WTS 3 and 5

Assistive Technology for ID Students

Rebecca Odden
Saint Marys University of Minnesota
Schools of Graduate and Professional Programs
Portfolio Entry for Wisconsin Teacher Standard Three and Five
EDUW 694 Classroom Environment
Catherine Anderson, Instructor

August 1, 2015

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Wisconsin Teacher Standard (WTS) 3: Teachers understand that children learn

differently.
Knowledge. The teacher understands and can provide adaptations for areas of
exceptionality in learning, including learning disabilities, visual and perceptual difficulties, and
special physical or mental challenges.
Dispositions. The teacher believes that all children can learn at high levels and persists in
helping all children achieve success.
Performances. The teacher can identify when and how to access appropriate resources to
meet the needs of students with particular talents.
Wisconsin Teacher Standard (WTS) 5: Teachers know how to manage a classroom.
Knowledge. The teacher understands the principles of effective classroom management
and can use a range of strategies to promote positive relationships, cooperation, and purposeful
learning in the classroom.
Dispositions. The teacher values the role of students in promoting each others learning
and recognizes the importance of peer relationships in establishing a climate of learning.
Performances. The teacher engages students in individual and cooperative learning
activities that help them develop the motivation to achieve, by, for example, relating lessons to
students personal interests, allowing students to have choices in their learning, and leading
students to ask questions and pursue problems that are meaningful to them.

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Danielson Domain 2: The Classroom Environment

Component: 2b Establishing a Culture for Learning

Element: Importance of Learning

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Pre-assessments
Self-assessment of Assessment of Classroom Environment Related to WTS 3 & 5
As a special education teacher I often reflect at the end of the lesson what should I do
different tomorrow or before the next group comes in to meet the needs of my students. Was the
seating arrangement the best option for my student or did I use the best approach with each
student. With so many diverse learners and needs in my classroom I need to widen my
instructional strategies using technology. In my district we have 1:1 I pads in a small group
setting. With this option before students can be more interactive in their learning. There are apps
that will specifically work to each students specific area of disability. For WTS 3 & 5, I want to
focus on how I will use technology to increase my students performance in a small group
setting.
To create a positive learning environment where students are able to grow in their
academic and emotional learning, first the teacher must create environment where students can
promote friendships, learning and a purpose to their room. The reason I chose this knowledge
descriptor for WTS 5 is I believe it up to the teacher to create an effective classroom first, then
model the correct behavior because so many students today dont know what positive behavior is
and how to recognize it.
The disposition descriptor I chose was to believe that all children could learn and achieve
for WTS 3. For WTS 5, I chose the teacher values the role of students in promoting each
others learning and establishing positive peer relationships. These two descriptors work
together in first the teacher must believe in the child and build that child up. While building up

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the child you are creating a positive environment where other students starting feeling success
and help others. It is an amazing event to witness when two students of two different peer groups
help each other because they are in the safe, learning environment. It takes learning for both
students and their peers to the next level.
The performance descriptor WTS 5 states, The teacher engages students in in individual
and cooperative learning activities that help them develop the motivation to achieve. When you
can find the connection with a student that lines the dots up per say. It is so much to watch them
learn. They are excited; asking questions and cant wait to learn something new. This leads to
descriptor for WTS 3, which states, The teacher can identify when and how to access
appropriate resources to meet the needs of students with particular talents. You need to know
how your students learn and what will motivate them. This is often the hardest piece for me,
determining the correct intervention to make gains. How do I help the student move forward in
an area of disability? My current district gives us lots of options for interventions to meet our
students needs.
Assessment of Learning Environment While Learning Targeted Objective(s)
My current teaching assignment is in the Rice Lake Area School District. This is the
largest school district situated between Eau Claire and Superior, providing educational services
to over 2,320 students. There are 320 students identified as requiring special education services,
which accounts for 13.5% of the enrolled students ages 3-21. The district is comprised of seven
school buildings: three elementary schools in the Rice Lake city limits and one elementary
school in Haugen, five miles out of town; one middle school; one high school; and one off site
education facility that houses four different programs that include, an Early Childhood Special
Education program, Montessori Elementary program ages 3-6, an Alternative Program

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(SUCCESS), and a virtual education program (Connections). The Red Cedar building also is the
home of Northern Lakes Regional Academy, a charter school in its second year of
implementation.
The identified mission of the Rice Lake Area School District is to insure each individual
achieves academic excellence and is a compassionate, resilient, productive member of a global
society, by creating a safe and caring environment and engaging each student with a challenging
education in a collaborative partnership of educators, family, and community.
The elementary, middle, and high school leadership teams, in concert with district
administrators, developed district goals: Elementary: by 2015, 88% of our students will meet or
exceed standards in language; Middle school: by 2014-2015, 85% of our students will meet or
exceed standards in language; high school: by 2014-2015, 85% of our students will meet or
exceed standards in Language/English. At this time, the current superintendent is working with
district administrators in the development of a District Improvement Plan in order to achieve
clearly identified and widely articulated district goals.
My current special education caseload ranges between 14-18 5th and 6th grade
students. Being certified cross-categorical I service EBD (Emotional Behavioral Disorder), OHI
(Other Health Impairment), ID (Intellectual Disability) and LD (Learning Disability) students. At
the middle school we are on a 6 period day. I teach and support reading and math to 5th and 6th
grade students. My schedule starts off with zero hour, or our intervention block, where our
whole school is receiving RTI services. Some of my students receive special education minutes
at this time instead of being pulled out of core classes to receive services. The students who are
pulled out are at receiving an alternate curriculum not an enrichment curriculum. All students in

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my district are exposed to common core throughout the day, but also receive academic services
at their academic level.
Then for the remainder of the morning I work with 5th graders for 30-minute
blocks for two hours in the areas of reading, writing and math working toward IEP goals. Often I
have three students in a small group intervention and two students on computer intervention all
at the same time. Then the computer students switch spots with the grouped students and work
on a different area of academic need with me. Around 11:30 a.m. we have a mix of students with
similar abilities come in to the resource room for study hall. This is a resource time for our
students who are performing grade level work. We work on specific skills for that in all the core
academic areas. Around noon, I take a lunch if possible. I only get lunch if no students have a
meltdown or are in the office during that time. At 12:45 p.m. I have three students who come in
for reading and math services. At 2:00 p.m. I support 6th grade math while also providing an
alternative curriculum in the same math class for a below grade level math student. At 3:00 p.m.
we have checkouts and I have a short prep until I go home at 3:45 p.m.
When all of these students receiving small group or one-one instruction. Our room is very
small for the amount of students that attend daily. The room consists of two kidney tables put
together in the front of the room with a row of computers on the side. Our office for 3 teachers is
in the back with the only windows for the classroom located inside. A sensory room with a swing
inside where often students who are taking a break need to leave due to another coming into
takes a break. In the back of the room we have another kidney table where we can hold another
3-4-student group. This room is very workable, but when you have fifteen students during study
hall it fills up fast. We have of the lights out to provide a dimmer room. We are going to be
getting a bulletin board next year that will be great! The main problem with the room is it gets

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really loud and distracting when I am running my schedule from above and Mrs. Gifford is
running a similar schedule. We are looking to obtain another special education room, so that as
teachers we can have a 5th grade special education classroom and a 6th grade classroom due to the
high population in each grade. Currently, if each of those grades the special education population
is about 20% of the grade of 160 students.
While students are in my room, we have access to a range of technology that we use daily
in reading and math. The resources include: smart board, iPads, laptops, computers, and chrome
books. While I am becoming more technology savvy due to my Masters technology class, I dont
feel that my district is as advanced as some districts in my area. Because of this, my future PDP
and SLO goals are both going to be about increasing technology in my classroom and
curriculum.
Throughout my day I use direct instruction as my main type of intervention
because I believe that it helps create an environment where I can build rapport with my students,
create a culture of learning and manage student behavior. Charlotte Danielson lists these on the
framework of teaching. They are the backbone of my day and are how I am able to maintain a
positive environment, but also make lasting relationships with my students. When working with
behavior students and a relationship is built it is much easier to deescalate the situation. To build
this relationship every day in my groups I welcome them and try to give them at least two
compliments because so many of them only get negative comments in other environments. While
this can be a challenge some days, it helps the students and me work together to create a positive
environment where they want to be successful.
This also supports by teaching philosophy of education that is to help all students
who are at different levels and develop to their full potential. Students working together daily,

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creating a positive environment and positive relationships where they are able to grow and learn,
achieve this. The impact of a positive environment when students are together changes each
student and transforms the atmosphere of the class for the better.
Assessment Conclusion and Essential Question to Guide Research
The self-assessment, assessment of student performance, and learning environment
assessment show that I need to utilize instructional strategies more within my small group time.
Using these strategies will help my students make more gains toward their specific IEP goals.
This goal will be reached by having each student use an IPad daily with in the special education
room and also in their regular education room. My essential question comes from the ideas in
WTS 3 & 5: How will I use assistive technology to prepare my students for regular education
or inclusion specifically ID students?
Research Summary
Before I can begin discussing how to use technology in the regular education classroom I
first must define what an ID (Intellectual Disability) student is. The CD designation changed to
Intellectual Disability (ID) this past May 2015. I have researched different strategies to help this
student be successful within the school. While doing this, I have learned a lot about this
disability and have found I truly enjoy working with these students. In this paper I would like to
share the research I have learned and also the strategies that help these students be successful in
school.
As stated by Neours Foundation, there are many causes why a child may be given the
label of intellectual disability including: brain injury, gene abnormality, brain infection, or lack
of oxygen at birth (2015).

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According to the American Association of Intellectual and Developmental

Disabilities, AAIDD, an Intellectual Disability defines the limitations of a person in reasoning,
learning, problem solving and adaptive behavior, which covers a range of social and practical
skills. This disability must be labeled before the age of 18 years old (AAIDD, 2013). To gain
special education services in a school setting a student must meet the criteria for ID as stated in
the Cognitive Disability Evaluation and Decision Making-Guide:
1. Significantly sub average intellectual functioning- this is defined an as IQ standard of
70 to 75 or below.
2. Existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior- Intellectual limitations occur
at the same time as deficits in adaptive behavior with deficits in at least two adaptive
behavior areas.
3. Adversely affects education performance- Academic functioning deficits are found at
the same rate as the limitations of adaptive behavior and intellectual functioning
(Berndt, 12).
The intellectual functioning can only be measured through psychological testing
or an IQ test. A school psychologist or special education teacher usually completes this testing.
WI DPI Consultant, Sandra Berndt, states that to meet eligibility criteria under this component a
child must have a standard score of two or more standard deviations below the mean on at least
one individually administered intelligence test developed to assess intellectual functioning (12).
In my school district the Woodcock Johnson in the most common IQ tests. It is used K-12 to
evaluate and assess achievement of students.
The adaptive behavior has ten components that include: communication, self-care, social
skills, home skills, appropriate skills within the community, self-direction, health and safety,
leisure, applying academic skills, and work. To determine deficits in these in these areas,
interviews and observations of the child are taken. The student must have 2 deficits to qualify in
this area.

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The last area for eligibility is educational performance. To qualify in this area there are two
different categories ages three to five and six to twenty-one. I will discuss ages six to twenty-one
from the Cognitive Disability Evaluation (17). To meet this criteria the student must have a
standard score of two or more standard deviations below the mean on standardized or nationallynormed measured, as measured by comprehensive, individual assessment in: written language,
reading or math.
When a team sits down to determine this label, it is not always black and white. It often is
life changing for the student to be identified. Over the course of the students academic life, they
will be better prepared to function within society if they get the proper training and skills needed
to live a productive life.
When working with ID students there are three strategies that I have found make
them successful in all setting. The first strategy is providing multiple learning styles during a
lesson. I meet this by reading the daily objective on the board to my students. This allows for my
auditory and visual leaners needs to be met. This continues throughout my lessons by having the
students or myself read the directions or examples on our worksheets. The second strategy is
modeling social skills, which are completed throughout the lesson. Seevers and Blank (2008)
stated that
Using instructional strategies for teaching social skills such as modeling, role
playing, positive reinforcement, practice/rehearsal, incidental teaching, prompting, and
coaching would help students initiate and develop positive social relationships with
others, cope effectively with the behavioral demands and expectations of specific
settings, and appropriately communicate and assert ones needs, desires, and preferences
(3).

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The third strategy for making my students successful is also found on the website
Do2Learn which states avoid long, complex words, technical words or jargon (2015). When
speaking with my students less is more. Often these students are 1st and 2nd grade learners. They
can understand five or six word sentences before you need to repeat it again. As reported by
Berndt an IQ of 100 if mean. About 2.3 percent of IQs would be expected to lie below 70. My
population is that 2.3% who need more time on task, directions repeated and academic standards
at their level (13).
My students participate in an inclusive classroom due to the high success rate in behavior
and peer relationships I have seen. The National Association of Special Education Teachers, also
emphasizes the feeling of belonging, positively affects the students self-image and self-esteem,
motivation to achieve, speed of adjustment to the larger classroom and new demands, general
behavior, and general level of achievement that a special education obtains from participating in
an inclusive classroom (1). I as a special education teacher could not agree more!
When ID students attend a regular education classroom, this population may need
assistive technology to be successful in the classroom. Ongoing research and continued
development of new and emerging technologies and assistive technologies are critical to
supporting childrens learning (Boyd, 2008).
The purpose of assistive technology is to Increasing student independence, increasing
participation in classroom activities and simultaneously advancing academic standing for
students with special needs, providing them the ability to have equal access to their school
environment (Cavanaugh, ntd).
An example of assistive technology that would allow an ID student to be more
independent in a core class is kidspiration.

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Kidspiration offers webbing (graphic organizing techniques that build connections

between similar words or ideas); outline writing, reading and writing, social studies and
science and more. Each category has layouts ready for teacher and children to use. A
voice feature that says what the mouse arrow is pointing. The Kidspiration software
program is useful for history, science and pre-math. Children may work alone on many
tasks or work in pairs to assist one another on a complex task (Boyd, 2008).
According to Danielson a distinguished classroom would be a student driven classroom.
For ID students to participate in this classroom they would need assistive technology.
Technology would allow them to work independently with their peers, to turn in work to their
teacher, and to learn more about a particular core subject, which is the goal of inclusion.
Research Implications
The essential question is: How will I use assistive technology to prepare my students for
regular education or inclusion specifically ID students? The first step is to have the students
starting focusing on assistive technology apps during their small group time with me to prepare
them for their inclusion time with their peers. I will use the technology within my classroom,
such as the smartboard to model the technology first and then have the students practice. The app
that I will focus on is a speech to text app first. This will allow the students to have a text at a
higher grade level read to them. This is turn will allow them build confidence in the students and
let them offer to the class discussion. As stated by Cavanaugh the correct way to implement
assistive technology is
A developmental device and/or service could then be used by any number of
individuals who may be experiencing the same developmental lag. Consider a student
who is having trouble with vocabulary, possibly due to a learning disability or the fact

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that English is his or her second language. The student currently uses a talking portable
dictionary to look up new words and their listen to pronunciation. As he/she grows more
familiar with the new words, he/she no longer looks them up as often, gradually
progressing to independence from the talking dictionary.
This is a great example of the how I will use assistive technology with my ID students who have
a limited vocabulary. By introducing the new vocabulary for science that they dont have. These
students will now have those words at their fingertips and be able to attend a class they werent
able to attend before.
Research-based Action Plan
Action Plan Summary Outline
1. I will collaborate with grade level teachers to determine what our students objective
will be one core class.
2. With this information from #1, I will download the correct app on the I pad and begin
teaching the students how to use the I pads during the small group time in my
classroom.
3. I will introduce new vocabulary terms that they will be using in the core class to
model what the tasks completed in the core class.
Action Plan Summary Outlining
I will collaborate with grade level teachers to determine when we should implement the
assistive technology, so that it is done at the beginning of a new unit. To ensure that I am
available or another teacher for modeling and support of I pads. I will have all of the correct apps
downloaded onto the I pads for the students. After the lesson is completed I will collaborate with
the teacher to reflect and implement the changes that need to be made for the next lesson.

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Anticipated Outcomes
My anticipated outcome would be that my ID students are able to participate in
regular education setting, grade level discussion and activities. When my students start
using assistive technology daily they will become independent, their vocabulary will
grow, and they will learn new skills. I will anticipate that their assessment scores will
improve because they can use assistive technology to dictate for them instead of writing.
Post-assessments: Reflection
What Worked (or anticipated what will work) and Why
1. My students will become more independent and confident.
2. My students participated more in regular education, which lead to a strong vocabulary.
What Did Not Work (or anticipate what will not work) and Why
1. You always need to have a backup plan incase technology goes down.
2. My students will learn at different speeds, so some might pick up quite kick on the assistive
technology and others might not.

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References
American Association of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. (2013). Retrieved from
http://aaidd.org/intellectual-disability/definition#.VY9mg_lViko
Berndt,Sandra. Cognitive disability evaluation and decision-making. Evaluation Guide.
sped.dpi.wi.gov/sites/default/files/imce/sped/pdf/cdguide.pdf
Boyd, B.F. (2008). Assistive technology for every child. Montesorri Life: A Publication
Of the American Montessori Society, 20 (1), 30-35.
Cavanaugh, Terence, W. Preparing teachers for the inclusion classroom: understanding
assistive technology and its role in education Retrieved from. https://www.unf.edu
/~tcavanau/presentations/preparing_teachers_for_the_inclu.htm
Danielson Domains 2 and 3 Critical Attributes and Possible Examples. http://tpep-wa.org/wpcontent/uploads/recording-sheet-for-evidence-and-critical-attributes.pdf
DO2Learn.http://www.do2learn.com/disabilities/CharacteristicsAndStategies/Intellectuat
lDisability _Stategies.html
National Association of Special Education Teachers. Promoting Positive Social Interactions in an
Inclusion Setting for Students with Learning Disabilities.
http://faculty.uml.edu/darcus/01.505/NASET_social_inclusion.pdf
Neours Foundation. (2015). What is an Intellectual Disability?
http://kidshealth.org/PageManager.jsp?dn=KidsHealth&lic=1&ps=307&cat_id=20
073&article_set=22892
Seevers, R.L., & Joners-Blank, M. (2008). Exploring the Effects of Social Skills Training on
Social Skill Development on Student Behavior. Online Submission
Wisconsin Department of Public Education. (2015). http://sped.dpi.wi.gov/sped_assmt-extstd.

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Artifacts
~ Welcome Back Video http://oddensped.weebly.com
(Technology Content/Animoto Video)

Artifact #2
List of 10 Great Special Education Apps.
1. See. Touch. Learn
2. Assistiveware
3. Dragon Dictation
4. The Social Express
5. Phonics Genius
6. Speech with Milo
7. I Get It
8. My Visual Schedule
9. Choiceworks Calendar
10. See. Read. Write.

Artifact #3
Examples of Assistive Technology of Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT2pJrArbWs- CD classroom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik1BuiLyMkY- Math and Science Classroom