With the growing availability of technology it is becoming easier to integrate it into the classroom, and in most cases increase your student's success. There are many resources available to teachers, and as a special education teacher, I know I will be using some form of technology daily in my lessons. As a student teacher I have already seen how many different ways technology can help my students in P.P.C.D.
Video technology is widely used in all grade levels and classes in the form of power points to youtube/teachertube videos. In my project plan, my partner and I have come up with a video presentation that will show a very useful strategy that is mainly utilized by special education teachers, but can be helpful for any teacher as well. These are stories written for students with a particular behavior in mind that the teacher is trying to modify.
The point of view of this video is first person point of view to coincide with the point of view of social stories. The student recognizes certain situations that may result in poor choices and is reminded how to handle such situations by reading a social story made for him.
The dramatic question will be answered in the social story, it is the reason for the story. "How should I react when I feel overwhelmed?""What behavior is expected of me?"
No teacher wants to see a student upset and would much rather provide students with a way they can self regulate their behaviors. Seeing a student use a strategy to calm down instead of act out would make any teacher proud, giving us the emotional content.
The gift of voice is so important in any movie, and ours is no different. We will see a student get frustrated, read a social story and then know how to handle the same situation when it happens again. The students voice will play a big part.
In most movies, the soundtrack gives clues as to what may happen, give insights to the character's feelings and build anticipation. In our video we will be simulating a classroom for students with special needs as such there wont be an abundance of sound apart from the narrating.
The point of a social story is to address a specific behavior so the story itself is short and to the point. There is no reason to draw it out, and due to most student's short attention spans, the longer the story the less likely the story will work.
The pacing, or rhythm, of the video will be played out in real time. The total time a student (or teacher) recognizes a situation in which a social story is needed, the reading of the story, and the modified behavior is not very long making it possible to show every step.
