Class 5

Today was Itunes day! It was my first experience downloading applications and I'm hooked. I had to tear myself away to write this blog. Once my account was set up and we got a quick tutorial I found it very easy to download applications.

The student I was focused on is a grade three student who loves animals and being read to. He is diagnosed with autism and he is on a behavior plan and works with on a reward system. He has to work in a highly structured environment and he needs plenty of preparation when there is a change in his daily schedule. The student is on a full IPP and one of his math outcomes is to be able to tell time in thirty minute intervals.

The first application I chose for this student is At The Zoo. This is a program that allows you to view real animal pictures, hear the sounds the animals make, and match the animals to the sound they make. I chose this application to compliment his reward program he is currently on. The student uses a penny board and once he earns five pennies he can choose an activity for five minutes of free time. Often he chooses to play games on the computer. An issue we had with this is that he wants it to be silent in the class when he is on the computer for his free time. He could take the Ipod to his quiet space and have his free time there. The reason I choice this specific game was because he loves animals and thinks animal sounds are really funny. Also, he also learning to match animals to sounds and words.

The second application I chose for the student is called going places. This is an application that gives a written social story matched by visuals. The visuals are humans in the story which makes it very realistic and easy to relate to. When there is a change in this student's daily schedule, whether this be at home or school, he has to be prepared for this ahead of time using social stories. This is a great visual to compliment a written social story or you could use it on your own.

The third application chosen for the student is Clockmaster. This is a math program that focuses on telling time. I chose this because it is a different way to practice skills taught in class. Avoiding paper pencil tasks whenever possible is always a good idea with this student. Although his fine motor skills are fine his penmanship is poor and he becomes frustrated easily. This would avoid the frustration and he still has the opportunity to work on an outcome on his IPP.

I feel like I opened a door to a whole new world today. I am so excited to go home and try some applications with my son.