We Have Moved!

I am VERY excited to start a new year at Sagonaska Demonstration school!

In order for my new students to get the full blogging experience, we are starting a new class blog.

mrdidonatosclass.blogspot.ca

Check regularly for updates or better yet, subscribe by entering your email at the bottom of the page where it says "Follow Us By Email".

Don't worry! All of these posts will be here for you whenever you need them!

Educator's Institute 2015 - Blogging a Tool for Creating and Connecting

Brian Hayes and myself created a presentation for the second annual Educators' Institute put on by the Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario. In the presentation we highlight our journey to becoming a classroom that blogs, as well as the importance of blogging to students who live with LD's.


We hope you find this of value!

How to Ease the Transition Process

Here at Sagonaska, the grade 8's are naturally a little nervous (or as Ryan would say "scared out of our minds") about leaving Sagonaska.  After watching a webinar put on by the Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario, I was struck with an idea.  I asked my students to create "Self - Advocacy" pamphlets.  Here is a video that explains what we did in order to create the pamphlets.

If you haven't yet checked out the LD@School website, you need to. They have plenty of ideas about making transitions! Check them out at LD@School.ca This video is also posted on their website!

Promote Your Passion

Over the last couple of months we have been involved with something called Learning Through The Arts. You can learn more about Learning Through The Arts by clicking here. Essentially, it is a program funded by the Royal Conservatory of Music to teach students through the arts.

Essentially, both students and teachers have been working closely with John and Martha (the artists) to create a digital media product that promotes student passion.  As the teacher I have learned how important it is to gain a deep understanding of what we want to pass on to our students.  This is something I always knew and try hard to do, but Learning Through The Arts has driven this home for me.

To create a product my students could view as an example, I had to learn a lot.  Through Learning Through The Arts, I had some acting lessons, voice lessons, videography lessons and digital media pre planning lessons. It was only after I learned all of these parts of digital media, I could express exactly what I wanted of my students.  After reflecting on this multi curricular project I have a fresh view of the importance of having a deep understanding of what my students are learning.

What lesson did you teach students that made you realize how important it is to have a deep understanding of what you are teaching?

What Do You Do to Help Yourself Learn?

Explain one thing/idea/strategy you use to help YOU learn.

The Role of Metacognition in Self Advocacy

Back in March my students prepared a "Self - Advocacy Pamphlet" to prepare for their transition to high school. You can see the older blog post here Creating Self - Advocacy Pamphlets .  Our class was later asked by the LDAO to create a short video about what exactly we did to create these pamphlets.

       It wasn't until my students and I made the video that I realized how important this activity was. After sitting down and talking candidly to my students about the challenges they are faced due to a learning disability, my students became far more self aware. Although we cannot see what is going on our students' heads, we can have conversations about what the students are thinking and why they are thinking it. 

      After the students were more aware of exactly how their learning disabilities affect their learning, they are able to precisely explain how their LD affects their learning. I think my students are better prepared for their transition to high school because they are getting to be more and more self aware.