Assistive Technology

I have sure seen a lot of AT resources that I never knew existed from doing the work from this part of the class.  I have bookmarked so many of the sites and plan to weed through them little by little.  After seeing so many of the available resources, I feel as though I lack as a teacher in the area of special education.  There is so much more that I can do for all of my students.  Even something as simple as using the auto summarize feature in Microsoft Word to help stuggling readers could really make a difference.  I guess I tended to think of assistive technology as being specific devices that students could carry around with them.  I totally lacked in the knowledge of all of the other software that is available.  I look at it as a learning opportunity and a chance to make myself a better teacher.  I am actually looking forward to the interviewing of an assistive technology person in our AT office.  I hope to pass along my new found information to other teachers at my school. 

To Wiki or Not

Our county has provided us with a teacher website template.  Several years ago each teacher was "strongly encouraged" to set up their website.  I am about the only one who still uses the website with my students.  More recently, we have attended various workshops to set up wikis.  As time has passed, I prefer using the webite over the wiki.  After reading Richardson's Chapter 4, I now have more of a renewed interest in trying to incorporate the wiki in my instruction again.  The title of the chapter, "Wikis:  Easy Collaboration for All", is a bit deceiving.  Does anyone already have a wiki that they use with their students in class?  It seems like a wiki can be very much like the blogs that we have all set up.  Is it worth it to set one up?  I want to incorporate technology into my classroom but want to be able to focus on one piece and do that one piece well enough that it truly benefits my students.  Any suggestions?

Welcome

Hello and welcome to my blog. I am new at this and am learning as I go. Looking forward to working with my group members who can hopefully teach me a lot about blogging.