Change Your Classroom Today- How Assistive Tech Can Help Your Students
Inside: Students who struggle with independence in the classroom may feel overwhelmed and embarrassed, causing behaviors that disrupt your teaching and the learning of themselves and others in the room. This article shares ways that assistive technology can help students with disabilities feel successful and make academic progress.
“I hate that class. And I’m not going back!”
The frustrated voice of my student almost echoed off the hallway walls. My confusion must have been evident because the student who shouted the words quieted down and told me it wasn’t the class- it was the paraprofessional in the classroom.
My confusion only grew. This paraprofessional was great, and the student liked working with her any other time. What had happened in that classroom?
The situation in the classroom is repeated across schools, districts, and states. A well-meaning teacher or paraprofessional offers help to a student who struggles to read.
Who then sits next to the student.
Who then begins to read the text aloud.
Who, very unintentionally, announces– through their actions– to the entire classroom this student can’t do it on their own.
This student demonstrated what is clear to so many who work with adolescent students:
It is always better to be the “bad” or “funny” kid than to be what they view as the “dumb kid. "
No amount of reassurance can be given in this instance to change the student’s self-perception when they cannot do what their peers can. And the offers of help only reinforce to the student they are not independent. A single look from a peer is likely to be perceived as mocking, and for the student, embarrassment, frustration, and sadness become the predominant feelings.
At this moment, my student did dislike this paraprofessional. She was the physical representation of what was causing his embarrassment.
Table of Contents:
Assistive Technology Instead of Prompting
Teachers spend much of their day reminding students what to do.
Each day, you prompt students to:
get out a book
get out a pencil
put something away
write out an assignment
line up
These are things we do all day, every day.
And these are things we should be expected to do as teachers.
It's our job to guide our classroom. However, when we have a student struggling with executive functioning, it's easy for these standard directions and reminders to become things we repeat over and over and over again: all day, every day. They can begin to feel like nagging or a belief that the student cannot do it on their own.
What Happens When You Aren’t Supporting with Assistive Technology?
For example, let's think about a student who struggles with organization.
The student is having trouble finding their school materials, assignments, or which folder they should shove that new handout into. Because they can't find things, they take longer than normal to do things other students do in minutes.
When you look out at a classroom of 20+ students, you are likely to notice the one student who doesn't have their worksheet on their desk. Of course, they’re still digging in their desk for it, likely distracting everyone around them.
It's easy to assume they are wasting time, not looking for the assignment, or are trying to derail your lesson.
It’s also easy to assume they were either not paying attention or ignored your directions when you told them to find the assignment.
Three Options When Frustrated
Teachers often feel there are only three options:
Ignore the student and begin the lesson, leaving the student behind.
Begin prompting the student to find what you need out on their desk.
Lose your mind and start yelling because you know they weren’t paying attention, and you’re so frustrated because this is the fourth time today!
Most of us feel guilty about Option One. Beginning the lesson feels rude, and you know other students will be distracted.
Option Three is not a good move for so many reasons.
So we go with Option Two. This becomes something where we begin to prompt:
“Okay, make sure you get your worksheet out.”
“Have you found your worksheet yet?”
“You should have your worksheet out on your desk right now.”
“Look around. Everybody has their worksheet out. Where's yours?”
Every teacher has uttered these phrases at one time or another. A prompt might be helpful if a student truly isn't paying attention or doesn't hear your direction.
However, for a student struggling with organization, that prompt adds stress to an already stressful situation. If the student could have found the assignment, they would have because it would save them the embarrassment of everyone waiting on them.
Again.
No matter how many times you prompt the student, the item they cannot find isn’t going to suddenly pop out of their desk. The student’s organizational skills are still a mess. And now, because they are being singled out in front of their peers, they likely have an increase in anxiety. This may look like:
Blushing
Shaking hands
Rushed digging through the desk- making a bigger mess
An outburst of frustration
Shutdown
None of these things will make the item easier to find. However, most students who have not reached the point of shut-down will continue to look for the item. In a few minutes, you will start the prompting again.
This cycle will repeat until the student finds the missing item, or the teacher gives up and chooses Option One- moving on without the student, or Option Three- losing their temper.
This cycle causes stress for the student and for the teacher.
If this student has an executive functioning deficit and struggles with organization, this scene may play out repeatedly throughout the day.
Learn more about executive functioning and what you need to know to ensure student success.
Assisting the Student
When the prompting has reached an unbearable level, the student is not getting work done on time, or significant instructional time has been lost, the student’s team will meet to determine what to do next.
Often, the next step is adding prompting from a paraprofessional, someone who can come in to help the student find the needed materials or organize their items.
This is similar to the student above having a paraprofessional read materials out loud to them during class. In both situations, the student relies on someone else to complete a necessary task.
Whenever a teacher or paraprofessional provides assistance, the student is assisted. This causes the student to rely on the adult to complete this particular task.
The teacher or paraprofessional helps the student:
Find their materials
Read the text out loud
Write down their thoughts
Organize their desk
This helps the student be more successful with the task in the immediate future but does not support their independence in completing the task in the future.
Assistive Technology for Students with Disabilities
Instead of assisting the student, what if we were to provide assistive technology to help the student complete the task independently?
Assistive technology is any device that helps an individual with a disability gain independence. In our classrooms, assistive technology can help a student complete tasks independently without needing the direct assistance of a teacher or paraprofessional.
Assistive Technology for Reading Independence
In our original example, the student refusing to go to class felt embarrassed and dependent on the support of the paraprofessional. The student did not want to be in the classroom because they correlated the feeling of embarrassment with that particular classroom due to needing the support of the paraprofessional to read classroom materials.
Many assistive technology resources are available to have text read out loud by a student. Screen readers and text-to-speech tools can read digital texts. A student simply needs to select the digital tool and listen to the text out loud.
Additionally, scanning pens can be used to scan print text and hear it read out loud.
In the particular case of the student in our original story, the text was printed on paper, and a scanning pen was not available. However, we had access to an iPad the student could take to class.
Instead of spending time reading to the student in class, the paraprofessional completed the following things before class:
read the worksheets out loud in advance
recorded the audio with the iOS app Explain Everything
saved the recording and uploaded it to online storage
turned the link into a QR code
copied the QR code onto the corner of the worksheet
This allowed the student to go to class with an iPad, and when it came time to read, the student would scan the QR code to listen to the audio of the worksheet being read aloud. The student was able to listen and complete the worksheet independently.
The student no longer felt embarrassed and displayed disruptive behaviors to leave the classroom.
Assistive Technology for Organization
Our student in example two, who is struggling with organizational skills, requiring the teacher to prompt the student repeatedly, could also benefit from assistive technology.
Many high and low-tech tools exist to support students with executive functioning deficits, such as challenges with organization. Simple things such as color coding materials so students can get them into the correct folder will make finding the correct assignment easier when it comes time to pull it out in class.
Other tools that may help a student organize their materials include:
A binder with color-coded sections.
Color-coordinated folders and notebooks.
A picture of an organized desk a student can use as a reference when organizing materials.
A visual of the assignment the student is looking for.
Each of these tools and many others will help the student feel more independent during class and allow them to find the needed materials more quickly, decreasing the teacher prompts and the embarrassment of the class waiting while they are looking for their things.
Learn 5 Little-Known Facts About Assistive Technology for Executive Functioning
Assistive Technology and Behavior
When students with the tools feel confident and independent in the classroom, they have fewer reasons to display disruptive behaviors.
It is always better to be the “bad” kid or the “funny” kid than to be what they view as the “dumb kid.”
Providing assistive technology tools will help every student feel independent so they will not need to attempt to hide their deficits from their peers.
Assistive technology can help your students with disabilities be independent, successful members of your classroom and avoid situations where they feel they need to do anything to avoid the classroom.
