e- Learning for Kids on Teachers Love Smart Boards

Hi Everyone,

I was visiting the Teachers Love Smart Boards blog this morning and found a post about a website called e- learning for kids.

Aimed at kids aged 4-12 , the site contains over 100 short courses over a range of subject areas including: maths, science, life skills, health , computer skills, language arts and English.

I've just wrenched myself away from the site long enough to write this post and then I will be heading straight back to see which sites will work best on my interactive white board.

Autism Classroom - Free Autism Resources and Training

Hi Everyone,

Autism Classroom. com is a great web site to explore if you are teaching students with ASD. It is full of best practice information for setting up an autism friendly classroom, has loads of free download able resources and even an online basic training program, aimed at parents and teachers. Take the time to view and download the free online training materials that the site offers and consider using them educate your colleagues at staff meetings !

Freeware for Kids - Mini- Sebran

Hi Everyone,
I have been playing around with this terrific free download from the SEN Teacher website this afternoon. Mini- Sebran is a suite of early learning games for kids between the ages of 2-6 years.
It includes letter, number and colour recognition, spot the difference and an easy to use basic 'paint' style program.
The activity screens are simple and uncluttered which makes them ideal for working with students with special needs. Click on the picture to visit the host website which also has links to a more complex suite of activities, suitable for 4-9 year olds.

Learn to be Buddies - Amanda Gray

Hi Everyone,

Amanda Gray, from Learn to be Buddies, is one of my favourite online experts. Amanda is an early childhood, special education teacher who is currently teaching university undergraduates how to develop inclusive teaching practices.

Amanda's blog is full of easy to read, research and evidence based advice for parents and teachers. Amanda encourages readers to interact with her, via the blog and her responses to questions from her readers are as informative as the posts she writes.

Amanda has also developed a set of excellent and very reasonably priced teaching tools which can be purchased through her website.

The Power of PowerPoint !

Resonsble Pet Ownership

View more presentations from Sue.

Hi Everyone,
I don't usually post work that has been completed in my classroom on this blog but I've made an exception today. Eleanor had been desperate to own a pet for a number of years. Eleanor created this PowerPoint to convince her parents that she was responsible enough to take care of a pet. Guess who got a puppy for Christmas !

PowerPoint can be powerful motivator to get kids creating texts and a creative outlet for some students on the autism spectrum, to explore and share their 'special area of interest'. So many important ICT skills can be taught while kids are creating a PowerPoint and they are fabulous teaching tools, both as a process and product, especially when they are projected onto an interactive white board or shared online with family and friends through Slide Share.

I have spent the last few days adding links to the interactive white board area in the right margin. I have also added some links to some great PowerPoint resources, that you might like to use to inspire some little people in your world or to create something wonderful for them to share with you.

If you would like to see what else went on in my classroom last year, click on the rocket in the right margin.

Food Pyramid for Kids

Hi Everyone,
By far the most frequently visited post on my blog has been one about Food Pyramid games and activities for kids. I have just had to delete that post because the link is broken. This lead me to a search of my own.

In the US the USDA ( United States Department of Agriculture) has produced some great online information and activities.

In Australia, although we do have a food pyramid to refer to, as a way to categorise foods, the focus is much more holistic . We concentrate on making changes and balances overall, to increase fitness, eat well and have a healthy life style. We talk a lot to children about 'everyday' and sometimes foods' and the importance of exercise in a balanced and healthy life style. Programs such as 'Go for Your Life, ' a Victorian initiative, have made a great deal of impact on school and local communities.

Click on the pictures to find links to all of these resources.

School Matters - Bereavement - Teachers TV

Hi Everyone,
Please take the time to watch this excellent Teachers TV video on bereavement. This video offers some simple and practical advice on how to support students impacted by a death and the life changes that follow.
'Six children at Heron Primary School were bereaved when their parents died during the school holidays. Headteacher, John Coles, faced a significant challenge in helping his pupils cope with the loss. With the help of Julie Stokes of bereavement charity, Winston's Wish, he and his staff have effectively supported the pupils through and beyond the tragedy.
At Cleeve School, two teenagers died suddenly in consecutive terms. Deputy head, Leanne Symonds, shares her valuable experience and practical response in handling the deaths which affected the whole school community.
The school has also helped a pupil bereaved in primary school, by setting up a buddy system which put her in touch with an older pupil who had also been bereaved.'

Autism Games - Tahirih Bushey

Hi Everyone,

I was very excited to discover Tahirih Bushey's website called Autism Games. Tahirih is a speech and language pathologist and she has filled her site with Information, games and videos about how she works with children with ASD in her own practice.

Follow this link to discover how she uses this simple game .

I know that I am going to be visiting this site frequently over the next few days!

Hiyah & Pete's PowerPoint Station

Hi again,
I know that you are completely over me talking about where to access PowerPoints but I am on a mission to make life easier for IWB users and I still have 2 more really great resources worth mentioning.
Pete's PowerPoint Station has a massive number of resources available for a range of audiences. Some are very basic and others complex. They are listed in Alphabetical Topic order and a bonus is that they are also linked to online games about the topic.

You may not find exactly what you are looking for but may be able to adapt one of the Powerpoints you find there or use a few to get some ideas. Make sure that you reference where the 'borrowed' information came from if you do though:)
The Hiyah website is a must visit site for those of us loving and working with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Intellectual Disability.

Sarah, the amazing mum who hosts this site, has created an extensive collection of visual materials and computer programs which cover a huge variety of topics from counting to pragmatics which can be downloaded for free!

Check out the files and programs before downloading by using the online viewing feature. It takes a while for the files to download ( I usually put a load of washing on and make myself a hot drink while I am waiting) but they are well worth waiting for.

Free Powerpoint Presentations for Teachers - TES Connect

Hi Everyone,

If you are looking for good to great quality free educational PowerPoint presentations and interactive whiteboard resources to use in class, look no further than the UK site, TES Connect. A search of the site came up with over 7000 resources.This site has other types of resources attached to it, from articles to PDF documents and even a chat forum.

You do need to join the site to access the downloads but there is no membership fee. I have been a member for 2 years and have downloaded some fantastic resources during that time.

Use the site search feature to locate the type of resource you are looking for.

I searched under 'special needs PowerPoint's' today and found literally hundreds of resources to download.
The site managers will email you once a month to let you know about new resources that have been added. The contact is not invasive and provides a regular reminder to check out what is on offer each month.

Body Image Video for Girls - Dove

Hi again,
One of my favourite online professional bloggers is Patricia Robinson , a therapist at Social Skills for Kids. Today her post lead to this set of 3 videos by the Dove company which beautifully sum up what young women need to know about how 'the media' distorts our thinking about what is normal. I particularly love the second video called 'evolution' which shows how an attractive, normal looking girl can be unrealistically glamorised for publicity shots. The first and last videos are poignant reminders to tell the young girls in our lives that they are beautiful. Click on the picture to follow a direct link to the Dove site the link. Or read Patricia's article about the video by following this hyperlink.

Watson School of Education - Dr Jeff Ertzberger

Hi everyone,

I am giving a presentation on how to make better and more regular use of Interactive Whiteboards ( IWB's) on the 27th of this month and I have been looking through some of the ready made resources, that I have downloaded from the Net, over the past few years.

I love it when I find web sites that save me loads of work and the Watson School of Education site is one of them.

My favourite area is the PowerPoint section and particularly Jeff''s collection of seasonal timers which are free to download from his site. There are some amazing quiz games such as 'Robie Knows' which can be customised to suit a variety of domains and differentiated to suit a wide range of ability levels.

The site caters for the needs of special education, pre-school, primary and secondary teachers and students and the products are very easy to use.

If you are looking for more ways to save time an maximise IWB use, scroll down the right margin of the blog to find an extensive link list of ready made activites.

Visual Timetable for Interactive Whiteboard - Communication 4 All

Hi again,
If you haven't got hours to spare, don't go anywhere near Bev Evans' website, Communication 4 All.
This site is for any teacher who is time poor or technology ignorant or both like me :)
I am always on the look out for ready made resources that I can use on the interactive whiteboard because I spend all my spare time blogging and don't have time to make up my own !
This ready made visual schedule, embedded in a PowerPoint presentation, is fantastic. It is just one of the many resources you will be downloading from the site today if you dare to visit and your download limit is up to it.
Tomorrow, I am going to attempt to stay away from my computer and read a novel . Wish me luck :)

Rubber Face- SEN Teacher Free Download

Hi again,

The theme for today is definitely emotions!

I was just having a quick look around the SEN Teacher site and found this great emotional facial recognition program called 'Rubber Face' which can be downloaded free from the site. This program would be terrific for students in Early Years and Primary classes as well as students in Special Education settings.

The students can use the 'emotions buttons' to create a facial expression or press them to indicate which expression the face is demonstrating. After practicing the skills they can take the emotional recognition quiz which has lovely, loud auditory feedback for right and wrong answers with the opportunity to correct mistakes built into the quiz to ensure success.

The SEN Teacher site has loads of excellent down loadable resources for students with special and additional needs. Take some time to have a good look around.

Emotions Colour Wheel - Do 2 Learn

Hi Everyone,

Have you had a look a the Do 2 Learn site lately?

I decided to have a look around the free area this morning and discovered a fantastic free visual tool for teaching emotions based on colour . This is a tool that I will certainly reccommend to teachers in middle years and secondary settings, for students with High Functioning Autism and Aspergers Syndrome but it would be just as valuable a tool for typically developing students in upper primary and secondary settings who are visual learners.

Having observed over the years that we each have our own unique response to colour, I was pleased to note that Do 2 learn has also provided users with two versions of a printable PDF so that students can personalise their own emotional colour chart.

Take some time to visit the site today.

Students with Disabilities in Mainstream Classrooms

Hi Everyone,
This wonderful cartoon comes from the booklet 'Students with disabilities in mainstream classrooms- A resource for teachers . This well written ,research based and easy to read document is the result of Australian Government Department of Education and Workplace relations (DEEWR) funded research - Project to Improve learning Outcomes of Students with Disabilities in Mainstream Classes in the Early, Middle and Post Compulsory Years of Schooling.
Anthony Shaddock, Loretta Giorcelli and Sue Smith, with the support of many other talented researchers and writers have put together this fantastic resource which is a must read for all teachers.
Follow the hyperlinks to find the research paper and resource booklet for teachers in PDF format.

Dr Kathie Nunley - Layered Curriculum

Hi Everyone,
Kathie Nunley has created a great site for secondary teachers who are keen to discover how to create differentiated curriculum to support students with additional learning needs and cater for the wide range of learning styles typically found in any classroom.
This site is filled with free articles and videos and materials which can be purchased online to assist teachers in their professional development and planning.
I am on ' a mission' to find quality sites about differentiated instruction during the Christmas holidays so check the right margin for more links and professional readings on the topic.

Be careful what you wish for ...

Hi Everyone,

I recently attended an 'Educator in Residence' workshop lead by Dr Loretta Giorcelli. This article was cited as recommended reading for educators committed to the development of inclusive education in mainstream settings.

Providing individual teacher aide or 'paraprofessional support', for students with a disability is a very common model of practice in classrooms around Australia.

My personal opinion is that is a practice which needs to change.

What do you think?

Click on the picture to read the article. I wonder if it will change your way of thinking, the way that you advocate for your own child or your teaching practice?

You can check out other online articles that I have been reading on the topic of inclusion by scrolling down the right margin of the blog, in the blue section and clicking on any of the links listed under 'Professional Readings 2010'.

DiVine - Online Community

DiVine- Victoria's Online Community for People with a Disability.
Click on the picture to enter.
Hi Everyone,
How wonderful!
This newly launched website not only provides information on a wide range of topics but also encourages readers to be contributors. Take a look for yourself.
Thanks for telling me about it Wendy :)

Gifted Education - Brainiac

Hi Everyone,
It has been quite a while between posts. The end of my school year has been no doubt as busy as yours. Now that transition programs and reports are complete I am looking forward to spending some more time blogging again.
I know that I am in 'relaxed holiday mode' when I start reading narratives. I'm not there yet!
I have been reading Tony Attwood's 'The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome', from cover to cover. I normally just flick to the section I need.
It's a great book. Today it got me thinking about the needs of gifted children on and off the autism spectrum .
My school runs fortnightly professional reading breakfasts. The teachers involved ( about 14 of us) meet in a cafe near the school, have breakfast together and reflect on a reading that has been selected by a group member the fortnight before. It's a fun way to keep up with our professional reading and gets each of us to look at material outside of our usual areas of interest. Colleen broke the tradition of providing a chapter or scholarly reading, in our last session for the year, by providing us with an episode of the SBS program ' Insight' to watch.
The program 'Brainiac' talks about intelligence, how it is defined and measured and how having an IQ in the gifted range can impact in both negative and positive ways on a person's life.
Click on the picture if you are interested in watching too.
I have also added some Gifted Education links to the blog margin today if you are interested in exploring the topic further.

Transition Advice for Students with ASD

Hi Everyone,
I have just read a brilliant fact sheet by the South Australian Special Education Resource Unit written at the beginning of this year about transition plans, strategies and resources for students with an ASD. The 40 pages provide a wealth of information for parents and teachers. I know I have already written two posts about this site this week but I can't promise not to write another because it is just so good! Click on the picture to read the report or on the hyperlinks to visit the SERU website.
PS: Jim has just let me know that you can be on the SERU mailing list. Click on the comments link below, where Jim has left the mailing list details. Thanks Jim :)

Special Education Resource Unit - South Australia

Hi Everyone,

Today I received an email from James at the Special Education Resource Unit (SERU) in South Australia, alerting me to the fact that this blog has been featured in their Technology Inclusion Engagement and learning news letter this month.

Thanks James.

I have had a great time exploring their website this evening. It is such a great resource. The themed newsletters are packed with the latest information and research as well as best practice advise for special education teachers and our mainstream colleagues who are devloping their inclusive practices. My printer has been working flat out!

Check it out for yourself by clicking on the picture.

Autism Training Modules Online - Positive Partnerships Program

Hi Everyone,
The Positive Partnerships Program website has a range of great parent and teacher online information and professional development programs for people intereseted in learning more about the impact of Autism Spectrum Disorder on children and families. Click on the picture to take a class.

Out of Sync Child has Fun - Carol Stock Kranowitz

Hi Everyone,
I am fascinated by all things to do with sensory processing disorder (SPD) and the impact it can have on how children interact with the world and learn. This week I poured over Carol Stock Kranowitz's book 'The Out of Sync Child has fun'. It has a wonderful introduction which explains SPD in layman's terms as well as providing over 100, cheap and practical ideas for parents and teachers to use when working with children with sensory issues. It's well worth a read and readily available online for purchase. Click on the picture for the link to 'Book in Hand' if you live in Australia and would like to purchase a copy.

Aspergers Presentation - Slide Share

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Asperger S Presentation

View more presentations from lolliejoy.

Boohbah- Cause and Effect

Hi Everyone,
Boohbah is another wonderful site to entice very young children or non reading children with special needs, to engage with technology while learning. Like Poisson Rouge ( see my previous post) there are no written instructions about how to use the site. The aim instead is to encourage children to navigate around the site themselves by clicking on the screen and watching what happens. There are so many fantastic learning opportunities available through these sites least of all being hand eye coordination skills. I find both of these programs great for kids who will only engage in learning activities on their own terms. I am sure we all know some precious people who are like that :)

Poisson Rouge - Cause and Effect Games

Hi Everyone,
The kids in my class working on cause and effect activities are going to love using this gorgeous application in class tomorrow. There are no instructions because the idea is to explore on your own and find out what happens. Poisson Rouge is great for developing hand eye coordination and mouse skills too. Have fun with it.

E2BN - Homerton Children's Centre

Hi Everyone,
I have a million things to do tonight but instead of getting on with what I should be doing I have been exploring the E2BN wesite created by Homerton Children's Centre. It is filled with ideas to make ICT a meaningful learning experience for Early Years children in all settings. My head is spinning with new ideas. Don't check it out if you are busy, it's a real trap!

Free Online Books for Kids

Hi Everyone,
The Junior Crew Bookshelf has brought together the best of free online stories and videos on the web for preschool and primary aged kids. Click on the picture to follow the link. You will find a permanent link to the site in the right margin of this blog.

Free Downloads for Special Needs Students - SEN Teacher

It is time for me to reload my classroom laptop with some new games and activities so I am going to get busy downloading a range of new applications form the Sen Teacher website. There are a huge range of activities on this site covering a range of domains that have been specifically developed for kids with special learning needs.

New York Department of Education - Adapted Books

Hi Everyone,
I have been exploring the New York Department of Education website today. They have some fantastic free download able adapted books, in PowerPoint and PDF format, using Writing with Symbols and some great links to other sites such as Tumble Books which you will find in the Literacy Resource section in the left margin. I have been busy downloading all morning.
Don't forget that there are loads of links to free online books and videos in the Junior Crew Bookshelf. Click on the hyperlink or you will find a permanent link to this site in the right margin.

Speech and language Games - School District of Bonduel

Hi Everyone,

While in search of some simple ways to teach pronouns to kids on the Autism spectrum, I came across this terrific speech and language site hosted by The School District of Bonduel. The games and resources are supported by Board Maker images and are visually engaging without being cluttered. Click on the picture to take a look.

Interactive Australian Money Activities

Hi Everyone,
My class had a great time today, making up money totals using a variety of Australian coins, on the Rosetta Primary interactive money site. The applications work brilliantly on personal computers and interactive whiteboards. Click on the hyperlink or on the picture to explore the site.

The Story of Stuff

Hi Everyone,
If you are feeling a bit 'ho-hum' about teaching another unit of environmental studies or that obligatory recycling unit one more time, take a look at this short movie. It just might get you all fired up again. It's a US production that runs for fifteen minutes and it would be a great resource for mainstream Middle Years and Senior students. Click on the picture to take a look.

Visy Enviromaniacs

Hi Everyone,
Visy, one of the world's leading packaging , paper and recycling companies has set up a new environmental education website to introduce environmental topics to children. I registered my class and school this morning. The site has interactive games for students to play which link to great lesson plans that are provided for teachers. Visy is also giving away prize money to schools that register. Take a look, it's a fantastic site teaching important life skills to 21st century learners in all settings.

Make your own interactive Books.

Hi Everyone,
I have spent the last couple of hours preparing an interactive book for my class to add sound files to later in the week. I found the application at Bev Evans Communications 4 All site. If you
have basic PowerPoint skills you will have no trouble making some fantastic books with this tool . Click on the picture and I will take you there. Once you have arrived, scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the template link. I bet you will be distracted by all of the other interactive features you have to scroll past before you get there!

21st Century e Learning Conference (online)

Today this blog will be hosting a session at the 21st Century elearning Conference. The posts that follow serve as my notes for the presentation.
About Me
My name is Sue King and I am a primary trained Generation X teacher working at Belvoir Special School in Wodonga .
I am passionate about helping students with learning challenges to engage in learning in both Special Education and Mainstream settings and to help them to achieve outcomes that will lead to enviable lives.
I am also a self confessed 'technophobe'.
ICT skills have never come easily to me.
I used to be able to do my banking, pay my bills, turn on my TV, listen to music using a range of devices, answer a phone and take a photo all by myself. These days I require the technical assistance of my husband or teenage sons to guide me through the process and a written step by step procedure with diagrams to follow if they are not around!
If I can blog anyone can and I hope that after this session you will consider giving it a go or at least use the sites of others who do blog, to gain access to valuable resources and broaden your personal and professional learning networks.

What's in the Goody Bag?

By the end of this session participants will have:

• An understanding of how and why this blog was created
• Knowledge of how blogs can be used to motivate and facilitate learning experiences for a variety of audiences.
• Access to thousands of web links to use in their own classrooms
• A desire to engage in teaching and learning activities that are possibly outside of their usual ICT experience
• A new way to develop world wide professional and personal learning networks specific to their own needs
• Courage to try something outside of their comfort zone
• Inspiration to go alongside students and teachers who need extra support to achieve learning outcomes.

The Journey - Putting the Pieces Together

In 2008 , when this learning journey began was teaching a mixed ability group of special needs Junior school students who were very motivated to learn when information was presented using technology, especially computer based learning tasks. Our aging equipment provided me with loads of challenges and lessons in patience!

When I told people that I was planning to create a blog most people suggested that nobody would want to read a blog about day to day activities in a special school.

They were wrong!

The blog has helped me to achieve outcomes that I would have only dreamed about a year ago:

• Quick access to quality programs that I want to use with the children .
• It keeps a record of the activities we have completed in the classroom
• It keeps parents and other interested parties informed of what is happening in our room.
• Educates others about what a special needs classroom in the 21st century is like.
• Allows the children to access programs with minimal effort at school and at home.
• It helps us to connect and collaborate with other mainstream and special education classrooms internationally.
• Helps me to learn valuable ICT skills because I am motivated to produce a quality product for the children , their families and blogging buddies to engage with.
• It allows me to to respond to Giorchelli Report's call for special education teachers to share their knowledge and skills with their mainstream counterparts so that children with special needs could be more easily and successfully integrated into the mainstream system. Hence the Teacher Space Blog was created.
• In 2009 I took up a role as a key local professional with the Australian Autism Education and Training Consortium supporting teachers in the Hume Region who are new to teaching students on the Autism Spectrum. The blog is like a portable resource library that travels with me from school to school and I can leave my resources with them after I have gone.
• My blog is used as an educational learning resource for people from over 30 countries from all sorts of different backgrounds.
• As a direct result of engaging with teachers via the blog , I even get requests from non departmental schools to come and help them set up learning environments for their special needs students.
• The best indicator of how my journey has come full circle is that other teachers ask me to show them how to blog!
• E5 - No problem !

The Nuts & Bolts of the Blog

Blogger vs Edublogs

Edublogs is a blogging application for educators. It is the application most favoured by the Education Department because of cyber -safety issues. I have tried on a number of occasions to create a blog using the Edublogs site but find the site difficult to navigate my way around and the online tutorials confusing because of my lack of technical knowledge once I get past the set up stage. However, I'm sure that if I sat alongside a very patient 'flesh and blood' ICT coach who was prepared to work at my pace I would be able to master the Edublogs application.

Blogger is much more user friendly for technically challenged people like myself and I like the blog templates, which allow you to create a site that appeals to visual learners. Many schools use the Blogger application to produce fantastic sites .

My Blog is really 8 blogs which have been designed with a specific propose and audience in mind that have been linked to form a blogging network.

Teacher Space

Junior Crew Class Blog 2009

Room 13 Class Blog 2008

Maths Space

Junior Crew Spelling

Junior Crew Book Shelf

Junior Crew Virtual Gallery

Kids Space

All of the blogs follow a similar organisational pattern .

So let's take a tour !

English language Learners with Learning Disabilities.

Click on the picture to watch the web cast

Reading Rockets

Hi Everyone,
I have decided to use the Reading Rockets web site as my professional reading this week. It has hundreds of articles, video and other resource links about the teaching and learning of reading. The great thing about this site is that it is directed at a variety of audiences. There are sections for teachers, parents, principals and librarians, and allied services such as speech pathologists and psychologists. Take a look for yourself. It will be well worth the effort.

Literactive

Hi Everyone,
The kids in my class will be completing activities from the Literactive site this week. Literactive is a free online comprehensive, phonics based reading program for early learners. There are online games to play, guided reading books to share and games and worksheets that can be downloaded if you apply for free registration with the site.
Why don't you take a look. It might be just the program you need to add some mid year variety for readers who need that extra bit of support.

Roots & Wings

Hi Everyone,
I spend a lot of time reading the blogs of parents who have children with special needs. It helps me to keep my priorities in order and keep the end goal in mind. I am just part of a team of people who want to give our children the best possible opportunity to lead an enviable life.
I have a blogroll of parent blogs right at the bottom of this page. It's a great place to go when you are feeling overwhelmed because these blogs are filled with such great ideas and exude positive energy.

I have been emailing back a forth with an amazing mum this week. Katrina has a son with special needs and she shares a blog' Roots and Wings' with two of her sisters. They write about all sorts of things. I was really impressed with a post that Katrina wrote, that passed on great tips from her years of working side by side with an occupational therapist, to help her son with some sensory/ motor issues. Click on the picture above and scroll down to the post on April 28th to see for yourself.

Tomorrow will be the Junior Crew's first day back at school. I hope that they have enjoyed the holidays and are just as excited to be coming back to school as I am. You can visit our classroom by clicking on the rocket link in the right margin any time. We'd love to hear from you too :)