"How many ways does Guitar Hero help your brain work better?" I asked. I was working with a boy that needed writing support for some slow processing issues. He was easily distracted and couldn't spell worth a lick.
"Hand-eye coordination," he said. He was very confident, sharp and really knew the laptop we were using. He shared he had a touch-screen tablet laptop at home.
"Good one!" I shared. "What other things do you do that would strengthen your brain?"
"I don't know..." he looked around the room. He was interested but had a hard time staying focused. I prompted him a little and said "You are getting distracted - pull it back in!" with a smile.
And so we worked - but I got him when I had him open "FreeMind" a mind mapping software and we typed "Guitar Hero" in the main cell. He began to label new ones connected with Hand-eye coordination, patterns and memory.
After doing the web of our little writing activity with the mapping, I opened "DSpeech," a talking word processor, and we chose a cool young guy with long hair falling across his eyes for the voice. I showed our student how to shrink both application's windows so he could see his map and copy the words of the main ideas into sentences he typed on the DSpeech text window.
He struggled with the first sentence, and hit "speak" to hear what he had so far. He caught that he had missed a space between two words when he heard them run together and fixed them.
When we were done, he had written 3 sentences, combined his ideas and had correct spelling. He liked to say, "Let's hear everything we have so far" and play it back. There was a sense of progress being made everytime he heard a little more. When he was done and listened to the whole thing, it was ready to be published or converted into an Mp3 sound file for others to hear.
He loved that he could downloaded the Access Apps Suite on a jump drive for free and access them. He could also save his homework on the jump as well - and nothing had to be loaded on a computer. It could all go between school and home.
I shared with the teacher afterwards that we could use DSpeech to write some writing prompt directions and save them to open so he could hear what he was going to do, then open Freemind and have an assistant help him organize his thoughts, then use DSpeech or another tool like Natural Reader by Naturalsoft to write and proof read through text to speech. These are two free tools that can really support developing ideas and provide an order to writing so a student gets guidance through the process visually. I showed him "The Sage" a dictionary and thesaurus that gives him word ideas. If he can't spell a word we will work with a free spell checker tool and get that going for him too.
I had buy-in and interest today as I worked on teaching this student these tools. Using Guitar Hero, gave me instant appeal factor for the assignment as well! Why not try some popular theme ideas to get your students to learn support tools that will strengthen their writing and literacy - maybe you will make self-accommodators out of them in the process!
All the best to you,
Lon
Lon Thornburg is an assistive technology specialist and professional development trainer who lives in Oregon and serves 12 districts in 7 counties. He hosts the No Limits 2 Learning Blog and The No Limits 2 Learning Live Talk Show on Blog Talk Radio. He is sharing as a contributing writer on LD LIVE!
12 comments:
Lon,
Isn't it tremendous when things just click and a student feels competent and successful? Success stories are great to share.
I didn't know about DSpeech - looks like one of the cool things you can do is assign a different voice to quoted text. I wish it highlighted each word as it reads it back.
Do you know how to change the avatar? I don't see any other choices.
Ok, just spent some more time and got the answer to my question. By changing the voice, the avatar automatically changes.
The Speech recognition worked well for me - did you try it with your student? I've tried a number of different programs and they all recognize my voice quite well. It's a different story, especially for middle school age girls.
This is a awesome tool! I'll add it to the UDL Tech Toolkit Wiki (http://udltechtoolkit.wikispaces.com)
Hi Karen,
Just checked in and saw your comments. I am glad you are having fun with this. I am doing a lot more with it and trying it with students...I too wish it highlighted words as it read. I use the Natural Reader free version for that when I know students need the tracking support.
Thanks for your comments!
blog is presented in a nice way!!
Computer Repair Long Island
‧租辦公室‧租店面‧買辦公室‧店面租賃‧店面出租‧店面出售‧花茶‧花草茶‧養生茶‧招牌‧led招牌‧招牌製作‧美國月子中心‧保養‧美國月子中心‧OBU‧投審會‧會計師事務所‧會計師‧工商登記‧公司登記‧包子‧肉粽‧宅配美食‧四神湯‧搬家公司‧訂房‧訂房網‧花東旅遊‧桃園土地‧桃園房屋仲介‧桃園房屋‧桃園房屋網‧桃園房屋買賣‧漆彈‧搬家公司‧會場設計‧展場設計‧會場設計‧展場設計‧展覽設計‧消防設備‧消防設備‧機電‧崴立機電‧消防公司‧地板施工‧超耐磨地板‧店面出租‧乳癌‧全身健康檢查‧肝癌‧健康檢查‧身體檢查‧飛梭雷射‧雷射溶脂‧直航機票‧自由行‧三久‧太陽能‧三久太陽能‧太陽能熱水器‧別墅外觀設計‧環保袋‧別墅外觀設計‧室內裝修‧電波拉皮‧hand dryer‧電波拉皮‧雷射溶脂‧肉毒桿菌‧系統家具‧台中漆彈場‧漆彈‧團體服‧美國月子中心‧團體服
‧團體服‧團體服‧T恤‧圍裙‧POLO衫‧班服‧團體服創意‧熱轉印‧團體服訂做‧宜蘭民宿‧關鍵字廣告‧seo‧網路廣告‧網路行銷‧seo‧網站設計‧seo‧線上客服‧seo‧網頁設計‧seo‧網頁設計公司‧網路行銷 ‧網路行銷‧桃園室內設計‧室內設計作品‧室內裝潢‧裝潢‧室內設計‧室內設計公司‧裝潢設計‧豪宅空間設計‧店面設計‧豪宅設計 ‧桃園室內設計公司‧別墅外觀設計‧室內裝潢設計‧台北室內設計‧新竹室內設計‧法拍屋‧中古車‧二手車‧環保袋‧環保袋‧肉毒桿菌‧健檢‧醫學美容‧淨膚雷射‧汽車美容‧法拍屋‧水餃‧清潔公司‧實驗動物‧到府坐月子‧坐月子‧坐月子中心‧坐月子餐‧孕婦‧月子餐‧到府坐月子‧坐月子‧坐月子中心‧坐月子中心台中‧坐月子中心台北‧月子餐‧月子中心‧坐月子餐‧月子餐外送
‧月子餐食譜‧找工作‧統一發票7 8月‧求職‧1111求職人力銀行‧104求職人力銀行‧104人力銀行‧統一發票5 6月‧104人力銀行‧104求職人力銀行塑膠袋‧統一發票1 2月‧塑膠袋批發‧塑膠袋工廠‧金價‧黃金價格‧統一發票3 4月‧1111人力銀行‧1111人力銀行求職‧黃金價格查詢‧中古車買賣塑膠袋 ‧統一發票3 4月 ‧塑膠袋批發 ‧中古車 ‧中古車買賣‧台北人力銀行‧金價查詢‧sum中古車‧中古車‧貸款‧信用貸款‧房屋貸款剖腹生產 命理網 姓名學 姓名配對 星座 星座運勢 算命 開運印章 風水 外遇 徵信 徵信社 外遇 徵信 徵信社 外遇 徵信 徵信社 外遇 徵信 徵信社 外遇 徵信 徵信社 外遇 徵信 徵信社 搬家公司 搬家公司 台北搬家公司 新竹搬家公司
牙醫,植牙,矯正,矯正牙齒,紋身,刺青,創業,批發,皮膚科,痘痘,中醫,飛梭雷射,毛孔粗大,醫學美容,痘痘,肉毒桿菌,seo,關鍵字行銷,自然排序,網路行銷,自然排序,關鍵字行銷、seo,部落格行銷,網路行銷,seo,關鍵字行銷,自然排序,部落格行銷,網路行銷,牛舌餅，婚紗，台中婚紗,腳臭,腳臭,腳臭,腳臭,腳臭,腳臭,腳臭,腳臭,高雄婚紗,街舞,小產,雞精,紋身,刺青,性感,辣妹,雷射溶脂,雙下巴,抽脂,瘦小腹,微晶瓷,電波拉皮,淨膚雷射,清潔公司,居家清潔。
性感睡衣,情趣睡衣,性感內衣褲,性感內衣,性感內褲,
性感貓裝,性感睡衣,貓裝,吊帶襪,情趣內褲,丁字褲,SM,
震動環,潤滑液,情趣禮物,情趣玩具,威而柔,精油,逼真按摩棒,數位按摩棒,
G點,按摩棒,轉珠按摩棒,變頻跳蛋,跳蛋,無線跳蛋,
飛機杯,男用強精長軟質套,男用強精短軟質套,充氣娃娃性感內褲,
自慰套,自慰套,情趣娃娃,自慰器,電動自慰器,充氣娃娃,
角色扮演,情趣,情趣用品,巴黎,
araç sorgulama
sorgulama
ehliyet
açıköğretim
bağkur sorgulama
ssk sorgulama
emekli sandığı
cinsel bilgiler
radyo dinle
korku
evlilik
ssk hizmet dökümü
ssk emeklilik sorgulama
hikaye
bağkur hizmet dökümü
gazeteler
ilan
ssk
evlilik sitesi
ehliyet sınav sonuçları
iş ilanları
bağkur
gazete oku
情趣用品,情趣,
角色扮演,吊帶襪,丁字褲,飛機杯,
自慰套,真愛密碼,
自慰套,自慰器,充氣娃娃,
性感丁字褲,AV,按摩棒,電動按摩棒,情趣按摩棒,
潤滑液,SM,情趣內衣,內衣,性感內衣,
按摩棒,變頻跳蛋,跳蛋,無線跳蛋,G點,
角色扮演|跳蛋|情趣跳蛋|煙火批發|煙火|情趣用品|SM|
按摩棒|電動按摩棒|飛機杯|自慰套|自慰套|情趣內衣|
live119|live119論壇|
潤滑液|內衣|性感內衣|自慰器|
充氣娃娃|AV|情趣|衣蝶|
G點|性感丁字褲|吊帶襪|丁字褲|無線跳蛋|性感睡衣|
Post a Comment