Thing 21: Attend a Webinar

I attended an archived webinar from PBS Teachers on March 8, 2011. The title of the Webinar was Middle Level STEM Education With "Design Squad," "Fetch," and DragonflyTV". One of the presenters was Lisa Regalla, a science editor for Dragonfly TV and SciGirls on PBS. I found that if you register on PBS to become a PBS Teacher (entirely free process) you can have access to archived episodes of each of these shows to use in your classroom. The online version of the shows include 2 short segments "devoted to engaging students in inquiry based science exploration" and a quiz and scientist profile segments. The site has over 140 short segments and 75 scientist profiles. The videos for the scientist profile section are very engaging and range from a cow vet to a forest canopy researcher. These videos could even serve to provide transition services to students interested in careers in the field of science. The presenter provided statistics concerning the benefits of using videos and other media in the classroom. Through the PBS Teacher website, you can also access teacher materials for each episode. They also talked about a show called Fetch, which is aimed for students ages 6 to 10. Fetch is a great tool to use as it teaches scientific inquiry. I really enjoyed this webinar as I have learned so much from it.

Thing 9: Podcast

I decided to search for a podcast concerning job skills as my students participate in a work program two days each week. I stumbled across Modern Manners Guy Quick and Dirty Tips for a More Polite Life. While some of the lessons are not school appropriate, some may very much apply to events in my students' lives. I think these podcasts could serve as social stories for our students with autism and other developmental delays.

For example, I found a podcast titled, "What to Say when Someone Dies." In the podcast, it also suggested what not to say when someone dies. It suggest to hug or pat the person on the back in their time of grief. While this may sound like common knowledge to most people, it is something our students with autism need to know. In addition, I love the idea of using a podcast to relay information like this, versus a book, as most of our students are auditory learners.

Here is the link to "What to do When Somebody Dies" podcast. I am going to explore the site more to see what other podcasts are available for use.