Assistive Technology for the Writing Process and an Introduction to iMovie

Today we started our class with an introduction to some of the apps that can assist students with the Writing Process.  Through these activities we were able to gain some hands on experience with some of the apps which we looked at yesterday during our Webinar.  We started off the day with ClickerSentences.  Here is a brief introduction that I found on YouTube.

When I first saw this app yesterday I wasn’t exactly sure how I would incorporate it into my class.  However, once I became more familiar with it and was able to try it out it became quite clear that it would be appropriate for many of my struggling writers.  I had one particular student this year who was using cut up sentences to help her understand that she could put words together to make sentences.  This was an extremely helpful remediation strategy for her, and it was also used to support her reading.  I like that you could also use this app to help her write about the books she read, as you can easily create your own sentences and add a photo that would match the book she read.  I also like that you are able to change the output of this app, and organize it specific to each student’s needs.  For example, if you had a student who was struggling with visual memory or auditory memory, your approach could change.  This allows specific remediation strategies for each student.  It is important to mention that this app is $25, however, with the flexibility it offers, it would be well worth it in my opinion. 

ClickerConnect was another app that we were able to explore today.  It was similar to ClickerSentences, however, it is what you would consider the “next level up”.  Unlike ClickerSentences, you have no model sentence in ClickerConnect.  You are able to have sentence ideas, and word selection, but no model sentences.  This  would help struggling writers by removing the mechanical step of writing.  As was mentioned in Taking the Pencil out of the Process, for a lot of our struggling writers, this is often a huge stumbling block.  Once you take the mechanical step out of writing for students, they can begin to record their own ideas and realize the potential they have within themselves as writers.  A brief introduction can be found here.


The final app to assist the writing process we looked at today was CoWriter.  Even before having the opportunity to work with this app, I knew it would be helpful for a number of students within my classroom.  Often, kids who previously weren’t writing anything have had a great deal of success using CoWriter.  They are engaging in text, they are motivated and they are (finally!) producing written output. 
When we were exploring the app, I was thinking about the possibilities of making topic dictionaries for a variety of different subjects, like units on Science and Social Studies, etc.  This way, students can be using CoWriter for other subjects as well, that may require answering questions or small write ups.  I think it is important to remember what we are evaluating when thinking about the possibilities of CoWriter.  Matters of correctness and spelling are a small part of what we evaluate in Writing and Representing.  It is important to remember that all students need opportunities to have their voices heard, and just because a student can’t use their pencil efficiently, or doesn’t have the spelling ability to write a story that is readable, doesn’t mean that we should take that opportunity away from them.  By doing this we will (like in The Myth of the Average), lose a lot of potential and great writers by not offereing compensatory strategies like CoWriter to help students express themselves. 
Here is a quick video about Brody and the assistive technology that has helped him feel successful in the classroom.  He uses CoWriter on the computer, but you will see how it has helped him.

The rest of the class was spent creating our iMovie about 2 superhero’s, UDL and AT.  Candice and I had a few technological difficulties while creating this, however, overall it was an extremely fun and engaging activity.  I think that it would be soooo fun to use this technology in the classroom, as it allowed for creativity and some real deep thinking about what it was we were trying to “say” through our movie.  I could see myself using the iMovie trailers with my students as a wrap up activity on a big idea, to show what they know, or how far they have come in a particular area.   It could also be used as a tool for Book Reviews or the traditional “Book Talk” as it was in this example made by kids about the book The Hatchet.