Building Bridges 2020: Full Schedule

8:00am MDT

Registration

Tuesday April 21, 2020 8:00am - 8:30am MDT
Conference Center

Registraton

8:30am MDT

Keynote: Design for the Edges

Speakers

Jim Stachowiak

Director of Assistive Technology, AccessibleNU, Northwestern University

As Director of Assistive Technology and Assistant Director of AccessibleNU, Jim assists students with determining, using, and troubleshooting assistive technology (AT) solutions for reading, writing, computer access, note taking, organization, and other academic needs. He enjoys keeping... Read More →

Tuesday April 21, 2020 8:30am - 9:20am MDT
All Rooms

Keynote

9:30am MDT

Level Up your Chromebook Accessibility Game

Creating an equitable learning experience is essential for our students. Chromebooks have on-demand accessibility features that help us truly personalize for all learners. This fun, hands-on session will explore how students can create a custom experience on their Chromebooks to supercharge their learning journey.

Speakers

Andrew Fenstermaker

Instructional Technology Coordinator, Iowa City Community School District

Andrew Fenstermaker currently serves as the Instructional Technology Coordinator for the Iowa City School District and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Iowa. Even though he is short on hair, he is full of creative ways to inspire and build the capacity of others with innovative... Read More →

Tuesday April 21, 2020 9:30am - 10:20am MDT
Revere Stone

AT Accessibility Tools, Embedded Accessible Technologies, Assistive Technology for Improved Access

Level Beginner

9:30am MDT

How Do You Design for Students on the Edges? Start by Identifying Barriers

You have decided that you want to implement Universal Design for Learning in your classroom, but it seems like a daunting task and you don’t know where to begin. To be successful, the first step needs to be a deep look at your environment, materials, and curriculum to determine barriers to success that may exist for any student in your classroom. In this session, participants will be guided through an exercise and discussion that will kick start their UDL journey by helping them identify barriers for students with disabilities, students from different cultural backgrounds, mobile learners, and students with varied learning preferences. Participants will be able to use this experience to help others understand that barriers for students with disabilities may be barriers for others as well and create “Ah Ha” moments for buy-in of UDL initiatives throughout schools in their area.

Speakers

Jim Stachowiak

Director of Assistive Technology, AccessibleNU, Northwestern University

Tuesday April 21, 2020 9:30am - 10:20am MDT
Autumn

Instructional Design for All, Instructional Design for All

Level Beginner

9:30am MDT

How To Increase Student Outcomes - One Accommodation at a Time

Are your students struggling to meet Iowa core standards? Help may be one accommodation away! Join me in exploring a 4-step problem solving process that will assist you in selecting, implementing and evaluating supports and accommodations. We will use case studies to work through the process; feel free to bring a student profile and we will incorporate it into our session.

Speakers

MeLissa Lawson

Education Program Consultant - AEM & UDL, Iowa Department of Education

I began working at the Iowa Department of Education in September 2019. The focus of my work is in the areas of accessible educational materials and universal design for learning. Prior to this I was the Assistive Technology Team Lead in Des Moines Public Schools.

Tuesday April 21, 2020 9:30am - 10:20am MDT
American Gothic

Instructional Design for All, Instructional Design for All

9:30am MDT

Introduction to Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

This session will be an overview of inclusion and universal design for learning. The participant will learn about UDL framework and how it could benefit their students.

Moderators

Julie Cook

Grant Wood Area Education Agency

Speakers

Dyan Sundermeyer

Tuesday April 21, 2020 9:30am - 10:20am MDT
Grant Wood Board Room

Instructional Design for All, Instructional Design for All

Level Beginner

9:30am MDT

Communication for All? AAC Considerations

We have a basic human right to communicate. We have the right to say whatever we want to, whenever we want to, to whomever we want to. Even if we experience consequences for our message, we have the right to speak it anyway. How about our friends with significant communication impairment? What are their rights? What is our role in helping them access their right to communicate as effectively as their peers? Is it even possible? Let’s learn from people with significant communication impairment who have defied the expectations of everyone around them to achieve meaningful, successful and impactful lives. We will define specific targets for communication in our schools, and share a framework for supporting and encouraging communication across the entire student body

Speakers

Vicki Clarke

CEO, Dynamic Therapy Associates

AAC Nerd

Tuesday April 21, 2020 9:30am - 10:20am MDT
Winter/Spring

Significant Disabilities AAC, Augmentative/Alternative Communication

Level Beginner

9:30am MDT

We Have a Student with Complex Communication Needs - Now What? A Path to AAC System Selection

AAC system selection is a journey that often feels like it requires a roadmap! Let this session be your guide to systematically consider and identify AAC supports and robust language systems that support individuals with complex communication needs across time.

Speakers

Julie Freed

SLP/AAC Resource Team Need, Grant Wood AEA

Julie Freed is a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist who graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She has extensive background in the field of augmentative communication and assistive technology supporting students with a wide range of needs for the past 30 years. Currently... Read More →

Maggie Slaymaker

Speech-Language Pathologist, Grant Wood Area Education Agency

Maggie Slaymaker is a certified Speech-Language Pathologist with Grant Wood Area Education Agency. She works primarily with students K-8, supporting the areas of articulation, phonology, language, fluency, and complex communication needs/AAC. She is a member of the AAC Resource Team... Read More →

Tuesday April 21, 2020 9:30am - 10:20am MDT
Scale Up

Significant Disabilities AAC, Augmentative/Alternative Communication

Level Intermediate

9:30am MDT

Breaking out of Boring! Using digital tools and games to engage students with complex communication needs and their peers (Double Session)

Do you struggle with coming up with novel ways to implement repeated modeling/practice of core and AAC for students with complex communication needs? Start shaking things up and getting more inclusive!! If you are bored with the typical repetitive activities, students likely are too! In this session, we will cover ways that you can embed practice and repetition with AAC supports and devices AND engage their peers as well! We’ll model and you’ll experience using age-appropriate activities including Augmented Reality (AR), Block coding and robots, and Role Playing Games (RPG).

Moderators

Corey Rogers

Digital Learning Consultant, Grant Wood AEA

Corey Rogers is a Digital Learning Consultant at Grant Wood Area Education Agency. Corey has experience as a middle school STEM & Computer Science Teacher, Media Specialist, and School Improvement Consultant. She is passionate about bringing Computer Science to all students in Iowa... Read More →

Speakers

Kelli Robertson

Accessibility Lead & AT Coordinator, Grant Wood AEA

Kelli Robertson has been involved in project development throughout her time at Grant Wood AEA surrounding the topics of differentiation, developing accommodations, diverse learners, and using visual support strategies and has done numerous presentations to educators and parents on... Read More →

Tuesday April 21, 2020 9:30am - 11:20am MDT
Media Center

Experience Labs, Augmentative/Alternative Communication, Experience Labs

10:30am MDT

"Alexa, Give Me Independence" AAC and Smart Speakers

This session will take a look at smart speakers and how they can be paired with AAC to let students control their worlds. Smart speakers can control many aspects of a student's environment at home or in the classroom. We will discuss different smart speaker options, skills, routines and how to include Alexa on a AAC device. Some smart devices will be available for hands on exploring.

Speakers

Jeanna Kakavas

M.A., CCC-SLP, Mississippi Bend AEA

Tuesday April 21, 2020 10:30am - 11:20am MDT
American Gothic

AT Accessibility Tools, Augmentative/Alternative Communication

Level Beginner

10:30am MDT

Supporting Students with Disabilities in a Blended Learning Environment

The fast-paced learning environment that is Blended Learning offers opportunity to address learner variability, especially students with disabilities. This session will focus on active and engaged learning opportunities during a station rotation activity. Participants will gather insights to support students with disabilities within: the planning process; classroom procedures; and the learning process.

Moderators

Maggie Pickett

Digital Learning Consultant and Digital Learning Consultant, Grant Wood AEA

Maggie is a certified speech-language pathologist. Her passion in education resides in creating engaging and accessible learning opportunities for all learners in Mutli-Tiered Systems of Support. For over a decade Maggie has worked with teachers, students, administrators, para-professionals... Read More →

Speakers

Beth Swantz

Digital Learning Consultant, Grant Wood AEA

Tuesday April 21, 2020 10:30am - 11:20am MDT
Revere Stone

General Session, Embedded Accessible Technologies, Instructional Design for All

Level Intermediate

10:30am MDT

Anticipating Variability: (Re)Designing Lessons to Remove Barriers

Learner variability is real. So how do you design lessons to honor each learner’s needs and/or preferences? Join us to explore intentional lesson design as we leverage the UDL framework to remove barriers to learning. Get the tools and resources you need to make a big impact with small changes.

Moderators

Jonathan Wylie

Digital Learning, Grant Wood Area Education Agency

Jonathan Wylie is a Technology Consultant for Grant Wood AEA in Eastern Iowa. He helps schools integrate technology in an authentic and meaningful way. He is also the co-host of The Edtech Take Out podcast. You can connect with Jonathan on Twitter or via his blog at jonathanwylie... Read More →

Speakers

Lynn Kleinmeyer

Digital Learning Consultant, Grant Wood AEA

I am a Digital Learning Consultant with Grant Wood AEA. With a background as a Teacher Librarian and a 7th grade Reading teacher, I'm working to support the integration of literacy and technology into every classroom! Follow me on Twitter: @THLibrariZen

Tuesday April 21, 2020 10:30am - 11:20am MDT
Grant Wood Board Room

Instructional Design for All, Instructional Design for All

Level Intermediate

10:30am MDT

Plus One Thinking, Taking the Intimidation Out of Implementing UDL

Identifying barriers to success in the classroom is a big step to starting the UDL process. Many still find it overwhelming to consider implementing multiple means of representation, expression, and engagement in the classroom while also developing a syllabus that is welcoming to all. This session will explore plus one thinking and will use it to develop a roadmap to implement UDL in a way that is immediately effective and meaningful based on the individual classroom. This session will address the belief that classes need to be completely overhauled to implement UDL, a stigma that often stops UDL implementation before it gets very far and will introduce tools to use for planning effective implementation. Participants will be able to use what they have learned in this session help make UDL an obtainable goal in classrooms throughout their area.

Speakers

Jim Stachowiak

Director of Assistive Technology, AccessibleNU, Northwestern University

Tuesday April 21, 2020 10:30am - 11:20am MDT
Autumn

Instructional Design for All, Leadership, Instructional Design for All

Level Beginner

10:30am MDT

AAC: What's Right for My Student?

A quick online search of AAC applications will give you over a 100 options. Your coworkers may have a favorite they swear by, and you might too. Is it really the BEST choice for your student though? There are core words and fringe words, PECS, PODD and prestored messages. In this session we will explore how different AAC apps organize language so we can select the best fit for our student.

Speakers

Vicki Clarke

CEO, Dynamic Therapy Associates

AAC Nerd

Tuesday April 21, 2020 10:30am - 11:20am MDT
Winter/Spring

Significant Disabilities AAC, Augmentative/Alternative Communication

Level Beginner

10:30am MDT

Journey to Literacy Access: Elementary & Secondary Perspectives

Join collaborative teams (special education, SLP, and literacy consultant) as they share their journey of implementing comprehensive literacy instruction at the elementary and secondary levels. The elementary team will share how they are embedding instruction in a general education and special education classroom. The high school team will share how they are meeting the challenges of implementing emergent and conventional literacy instruction at the secondary level. This session will spark ideas about how to implement literacy instruction across age levels. Ideas and resources will be shared about how to get started, technology and communication tools to support implementation, and as well as conversations about bumps/roadblocks along the way.

Speakers

Melissa Grennan

SLP, GWAEA

Jennifer Hungate

Caroline Much

Steve Merkle

Tuesday April 21, 2020 10:30am - 11:20am MDT
Scale Up

Significant Disabilities AAC, Instructional Design for All

Level Beginner

11:30am MDT

UDL Toolkit

In this session participants will learn how to build a UDL (universal design for learning) tool kit for their classrooms. Participants will think about the learning objectives for their classroom, the UDL framework, and finally think about how to select tools, procedures, and practices that will make their classroom more accessible to all learners.

Moderators

Mindy Cairney

Digital Learning Consultant, Grant Wood AEA

Mindy is a digital learning consultant for Grant Wood AEA. She is passionate about helping teachers integrate technology with integrity. She co-hosts the Edtech Take Out podcast and the makerspace show: Think, Make, Innovate.

Speakers

Gina Rogers

Digital Learning Consultant, Grant Wood AEA

Gina Rogers is a instructional technology consultant at Grant Wood AEA in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Before accepting her position at GWAEA, Gina was a high school English and Language Arts teacher in two 1:1 districts in eastern Iowa. She taught everything from 9th grade ELA to College... Read More →

Tuesday April 21, 2020 11:30am - 12:20pm MDT
Grant Wood Board Room

AT Accessibility Tools, Instructional Design for All

Level Beginner

11:30am MDT

Experience iPad Accessibility

Join us in the experience lab and discover new ways to support accessibility with an iPad. This hands-on playground has a variety of interactive stations for you to explore solutions for students with vision, hearing, mobility, and learning needs.

Speakers

Amanda Miller

Speech-Language Pathologist, Grant Wood Area Education Agency

Jonathan Wylie

Digital Learning, Grant Wood Area Education Agency

Tuesday April 21, 2020 11:30am - 12:20pm MDT
Media Center

Experience Labs, Assistive Technology for Improved Access

Level Beginner

11:30am MDT

How to Diagnose for Writing using the SDI framework

This session will help teams identify where to start in understanding and defining student needs in writing. Participants will use the SDI Diagnose framework to walk through three clarifying questions on how to identify student needs in writing. We will provide participants with tools to guide conversation and collect data in answering the SDI diagnostic questions. Through this diagnostic process participants will be able to determine assistive technology that would support student needs.

Moderators

Monica Packard

Occupational Therapist, Grant Wood AEA

Monica has been an Occupational Therapist for 18 years in the public school setting. She has worked in Chicago Public Schools, Indianapolis Public Schools and currently works for Grant Wood AEA in Iowa. She was a lead therapist for Chicago Public Schools for 3 years and is currently... Read More →

Speakers

Kari Miller

Curriculum Consultant, Grant Wood AEA

Tuesday April 21, 2020 11:30am - 12:20pm MDT
Revere Stone

General Session, Embedded Accessible Technologies, Leadership, Instructional Design for All

Level Beginner

11:30am MDT

Multiple Means of Representation – Making Sure Everyone Can Use Your Materials

Multiple Means of Representation is a hallmark of Universal Design for Learning. One way to address this is to make sure that all materials used in class are accessible. Not only does this benefit students with disabilities who access materials with assistive technology, it can benefit students who speak English as a second language, or anyone who wants to take advantage of mobile technology in their learning. This session will discuss how to ensure documents are accessible from creation as well as how to simply retrofit documents that may be provided in an inaccessible format. Participants will also learn how to access and add captions to videos to enhance the learning experience for all.

Speakers

Jim Stachowiak

Director of Assistive Technology, AccessibleNU, Northwestern University

Tuesday April 21, 2020 11:30am - 12:20pm MDT
Autumn

Instructional Design for All, Instructional Design for All

Level Beginner

11:30am MDT

AAC and the Power of Peers

This session will highlight the evidence-based practice of peer mediated instruction and its implications for learners with complex communication needs. Strategies for implementation will be shared for preschool and school-aged students to support communication and independence with peers.

Moderators

Whitney Achenbaugh

Speech-Language Pathologist, Grant Wood AEA

Whitney Achenbaugh, M.A., CCC-SLP is a speech-language pathologist and member of the AAC Resource Team for Grant Wood AEA. She has worked with numerous students with complex communication needs (CCN) and alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) users ages preschool through... Read More →

Speakers

Jess Krob

Speech Language Pathologist, Grant Wood AEA

Jess is a certified speech language pathologist at Grant Wood AEA. She currently serves the Clear Creek Amana school district in the Southwest Region. Jess also supports Grant Wood AEAs new SLPs as an Induction Coach through the Mentor Program at the Agency. She is a University... Read More →

Tuesday April 21, 2020 11:30am - 12:20pm MDT
Scale Up

Significant Disabilities AAC, Augmentative/Alternative Communication

Level Intermediate

11:30am MDT

AAC Skills Assessment

One of the most challenging issues in AAC assessment is how to evaluate a student’s ability to use a communication system that they’ve never used before. How do we test skills before we teach them? Instead of testing, we introduce AAC skills in the context of engaging, motivating activities. We assess using structured observation and interactive trials. The AAC Skills Assessment is a tool to help guide your observations. The assessment tool will be shared with participants and discussed in detail with specific case studies, video and photo examples with opportunities to practice interpretation. Information gathered from AAC Skills Assessment process can be used for intervention planning, AAC solution decision making and progress monitoring.

Speakers

Vicki Clarke

CEO, Dynamic Therapy Associates

AAC Nerd

Tuesday April 21, 2020 11:30am - 12:20pm MDT
Winter/Spring

Significant Disabilities AAC, Augmentative/Alternative Communication

Level Beginner

11:30am MDT

Tips & Tools to Develop AAC Systems for Students with Cortical Visual Impairment

This session will outline considerations when developing augmentative communication systems for students with cortical visual impairment (CVI). Resources to help teams consider accessible forms, design of the system and presentation for symbols based upon the 10 characteristics and 3 phases of CVI will be shared.

Speakers

Cindy White-Botello

Consultant for Students with Visual & Mulitiple Disabilities including Deafblindness, Iowa Educational Services for the Blind & Visually Impaired

Tuesday April 21, 2020 11:30am - 12:20pm MDT
American Gothic

Significant Disabilities AAC, Augmentative/Alternative Communication

Level Beginner

12:20pm MDT

Lunch

Tuesday April 21, 2020 12:20pm - 1:10pm MDT
Conference Center

Lunch & Awards

1:10pm MDT

Caisson Conversations

"Caisson Conversations"- A casisson is a structure used in very deep water to create a strong foundation for a bridge to be built on.

Tuesday April 21, 2020 1:10pm - 1:40pm MDT
Conference Center

Lunch & Awards

1:50pm MDT

Red, Yellow, Green: Balancing AT Supports for Comprehensive Literacy Instruction

This Red, Yellow, Green stoplight analogy is a framework for considering the demands of the learning context and learning tools, or assistive technologies. Balancing these demands, task-by-task, allows teachers and students to focus on the learning targets. Attendees will identify a process for considering these tasks within the stoplight analogy framework.This analogy can be utilized with a variety of learner-needs; however, this session will be focused on those learners identified with significant disabilities for whom require multiple access-points.

Moderators

Maggie Pickett

Digital Learning Consultant and Digital Learning Consultant, Grant Wood AEA

Speakers

Christy Yetley

Special Education Consultant, Grant Wood AEA

Christy Yetley is a Special Education Consultant and a member of the Grant Wood AEA Literacy Team. Her focus has been on supporting emergent literacy skills for students in early childhood settings. She has begun to expand that work across age/grade levels, with an emphasis in supporting... Read More →

Tuesday April 21, 2020 1:50pm - 2:40pm MDT
Scale Up

Significant Disabilities AAC, Augmentative/Alternative Communication, Assistive Technology for Improved Access

Level Intermediate

1:50pm MDT

Improving Classroom Engagement Through Technology

Obtaining copies of peer notes is a classic accommodation for many students who struggle with paying attention in class while trying to take notes. Although it seems helpful, relying on copies of peer notes can actually lead to more difficulties for students and less engagement with the material in class. For the past three years, Northwestern University has found that students are more engaged, less anxious, and have better understanding of material when they are using technology to control the note taking process. This presentation will demonstrate and discuss several note taking technologies including the Livescribe Echo Smartpen, the Livescribe Aegir Smartpen, Sonocent Audio Notetaker, and Sonocent’s new note taking tool called Glean. Participants will learn how each tool works and explore what makes them successful for students with learning disabilities, ADHD, anxiety, and psychological conditions.

Speakers

Jim Stachowiak

Director of Assistive Technology, AccessibleNU, Northwestern University

Tuesday April 21, 2020 1:50pm - 2:50pm MDT
Autumn

AT Accessibility Tools, Embedded Accessible Technologies, Assistive Technology for Improved Access, Leadership, Instructional Design for All

Level Beginner

1:50pm MDT

Yappy Hour

Getting a voice is just the first step. Now the work begins to involve a wide range of communication partners to support the communication needs of an AAC user. These communication partners play a vital role in helping AAC users become competent communicators. This session will help communication partners demystify AAC and get more comfortable with navigating various AAC languages. This fun low stress hands on learning session can be duplicated and used with peers, teachers, support staff, parents and other communication partners to help them become more proficient in speaking AAC.

A variety of devices and fun activities such as Who's Line is it Anyways, Hedbanz, and others will provide the platform for exploring a variety of AAC languages on a journey to become more comfortable with modeling AAC for complex communicators.

Moderators

Taresa Fetzer

Lynda Lanus

Grant Wood AEA

Jamie Zearley

Speech Language Pathologist/Assistive Technology Coach, GWAEA

I am passionate about giving students a voice and finding ways to help them communicate as well as thinking outside the box on how to provide access to students within the classroom and in their daily lives.

Speakers

Bridget Gilormini

Tuesday April 21, 2020 1:50pm - 2:50pm MDT
Media Center

Experience Labs, Augmentative/Alternative Communication

Level Beginner

1:50pm MDT

Build a Better Book

Build a Better Book engages youth with an empathy-driven design task: creating accessible books and materials for children who are blind or have other vision impairments. Participants will learn how to harness maker mindset and technologies to create interactive, tactile, inclusive products that can be accessed by multiple senses. This session will be mainly informational. For a hands-on experience, sign up for our other session.

Moderators

Dianna Geers

Teacher Librarian, Grant Wood AEA

Dianna is the teacher librarian at Grant Wood AEA in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where she collaborates with agency consultants to curate and provide relevant resources and learning opportunities for educators and their learners. Dianna is also part of the GWAEA CS Team, Literacy Team, and... Read More →

Speakers

Chelsea Sims

Teacher Librarian, Iowa City Community School District

Chelsea Sims is currently a junior high school librarian in Iowa City. She has experience in developing a successful makerspace that is both available for independent work and integrated into several subject areas.

Tuesday April 21, 2020 1:50pm - 2:50pm MDT
American Gothic

General Session, Augmentative/Alternative Communication, Assistive Technology for Improved Access, Instructional Design for All

Level Beginner

1:50pm MDT

Designing Supports for English Learners

Linguistic and cultural considerations impact ELs access to classroom content and their ability to actively engage in core instruction. This session will provide information on supporting learning for English Learners (ELs) within home, general education and special education settings. Resources and tools will be shared to help design more effective instruction.

Speakers

Lynn Tiemann

ELL Consultant, GWAEA

Lynn serves as an ELL Consultant for Grant Wood AEA.

Tuesday April 21, 2020 1:50pm - 2:50pm MDT
Grant Wood Board Room

Instructional Design for All, Embedded Accessible Technologies

Level Beginner

1:50pm MDT

Building Blocks to AAC Implementation

As you work to implement AAC with learners in your classroom, it can be difficult to know where to begin and how to incorporate AAC throughout the day. We will focus on readily available tools that can be used and adapted to meet the needs of learners at a variety of communication levels. Resources will include supports related to: establishing common beliefs and mindset, shared reading resources, expansion of core vocabulary, and other tips/tricks for increasing learning and engagement in your classroom. Regardless of the resource, our focus will be on how you can start using these tools, tips and strategies in your classroom today!

Moderators

Heidi Primrose

SLP, Grant Wood AEA

Speakers

Sarah Ries

Speech Langauge Pathologist, GWAEA

Sarah Ries is a speech-language pathologist with Grant Wood Area Education Agency. Over her career, Sarah has provided services to students birth-21, with most of her assignment currently focusing on the early childhood population. In addition to serving a caseload of students, Sarah... Read More →

Tuesday April 21, 2020 1:50pm - 2:50pm MDT
Scale Up

Significant Disabilities AAC, Augmentative/Alternative Communication

Level Intermediate

1:50pm MDT

IEP Development and Goal Writing: A Path to AAC Success (DAAG & Classroom Goals Grid)

Everyone has a right to communicate, and as educators, we are mandated to ensure that all of our students can understand and express themselves at the same level as their peers. How will we accomplish this goal? In this session we will explore a method of "mapping a route" to communicative competence by assessing our students current level of functioning, developing a plan of action and evaluating our progress along the way! We will be sharing the Classroom Communication Goals Grid and the Dynamic AAC Goals Grid-2 with all attendees!

Speakers

Vicki Clarke

CEO, Dynamic Therapy Associates

AAC Nerd

Tuesday April 21, 2020 1:50pm - 2:50pm MDT
Winter/Spring

Significant Disabilities AAC, Augmentative/Alternative Communication

Level Beginner

3:00pm MDT

Build a Better Book Experience Lab

Participants will experience creating tactile images for learners with vision impairments. After this experience, participants will consider how to create inclusive products that can be accessed by multiple senses. This session comes from Build a Better Book, which engages youth with an empathy-driven design task: creating accessible books and materials for children who are blind or low-vision.

Moderators

Robyn Davis

Chelsea Sims

Teacher Librarian, Iowa City Community School District

Speakers

Dianna Geers

Teacher Librarian, Grant Wood AEA

Tuesday April 21, 2020 3:00pm - 4:00pm MDT
Media Center

Experience Labs, Experience Labs

Level Beginner

3:00pm MDT

Deliver? Monitor? Adjust? Oh, My!: AT Delivery Implementation and Monitoring

Feeling a little like Dorothy in Oz? Understanding whether the assistive technologies we implement are working is critical to learner outcomes, but sometimes leaves us feeling like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. Attendees will walk away from this session with concepts, strategies, and tools to monitor implementation fidelity and use of AT tools.

Moderators

Maggie Pickett

Digital Learning Consultant and Digital Learning Consultant, Grant Wood AEA

Speakers

Lauri Jennisch

Tuesday April 21, 2020 3:00pm - 4:00pm MDT
Revere Stone

General Session, Embedded Accessible Technologies, Assistive Technology for Improved Access

Level Intermediate

3:00pm MDT

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Going to College with a Disability, But Were Too Afraid To Ask

Have you ever wondered what is needed to obtain accommodations in college? Or what accommodations are even available? How about tips on what a student can do in preparation for college or during their first year to ensure success in college? Transitioning to college with a disability can be daunting. This session will cover everything that you need to know about obtaining and successfully using accommodations in college. Jim Stachowiak from Northwestern University’s AccessibleNU will share an insider’s perspective on what colleges look for, supports that are typically available for students, common first year difficulties and how to navigate them, and how to begin preparing as soon as middle school. This will also be a great chance to ask any questions you might have for your transitioning students.

Speakers

Jim Stachowiak

Director of Assistive Technology, AccessibleNU, Northwestern University

Tuesday April 21, 2020 3:00pm - 4:00pm MDT
Autumn

General Session, Assistive Technology for Improved Access, Leadership

Level Beginner

3:00pm MDT

Access & Accessibility: A Match Made in Heaven

Our digital world makes honoring ALL learners more attainable than ever! Where do you even begin? Join us in examining the role that OERs (openly-licensed educational resources) and AEM (accessible educational materials) play in resource curation and creation. Participants will leave with a foundational understanding of equity of access and accessibility and how these two concepts are truly a match made in heaven!

Speakers

Lynn Kleinmeyer

Digital Learning Consultant, Grant Wood AEA

Tuesday April 21, 2020 3:00pm - 4:00pm MDT
Grant Wood Board Room

Instructional Design for All, Leadership, Instructional Design for All

Level Beginner

3:00pm MDT

Beyond Sensory Rooms: Addressing the Movement Needs of Students at School

All students have movement needs. These needs are best addressed across all school environments and within the context of the student's day and routine. This session provides the rationale, guidelines, and suggestions for embedding movement across school environments and within routines.

Moderators

Ann Griffin

Adapted PE Consultant, Grant Wood AEA

Ann Griffin is an adapted physical education consultant and member of the autism team at Grant Wood Area Education Agency where she assists physical educators in adapting physical education programming to meet the unique needs of students with disabilities. Ann was the national... Read More →

Michelle Nuehring

Autism Consultant, Grant Wood AEA

Michelle has worked for Grant Wood AEA as an Autism Consultant for the past 6 years. Before coming to the AEA, Michelle was a teacher in the Cedar Rapids Community School District teaching secondary students with ASD. Michelle helped to create and open the Transition Center for... Read More →

Speakers

Monica Packard

Occupational Therapist, Grant Wood AEA

Tuesday April 21, 2020 3:00pm - 4:00pm MDT
American Gothic

Significant Disabilities AAC, Embedded Accessible Technologies, Instructional Design for All

Level Beginner

3:00pm MDT

Communication Success in Your Classrooms: Making It Work!

We know that it is important to teach communication in our classrooms. Our ELA standards require it, the Federal government demands it and our students NEED it, but HOW? There are no standard curriculums for teaching communication to non-speaking students so we are tasked with making our own. This session gets into hands on planning to implement communication into our classrooms.

We will be able considering communication opportunities within your current daily schedule which correspond to 5 primary communication objectives (Classroom Goals Grid). Participants will plan to embed communication opportunities within at least one scheduled activity each day. You will learn to develop lesson plans to incorporate communication targets into regularly occurring lessons using core vocabulary, academic vocabulary and phrases. Participants will be able to identify resources for ready made materials, customizable mobile device applications, and training materials.

Speakers

Vicki Clarke

CEO, Dynamic Therapy Associates

AAC Nerd

Tuesday April 21, 2020 3:00pm - 4:00pm MDT
Winter/Spring

Significant Disabilities AAC, Augmentative/Alternative Communication

Level Beginner

3:00pm MDT

Driving the Car All Day Long

Strategies and resources will be demonstrated to provide intensification of instruction for students with significant disabilities who are already receiving Universal Tier Core Instruction within Iowa's SDI Framework and an MTSS system. Four formats will be offered based on the CAR shared reading and language learning strategy. These examples are expanded to increase language and comprehensive literacy learning opportunities across the school day.

Moderators

Joy Lyons

AEM Coordinator, Iowa Department of Education

Speakers

Emily Thatcher

Consultant, Alternate Assessment, Iowa Department of Education

Emily serves as the State of Iowa's Specially Designed Instruction- Students with Significant Disabilities Program Consultant.Her current responsibilities include lead for the Significant Disabilities strand within the Office of Special Education State Personal Development Grant (OSEP... Read More →

Tuesday April 21, 2020 3:00pm - 4:00pm MDT
Revere Stone

Significant Disabilities AAC, Augmentative/Alternative Communication, Instructional Design for All

Level Beginner