Accessibility in the classroom—tools that impact my students

Today’s post was written by Robin Lowell, a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert, special education, science and mathematics teacher, as well as teacher of blind and visually impaired students.

 

Creating a collaborative, inclusive classroom has many moving parts and pieces—and finding the right balance can be challenging. As a special education teacher, I am constantly on the hunt for technology and tools that give students with disabilities an environment that is personalized, differentiated and yet as close to their peers’ experience as possible. I have been an itinerant teacher, a distance education math teacher at a residential school and currently a resource room teacher—without the resource room. One goal of an inclusive classroom is to have all students working and collaborating throughout the day as much as possible, which takes planning, tools and creativity. When I work with my students and determine how to meet their needs, I think a lot about their accommodations rather than their modifications. The outcomes for a student can have a very dramatic effect on their learning. https://blogs.office.com/2016/10/19/accessibility-in-the-classroom-tools-that-impact-my-students/