ORCLISH : Student Success Archive

Natasha

Natasha is a fourth grader at Fort Recovery Elementary School located in Fort Recovery, Ohio. She enjoys being with friends and visiting her grandmother's farm. Her favorite subject in school is math. She likes to work with numbers and feels that it is the easiest subject to master.
Natasha uses Co:Writer, a word prediction software program, and Write:OutLoud, a talking word program in her classes. She enjoys writing mystery stories using the software.
Natasha's parents feel that the software is a very beneficial educational tool. They feel that the technology levels the playing field for their daughter in the classroom.

Devin

Devin is a first grader at Fort Recovery Elementary School located in Fort Recovery, Ohio. Devin's favorite subject in school is Reading. He enjoys reading stories about bears. He also enjoys playing freeze tag during open gym.
Devin uses Co:Writer, a word prediction software program and Write:OutLoud, a talking word processing program in his class. He enjoys writing stories about tigers using the adaptive software. Devin enjoys hearing the words being spelled as he types.
Devin's teacher feels that the software programs help create better independence and allow students to produce more work in the classroom.

Zachary

The picture above is of a boy who was in the second grade this year. Zachary is a very friendly, bright and enthusiastic young man. This year was a very interesting year for him. He got a new aide to work with him, she didn't know braille or how to produce materials tactiley. She is a very lovely person and was quick to learn these new skills. Zachary was very dependent on the other aide, so he didn't want to do anything at the first six weeks. He was read to for the first week until we could start brailling the new book series that the school ordered.
Zachary was working and learning new things but not as fast as we wanted him to. So, we used a reward system to ghet him to work up to his ability. Zachary didn't like the larger braille paper, it was hard for him to read and then have materials to work with at the same time. So, we brailled all his materials or regular braille paper as fast as we could.
Zachary's grades in math and science went up and he improved on his skills when we were able to prepare more materials faster with the tactile image enhancer plus being able to prepare materials faster the brailled for him to review a head of time was a great asset for his learning. Zachary went from making C's to A's and B's in both science and Math.
As you can see from the picture Zachary was able to complete all the same activities as the other students during the same time.
We feel that Zachary having similar designs as the one's prepared on the state proficiency tests was a great help. He was excited about all the new graphs, maps and diagrams. With him learning all these new skills like the other students in class helped him feel more a part of the class.
Linda Farnham
Supplemental Service Teacher for the Visually Impaired

Mara

Mara is a 6th grader at Seneca-Huron Elementary School in Northwest Ohio. She enjoys Spelling and Reading classes. She enjoys reading Little Sisters and Box Car Kid Adventures. Mara uses an AlphaSmart 2000, a portable notetaker that helps her take notes in class and complete written assignments. Mara likes using technology in the classroom because it helps her to complete assignments in a timely manner. In her spare time, Mara enjoys playing on the computer and watching television. Two programs she enjoys watching include Sabrina the Teen Age Witch and Who Wants to be a Millionaire. View Mara's work by clicking here.

Jodi

Jodi is a 5^th grader at Ottawa Elementary School in Northwest Ohio. At school, she enjoys recess and lunch where she meets friends to talk and play during the break from schoolwork.

Jodi uses a trackball and an on-screen keyboard to access a computer in her classroom. She also uses Co:Writer, a writing assistant program that helps construct sentences, and Write:OutLoud, a talking word processor which helps in many of her academic subjects. She enjoys using the technology because it allows her to complete classroom assignments in a timely manner and creates independence.

When not attending school, Jodi enjoys "Surfing the Net" RainQuest and Wheel of Fortune are two games she enjoys while using the internet.

Casey

Casey is a first grade student at Renschville Elementary School in the Galion City School District in Ohio. Casey's favorite subject is reading. He accesses reading materials using IntelliKeys, an expanded keyboard that is used with a Macintosh computer. IntelliKeys allows access to a computer, assists in making him more independent, and helps Casey focus on reading skills.
Casey also enjoys playing with remote control cars, which are controlled by switches. The car cruises the classroom as Casey maneuvers it through various obstacles.

Nate

Nate is a 3rd grader at Central Elementary School in Shelby, Ohio. His favorite subjects are math and science. He enjoys using Sammy's Science House, an interactive introductory science software program that challenges students to observe, compare, classify, construct and practice skills.
Nate uses IntelliKeys, an expanded keyboard and IntelliTalk, a talking word processor for creating docuemnts and reports in his classroom. He enjoys hearing letters, words, sentences, and paragraphs as he types. Nate feels that technology enables him to be more independent and will be the key to his success in the future.
In his spare time, Nate enjoys hanging out with his firends and jumping from swings at recess.

Brent

Brent is a sophomore at Coldwater High School in Coldwater, Ohio. Brent enjoys meeting new classmates and different people at school. He especially likes a classroom activity where students interact sharing school and personal experiences.

Brent enjoys learning jokes and sharing them with his fellow classmates. He shared a few of his best:
Question: Why did Tarzan win all of the games?
Answer: Because he played with Chee-tahs.......

Question: Why did the golfer take an extra pair of shoes?
Answer: Because he had a "hole in one"...........

Brent communicates by using a Dynavox 2C. The Dynavox 2C is an augmentative communication device which allows Brent to communicate using synthesized speech.

Brent feels that assistive technology enables him to participate in school activities, empowers him to choose various tasks in the classroom, and allows interaction with people on a day-to-day basis.
In his spare time, Brent enjoys playing cards, going out to eat, and watching championship wrestling on television.

Brett

Brett is a 3rd grade student at East Elementary School in the Celina City School District, located in western Ohio. Brett's favorite subject in school is Spelling because he considers himself very proficient in this area of study. Brett participates in playing and learning the fundamentals of kickball in his Physical Education class. He also enjoys recess where he socializes with his many friends and meets new people.

In the classroom, Brett utilizes today's technology to complete assignments. A closed circuit television (CCTV) magnifies the print of his curriculum materials and books. He uses IntelliKeys, an expanded keyboard, and a Macintosh computer to produce written documents. Brett feels these adaptations are fun to learn and help him with work assigned in class.

Brett's mother attributes her son's success in school to the integration of assistive technology in the classroom, great support from the school district and teaching staff, and to Brett's caring attitude and quick sense of humor. She takes an active role in Brett's education.

In his spare time, Brett enjoys playing baseball, football, and spending time with family and friends.

Joe

Joe is a junior at Lima Senior High School located in Lima, Ohio. He enjoys working with computers to enhance his educational opportunities in school. Joe focuses on his computer skills in and out of the classroom.

Using his computer talent, Joe helps his school with various projects. One such project is called Hot Jobs. The purpose of this project is to post local jobs that are available to students in the area. The high school office broadcasts the information to it's student body. Joe types, formats, and prepares these documents to give to the administration to post.

Joe works at the Cozy Cafe, a restaurant located at the high school and run by the students. Joe's responsibilities include serving as a host, producing a weekly menu flyer, and creating recipe worksheets for students to prepare foods served in the restaurant. Joe also has experience working for Goodwill Industries.

When Joe is not in school, studying, or working, he enjoys playing Nintendo.

Jessica

Jessica is an eighth grade student at Greenbriar Middle School in Parma, Ohio. Jessica uses many pieces of technology to assist her in being successful at school. She has been using a Braille 'n Speak since the fifth grade. With her Braille 'n Speak, she takes class notes, completes assignments, takes tests, keeps an assignment notebook, and maintains a personal phone and address book. Last year Jessica learned to use the computer with JAWS, a screen reader software program, to enable her to take the seventh and eighth grade computer classes. She has become a whiz at writing, reading, editing, spell checking, and using clip art with the additional help of a screen enlarger called Magic.

Because of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Grant, Jessica's school system received an Everest Braille embosser which was placed at her building so that materials could be prepared for her daily classes via computer using the Braille Edit and MegaDots programs. Jessica is happy to have this printer because it produces Braille on regular weight copy paper that is 8 1/2 x 11 inches in size. The paper is lightweight, holds up to her use, and fits in regular folders.
Another piece of equipment that has greatly helped Jessica's learning is the Tactile Image Enhancer. This machine takes a drawing, which has been copied on a standard copier to specially treated paper, and raises the lines so that they can be tactually explored. Jessica's teacher uses this machine to make the maps used in the map study portion of her social studies class so that Jessica can participate in the activities with the other students.
Jessica especially enjoys having diagrams and drawings for science class available to her in a tactile form. Because of these, Jessica has been able to analyze drawings like the rest of her class. Her science teacher says that she could not have learned as well without the diagrams.
Because of the technology and Jessica's hard work, she has had more free time this year to enjoy a variety of recreational activities such as singing with the choir, dramatics, and horseback riding.