Today’s class focused on the writing process and students who struggling with writing. Our day consisted of trying different writing assignments each with a different tool. Our first task was to watch a video clip from “Misunderstood Minds”. We watched a little video about Nathan then wrote a short summary (3-4 sentences) of what we watched. We were to use pen and paper for this activity. Then as a small group we were to come up with a writing task analysis (what was happening while we were doing the task). Using pen and paper came quite easily for me as that’s how I roll. I am a pen and paper kind of person. Not so easy for the girls to my side. Lots of searching: for a pen, for paper. One had to use the washroom; one had to blow her nose. So, it took us a bit of time to achieve the attention to task. Then we had to understand what was expected of us. So, there was some discussion as to what were supposed to do. Once the pen was in the hand, many, many things were going on. We had to use our memory to recall and retrieve what we saw on the clip. We had to sequence the parts in order. We had to convert language from what we saw (visual) and heard (auditory). Being teachers and knowing the subject, we were emotionally engaged to the task. We had to use our sensory regulation. We had to concentrate, filtering outside noises and emotionally block out stuff that may be going on at home. This is just scratching the surface. There is tons more that was going on. This is just a brief overview AND I haven’t even got to the actual writing yet. Just picking up the pen involves our core stability. Things like visual motor, sensory perception, pressure control, our vision as well as our posture, to name a few. Then, of course, we have to think about directionality, formation of letters, margins, single space versus double space, capitals, spacing and sound and letter relationships. Again, there is so much more! This activity demonstrated the huge amount of brain power that is involved in attending to such a task not to mention all that is required to do a pencil and paper activity. It is a miracle that students can do it at all!!
So, task #2 was to watch another little video from “Misunderstanding Minds” about a student named Lauren. We were to write a short summary (3-4 sentences) about what we had watched. But instead of pen and paper, we were to use the keyboards on our laptops. Not having to pick up a pen and find paper did eliminate some of the fine motor skills of the previous task. But, we were just using different fine motors skills. Our posture changed, the direction our head was facing changed. But, all the other things that were going on in task #1 were going on in task #2. So, when looking at our students and choosing to have students work on the computer instead of using pencil and paper, we still have to cautious who we are encouraging to do so.
Task #3 looked at Word Prediction programs. The first programs I had a chance to look were Typ-O ($14.99) and Tiki Notes (Free!). Both are word prediction apps from Apple. Both apps find your word (and the next one) from a bank of common English words and phrases. Typ-O has a text-to speech feature and Tiki Notes has a type & walk feature. We had a chance to use the apps, create sentences to experience both word prediction programs. Both programs were pretty simple to use. Yet, I did get a bit frustrated with the weird keyboard of the Tiki Notes. It’s divided up in to six sections, which I didn’t like at all. If it had a standard keyboard, I might have liked it a bit more. And I think my fingers are a bit chunky as I often messed up on typing in the wrong initial letter. No doubt smaller figures would have no problems with the small letters on the keyboard. Students using these word prediction apps would have to have some knowledge of beginning sounds and they would also have to be able to recognize the words they want to use. We also looked at CoWriter which is a word prediction program. It predicts the right word. You can make your own dictionaries. It will read the word aloud. It can work within a standard application like Microsoft Word. Once you place the end punctuation the written text is sent off. Then the text can be printed off (if you like). This is an awesome word prediction program. Really, really simple to use. (While in class I sent an email off to our Resource teacher to see if we have this at school and to my delight she responded quickly with a “yes!”) I can see this program being used by a few of my little guys and I can’t wait to test it out. It looks like a fantastic resource for students who have difficulty producing written work.
We then had time to experiment with WordQ3. This is another word prediction program that works directly within any standard application (like Microsoft Word). When Word Q is turned on, you begin to type a word and it will predict what it is you're trying to type. Word Q will also read it back for you. I didn’t really like the program. It doesn’t have a spellcheck or a dictionary. The floating window was distracting for me. On the upside it only costs $149. But, like most things, you get what you pay for. It doesn’t come close to CoWriter (my opinion).
The last part of our day was using text to speech programs. Little did I know I had one right on my little laptop. Once I maneuvered my way around my programs and found it, I had a very hard time getting it to “start listening”. Over and over and yes OVER again I begged. But, the “listening” was intermittent, to say the least. The few minutes I had its attention, trying to speak clear enough to have the microphone pick up my voice was challenging. Having a quiet environment and knowing exactly what to say are really important factors to ensure success.
So, today’s class was once again, jammed pack with loads of really great resources. FYI- I can’t wait to get my hands on CoWriter.
