Prietz,+Andrew

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Council For Exceptional Children This site is very useful for professional development because it offers the legislation surrounding special education. I like this site because you can see the legislation, but you also have access to a variety of special education categories. This site is both personal and impersonal which is used to connect teachers, parents, and kids to resources to educate them about special education

**Universal Design For Learning **  Once taking this learning style survey, I was able to confirm what I already knew which was that I was a kinesthetic learner. Kinesthetic learners achieve well in the classroom when movement and hands on activities are incorporated in the lesson. I knew I was a kinesthetic learner because I always was involved in sports, so I learned a lot from playing and observing. In addition, I always move around because sitting still creeps me out, so I always moved to read and study. The learning style survey gave me great insight into multiple ways to study and learn. One helpful hint, which I have never thought of, was actually walking around and looking over notes.  My overall impression of the CAST website was pretty positive. Having a tab to see more about Universal Design of Learning (UDL) was awesome to actually see the spectrum that UDL covers. More so, I feel the tab about learning tools is very crucial to making this site so excellent. Having access to materials that incorporate UDL are important, so that teachers can fully understand UDL, as well as use these materials in the classroom or as an aide for them to create a lesson plan of their own.  What really stood out to me in //Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age // was the emphasis on flexibility and how media serves as the best option to implement the most flexible learning environment. I would try to incorporate this in my teaching by just always trying to remember to make my lessons and materials flexible for the students. I could possibly do this by having lessons that are diverse in learning styles or available in different learning styles, so that the information can be flexible and appropriate for every kind of learner.  The two activities which we had to do on the CAST website were somewhat interesting. These activities do not teach me anything new relating to my strengths and talents, but these activities reinforced my strengths and talents that I know. Reinforcing strengths and talents is never a bad thing.  I feel that CAST is a great example for differentiated learning. Within the site it appeals to different learners such as visual and kinesthetic. I do agree with differentiated learning, but I also feel just simply having access to view information in different forms is vital. For instance, in lecture having the teacher lecture and having power points allows us to receive similar information in two very different ways. I feel that having access to different viewing and receiving information is an important intermediate step to differentiated learning. Lastly, differentiated learning keeps students interested and focused on class because it is ever changing which is a great thing.  After viewing the CAST website I cannot think of anything specific I want to do more on CAST, but I would like the opportunity to just explore and see what I can find.

**Virtual Fieldtrips and Museums **  At first I felt like virtual museums were not very informative and fun, but after visiting sites like**, ** the Whale Museum, the Museum of Natural History , and <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: auto;">Comparing Skeletal Bones. I realized they are pretty informative while still allowing children to have fun. Having interactive activities were the children can learn without the actual trip is very efficient, so money can be saved for other important educational needs. The biggest advantage for me personally would be the ability to visit and see the museums at home. That way the information is not left at the museum, but still accessible for the children. The benefits of virtual museums and virtual fieldtrips are very beneficial for the school and some students. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> I personally went on a memorable field trip and memorable museum visit, which keeps me from fully believing in the capabilities of the virtual museums and fieldtrips. In fifth grade my math class went to the New York Stock Exchange, which has always been embedded in my mind. Seeing the stock floor and some behind the scene rooms for stock marketing really left an everlasting memory because being able to see the finite details like the size and proportions are amazing. I visited the Holocaust Museum and I would never want that to become a virtual museum. Just being in the moment in the museum cannot be replicated virtually. The feelings, the ideas, and the reality of the exhibits and museum cannot be imitated. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> Virtual fieldtrips and museums can serve as an important technological advance to eliminate cost, but some museums cannot be represented or displayed simply in a virtual manner. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 24px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 24px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Assistive Technology Questions and Reflection ** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Questions/Reflection: ** Although I am majoring in special education the biggest information I gained from looking through these websites and videos was that assistive technologies could be simple or complex. Another key component I learned was that there are a variety of technologies that I did not associate with assistive technologies such as hearing aids and Braille. Kathy Schrock’s special education page definitely stood out for me because as a special education teacher I would love to have a page which links me to so many websites as hers does. The links are both informative and helpful in so many ways, so Kathy’s page definitely is one I will remember and use in the future. Assistive technologies impress me with how much technology eliminates the special education gap with other students. Also, the variety of assistive technologies is very promising because students with special needs are not being inhibited from learning because there is an assistive technology out there to help with any disability. I have not been exposed personally to a situation where I have seen students with disabilities using the assistive technologies, but I have seen how helpful they are from different movies and clips. As I progress in my teaching career I will always remember that assistive technologies help eliminate the educational gap, as well as provide opportunities that students with disabilities can do anything they want including play instruments. Lastly, I want to remember that special education is still a developing area, but there are so many resources and websites out there for your help whether it is for using assistive technologies or just to help a teacher that is not familiar with students with disabilities. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 24px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 24px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Using Excel to teach patterns in Math ** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">//<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Using Excel to teach patterns in Math // is an article, which describes ways to integrate basic technologies into the classroom. The author show how the program excel can be used to create pattern assignments for kids, as well as using the program find errors in the children’s process. Using excel creates a simple way to manipulate shapes and numbers to create patterns for children to use. Simple codes can also help keep track of the dates of the assignments and simple codes help keep the assignments from being the same thing every time because random numbering or patterns can be used. This author integrates excel into her teaching to help show different symbolic patterns. Using more complex patterns help challenge the students and allows them to think more abstractly at an earlier age. Thus, helping them be more prepared for future math courses. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Reflection: ** Reading this article was somewhat helpful in changing my perspective on technology in the classroom. This article opened my eyes to the simplicity sometimes needed in order to integrate technology successfully into the classroom. In the article, the teacher used excel which is a simple program using obtained through getting word and power point. I believe that excel is a simple program because most teachers and students have greater opportunity to use these programs. Sometimes the most obvious things are often overlooked and for me I would have never thought using excel. I think the idea of using excel was both creative and effective because although it is not the most fancy program it gets the job done. In the article, she talks about coding to make the program more teacher friendly which is another plus because excel is commonly known, so the teachers may not be as frightened to take a risk on this technology. Lastly, the teacher talked about using excel to let students try more complex patterns and to think more abstractly. I think this teacher uses excel correctly as a technological aid because she allows students more opportunity to become more familiar with patterns. Also, she allows the students mind to be challenged, which is important in providing an interesting, yet substance filled lesson.