SETC Teacher Interviews and Comments
Teacher Interviews
Teacher #1:
Q: Would you explain how literacy support software has helped your students?
A: Um, . . . it helps them every day with their writing and their, ‘um, skill improvement. One particular student comes to mind, who has . . . is an 8th grader, and writes like a kindergartner . . . with terrible spelling . . . but very bright! He’s using a dictation program on RWG, and this makes a . . . he’s so bright that he can manage it well . . . and he can now finish all his work. It makes a difference in his home, in that his parents were always sitting at the computer and typing out his reports for him. And now he can manage all that on his own. So, it’s big improvement both at school and at home.
Q: So, he’s become quite a bit more independent then?
A: Totally! . . . independent kid.
Teacher #2:
Q: You have literacy support software in your classroom; how does that work for your students?
A: My students have been enabled! . . . by using particularly the TextHelp Read&Write GOLD that has the word prediction option, and the read-aloud, so that they can hear back what they have written, do the spell check; have word prediction help them with typing it more quickly to keep the idea in mind that they’re trying to get down.
One boy in particular, ‘um . . . entering 6th grade, was having a very difficult time transitioning, and became almost a BECA [transcription for this acronym uncertain] problem with his attendance. And through utilizing that software in general ed classes as well as in my classroom, he has been able to feel success, find ability to respond to assignments of all sorts . . . and become controlled in feeling that he is able to do the things that are expected of him . . . and attendance has ceased to be a problem.
Teacher #3:
Q: How has the TLD Grant helped your students?
A: You know . . . kids take to technology like ducks take to water. So, I can show ‘em something once or twice and they’re ready to fly with it . . . and they start teaching me. So . . . that’s been so wonderful to watch them learn and explore. You . . . you took a teacher who’s scared to let kids on the computer because of all the bad stuff they might do. And now they just . . . they get on and they’re able to explore and do what they need to do. And they’re teaching me as much as I’m teaching them.
When [student’s name] parents came to parent conferences in November they walked in the door and you could tell they were really nervous . . . they didn’t want to be there. And at the conference I told them how wonderful she was doing . . . and they started to cry. I mean they literally needed the box of Kleenex; because she’s just pulling A’s and pulling B’s, and she’s not getting in trouble and it was . . . It made me cry to watch them cry, because I never had heard that she’d been in trouble in elementary school, and here she is just being a wonderful success.
Q: Can you attribute a lot of that to the Read&Write GOLD (RWG) program:
A: I think so . . . I think so (head nodding). She’s finding success. She knows what she’s doing and she’s willing to come in and ask for help. You know, when I did the training for RWG, the reading tools and the scanners, she was right in. In fact, she skipped lunch so she could come in and get trained. I had to send her back to get food she was so excited. And every day it’s “Can I use the scanner? . . . can I use the scanner? . . . so, she’s really enjoying that.
Teacher #4:
Q: Has the technology helped your students to be more independent?
A: I met with the history teacher and we came up with a project that we could do that was a little modified. And I sat down with them . . . we chose the topic; I assigned different areas; and that was the last I saw of them. Every time I gave them time to work on it they were on the computers by themselves doing the research, using the RWG to read the internet . . . and they were puttin’ it together by themselves . . . and they all got wonderful grades on it. So . . . very independent! It’s amazing! And I have another group that will be doin’ it this semester and I think they are going to be just as successful.
Q: Have you noticed any improvement in their reading fluency or comprehension?
A: I am noticing improvement in their comprehension. I had a student who was working on the RWG with the scanner just today . . . and he finished this really long book, over . . . over 200 pages, and he took a comprehension test on it and he scored an 80%. So, it’s really helping him learn the comprehension . . . ‘cause he’s not struggling to get the words as much . . . so he’s able to work on his comprehension. And then the reading along is helping him with the fluency and knowing what those words are.
Q: In what other ways has the technology helped?
A: They’re starting to take what they’re brainstorming and all their ideas, and they’re able to put them into sentences . . . to string them into a paragraph so that their writing makes sense. And they’re finding that listening to what they’ve written has helped them. They can read it out loud . . . but they know what they wrote, so they’re readin’ it for what they thought they wrote, they’re not actually reading the words that are on the paper. So, using that RWG and lettin’ them read . . . have it read to them . . . they’re goin’ . . . “Well, wait a minute, that’s not what I meant to say.” . . . So, they go back and they fix it.
Q: Do they feel more willing to write?
A: They are more willing to write. They are. They’ve had . . . on days we don’t get to it, they’re a little bummed out. (They say . . . ) “I though we were going to work on our letters today!” . . . you know . . . “Sorry we didn’t get to it, we ran out of time.” And so, they really . . . they keep asking, “So, do we get the whole period tomorrowwwww.?” So . . . they really enjoy it. They depend a lot on the RWG. Some of them just want to string a whole bunch of words, and they don’t have any periods or anything, so we don’t know where their thoughts are ending. But when it’s all read together in a big run on sentence, they say, “Whoa…whoa…stop! Let’s go back, let’s look at this.” And they go back and they put it in. The grammar . . . having it read to them, they know if it makes sense to them or not. And for the spelling . . . they love the word wizard, the spell check and the prediction tool. They use those all the time. Those are their favorite tools.
Q: Are they writing more for you?
A: They are writing more for me.
Q: Does using the technology cause your students to improve their behavior?
A: I asked my students, and I even asked my class this question., . . . “Do you think it’s improving your behavior?” . . . and some said yes, and some said no. But, where I see the behavior improving is . . . if I ask them to write something with pencil and paper, a lot of them will just quit. Writing is tough. And now I don’t see that. I see them working hard. It might take them a long time to type it out, but they’re not gonna’ quit . . . they’re not just throwing up their hands and saying I’m done. They want to persevere; they want to keep doin’ it. It takes us maybe a long time to get through a project, but it’s worth it. It makes learning exciting for them again. These kids have struggled with everything for so long, that to be recognized for being successful is just amazing to watch them just beam . . . and their parents just beam when they see what they’ve done.
Q: Does RWG help your students with math?
A: We do what I call “write math” that kind of goes along with our WASL. They take a story problem and they have to answer it. They have to write out their explanation. And, I spent a lot of time reading and re-reading the question to them, and going over their answers with them . . . and I think that to take me out of the picture and let them be a little more independent . . . they might grow a little faster, because they won’t be so dependent on me.
Q: What types of kids do you see this software helping?
A: I seem them helping the IEP kids, . . . the ELL students . . . our LAP or Title kids who are not quite qualifying for the special education program, but still need the extra help . . . or just the reluctant learner. Somebody who hates to write might find success on there. They might be able to write without a problem handwritten, it’ll be a motivator to help them find success in school instead of just quitting.
Q: So, just about anybody?
A: Just about anybody. In fact, I had teachers, when I was training on the program this fall . . . teachers who would come up and say, “I have to get one of those speech to text, because I hate writing, and this would help me with my paperwork.” So I had teachers who were excited about using it. My whole staff was excited about it when I showed it to them at the beginning of the year. You know, we’ve had a few difficulties getting it up and running for everybody, this year we’re going through some big schedule changes, and RWG is going to be a big part of what we do in our building next year. Every person . . . the plan right now is . . . every writing teacher . . . at least the writing teachers will have a scanner so things can be done in those classes to help out all of the kids and not just the kids who are on IEP’s, but all the kids are going to be able to have access and use it. And that’s just so exciting to me.
Q: Does the technology help your ELL students?
A: I have several ELL students in my classroom . . . and just the fact that they know what they’re trying to say, and they don’t know if they’ve said it right . . . and so they get to go back and listen to what they’ve tried to say and see if it makes sense. And that, with the prediction . . . it is really helping them with the English language. They’re becoming much more confident, and they know if it makes sense. It’s just a wonderful tool. One of my students . . . he’s just . . . vocabulary is hard for him; it always has been. And he finds himself really being able to evaluate what he’s saying. It’s very, very powerful for him to know that he’s being able to communicate effectively.
Q: Talk to me about technology skills. What do you notice with your kids?
A: You know . . . I teach primarily 6th grade, and they come in with . . . basically zero technology skills. They don’t know how to turn on the computer, . . . they have a hard time remembering a log-in, . . . and they get so immersed in this class that by the time they leave, they’re so confident . . . and they’re at the point now where, even with just their keyboarding skills alone, they can keyboard. And the 8th grade enrichment class will come in to borrow the computers, and they’re asking for help, because the 8th grade enrichment class doesn’t know how to keyboard. So, we’re really seeing a lot of self-confidence building with these kids and their skills. You know . . . they’re starting to be leaders where before they’ve always been the followers. They’ve always been the ones who need the help, and now they’re able to help others . . . and it’s such a self-confidence builder for these kids.
Teacher #5:
Q: Has the technology helped your students to be more independent?
A: At the beginning of the year the kids were really clingy . . . like, “Help me, help me.” one-on-one. And when you have a class of 16 with one teacher, where these kids are so used to the one-on-one, it was difficult for them to sit and wait patiently. With this [RWG] they can log on themselves; they open up RWG on their own; they open up their own Word [document]. They’re very independent on doing that. They go from the beginning where they’re getting their thoughts; they hear it read out loud to them; they send it through spell check. I come in before school and I have kids in here scanning. I had a kid last year who scanned the entire Harry Potter Half Blood Prince ‘cause he wanted to read it . . . and he read at a very low reading level, but he was able to scan the whole book in . . . a page at a time . . . and then a chapter at a time . . . and then pretty soon 2 chapters at a time . . . and he read the whole book. It took him a month or so, but . . . and then he could talk to his friends about it . . . when before he was reading Judy B. Jones. And now, all of a sudden he’s reading Harry Potter. So, he’s going from a 1st grade level book to . . . basically, a high middle-school book, and felt good about it.
And I had kids last year who were 8th graders who went to the high school and they’re boo-hooing, ‘cause they don’t have [RWG] it at the high school. So, I have a couple kids coming back after school and using RWG, because it was such a tremendous support to them. I just think it’s sad that other schools don’t have it available, ‘cause I’ve seen what it can do for all different types of students. I even have general ed kids that come in and use it during lunch . . . the ones that aren’t “qualified as special ed” . . . but, the ones who are at risk . . . and they’re passing.
This one kid had an F in social studies last quarter . . . he has a C right now . . . and feeling good about himself. And he’s giving up his lunch! . . . and after school . . . which is his time.
Q: They’re depending more upon each other, you said.
A: Right. They’re asking their peers next to ‘em . . . they’ll say, “Here . . . listen to what I wrote.” Instead of, “Here . . . read what I wrote, it’s “Here . . . listen to what I wrote,” which is cool, ‘cause these are kids who struggle with reading. And they can give back positive feedback by what they’re hearing, versus trying to read it. “Cause . . . you know . . . sometime they’ll read it and say, “That’s not what I said!” (dramatically). “Well, then go back and fix it. Usually they leave out the articles or they leave off the endings, and now they can hear it. It gives the kids power, I think . . . just to know that . . . yeah, their peers are doing this, or reading about this, or talking about this on the bus. And then they can come in . . . the students can come in here and scan it in or learn more . . . and they can carry on a conversation with their friends without them saying, “Oh gee . . . why should we be talking to you, ‘cause you read at this low level. And all of a sudden, they’re at an equal with their peers, or even above.
I mean, even a little kid that was reading about Martin Luther King the other day . . . we watched a movie the other day, and she wanted to know more about it. And this is a student who has been “qualified” as mentally retarded. You give her this type of technology, and there’s no labels! There are no labels with this.
Q: Has using this software in your classroom changed your attitude about teaching in any way?
A: Yes . . . I didn’t like teaching writing. I will be the first one to admit that. Writing is my least favorite subject to teach, and now it’s one of my most favorite, because I can see what the kids can produce on their own, independently. And I don’t have to be there one-on-one with the students correcting their work. It’s in the students hands now . . . and it made me excited about teaching. I look forward to 5th period English, and 6th period exploratory, ‘cause the kids just don’t want to quit writing . . . so, we always go into 6th period . . . and they’re still writing during our exploratory time. So, I think it’s excited me, and it’s really excited the students.
I have a student that at the beginning of the year he fought writing because he came from a self-contained . . . another self-contained program where he was with a resource teacher all day; . . . fought anything to do with reading or writing. I you’d give him a book it’d go (sweeping hand gesture) across the room because he was that frustrated with reading. He struggles a lot with learning. He’s had probly . . . he’s I would say 4 or 5 years behind. He’s at a first or second grade level, performing wise, without technology, and he’s a 6th grader. But once we exposed him to Read&Write GOLD, and that it can read to him and . . . it’s just amazing, it’s just opened his eyes to the world.
He would not write at the beginning of the year, because . . . you know . . . paper pencil Uggggh . . . things of bad . . . things for him. Put him on a computer . . . he wasn’t real sure at the beginning, but then all of a sudden from being the one that you have to drag over to the computer, he’s the first one running to the computer and signing up ‘cause he’s so excited to use it. He’s sharing his thoughts with other kids . . . and this is from a little shy guy that wouldn’t talk to anybody. I mean it was like . . . ”Joe, come on. You can do it” . . . ”No, I can’t do it! I’m stupid!” . . . and that’s what kept aggravating me, because he kept calling himself stupid. And all of a sudden he’s going from, “No, I’m not stupid. I just need extra help.”
I have this one young lady that, she’s been diagnosed as having autism, and she would not talk to anybody at the beginning of the year except for maybe, “I have a dog.” And she’s . . . anything about her dog she would talk to you about, that was it. But she would not initiate any conversation with anybody. I put her on Read&Write GOLD, and she wasn’t real sure at the beginning about using it. She likes to tell you things, not really type or write about it. All of a sudden I’m going . . . you know, you can write about more than your dog. And she’s writing these stories. She’s sharing, and the neat thing is she’s talking to other people. She doesn’t usually talk to strangers . . . but all of a sudden she’s talking to students in the class, and we’ve had a substitute para-educator. Every afternoon, we’ve had like a different person and someone else once a week . . . and she’s feeling confident enough to talk to those people. And we . . . she starts by initiating the conversation in talking about what she’s writing about. And all of a sudden she’s conversing. And this is a kid that would talk to her parents, her brother, and one teacher last year, and now she’s talking to all these different adults. She’s made friends with a lot of adults in the hallway by taking her papers out and showing them . . . “This is what I’m reading, or this is what I’m writing. And it’s really neat to see this kid who’s kinda’ in her own little world that, again, the whole world is opened to her. She’s seeing that there’s more than just her little 3 by 3 spot. There’s a life out there for her! And she has dreams . . . she wants to be a veterinarian, and she’s been researching about being a vet on the computer with the literacy tool. It’s just amazing, and she shares a new thought every day.
I had a student her very first day in here. I gave her this writing prompt about a lighthouse, and she wrote 2 sentences . . . and I gave her a 5-minute lesson on RWG, on using word prediction and the spell check, and she went from writing lots of words with a lot of spelling errors and syntax errors, not knowing exactly what she’d written, but when she read it to me it made sense to her . . . to having her re-write it using those tools and having it read out loud . . . and making sense to her too, and her peers. And all of a sudden, she’s like . . . that’s what I meant to say! So . . . it sends shivers up my spine, but that was . . . I was able to take her paper to her meeting that night and say . . . (gesturing with one palm up) . . . this is her before, and this is 5 minutes later. Look at what this kid can do! Look what she can achieve.
Where they wanted to place her in my self-contained classroom all day, . . . she’s only in there once . . . for one period, for English. And we can support her science and her social studies. We support all her content areas with that one class. And it’s just amazing. She’s feeling good about herself.
There’s nothing they can’t do with this type of technology. ‘Cause if there’s something that they wanna’ read they can scan it in. If it’s on the internet, they can have it read out loud to them. They can highlight and dump it into a storage file so they have study notes. I have not figured out anything a student cannot do with this type of program. ‘Cause they can even do math with it.
Teacher #6:
Q: You have used literacy support software with your students for awhile now. What’s been the results?
A: I had a student who was a senior in high school, and he had to pass history or he would not graduate . . . and his reading level was about 2nd grade . . . and there’s no way he was going to use the textbook and pass. So what we did together is . . . I taught him how to scan, and then put that into a program that would read the assignment to him . . . also, read the questions that he had to answer to him. And then, since it was in Word he could type out his questions, print it out, and turn it in. Because of that, he was able to complete his assignment, his comprehension of the text really increased, he passed the class and he was able to graduate. And so, for him, it was a win-win situation.
Teacher #7:
Q: Can you give an example of how literacy support software has helped any of your students?
A: Sure. I could think of lots of examples . . . There’s one student I have whose understanding level is really high, but he’s very dyslexic, and anything to do with reading and writing seems almost impossible for him. And so, basically, he never turns anything in. And with some of this literacy support, he’s able . . . he’s really good on the computer, so he loves scanning documents into the computer, loves listening to ‘em, and he’s also become an expert on . . . when he’s doing his writing using the word prediction to actually just put in a few letters . . . then he’s able to just click the word. In the past I could never get any written assignments from him. Using the word prediction in the computer, he is able to do 2 or 3 paragraphs, where in the past I would get nothing. So, for certain students it’s just awesome. And . . . you know . . . they can just do . . . you never get anything, to all of a sudden, you’re getting documents and they’re getting assignments done, and they’re building confidence . . . and they can work from there. So, I’ve had a lot of success with quite a few of my students.
Teacher Comments
“I don’t have to be there one-on-one with the students correcting their work. It’s in the students hands now . . . and it made me excited about teaching.”
“The classes motivate me to do more since they are more enthusiastic about learning than my usual classes have been. I credit technology for that.”
“Students are being more involved in their education and are advocating for the use of technology. Previously resistant students are more involved and seem to enjoy school more.”
“The few that didn’t like to write still don’t like to write but now they at least make an effort. They don’t say that they can’t.”
“Now I scan the paper and put it on the ACTIVboard . . . We do more as a class now.”
“We continue to use technology on a daily basis. My students are enjoying school so much that I frequently hear, "It's time to go already?" at the end of the day. I never thought that I would hear those words at 2:18 in the afternoon, after a long day of learning.”
"One of my lowest level students comes in daily, scans his work, puts on the headphones, and works for the entire period--progress.”
“The biggest increase is their self-confidence with writing. One kid refused to write and by the end of the year was moved to a regular English class and received an A . . . The students really wanted to learn more . . . . The technology made them feel successful.”
“Students feel better about coming to the class when they see it offers technology. In fact, I had a student that was ready for general education, who asked if that would mean he couldn't come to my room and use the technology. By offering him study club in my classroom, he was satisfied.”
“The technology has changed the way I teach and prepare my lessons. I keep telling my husband that I don't ever want to leave the [----] School District because I don't want to lose the fun teaching tools.”
“Maybe for a February assignment, we could have all the teachers experience one day without technology to "open up" their eyes to what life was like before TLD.”
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Special Education Technology Center
Central Washington University
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Ellensburg, WA 98926-7413
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