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Today I am very excited to have Sarah from Primarily Au-Some as a guest blogger!  Sarah teaches kindergarten to 4th grade students with autism in Ohio.  Sarah is going to share some technology resources that she uses in her classroom.  You can find out more about Sarah by clicking on her blog button to the left!
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1. Vizzle:  I hope you have heard of it. Please have heard of it. It is an amazing computer program. Click Here to go to it.  I think it is a marvelous interactive way to test your kiddos. There are many teachers on there who have made thousands of lessons to use with your students. You can also create your own. The program gives you lessons that have assessments built in that you can use as an interactive way to test your students. It’s hard to explain and I did not do it justice. You can get a free trial of it if you go to there website. The bad thing about it is it does cost a pretty penny. (Or several hundred of them) UGH. But it’s totally worth it if your district will purchase it, or you can get a grant. They usually give out 2-3 subscriptions each year for districts to try. 
2. Technology In Education & AppyMall:  If you don’t read any of this post, except for one sentence, read this one…. Go right now to “Technology in Education” on FB (https://www.facebook.com/techinspecialed?fref=ts) and “like” their page. They will constantly update you with apps “that go free.” And well, hey, who doesn’t love free?  Appy Mall is an amazing site. They have thousands of apps and give ratings for the apps that are written by parents, teachers, therapists and other professionals. They often have a section that highlights free apps for the day. 
3. Classroom Dojo:   Again, I love free. I honestly don’t know a teacher who doesn’t. If you haven’t heard of class dojo well, you are about too. = Class dojo allows you to keep track of positive and negative behaviors for each individual student in your class. My kiddos love, love, love it. They have been trying to “get my password” so they can give them self-positive points. The best part is that each week the data collected generates a report and is sent via email to the child’s parents. It’s too cool.
4. Use Pinterest. It’s amazing. You can stalk, er…um…. “Follow me” here->www.Pinterest.com/PrimarilyAu-some  I have used Pinterest since my SLP came to school and said look at this cool site! I WAS HOOKED.  There are so many ideas that are out there, why not use them? I love to use it for inspiration. Often I will see something I like, and then figure out how to adapt it to make it even cheaper or to work with an individual student.  Worksheets kill trees. Don’t kill trees. Find a way to teach the same thing using an idea from Pinterest. I have to admit, it is a pet peeve of mine to walk into a classroom that includes Multiple Disability & students with Autism and see worksheets everywhere. There is a time and place for a work sheet, but before I use one, I always ask myself, is there a way I could teach this concept that is more hands-on, tactile, etc. If I can answer it with a no, then I will use a worksheet, but only then. I’ve found activities that include Velcro tasks, dry eraser markers, flashcards; hands-on manipulatives always work the best.
5. Acceptance is the key.  Working in the past few years, I have had many instances where general education students react to one of my students because they don’t understand anything about Autism. I think it is extremely important to work with general education peers to help them understand a little bit about Autism so that we can foster acceptance. It’s hard to know how to talk to students, but they have questions that should be answered. I decided to make an Autism Reader Freebie for you. The Freebie has a short reader and ideas for a supporting lesson plan for teachers who teach any student who has a question. I hope you find it helpful.