My name is Jennifer Lenox. I am currently a junior at the University of South Alabama majoring in Special Education. After I receive my bachelor's degree, I plan to continue my education and receive my master's degree and become certified in Applied Behavior Analysis.

This blog is for me to communicate with future employers, employees, parents and collegues.

Monday, April 27, 2009

iGoogle, You Google, Let's All Google

iGoogle, like blogs, is an amazing tool. I already have an iGoogle account set up and plan to use it often in my classroom. Like blogs, you can post homework assignments, upcoming projects, deadlines and helpful links for your students and parents. You can also include games so that your students can just have fun when they log on to your iGoogle page. And you can make your iGoogle page safe for your students.

Using technology today in our classrooms is essential as educators. If we do not take advantage and keep on top of things, our students will 'leave us in the dust'! Also not using technology and teaching straight out of the book can make your class boring, very boring indeed! Children learn best when their learning enviroment is fun, exciting and interesting. Let's get in there and make it so!

Blogs and the Classroom

Blogs are amazing. I believe that every teacher should have a blog for their classroom. Teachers can post homework assignments, tips, project information, and test information on their class blogs. Anyone with an internet connection can log on and view it. Parents of the students of these teachers no longer need ask, "What are you studying in school?", "Do you have homework?", or "What did you do today?". They can just log on to the class blog and see for themselves.

As a future educator, I'm excited about using blogs in my classroom. What an amazing tool! Since I will be teaching students with Autism, I believe that my students will probably not benefit directly from my class blog. But the parents of my students will! I plan to put quite a few helpful links and a lot of class information on it.

Show Me Those PECS!

PECS stands for Picture Exchange Communication System. It is a system of pictures that represent or depict items, actions, activities and ideas. Basically, PECS helps the communicator express his/her wants and needs. It was developed in 1985 by Andrew S. Bondy, Ph.D. and Lori Frost, M.S. CCC/SLP to be used as a tool to help children and adults with Autism and other disorders that impair language initiate communication.

PECS does not require complex or expensive equipment or materials. As a matter of fact, the images are cheap and easy to create. Anyone can create a PEC. It can be a hand-drawn picture, a snapshot, sentence strip, or ready-made images available on PECS websites. PECS is easy to use. It was designed with educators, caretakers, and families in mind and can be used readily in a variety of settings.

To begin communication using PECS, a student is taught to exchange a picture of a desired item, action, or activity with a caregiver or teacher. The picture has the name of the item, action, or activity written at the bottom. When the student presents the picture of the item, action, or activity, the 'request' is immediately met. For example, when a students shows his teacher or caregiver a picture of an apple, the teacher or caregiver knows that the student wants an apple and immediately gives it to the student. Communication is strongly reinforced.

In the next stages, more pictures are added and the student is encouraged to also respond verbally. For those that are able to build language skills, the use of PECS is 'phased out' as much as possible, and in some cases even eliminated completely. For students that remain nonverbal, PECS remains an essential means of communication.

Using PECS, the student has an unlimited pool of potential communicative partners. Anyone willing to accept the picture or sentence strip immediately becomes that communicative partner. The person doesn't have to be familiar with the student or know sign language. They can just look at the sequence of pictures, actions or activities, or sentence strip and know what the student wants.

I am very familiar with PECS. I use it every day. My nine-year-old son, Jonah, was diagnosed with Autism at age three. We began using PECS with him very shortly after his diagnosis. Our entire family - grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins - were also trained to use PECS effectively. We were able to determine what Jonah wanted and needed because he was finally able to communicate with us.

I'll never forget our first attempt at verbal communication using PECS. It took us over forty-five minutes to get the word 'cookie' out of Jonah's mouth.... but he said it and we celebrated! Now Jonah is speaking in sentences and we've been able to 'phase out' much of his PECS use. He still uses PECS in new situations (such as field trips), during transitions, and in stressful situations when it is more difficult to use his words to communicate.

As a future educator of children with Autism, I will be using this tool very often.

Have You Checked Out Alex?

ALEX is an amazing tool. ALEX stands for Alabama Learning Exchange. It is a source - in my opinion - the source - for educators. Information includes sample lesson plans, courses of study, requirements, and helpful teacher weblinks. Teachers can share their own lesson plans or use ones provided by other teachers.

The lesson plans on ALEX include a list of materials that will be needed for your students; local, state and national standards that must be met as well as the lessons' learning objectives. You can search for lesson plans by grade level, subject area, or both.

ALEX has a Professional Learning link and a Distance Learning link. The Professional Learning link provides up-to-date information on the latest teaching methods, requirements, research and standards. The Distance Learning link takes you to ACCESS (Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators and Students Statewide) site. ACCESS is a program established by the Alabama Department of Education that helps educators provide students with access to courses not offered at their school. It does exactly as it says, connects classrooms, educators and students.

ALEX is an amazing tool that I will be using every week when I begin teaching. I can't wait to get out there!

ACCESS Granted

ACCESS stands for Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators and Students Statewide. It is a program set up by the Alabama Department of Education that helps educators provide students with courses and learning opportunities that are not offered at their school. Every high school in Alabama has an ACCESS lab. ACCESS uses internet courses, videoconferencing, and a blend of both to meet their students' needs.

I visited the ACCESS lab at Fairhope High School in Fairhope, Alabama. Mr. Williamson, one of the vice principals, gave me the tour. One of their teachers is going to Northern Anartica, along with twenty-one other teachers across the nation, to study a species of fish that can survive in subzero waters. She will be using the internet and videoconferencing to communicate with her students back at Fairhope High School about her findings and her experiences. This is just one example of how ACCESS works.

Since I will be an Elementary School teacher teaching children with Autism, this program is not available to me as of right now. I'm hoping that they will expand it so that it will be available to all students - from kindergarten through high school. ACCESS opens up so many doors to students who would otherwise miss out on these learning opportunities.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

A Bit About Me

I am currently a junior at the University of South Alabama majoring in Special Education. Once I have received my degree, I plan to continue my education and receive certification in Applied Behavior Analysis.

My heart's desire, my passion, is to work with children with Autism. What I have learned so far hasn't just come from the classroom; it has come from everyday real-life experience. Autism is a part of my life. My nine-year-old son, Jonah, was diagnosed with the disorder at age three. He is on the moderate to severe end of the spectrum.

As the parent of an autistic child, I can offer what few educators can... this true real-life experience. When the parents of my students come to me and ask me what they can do to help their child reach his/her full potential, I will be able to give them information and support not just as an educator, but as someone who truly understands the struggles, obstacles and problems that they and their child face every day.