Word Processors in My Classroom

Using a word processor in a special education classroom at the elementary level can be a very challenging task. The students have a wide variety of needs. It takes quite a bit of research and a crowbar in the school department’s budget to find appropriate software or hardware to best meets these needs. But as far as word processing goes, I have had experience with integrating it into my instruction in several different ways.

First, when word processors came out in the early 80’s and into the 90’s, I used them to motivate students to publish their writing pieces. I still use them for this purpose. It can be a very enticing tool, especially for kids who do not have access to technology. Soon, I began to use the programs to teach editing skills, making changes based on edit marks.

As programs improved and features were added, I could adapt them in different ways in my classroom. For example, Word Perfect introduced a highlighting feature. I would use it to have students select all the nouns, verbs, etc. I could also use it to leave comments on my more advanced students’ pieces.

I have also used other kinds of software, such as Zoomtext to enlarge the screen and read text for visually impaired students. Click and Type is a free download that puts the keyboard in alphabetical order and lets the student type with the mouse.

Hardware, such as waterproof keyboards and boards with larger keys have been valuable tools in the past. They can be easy to break or wear out, so their effectiveness is inconsistent.

Currently, I use word processors for the students writing pieces, symbol matching, copying text, and simple publishing. My more advanced students will insert pictures from saved files or from the internet. They also are learning to use text boxes and format text style, font, borders and color.
I like to use them daily, but time and lack of equipment make it difficult. I would also like to get them to create hyperlinks in their pieces, as well as showing them how to use them for note taking. And seeing shows like Digital Nation and the prevalence of computers in classrooms, I think my students will be behind if they can not utilize the technology.