Assistive Technology

Assistive Technology

Assistive technology is assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative devices for
people with disabilities.  I do not have any students with disabilities in my
classroom, but I have previously worked in a classroom where many students
were non-verbal and their speech therapist made communication books for
those students to allow them to communicate. The speech therapist used
Boardmaker to create the picture books and I have been exploring
boardmaker to make a schedule board of classroom activities and also to
assist the one English Language Learner I have in my classroom.  

Boardmaker provides innovative software, symbols, pre-made curriculum,
and assessment products to empower students to achieve in the classroom
and at home.  

These are some of the examples of the icons you will see on Boardmaker. The
written word is paired with a visual representation of the word.

Boardmaker can be used in so many ways in an early childhood classroom. 
Boards can be created to work on identifying emotions, schedule boards can
be made for the entire class or individual students, and ELL students can
increase their vocabulary working with picture cards created on Boardmaker.

Reflection:  I have used Boardmaker in my classroom to make visual
schedules and to label where toys and materials belong in the classroom. 
I am working to create picture cards for my ELL student who has trouble with
English vocabulary.