reached by a switchboard), please click on CANCEL when the call-back box appears, then dial-in to the meeting using this access combination:
  • Dial-In: 1-800-201-2375
  • Pass-Code: 714892

To participate in the web conference, you will need:

• a computer with a broadband connection to the internet (Cable, DSL, or WiFi); Dial-Up will not work!
• Adobe Flash Player (Flash 7 or later) installed on your computer; most computers already have the Flash Player installed – however, if yours does not, or if your Flash Player is in need of updating (version 6 or older), you can download the player for free from Adobe by clicking on this link: http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/?promoid=BUIGP; this is a safe and quick download.
• An open phone line; we recommend using a hands-free headset or speakerphone.