We’ll Be at CEC!

Come see the the VizZle road warriors at The Council for Exceptional Children’s 2010 Convention & Expo April 21-24, 2010 at the Gaylord Opryland in Nashville, Tenn. Pick up chatchkes and see our demos at booth 621! For more info, visit the CEC website.

From the Front profiles VizZle users in the classroom making special education work despite all its inherent difficulties. This week meet Courtney Monastra, Autism Unit teacher in the Highland Local School District…

Title/Job Description: Autism Unit teacher, 4 boys grades 2-4

Where do you teach? Highland Local School District, Hinckley Elementary School

What are the age range and ability levels of the kids you work with?

I have 1 second grade boy, 2 third grade boys, and a 4th grade boy. They all have a wide range of abilities. They all have difficulty with communication skills. We work on academics at their instructional level, communication skills, social/emotional skills, and daily living skills to foster independence. We run a very structured classroom where they work in individualized program books that are fostered to meet their individual goals on a daily basis. All of the students complete independent work that is tailored to their instructional level of mastered material. The students all have rewards worked in using technology and leisure materials.

How did you use visuals before having access to VizZle?

We used Boardmaker or clipart to label most everything in our classroom. Many of the students use schedules that use picture icons or words. Each student has an individual work area and items in the room, all labeled with pictures and a specific color. The students complete independent work using the TEACCH system where bins are labeled with pictures, and they match the pictures from a task strip. This visually lets the students know what they have to do for that specific work period. We have choice boards where the students select their leisure choice using picture icons. The students complete daily chores described by picture icons so they are able to make choices.

My students are able to understand better when presented with material visually. I often can try to talk out a problem and am unsuccessful. When I use pictures to communicate, it is easy for them to understand. I often use a social story (which is a story combining pictures and words to describe appropriate interactions) to help with difficult situations and changes that happen in our classroom.

I always have tried to incorporate technology wherever I could. Many of the students are able to focus better when hooked into a computer with headphones and eye-catching graphics. Technology is very motivating, however much of it is too complex for some of my students. Vizzle is made so we can tailor it to each student’s individual needs. It is appealing, but not overwhelming with extra sound effects and graphics.

How do you use visuals now that you have access to VizZle?

I use visuals the same ways I always have, I just have more time now! I also am able to put students on a playlist of tasks using the computer rather than hand made materials. This saves lots of space and time. I am able to search or create lessons, save them to a child’s specific folder, and then create playlists for them to complete according to what goals we are working on that day. The students love it, and it is quick, easy, and space-saving for me.

In our class, we always have tons of file folder games and hands-on manipulatives that are great, but take up a lot of space for storage and take hours to make. With VizZle we are able to have hundreds of different learning activities and store them in files on the computer. It is much easier to keep an organized simple classroom this way.

In your experience, how do kids w/ Autism react to material on a computer screen or writeboard vs. material presented tabletop/on paper?

My students with Autism are very motivated by technology. In Vizzle when they get an answer correct it gives them instant gratification, with hands clapping or throwing stars. At the end of a lesson they get to build puzzles of their favorite characters. Technology is also very visual and straight forward. People tend to over-talk when explaining things–computers don’t.

Using a writeboard is great because it lets the student use a motivating tool, but also has the hands-on piece that helps them absorb the material. VizZle is great because it is tailored to the exact goals the student is working on. It is motivating, but not too crazy with wild graphics and sound effects that may be appealing to a typical student, but can overwhelm a student with autism.

Is there any specific point about using visuals (either in general or specific to VizZle) you feel is important to get across to others in the field who work with kids with autism?

It is a huge time saver. It is very easy to organize your students’ tasks without having to find tons of storage. I can sit down in the morning and decide to do something with penguins. I can search it and instantly have 10 lessons about penguins already made that I can choose from. I am able to make lessons in 10 minutes, and save them to use instantly or in a year. I don’t always have to find the material, print it, cut it, laminate it, and put Velcro on it. It saves tons of time.

The playlists are just like the TEACCH work bins we use but without all the materials all over the classroom. It is really ideal for keeping a simple work space which is best for students with Autism. It is a great tool that a bank of talented educators are adding to constantly. It gives you the opportunity to sit down and instantly have hundreds of lessons that are ideal to meet your students’ needs.

From the Front profiles VizZle users in the classroom making special education work despite all its inherent difficulties, this week featuring Katherine Deneke, M-SLP, CCC-SLP, from Brunswick, Ohio, an SLP and an inventive VizZle author. Meet Katie and see a sample of her ingenious lessons…

Katie is a truly creative VizZle author, with a flair for using VizZle’s audio capabilities.
Her work has been a great addition to the VizZle shared library.

Check out a sample of some of the great lessons Katie has created:

ID 7119 What is a Conversation?
ID 6610 Starting a Conversation
ID 7117 Is This a Conversation?
ID 7124 Conversation Topics
ID 8053 Ways to End Conversation
ID 9113 First Reaction
ID 9115 Controlling Emotions
ID 8677 Synonyms
ID 6510 Fall Rhyming

(Editor note: Katie kindly agreed to be interviewed about an article on VizZle that will be featured in the next issue of Closing the Gap Magazine. Below are the question and answers she was asked in that context.)

Name
Katherine Deneke, M-SLP, CCC-SLP

Title/Job Description
Speech-Language Pathologist
Brunswick City School District

Where do you teach?
In Brunswick, Ohio at the Hickory Ridge Elementary School and
Brunswick High School

What are the age range and ability levels of the kids you work with?
Mild-Moderate Students, Grades K-5
Moderate-Intensive Students, Grade 9 to Age 23

How did you use visuals before having access to VizZle?
Before acquiring a license for VizZle, I relied on Boardmaker for visual icons. Often times I would create visuals for PECS, scheduling, scripting, and cuing.

The Boardmaker program satisfied basic needs, especially with the moderate-intensive population. Still, the visuals were not always very motivating to students, in that they were never technologically interactive in nature. Also, many times the icons I previously used were not representative of the meaning I was trying to convey. Black and white drawings do not often hold a lot of meaning for students with autism.

How do you use visuals now that you have access to VizZle?
With VizZle, I am able to meet the needs not only of the moderate-intensive population, but also my mild-moderate students. The VizZle games and matching boards are ideal for small group lessons or whole group inclusion activities. I have been able to use the program not only for students with autism, but also for articulation, vocabulary, phonemic awareness, and language activities. Also, VizZle allows me to create social stories with the greatest of ease.

In addition, I think VizZle makes it very easy to import real-life representations of objects. Once the objects are imported into the program, I am able to save them and easily access them again in the future. These real-life representations hold much more meaning for students with Autism than black and white symbols with little relation to the objects they mean to symbolize.

In your experience, how do kids w/ Autism react to material on a computer screen or writeboard vs. material presented tabletop/on paper?
When we implement VizZle activities on our district’s newly purchased Smart Boards, students with Autism are absolutely more engaged. They enjoy not only the static icons, but also the icons paired with sound and video. By accessing more than just the visual modality, the students seem to respond better.

Is there any specific point about using visuals (either in general or specific to VizZle) you feel is important to get across to others in the field who work with kids with autism?
I just feel that visuals are so essential for students with Autism. They need to be accessed across the curriculum, and also to aid communication during social activities.

Thanks Katie!
We appreciate your sharing your hard work and expertise with us all!

Next on the MTT employee Hot Seat is Kim Moritz M.Ed., Autism Software Consultant (and excellent lesson author!) at Monarch Teaching Technologies. Find out how she answered questions like “What is your Secret Super-Hero Name?”

Name: Kim Moritz

Photo Caption: Prom 2008

Position: Autism Software Consultant

Touchscreen, Stylus, Keyboard or Pen? Depends! Touchscreen if it is working and oriented, keyboard if I need to get things done quickly and neatly, pen IF none of my gadgets are working (which has been known to happen).

Favorite Music? Anything that I can dance to…although “rap is crap”

Cat, Dog, Fish or Pet Rock? All of the above. With a degree in biology, I love them all. I also grew up on a farm and lived on one until about five years ago. These are the animals that I have raised: cats, dogs, fish, turtles, hamsters, ducks, chickens, turkeys, skunks, sheep, pigs, pot bellied pigs, guinea pigs, goats, pygmy goats, and ferret. These are the animals that I have dissected: human, cat, shark, pig, frog, fish, clam, earthworm, crayfish, grasshopper, and starfish. By the way, the best spiders and snakes are dead spiders and snakes.

Favorite Website? Anything that will give me the ACCURATE info that I want…the faster the better.

What is Your Secret Super-Hero Name? Wonder Woman

Baseball, Football, Basketball or Dancing with the Stars? Basketball

Zodiac? Gemini, I wish that I had a twin…I have a list of things for her to do!

What Do You Want The VizZle Community To Know About You? Working with VizZle combines three very important things for me: special needs children, education and technology.

Show Us Your Boards:
ID 5556 Back to School with Mrs. Moritz
ID 9168 The Polar Bear
ID 9165 Animal Needs
ID 9736 Groundhog Day
ID 9738 Groundhog Day Words
ID 5543 Fuzzy Wuzzy Was a Bear

This week’s profilee is Jeff Richards, our image database guru, who captioned his picture “Renaissance Geek”…

(more…)

Meet Brian Wiszniewski, of weekly email fame (pictured here @ VizZleville Headquarters). Find out his innermost secrets (or at least how he answered the profile questions)… (more…)

Wondering who is behind these Krispy Kremes of edification and elucidation? Meet the editor!

I made myself the first of the MTT employees you’ll see quizzed here for your edutainment (in part so I won’t feel bad about holding my fellow employees feet over the flames at a later date)…

The Hot Seat Quiz:

Name: Pam Homsher

Position: Director of Communications (or VizZicomunicatrix—but only when I’m allowed to wear thigh-high stiletto boots and carry a whip to work) (TMI?)

Touchscreen, Stylus, Keyboard or Pen? Keyboard (I’m not a total Ludditte. Close… but not total)

Favorite Music? Trop Rock

Cat, Dog, Fish or Pet Rock? Pet rock (Hmmm. I’m sensing a “rock” theme…)

Favorite Website? Currently it’s http://despair.com/ , hilarious (check out their customer disservice, where their motto is “We’re not satisfied, until you’re not satisfied”)

What is Your Secret Super-Hero Name? Bat S**t

Baseball, Football, Basketball or Dancing with the Stars? DWTS unless I’m allowed to play in Bob’s man-cave (long live the F&P). Then Football.

Zodiac? Bull and Dragon

What Do You Want The VizZle Community To Know About You? I’m a conscript in the struggle with autism by an accident of birth (NOT accidental birth, as some read this lol–by accident OF birth–just clarifying for the sake of my reputation ). My weapon of choice is humor. Those of you who volunteer to do battle in the special ed ranks truly amaze, inspire and awe me. My family and I thank you.

Show Us Your Boards: ID 2353 Lets Get Ready To Celebrate, 2800 VHS Tapes, 1670 Morgan Goes on Vacation E

“I am just very impressed with VizZle, not only because of the software, but also because of the people behind it… You are all amazing. This is the future of teaching.”

Jason Gruhl, M.A., Executive Director
The Joshua School, Englewood, CO 80113

“I can’t think a better tool out there to help me with the Autistic kids, It is fabulous.”

Kim Williams
Carbon School District,
Price, Utah

“I LOVE this program!!! The possibilities seem endless! Thanks for your help!”

Kathy Russo
North Canton City Schools
Canton, OH