Educators were chosen by consulting with site PTA, student government organizations and staff.
Educators were chosen for their reputations with students, staff, parents and the community.
Miriam Brock SMMUSD Assistive Technology Specialist
When Miriam Brock started in Santa Monica Malibu USD 13 year ago, she began as a Special Education Kindergarten teacher at McKinley Elementary. She then moved onto SAMOHI to provide speech-language services to students, as well as to manage the Circle of Friends program.
She is currently the Assistive Technology Specialist for the Special Education Department and serves the entire district. Overall she has been teaching for 15 years.
Prior to entering the teaching field, she was a Speech-Language Pathologist and Program Director for several in- and outpatient head injury rehabilitation centers in Seattle.
Brock is passionate about allowing ALL of our students to access the curriculum to whatever extent possible using any form of technology possible.
Brock Speaks
There are 2 things I am excited about.
First is allowing our non-verbal students a means to communicate through the use of iPads and specialized communication apps.
Helping our classroom teachers in integrating language and use of AAC into the everyday curriculum is one of my goals this year.
My second goal relates to our students with more mild learning disabilities.
Getting appropriate computer apps and extensions (such as our current program Read&Write for Google) into all of our special education and collaborative classes for students to access.
Read&Write for Google is an awesome program that provides reading, writing, and study skills supports to students to access their general education curriculum.
I love working with the awesome staff that I meet at the various school sites. I also enjoy working with a student's family to carryover what they are learning in school to what they use at home.
What makes me feel appreciated is when a student tells me how much they have benefitted from technology and how they "only wished they had known about it sooner" (those are our high school students).
I have to say that I still get chills when one of our nonverbal students generates their first oral words with the use of their iPad and Proloquo2Go.
I always hope that my nonverbal students continue to use their augmentative communication systems (iPad) in the community and at home.
This is a quote that I found and love. "For people without disabilities, technologies makes things easier. For people with disabilities, technology makes things possible." - MP Radabaugh.
