Always Thinking Like a Teacher

Linda and Sport

My nine year old Labrador retriever, Sport, and I have been members of the Alliance of Therapy Dogs for the past two years.  As a Therapy Dog Team, we volunteer our time greeting patients, visitors, and staff members at a hospital in Plant City, Florida.   In addition to the visits made at the local hospital we visit a pediatric rehab center in Plant City, an assisted living facility in Zephyrhills, and the Lifepath Hospice House in Ruskin. Within 14 months of service, Sport and I completed over 200 site visits working with over a thousand adults and children.  Sport’s main mission in life is to give pieces of his heart to those in need.   

I wanted to give people something special to remember Sport and our visits.  Creating a trading card with a photo of Sport and some fun facts would accomplish this goal. I love to take photos and Sport is one of my favorite models. 

Using Microsoft’s PowerPoint I was able to create a trading card by changing the slide size to 4 inches by 6 inches. Then insert a photo and add some fun facts in a text box.  The finished product is saved as a jpg file to be printed out in a photo format. For about ten cents per photo (sale price) I ordered 100 (4 x 6) copies in a matte finish.  The photo prints look very professional. The reactions of those receiving Sport's card are priceless! I have given away over 1200 cards already and plan to continue distribution. In addition to Sport's card I created a Therapy Dog Trading Card for Dipaolo, Bonnie, and Pooch. These dogs and their handlers are active at the local hospital and members of the Alliance of Therapy Dogs.  

Several people have asked me how they can create their own cards. I created a web site which includes a video tutorial and printed instructions for the process of making trading cards using PowerPoint.  The web site explains why I created a Trading Card for my dog, Sport and there is a link to the Alliance of Therapy Dogs web page.   As a retired teacher I wanted to take this ideas one step further. Students could create trading cards on many different subjects and ideas. My web site called “Trading Cards – Trading Knowledge” includes educational activities for the classroom.  After submitting a proposal to the International Society for Technology in Education, I was invited to present a session on this topic for their conference in San Antonio, Texas on June 25 and Microsoft Education sponsored my presentation!

There were 22,000 people participating in this event.  The feedback from those attending my session was very positive. The web site I created registered over 400 hits. 

Below is a link to my blog which contains another link to the “Trading Cards – Trading Knowledge” web site:  https://goo.gl/VN3kUE  Please feel free to share this web site with others.  

Trading Cards - Trading Knowledge

https://sway.com/yMv1nuc4MXbiLEBB 

Please post your suggestions/feedback below and, if applicable, include how you plan to use 

"Trading Cards- Trading Knowledge" in your classroom.  

Thank you!

Label the World Using Microsoft's Photosynth Program

Label the World Using Microsoft's Photosynth Program

Many special needs students require help developing and expanding their vocabulary.  The experiences they have may be limited making it difficult to connect concepts to words.  Microsoft's Photosynth is a powerful tool which can connect concepts through images and words by linking identifying words to objects in a series of images.  

Imagine creating a panorama view of the classroom.  First step is to take a series of photographs inside the classroom with a digital camera.  Next, the images are hyperlinked together using Photosynth.  The result produces a virtual classroom where descriptions and labels can be attached to any objects in the room.  

Below are the step-by-step directions to follow once the photographs have been taken are are placed in a folder on the computer desktop.

Linda Hunter, M.Ed.
West Chester University
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Microsoft Innovative Educator
National Senior Trainer- Intel(r) Teach Program
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Part Time Professional Development for Clarity Innovations, Inc.     

Accessibility for Students with Mobility and Dexterity Impairments

Accessibility for Students with Mobility and Dexterity Impairments

I am blessed with two coordinated hands capable of typing words at warp speeds.  That was not always the case.  Several years ago I fell and broke my wrist in two places.  Fortunately, I was not left like Humpty Dumpty.  A wonderful talented surgeon came to my rescue.  She was able to put everything back together with the assistance of a plate and nine screws.   For the next twelve weeks everything I needed had to be accomplished with my one good hand.  Working in a timely fashion was frustrating, tiring, and painfully slow.  I desperately wanted to keep up with my colleagues and did not want to become a burden to my team.

The emotions I experienced were the same feelings Brian experienced when faced with his physical challenges.  Brian was a high school freshman in one of my classes.  He was burned on over 90 percent of his body from a house fire.  As a result of this accident Brian became a quadriplegic.  He had very limited use of his hands.  His speech was unaffected but the rest of Brian’s body struggled with day to day mobility and dexterity limitations.  Assistance for both of us was found within the Windows Operating System of our computers.

Windows Speech Recognition is a free software program that makes it possible to use a computer without a mouse or a keyboard.  Windows Speech Recognition translates spoken words into actions or text.

Two steps must be completed before engaging this wonderful program.

For the first step, a microphone must be set up.  If the computer has a built in microphone that will work; however, the use of a headset will eliminate some of the background noise heard by the computer thereby improving the accuracy of the speech recognition.  I have used both input options successfully.  Once the microphone is ready to use, run the set up microphone program by typing “set up microphone” in the desktop search box.  Next, click the “set up microphone” selection and follow the prompts.  A sample sentence read by the user confirms the microphone is working.

For the second step, the user must run the Speech Recognition training program.  The training program serves two purposes.   The program begins to learn how you pronounce your words as it matches the sounds you produce to individual words read from selected training passages.  The dialectic differences in spoken words do not affect the program accuracy to translate the sounds into actions or text once the training passages are successfully completed.  A student in my class with a very Hispanic dialect did not have any issues using this program because he completed the training program before running the speech recognition program.  Another benefit to running the training program happens once the user chooses the first selection of passages to be read during the training exercise. This selection provides instructions and guidance on the use of the Speech Recognition program.  The program establishes a profile for each individual user.  This becomes important when multiple users are running the program from the same workstation.  At a later date, if accuracy becomes an issue for any user, the Speech Recognition training program may be run again. In that case the user may select any one of the passages to read during the training exercise.

When I started using the program, I printed a list of verbal commands and taped the list over my computer for reference.  This list was a great resource to use while learning the commands for moving around a computer.

I used Windows Speech Recognition to write this blog!  Even though both of my hands are working again it is always nice to give your hands a break every now and then.

Linda Hunter, M.Ed.
West Chester University
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Microsoft Innovative Educator
National Senior Trainer- Intel(r) Teach Program
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Part Time Professional Development for Clarity Innovations, Inc. 

Accessibility for Low Vision Students

I began my career in education as a diagnostic prescriptive teacher in the field of specific learning disabilities for students in K-12 classrooms.  My goal was to find methods and strategies that would help students reach their full potential.  Through observation and assessment of individual students I made recommendations to classroom teachers for the best methods and strategies to use with their special education students.  In some cases I modeled those practices in a co-teaching environment to ensure a successful transition.   Helping students reach their full potential is a goal which has driven my entire career as an educator.

In this blog I would like to share some methods and strategies I have successfully used with my students.  In my first case you will meet Rosemary.  She was a first grader with cerebral palsy.  Rosemary was also legally blind.  On a typical day she sat in the back of the classroom and did not interact with the teacher or other students.  Rosemary never acted out in a bad way and it was easy to forget she was a child that required special attention.  I noticed that Rosemary would pick up objects and hold them very close to her face.  In an effort to determine what Rosemary could actually see, I picked up a magic marker and drew a vertical line on a piece of paper.  Holding her hand in an upright position I told her a vertical line runs up and down in the same direction as her hand.  I repeated this exercise using a horizontal line and a horizontal hand position.  Once I knew she understood the concept I drew several thick black lines and asked her to identify the line direction as vertical or horizontal.  In each case Rosemary successfully identified the line direction.  Next I wrote her name with the thick black magic marker.  She started to giggle when I read her name.  That was a major breakthrough for both of us.  At that point in my career there were no large print books for children.  I hand printed everything Rosemary read.  This was a very time consuming task.

Today… things are different.  There are so many options available to teachers and students through the use of technology. 

Option # 1:  Copy text, paste into a word processor and change/resize font as needed.  This option works great when text can be captured, copied, moved, and changed. 

Options # 2: Use the “Magnifier” tool for a closer look at any information or program on the computer screen.  To locate the “Magnifier” tool, type magnifier in the desktop search box.  Next, click the magnifier program name which will immediately engage the magnifier.  The magnifier menu bar allows the user to change the view from full screen to lens view or docked view.  Experiment with the different views to see which one works best.  To disengage the magnifier program click the X in the right corner of the magnifier menu bar.  If the menu bar is not visible, click on the magnifying glass.  This action will return the magnifying menu bar to desktop screen where the program can be closed.

Option # 3:  The Internet is easier to see and explore with accessibility settings and features in Internet Explorer 11.  This web browser makes it easier to copy and paste text from Web pages to word processors.  This browser also has a built in zoom feature usually found on the right side of the status bar.  Click on the percent drop down arrow and select the required magnification needed or click directly on the number to cycle between 100-125-150 and back to 100.  Clicking directly on the number is a great way to give text a little boost quickly.  If the use of another browser is preferred the zoom feature will be included.  Check the browser's help menu to learn how to use this feature. 

All three options have been included in the following piktochart:

To view this piktochart online click the following link:  https://magic.piktochart.com/output/8706398-accessibility-for-low-vision-students 

I use all three options in my daily life... as I am getting older and my vision is not what it used to be.  I believe we need to make our devices work harder not our eyes.  Using accessibility features enables all students to have the same educational opportunities.

Linda Hunter, M.Ed.
West Chester University
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Microsoft Innovative Educator
National Senior Trainer- Intel(r) Teach Program
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Part Time Professional Development for Clarity Innovations, Inc.