Where do we go from here?

Lots of information to take in today. To say that I'm overwhelmed by today's class is an understatement. At the same time I feel a bit sad that what I have been exposed to is seemingly not common knowledge. I say this from the experiences and conversations that I've had with many teachers who struggle to support students with diverse learning abilities and needs. I want to show them the videos that I've seen today and say, "Look, we can do more and here are some tools to help us support our students."

How I wish that I had learned more about all of this before. As I was watching the movie today and listening to the case studies I was thinking, "Well, it would have been helpful to know about this stuff before." I wish that I could go back and do a "do-over" with some of my students in the past. That way it could have saved a lot of frustration for everyone involved.

In particular I'm thinking about one of my students who has dysgraphia. His mother had bought him a personal laptop so that he could complete written tasks on it. This helped him to create wonderful stories and responses to text as he was liberated from the tedious tasks of trying to painstakingly write with a pencil and struggle through spelling words correctly. If only I could go back in time and have been trained to assist him with other technologies! I wonder what we could have accomplished together?

Perhaps what had struck me the most was seeing the videos of various peoples who have benefited from the use of technology. I was awestruck by their potential. Their voices sang out with their own thoughts, wishes, and ideas. I saw self-determination rather than subjugation and desperation.

I kept asking myself, "Where do we go from here?" I'm excited by the potential of assistive technology and want to learn more. I finally feel as though I have become empowered to help students with diverse learning abilities.