Special Education Testing Modifications Tracker

Within my position as Curriculum Coordinator I have become an avid user of Excel and have started to learn about many of the features it has for formatting and examining data that has made my job a lot easier.  I created a spreadsheet with room for 25 students that will automatically color code the subject matter and modifications that the child receives for easy tracking of what is on the student's IEP.  There is also a place for notes as well.  If you are interested in such a product I have made it available for only $5.00 on Teacher Pay Teacher.

You can find the Special Education Testing Modifications Tracker HERE and read more about it.  Here is a screenshot as well:

A Couple Wikis

Wikis are a valuable website for teachers and administrators alike.  I had a friend email me asking me if I could provide him some iPad resources, so I checked my Diigo, found them, and then sent him the links.  I sent some more and asked how it was going.  He said that he was preparing a Wiki for his staff so that they had all the resources in one location.  Here are a couple wikis that I came across this week.

1.) Mobile Learning 4 Special Needs is a wiki that organizes applications and other resources for mobile devices that can be used in the classroom setting.  You can also find on the wiki a tutorials for using the applications and mobile devices as well as articles discussing their use.  There are also links to conferences as well.  A valuable resource to share with special education teachers. 

2.) ICT Magic is another wiki created to share and discuss the valuable web tools that are available for teachers and students to use in the classroom.  Resources are organized by subject matter and in several instances are used on the wiki in order to show how they work.  A great starting point for teachers looking to integrate technology into the curriculum.

Carryout Text

Carryout Text is a site dedicated to creating a simple way for you to convert text into audio.  The text is converted into an MP3 format.  This makes it very feasible to take lectures notes that you have created for students and make it into an audio file that students can listen too.  It could be very beneficial in creating a way for students who struggle with reading to have audio to following along with. 

Carryout Text is a site dedicated to creating a simple way for you to convert text into audio.  The text is converted into an MP3 format.  This makes it very feasible to take lectures notes that you have created for students and make it into an audio file that students can listen too.  It could be very beneficial in creating a way for students who struggle with reading to have audio to following along with. 

You can copy and paste text or you can upload the text from a file.  The information you provide will then be converted and will take time to do.  The time will all depend upon how long the text is.  A 412 character text (the paragraph above) took about 10 seconds.  The file will be available for 24 hours.  When the process is complete, you can play it through the web, or download the file. It provides the length and size of the file as well.

I have to tell you, I am impressed with the quality.  This could be a very useful tool for Special Education teachers.  I HIGHLY recommend sharing this with your teachers.  Hopefully when Carryout Text is no longer in beta they will have some options for educators.