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USING eBUDDIES IN THE CLASSROOM
For her class of students with multiple disabilities, special ed teacher Jeanne Sabol chose the eBuddies e-mail pairing program to develop social skills and learn computer skills that will be useful in the work world. "I set goals for my students but they are not strictly academic goals. The goals for my students are based on the socialization skills that eBuddies provides," Sabol says.
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STUDENTS LEARN TO:
- establish and maintain friendships
- use correct spelling, grammar, keyboarding and sentence structure
IMPLEMENTING THE PLAN:
- Sabol and her educational assistant, Monica Farrell, help students when asked to compose letters that convey the students' messages. "I do not feel that using eBuddies to set academic goals is the intent of eBuddies. I view eBuddies as a means to establish friendships, with academic goals as an added feature."
- Having a computer in the classroom helps, but it is not essential. In her first year using eBuddies with her students, Sabol set aside class time to enable the students to access e-mail from the computer lab. With a new computer with Internet access in her classroom this year, Sabol says she can be more flexible in allowing her students to check their e-mail. Access to a computer in the classroom will enable the students to respond to their eBuddies' e-mails more promptly.
SIGNING UP FOR eBuddies:
- Participating in eBuddies requires a simple but necessary application process for every volunteer and person with MR. Using basic personal information and references that all applicants provide on a form available on the Internet, through the mail or through Best Buddies offices, eBuddies conducts background checks to ensure participants' safety.
- Personal information on the application is also used to help eBuddies create well-matched pairs.
- For classes applying to participate, eBuddies allows the teacher to act as a reference. Non-student applicants must provide their own references, and eBuddies checks adult applicants in state sex offender registries.
- Once the first part of the application has been completed and checked by eBuddies, the group sends the applicants a "code of conduct" to review. At that point, applicants under 18 years old also receive a parental consent form, while adult volunteers receive a request for a participation fee of $50 to cover the cost of the background check. All participants with mental retardation can enroll free of charge, as can all students.
Special Education News welcomes lesson plan suggestions.
Please e-mail them to
educators@specialednews.com.
This site may from time to time contain disconnected links due to changes in the web sites we have linked to. We will endeavor to update links to outside resources as they change, and we appreciate tips on changes being made.
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