SWD

UNSTRUCTURED
Field Experience Log & Reflection
Instructional Technolog Depart!ent
Candidate"
Teresa Tidwell
#entor$Title"
Joy Hatcher/ Teacher
School$District"
EAHS/Dekalb County
Field Experience$%ssign!ent"
AT
Course"ITEC &''(
Web Design
)rofessor$Se!ester"
Dr. Moore
)art I" Log
Date*s+ %cti,it$Ti!e ST%TE Standards
)SC
N%TI-N%L Standards
ISTE NETS.C
/!"/#"!#
/!!/#"!#
/!#/#"!#
$re%ared &or the AT %ro'ect using the ()(S
*odule at+
htt%+//iris.%eabody.,anderbilt.edu/*odule/at/
#.- hours.
../
/a
-/#0/!1 Con&erenced with $arent regarding need &or
%ositi,e social interaction with %eers &or her
hearing and s%eech i*%aired daughter !hour
..1 .d
-/#2/!1 )e,iewed the (ris AT *odule ! hour ../ /a
-/#/#"!1 )esearched AT de,ices &or s%eech articulation
!.- hour
../ .&
-/."/!1 Con&erenced with %arent on reco**ended AT
! hour
..1 .d
//!/!1 Wrote AT i*%le*entation %lan ! hour ..#3 ..1 .b3d
//#/!1 )e,iewed AT $lan with the %arent and discussed
i*%le*entation o,er the su**er # hour
..#3 ..1 .b3 d
////!1 Met with %arent and Child to introduce
technology a%%lication3 de*onstrate tracking
sheets3 set4u% tutorials ,ia the web. . hours
..#3..1 .b3 .d
//!#/!1 Met with %arent and child at %ark with other
children to obser,e child5s interaction with %eers
and AT. )e&lection # hours
..1 .d3 /c
Total Hours+ !- hours
DI/ERSIT0
6$lace an 7 in the bo8 re%resenting the race/ethnicity and subgrou%s in,ol,ed in this &ield e8%erience.9
Ethnicit ).12 Facult$Staff ).12 Students
$4# .4- /42 4!# $4# .4- /42 4!#
Race$Ethnicit"
Asian 7
:lack
His%anic
;ati,e A*erican/Alaskan ;ati,e
White 8
Multiracial
Su3groups"
Students with Disabilities 8
<i*ited English $ro&iciency
Eligible &or =ree/)educed Meals
)art II" Reflection
C%NDID%TE REFLECTI-NS"
6Mini*u* o& .41 sentences %er >uestion9
14 5riefl descri3e the field experience4 What did ou learn a3out technolog facilitation and
leadership fro! co!pleting this field experience6
This &ield e8%erience in,ol,ed a !# year old girl in the -
th
grade. She is hearing i*%aired and
wears hearing aids. She also has a%ra8ia. She uses sign language with those who can sign but she
is not in a school with a sign language inter%reter. Her teacher has so*e signing ability. She
recei,es /" hours o& s%eech ser,ices at the school %er week. She can read li%s i& you are &acing her.
The a%ra8ia is the biggest barrier &or her at this ti*e. Due to the inability o& other children to
understand her she is socially isolated. She has withdrawn &ro* interacting with anyone other than
close &a*ily3 her caregi,er3 and teachers at school. Her s%eech is ,ery di&&icult to understand. The
*other wants her daughter *o,ed to Atlanta School &or the Dea& so that she is not socially isolated
and e*otionally withdrawn. The Hall County School Syste* disagrees with the %lace*ent and the
*other is des%erate &or hel%. ( re,iewed the (ris Module &ro* ?anderbilt @ni,ersity
htt%+//iris.%eabody.,anderbilt.edu/*odule/at/ we studied during (TEC 011-. ( began researching on
the internet &or assisti,e technology that could hel% this little girl. ( &ound AT that could hel% with
the hearing i*%air*ent but that wasn5t the isolating &actor. ( knew that whate,er ( &ound had to be
si*%le &or her to use and not attract negati,e attention &ro* other kids. ( learned about an
a%%lication called Sounding :oard that is a &ree download onto i$hone and i$ad. The initial
%rogra* is &ree and %ro,ides basic in co**unication. There are additional boards that can be
%urchased &or download that %ro,ide &or *ore co*%le8 s%eech. They are organiAed into the*es
and ha,e icons to hel% locate the board you need. <earning about this technology was ,ery
interesting and ( was sur%rised at how easily this %rogra* could be used by a child. The *other
was willing to buy the i$hone &or her daughter but she was worried that they would not let her use
it at school. ( wrote an assisti,e technology %lan and worked with the *other3 daughter and a li,e4
in caregi,er on how to use the a%%lication. ( located tutorials online &or the* to watch and re&er
back to whene,er they needed. ( coached the *other in how to take data on the ob'ecti,es in the
%lan and ga,e her daily data collection sheets. This %lan will be i*%le*ented o,er the su**er and
i& it is e&&ecti,e and bene&its her daughter she will take it to the school and ask that it be included
in the (E$ &or the year. ( learned that so*eti*es it is necessary to go outside the traditional
*ethods used in school (E$5s and look &or new ways to hel% children. Technology is breaking
down barriers e,ery day. More s%ecial education teachers would bene&it &ro* staying abreast o&
what is ha%%ening in the &ield because it changes ra%idly.
24 7o8 did this learning relate to the 9no8ledge 6what *ust you know93 s9ills 6what *ust you
be able to do9 and dispositions 6attitudes3 belie&s3 enthusias*9 re:uired of a technolog
facilitator or technolog leader6 *Refer to the standards ou selected in )art I4 Use the
language of the )SC standards in our ans8er and reflect on all ;<9no8ledge= s9ills= and
dispositions4+ =or this e8%erience ( had to know *ore about s%ecial needs and technology
a,ailable to *eet those needs. ( needed good research skills to &ind the right technology to assist
the child and ( had to de,elo% the skills necessary to use it *ysel& so that ( could teach the *other
and child. My belie& that there was so*ething out there that could hel% and *y heart&elt desire to
assist this *other and child *oti,ated *e to &ind the right assisti,e technology. This e8%erience
will *ake *e a better technology leader and coach because ( learned that %erse,erance %ays o&&
when you are researching technology. There is a lot to sort through and learn but i& you are
deter*ined and stick to it you can &ind so*e &or* o& technology that can *eet al*ost any need a
child. $ro,iding children with the *eans to o,erco*e barriers can *ake the di&&erence in their
educational success and social acce%tance.
;4 Descri3e ho8 this field experience i!pacted school i!pro,e!ent= facult de,elop!ent or
student learning at our school4 7o8 can the i!pact 3e assessed6
(n this &ield e8%erience ( a* worked o,er the su**er with the &a*ily and not the school directly.
Howe,er the AT %lan ( de,elo%ed is the ty%e o& %lan that can be i*%le*ented at the school in the
&all. ( *et back with the *other and child at a %ark &or two hours and obser,ed the child with
other children. She a%%eared *ore willing to go out onto the %layground and %lay without her
*other ne8t to her. This was a big acco*%lish*ent. (& the data the *other collects shows an
i*%ro,e*ent then it will hel% the school o,erco*e so*e o& the di&&iculties this child was
struggling with e,ery day. The data collection is how it will be assessed. The school3 i& agreeable3
will also collect data and this can gi,e the* another tool to use in hel%ing other children who ha,e
a%ra8ia. Sharing this e8%erience at *y school will hel% us do the sa*e.