Many of the students that I support with emotional disorders find it difficult on a daily basis to complete a day of school for many reasons. The tools for Tech4Learning have truly opened doors for the students with special needs that I work with. They have made it possible for the students I work with to access curriculum goals that are aligned to state standards. They have also helped me implement the principles of Universal Design for Learning.

One student I support drew images in Pixie to help him to center himself and calm down. It is amazing the difference between the angry, out of control moments compared to minutes after expressing himself with graphic designs on the computer. Pixie gives this student an outlet and a more appropriate way to channel his energy. He has openly expressed how he feels the artwork helps him to focus and that he knows he wants to use it often. By using Pixie, students with emotional disturbances are able to work on self calming techniques by creating graphic art that allow them to "free up their brain" and learn instead of staying in a state of anger or frustration.

In a different project, students used Pixie to create a paper and project to explain the concept of Metamorphic Rocks, communicating a key concept of our unit on Rocks and Minerals. Fighting everyday about writing with one particular student became a normal event. However, when this student used Pixie to create a visual of the process, he became more open to working on and sharing his writing. Although his paper was still shorter than other general education students, I could easily evaluate his poster and key and see that he fully understood the key concepts.

Pixie 2 also helps me implement the principles of Universal Design for Learning. I am able to align to state learning standards by getting a unit of study and ask myself how I can present the materials in multiple formats, how will my students communicate what they are learning, and how I can engage them. I used Pixie to create an interactive book for a 4th grade astronomy unit and intend to show it in many formats. I also printed it as trading cards for my students to sequence and play vocabulary games. But using Pixie for Representation and Instruction was not my goal. My main focus is to have student engage in creating their own interactive books on the topic. To support this literacy activity that crosses curriculums, I have modified the process for four different groups.

The first set of students will use my interactive book as a model and follow guidelines to create their own, covering a certain number of key academic vocabulary words and concepts, using both text and audio to have their book come to life. The second set of students will recreate the book with limited teacher support. This group is able to create their own text and select images that complement their text, but need assistance to record an audio component due to disabilities that keep their verbal language limited. A third group of students will need an assistant to help them write down their ideas, but can memorize the final text and record their own audio. In the fourth group of students none of this is possible due to physical and cognitive challenges, but by experiencing an interactive book they will engage and “read” the model book to help support the main theme in the class.