Tactile tools help students with vision impairments

In an article from Makezine.com, folks at the D’Arcy Lab in the Chemistry Department at Washington University in St. Louis are working with 3D printers to help students with vision impairments. A partnership between the Missouri School for the Blind has resulted in the creation of didactic tools to increase the students' ability to measure objects and understand spatial orientation.

To read the entire article, please visit:
http://makezine.com/2016/08/17/3d-printed-spatial-reasoning-tools-visually-impaired/

Using technology to engage students with learning disabilities

Using technology to engage students with learning disabilities is a short 47-page nod to using today’s technology with students who might benefit from it greatly—those with learning disabilities. The book covers why technology, particularly mobile apps with today’s increasing use of iPads in the classroom, can be great tools for students with learning disabilities and suggests some specific apps found to be most useful. It highlights ways text to speech works for reading disabilities and offers websites and mobile apps suggestions for mathematics disabilities.

Want to check it out? Email us at cedir@indiana.edu or use worldcat.org to find it in a library near you.

Mobile App Monday - Seesaw: The Learning Journal

"Seesaw is a student-driven digital portfolio that empowers students of all ages to independently document and share what they are learning at school.

FEATURES:

Easily Capture Student Learning in Any Form

∙ Students can use photos, videos, drawings, text notes, links or PDFs to show what they know and store evidence in their digital portfolio. You can also import directly from over 100 other apps.

∙ When students add to Seesaw, content is uploaded, organized by student, and accessible from any device.

∙ Teachers can browse work from the entire class or for a single student. Optionally, use folders to organize work by subject area project, or assessment standard.

∙ Teachers can flag items in the digital portfolio for follow up or to review at parent-teacher conferences." -iTunes

To learn more about this app, please visit:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id930565184

Teaching students with special needs in inclusive classrooms

Teaching students with special needs in inclusive classrooms "will provide the skills and inspiration that teachers need to make a positive difference in the educational lives of struggling learners. The text is written to meet the needs of those majoring in general education, special education, and blended teacher education programs." -publisher

Want to check it out? Email us at cedir@indiana.edu or use worldcat.org to find it in a library near you.

Mobile App Monday - Recordium

"Recordium is a powerful yet elegant recording app designed for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. Recordium lets you highlight the track while playing or recording audio, helping you focus on the most important parts of your recordings. Attachments such as notes, tags, and pictures can be easily added to any part of the recording. This enables searching among your recordings, allowing you quick access to the most important and highlighted parts of your tracks." -iTunes

Want to learn more about it? Please visit:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/recordium-highlight-annotate/id637494062?mt=8

No Barriers Youth

Interested in a Grand Canyon expedition for students ages 15-19 who are "sighted, blind, [or] visually impaired?" Leading the Way, a program that unites students on incredible adventures around the world, is offering just that--an expedition of the upper half of the Grand Canyon. Participants will learn the adaptive skills necessary to fulfill their roles as members of a diverse team striving to accomplish a common goal.

The next expedition will be held in mid-July. To apply, please visit:

https://fs30.formsite.com/nobarriersusa/form27/index.html

(Un)learning disability: Recognizing and changing restrictive views of student ability

(Un)learning disability: Recognizing and changing restrictive views of student ability offers concrete ways that students, schools, and teachers can unlearn disabling behaviors. It illuminates how social processes of disablement take place, rather than simply describing their influence and looks at settings where students encounter more flexible ideas of ability and intelligence. -from the book description

Interested? Email us at cedir@indiana.edu to check out this title or use worldcat.org to find it in a library near you.

School made easier: A kid's guide to study strategies and anxiety-busting tools

School Made Easier focuses on how to manage both academic stress and the emotions that might interfere with academic success. This book offers teenage students ways to reduce their anxiety, increase their confidence in school, and study more effectively. Strategies such as learning positive self-talk, setting up the proper study environment, and becoming one's own study coach are designed to be fun and easy to learn.

Want to check it out? Email us at cedir@indiana.edu or use worldcat.org to find it in a library near you.

Mobile Learning for All

Using an iPad with your students? Mobile learning for all: Supporting accessibility with the iPad can help. This resource highlights how to use readily available iPad features to make your curriculum more accessible to all students and especially to those with different needs. From universal design with mobile learning to motor supports to executive functioning supports, this book covers it all.

Want to check it out? Email us at cedir@indiana.edu or use worldcat.org to find it in a library near you.

Body Talk: Teaching Students with Disabilities about Body Language

Children and teens with developmental disabilities sometimes have trouble understanding the language of nonverbal communication. With the practical strategies developed by veteran special education teacher Pat Crissey, Body Talk offers more than 100 activities break down elements of body language into teachable components. Role playing, games, art activities, watching video clips, and using worksheets, quizzes, and charts will all help you teach kids how to understand body language.

Want to check it out? Email us at cedir@indiana.edu or use worldcat.org to find it in a library near you.

School-based research: A guide for education students

Whether you're a new classroom researcher or studying graduate level education courses, School-based Research can help guide you through the research process. Now in its second edition, this book has been updated to expand on the best ways to approach, construct and carry out educational research within the classroom.

Interested? Email us at cedir@indiana.edu to check it out, or use worldcat.org to find it in a library near you.

Mobile App Monday - IStudiez Pro

iStudiez Pro can help with...

...ORGANIZING YOUR SCHEDULE

...FOLLOWING UP WITH YOUR HOMEWORK

...SUMMARIZING IT UP FOR YOU

...TRACKING YOUR GRADE/GPA

...KEEPING YOU ALERT

...GUARDING YOUR DATA

To learn more about this app, please visit: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/istudiez-pro/id310636441?mt=8#

The Ball

Who doesn't love a high school prom? The Ball is a wonderful film from Australia that takes a look into the world of students with special needs who get ready to attend their debutante ball. The students at the Ashwood School all have mild cognitive impairments and have varying abilities. They are also at the age when they start becoming interested in the opposite sex and their own futures. The film includes first loves, fist fights and falls on the dance floor interspersed with interviews with parents, the school principal, and intimate moments in their day-to-day lives at home.

Interested? Email us at cedir@indiana.edu to check it out, or use worldcat.org to find it in a library near you.

Aligning IEPs to the Common Core State Standards

Looking for help aligning student IEP goals to instruction, assessment, and grade-level state standards? Aligning IEPs to the Common Core State Standards for Students with Moderate and Severe Disabilities presents a user-friendly template for doing just that. This book features new ideas for aligning IEPS in Language Arts and Math. Self-determination and assistive technology are also explored along with current hardware and software examples used to teach academic objectives.

Want to check it out? Email us at cedir@indiana.edu or use worldcat.org to find it in a library near you.

Project-Based Learning

Project-Based Learning: Differentiating Instruction for the 21st Century is a collection of instructional strategies and assessment methods that will help teachers implement and differentiate project-based learning. Written for all grade levels, the book delivers clear explanations and examples as well as practical advice and numerous resources to help teach the 21st century student.

Want to check it out? Email us at cedir@indiana.edu, or use worldcat.org to find it in a library near you.

Coaching Students with Executive Skills Deficits

Looking for help with students who have deficits in executive skills, including time and task management, planning, organization, impulse control, etc.? Coaching Students with Executive Skills Deficits might help. It's a manual that presents an evidence-based coaching model for helping students who are having trouble with their academics. Guidelines for incorporating coaching into a response-to-intervention framework, identifying students who can benefit, conducting each session, and monitoring progress is included.

Interested? Email us at cedir@indiana.edu to check out this title. Or use worldcat.org to find it in a library near you.

Technology-related Internships for Students with Disabilities

Are you a high school or college student with a disability?

Would you like to gain valuable experience through paid internships and other work-related opportunities?

Are you interested in computing careers?

The Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington and DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology) sponsor the AccessComputing project for the purpose of increasing the participation of people with disabilities in computing careers. It is funded by the National Science Foundation (award #CNS-0540615, CNS-0837508, and CNS-1042260). AccessComputing provides a nationwide resource to help students with disabilities pursue computing fields and computing educators and employers, professional organizations, and other stakeholders develop more inclusive programs and share effective practices.

Want to learn more about it? Visit: http://www.washington.edu/accesscomputing/team_app.html

Inclusive Practices

The best of Corwin: Inclusive practices is a collection that showcases key chapters from critically acclaimed Corwin publications written by renowned authors. Essential topics include IEPs, co-teaching, effective teaching practices, accommodations, and home-school partnerships.

Want to check it out? Email us at cedir@indiana.edu, or use worldcat.org to find it in a library near you.

Leaders of Learning

Looking to foster improvement not only student achievement but at the school and district level as well? Authors Richard DuFour and Robert Marzano have teamed up to create Leaders of learning: How district, school, and classroom leaders improve student achievement. With DuFour's knowledge of professional learning communities and Marzano's rich background in research on effective teaching and leadership, the two have melded their ideas together in one book. It's loaded with advice and scenarios on building essential skills necessary to improve schools. And when schools improve, ALL children can succeed.

Want to know more? Check out this title by emailing us at cedir@indiana.edu. Or use worldcat.org to find it in a library near you.

Assistive Technology in the Classroom

Now in its second edition, Assistive technology in the classroom: Enhancing the school experiences of students with disabilities has even more to share! Focusing on the use of assistive technology to increase independence and participation of students with disabilities, the book emphasizes the relationship between assistive technology and learning, how AT can be incorporated into the curriculum, and provides assessment tools to help pair the student with the appropriate technology.

Want to know more? Email us at cedir@indiana.edu to check out this title. Or use worldcat.org to find it in a library near you.