Early Childhood Special Education and Assistive Technology Blog

By:   Kimberly Chouinard , EC-SEAT Scholar App Review : SeeSaw Learning During this time of remote learning, as of April 2020, it is important to consider a few features in selecting the right app for your program's needs and students in presenting, monitoring and assessing student performance: 1. How easy is this SeeSaw Learning app to use for teachers? This app is easy to navigate. It offers tutorials and support pages for teacher to support its use. 2. Ease of use for families and security of information? Parents are invited by teacher to join SeeSaw via email using their email and student code.  For remote learning, parents need to join as the "student" in order to complete work and share with teacher on the app. Compatible with several devices including, Chromebooks, computers, iPads, iPhones, Android tablets, Android phones, and Kindle Fire. 3. What ways or modes will this app give teachers to share learning experiences? The app contains a library of activiti...

By: Ryan Keefe , EC-SEAT Scholar The multitude of uses around Khan Academy for teachers and students is phenomenal. Technology is prevalent in our classrooms, and while students in the earlier grades are beginning to learn how to work and use technology, the Khan Academy is fairly easy to use, and a great way to help introduce technology to students in various ways. A wonderful thing about the website as well is the ability for a teacher to tailor the lessons they want teach their students. And allow for developmentally appropriate assignments to be given. It also grants teachers the ability to gather the data to properly assess their students which aligns with the Erickson Institute 's idea that a primary purpose of gathering data is to find the answers to things we do not know. As teachers we must find ways of assessing and understanding our students capabilities, and their ability to learn. With data collection like what the Khan Academy grants, it is simple for teachers to a...

By: Janet Skillin , EC-SEAT Scholar I looked at the website  One Place for Special Needs  from a parent’s perspective, and as an educator. Screenshot of one of the website's search menus  Pro's:  This site is user-friendly for parents and teachers.  The website helps families network and find potential friends for their children. You can search for  “peers”,  put in your zip code and the distance you want to search in miles. Then you receive information about children with the "disability" you chose. On the home page there is a box on the right side of the page “browse by category” that has information on educational advocacy, assistive technology, games, fine motor information and a lot more, for example:  A guide for  educational and special needs apps .  Resource tab with information on diagnosis, disabilities, services, events, and peers....

By: Chelsea Emery, EC-SEAT Scholar Parent involvement in early intervention is very important. I love that I get to meet the parents of every child I work with. This allows me to understand the child better and better support them. As an educator I am trained and experienced in understanding the aspects of development. Parents are specialists of their child. Both of these aspects working together can create great success for the child. Working in early intervention we have the privilege in working in the child’s home with a parent. Working in a home environment is important to support the child with everyday tasks and achieve developmental milestones. Although we are there to work with the child it is important for the parent and educator to be mutually involved to understand how to support their child’s development and learning at home. Many times there are miscommunications between programs and parents. It is important for programs and schools to make sure goals and objectives are c...

By: Chelsea Emery , EC-SEAT scholar  Following Ezra  is an eye-opening book written from a father’s perspective. Tom Fields-Meyer is Abba, the father. He describes his view of the world while raising his son Ezra who has autism. His story explains how Ezra sees life from a different level, and how he does his best to understand and know the unique and extraordinary things about his son. The author writes about events from the past ten years of their lives. He wrote this book with the intention to understand his son and hope to relate to other families who have children with Autism. He breaks down each aspect of Ezra’s autism and really explains what makes him so wonderful and unique. Ezra grew up in a Jewish family with a Rabbi for a mother and two siblings. The authors describes challenges faced by his family that in the end made their relationship stronger with Ezra. The stories about Ezra include the road to his Bat Mitzvah, his tantrums, his explo...