Blog!

Great news! My friends at Indiana Assistive Technology Act Project (INDATA) have added my blog to the links on their blog. Check out the INDATA blog here: http://blog.eastersealstech.com/

So, if you folks from Indiana stumble across the link, and say "what is this blog from Fargo, ND doing on the INDATA blog?" The answer is this: Twitter.

Twitter has allowed me to social network with other Assistive Technology Professionals from all over the place. I guess the folks at INDATA liked what I was writing about, so they put the link up!

My goal for this blog is to share some AT tools that we are using here at West Fargo Public Schools. Some of these tools may not apply to you folks in Indiana, but I hope you are able to find some information that may help you to be more independent.

Thanks for reading! Stop by again sometime for some assistive technology tips and tools.

-Amy

Virtual Math Manipulatives

Recently, I have had two wonderful websites shared with me filled with virtual manipulatives for mathematics. As a person who has struggled with math her entire life, I understand the need for these tools. Giving students the chance to visualize and manipulate math helps them better understand the problem. Numbers and symbols look like a new language. And, guess what? Math is a language. In order for our students to understand this language, we need to give them pictures and an opportunity to try it out.
The first site comes from Glencoe/McGraw Hill. You can select grade levels, background templates, and different manipulatives. My personal favorite is the Bears in a Boat for the Kindergarten level manipulatives. This also has some really nice drawing tools at the bottom of the screen.A second site is the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives. From this site, you can choose different math subjects for different age levels. For example, you can choose Number and Operations for grades 9-12, or Algebra for grades 3-5. There are excellent manipulatives in each category. Below is is the Geoboard under Geometry for grades 3-5. This provides challenges on the side for students to complete. I only wish it gave some feedback for correct or incorrect answers.


I encourage you to explore these sites. Hopefully you can find some useful tools to help instruct and guide your students through math!

-Amy

Speech Maker in Read and Write GOLD

I am always excited to learn about new features in Read and Write GOLD software. In our district, we have Read and Write GOLD at all of our upper level buildings, as well as single copies in each of our elementary schools. A great feature of this software is the "Speech Maker" tool. This tool allows you to turn text into an audio file (MP3). Simply pull up a word document and highlight the text you would like or highlight some text you would like from the web or a PDF. Then, click the speech maker button. This will ask you to choose the voice, where you would like to save, and what file type you would prefer (MP3 or WAV). Then, the text is scanned and converted to an audio state. If you have chosen the MP3 format, you can then put it on a student's MP3 player.
This tool is wonderful if you have students who benefit from that extra auditory help. For example, they could have their vocabulary words loaded onto their iPod, and listen to help them study for the test. They could also have their speech transformed into MP3. As they listen to it over and over while practicing, by the time speech day comes around - they will have their speech memorized!

I hope you will find this tool useful for your students!
-Amy

High Contrast in XP

I learned something new today from A.T.TIPSCAST! Left shift, left alt, and print screen turns on the high contrast feature in Windows XP. This also works in Windows 7, but shows up a little differently. Give it a try for your students with visual impairments or those who have trouble focusing. You may be surprised at the results!

One Button Mouse

As children are acquiring computer skills, they often struggle with learning how to use a standard two button mouse. The right click button is confusing, and sometimes takes them away from the place they intended to go. If there is a scroll button - forget about it! When I was first approached about a one button mouse, I went to Best Buy to see if they had any. They did not, so I assumed that they could not be found or did not exist other than on the Mac. So, I went to our technology department and asked for an old mouse I could adapt.

This is my result.

I was very pleased with my work, as the visual hand with the star was going to be successful in teaching the student how to left-click. Well, it works, but the adhesive I used was not strong enough and it comes undone.

So, when approached a second time about a one button mouse, I decided to do a little research. Voila! A one button mouse. The Chester Mouse. The Chester Mouse is very petite, has one button, and a cute little mouse logo on it. It was designed for small hands, and works excellent for students who are new to computers or have fine motor issues. The Chester Mouse can be purchased from Chester Creek as well as from many third party vendors.


-Amy

Accessible Blog

Great news!

My blog is now accessible, and all my posts can be read aloud. You can now also subscribe to my podcasts. This service is powered by odiogo.com. The only strange thing is, the voice is a man, so you'll just have to remember that a woman wrote the posts!

-Amy

Photos from the AT Expo

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