Free Online Courses for Special Educators

SNOW at University of Toronto is offering two series of free online, self-paced courses. These courses include a variety of educational strategies courses, a Braille course, an introduction to adaptive computer technologies, and a course on universal web design.

"Tuned In To Learning"

"Tuned into Learning" a series of music CDs includes "Skill Building for Students with Multiple Disabilities". Ten songs, including some written to be used with a Big Mack Switch are presented for use in classrooms for learners with severe disabilities. This CD, the others in the Tuned into Learning series and more music for special needs students are available from Songs For Teaching.

Website of the Day - Switch in Time Free Activities

Switch in Time, an adaptive software company, has a number of free switch programs on its website. All twelve programs it offers are for Macintosh only and include Bingo Games, a Morning Meeting Program and other activities for the special needs or inclusion classroom.

Genie Books in Power Point

A bit too tired to post tonight, but link of the day is Genie Books in Power Point. These are downloads of decodeable stories for early readers. Remember, in general Power Point is switch accessible.

Teaching Idea - Household Sounds Activity

On Friday I did a fun activity with my class about household sounds. It was a Powerpoint presentation using (free) Pictograph Symbols and (free) download sound files.

Each sound was taught in a pair of slides. The first slide was a question mark symbol that played the sound. The students would then guess the sound. Then next slide was a picture symbol for the sound with the sound being replayed. I set the background of each slide to black, since the symbols I used were high contrast white on black and tried to chose the sounds with the least ambiguity. The students really enjoyed this activity. Those with hearing impairment had some needed practice and those with visual impairment were able to see the symbols and get the explanation for sounds that they here. Powerpoint slide shows can be run with a touch screen or single switch placed on "mouse click".

I have placed the file on "putstuff" so that anyone who wants to can download it. Go to Noises in My House. It will only be there for 30 days, after that comment and I will send you the file.

Free Professional Development Opportunities

In my state we have to acquire a large number of professional development points every five years. Although school districts do offer some free training, much of the time it is not appropriate for special educators. I have located a free, online professional development courses appropriate for teachers of learner with special needs.

As part of the Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative stemming from the No Child Left Behind Act a free series of online courses are available called eLearning Workshops. Originally presented as face-to-face workshops through the program, the sessions were taped, divided into segments and interspersed with learning activities. Each course is about two hours long, including the activities. Forty-nine states accept these online courses to meet professional development requirements. A number of the courses are appropriate for special needs teachers. Upon enrolling in the program you create a ePortfolio that tracks all the courses you take.

Website of the Day - Building Blox for Autism

Although primarily a website to promote their products and services, Building Blox offers a great set of task ideas. The task ideas are shown through photographs and the concept behind each is clear (be sure to look at more task ideas as well). Most of the activities featured look like they could be made in an afternoon or evening.