Archive for the ‘Slide-A-Round Updates’ Category
I appreciate the prompt response from Janet Dickelman, Convention Chair for the American Council for the Blind. Ms. Dickelman offered to share my manipulatives with the colleagues in her association. With her help, I will be able to give VI teachers another resource to help teach their students with their grade-appropriate standards. State standardized assessments are going to be here before we know it. Hopefully, I will help make a difference! As I have stated in previous posts, my goal is to help as many students learn as fast as I can.
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I accepted an invitation from TJ Schlouski, Director of Assistive Technology Services, Illinois Assistive Technology Program to demonstrate my math manipulatives on January 31, 2014. I appreciated his offer to invite several of his colleagues, including his colleagues from the Illinois School for the Deaf and Illinois School for the Blind in Jacksonville, Illinois.
After my demonstration in Springfield, I will travel to Lisle, Illinois to present at the 2014 Illinois Council for Children with Behavior Disorders on February 1st. In addition to Mr. Schlouski providing my information to his colleagues, I appreciate Sheri Cook, Gallaudet’s Midwest Regional Center Director providing contact information for some her hearing impaired colleagues, and Beverly Holden Johns, officer of the ICCBD and IL CEC , professor and educational consultant, offering an invitation to present at the ICCBD Conference. I am anticipating a very productive opportunity to share my ideas with teachers, administrators, and parents from many parts of Illinois.
Hopefully, I will see many of you in Springfield and Chicago!
I appreciate Ms Danna Bouey, Louisiana Southeast Region Assistive Technology Coodinator, for driving over to my presentation at the South Central Assistive Technology Center in Lafayette, LA on 10-1-13. Based on her evaluation of my math manipulatives, Ms. Bouey invited me to demonstrate them to her colleagues in her region on February 14, 2014. Hopefully, other assitive technology teachers and administrators from other regions will be able to attend.
After my presentations at several assistive technology centers and Louisiana School for the Blind in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, I am flying to Phoenix to share my ideas with Dr. Kim Rimbey, Director of the Arizona Council of Teachers of Mathematics and Co-founding Owner and Executive Director of Professional Development of KP Mathematics, LLC. Dr. Rimbey and I have corresponded several times over the past year. Fortunately, we are able to coordinate our schedules. I am looking forward to exchanging ideas with her.
I am planning other demonstrations during my fall break in Arizona on October 2nd & 4th. Feel free to call 706-506-8411 to schedule a demonstration while I am in Arizona.
I want to thank Bobby Simpson, Director of the Louisiana School for Blind, for scheduling a demonstration for his teachers on October 1st at 2:00. Mr. Simpson is also inviting the Louisiana School for the Deaf to attend.
Over a two day period, I am going to do trainings/ demonstrations in Bossier City, Lafayette, Baton Rouge, and Alexandria. If you are an educator in those cities or between them, feel free to contact me. I will make every effort to demonstrate them to you. Just let me know!
My schedule over fall break will be quite busy…. but in a great way! On September 30th, I have two demonstrations scheduled. I have been invited by Kristine Taylor, Assistive Technology Facilitator at the Louisiana Central Region Assistive Technology Center, to present to her colleagues in Region VI in Alexandria, LA at 10:00. Then, I will demonstrate at the NW LA Assistive Technology Center in Bossier City, LA at 3:15; Jodi Burr and Karrie Bennett, Assistive Technology Specialists, helped coordinate the scheduling of my demonstration for the manipulatives that they purchased for the teachers and administrators in their Region VII. On October 1st, I am traveling to Lafayette, LA to demonstrate my manipulatives at the South Central Region Assistive Technology Center at 10:00 for Patty Lagron and her colleagues in Region IV. I hope to see you at the demonstrations!
I would like to thank Carrollton City Schools, Georgia for adding my website to their ‘K-12 Mathematics Coach” page. By posting my link to their website, teachers and administrators will have access to my complimentary downloadable handouts for their students and the latest news about my manipulatives. Parents will also be able to see alternative strategies to help their children with homework, especially if they do not have iPads or computers. Fall extra curricular activities are in full-swing. Fortunately, Slide-A-Round Math Manipulatives are easy for students to transport and provide assistance to them as they do homework in between dance classes at the dance studio and in the car before soccer practice. Obviously, most teachers and parents would agree that completing math homework in the car is not the best environment for students to do homework. Being a parent of four children who are involved in several activities, I know time is hard to find; sometimes we must do the best we can with the time that is available.
This week I sent in my prototypes for my hybrid games of Sorry! and Bingo to my manufacturer. The purpose for the all of the games is to make learning fun! Common Core Standards are addressed in all of the games as important social skills elements. I hope to have them available for our students in 1-2 months. Stay tune for more updates!
I accepted the invitation from Elaine Thagard, Education Program Specialist, Vision Impairment, at the Georgia Department of Education. This will be a great opportunity to share my APH-recommended math manipulatives with Georgia’s vision specialists in Macon, Georgia. With the rigor of Common Core Standards and the importance of the GA CRCT, my manipulatives will provide an innovative and effective way for VI students to learn in all academic settings.
I would like to thank Jodi Miller, Autism Response Team Coordinator for Autism Speaks!, who has agreed to add Slide-A-Round Math Manipulatives to their resource guide. As we all know, every student learns differently and deserves a quality education. Students require a variety of strategies to learn rigorous Common Core Standards. With the addition of my manipulatives to their resource guide, parents, teachers, and administrators will have more choices to meet the needs of their students, especially the visual learners in all of our schools. I am looking forward to having a positive impact on all students’ education.