This week in CEP 812 we were tasked with identifying a student we work with that struggles with a disability, and find a technology tool that will help them overcome their disability in class. In teaching first grade it is rare to find a student who does not talk. Usually my problem is quite the opposite, it is hard to find quiet time in first grade. This year though I encountered a student who struggles with selective mutism, this is an anxiety based disorder that causes a child to not engage in some social situations. In my students case it has caused her to not engage in school based communication. This was anything from oral testing, to peer to peer interaction, she was not going to talk. I found this even more discouraging when her mom informed me that she talked non-stop at home.
I knew that this student was very capable of completing learning tasks and had so many great ideas, but I needed to find some way to give her a voice. After reading the article Sound Advice, from the selective mutism foundation I really began to think outside of the box. The article said, “Remember, be creative. Use telephones, microphones, screens, puppets to allow the child a means of communication through projective approaches.” In looking at text to speech apps, I thought text to speech would be the best way to give my first grade friend a voice while at the same time helping her with writing skills. With a tremendous need for text to talk apps the options of which app to use was overwhelming. My criteria was I need something user friendly for first graders, and that has different voice options. It needed to be both useful and engaging.
Using a quick app store search yielded several good options for text to talk. With much consideration I went with Speak4Me it is very user friendly and has lots of options. With having iPads in my class it will be easy for the student to sit in class and respond to questions, and talk to neighbors easy without standing out to much. The hope is that she will want to raise her hand and take pride in her answers, and this build in confidence, will help her to want to begin using her voice in class. This app is pretty universal with what areas of learning it can be used in. Speak4Me can help her answer what peers are asking so it will increase her peer to peer interaction. It can help her with retelling stories when I am testing her in reading which will help her be successful in the area of testing. I also can see this being used during writer’s workshop for when we share our writing pieces at the end of a unit. After the student has written the story she can type it and have that be shared for the class.
One concern that I had was by the time she got done typing we would be moving on to the next thing, but with the word predictors that show up on the keyboard this makes typing even quicker. This also helps her to add an extra skill builder of reading. I hope to use this app in almost any classroom setting. She will now be able to write and present, interact with peers, and express questions and emotions.
When listening to Sir Ken Robinson’s ted talk this week, I feel like it is easy to make student’s like my friend with selective mutism feel intimidated to answer questions. In wanting to help project her creative voice, I feel that Speak4Me will give her that opportunity to move past her anxieties, and participate in class learning. It will also give her a chance to voice her concerns to me so that I can be of better help to her as a teacher. In the screencast below please enjoy a brief description of what this would look like being used, and the different ways it can help anxious students share their ideas.
References
Hua, A., & Major, N. (2016, 02). Selective mutism. Current Opinion in Pediatrics, 28(1), 114-120. doi:10.1097/mop.0000000000000300
Salcedo, L. D. (2017, December 08). Speak4Me – Text to Speech on the App Store. Retrieved from https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/speak4me-text-to-speech/id894460403?mt=8
Sound Advice – Selective Mutism Foundation. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.selectivemutismfoundation.org/info-on-selective-mutism/sound-advice
Tedtalk, (2007, January 06). Do schools kill creativity? | Sir Ken Robinson. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY
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