If I were to send my child to a DL school from the list I would choose the Ohio Connections Academy. I immediately was engaged with the introduction video on the home page and as I moved through the website I appreciated the links to the teachers, students, and parent and to read their stories. I was able to connect with a lot of the stories and loved viewing the family videos. To read the success stories of triumph over traditional education that just wasn't working for their children and to read how they gained confidence, academic success and more to be college ready and gain admissions to pursue their passions is a win win. The layout of the website was easy for me to navigate and get an overview of the specific areas I was looking into. It is fantastic that we have so many means of educating our students today based on their interests, needs and styles.
Of the five DL options I certainly would not choose the VCS Ohio. First of all if I am looking into a school I certainly do not want to see text blaring me in the face about lawsuits. This is not inviting or reassuring to a potential parent of their program They certainly could have this information is a much smaller link to the existing families utilizing this DL school. There is not clarity or connection for me at all about this school or to its students. I was really disinterested not only in the website design but the lack of information about the students, teachers and any examples of activities in the form of pictures of videos. If my child is going to be engaging in online learning I would at least like to see a website that appears to be fun, engaging and comes to life on the home page.
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Assistive Technology for students with Traumatic Brain Injuries.
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is more common than I expected it to be in
children. “Approximately 1.7 million
people receive traumatic brain injuries every year. Of children 0-19 years old,
TBI results in 631,146 trips to the emergency room
annually, 35,994 hospitalizations, and nearly 6,169 deaths.” CDC
(2010). What this says to me is that we have many more
students in our classrooms that fall under this disability than what we know or
expected. This is not a disability that
is caused at birth or genetically predisposed; it is an injury to the brain
caused by an accident or external force.
It can leave students and adults with severe impairments to their cognitive,
speech, information processing, behavior abilities and much more. If a child incurs such injuries the affect it
has upon his/her education can be tremendous as far as being able to comprehend
new materials, recalling learned materials and actions, there could be
emotional and personality changes, concentration and focusing ailments and so
much more that possibly will heal with time however is not always a guarantee
that the injured will ever regain brain function as before the TBI.
There are many different types of Assistive Technologies for children and adults with TBI and depending upon the severity of their injury one of the simplest and low cost tools could be a planner/notebook for record keeping. If a child is older, lets say middle school age and incurs an injury and if found suffering from memory capabilities, problem solving, or even routine schedules he/she can keep a record of activities such as school schedules, maps or layout of the hallways, teachers names, and more in his/her notebook for a reference tool. Again, this a the simplest of tools and more than likely not going to provide all that a student with diagnosed TBI disability is going to need to be successful in school however I am sure that they don’t want to stand out anymore than what they already feel inside so adding a lot of fancy or large assistive tools to point them out even more could cause more stress than peace. I know from personal experience with my husband who has endured two TBI in the past year and how it has changed his life and ours forever. His biggest aid is post-it notes to assist in jogging his memory on computer processes and procedures, client’s names and brief descriptions, to do lists, and so much more. He finds that is he sees his hand writing and a note that it helps him process the note and information so much better than if it were typed out in a manual format plus it gives him the feeling like everyone else he works with because who doesn’t use post it notes in this day and age. The feeling on being included and like everyone else is so important to him because he knows that he is not the same person as he was before the injuries. Processing time, gathering thoughts, thinking in abstract terms are actions that flowed liked water before and now take special concentration and purposeful actions on his part and sometimes even that he is not able to recall or complete the action intended.
The second tool that seems to be consistent with a lot of disabilities is the iPad or iPhone which now has so many apps to assist with Cognition deficits, speech impairments, reasoning, emotional disconnections that can be connected to traumatic brain injury. Some of the apps that I came across are Word Warp, IMazing, Lumosity, Make Change, Index Card, Reminder Apps and more that really can be of service to kids of all ages. What is so fantastic about the iPad is the ability to refine and use the fine motor skills if that has been damaged in a TBI injury which sometimes occurs and provides the tactile ability. If the ability to use your fine motor skills or use of limbs is taken but speech is still intact there are many apps and other devices that uses your voice to control to provide mobility and communication means. I have used my iPad in working with children with reading disabilities/deficiencies and have watched their worlds light up with words coming alive through the interaction of apps. There are so many ways to stimulate brain activity and assist with memory, speed, problem solving, abstract thinking and more and what is so fantastic about most of these apps; they are engaging and fun. Again, if we are using tools that hopefully do not further distinguish the child/student from being different the likelihood of healing and progress are greater.
So what does the future look like for children/adults with TBI? According to ProjectIDEAL, “Students with TBI are too often inappropriately classified as having learning disabilities, emotional disturbance, or mental retardation.” What this tells me is that we as future educators need to be more educated not only on our academia standards but on the possibilities of our incoming populations. We as future educators want to avoid misdiagnosis obviously which means if we see signs we must investigate thoroughly with our administrators and families involved so we can utilize the best possible Assistive tools for them. Brain mapping, brain studies and medical technology already can tell us so much about what part of the brain is affected in a TBI and I can only foresee that becoming more and more in-depth however with the brain I also know that some are similar but never the same so that means all recoveries and time frames will be different. This article http://www.brainline.org/content/2011/02/pediatric-traumatic-brain-injury_pageall.html has so much helpful information giving real life scenarios and links to helping kids with TBI. I couldn't possibly list all the amazing information so please look at this site if you intend on working in this field or know of anyone suffering from TBI; its real and it really gets misdiagnosed or missed altogether.
United
States
http://www.brainline.org/content/2011/02/pediatric-traumatic-brain-injury_pageall.html
Apple App Store in looking up current cognitive and brain challenging application.
There are many different types of Assistive Technologies for children and adults with TBI and depending upon the severity of their injury one of the simplest and low cost tools could be a planner/notebook for record keeping. If a child is older, lets say middle school age and incurs an injury and if found suffering from memory capabilities, problem solving, or even routine schedules he/she can keep a record of activities such as school schedules, maps or layout of the hallways, teachers names, and more in his/her notebook for a reference tool. Again, this a the simplest of tools and more than likely not going to provide all that a student with diagnosed TBI disability is going to need to be successful in school however I am sure that they don’t want to stand out anymore than what they already feel inside so adding a lot of fancy or large assistive tools to point them out even more could cause more stress than peace. I know from personal experience with my husband who has endured two TBI in the past year and how it has changed his life and ours forever. His biggest aid is post-it notes to assist in jogging his memory on computer processes and procedures, client’s names and brief descriptions, to do lists, and so much more. He finds that is he sees his hand writing and a note that it helps him process the note and information so much better than if it were typed out in a manual format plus it gives him the feeling like everyone else he works with because who doesn’t use post it notes in this day and age. The feeling on being included and like everyone else is so important to him because he knows that he is not the same person as he was before the injuries. Processing time, gathering thoughts, thinking in abstract terms are actions that flowed liked water before and now take special concentration and purposeful actions on his part and sometimes even that he is not able to recall or complete the action intended.
The second tool that seems to be consistent with a lot of disabilities is the iPad or iPhone which now has so many apps to assist with Cognition deficits, speech impairments, reasoning, emotional disconnections that can be connected to traumatic brain injury. Some of the apps that I came across are Word Warp, IMazing, Lumosity, Make Change, Index Card, Reminder Apps and more that really can be of service to kids of all ages. What is so fantastic about the iPad is the ability to refine and use the fine motor skills if that has been damaged in a TBI injury which sometimes occurs and provides the tactile ability. If the ability to use your fine motor skills or use of limbs is taken but speech is still intact there are many apps and other devices that uses your voice to control to provide mobility and communication means. I have used my iPad in working with children with reading disabilities/deficiencies and have watched their worlds light up with words coming alive through the interaction of apps. There are so many ways to stimulate brain activity and assist with memory, speed, problem solving, abstract thinking and more and what is so fantastic about most of these apps; they are engaging and fun. Again, if we are using tools that hopefully do not further distinguish the child/student from being different the likelihood of healing and progress are greater.
So what does the future look like for children/adults with TBI? According to ProjectIDEAL, “Students with TBI are too often inappropriately classified as having learning disabilities, emotional disturbance, or mental retardation.” What this tells me is that we as future educators need to be more educated not only on our academia standards but on the possibilities of our incoming populations. We as future educators want to avoid misdiagnosis obviously which means if we see signs we must investigate thoroughly with our administrators and families involved so we can utilize the best possible Assistive tools for them. Brain mapping, brain studies and medical technology already can tell us so much about what part of the brain is affected in a TBI and I can only foresee that becoming more and more in-depth however with the brain I also know that some are similar but never the same so that means all recoveries and time frames will be different. This article http://www.brainline.org/content/2011/02/pediatric-traumatic-brain-injury_pageall.html has so much helpful information giving real life scenarios and links to helping kids with TBI. I couldn't possibly list all the amazing information so please look at this site if you intend on working in this field or know of anyone suffering from TBI; its real and it really gets misdiagnosed or missed altogether.
References
CDC. (2010). Traumatic
brain injury in the http://www.brainline.org/content/2011/02/pediatric-traumatic-brain-injury_pageall.html
Apple App Store in looking up current cognitive and brain challenging application.
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
PicMonkey.....these two are my biggest heroes
These two lovelies are my mother and my son. I loved editing this picture because it shows a place where we spend a lot of time together as a family and I was able to edit to bring out the things I love the most about our lake house which is the water, sunshine and HUGE smiles it brings for us all.
My Goanimate Video
Don't judge a book by it's cover by Cindy Molnar on GoAnimate
Even though I intend to teach younger children I could not resist an interaction with older students. This type of jousting with words is the main reason why I know that I could not teach older children no matter how much I am sure they would challenge me and teach me more than I could ever teach them. I do have a passion for underprivileged children and hope that I will be able to touch a life inside the classroom someday. For now I did enjoy this activity and can see it's value with children of all ages.
Even though I intend to teach younger children I could not resist an interaction with older students. This type of jousting with words is the main reason why I know that I could not teach older children no matter how much I am sure they would challenge me and teach me more than I could ever teach them. I do have a passion for underprivileged children and hope that I will be able to touch a life inside the classroom someday. For now I did enjoy this activity and can see it's value with children of all ages.
Monday, September 22, 2014
Monday, September 8, 2014
My Prezi
My Prezi is about my path to realizing that dreams can come true. I did not take the conventional method of getting my college degree after graduating high school and yet my journey through work has brought me back full circle to education which is where I knew I always belonged. Throughout my work history I have been able to be in a position to volunteer and help children and families in various ways. Each experience hooked me deeper and deeper until the time presented itself to take a leap of faith and finish my education. I hope that my presentation can be viewed by younger students who may not be sure this is the right time for school and realize there isn't ever a wrong time. A dream is still a dream no matter your age or educational background and there is always hope for it to come to fruition; it's a matter of how badly do you want it.
I certainly look at my life today and sometimes wish I would have completed my degree in Education when I started it back in the 1990's however I am sure that I would not of had the philosophy and certainty that I possess today. There is a bit of advantage having experience first and I hope that my future students and employer will feel the same way.<br />
So how do I feel about Prezi? I truly love all the functions of inserting just about any type of media you can think of and the simplicity of doing so. With that being said I am not crazy about the editing tools for text, title, body and so forth. I am sure with more practice it will flow better however it took more time than I anticipated. Another positive aspect of Prezi that I like is the ease of embedding into a blog and being able to access it from any computer that has internet capabilities.
I certainly look at my life today and sometimes wish I would have completed my degree in Education when I started it back in the 1990's however I am sure that I would not of had the philosophy and certainty that I possess today. There is a bit of advantage having experience first and I hope that my future students and employer will feel the same way.<br />
So how do I feel about Prezi? I truly love all the functions of inserting just about any type of media you can think of and the simplicity of doing so. With that being said I am not crazy about the editing tools for text, title, body and so forth. I am sure with more practice it will flow better however it took more time than I anticipated. Another positive aspect of Prezi that I like is the ease of embedding into a blog and being able to access it from any computer that has internet capabilities.
Monday, September 1, 2014
Three Great Teacher Blogs
http://helloliteracy.blogspot.com/
This blog provides a vast supply of information and collaboration of K-5 Literacy and Intervention Specialists. Jennifer Jones does provide a lot of materials that she has created on her own using her experience and education and I feel that as I learn how to incorporate today's and future educational standards with my core philosophies. She also uses many social media platforms and provides up to date information on her blog. I do like that she brings in her personal life into her blog and that it does not overshadow her literacy content. Her content is relevant to today's technology, learners and I love that she posts questions for readers/teachers and responses. I think this will be very useful information.
http://learningismessy.com/blog/
If nothing else the name got me at first and if you read my introduction you know why. I believe that learning has to be messy; you have to get down and dirty with the children and have fun! That may be with paint, dirt or grease; whatever the medium do it and your students will never forget the lesson. Brian Crosby was an elementary teacher for over 30 years and now is a STEM facilitator for teachers and administrators. He has been interviewed by Brian Williams and given TedTalks. What I love about this blog is that its up to date with his experiences, works and it provides links for his students work and STEM activities. Even though I foresee myself as a reading specialist I love hands on ideas that incorporate all plateaus of education.
http://readingyear.blogspot.com/
This blog is where I intend to spend many hours pouring over two teachers postings since 2006. I have picked up so many new and old books that I want to read in regards to teaching, new technology and how they are cross teaching subjects. The two bloggers are teachers in elementary schools and have been published. What engages me about this blog are all the references to Children's Literature, authors, illustrators, 21st Century Learning and they also list whom they follow. There are examples of best practices and new practices that incorporate videos and new technology. The posts are up to date as of today and content is easy to read, search and follow.
This blog provides a vast supply of information and collaboration of K-5 Literacy and Intervention Specialists. Jennifer Jones does provide a lot of materials that she has created on her own using her experience and education and I feel that as I learn how to incorporate today's and future educational standards with my core philosophies. She also uses many social media platforms and provides up to date information on her blog. I do like that she brings in her personal life into her blog and that it does not overshadow her literacy content. Her content is relevant to today's technology, learners and I love that she posts questions for readers/teachers and responses. I think this will be very useful information.
http://learningismessy.com/blog/
If nothing else the name got me at first and if you read my introduction you know why. I believe that learning has to be messy; you have to get down and dirty with the children and have fun! That may be with paint, dirt or grease; whatever the medium do it and your students will never forget the lesson. Brian Crosby was an elementary teacher for over 30 years and now is a STEM facilitator for teachers and administrators. He has been interviewed by Brian Williams and given TedTalks. What I love about this blog is that its up to date with his experiences, works and it provides links for his students work and STEM activities. Even though I foresee myself as a reading specialist I love hands on ideas that incorporate all plateaus of education.
http://readingyear.blogspot.com/
This blog is where I intend to spend many hours pouring over two teachers postings since 2006. I have picked up so many new and old books that I want to read in regards to teaching, new technology and how they are cross teaching subjects. The two bloggers are teachers in elementary schools and have been published. What engages me about this blog are all the references to Children's Literature, authors, illustrators, 21st Century Learning and they also list whom they follow. There are examples of best practices and new practices that incorporate videos and new technology. The posts are up to date as of today and content is easy to read, search and follow.
Welcome to my Blog
Hello and welcome to my blog; I hope that you find it interesting, helpful and that it will inspire you to create something today; anything! My name is Cindy Molnar and I am walking the road to become a Professional Educator and use my degree to help children realize their incredible potential no matter their age or grade. I have known I wanted to be in the teaching profession for most of my life however I took a path of work over education in my early twenties and landed in Human Resources. What I loved about that career was the opportunities to get involved in Community Service Projects such as United Way, Columbus Reads and Habitat for Humanity. I have always gravitated to creative, free thinking people and I have a passion for art. Art in the sense of I have to create something everyday or I feel lacking inside. It may be a simple drawing, writing down a thought, sewing, knitting, painting and the list goes on and one. What I learned about creativity is that it helps me focus and feel free and that is what I desire to pass along to children.
I feel compelled to get my certification as an Intervention Specialists in Reading Literacy; I love to read (even though as a child and young adult you would have never seen me reading) and the excitement of watching a child go from feeling behind to having the light bulb shining moment makes the effort and time worth it every time. I have volunteered for many years as a reading tutor and mentor and now am taking the time to finish my degree so I can go back into the workforce doing what I love. Touching the life of one child is my paycheck and I look forward to see what paths prevail for this future Professional Educator.
I feel compelled to get my certification as an Intervention Specialists in Reading Literacy; I love to read (even though as a child and young adult you would have never seen me reading) and the excitement of watching a child go from feeling behind to having the light bulb shining moment makes the effort and time worth it every time. I have volunteered for many years as a reading tutor and mentor and now am taking the time to finish my degree so I can go back into the workforce doing what I love. Touching the life of one child is my paycheck and I look forward to see what paths prevail for this future Professional Educator.
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