Improving Social Interactions Among Students With Autism

What is Autism?

Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD, is a complex brain disorder that is present from early childhood and is characterized by difficulty in communicating and forming relationships with other people in using language and abstract concepts. 

When students with ASD are in the classroom, they have difficulties socializing and interacting among their peers and commonly the typical students in the classroom with the child with ASD are more likely to interact socially with the other typical students. A way that teachers can help students with autism is by implementing Peer-Mediated Instruction (PMI) into their classroom.

Peer-Mediated Instruction is an approach that addresses the concerns of teaching children with ASD new social skills within the natural environment. The focus of the intervention is to teach peers how to engage students with ASD in positive social interactions. 

Goals of using PMI in the classroom:

• Teach peers how to interact with students with ASD
• Increase the frequency of interections
• Extend social initiations using structured activity implementation
• Minimize teacher/adult support
• Promote positive and natural quality intereactions

Strategies for Peer-Mediated Instruction Intervention in the classroom:

• Integrated Play Groups
• Peer Buddy/Tutors
• Peer Initiation Training
• Peer Networks
• Group Oriented Contingency 

Apps to help with Social Interaction
*click to view for more info

• Book Creator
• AutisMate 
• Proloquo2Go
• Choiceworks
• Pictello
• My PlayHome
• Word SlapPs
• ABA Find IT
• Puppet Pals
• Kid in Story

Here is a great example of Social Skills Training that can be used in the classroom:

Social skills do not come naturally to children with ASD like they do others. The more improvement of social skills and social interaction, the better a child can excel in all areas of life! They will be able to interact and communicate better with their classmates and the more class participation, the more students will learn! This post is only a small chunk of information on this topic. There is much to be discovered about improving social interaction among children with autism and as an educator, it is important for you to do your part and help you students succeed as much as possible!

Nearpod

What is Nearpod?

Nearpod is an interactive presentation tool that can be used to an amazing effect in the classroom. The app and website's concept is very simple and easy to pick up on. A teacher can create presentations that can contain quizzes, polls, videos, images, drawing boards, memory games, web content, and so much more. Nearpod can be used for all subjects and students say that it is fun and engaging. when using Nearpod, teachers can give a presentation while the students follow along while on a tablet or a computer. The teacher can manage what each student sees on their screen or allow them to work at their own pace.

Teachers can embed quizzes, polls, and short answer questions throughout their presentation and while on the teacher dashboard, immediate feedback and scores from the students shows up.

Students do not have to have an account to participate with Nearpod. All students need is the access code to enter to take them to the presentation in the app or the website. 

Pros:                                                                                      

-Nearpod is free                                                                  

-Easy to use                                                                          

-Live results                                                                           

-Easy way to perform formative assessments                      

-Increases student engagement                                                     

-Available on Apple, Android, and Kindle devices              

-Can be used on Nearpod.com just the same as the app

 Cons:

-Potential time management issues

-Some Nearpod services are only available through paid upgrades

-Network issues can arise

-Not every student will have internet access at home

Three ways to use Nearpod in the classroom:

• Ongoing Assessments: When a student takes a quiz on Nearpod, it automatically sends a report to the teacher. You can access the data at anytime and download it as a PDF to print out. This can help you view comprehensive data of your class or just one student.
• Modelling Lesson Materials: Nearpod has a very cool feature called 'Draw It' that can be added to any presentation. 'Draw It' is essentially an interactive white board that allows the teacher to work through something, such as a math problem, and it can also allow the student to do the same thing. Students can really benefit from this feature because they can view a demonstration video over and over again if they are having trouble understanding what to do. The teacher can also use this as an assessment tool and watch how the student worked through their problem and see where a student might be messing up or needs more knowledge on a subject.
• Assigning Homework: A teacher can provide students with a code to access a Nearpod from home. Students can view the presentation at home and complete any add-ons that were made into the presentation. Teachers will have access to see who is participating and who is not. 

 *These are just a few of the many ways a teacher can use Nearpod in a classroom.

Click below to use Nearpod on either platform:

Apple, Android, Kindle

Apps to Increase Reading Comprehension in Students with Austism

Did you know that 1 in 68 children have some form of autism? And did you also know that EVERY person with autism are not the same, in fact, they are very different. So, if you have an autistic child in your classroom one day, will you know what to do to differentiate for them? The first, and most important, thing you can do for your students is to GET TO KNOW THEM! Every child is different and every child learns differently whether they are autistic or not. 

Recently I learned about many apps that you can use in your classroom to help increase reading comprehension in children with autism. You may be wondering how apps can help students with autism and I am here to tell you that the possibilities are endless! Children with autism commonly struggle with single word reading, homophones, antonyms, synonyms, and higher-thinking skills. When using the iPad, autistic children like the colors, pictures, and the easy-touch screen. Oftentimes, autistic children have very strong visual recognition skills, so when using the iPad, the colors and pictures help engage students and help then retain more information in an easy and effective way.

Below I am going to list some of the apps I have been introduced to with a short description of what the app does. You can click the app icon for it to take you to the iTunes app store to download immediately.                                           

 
Inference Clues: Reading Comprehension ($4.99)
Inference Clues helps build strong reading comprehension skills in a fun, game-like environment. It helps build inference skills step-by-step unit mastered. New levels are unlocked only when the child is ready. It has a fun and engaging reward system to increase student motivation. 




 
 Same Sound Spell Bound ($0.99)
This app is designed to help students understand homophones. The player gets to start out by choosing to be Luna or Leo and then they get to be a magician and work towards understanding the magic of words. In this game, the player must correctly identify which homophone correctly completes the sentence puzzle.



  Opposite Ocean ($0.99)
Opposite Oceans is a sister game to Same Sound Spell Bound above and it teaches about antonyms. Again, the player chooses between Luna and Leo as their character and they have to choose bubble word antonyms to solve whale puzzles. The player earns a pearl each time they get the answer correct and when they earn five pearls, a mermaid appears with a bonus jewel that the player earned.



 
 Noodle Words HD ($2.99)
Noodle Words contains a series of animated words that was created to help emerging readers from ages 4-7 discover word meaning. The reader can interact with the words and play with them. For example, they can make the word spin actually demonstrate spinning.





Picture the Sentence Lite ($0.99)
This app offers three different levels of difficulty. This allows the user to attend to important elements of a sentence and "picture it" by attaching meaning to the words. It can also help anyone trying to learn English. (ELL students) You can turn the voice commands off and turn the text features on, and use the game as a practice for basic reading comprehension skills.



 
Reading Comprehension Camp ($19.99)
Reading Comprehension Camp is a multi-purpose app specifically designed to encourage language and reading comprehension. It contains multiple levels and fifty different stories for the user to go through and also has the option to create your own personal story. (perfect for social stories, SCORE!) The app holds data, so a parent or teacher can easily access scores and monitor progress. Reading Comprehension is customizable and offers many different opportunities for differentiation.

Augmented Reality

Today in class, we learned about Augmented Reality (AR). This was the first time I had EVER heard of it. Bear with me, and hopefully by the end of this post, you will have learned about AR and how you can use it in your classroom!

So, first thing is first, what is augmented reality? Augmented reality is a technology that superimposes a computer-generated image on a user's view of the real world, thus providing a composite view. In other words, it is where there is a digitally enhanced picture, or environment, that is viewed on a screen and is produced by overlaying computer-generated sounds and images to create a realistic 3-D view of the picture at hand. For example, a student can view a picture of a sea turtle, but they can also manipulate the image and turn the turtle, look at the turtle up close, and possibly explore the turtles environment as if it were right in front of you!

If you are still confused(I was, don't worry), here is a quick video to help you get a better perspective of was AR really is and is capable of. https://youtu.be/fyD90WNP_To

Pretty cool, huh? Imagine what amazing things children can learn using AR. They see it as a fun game, but they are really learning, and learning a lot! Using AR is a great tool to use for differentiation. All students love it, but it really helps to engage kids who are very introverted and have a hard time participating in group work and activities. There are so many awesome things that can be done using AR. This really gets students thinking on a deeper level about any topic they are viewing on their device. It can help students research and gain more information for a project they are working on and it would also be a good opportunity to get students working together and collaborating to show off cool things they found or even teach each other how to use the platforms they are working on. I will list below two apps that are well known for students to use in the classroom for AR.

Aurasma is a free app that allows you to turn any object, place, or image into AR. Aurasma brings everyday things to life using graphics, animations, video, audio, and 3-D animations.

 

Arloon is a wonderful app to use in your classroom! You can buy each subject as a separate app, or just purchase the bundle for $4.99. It is totally worth it. In the bundle you get an app on each of the following- Anatomy, Geometry, Solar System, Mental Math, Plants, and Chemistry.

This helps make learning fun for the students and the interactive and hands-on aspect of the app also helps students learn more and eager to stay focused. 

I have just barely scratched the surface of the Augmented Reality world! There is so much out there to learn about AR and how you can use it in your classroom, so get to discovering!

Using a Green Screen in your classroom...

Have you ever thought of ways to use a green screen in your classroom? Well, if not, maybe you should! All you have to do is set up a green or blue background and have a camera or a phone/tablet with the Do Ink app.

Do Ink is $2.99 and with this app you can easily create green screen videos right from your iPad. The app lets you combine photos, videos,
or live images from your iPad's camera.
Video tutorial here

Using a green screen in your classroom opens you and your students up to endless possibilities. Envision all of the places around the world you could take you students when doing virtual field trips! Students get super excited over using the green screen and any grade level can learn to use it! Imagine how creative your students can be using a green screen and how much awesomeness a future presentation has the potential for when using this new tool. This really gets students to think hard and be creative along with collaborating and sharpening their communication skills while working along side their classmates to create a video.

Here is a pinterest board you can check out to get some more cool ideas to use with a green screen!

Student Response Systems (SRS) and Plickers

A Student Response System (SRS) is a wireless response system that allows the teacher to request information and the students respond by using a clicker or a hand-held response pad to send his or her information to a receiver.

So, how can a SRS help a teacher in the classroom? SRS's help get the students more involved. The student's answers are essentially anonymous to the other students, and only the teacher sees the responses, so students tend to be more motivated to participate and the more classroom participation, the more information the student is likely to attain from the lesson.

There are many different SRS tools and platforms out there to use in your classroom. A teacher should do research and experiment with different SRS tools to find what works best for him or her and the students. The most recent SRS tool I learned about it called Plickers.

Plickers is a simple tool that allows teachers to collect real-time formative assessment data in their classroom without the need for the students to have devices. It is fast and easy to use. There is no wait time for turning on devices and logging in to certain websites, the students just simply need their code card. It is also great for a teacher whose classroom is very limited in what form of technology they have access to on a daily basis. Teachers can use Plickers for a quick check of understanding to see if their students comprehending lesson material and mastering the skills they need to be.

   
 Using Plickers is a great way to get all of your students engaged, participating, and thinking critically. It is quick and easy to use as a pre or post test assessment.
Students can answer individually, or you can create teams and have the students collaborating and communicating with one another to complete the questions. Here is a great video tutorial to get you started with Plickers.






*Plickers is available on Andriod and iOS devices.
Click here for the iTunes download.
Click here for the Google play store download.

EDpuzzle and Blendspace

In my Twenty-first Century Teaching class, we are all working on different presentations with a wide variety of topics. The first presentation was on EDpuzzle and Blendspace. I had briefly heard about Blendspace before, but did not have much knowledge about it, and I had never heard of EDpuzzle.

EDpuzzle, in a nutshell, is a site that allows you to upload a video(any video you can access on the internet) and you can edit it in many different ways. You can crop parts of the video out, record your own audio over the video, and add questions anywhere throughout the video. EDpuzzle seems very user friendly from the demonstrations we were provided and can help make a presentation or a lesson more engaging and fun for students.

Blendspace is a platform where teachers and students can collect, annotate, and share their digital resources. It is a great tool for teachers to keep all their lessons plan in one place or for students to create presentations on. One of my favorite things that you can do with Blendspace is add quizzes for students to take. Once taken, the teacher and the student receive immediate feedback.

These are both great tools that can be used in a classroom. A teacher can use EDpuzzle to create videos and add questions to it and use that as a station activity and you can also keep up with all of your lesson plans in one convenient place so you can easily reference back to it at another time while using Blenspace. They are also many methods you can use with both of these platforms to differentiate for students.

Utilizing the 4 C's using Edpuzzle and Blendspace:

• Collaboration- Students would develop better collaboration skills when working together in a group to create a presentation using one of these platforms.
• Critical thinking- Students would have to think critically if watching a video and there be questions to answer at the end or throughout. They can also work at their own pace when using Blendspace which gives the student a better opportunity to learn at their own pace.
• Communication- Students would learn to communicate better through group activities or by presenting material in front of the class. Students also can comment and discuss their opinions on videos when using EDpuzzle.
• Creativity- Students would be able to be creative when creating their own videos or presentations.

Click here for a video tutorial on how to use EDpuzzle.
Click here for a video tutorial on how to use Blendspace. 

Using SMORE in your classroom...

Recently, in my Twenty-first century teaching class, we learned about SMORE. So, you may be wondering what exactly is SMORE or why is this girl learning about graham crackers and marshmallows in college? Well, SMORE is a platform that you can use to create newsletters and flyers. It is fast and easy and looks professional, too!When you go to the SMORE website, you are given the option to try it for free.  All you have to do is create an account. It provides you with a lot of templates, backgrounds, color schemes, and much more to help you personalize your newsletter.

There is also an option for educators that offers more features for $59 annually. If you just really become a SMORE fan-girl, then go for that package, but you can create a ton of awesome newsletters for free! Watch this quick video of someone demonstrating how to create a flyer. Here is also a link to a SMORE I created on using iPads in the classroom.

 Now for the super important part of this post- how can this be used in your classroom? There are many ways to use SMORE in the classroom, so I will just list some for you:

• Open house/First day of school news for the parents/families
• Create a weekly/monthly classroom newsletter (you can simply change out the information when needed for your students)
• Introduce a lesson or activity (Pictures, links, and videos can be embedded into your newsletter.)
• Students can create projects using SMORE and use it as a presentation tool (paperless! WOO HOO!) It is easy for students to pick up on how SMORE works and share their ideas with their classmates by
• describing a story they read
• talking about a certain character
• biographies/autobiographies 
• creating a newsletter to show at open house or in a student led conference (There will be a blog post about student led conferences later. Let me just warn you that they are awesome!)
• Keep parents and families in the loop on what is going on in the classroom. You can send your newsletter via email or post on a classroom blog and it can be viewed on computers, tablets, and smart phone easily! (You can also view analytic's and see if parents are staying involved in reading the newsletter or not.) 
• There are privacy settings on SMORE, so you can set them where only the class can view the newsletters, or share them for anyone to see the students' awesome work!

When using SMORE, you open up communication between you and your students, as well as getting their families involved in what is going on in the classroom. When students are creating their own newsletter, they are utilizing their creativity problem-solving skills. When working in groups or with partners to create flyers, students are critically thinking and collaborating to put all of their ideas together into one presentation.

There are many other ways that you can implement SMORE as valuable classroom tool, just get creative with it and the possibilities are endless! 

SMORE newsletter: iPads in the Classroom

Technology is ever-changing and is becoming more and more prevalent in classrooms and the way students are learning each day. This SMORE newsletter was created to help inform anyone about the positive impact iPad's can have on learning and provide some ideas on how to teach with iPad's in the classroom. 

-Click the link below-

SMORE newsletter

Digital Storytelling

      Earlier this week in my 21st Century Teaching class we learned about digital storytelling and discovered some neat tools to use in our classrooms one day. So, what exactly is digital storytelling? Digital storytelling is a way to incorporate a variety of multimedia tools such as audio narration, pictures, videos, and music to just tell a story! Sounds pretty fun and easy, right? Well, that is because it is! Our teacher, Mrs. Weather's, introduced to digital storytelling and many apps and the various ways that they could be used in the classroom. (I will share some of my favorites so far at the end of this post.) We watched a few videos demonstrating students using assorted apps and software to create their digital stories and it was awesome. The students were so creative and motivated to share their ideas. What I like most about the concept of digital storytelling is that it helps the students come out of their shell and reveal their thoughts. It also gives them a level of confidence to express their feelings and ideas(much like writing a blog post does for me) that they otherwise might not do by talking in front of a large group or just writing an essay. It also helps the students to examine their experiences in a greater depth and then they can convey their knowledge through other communicate outlets rather than just on pencil and paper. I am very excited about the direction classrooms are taking in leaning more towards technology and the benefits it will have on the students!

-Click on the images below for more information!-

My Story

Tellagami

Book Creator

Why I want to be an Educator

    When I was growing up I always enjoyed school and dreamed of being a teacher one day.  One of the reasons why I want to be a great teacher is because of all the wonderful teachers I had while growing up. All of my teachers in elementary school thoroughly inspired me to be a teacher in their own ways. Most were positive inspirations, but I fondly remember the despairing nine months I spent in a certain grade and I always promised I would not be that kind of teacher! The most important reason of why I want to be a teacher is because there are so many children in this world who need someone's love and compassion directed towards them and not only do I want to be that person for my future students, but I was that child growing up. Thanks to the love and guidance my teachers bestowed upon me, I was shaped into the person I am today and I am very thankful for them and I want to be that teacher for my future students.