At Wyncote Academy my duties as a teacher are to instruct all my students in the classroom regardless of their disability. I also have duties as the technology director to make sure the technology needs of both students and staff are met as well. I began to brainstorm with the special education department regarding the students’ disabilities and how best to make sure we can accommodate their needs virtually.
Here are some of the Google Apps that were installed on all students’ Chromebooks.
As Wyncote Academy has a majority of special education students varying in reading levels from K-12. The Read & Write tool has allowed content to be presented on their specific grade levels. This allows the instruction to be tailored to the students’ individual needs. This app has been a great tool for our English and reading department since the app allows the students to expand their vocabulary using the picture dictionary and aid in comprehension with the use of the screenshot reader. The teachers will continue to use this tool during the ESY program and upcoming school year.
Here are some of the Google Apps that were installed on all students’ Chromebooks.
- Grammarly – a tool mainly used to check errors such as punctuation, spelling, and grammar. This app was free to use and since it works well for our students the school may decide to purchase a premium option of the app. This was a great tool especially for our students with dyslexia as well as other special needs students since this app provided instant feedback on writing assignments and homework.
- Ginger – this is another writing tool. Midway through this school year, one of my coworkers brought this app to my attention. This app was similar to Grammarly, but one key feature was that it is compatible with Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook). Also, this app allowed ELL students to write in other languages. Great Tool!
- Read & Write Google Chrome – This is a "have it all" tool that supports students with reading, writing, studying, and research. It has a text and picture dictionary, word prediction, text-to-speech, translator, screenshot reader, and highlighting option. Best of all, educators can get a premium version for a year at NO COST.
- Scrible - is a great app to use for notetaking, help highlight key text and information from a website. Using this app, you can highlight or underline the text and have virtual sticky notes to use for notetaking.
As Wyncote Academy has a majority of special education students varying in reading levels from K-12. The Read & Write tool has allowed content to be presented on their specific grade levels. This allows the instruction to be tailored to the students’ individual needs. This app has been a great tool for our English and reading department since the app allows the students to expand their vocabulary using the picture dictionary and aid in comprehension with the use of the screenshot reader. The teachers will continue to use this tool during the ESY program and upcoming school year.