Comment on a Session

One of the sessions I listened to were "The Ever Evolving Unit Organizer" presented by Amy Wolfe and Jennifer Stowers. I have used the information many times when working with teachers at my school on Unit Organizers and the Sentence Writing Learning Strategies. They even sent me materials via email when I contacted them after the virtual conference. It was useful to hear how they have used the UO's over the years and recent changes they have made to improve them.
Another session that was very useful was a presentation by author Gwen Berry on the Listening and Note-taking Strategy. I had not had the opportunity to train teachers in this strategy before or use it myself. I was able to use the information to improve our note-taking system at my school.

I was so inspired by this session. It seems we've been using the word equity for some time now but this session (and the keynote conclusion) added fuel for the equity fire burning right now.  And the pandemic has revealed so much about the issue of equity.  Increasing sensibilities about culturally relevant teaching will move us along the journey to understanding and working toward equitable practices. 

Also, Janice referred us to Zaretta Hammond's work. I've ordered her book!

I am very interested in learning more about CORGI. My concern is that it is a Google Ap and I am beginning to see Google as a monopoly. Is the government going to step in and dismantle Google sometime? The telephone industry was broken up so many years ago. I struggle with the idea that Google is providing so many school applications to be used with their Chromebook product. Am I the only person thinking about this issue?

I chose to save this session for last as it directly relates to my area of focus in special education. I am working on a multiple year project to implement the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) in multiple districts. We are currently using the Self-Determination Inventory – Student Report (SDI-SR) as a beginning of the year and end of the year measure. Despite my work with these tools and Dr. Shogren, I still learned something new and I left the session with more thoughts and questions for moving forward. As a result of the session I think it would be a great idea to use the SDI-SR with our university’s program for students with intellectual disabilities to support their self-awareness and provide the program staff with an assessment tool to guide intervention and screening tool. If it was used as an initial screening tool it would be great to include parent’s perspective with the SDI Parent Report and potentially the SDI Teacher Report for incoming students. I will definitely follow up with Dr. Shogren.  

The presentation provided great recommendations to increase individual comfort with viewing videos of their own teaching: watch once focusing on the students then watch again focusing on your teaching the second time around and use High Leverage Practices to reflect on teaching. I really liked the idea of not having a grade for the teaching in the video, instead grade the reflection. This takes some of the pressure off the performance. The resources were great. I already looked in to accessing the progress monitoring tool to share with my assessment course. The measures used align with the assessments we teach from the ABCs of CBM by Hosp et al. The data shared on impact of the practice was excellent and encouraging. One presenter’s comment about “Adult learners are motivated by what matters to them” was very thought provoking. I am rethinking the structure of a course to address engagement and this statement validates some of my thoughts on the design.  

The content in the session was interesting. It is great to see technology being used for learning expression and collaboration with younger students. I anticipated seeing SIM strategies taught through the use of technology which would be a great resource to share with my preservice special education teachers. 

I really like the idea of having preservice teachers take the Pearson literacy exams and courses to prepare them with the associated content. In educating preservice special education teachers we have run into the issue where the students do not have the reading skills to administer assessments and teach reading. I would love to hear more about the courses. I am going to share the video with a local special education director. He was a SIM professional developer and always looking for innovative ways to address adolescent literacy needs. The Six Elements of an Adolescent Literacy Program and the Key Questions to Guide Decisions lay out a clear process of how to develop a comprehensive program to address adolescent literacy. I would like to see more information on the interventions used.

It was great to take the time to get updated on the tools available of the websites, change in web addresses, and getting access to new platforms. I did the Webquest in conjunction with this session since many of the Webquest items where covered in this session. 

I am very excited about the About2Be curriculum. I think it would be such a wonderful strategy to use with our university program for students with intellectual disabilities (i.e. GOAL). As a person in the field of self-determination, I have always loved Possible Selves and use other goal setting and transition focused instructional tools. About2Be sounds perfect for the students during their first semester in our GOAL program. It would be something that would meet the needs of the students. There are not that many tools developed for this age level. I am very interested in the work that Michael Hock is doing with Kerrie Shogren and Mike Wehmeyer. I have worked with the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) for years and have used Possible Selves as a precursor to SDLMI on a continuum of instruction for students across grade levels. It will be nice to see them come together.