Episode 304: ATIA 2024 Recap (Part 2)

This week, Rachel and Chris continue their discussion about the highlights and takeaways from ATIA 2024! They share some of their favorite presentations and poster sessions from Lauren Enders, Brenda Del Monte, Bruce Alter, Tina & Mateo Moreno, Karanveer Singh, EdTech, and more!

Key Ideas this Week:

🔑 The Joy Zabala Fellowship is an organization that supports early career professionals working with students with disabilities by connecting them with a seasoned mentor. The mentee and mentor work together to strengthen the skills of the mentee and, afterwards, to share what they learned with the larger stakeholder community.   

🔑 At a session on AI, Chris asked Bruce Alter if we should still be teaching students to code or if we should only be teaching them to use AI to write the code for them. Bruce replied that “not an either/or question, it’s an ‘and’ question.” Students need to learn to code, and also to effectively use AI to write code. A student can’t understand what code the AI has given them or correct bugs if they have no idea how to code themselves.

🔑 EdTech is a session where people ask questions and then the group splits up into different parts of the room to have breakout discussions on some of the topics posed. This year, Rachel really enjoyed discussing supporting creativity in education. Rachel utilizes a lot of creative arts in her therapy activities. It’s nice, because the client is motivated to be creative and the family gets to see what they made afterwards.

🔑 One theme at ATIA this year was the Specific Language System First Approach, which was created by Chris himself! Chris has recently created an online class about the specific language system first approach - learn more here!  

Transcript of the Episode

Please Note: This transcript was generated using speech recognition & AI tools; it may contain some grammatical and/or spelling errors.

00:00:08
Welcome to talking with Tech. My name is Chris Bugaj, and I'm here with Rachel Madel. Rachel. It's part two of our Atia 2024 recap episode. Where we left off is talking about different sessions that we went to that we enjoyed.

00:00:24
So if you listened to the last episode, you know we were joking around about Arby's, right? Well, in order to get to a certain block of rooms, you had to go through the section of the conference that was Arby's related. It was a very far walk to get to some of those sessions. We talked about this. You went to a session down in that block of the conference hall, didn't you?

00:00:50
Yes. I ventured down to see learn enders, and I was like, this is a hike. This is far.

00:00:57
So I hiked all the way down there because I was really interested in the title of this particular one, which I didn't pull up for this episode. I should have. But I'll tell you what really caught me was the use of black lights in therapy. And I was, hmm, haven't heard that before. That's new.

00:01:14
I'm going to go to that session. So I went to that session, and first I want to shout out in that session, Catherine. Catherine, if you're listening, it was great hanging with you. There was a listener to talking with tech in there, the gentleman that ran the session. There was maybe ten people in this session, and he asked us to go around and say who we were.

00:01:32
So when it got to me, Catherine turns around and goes, I know that voice. It's like, hey, Catherine. So we kind of had that bonding experience of like, we're aac people together, right? And other people were certainly. There was a high number of occupational therapists in this session, and what it turned out to be was sort of my type of session, Rachel, where we didn't sit and just listen to this guy talk.

00:01:58
He had us do experiential stuff, so he had us get into a circle, which, again, small group, he brought a bunch of musical instruments, and we played music together. And then we talked a little bit about how you could implement music in really any kind of therapy situation and how rhythm and music help you with regulation, certainly with language, certainly with considering learning any sort of Alphabet or any sort of literacy components. So we had a little bit of an experience where we all picked up different instruments and played them and listened to each other's instruments. But that wasn't the super interesting part. It was fun to play the instruments, but there was no big takeaway for me from that moment.

00:02:49
Like, oh, yeah, I should use music. I already knew to use music and think advocate for the use of music more towards the last ten minutes. And I had to leave early because my session was next. And like I said, it was a hike to get there, so I had to leave a little bit early. But someone even reminded him.

00:03:09
He's like, the name of the title is blacklights. Can we break out the black lights? So he brought out the black lights, which I looked up afterwards on Amazon. They're about $45 each, but they're like spotlights. Like these picture it, like, maybe a foot long by six to eight inches wide light.

00:03:33
So this rectangle that you pull out on the back, there's like a stand, and you can kind of sit on the floor. He had two of those. You plug them into the wall, and then you turn on the lights. And then it's a rave, right? It's like black lights with all of our.

00:03:51
And he had us dance. So we get in a circle and he invited us to dance. When I say he had us, he invited us to dance with one person getting in the center, doing different moves, right? And then other people emulating those moves were like moving our hands flowing to the music. He played a Beatles tune that we all sort of just rocked back and forth for.

00:04:13
And then each person had took a turn getting to the center. And he said he didn't bring them because he questioned us putting them on our hands. But he uses white gloves so that kids can be the leader of the experience. And then afterwards, I wish I could have stayed with Catherine or that group and walked out. I wish I didn't have to leave early because my mind was racing.

00:04:37
Like, I had never done a thing with students like that where you turn out. I've done stuff where we turn out the lights and we use flashlights to find things, like a hide and seek sort of thing, but not a black lights thing. And it's like, that is so unique. Imagine having a card with white letters on them and instead of just pointing to people to come out and dance, which is just totally fine if you want to dance, but saying, all right, what is that letter? And that letter?

00:05:02
And bring them together. And what is that spell, that kind of stuff. Or you've got words printed on them, and bring them over here. And bring them over here. And what sentence are we making?

00:05:11
That kind of stuff could be really fun and unique in a way that most kids don't get to experience. Black lights unless you're going to this really, maybe once a year at Halloween sometime or if you go to an experience. So I thought that might be a really cool investment. If you're listening to this and you have end of the year funds, if you are thinking of something to add to the bank of resources, you might have maybe some blacklights. Doesn't that sound fun?

00:05:44
It sounds so fun. I have so many ideas right now. I'm like, I want to buy a bunch of blacklights. I want to get black flashcards with highlighters and have secret words. What a great way to work on literacy.

00:05:58
And just so many things. I feel like that would be so fun to kind of walk around a room and find letters and then play around with those letters and put them in and start making words with them. And yes, I'm into that.

00:06:10
And certainly there are something that I hadn't really realized. I guess I realized it, but it didn't occur to me until I was in that session. There were different parts of our clothing and different materials that were lighting up different ways, right? So white shows up, but different fluorescent colors. So imagine having all the verbs, one fluorescent color or all the vowels, a different one.

00:06:34
You know what I mean? Help differentiate that. So my mind was just racing. I was also thinking this would be something immediately to share to our adapted physical ed teachers. I could see them really embracing this as well, because to me, at least in my neck of the woods, the adapted PE teachers are some of the most creative, making different experiences, very kinesthetic dance and kicking and gross motor movement stuff.

00:07:01
So I just came out jazzed from that with all sorts of new ideas. It wasn't the same old, same old session.

00:07:09
Yes. I love that. That's so cool. I feel like I'm really sad I missed that. And you caught it.

00:07:15
You caught it on the agenda. Of course you did. But what great ideas.

00:07:21
So you said that you made the trek down to see Lauren Enders. And if I'm remembering correctly, it wasn't just Lauren Enders, it was our friends from the Awe and Wonder podcast, like Brenda del Monte. Am I having that right? Because I wasn't there. You went down there, is that right?

00:07:34
Yes. I got the opportunity to check that session out. I was also rushing. I feel like there was a lot of moving pieces at Ataa, but I made the trek. I hiked down there, I got a great seat, and I listened to Lauren and Brenda talk all about coaching, which that piqued my interest.

00:07:52
And I was definitely excited to hear what they had to share. Lauren and Brenda had a really amazing session with some really awesome resources all about how do we kind of teach all these skills to communication partners and really awesome resources that were included in that session. And just the idea that we need to really empower the circle of support around a student who's using AAC. One of the things that stuck out during that session was Lauren had shared a few video clips of her working with one of her students, and she made the comment, which I feel like is so, for, for families and people who are willing to share videos, the impact that can make on this field is so profound. It's really helpful for parents, teachers, paraprofessionals, other slps to see how to actually interact and engage optimally with an AAC user.

00:09:00
Meaning like, here, watch me model language during this activity, watch me pause, watch me go throughout the least to most prompting hierarchy. And so Lauren had said just kind of off the cuff a comment about that, and it really stuck with me, just this idea of encouraging more sharing. And I think that now, when we're in 2024, where our phones are in our back pockets all the time, and they have easy access to taking photos and videos, you know, it's really helpful to kind of take a quick video of something that you're doing. And, Chris, I'm really all about video. I utilize that so much in my own clinical practice with so much success.

00:09:50
And so I just thought that was really helpful to hear from someone else saying the same thing.

00:09:54
Rachel, that sounds awesome. And it sounds so great that someone like Lauren Enders is spreading that message about using video and encouraging people to share as well. Something I ask parents to consider when I'm meeting with them is to realize that there are other families that have had these experiences or similar experiences to you, and that's something that you can learn from. So the more people are willing to share, the more opportunities there are out there to find people that you can learn from. Right?

00:10:26
So that's awesome that Lauren. We're sharing that. Lauren and Brenda, right?

00:10:30
Yes. It was a great session. Two really strong. Just like love. I love the topic of coaching.

00:10:39
I love hearing other people talk about it because it's, like, my world, and I'm like, oh, that's a good idea. That's a good way to say that. So, yeah, I thought it was a really well done.

00:10:49
Also, you mentioned Lauren Enders and the great resources that you were sharing. And I just have to imagine there's my level of using canva. Right? I get by. I do.

00:10:59
All right. I'm okay. I'm not bad at it, right? I think there's some things that I put out are pretty slick, right? And then there's kind of the next level up from that where there's people that create these amazing resources that are super visually appealing and they have a greater sense of color and design.

00:11:19
Right? And then there's Lauren Enders, who is in a tier all by herself, right? Is that fair?

00:11:27
She's a top tier canva creator for sure. And I have to shout out Lauren, because Lauren has really helped my digital team in our creations, and she has just learned so much about kind of graphic design. And yes, I love all of the content she creates. And it's interesting to think it's not just about the content that you're sharing, right. Either when you're doing a speaking event or when you're sharing a resource, the look and feel, the actual experience is really important.

00:12:04
And so I think Lauren does an amazing job of creating visuals that are really easy to read, and she definitely has a true talent for that.

00:12:16
Now, speaking of true talent, let's talk about the next session that we were both in for a little while. We couldn't stay because, again, there were two sessions that had people that we both wanted to see, and they were at the same time. So we decided to split and say, okay, we'll go to the first part of this session and then we'll leave and go to the last part of this other session. So let's talk about those two. So, Oompa Oompa dupity, do we have a session to tell George?

00:12:49
The Georgia Assistive Technology act. The people from the Georgia Assistive Technology act put on a Willy Wonka themed session about assistive technology and accessible educational materials. They dressed in Willy Wonka outfits. They sung Willy Wonka songs.

00:13:05
They really committed. They really committed to that theme.

00:13:08
It was great. They didn't call themselves by their names. They called themselves by their characters names throughout the session. I love that kind of stuff, that commitment to performance. And of course, I know them.

00:13:20
I've been down to that conference and presented there. I'm going back next December to present again great friends with. That's why I needed to be there to support their efforts and was not disappointed at all. Right. Handing out chocolate and then the material, not just the theme, right.

00:13:38
But the stuff they were sharing was really important. They were showing how when they focused their energy on professional learning, specifically around how to write ieps that focused on using accessible educational materials, they saw a drastic increase in the number of people that were using and considering those materials built for everybody and that's one little nugget from a larger presentation. But certainly, like, yeah, what if we spent our time focusing specifically on that we provide better resources, and sure enough, the outcome is you get better outcomes from kids. If you teach people how to create and make accessible materials, then they will create and make accessible materials and kids benefit. So well done, Georgia.

00:14:22
Sadly, we didn't get to see the end of it, though, because we had to run out to go to. Do you remember which one we went to?

00:14:28
Yes, we got to catch the tail end of Bruce Alter's presentation.

00:14:32
I say had to. Like, somehow we were forced. Like, we wanted to be there, right? We didn't want to miss it. Bruce is, of course, we've had him on the podcast talking about AI.

00:14:41
He is the person in assistive technology that comes to bubbles to the top. There's a bunch of us playing with it and working in it and certainly talking about it and thinking about it. And Bruce is a great thought partner. There he is again. If Lauren Enders is at the peak of using canva, Bruce Alter is at the peak of using AI.

00:15:01
Right? So here he was presenting with Kelly, suiting on how to use AI and the importance of using AI and realizing that if you're not using it to increase your own productivity, to help create inclusive experiences for kids, if you're not actually maybe even teaching them how to use it. Although we're quick to say that privacy is still a thing, so we wouldn't put student information in there or let students use it on their own right now, like chat GPT. Although there are some tools that are built for kids in there that is certainly changing. But all of his great ideas there really resonated.

00:15:40
And the whole time I was at the conference and I mentioned this in part one, is that FETC was ringing in my mind. I wrote him afterwards, like, man, how can we clone you and get you at FETC? Because those people who are certainly also the future educator technology conference, those people who are more ed tech focused, might not be thinking about using generative AI for inclusive practices, but you are certainly you, Bruce, and the rest of us. But Bruce, at the tip of that spear, is leading that charge, could really influence people in a great way. So I don't.

00:16:17
Great. I just love cheering that guy on. I'm a big fan of Bruce, and it was great to be there to support him.

00:16:24
Yeah, I have really grown curious about AI and very excited to hear anyone talk about it because I feel like every time I'm listening to someone talk about AI, I am always learning something new and a different way to use it, a different thing to think about. I actually had a really awesome conversation during Edcamp about AI and learned all about AI bots and chat bots and all the things you can do to customize a chat bot for students. And it was like, mind blown. I was, wow. Like, there's so much to know here and so many ways that we could really use this to really make an impact on our students and their learning.

00:17:08
Speaking of chatbots, and thank you for foreshadowing Ed camp because, of course, that's on the list of things to talk about. Right? But speaking of chat bots, so we haven't advertised this widely, but as soon chat GPT a couple months ago came out with the ability to create a chat bot of your own. And so of course I went over and I started playing with it and I created one for us. So if you are a premium member of Chat GPT, you pay for that.

00:17:39
You can access what we call the talking with tech technician. And what I created was I trained this chat bot on the notes that Luke has created on our website over our last 300 episodes or plus. And so a problem that some people, or a challenge, let's put it that way. I don't know so much that it's a problem, but a challenge that people have now that we've got six years worth of content and 300 episodes is how do I dive in if I'm new or how do I find something or I listen to that. I know Chris or Rachel interviewed somebody and we get frequently emails like that.

00:18:23
Rachel, I heard you talk and you interviewed somebody and they said something about this and they have some sort of base, but they can't really get it. Like, you probably get one of those at least once a month. I get an email like that, right?

00:18:35
Yes, for sure. And I usually read those emails and I'm like, I have no idea.

00:18:39
Chris, do you remember, same thing I'll probably put over to you, Rachel, do you know what they're talking about? But now we have a chat bot that you can explore to answer. Again, it's only for the premium members of. It's not even our premium. It's not like Patreon members.

00:18:54
It's something you have, at least at the time of this recording. That's how it works. Again, we can link it in the show notes and it's something. If you are a chat GPT subscriber, then you can use this. If not, don't worry, still email us and we'll still help you.

00:19:14
Right, but the idea is that you can ask it and have conversations. Like, I heard Chris and Rachel talking about this. They interviewed somebody. What episodes do you think it is? And it will spit it back out for you which ones you think it is, and then you can find it.

00:19:26
That's not quite right. They talked more about this, and so that's how that thing works. Anyway, back to the conference. That was just a side note that that exists. So you talked about Edcamp.

00:19:37
We talked about AI. Is there any other sessions that jumped to your mind that were really interesting or intriguing, or was that all of them? Because us having to leave on Saturday, we only got to go to a few sessions, so maybe that was all of them.

00:19:51
Think of any other ones that I attended, and I'm blanking right now. I'm sure there's other ones, perhaps. But I had a really good time at the poster sessions, for sure. There were some very interesting posters that I was able to be a part of and listen to. And I want to shout out, Tina Moreno and her son Mateo.

00:20:13
They had a poster session, and I've been trying to get Tina Moreno on this podcast for years at this point. And her son Mateo is an AAC user.

00:20:24
Tina was on the podcast just briefly, only shortly, but, well, twice, actually. Right, because she did the book study. No, the podcast study. And she was there to celebrate our 300th episode. So there's a little bit of.

00:20:36
That's right, micro moments with Tina. But we need a full Tina episode. I did invite Mateo on the podcast, too, so I'm hoping that we can make that happen. But Mateo is doing really awesome work in the field of advocacy for AAC. He's an AAC user and has been going and talking to classrooms and shared all about that experience.

00:20:59
And I thought it was a really well done poster session, and I just love the work that he's doing. How powerful is it for students to see an AAC user in their classroom using AAC to communicate? I feel like it just really helps to bridge that gap of misunderstanding around AAC, especially for children who haven't had exposure, and to be fair, also adults. And so I think that that's so great, and I would love to support that continued work. And I said, if you want Mateo, I will blast this out to all of my people.

00:21:38
And so I would definitely recommend reaching out. And, yeah, hire Mateo. I feel like that's a great thing for your classroom, for your district. I'm a really big believer in hiring AAC users to come share their lived experience with AAC as a way to really help people understand and learn about AAC.

00:22:00
Another poster session that was there, and another person I got to meet in person who I had not met before, but you interviewed on the podcast was Gemma White, talking about the importance of adding body parts and safety words and talking about those and actually teaching those. And she had great balloons of body parts there on her poster session. I got to help on the way back from that blacklight session I was running. She was setting up, and I got to help put it up a little bit. That was a great surprise.

00:22:31
I didn't know that Gemma was going to be there, and I didn't know that I was going to get to meet her, so that was great. And a poster session that I didn't get to see, but I walked by and I wish I could have stopped and seen it and had. The conversation was there was a poster session by Angela Stanbridge, who is another person we have to invite on the podcast and talk more deeply about AAC, I think. But it was about esports. And I was like, oh, I want to see that.

00:22:56
But it's one of those ones, like, I got to get to my session. And there it is. Why can't I stop right now? And again, so much good stuff. I wish I could see more.

00:23:03
Any other poster sessions that stick out to you?

00:23:06
Well, I was walking by one, I think I was on my way to meet you, Chris, for a meeting that we had in the exhibitor hall, but I saw a session, a poster session on robots. And I was like, chris, Chris, there's a poster session on robots.

00:23:24
It's funny you say that, because, well, so what was it about? What did they talk about?

00:23:28
I didn't get to actually stop by. I was literally running late to come meet you. So I was like, oh, I got to go. But I saw as I was walking by robots, and I was like, oh, man, I wish I could stop.

00:23:38
Well, okay, let's tie some of these threads together here for a second, because one of the other sessions I got to go to was on science, technology, engineering, art, and math, and it was put on by the american printing house for the blind. And I didn't realize that necessarily. And it wasn't just about being blind. It was about using stem stuff in your education, in your instruction. And so I went there, and when I got there, the person that was presenting, I knew if you've been listening to the podcast recently, some of the episodes have featured people from the United Ability conference, from Alabama, the Meredith Hankins episode, the Mercy Wolverton episode.

00:24:21
And there was this guy named Jason who I met there at the United ability talking about accessible. Know, we were there chatting, but the reason that this session was, they provided a bunch of resources. But I got an opportunity to ask a question at the end that I think is relevant here to the podcast. Again, if you listen to the Mercy Wolverton episode, I spend a few minutes talking about the five C's, like critical thinking, communication, collaboration, these sorts of concepts to drive our instruction is maybe where we need to be heading and where we are heading with education. And I asked the question at the end.

00:25:04
All right, you've been talking all about how this whole session, for this whole hour, you're talking about how important it is that we give students with disabilities, students with all sorts of different abilities, and students with diverse backgrounds from all over opportunities to code. And I said, and of course, I've been championing that notion for a long time. Let's make sure everybody gets included in STEM, right? We're not leaving anybody, mean anyone listening to the podcast. Yeah, we know, Chris.

00:25:34
We've been talking about this. Right, right, Rachel? I mean, this is not a new thing.

00:25:38
It's not. I love it, though. I'm excited.

00:25:40
So, tying these threads together, I said something that sort of challenged me with that notion, though, is maybe, I guess maybe to summarize that maybe there should be a six c, that it's not just creativity and communication and collaboration and citizenship, but maybe we should add a 6th c of coding, because maybe every student needs to now leave school with some experience with coding, because that is the world we're heading towards. Except what's challenged me in the last year is generative AI. Tying our conversation about Bruce together is now generative AI. The way you and I use it primarily is with text, right. And maybe generating some images, I think that's how a lot of people use it.

00:26:21
But coders are using it the same way that we might generate a paragraph and then tweak, they'll generate a code. Here's a prompt. Write me this code now. I'll go in and fix the code. And that may really challenge, is it really spending time coding, or is it really spending time teaching people how to write better prompts?

00:26:41
And so I got to ask Jason, who was presenting what his thoughts were, who spends a lot of time in this world? And he said, chris, it's not a matter of, do you spend time doing prompt engineering and practicing that skill, or do you spend time coding? It's not an or, it's an and. You need to do both. Right.

00:27:00
If you just did prompt engineering, you wouldn't know how to fix the code. You really wouldn't even know what you're asking. You would be kind of lost in the sea of code. So you need to practice both. Prompt engineering is certainly going to be a way.

00:27:14
Writing prompts in a way that get you good output and minimize your time is certainly a skill and certainly something we can invite kids to learn how to do, but it doesn't supplant the knowledge around coding. Plus, doing both enhances all those other C's. The critical thinking, being creative, communicating with others, collaborating with others. How come this prompt isn't right? All of that kind of stuff still happens all in tandem.

00:27:39
So again, great session and then got know. Say hi to Jason at the end, a new know.

00:27:45
It's really interesting, this kind of. It's not an either or, it's an and. I think that's so helpful even at a broader context when we're thinking about AI, because I've thought about with my students, like, do we just focus on AI and all of the things that we can write for the prompts? Or what about focusing on actual formulation and the organic writing process? And I feel like this notion of we can do both is really resonating with me because I do think there's a value in just organic formulating my thoughts into writing.

00:28:25
And if we skip over that process and we just go to like, okay, formulating a prompt and then editing my writing, I think we kind of miss the mark. And so I think this conversation around doing both is so important because I think that if we take it through that lens instead of this kind of extreme camps on one side or the other, we can find a really great middle ground where we're really teaching and empowering our students to do both.

00:28:53
So I was in a session where I saw someone who uses AAC do both. That was the every year at Atia there is a pranky romic lecture recipient and that person then does a lecture talking about their experiences. And this year's winner was, and I apologize because I've only ever seen his name written and I have never, or maybe I heard it once in brief passing, someone say it. So I haven't practiced it yet. So, Karanovir, I hope I'm saying your name.

00:29:29
Karanavir Singh, I hope I'm saying your name right, sir. But I don't know. Did you get to go to that? Or was that one of the ones you're double booked.

00:29:38
I wasn't able to go to that. I had to make a random bank visit, which we're not going to get into on the podcast. But I was on my way to the bank in an Uber.

00:29:50
Yes. Real life doesn't stop when you're at these conferences and stuff happens. Yeah. So I was there and stood in the back and watched. It was packed, giant room, packed with people, like standing room only.

00:30:02
And of course I got there late because I'm running around from session to session. And so I was standing in the back. Anyway, this gentleman uses eyegaze to edit video and has edited so many videos. He showed some of the videos that he makes talking about Adobe products and things like that. And he showed off text that he writes with, generates.

00:30:27
But then he also made a poem using generative AI. So it's that, again, not. Or it's. And he was using both. Right.

00:30:34
And it was just really great to see someone win who had wanted to win for many years. He was joking about how he had applied for many years and this was his year. And that. Who is working in the field again, back to the point we were making with Lauren enders about making videos. This guy's making videos and showing like, this is what can happen if you presume potential.

00:31:03
I love that. Chris, what else we got?

00:31:06
All right, I have one more poster session to talk about before we jump into Edcamp. Okay. So you know that I am a part of the Joy Zabala fellowship steering committee. And Joy Zabala was a mentor of mine. She is the developer of the set framework, which I know you use.

00:31:26
I think you talk about it in AAc, Ally. Right. So, extremely influential person in the field of assistive technology in AAC. And she wrote the forward for my book, the new assistive Tech. And she passed away a couple of years ago.

00:31:44
And in her honor, her friends and her colleagues created a fellowship where they got some money together and they said, what was joy really passionate about? And what she's passionate about, what she was passionate about, especially towards the later years of her career, was mentoring others just like me. Right. I don't know where I'd be in my career if it wasn't for Joy Zabala. You know those bracelets that say wWJD?

00:32:09
That's exactly. What would Joy Zabala do? That's how I think of her all the time when I'm in a tough situation. What would Joy do? So her friends get together and they create this fellowship where they get some money together and they say, what if we had people apply to be a mentor?

00:32:28
Someone who's in the field feels like they have a skill set, and then we paired them with people who applied. That said, I'm new to the field, or maybe I've been around for a while, but I'm new to a specific aspect of the field, and I'd like to be mentored. And then those would go. So imagine a Google form for if you want to be a mentor, a Google form. If you want to be a mentee, those go to a place.

00:32:50
This fellowship committee then looks at those and says, oh, let's pair these up. This person would be good with that person. This person could be good with this person. Because it's a fellowship. There has been some money that has been donated that we could give as stipends to some of these.

00:33:06
And so in the first year, there were three pairs of people that had a year long project where, okay, mentee, this mentor is going to mentor you through this year long project. And then right now, we're in the middle of year two with three more partnerships. And, in fact, some of the people that are mentors are Aaron Marsters. We just had him on the podcast. Darla Ashton has been on the podcast.

00:33:35
Jamie Martin is a mentee on the podcast. So a bunch of people. So Megan Stewart's a part of it. Who is sensible literacy on Instagram. So there's a bunch of people that are active participants in this who we've had on the podcast.

00:33:51
And what the poster session was was the next round for year three is open. We've just opened up the Google forms where if you want to submit a proposal, as a mentor, I think I have some skills, and maybe I could help somebody, or I'm a mentee. I have an idea of something that I'd like to create, like an assistive technology team or an program. Oh, and I mean program. Like the coffee talks we were talking about or parent program or something like that, right?

00:34:23
Not like a software program. And then we would try and pair them up. So that just recently opened, all the people were there with our Joyce Abala fellowship t shirts, promoting to get involved, to consider putting your hat in the ring as a mentor or a mentee, or if you want, just donate some money to that cause. All of those are great ways to get involved. So that's my quick shout out.

00:34:47
I don't know how quick it was, but that's my shout out for the Joy Zabala Fellowship and consider participating. We'll have a link in the show.

00:34:52
Notes I think it's so important for this idea of mentorship because I look at my own experience and I didn't have a mentor, and I was really just, like, bootstrapping my way through learning and trying to do as much professional development as I could and learning things in real time. I love this idea of providing mentorship, and I would definitely encourage everyone to donate if they don't have the time, but also to dedicate your time. We all had someone in our career who was able to kind of guide us and shape who we are as educators and clinicians today. And I think it's just so important to give back to the community in that way. So I'm really excited about this foundation and really excited that we can link to it and we can promote it.

00:35:43
It's funny that you use those words, Rachel, because one of the people that is involved in the first year, the first cohort of people, one of the mentors, his name is Matt Newton, and he is here in Virginia. He actually works in Virginia Tech, where my son goes. Right. And so Matt and I have known each other for many years, and that's exactly what he said. He's like, when I first started, I kind of floundered around and made all these mistakes, and it was like, oh, if someone could just guide me, I could have saved so much time and so much anguish and still made mistakes.

00:36:13
You're always going to make mistakes, but maybe less so and maybe less drastic ones. And so, yeah, literally, you use the same words he does at the poster session to describe why he got couldn't. All right, so you mentioned it. You foreshadowed it. Now it's the time to talk about it.

00:36:28
Let's talk about Ed camp. So Ed camp was, again, if you don't know what it is, give you the quick recap. I've been doing a lot of talking. Rachel, do you want to explain what edcamp is?

00:36:40
Yes. Ed camp is great. It's like my favorite thing, I think, at Ada, and I just love the whole idea behind it. It's basically a way to crowdsource ideas so you can have an idea about something that you want to talk about, something you want to learn more about something, a question that's been plaguing you, keeping you up at night. And you take a piece of paper, you post your question on a board, and then those questions are organized.

00:37:09
And so the room is divided then into different sections, and different time slots are allotted for each topic. And you can choose where you want to spend your time. Having a conversation. And so there's lots of different kind of questions and topic proposals that are put on the board. They're then organized, and then you get to decide during this next 30 minutes, where do I want to spend my time?

00:37:36
And you can also spend your time in one place and then move on to a different conversation. And it's just a really great way to, I think, especially at the end of a conference, to reflect on the things that you've been learning, hearing, and do a little bit of a deeper discussion around a specific topic. And so it was really awesome, as it always is, super fun and engaging. And again, I think it's really nice to reflect back after you've done so much kind of professional development and learning, and you can go a little bit deeper, you can get questions clarified, and it's a bunch of people around talking about one thing that is of particular interest to you.

00:38:19
Yeah, so you already mentioned that you went to one talking about generative AI and gave some reflective thoughts on that one. What were the other ones? Did anyone conversations stick out?

00:38:29
Yeah, I also went to one on creativity and AAC, which I thought was really interesting. I had never really thought through that lens before, and we had a really amazing discussion on how we can promote and foster more creativity with students who are using AAC. I, of course, shared some AI things that I'm doing for creativity purposes and some really cool creative writing things, some co writing with creative writing that I've been doing with some of my students that's been really successful. And, yeah, it was just a really good conversation around the different ways that we can think through creativity. And I think one of the takeaways for me was, we need to be thinking about this.

00:39:14
It's something that I naturally do in my own clinical work. I think I'm a creative person and I like following a student's interests and having them create something is a really great language opportunity, but it's also showcasing. I did this thing and here's something I have to show for it. Right. I just think that's a really great way to bridge the gap between what you're doing, your sessions and what's happening at home and sending kids home with even just a screenshot of something they created or an example of the story that they wrote.

00:39:50
And so I've always naturally done that. But I think that that conversation got me thinking, how can I be really advocating for my students on behalf of this? How can I be teaching teachers about this and really thinking through this lens of creativity, especially when we're thinking about our students that have complex bodies, I feel like they're oftentimes left out of the creative process, but there's ways that we can adapt that and modify what we're doing so that they can be included, too. So I loved that conversation. I felt like it was so rich in ideas.

00:40:24
And again, just thinking through this lens of creativity and AAC, I was like, I haven't actually thought about that before in that specific way. And now it's got me thinking about it.

00:40:35
You can't have creativity without at. It's right in the middle of the word.

00:40:39
I love it. Yes. A big at. In the middle of creativity.

00:40:44
Well, one of the sessions that I went to was sort of adjacent to that, not really focused on creativity, but it was really about how to redesign instruction so that it's not so mundane, which is really what you're getting at. I mean, that was one part of it, whatever the topic was. What I really want to point out about this one conversation we had is that we had an individual with down syndrome participate in that conversation. And he was a student, or is a student. I didn't get to meet him or talk to him afterwards.

00:41:14
He sat a couple seats next to me, and then the session ends and you run to the next one for the next one to start. But he got to share some of his perspectives about being a student in. He wasn't a high school student, he was a college student. And some of the accommodations he uses and some of the strategies, he was a big fan of canvas and using those tools that on these sorts of learning management platforms, if you're not familiar with canvas, it's like schoology, it's like Google classroom. It's a place to house materials and resources, and it has calendars and it's a learning management system.

00:41:51
And he was just a big champion for that. And he was just like, why can't every teacher in every school just do that? Because then if I'm missing something, I can go and get it, or I can find it or I can share it and I can ask comments or put questions on it. And it was great to hear his perspective about how that sort of tool can really help with executive functioning. Right.

00:42:14
And minimize the cognitive load that we all have to endure when we're learning through some sort of structured school program.

00:42:22
It's a really good kind of point to make. I feel like Chris, because in 2024, if you don't have systems in place to organize yourself with all the things that we're expected to do, remember the passwords that we have, I feel like that's the one area of education that hasn't really caught up. It's like, okay, here's all this content, but teaching students how to actually organize themselves with a calendar and with a to do list and all the things that eventually we have to figure out for ourselves as adults. And so I love the idea of teaching more of these systems to students because it just helps them start thinking through the lens of. Yes, how do I organize all of the homework assignments I have and tasks I have to do and places I have to be?

00:43:14
I think that that's so cool. And I think that that's where a lot of my students are struggling because no one's really teaching them those things.

00:43:21
Yeah. And I'll tell you. So I was just recently, I was working with a freshman who is a freshman in college who came back home after his first semester in college and was struggling with those exact same things because in high school, they also used a learning management system. So a lot of stuff was just there on a calendar. He never learned how to put stuff on a calendar, or his parents often did that for him and never really taught him how to do it or maybe emphasized how to do it, maybe saw it, but didn't actually do it.

00:43:56
And a lot of the strategies this particular student learned in high school were social strategies, meaning I have this sphere of people that are in the same class with me. They're my friends. They're my peer group. And so later on that evening, when I'm on discord and playing video games, someone might say, oh, I got to jump off. I got to get that thing done for class.

00:44:19
Wait, what thing done for class? Oh, right. That thing done for class. And now it's a social reminder, or not because they took any action, but because a friend did, and vice versa. I think he offered those same sort of supports to other kids, and the same thing would happen with, on the way out of class, I walk out with my friends and chatting like, did you really understand that?

00:44:39
No, I didn't understand that. Me either. Okay, let's clarify. What did you think that meant? Right?

00:44:43
But now being a freshman in college and being in classes where there are no friends. Right. Or you're making new friends, that's a whole nother thing. Now, I grew up with these people in elementary, middle, and high. I grew up with those friends.

00:44:57
How do I make friends in this sort of environment, and how do I make these relationships? And all of that was new skills, new skills that had not really been practiced. So I got to work with this particular student. The student came to my house and sat at my kitchen table, and we worked through a bunch of those strategies together about, okay, how would you do that? What would happen on a Monday?

00:45:23
What's the best time where you would review that? What tools did you want to use? Like, are you a Google keep person or are you onenote person? Let's explore those, those sorts of. What about your phone?

00:45:33
You get your phone. What can you do there? So walk through all of those sorts of strategies that parents just missed.

00:45:42
Oh, sounds like he's really lucky to have had that experience with you, Chris.

00:45:48
Yeah, I'm the lucky one to have that experience with him. Back to Ed camp for a second. The last thing that I would say about edcamp is one of the sessions that I participated in was about at evaluations and considerations and how to do that. And there was a lot of sort of like, yeah, how do we do that? Because there were so many new people there.

00:46:14
There was a lot of new people at Ed camp. Again, because you and I and so many of our friends there are big fans of Ed camp and actually have run Ed camp for the last number of years. I think we advocate to the new people to come. And so there was a lot of people kind of sitting around going, well, I don't know how to do this. We wanted to talk about it because we don't know, we wanted to hear.

00:46:37
And I think that was also a draw to Ed camp. And I think it's one of the wonderful things about edcamp is that you might go to a session. Ed Camp always takes place on Friday or traditionally has take place on Friday night. So you've got now a day and a half of sessions where you've seen people and you've like, I do want to ask them a question, but people are hovering around them at the end. Or I didn't get to see them, or I grabbed them in a hall, but I didn't get to actually, or I want to write them later, but will I write them later?

00:47:05
So I'm going to go to Ed camp because this is much smaller venue and you have much more intimate conversations. Right. It's not like a. So there was a number of new people. So some of us, Jennifer Schubering was there, who's also been on the podcast, and we were sharing how we do, how we do it in my neck of the woods.

00:47:25
How you do it in your neck of the woods. And then what was awesome is got to talk to them afterwards, a little person, a group of people came up, and they're like, something you said, we think we know. We think we're doing it that way. We're not sure. And we got to have a little side conversation to really clarify what I meant, because they thought I knew what I meant.

00:47:43
And then when I clarified it, they're like, oh, it was feature matching. They thought they were doing feature matching a certain way. And I explained how we do it, and they're like, oh, that makes more sense. Okay, now we know how to do it. So these intimate conversations are what these conferences are all about, and it's what Ed Camp is all about.

00:47:59
All right, so that's Ed Camp. And then there's one last thing again, we talked about last time, how all of these events impact voices. Ed Camp, text help, all the different parties were all happening at the same time. So an event that I missed, but then I followed up with afterwards, and I looked up afterwards, was the building Wings event, where the big announcement at that event was how Tar Heel reader, a resource that many of our listeners are going to know what Tar Heel reader is and shared. Tar Heel Reader.

00:48:31
And if you don't know what it is, jump over there. I'm sure Luke will put it in the show notes, but that is changing. It is the North Carolina university that did, and Karen Erickson and that whole crew that put together Tar Heel reader have partnered with building wings to create a new product. Well, I shouldn't say product, because it's still free, right? A new resource.

00:48:53
That's a better way to put it. A new resource called Monarch Reader, which we weren't there. I didn't get to see what it was. Do you really know what it was? All I did?

00:49:00
No, I'm upset about it. I guess I can check it out, though.

00:49:04
It's the evolution of Tar Hill reader. I sort of imagine Tar hill reader climbing into cocoon and emerging as a monarch butterfly. But you go to the website, you can sign up, and then when they're ready to reveal it, there'll be more information to come. And so that's what you know. So if anyone is listening from building wings and you want to meet with us to talk about it, we're here for it, because I would love to know what's coming with Monarch Reader.

00:49:29
Definitely. I'm excited to hear about that, too, Chris. We started this whole conversation another episode ago, and we talked about this idea of a theme, and we were like, oh, I don't really feel like there was a theme, really this year. But then it dawned on me, Chris, there actually was a theme that I noticed, and I think you probably will agree with this. I feel like I heard so many people in our sessions in the hallway talking to you, talking to me, talking all about the specific language system first approach.

00:50:01
And I want to shout it out because I feel like so many people are using this approach, and I feel like that's super exciting. I feel like it, of course, originated with you and on this podcast, and it's just super exciting to hear how people are using this and with such success. And I just wanted to shout that out because as we come full circle, I feel like there kind of was a theme this year.

00:50:27
Well, thank you for saying that. Yes, I guess reflecting back on it, I noticed that, and there was certainly a number of people that mentioned it last year and even more this year. And it's true, when I came up with that name and thought through a whole flowchart, that was several years ago. I mean, many, many years ago. And where I first had the moment to share it on a wide scope in a presentation was at Atia.

00:50:52
Thank you, Carol Zangari, for giving me a few minutes at a session to share it. And that was a packed room full of people, too. And now I've had the great fortune to put together a course around it inspired by you and your work with AAC ally, I said, yeah, okay, Rachel, you give great coach for me on how to put that together. So if you're like, I still don't know what it is, despite many, or I don't know how to do it, despite many episodes on it and conversations about it, there's a course on it now and then. Yes, so many people are like, we are getting language through AAC to more people than ever through that approach.

00:51:30
And yes, it's something. Thank you for saying that. I don't know, what's the word? Humbling. It's really amazing to see how that change has happened across the nation and across different continents.

00:51:46
Yeah, I'm really excited, and I definitely want to link to your course in the show notes and help people find it, because ultimately we are so taxed in our field with not having enough time. And I feel like one of the benefits of this is we get to spend more time where it matters in implementation of AAC. And I feel like we all need more of that. So definitely recommend your course, Chris. It's awesome and I love the idea and I'm really excited to see how this has shifted and shaped what a lot of people are doing and advocating for in their school districts.

00:52:23
So excited. Luke's going to put it in the show notes for us. And we found a theme, Chris, we found a theme of Atia.

00:52:30
Thank you, Rachel. That's awesome. All right, so I guess the way to wrap it up, though, is we will see you at Atia 2025. It's not confirmed yet that you and I will be there, but I would imagine, I hoped, fingers crossed, that they would invite us to come back and do another pre conference. I mean, it was truly well attended, and I think we're going to get good feedback.

00:52:50
We haven't got it yet, but I think people were really engaged. I think that certainly people were coming up to us afterwards and chatting with us. I felt like we created a little community there of people. So, I mean, would you anticipate the same thing?

00:53:02
I hope so. I hope that we get an invite back to Ataa for a pre conference because I just had so much fun, and it's always a great week at Haa, and I would love to see everyone next year. So we'll keep you posted when we find out if we get an official invite back, we would love for you to join us. If you have been listening to this podcast and want to spend a whole day with Chris and I, Ata is a great place to do it.

00:53:27
See you there.