Team+Scenario+Reflection

= Team Scenario Reflections  =

I was chosen to create a lesson for the blind and hearing impaired students in the class for the group project. I, like many other teachers do not always understand how to work with blind or hearing impaired students. In many of our classes, these students have educational aides to help translate information or take notes. I feel that we need to teach teachers how to effectively work with special disabilities. Teachers are prepared for to work with slow learners and modify appropriately. Teachers also know how to work with students in wheel chairs or that have modality issues or those who may be hearing impaired, and again, make necessary changes for these students. We rarely have students who are blind. This year I had a legally blind student; he was later removed because the assignments required meticulous work from a textbook that is not available on tape. The professional development chosen includes teaching the teacher how to create an electronic book. The CAST UDL site is a good place to start. I incorporated text to speak in my electronic book to accommodate the blind and hearing impaired students in the class. " The text-to-speech feature in UDL Editions is an excellent example providing options for visual information. Press "play" in the toolbar to hear the story read aloud. This feature not only benefits students who are blind or visually impaired, but students who are struggling readers or who are English Language Learners as well.[1]" In addition to text-to-speech, the UDL site offers captioning which will help all students. Additionally, I chose simple activities that were computer based to be complete in small groups, including:  Modifications include helping students find appropriate pictures, helping students create scripts for each activity, and helping students with spelling or vocabulary words. All activities include text to speech and can include captions to help hearing impaired and blind students.
 * Voki-Create an avatar to represent the Fire Beings-tell story from their point of view;
 * PowerPoint or Photostory-Create a slideshow to re-tell story, add sounds and animation to slideshow;
 * Audacity-Create an original song highlighting how Coyote, Chipmunk and Robin worked together to bring fire to Humans; and
 * Scratch-Create a cartoon to re-tell the story.

[1]National Center on Universal Design for Learning. //Checkpoint 1.3: Offer alternatives for visual information. (3/15/2011) Retrieved on March 22, 2011 from// @http://www.udlcenter.org/implementation/examples/examples1_3 Team5364. [|Our Web site]