I am awash, flooded with the possibilities, but despairing of survival. My spirit is willing, but my students (self-contained gr. K - 3 severely language-/learning-impaired) are weak. So my dread thought is: I wanna do all this cool stuff, but can I?
My mind floated fairly quickly to the possibility of teaming with a gen.ed. teacher to collaborate. We could connect with them as well as with the "greater community," using them as a facilitation vehicle when the communication/processing breaks down.
Creating a hive mind kind of thing...kinda. Sort of where a few of my students will be when they move into the real world, finding ways to work with others to achieve personal goals. Those others who become able to achieve independently will also have the experience of working with others beyond their traditional resource group, preparing them for the world of work.
I'm ready. But as always, I haveta "translate" what's happening with normally-developing kids into the adaptations needed to make it happen for my group. Where there's a will....
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Sheryl,
ReplyDeleteI could never teach a self-contained class, so my hat's off to you.
Even better is that you're thinking of ways to get your students involved. I don't know much about your specific area, but getting in touch with a fellow teacher is a good start. Are there any outside students that could spend some time with your students? Maybe you might even find a class similiar to yours through ePals.
Subject area + idea + collaborative tool = Awesome project!
-Sean
You may want to check out VoiceThread as it may be a tool your students could use. Ask Teresa Jickell to show you two VoiceThread projects called Amazing Hug and Weather Poetry during a break on Friday. Deaf students participated by "signing" their interpretation of a news video clip. VoiceThread also provides for comments from others. Hope this helps.
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