Monthly Archives: February 2012

Making best use of symbols

disability, Literacy, New technologies, software, special needs, ,
Feelings grid from Mayer-Johnson
Feelings grid from Mayer-Johnson

I spent the afternoon in Leicester with teachers, teaching assistants, speech therapists and people from the NHS. We gathered together courtesy of Mayer-Johnson to learn more about practical uses of PCS symbols. This covered both print materials for displays or for children to take home as well as activities which have been devised especially for BoardMaker.

Carol Allen and Ian Bean, both national experts in assistive technology for schools, led off with three really good sessions:
• The value of symbolic communication in education – proven theories and practical strategies.
• Explosively exciting supported learning strategies to bring the curriculum to life.
• Symbols for transition & behaviour – symbol based strategies for tackling tricky areas and challenging behaviour.

There was so much to take away from the day. Both Carol and Ian have a fund of stories of children they have worked with. These included the child up a mountain who was so distressed because he had no idea what was happening or whether he would be stuck up there forever. Visual timetables are not just useful in the classroom but for showing what will happen next in real life.

Then we heard about the school which links symbols with physical activities so children walk round the school on a treasure hunt, looking for where copies of a particular symbol are hidden, matching symbols on a piece of paper with the symbols on a hopscotch grid.

We heard about useful life skills work.  Put symbols for a sequence on a digital key ring so a pupil goes off to a particular shop to buy certain items and bring them back to school. There is even a symbol reminder than they need to say thank you.

But you can also combine symbols with the animation program Crazy Talk. Take a symbol and make it talk to you so the symbol and the concept it represents come to life. Even better, many children with learning disabilities are able to do this for themselves so it should be within the realm of possibility for most staff.

EAL and other resources
SEN and EAL resources

Kerry Vacara of Mayer-Johnson rounded up the day by introducing the audience to profiles of different learners and staff. Groups had to decide how to provide support and what symbol resources would help.
For more information about Mayer-Johnson training events see http://www.mayer-johnson.co.uk/seminars/ They can also advise on in house training events.
Carol Allen and Ian Bean also provide training and consultancy. See http://www.ianbean.co.uk/

Go On: Be Brilliant!

disability, Literacy, New technologies, software, special needs
image from Smart notebook
Classroom resource from Stanley School on the Wirral

Brilliant Ideas for using ICT in the Inclusive Classroom from David Fulton books has just been published. I wrote this with Angie McGlashon who is a great trainer and has her own website . The idea was to show the power of technology to make things happen in a classroom and to give less confident teachers some hints and tips as well as clear How to … sheets.

Young people are growing up in a world where visual images are as important as words. Some pundits claim that YouTube is beginning to challenge Google as a search engine. Digital video and podcasting are immediate and direct but many teachers still rely heavily on discussions, reading and writing even though it disadvantages up to a third of their class.

For technology to take off in a school, it needs to be easy to use and to solve a problem. If reading and writing are barriers for children in your classroom how do you get them to engage with the curriculum? Think digital animations: Newman School a Specialist School for Cognition & Learning in Rotherham did and now they have pupils who know all about King Lear which is pretty unusual for children at KS3.

Using digital video helped focus pupils’ attention at Frank Wise School in Banbury, “Using slow motion has been a great way to draw attention to a key point,” said head teacher Sean O’Sullivan. “For example, we might roll a toy car down a slope and then do it again on a rougher surface to show the impact of friction but if a child is looking away the point is lost. We can play it back in slow motion so they really focus on what is on screen.

Pupils in Redbridge used Nintendogs as the basis for an entire topic, while Longwill School for Deaf Children in Birmingham used Sony PlayStation Portables (PSPs) to improve language development in British Sign Language (BSL)and English. It also made spelling practice more effective and let children transfer news more easily between home and school.

Brilliant Ideas for using ICT in the Inclusive Classroom contains 50 amazing Brilliant Ideas with suggestions of how you can tailor them for different children and different curriculum areas.  We also have 20 Brilliant Starters to get you going. Enjoy!
You can order the book from Routledge