Artifact 11

Context: First I went to the control panel (Start button to Settings, then control panel). I double clicked on “Accessibility Options”. Then I clicked on the “Display” tab. Then I checked the box that said, “High Contrast.” Then I clicked “Apply” and it made the words on the screen very big and made the screen black. This is a helpful tool for anyone who has any type of visual problem.
Next, I went back to the control panel and clicked on the “Mouse” icon. Then I clicked on, “double-click speed”. By doing this a person who cannot use their arms or hands very well can double-click the mouse as slow as they need too.
I then went to www.ldonline.org. I read an article called, “First Person”. This is an article written by an LD student and advice on being an LD student. I also printed out a page on this site called, “Teacher’s Home Page”. In this article it tells about a mentor teacher of the month and tells about her strategies for teaching students with learning disabilities and a little bit of her background as a teacher and how she started her career.
Finally I went to the website http://www.check-it-out.org, which is a site for disabled people who use assistive technology. Assistive technology is any item, piece of equipment or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities. Prosthetics and orthotics, ramps, standing/walking aids, vehicle modifications, visual/reading aids, and home modifications are just a few of the assistive technology pieces that you can buy for someone who is disabled.

Impact: I have now learned how to modify the computer to help my future students with their disabilities. I can change the monitor to, “high contrast” so that people who have seeing problems can see the screen better. I also know how to change the mouse controls so people with arm or hand disabilities can click the mouse slower. I also know what websites to go to if I have a student with disabilities so I can read articles on how to help my students or things that I can get my students who have disabilities to help them live normally.

Alignment: Now that I know how to modify the computer to help students with disabilities and know websites to help me be more informative about people who have disabilities I have met Competency 13.2 and hopefully have enough knowledge to be a understanding and caring teacher to those who have disabilities.

This artifact also aligns with INTASC Standard 3. It was created to demonstrate my understanding that teachers need to learn about individual learning differences in students. This artifact shows many different ways to adapt classrooms with students with disabilities.