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I am currently a STEM teacher for PK through 5th grade students at a little small-town school. However, I often see other STEM teachers in Facebook groups sharing their experiences with 3D printers and coding robots, and it really inspires me! I'd love to bring that kind of hands-on technology into my own classroom one day. 3D printers and coding robots allow students to physically interact with and understand STEM topics, which is especially beneficial for students with visual and kinesthetic learning styles. I also love including group projects in my classroom and plan on incorporating them more often. They offer flexibility by allowing students to take on roles that play to their strengths, so whether a student excels in coding, design, or communication, they can contribute meaningfully to the team. Also, I should definitely start using caption and transcription tools to ensure that students with hearing impairments, or those who prefer written content, can fully participate in my lessons, making sure everyone has equal access to learning! I believe that all of these strategies would work together to create an accessible and inclusive STEM classroom where every student can thrive!

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I am a middle school art teacher, so I already rely heavily on visual examples and aids. I regularly show videos, with closed captions, and display timers for students to see how long they have to work. I have color coded noise level cards and provide a daily agenda every day for those who need a visual for what the class will consist of. Something that I would love to implement in my class is a variety of seating options. I currently have wooden chairs and large tables, and I don't have much space for anything else. However, I do think that I could squeeze in some comfier seating options and create a reset space in a corner. Another thing I would like to try is speech to text or typed writing options. I have students do their writing mostly on paper, and I often get a lot of complaints about students' hands hurting. While I do think it's important to build endurance and dexterity, I think that students should have an option to type their writing or use speech to text. Lastly, I found the online discussion board to be an interesting idea. I typically have students work in small group or partner discussions, but some students don't work well with those activities. I think it would benefit some students to have online discussion boards instead. It would also give me written evidence of understanding instead of having to listen to every conversation.

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As a music teacher, accessibility in the classroom is an endless process. For beginners, implementing activities that involve kinesthetics can be more accessible. For example, instead of having beginning instrumentalists play rhythm examples ONLY, having students clap and count rhythm examples can help them better understand. Another way that caters specifically to students with vision disabilities is to enlarge music- this could be done on paper through magnification on a copy machine, or an iPad/tablet could be utilized to zoom in on music. Lastly, offering students multiple ways to submit playing assignments makes the music classroom more accessible. For instance, some students may not have the ability to submit assignments online when they are at home (digital inequity). Offering all students the option to do playing assignments after school makes them more feasible for all students involved.

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I teach art, so I rely heavily on my Clear Touch board to share the class agenda, present artist examples, run visual timers, and demonstrate techniques on the document camera. After reading these articles and watching the video, I want to try making my class agenda more clear with color coded cues when we are transitioning to a new activity. My early literacy students in pre-k through second grade can more easily understand the goal for the day when the different parts of instruction are color coded. Another way to integrate technology is to have students use Artsonia to capture a photo of their artwork, upload it and share with their family and friends. Finally, I would really enjoy getting some flexible seating in my room, as many of my students are wiggle worms.

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In the future, I want to try to incorporate more printed-off notes and read-alouds for my students. In my classroom, I utilize Google Classroom every day for daily assignments as well as for PowerPoint slides so that the students can follow along more easily. I have also thought about having online discussion boards as well. I already do something similar to this with short answer prompts for exit tickets but I want to push my students more to write longer paragraphs in online discussion boards with one another. My main goal, however, will be to try to make a more inclusive classroom for some of my ELL students by utilizing printed-off notes and more read-aloud for class assignments.

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Teaching English Language Learners, classroom accessibility is very important. Many ELL students face challenges beyond language, such as differences in their culture and educational gaps. Having classroom accessibility will help the students engaging in the lesson and feeling more comfortable participating that will help boost their confidence and communication skills.

In my classroom we use interactive language apps a lot. My students love using Duolingo ABC, Starfall and ABC Ya. The students feel like they are just playing games. The apps give the students the visual and auditory engagement that will help build their vocabulary and phonics skills.

In doing research on technology based strategies, I learned about one that I will definitely start using, digital storytelling with voice recording. Book Creator lets the students record themselves reading a story. The students who may not be able to fully read could look at the pictures and record themselves making up their own story or what the pictures are about. This allows the students to build confidence in Speaking English and the teacher can listen to gain insight on their pronunciation and language development.

I am a firm believer in flexible seating. Arranging the classroom to allow different seating options will support students who may have a physical disability or requires accommodations for sensory needs. This accessibility is also helpful during test times. Giving students an option to sit where they want can help with nerves. Not everyone feels comfortable taking a test. Allowing students to spread out and pick where they would like to sit/lay, can help reduce some of their anxiety.

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These are ways I can make my classroom more accessible for my students:

1. Being flexible with the lighting in my classroom. For me, bright lights hurt my eyes and I prefer dim lights, like using Christmas lights, different handing lights, or using lamps.

2. Using assistive Technology. For example, using screen readers or speech-to-text software. I have a hearing loss and I use closed captions on any videos or movies I watch because half the time I cannot understand what the characters in a movie are saying, or if I heard them correctly.

3. Lastly, I will arrange the seating for each students needs. For the students who have trouble hearing or have vision problems, I would allow those students to sit towards the front. Another seating arrangement I could use is arranging the seating to where every student has a clear line of sight of me and the board.

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Over the years, it has been fascinating to see the ways that assistive technology has developed. I chose my gif because it is one of the things that I am trying to do.

1. I make a lot of instructional videos since covid. I found that it not only drove my instruction during that time, but was really helpful to students who wanted to go back and review the lesson or were absent. One of the things I have found recently that was beneficial was subtitles. Not only does it help students with disabilities, but I noticed my non English speaking students changing the subtitles in YouTube to Spanish to help them learn the mathematics. However, the subtitles aren't always accurate and I have to check those :)

2. Secondly, at the middle school level, I used graphing organizers. When I moved to the high school, I have not used those as much. These articles were a reminder that they are beneficial for all students.

3. Sometimes in mathematics, we find it harder to use a discussion post or technology to help students collaborate on assignments. I want to use it more in the future. I completely agree with the articles that it gives students time to digest the information. I heard a saying a long time ago that I use in my room. "Some people are speak to think, and some are think to speak." Since I have a person who speaks while I am digesting material, I have to consciously remember to give time to those who are "think to speak."

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Discover & share this text tech Animated GIF by NTKOassistant with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.

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The use of ipads or portable televisions in place of sheet music is a relatively inexpensive yet effective method for overcoming sight impairments. Concurrently there exists a plethora of software for the tracking of notes and other forms of music reading.

Ensuring that performance opportunities give students of all abilities a safe and accessible environment

There are a variety of acommodations that can be made to ensure that students of all abilities can have a connection with music, whether that's physical modifications to the instrument, accessible software, or specially designed materials. I believe it would be important to be acquainted with these regardless of if I currently have students who need them.

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Ways I will make my make my classroom more accessible:

1. I already utilize Google Classroom to post all the lecture slides that we cover throughout each of my classes, however, I would like to begin posting many of my assignments onto Google Classroom as well. This semester in particular there has been a high degree of absenteeism due to various factors like sickness or weather related concerns. I have found that once a student misses a few days in a row it is quite a challenge to get them caught up on everything they missed. So by posting everything on Classroom it would allow any student who misses to be able to stay up to date on their missing work thus improving overall accessibility.

2. I would like to begin incorporating more gamification methods into my review days. I have noticed this semester that several of my students will take the study guides that I give them and then create their own Quizlets or Blookets to help them study. I would like to begin making these for my students to work on as well. In the past I have used gamification methods like these a few times and have found them to be quite successful in assisting with reviewing material. The only problem is translating all of my on paper study guides into this format. It will take a bit of work, but I believe that by doing this it will help to make my classes more accessible to all different types of learners.

3. Thirdly, I would like to incorporate text-to-speech software or programs into my assignments and lecture slides. I have a high percentage of IEP students in many of my classes which sometimes require aid to assist with these students. This method so far has been fine, however, by utilizing a text-to-speech program embedded within my assignment and lectures, I could help to reduce the burden on my students who require additional assistance as it pertains to reading thus improving overall accessibility.

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The concept of having a digital discussion board is very interesting to me. It is very important to encourage student-to-student discourse in my class, so assigning a discussion board to students may be a great way to foster that, especially considering their social media bent.

Including multimedia would likely also be a fruitful way to instruct. I think teaching content with videos, listening to songs as primary sources in a history class, and even having the students use GIFs to communicate things about the lesson could help the students remember the content better than simply lecturing.

Utilizing an online classroom system (my school uses Schoology) to present a running list of vocabulary words could also be very helpful. Teaching History, there are numerous concepts that need to be remembered to make everything work together. Having such a list as a reference could be very helpful.

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I am currently 6 months into having my own classroom, within this time I have found several helpful things that make my classroom more accessible. One of the biggest things I have noticed has been providing my powerpoints on the classroom website so that they are able to follow alone during notes on their screen. This allows students who may write slower or have a hard time seeing to have their own. I also provide my class with a digital assignment or a paper assignment depending on their preference. Another way I make my classroom more accessible is having labeled and organized areas. This allows students to always be sure where something goes, or where to grab what they need for the day. I also have flexible seating to allow them to either sit with a partner or on their own based on their own needs.

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I will make sure I adapt my classroom to all. 1. I will change the light switches from flipping to pushing. So, if students need to use their elbow or nose, they can. Making sure that all doorknobs/drawer handles are changed from round, circular knobs to flat easily usable ones.

2. I will make sure there are available technology to students such as language translators, screen reader, speak-to-text, and enlarged texts for white board work. I will make sure all students can use these, when deemed necessary by them, whether it's due to a disability or they are having a tough day and they know they will need the aide.

3. I will make sure everything is reachable and accessible to everyone in the classroom, whether that's raising or lowering desk, putting needed supplies on a different shelf, etc. everyone will have access to everything that is needed on a daily basis without having to ask for assistance. Unless deemed otherwise.

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In my future classroom, I will improve accessibility by creating flexible seating arrangements to ensure students can see and hear demonstrations while maintaining safe navigation. Since the projector screen is fixed, I will incorporate mobile visual aids, such as whiteboards and laminated instruction sheets, to support students who struggle with visibility. Additionally, I will leverage technology by recording demonstrations with a document camera and making them available on classroom tablets or shared screens, ensuring all students can follow along, even if they miss part of the live demonstration.

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1.     The first way I would make my classroom accessible is by implementing some sort of digital classroom page, such as ClassDojo or Google Classroom. That way, students and parents can stay in the loop with what’s going on in class.

2.     The second way I would make my classroom accessible is by ensuring that the layout of the room is organized and safe. That way, all students can sit comfortably and see the board wherever they are.

3.     The third way I would make my classroom accessible is by utilizing various technology features such as read-alouds, videos, pictures, etc.

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Accessibility in my classroom

1. In my classroom we have a student who is in a wheel chair which required a great degree on classroom planning. This student loves participating in class and even desires to go to the board and write down answers. To solve this problem I designed my classroom to where the student not only has the room they need to do reclines but also can move relatively freely around the room to the board and even to different key points around the class. (We are looking at you pencil sharpener).

2. I have a great deal of students with an IEP which requires read aloud for test and such. To make the class more accessible and less embarrassing than being pulled out every test day. I have recorded my voice and give them a modified copy of the text to listen and answer the test. While, I know they have snap-to-read and other software options like that many of them find it difficult to use or occasionally difficult depending on what the test is on. They also say its less pressure because its more like a game show.

3. One of my favorite pieces of technology I use in my class is game websites such as Gimkit, and Kahoot. While the students are playing the games they are actually putting to use the different things they've learned it just makes it more fun for them. Occasionally, I will offer a homework pass or candy if they score top of the leader board or even play with them. You won't believe how fast gaining bragging rights that "They beat their teacher in Snowbrawl" makes them want to participate more.

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Well back in 1969, my classroom looked much like the photo on the top right. Today we often use student groupings like the one on the left.

1. In my student groups, I attempt to design my classroom layout in a way that ensures everyone can fully see the screen and board. Additionally, I organize my classroom, so no student's back is ever turned toward the front of room.

2. Classroom flow is important. The organization should not box in students but ensure easy access to and from their seat without unnecessary detours due to poor seat arrangement. This ensures safety in case of fire and enables rapid teacher access to any student during lecture, testing, or emergencies.

3. I had several deaf students. So, I use close caption on videos key to ensure understanding.

4. I utilize an online program called CK12 in all my Biology and Ecology lessons. It serves a primary source of student readings and homework that can be accessed in or outside the classroom.

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Ways I make my classroom more accessible:

1. I encourage digital accessibility tools such as screen readers, speech to text, etc. to support students with various learning needs.

2. I provide multiple means of engagement and expression by offering different ways for students to engage with content and demonstrate understanding. An example of this, that's easy in a math class, is offering paper copies of any assignments or quizzes that were intended for online use.

3. I provide clear and consistent visual supports such as charts, step-by-step guides, or color coded notes. I have a large number of ELL students so supportive visuals especially help students with language barriers navigate the content more independently and effectively.

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To make my classroom more accessible I like to incorporate Nearpod presentations into my lessons. This allows students to receive real-time feedback on quick quizzes and provides data for me to use to help improve my lessons. Nearpod also allows me to place links to videos and webpages so that all students have quick access to lesson supports. I also like that it allows me to implement gamification into any lesson if I choose to. It provides a fun and engaging way for everyone in the class to become involved in the lesson. I also like to utilize graphic organizers to help break down the information for students.

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I have been thinking quite a bit about the use of technology in my classroom in making it more accessible. This is mainly due to the students’ constant use of technology outside the classroom. In teaching world history, as I can, I would include videos with closed captions turned on to increase comprehension. We have completed a project-based project on the Great Depression in which they created a newspaper and a hand-made artifact. I think I would like to add an e-portfolio to the next PBL. That way they can document their learning and stay better organized. Beyond that, I really feel I can use the “me before we” concept in my classroom as well to give those that need longer time to process questions before group discussions. I always have group discussions, but I feel that I haven’t given the students enough time to think through their own answers first and that can lead to acquiescence rather than consensus.

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To make my high school math classroom more accessible, I would incorporate technology-driven supports, such as Desmos and Classkick, allowing students to visualize concepts dynamically and receive real-time feedback. I’d also use structured notes with guided examples to help students with executive functioning challenges stay organized. Additionally, I’d offer flexible assessment options, like oral explanations, written work, or digital submissions, ensuring all students can demonstrate understanding in ways that suit their strengths. These strategies foster an inclusive learning environment where all students can engage with math successfully.