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Understanding Social Cognition

1/11/2016

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Catherine Silcock
Speech and Language Pathologist
Processing and applying social information is the intriguing world of social cognition. It’s a place in our interactions where success is golden and non-mastery is day after day, friend after friend failure. Many parents educators and therapists have been trying to effect a change for their students with these difficulties, but even grasping the starting concepts can be difficult.

Join Catherine on February 1, 2016 at the Inclusive Practices, Episode #5 Professional Learning. Info and Registration here


Social Thinking ® refers to an array of concepts and strategies that shine light on our skills of functioning together socially.
That is, from wherever our starting point may be, how can we be more intelligent, considerate and successful in interaction? 

Consider a person who keeps missing the point or the moment, doesn’t read the signs, makes bad choices in interactions, doesn’t ‘follow’, doesn’t get the big picture, doesn’t pick up on the cues, doesn’t make or hold connections, doesn’t recognise these difficulties etc. this is poor social function. It’s distressing, disruptive and can be so pervasive that it affects all interactions.

The groundbreaking Social Thinking ® work is registered to and was developed by Michelle Garcia Winner in the 1990s.

It is aimed at near average to high IQ students and offers brilliant strategies for supporting people with social communication deficits. It gives great direction, methods and resources for those many students we may not have been able to reach in other ways.

The presentation on February 1, 2016 introduces the Social Thinking terminology, philosophy and resources.
 
If we can take these concepts into our shared understanding and strengthen our grasp on this topic then together we can support our students to find more social success. It’s an offer of something better for individuals, for friendships and for families.  ​
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What underpins your inclusive practice?

11/18/2015

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Author
Robert Carter
Rob is a local Hobart educator.  
He is a guest lecturer and tutor in the Inclusive Practices in Educational Settings unit at UTAS and he is a co-founder of teachinclusive
A few months ago I had a wonderful opportunity to participate in a Summer School at Harvard University in Boston, facilitated by EdTech Teacher ... yes it was fabulous.

Over the next few blogs I will share some of what I learnt.

One of the key take aways from my recent summer school was the explicit referencing of pedagogy and frameworks that would underpin our learning. 

I know I have written about Universal Design for Learning (UDL) before, but it is so critical to me in my everyday teaching practice ... as it recognises and embraces diversity ... that I needed to draw your attention to it again.

The website for UDL is ​http://www.cast.org/our-work/about-udl.html#.VkwA5FOqqkp 

Please ... if you do nothing else, watch the Ted Rose TEDx Talk
(I think it should be mandatory viewing for all in education 😀)

The other framework which was heavily utilised in my learning was the SAMR model which is technology specific.  Rather than repeating myself, I will just direct you to a previous blog post.  I hope you can see the importance of this model and why I see this as a critical understanding for all in education.
SAMR - Get into the Deep End - Quickly.
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"How do you record your own learning?"

9/8/2015

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Author
Robert Carter
Rob is a local Hobart educator.  
He is a guest lecturer and tutor in the Inclusive Practices in Educational Settings unit at UTAS and he is a co-founder of teachinclusive
Last month I had a wonderful opportunity to participate in a Summer School at Harvard University in Boston, facilitated by EdTech Teacher ... yes it was fabulous.

Over the next few blogs I will share some of what I learnt.

In the very first session I was challenged by the question/s ...
"How do you record your own learning?"
Does the system that you use support your learning?
Can you save and access your notes in different formats, across different devices?
Can you search your notes?
Can you share your notes?

I made the transition to digital note taking a long time ago.  I have used a raft of note taking apps ... and continue to trial new ones in search of the ultimate app.  I still haven't found it, but I continue to come back to one app - Notes Plus.

For me (and I stress the 'me' ... it is very much an individual preference) a combination of my iPad Mini, my stylus (Pencil 53) and the Notes Plus app ... just seem to work.

I have found that this combination, creating digital handwritten notes (that can later be converted to text) to be the most efficient, discreet and natural process. It is a great system to use in meetings, I have found it to be more supportive of natural flowing conversations over the use of other technologies -  laptop or a mobile device with a keyboard.

For me, the primary reason I use this app is the handwriting interface - the best I have found.  It does however have one setback, not huge for me, but it may be a deal breaker for some.  The app does not (at this point) have a desktop (Mac/Win) version, therefore I can not edit my notes on a computer.

When I consider the questions above, Notes Plus scores 3 out of 4.  Yes, it supports my learning and my daily work. No, I can not access and edit my notes on a desktop computer - no big deal for me. Yes, I can easily search my notes - huge advantage over a paper based notebook (it also automatically backs up to dropbox). Yes, I can share / email pdf copies of my notes.

Below is an image that offers other options (work flows) that may assist you in making decisions about recording your own learning or supporting your daily work practices. The image is courtesy of EdTechTeacher.

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Capturing Creativity?

7/21/2015

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Author
Robert Carter
Rob is a local Hobart educator.  
He is a guest lecturer and tutor in the Inclusive Practices in Educational Settings unit at UTAS and he is a co-founder of teachinclusive 
Education, like most systems is driven by data, student achievement.  That's not necessarily a bad thing especially when you are considering key outcomes like literacy and numeracy ... these competencies can be measured (to a degree*) using standardised tests - e.g. NAPLAN. BUT how do you collect data on creative expression?  On social development? On a child's ability to think? ... Because you can't objectively quantify a student outcome does that make it less worthwhile, less important? ... NO, it does not.

* For the majority of students with additional learning needs (including mental health needs), standardised testing poses a challenge and may not necessarily provide an accurate appraisal of a student's functional competencies ... especially given that many adjustments that provide access (usually technology) may not be allowed to be used.

Getting back to the question of measuring 'the difficult to measure'.  As educators working with students with a vast range of learning needs we are constantly required to be creative in how we represent learning content and creative in the options we provide to our students to enable them to express and demonstrate their understanding and thinking.  Creativity is the key to successful expression.  So being able to measure / assess a student's painting, or their ability to stand and join with others in a school choir will not raise the interest of policy makers but it may be all important to the teaching team and family of a student with disability.   So how do you measure it and more importantly how do you use that information?

This is not a one size fits all answer. There is no ideal, correct way, however having said that, we now have a range of technologies that enables the recording of digital material i.e. student work / student achievement easier than ever before.  Mobile technologies, cameras, iPads etc provide ideal methods of collection - photographs, audio recordings and videos.  

At this point it all becomes too hard for some ... I don't have the resources; I don't know how to use the technology; I don't have the time ... etc.  

To a degree I can understand these types of responses, however they lose validity if we fail to do anything about it.  As educators it is imperative that we strive to maintain competency, knowledge and understanding across 3 key domains if we are to maximise student outcomes ... Pedagogy (How to teach) Content (What to teach) and ... you guessed it, Technology.

I will step down off the soap box now. (Consider writing Technology into your Personal Development Plan?)


Back to the question at hand ... how to measure the difficult to measure and importantly how to use the information or data? (I will address this question with particular reference to students with individualised learning plans - but can be used with all students)
  1. Be cognisant of the key learning outcomes for your students.  In particular look for evidence across a variety of settings. This is really important, not only because you are directing and structuring learning to meet an identified student need, but also because you are working towards the transfer of skills and abilities.

  2. This is where we will go in separate ways!
    Point 2 is about creating systems and work flows ... about being competent in data collection and storage.  Some will set up a school network file system, some will create cloud storage systems and some will print photos and paste into an actual book!

  3. We come back together again here.
    We do so because the aim of all of this is to maximise student outcomes, through informed collaborative assessment, reflection, planning and intervention.
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It is difficult to assist and to provide you with more detailed information regarding points 2 and 3 in this forum as responses will vary between school sites and with individual's knowledge  ... e.g. how you do point 2 impacts on how effectively information / data is shared (point 3) with your teaching / planning team (inc family).  

If the use of technology is an issue for you, don't be put off.  Once systems (work flows) are established the collection of data becomes easier and requires far less time.  I would suggest you talk to colleagues, your local techie and explain what you want to achieve.  If you are still unsure how best to proceed, talk to more people or request professional learning.

Speaking of which (very subtle plug), I will be presenting 'Capturing Creativity' at the upcoming Twilight Series of Professional Learning.  The session will focus on setting up and using cloud storage systems to enable collaborative assessment and planning.  It will demonstrate these systems through the use of practical, real examples.  This session will be one of two sessions on the afternoon of Wednesday November 11, 2015. Additional information will be provided shortly.

... back on the soap box, really quickly ... we are in an era of education where we can capture a 'student's story' with relative ease and with equal ease transition that information and data to future teaching teams.  It makes a lot of sense and can communicate far more broadly than a test score.
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Relationship Development Intervention.  A Change in Strategy and Communication for students with ASD.

3/17/2015

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Foreword by Robert Carter
I recently met Bronwen when discussing a mutual client.  Bronwen is a RDI (Relationship Development Intervention) consultant. She will explain more in her blog post below ... I just wanted to add that the underlying principles and strategies of the intervention really clicked with me. It just made sense, I have already adapted the manner in which I communicate with students. Hence we thought it appropriate to let you know about this practice as it may assist in delivering successful outcomes for your students.
The principles of RDI - reducing communicative demands, the use of physical gestures and prompts and the structuring of authentic and dynamic learning and communication experiences and opportunities is simply good teaching practice.

A taster of Bronwen's upcoming Keynote at the Inclusive Practices Episode #4 focus on ASD, April 2, 2015

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Bronwen Prazak 

B.A. (UTAS) 
Grad. Dip. Ed. (UNE)

RDI ®Program Certified Consultant (RDI Connect, Houston, Texas)

ASD Life Quality Connections   Connect and Relate for Autism Inc,

EMAIL: rdi@asdconnect.com.au

ASD Life Quality Connections and my involvement in Connect and Relate for Autism Inc grew out of my own experiences as a mother of a child diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. We struggled to manage and understand; trying to make sense of what was happening for our child and for the whole family. Social stories, learning to read faces and emotions, teaching skills all left me with a gnawing feeling that there was too much to do and something always missing in what we were doing ... compensations are only a bandaid. I had an overwhelming sense of gloom that we were not getting to the heart of the issues and the devastating impact for our child’s Quality of Life.

I found the Relationship Development Intervention Program® in February 2005. It immediately resonated with me, Dr Steven Gutstein clearly showed how the pieces of the Autism Spectrum puzzle fit together and added the missing pieces. Rather than being given another lecture show describing behaviours and symptoms; actually finally being guided to a thorough understanding of the core deficits was so enlightening.  And it makes so much sense. Here are latest research based explanations and a clinical treatment program addressing all the underlying issues for which we had had no answers: the rigid thinking, aversion to change, inability to understand other’s perspectives, failure to empathise, and absolute “black and white” thinking.

It is an amazing journey to watch as a child learns to think for themselves, as they become self aware and understand others, as development generalises and they do things we have never scripted for... it is even more amazing to watch this in a child with ASD. In slow motion we guide and watch the daily little miracles of development, celebrating their second chance for quality of life.

No single problem causes ASD. Rather for each individual there is a unique “cocktail” of congenital factors that, when combined, serves as a “tipping point,” disrupting their ability to participate in early parent-child communication, and preventing even the most masterful parent from conducting the thousands of hours of safe, productive guidance scientists refer to as the “Guided Participation Relationship.” As a result of the loss of this essential early partnership, infants and toddlers with ASD retreat into safe but “static” worlds and avoid the everyday challenges, novel problems and uncertain situations that enable typically developing children to become competent in the dynamics of the real world as expert problem solvers, communicators and  collaborators.

Relationship Development Intervention Certified Consultants empower parents, teachers and significant adults to understand how to guide to provide opportunities for a child / student / adult with ASD to develop the ability to think, communicate and relate dynamically.  

At the upcoming April 2 professional learning ...

Bronwen will share her insight and awareness from her RDI journey to facilitate thinking about: Why you would bother as a teacher or teacher assistant to consider changing the way you communicate?  Why the way we are communicating:
  • may be exacerbating behaviours such as opposition, defiance, avoidance or withdrawal
  • may be increasing the student’s anxiety levels
  • may be tipping the student into overload and meltdowns
  • may be reinforcing the student’s rigid thinking 
  • may be reinforcing the student’s inability to think or make decisions for themselves
  • may be reinforcing the student’s inability to take reciprocal actions or communicate reciprocally
What the missing foundations are for people on the Autism Spectrum and why these are so critical to develop.
How you as a teacher or teacher assistant can guide and create opportunities for those missing foundations to be put back in place for your students with ASD .
How you can also reinforce these foundational dynamic skills in your neuro-typical students.
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The Power of Vocabulary by Catherine Silcock

12/14/2014

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A taster of Catherine's upcoming Keynote at the February 3 Inclusive Practices Professional Learning.

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Catherine Silcock,
Speech and Language Pathologist.
What do you think underlies every conversation you have and every word you read? What is the currency for sharing every experience of our learning and every moment of curiosity? What will we use to share any and every story of our lives for our whole lives? 

Narrowing the focus, vocabulary is one of the most significant factors underpinning school success. 

Research over the last two decades has shown the profound impact of vocabulary proficiency on our students’ successes and the grave costs of vocabulary deficit. Research evidence continues to pour out with conclusive and reproducible findings, but classroom applications of these findings are not keeping pace.


What is it? What does it mean to ‘know’ a word? and how good will this be for your students? (Good, believe me, very GOOD).

This session will be a power snack on vocab, come to hear the research, recognise the impact and identify what you can do. Leave here to reflect on your practice and make changes that could make a world of difference.

For more information or to register for the Feb 3 2015 Professional Learning, click here.

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A taster of Alicia's upcoming Keynote at the Inclusive Practices Professional Learning, February 3, 2015.

11/19/2014

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more information and registration details here

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Author:  Alicia Baud

Alicia is in her final year of a Bachelor of Education and will commence her Honours later this year. Alicia will share with us her experiences as a mother of a child with severe autism as well as her continued studies in inclusive practice with a focus on ASD.

Do you have a student with autism in your classroom? Are there challenging behaviours that you don’t quite understand? This workshop will assist you in developing a better understanding of autism and the impacts this disorder has on behaviour and learning as well as practical solutions that you can take back to your classroom.
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We will discuss:

The characteristics of autism and how they affect the student’s abilities in communication, social relating, thinking and their sensory sensitivities and how this often relates to challenging behaviours.

Common behaviours that students with autism display and possible solutions for them. Remembering though, that sometimes these challenging behaviours are not clear and require some detective work to see why a behaviour is occurring. We will break down the elements of common behaviours to determine its purpose or function.

The differences between a meltdown (extreme emotional and/or behavioural response), and a temper tantrum (manipulative/looking for attention). Even though they display similar behaviours, it is important to distinguish between the two. By determining which one it is will change the way you intervene to help the student. They are easy to spot if you know what to look for.

Using visual supports to facilitate understanding. The majority of students with autism respond more appropriately when information is presented visually. Their different learning styles should be taken into consideration for a higher level of understanding to occur.

Explicitly teaching new skills and coping strategies that replace inappropriate behaviours. Strategies include teaching appropriate forms of communication, self control or avoidance.

Using positive and proactive strategies to prevent behaviours from occurring by setting up an autism friendly classroom and planning for success. We will also look at how to increase ‘good’ behaviours through positive reinforcement (not using punishment to reduce challenging behaviours) and become more proactive by anticipating potential issues and preventing them rather than reacting when things go wrong.

This workshop will be a great introduction to working with students on the autism spectrum and also a great opportunity to develop new and improved strategies.  I look forward to seeing you on Feb. 3 '15 ... for more information on the other wonderful presenters visit the teachinclusive site.


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A Student Transition Map

10/17/2014

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Blog Author: Robert Carter

Rob is a local Hobart educator.  
He is a guest lecturer and tutor in the Inclusive Practices in Educational Settings unit at UTAS and he is a co-founder of teachinclusive.
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The end of the school year is fast approaching, the traditional time for TRANSITION.

Transition planning is a whole of school process and is equally important to both students and staff.  For students with disability the process is critical and may require a strategic, collaborative plan.

By now many transition plans for students with disability are underway.  

Parents / carers are always first on my list.  It is essential to consult with parents throughout the transition process.  Enable them the opportunity to provide input and also guide them and support them to obtain required information, e.g. updated medical action plan, paediatric review etc. 

The student, whenever possible should be involved.

Due to the nature of schools, transfer of staff etc. it is often difficult to identify a class teacher/s.  This decision, class placement is the most critical and sometimes can not be made until very late in the year.  Whenever possible a consultation process, discussing student needs with staff will produce the best outcomes.

Essentially there are two questions to consider.

  1. How to support the student during the transition? ... What does the student need?
    and
  2. How to support the teacher/s? ... What does the teacher need?


There are of course many variables involved in addressing the two questions, environmental needs / access, required professional learning etc etc.  If you would like a copy of my Student Transition Map, see below ... and if you have ideas for improvement, I'd love to hear from you, email me at robert.carter@teachinclusive.com

Good luck!



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I am the bridge between Hayden and the world to help people better understand him.

8/31/2014

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Author:  Alicia Baud

Alicia is in her final year of a Bachelor of Education and will commence her Honours later this year. Alicia will share with us her experiences as a mother of a child with severe autism as well as her continued studies in inclusive practice with a focus on ASD.



Hi, I am Alicia. I am a mother to a very special 10 year old boy, Hayden.  First and foremost Hayden is a typical boy who loves everything a 10 year old boy these days love: Mine craft, Angry birds, Annoying orange, playing the drums and guitar (really loud), going to rock concerts and listening to music, however, he also has severe autism.

I have always been fascinated by autism. I was 15 when I first meet someone with autism and I have never forgotten how unique she was/is. She was a savant (a person with autism who is exceptionally gifted in a particular area). I use to visit her after school and she would show me her room full of hundreds of shoe boxes. In these shoe boxes were millions of 1cm squares of cut up magazines. By picking out one square she was able to tell me what magazine, what date and what page number it was. And some squares were more than 10 years old. I was hooked! How could someone be like this?!

After I completed high school, I got my first real job in a primary school working with a young boy with Asperger’s and ADHD. He was very talented at visual arts. I worked alongside him using art as a form of therapy. Even though he had language, he was unable to express his feelings easily. Art was that gateway to explaining that. Although I loved working with him, I was exhausted every day after work and thought I couldn’t do this full time. Five years later Hayden came along.

I knew day three of Hayden being brought in this world that something was very wrong. Whenever I had to change him, breastfeed him or touch him he would scream. Any physical contact with him would make him so uncomfortable, even painful that I would just have to leave him on the chair all day by himself. Feeding times became a bizarre ritual of wearing oven mittens and holding him away from my body so that he couldn’t feel my touch. Now, I was a young mum, this was my first (and what would be only) child and I felt like I was in a loony bin. I kept listening to good minded people telling me what I could be doing wrong but I knew deep down that there was more to it than me simply having no idea what I was doing.

Hayden’s symptoms appeared at a very young age. I went to countless doctors around 11 months of age to see if my suspicions were correct. I was told that the eyeball rolling in the back of his head, his obsessions with lights and spinning things and the rocking were “babies being babies”  and I was just another neurotic mother who wanted my baby to be perfect and I should be enjoying him and not finding faults. This was actually said to me! Luckily I did not listen to such nonsense and kept searching for someone that would listen to me. It was no surprise that he was diagnosed at 15 months of age. This gave me a chance to get him involved in early intervention as soon as possible. During this stage I became deeply depressed. I had to grieve for a child that had essentially died but I was staring at him every day. It was a strange feeling.

What helped me through this time was having the support of like-minded families that were going through the same thing as myself. It was a chance to vent our frustrations and anger at the world, discuss the latest interventions and talk about the very small milestones that occurred in our children. A mother came into early invention one day who had a son that was much older than our children. Her words have always stayed with me. She said “please trust me that it will get easier”.  Of course, I rolled my eyes at the time. I couldn’t even leave the house because of his autism so I couldn’t even envisage what 10 years down the track would look like but those words from this mother kept me strong and gave me hope.

I believe I have left no stone unturned with Hayden. Biomedics, Applied Behavioural Analysis therapy, diet, Relationship Development Intervention, Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy... the list goes on. However, once he started school, I was in for a shock. Hayden was certainly the square peg in the round hole. Most of Hayden’s teachers have been brilliant but he just doesn’t fit in the system. I realised that I had to do something in order to be a part of his education. So, I began a degree in Education. Now I am in my last year (yay!) and start my Honours this summer. Basically, my Honours will be research in the area of children with autism and using art therapy to express feelings and emotions. Having this degree behind me (almost) has helped me support Hayden’s team at school. I am the bridge between Hayden and the world to help people better understand him.

Going back to that mother with the wise words... yes to an extent, it has become easier as he gets older. Partly because of me understanding Hayden better; partly because Hayden is becoming older and has more experiences in life and also because of the support from his fantastic teacher’s aides and teachers.

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So today I spent $12.99 on an App ... Remediation Versus Access

8/19/2014

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Blog Author: Robert Carter

Rob is a local Hobart educator.  
He is a guest lecturer and tutor in the Inclusive Practices in Educational Settings unit at UTAS and he is a co-founder of teachinclusive.

Since moving back into a school-based teaching position this year (best move ever!!) I have consistently encountered the question of Remediation V Access, also commonly referred to as Remediation V Compensation. 
In other words, do I try to fix the problem and assist the student to achieve age appropriate results?
OR
Do I recognise the problem and provide the student with alternate means of access (content representation) and expression?
mmm. Both are not mutually exclusive and can co-exist, however when you are working with a student approaching adulthood, who has spent much of his high school years walking the halls, out of class who is so turned off by traditional paper based learning materials ... something has to change

...
 I'm for keeping him engaged in learning, my initial objective is to provide him with access methods and strategies.

In past weeks this particular student has exited himself from theory based classes.  Today I arranged to work alongside him to support the theoretical component of his course.  When he showed me the hard copy notes ... I understood his pain!  Too much text, where to begin?

This student has always been challenged by print, his reading levels would be equivalent to an early childhood student ... somewhere along the line he has missed the remediation boat and chose to avoid and disengage.

The material was not available in a digital format ... to be more exact, was not readily available ... and this student needs readily available!!
So today I spent $12.99 on an App which will, given our initial success provide this young man with an effective and efficient means of print access now and into the future.

$12.99 for an App I hear you say ... expensive?  Well consider that he can now independently access a printed page and have it read to him (as many times as he wants / needs) as opposed to him requiring an adult to read it for him.  Still expensive? No, it's the best $12.99 I have spent in a long time.

Which App?
Prizmo - Scanning, OCR, and Speech

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    teach21c  brings together a range of guest bloggers who will share insights, anecdotes and personal perceptions of their involvement in education in the 21st century.

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