Technology for the Intense Classroom

Challenges We Faced

Identify the educational needs of each student and how technology could be used as an enhancement tool for learning.
Find technology that was curriculum based, met students needs and could be used by all/most students independently.
Explore technology to help with collecting data for determining gaps in learning and planning future goals.

Identify student needs and the technology to support those needs.

We had a handle on each student's capabilities and needs
The search for equitable learning websites began immediately at start of school year.
We tested numerous programs over many weeks, but narrowed it down to the following to meet reading, math, science/social studies and spelling needs.
- - SplashLearn
  - Reading Eggs/Fast Phonics
  - Raz Kids
  - Math Seeds
  - Vocabulary A-Z (formerly Spelling City)
  - SeeSaw

Would technology selected be curriculum based and be used by students independently?

Each of the programs are curriculum based and research based as equitable programs for reading, math, spelling and science.
While students do require assistance from time to time, they primarily are utilizing the programs independently approximately 70% of the time.
We anticipate more help will be needed on new material or lessons.
It is key to teach students to ask for help when they do not know what the program is asking them to do. They are permitted on wrong answer and then are required to ask for clarification. This greatly diminishes guessing.
We feel each student has a more individualized learning program than prior to our introduction to technology into the classroom.

Clever: Our Digital Platform

We used Clever as our platform for all our classroom websites. We wanted one place to access everything we use.
We set up a Morning and Afternoon schedule to mimic our daily schedule. Students would use this schedule 100% for E-Learning days. This would eliminate the need for paper packets.
Continuity stays in tack during long breaks.

Could the educational websites help with collecting data, identifying gaps and help plan future goals?

While some are better than others on data collection, all have been beneficial. We can assess, identify gaps and use data to plan future goals.
For this particular program pictured, I can easily see which students have mastered the assignment and those that need more attention. I can continue to work with these students and move the others onto the next assignment.
We can also identify individual progress and we can hone in on specific gaps based on an individual basis.

Take your time to find the right programs. It's okay to discard ones that just aren't working.
Find out what programs your school already has purchased or check with grade level reps to see if you can piggy back with another teacher.
Plan technology time every day so students can build expectations or even once a week for e-learning purposes.
Understand how much assistance parents/guardians can actually give children. Fifty percent of our students do not have support or have parents that may find the work challenging themselves.
Train the children to ask for help. We practice skills as a group prior to assigning lessons. The data tools make it easy for me to identify if students are trying or guessing.
It took several months before we felt like we could use our data. Training the students to use the tools properly and consistently was our primary goal for this first year.

Next Steps

Continue to explore data collection and better understand how to utilize data from each program to drive my lesson plans.
Collaborate with general ed peers to explore and identify new websites.
Share learning with other special education teachers.
Identify new incoming students educational needs to have appropriate technology ready, reducing ramp-up time in the fall. (Ex: will they need easier or more challenging programs?)
Continue to learn how to make my own interactive lessons to add to my library in SeeSaw.
Develop more screen casting lessons and practice using in the classroom and for e-learning.

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