The Empowerment of Speech to Text

Today a student got super excited at their own writing for the very first time. Just by introducing him to voice tying, he was able to produce a text that others could read and understand.

Here is his initial writing. He had been sharing it in a group of three:

Deer farmer brown
Im demand   shek and Im lion and of i dont get it i wool cho your home up and all you wool se is chmks and clmk mas and you wll be angwe and sad and then  me and my lion friends it wool be are hose not your hose

Afterwards, I showed him how to use voice typing, so he read out what he had written. This is the exact same text, using voice typing:

Hi I demand a steak and I'm a lion and if  I don't get it I will chew your home up and you will You will see too much and will Mark and you will be angry and said and then me and my lion friends it will be our house not your house.

We had a chat about how its not "cheating" but using a tool to help us, like when we are digging a hole... its much easier if we use a spade!

Stumbling at the start

After a cracking start with the beginnings of a Behaviour Plan in place, I was prepared for some clear strategies to put in place immediately. I had an easy choice over my target student... Clear Positive Opposite Behaviours... I had a plan of attack...

Until I didn't!

To put a bit of context around selection, we had worked with the RTLB Service as a hub, last year. Many of our Year 5/6 akonga had been highlighted by them so therefore weren't appropriate to use. Within days of beginning to put the wheels of my plan in motion, it became apparent that my Target Akonga was too extreme to be an appropriate choice. Immediate intervention needed to be put in place to benefit the child.

Hmmm... where to turn next...
Flying under the radar was an individual who often leaps onto the others bandwagon, easily distracted by others behaviours... Bingo!

I have formed a new Behaviour Plan for my new Target Akonga.
The positive Behaviours I'm targeting are:

• Raise a quiet hand.
• Listen attentively.
• Engaged in task, on task.
• Seeking positive reinforcement for positive behaviours.

The Proactive & Relational Building Strategies:

• Sit at teachers feet.
• Clear polite commands - Paint a picture of what you want.
• Engaging tasks with supports (rewindable learning)
• Make learning fun.
• Agency over tasks (2/3 choices)
• 2 for 10 each day to develop relationship. (2 mins 1:1 for 10 days in a row).