Scheduled Events



Date  City, State Title Registration  
(Open/Closed)		 Information Presentation
Materials
October 15-19, 2012 Minneapolis, MN Closing the Gap Open Assessing Early Lit Skills 


AAC Writers:  Time to Publish 

Interactive Alphabet Use 


Let's Write About It:  APPsolutely!

Where O Where Are Books?


Virtual Balanced Literacy Club
 		 Early Lit Skills

AAC Writers

Interactive ABC

APPsolutely!

Where O Where

Bal Lit Club
Aug 3, 2012 Pittsburgh, PA 15th Biennial Conference of ISAAC Open
Evaluating the iPad as a Communication Device; 
a Journey Not for the Faint-Hearted
 Communicator Types
 
Aug 2, 2012 Pittsburgh, PA 15th Biennial Conference of ISAAC Open Baby Talk / Kid Talk: PWUAAC Talk to Little Ones
Krista Howard, Kaitlin Graham, Caroline Musselwhite		 Baby Talk/
KidTalk handout
Aug 2, 2012 Pittsburgh, PA 15th Biennial Conference of ISAAC Open Supporting Linguistic Skills Through iDevices: Cool Tricks with New Applications
Caroline Musselwhite, Deanna Wagner, Laurel Buell, Marilyn Willcoxon		 Cool Tricks with New Apps handout
July 31, 2012 Pittsburgh, PA 15th Biennial Conference of ISAAC Open    
October
10 - 14, 2011		 Minneapolis, MN

29th Annual
Closing the Gap Conference

 Open The complete event includes two days (October 10-11, 2011) of day-long preconference workshops followed by three days (October 12-14, 2011) of over 200 one- and two-hour presentations, along with many commercial exhibitors.  For more information, please visit: http://www.closingthegap.com
 
October 11
8:00 am - 4:30 pm		 Minneapolis, MN

Preconference Workshop:
WRITE ON:From Scribbling to Persuasive Essays —
Supporting Conventional Writing!

   This workshop is for those working with students who are beginning to use the alphabet to create meaning, supporting text production from invented spelling and simple sentences to persuasive essays. We will go beyond using symbols/words/phrases, produced traditionally or with technology, to impact writing with the alphabet. We will explore the full writing process, covering prewriting, drafting, revising, editing and publishing, including specific strategies for struggling students at each phase (e.g., using T.I.E. - Topic/Ideas/Ending to develop a paragraph). Multiple student writing samples (pre- and post-) will be shared, and participants will engage in brainstorming activities to customize materials for their students and curriculum. Targeted students are beginning to spell, but struggling to keep up with content-based writing.
Participants will receive a CD with light tech and high tech scaffolds, including sample graphic organizers in Word, Classroom Suite, Clicker and Inspiration. There is a $10 materials fee in addition to the cost of the workshop.
 		  
October
11
8:00 am - 4:30 pm		 Minneapolis, MN Assessing During Instruction: Measuring REAL Success in Literacy and Communication   Concurrent session for Closing the Gap
Wed, Oct 12, 2011 from 9:30 am - 10:30 am
This session will share ideas for assessing communication and literacy skills within the context of ongoing activities for the purposes of informing instruction and progress monitoring. We will share examples of practical assessment tools and strategies that can support educators working with students who have significant disabilities, including students who use AAC.
October
12
3:30 pm - 4:30 pm		 Bloomington Supporting Linguistic Skills Through iDevices:
Cool Tricks with New Applications		  

This workshop will go far beyond the Old MacDonald approach to apps (here an app, there an app ...) to application of apps for iDevices to support a range of linguistic skills, from vocabulary and question-asking to conversation and writing. Highly experienced therapists will offer strategies for using apps creatively to support students with significant disabilities, including students who use AAC. We will share strategies through demonstration, case examples and videos. Our goals are to share highly effective apps, describe criteria for selecting apps to support linguistic skills, and review strategies for creatively extending the application of apps.
October
13
8:00 am - 10:30 am		 Edina Poetry Power, From Emergent to Conventional Writing: Learn It/TRY IT!  
This fast-paced workshop will provide strategies for scaffolding poetry writing for students with disabilities, from emergent writers (including students who use AAC) to older students with learning disabilities, using poetry to express themselves and support writing traits. Both light and high tech strategies will be suggested for each phase of poetry writing, including immersion, demonstration, writing and response. Mini-lessons will be suggested for each phase of the poetry writing progress. A wide range of poetry types and writing samples will be shared. You will learn to write your own poems so that you can provide writing models for your students.
(Two Block Session)
 
October
14
8:00 am - 9:00 am		 Plaza 5 Out and About, AAC in the Community: Working with Vendors to Start Your Own Group   In previous years, we have reported success stories about AAC community groups, and participants have wistfully observed that they would LOVE to replicate "Out and About" but simply can not seem to get started. Thinking about doing it alone can be incredibly overwhelming. Don't forget one of your biggest local resources – vendor representatives in your area. Sometimes all it takes is asking the right questions, such as: Where do I find users/mentors/ambassadors? Where can we meet? What happens if more than one system crashes at the same time? Come learn the answers to these and other questions.