Upper Level Mechanical Skills

Automaticity of lower level skills

In short, automaticity at this point is the process of making automatic all of the lower level skills. “If letter production is automatic, memory space is freed up for higher level composing processes, such as deciding what to write about, what to say and how to say it.” (http://www.ldanh.org/docs/writestuff.pdf)

According to http://www.learninginfo.org/automaticity.htm automaticity “is usually the result of learning, repetition, and practice. The main process by which we develop automaticity is called overlearning (also called overtraining). Overlearning is a pedagogical concept according to which newly acquired skills should be practiced well beyond the point of initial mastery, leading to automaticity.” In other words, everything we can do to engage students in practicing their skills is developing their ability to make them automatic.

Integration of lower level skills with content, Grammar, Semantics (clear and appropriate word usage), and Speed of motor performances   

Low Tech

Pencil to paper. Despite the many places in the writing process where the process can break down, for many, pencil and paper is still the lowest tech method of completing a writing task with or without the assistive technologies named elsewhere in this blog.  It may also be the slowest or not possible. In those cases, look to the mid to high tech options for writing with speed and have the best opportunity to make use of the skills a student does have.

High Tech

Clicker5 or Clicker6

Clicker5 and its updated version, Clicker6, are software choices for the computer which allow the elementary aged student word choice. Students can choose from words and pictures to construct their sentences. If they are uncertain about the words they can choose from, they can listen to the word being spoken.







Typ-O HD is a word prediction app for the iPad/iPhone. Three levels of assistance from comonly misspelled words to phonetic spelling. One review from a teacher who is also dyslexic felt that its best use is as a spell checker. Click here for that article.

Dragon Products

As one blogger titled their article about Dragon Dictation, "The Dragon Dictation App Will Turn Your iPad Into a Cheap Secretary". Speech to text recognition software has come a long way from where it began. This app on your handheld device is useful for anyone who can enunciate clearly but can't get to a keyboard.

On the computer, the larger, more sophisicated (and expensive) Dragon Speech Recognition Software supports many forms of written output (emails, word processing documents, and more) to all be controlled by voice commands.




CoWriter - Don Johnston

CoWriter is a more advanced form of word prediction software that can work with many word processing softwares.

 

Improv

Building on CoWriter, Don Johnston also brings Improv which adds in phrase recognition as well as word recognition.

Kurzweil 3000

Not just a reading tool, Kurzweil 3000 can be used as a writing tool as well.

Upper Level Content Skills

Does everything that a student write have to fit the infamous (nonexistent) five paragraph essay format? Must students start with a carefully crafted bullet form outline? Is the topic sentence always the last line of the first paragraph? No, NO and NOOooo…. Conventions and restrictions such as these have limited student enthusiasm for writing for a very long time. Once all of the pieces of assistive technology come together to assist a student in the process of writing, then the student needs a focus, a purpose, a reason to write, ... they need an audience. Here is where the writing process links up with the reading process – what we write is for someone to read.

Writing can presented in a wid variety of forms that meet the needs of the audience and the content. So, instead of an essay, maybe the student will write ... (this list is NOT exhaustive):

A letter to:

Mom – Dear Mom, Today in school I …

Editor – Dear Editor, My school needs to stay open so kids like me can …

A company executive – Dear Mr/Ms Executive, My school needs iPads so kids like me can …

or maybe

A Journal entry:

using Blogger - today I learned ...

a short Exit ticket - tomorrow I want to learn ... .

What about writing ...

a Picture book:

using Book Creator

or Pictello

or maybe, the student really does have to write

an Essay but with the support of Kurzweil 3000

What we write should be far more important than how it gets written. Whether the final product is handwritten, typed on a word processor, clicked on through pictures or spoken into the mic of a speech to text device, it is the writing that shows the thinking that counts.

Definitions

LOW TECH- A low-tech device is relatively inexpensive and does not use any electrical components. Little, training, if any, is needed for low-tech devices.

MID TECH- A mid-tech device is typically electronic in its nature, and although the cost is increased, it is still not highly expensive; they too require less training than high-tech devices.

HIGH TECH- A high-tech is based on computer technology. These devices are more complicated to operate, require more training, and are more expensive.

Don Johnson- a wealth of information

This website has infinite possibilities. I first went to the testimonials about people that had read Don’s book and used the Start to Finish library. Here is a testimonial that I found enlightening.

"Recognizing how a child learns is so important. Don's book is a reminder that as good parents and the first teachers of our children, we must remember that children learn differently and at their own pace. The earlier a child learns to be successful with his/her unique abilities, the more self confidence they will have. As a teacher's assistant, I will take Don's message to heart and continue to make time to observe and interact with each child to help them become self advocates for lifelong learning success. Thanks Don for sharing your story!"

The website toolbars incorporate so many resources it is overwhelming.  You need to see it to explore at your own pace.

http://www.donjohnston.com/products/start_to_finish/