Day 7 - $store presentations

For some reason I woke up really early this morning and decided to watch one of the videos from Showbie (Accessibility Options Video Link). I wanted to watch the Chromebooks one especially because that’s what our school is mainly using now (I may have to steer everyone back towards iPads?!?). We do have 1 class set of iPads, but most of our funding these past 16 months has gone into purchasing more Chromebooks.

At first I thought the video  would go through a bunch of Apps, and I was a little disappointed when it didn’t; however, then I realized that some of the setting changes are actually quite helpful for students that have some special needs. For example, they showed how they enlarge the mouse cursor. This could help someone who has a hard time seeing the small one. Even the “spoken feedback” function: I had no idea all of that stuff existed AND IT’S FREE! There is a colourblind accessibility extension…WOW! I do use “Speak It” sometimes. Anyways, you should all watch it!

$store presentations:

 Tracy&Alecia: Great chart, ladies! I really liked how your information was laid out and displayed. I also like how many of your items could help multiple people. Loved your blue thing....whatever you call it (Watersnakes?)...I can see some of my kids using that instead of a stressball!

Joanne&Holly: I liked how you mentioned the "inside of the box" usage and the "outside of the box" usage. Joy and I had those same conversations. Many items had a straight forward use and others needed a little more explanation and imagination. We did, for example, find a noodle hammock used to float in a seated position on water, it would be great for kids that have mobility issues, but we felt like it would be used for what it is meant for...floating on water....it was too much "in the box thinking", so we didn't include it in our blog on Monday....still very useful though. 

I love the fingerpuppet idea!

Nick: Pool Noodles are very versatile! I may have to go and get myself an Eggcracker, too!

Sue&Terry: What a great idea with the zipper-elastic "device"! I also really liked the 3D storyboard. I found a picture of someone using letters made with sandpaper:

Sheri: I love the different coloured tape. I may have to go and get some. I really like the New Minas mall $store. That's where I always rush during my preps to get some last minute items. I especially like that store because they have all kinds of colour coded stuff, and it's really organized.

Dave: The ladybug bell is very cute and child-appropriate. I LOVE GUMMY BEARS! Bringing in some humour into the classroom is definitely a great idea.

John and Laurianne: As mentioned above, Joy and I had those "in the box" and "out of the box" conversations about many items. By the way the scarf-holder is amazing as is...even better when you can make it a class/student activity. I can think about all kinds of fraction, ratio and percentage activities for math class that I could use that scarf-holder for. Thank you for sharing!

Michelle: The sword holders are amazing...you could put them over paint brushes, door handles, pencils, markers....fantastic! You've got me thinking now! I really liked your cooking example, too. Great prototype!

Christine&Chelsea: I like that you showed multiple ways to use the same item. Great pictures! I also really liked how you organized your information in a table...very organized!

Just in case you wanted another idea of how to use tennis balls:

Suzanne&Rachel:  "nontraditional shopping trip" is right! Thank you for sharing your background with us. Even though we are all in the school system, we all have had different experiences with students with disabilities, so I can see how this assignment would be very hard for someone that may not have had the opportunity to work with students that have some special needs. By the way, I love the textured rubber bear for a sensory item instead of a stressball maybe.

Chris&Jill: You went all out on your shopping spree: $3!!! No seriously though, I love the magnetic letters with the tray. Thank you for mentioning how you could use it with ESL students as well. I also had the squishy caterpillar in my hand at the $store :-) At this point I am starting to think I should be buying all the presents for the children in my family at the $store...they would love to play around with the magnetic letters on the tray!

 Thank you everyone for sharing your amazing ideas! 

Usually I go to the $store to get a specific thing and then leave. Being required to spent some time there, I actually found so many items that I can use in my house!

I was also surprised how many AAC things I found on Google Play and many of them are free...some are more complex than others. (I used mindmup.com to create my mindmap and took a screenshot.)

I wanted to make sure people are actually able to read it, that's why it is so big :-)