ITS TechTalk - Fall 2005

Assistive Technology and the IEP

by Bill Reeder

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ITS welcomes two new staff members as it begins this new school year. Polly Monica joins us from Virginia Run and Karen Burke from Halley. Polly is based at ITS, Dunn Loring Center, and Karen is at our ITS West Potomac High School site.

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TOPS Program

by Cheryl Temple

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Sixth Annual RATE Conference

by Ellie Stack

On Saturday, October 29, Integrated Technology Services held the 6^th Annual Real Assistive Technology for Everyone (R.A.T.E.) conference at Carson Middle School.  Over 250 people were in attendance, including FCPS staff, FCPS parents of students receiving special education services, and visiting teachers from the surrounding school districts.  The conference ran from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and consisted of TOPS Hall and over 35 instructional sessions.  New this year, TOPS Hall featured exhibits which showcased how 11 TOPS teachers integrate technology into their classrooms.  TOPS Hall was open for general viewing between 8:00- 8:30 and many participants remarked that they liked this addition to the conference. Following TOPS Hall, participants attended the sessions for which they had preregistered.  For each of the 3 time periods, there were 12-13 different offerings which were either hands-on or demonstration format. As a follow-up to the conference, participants will be receiving a CD with materials from the different sessions offered at the conference.  All in all, the day was a huge success.

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SOLO - Don Johnston, Inc.

by Lisa Givens

SOLO is a new product by Don Johnston that combines three of their well-known products— Co:Writer, Draft:Builder, and Write:OutLoud — and introduces a new component, Read:OutLoud. Solo provides an integrated package that allows teachers to differentiate instruction and assist students in the learning process. SOLO helps teachers present grade-level curriculum to students of differing abilities while matching appropriate guided supports for reading comprehension and structured models for writing.

Co:Writer adds linguistic word prediction to any word processing program. Co:Writer provides the vocabulary, spelling, composition and revision supports that build skills for struggling writers. Co:Writer can be customized for each student based on his or her needs. Co:Writer can support emerging writers who know what they want to write, but struggle with spelling, grammar, and handwriting. It can also support more advanced writers who might only need support for curriculum specific vocabulary words. Co:Writer will work with the other components of SOLO.

Draft:Builder supports students as they write by stepping them through the process of planning, note-taking, organizing, citing resources, and preparing a rough draft. Draft:Builder uses a structured framework to break the writing process down into small, manageable chunks so that students stay on task. Teachers can provide scaffolds for students as they are writing and the scaffolds can gradually be removed as the students grow as writers.

Write:OutLoud is an easy-to-use talking word processor. Students can send their drafts directly from Draft:Builder into Write:OutLoud where they will have auditory support as they continue to edit and revise their writing. Teachers can provide students with on-screen learning supports in this program and the supports can easily be hidden when the student is ready to print a final product.

Read:OutLoud is a text reader that supports students with modeling, scaffolding and practice of research-based reading strategies to comprehend text across the curriculum. Teachers combine Supported Reading Guides with appropriate electronic text to structure the reading process. Tools such as eHighlighters help extract key information; electronic notes help make text-to-self connections; auditory feedback encourages re-reading. Student progress is easily assessed when teachers use students' completed outlines to review their work.

SOLO also provides a Teacher Central area where teachers can build assignments, look at student portfolios, assign work to specific students, and get detailed data about a students writing progress over time. Teacher Central allows teachers to target specific skill development for each student, provide appropriate learning supports, customize options and collect data in one location.

SOLO would be beneficial to students:

• who need auditory feedback when interacting with text

• who need support for note-taking and research

• who need scaffolds built into their instruction that can be adjusted for specific tasks

• who need word prediction for writing

• who need support for reading and writing across the curriculum

SOLO was used this past summer in the WriteOn! and RockOn! writing camps that Integrated Technology Services provided for rising fifth and eighth grade students. Students were taught to use the components of SOLO. Students who had used the older Don Johnston programs in the past reported that they enjoyed the new features of SOLO, such as the new "word window" in Co:Writer and the new look of Draft:Builder. Many of these students are now using SOLO in the classroom.

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The Parent Corner

by Mrs. MaryAnn Gaughan

"I'm not going to any writing camp this summer!" exclaimed my 4th grade daughter, Kayla, last spring when I delicately presented her with the idea of Write On! Summer Camp 2005. Luckily, her Special Education teachers were more persuasive than I was. Kayla struggles with a visual and auditory processing learning disability (or more simply put: dyslexia) so therefore reading and writing are extremely frustrating for her. Although her creative and verbal skills are strengths, this difficulty in written expression is an obstacle for getting her thoughts on paper. When given the right tools, she loves to write. Without them it is an impossible task.

Thanks to her 4th grade teachers, she was accepted into Write On! Summer Camp, a weeklong program where several AT software programs were introduced and woven into the creative writing curriculum. From the first day, when I heard all about using Solo, to the last day when she demonstrated all the programs to me, it was like a light bulb was lit above this child. Her excitement could not be contained as every day she learned of a new tool that could actually help her tell her stories.

Draft:Builder, a draft writing program to help students through the organizational process of writing, Write:OutLoud, (one of her favorites) a talking word processor as well as a talking spell checker which allows a student to hear a letter, word, sentence or paragraph after it is typed into the computer are two of the programs she worked with and continues to work on in school. Co:Writer, a word prediction program with auditory feedback was one she had worked with before, but Inspiration 7.6, a graphic organizer program for webbing, diagramming, concept mapping and outlining was her favorite because it helped her gather her ideas and put them together in one creative story. Each program, while offering a unique benefit of its own, is a tool for students depending on their needs.

I feel very fortunate my daughter is exposed to the technology that will be essential to her success as a student. Her confidence, love for learning and communication skills will continue down the positive road as she continues to use the tools technology provides her. It also makes my job as a parent so much easier, especially the next time I suggest to her a writing camp!

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Karen is thrilled to be making her debut at ITS this year and will split her time among nine elementary schools and her office at West Potomac HS. For the past four years, Karen appeared at Halley Elementary as a teacher of students with learning disabilities. Her roles there included support for students in general education classrooms, team leader, and TOPS teacher. While performing in her role as TOPS teacher, she also took on a production role, making materials to support her students’ unique needs. She also made an appearance as a small business owner in the late 1990’s, running her own daycare. Karen’s first professional role was that of teacher for students with multiple disabilities in Montgomery County Maryland almost 15 years ago. It was there that she first discovered the joy of using technology in the classroom to help students achieve their goals. (Remember the Wolf?, HyperStudio?, Apple II-GS?) Karen grew up in Wisconsin and attended the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Karen’s interests include reading, sewing, and supporting her children’s many activities. She would like to thank her parents, her husband, Patrick, and her two children, Keelin and Mitchell for their unwavering support and love over the years.

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Polly Monica grew up in Orlando, Florida. She was a foreign exchange student in Braunschweig, Germany the year after she graduated from high school. When she returned, she attended and graduated from Florida State University, where she met her husband. They were married two weeks after she graduated, and she began her teaching career in Broward County, Florida.

She taught one year in a high school setting and quickly learned that was NOT her calling! She then began teaching at Wingate Oaks Center, a school for students with mental retardation, in Ft. Lauderdale, where she taught for 19 years before moving to Virginia, in 1998. She taught students with mental retardation at Virginia Run Elementary School for the past seven years, and was a TOPS teacher there for 5 years before leaving the classroom and joining Integrated Technology Services as an elementary case manager this fall.

Polly knows the power of technology as a tool for students with special needs. She feels the use of visual strategies can enable these children to be more independent and feel better about themselves. There is simply no limit to the way one can utilize technology to access the curriculum for students with disabilities. Technology can enhance everyone's lives in so many ways- why wouldn't it do so equally for the neediest students??

Polly and her husband, Al, have 2 terrific sons. Her oldest son, A.J., graduated from University of Central Florida, in Orlando, with a degree in Criminal Justice, in May 2000. He is still looking for a career job in law enforcement, but in the meantime, he is a manager at the Catbo restaurant in Centreville. Their younger son, Anthony, is a sophomore attending Virginia Tech in the architecture department. They have a 4 year old Westie named Yogi who rules the roost!

Polly enjoys cooking and reading, but her bliss is quilting. She is a member of Centreville Quilters Unlimited quilt guild and works occasionally at The Artful Quilter, a wonderful little quilt shop in Centreville.

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