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!

The Amazing Cue Card Reader 2.0

 If you follow our blog, you will know that our first post in "Tricks and Tips For the 21st Century Learner" was Janine's DIY video called   "The Amazing Cue Card Reader".  We have come a long way since late November. Janine has improved her reading ability... A lot!

Our school ask purchased a Makerbot 3D printer. It is AWESOME! The possibilities are endless. As a test for the printer, I have created several different models of the original "Amazing Cue Card Reader".  Although the reader is relatively simple (other than the design and manufacturing process), the power this little tool holds is great.

The most progress I have seen this year was a second year student who went from a DRA 18 (late grade 1) to a DRA 70 (grade 7). There were many aspects of this students' gains.  Grit, the Empower Reading program, small class size and of course the "Amazing Window Reader" (which has a back story much like Janine's Amazing Cue Card Reader).

Whether you have access to a 3D printer, or you go low tech. Like I did when I started out, give this old school tool a try, you won't be disappointed!

The Original "Amazing Cue Card Reader"

The "Amazing Cue Card Reader - mini"

The Amazing Window Reader

Students Using their Preferred Amazing Cue Card Readers

Literacy Leveler - A Great Summer App for Kids!

Literacy Leveler is a great app which allows a person to check to the reading level of a book. 

My students are all blooming readers and I have explained to them that they have worked too hard, learning how to read, to not practice reading over the summer. This app allow my students to be sure they are engaged in perfect practice. Just like an athlete trains to maintain their athletic ability - whatever it may be, students must read at their independent reading level to maintain their reading level.

Check this amazing app out when you get a second or two!

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.

How Do You Fail Successfully?

After I watched this video, I thought about two things. First, how good of a balance bike rider Henry is and second Henry fell a lot! When Henry fell he was not afraid to get back up and try again. His teacher (in this case his dad), has taught Henry that falling is okay. Shouldn't we be doing the same thing in the classroom?

As a grade 8 teacher, I have found that sometimes, students are afraid to fail. From Henry's video don't we learn that failing good? I am curious to know why some are scared of failing. Sometimes scared to the point that they don't try. A wise man once said,

"If you don't shoot, you can't score!"

So isn't that the same as saying "If you don't try, you can't succeed"?

Some people I have met use the acronym "FAIL" (First Attempt In Learning), others call a failed attempt "learning mistakes" or "teachable moments". In essence, it is all failure. I encourage students to make mistakes when in class. A classroom is the best place to make mistakes and more importantly, a great arena for learning HOW to fail successfully!

Here is a simple adage...

Try... Fail... Reflect... Change...Try Again... Repeat...

All of this from watching a video of a two and a half year old learning to ride a bike. Amazing!

The Importance of Being Flexible When Using Technology in the Classroom

If you have watched "The Story of Stuff" then you know the definition of the word obsolescence. If you don't know the word, watch the movie! As teachers and students we know how fast technology changes. We also need to be mindful of the fact that most things that we use today are meant to become obsolete.

In our classroom, I explain to students that the technology we use to learn with today, may be obsolete tomorrow.  This is important because it fosters resiliency and grit. Teachers AND students, need to be resilient to keep up with rapid, ever changing educational technologies.

To prove the point, here is a photo of our "Tech Game Plan" from September compared to a photo of the same Tech Game Plan in March.  Look how much has changed in just 6 months!

The Importance of Teaching Students to Use their Personal Devices as Assistive Technology in the Classroom

Prior to coming to Sagonaska Demonstration School all students must provide an independent writing sample.  Here are two of Ryan's writing samples.  The first is from before attending Sagonaska and the second is from October of her second year at Sagonaska. Both samples were done totally independently. 

The difference between the two samples is some very explicit teachings about how to harness the power of a personal device as a learning tool. Prior to writing the second sample, Ryan was explicitly taught how to use her personal device to help her overcome to her LD.

When you watch the video, you will very clearly see that Ryan's true cognitive ability was masked by her LD. Now that she knows how to use her device to help her learn, and express her knowledge, we see how personal technology can help illustrate student understanding.

Transformational Technology

If you follow us on Twitter, you have likely already seen this image. We think it is important for us to explain what we mean by Transformational Technology. It is easiest if we frame the definition as question. Could a student have produced exactly what they envisioned without the use of technology? 

Students were asked to "explain how [they] have blended [their] understanding and a piece of technology to create something awesome?".

Read their posts entitled "What Transformational Technology Means to Me".

The Importance of Looking at Progress with Students

A couple of weeks ago I filmed my students reading some of Sketches a book by Eric Walters. I wanted the students to see, and hear, how far they have come as readers. It wasn't until a few days later, that I realized the importance of the videos. 

After students watched the video, they all realized that they were actually decoding and comprehending at the same time! For these students, that is a big deal! If you can read then you will remember the process of learning to read. Learn the alphabet, learn to blend letter sounds, then start to put the letters and sounds together to read bigger words and eventually learn to decode all sorts of words. Once you could decode you were expected to read AND understand what was going on in the text.  All of a sudden that thing between your ears called a brain was starting to multitask (even more than usual).  This is where my students are now.  My kids can decode most words they come across and comprehend what they are reading.

The next step for my students is to begin to read more fluently.  The three kids in my class are three of the hardest working kids I have ever met.  Perhaps it is the common goal, "to learn to read at grade level" or, "to read like everyone else" that fills them with grit.

The whole point of this post is to explain the importance of showing students the  progress they have made.  Whether you take sound bytes in September and compare them to December, you use video like a hockey coach uses game tape, or you simply compare writing samples with students, the benefits are vast.  I believe that my students have become even grittier because they get to see their progress. I challenge you to try it in your classroom and reap the benefits!

Self Advocacy Pamphlet - Aiden

1.Explain what you learned about yourself when you first started using the “Understanding Learning Disabilities Chart”?:

I learned how my LD specifically affects my learning.

2.What did you take away from your conference with Mr. Di Donato?:

What I took away from my conference with Mr. Di Donato was a finished popplet, the popplet was the base of my pamphlet. 

3.Explain to your audience what you did next:

After I made the popplet I began to construct my pamphlet in pages using the information from my popplet.

4.What is the finished product? 

The finished product was my pamphlet about me and how I learn.

5.How do you think this product will help you in the future?:
It will help me in the future by informing my teachers about what I need to be successful in high school.

Creating Self Advocacy Pamphlets

To say that there is a lot going on in a student's life in grade eight would be an understatement. There are the challenges of being a teenager, harnessing the feelings of being the biggest fish in the pond, and of course the transition to high school - just to name a few. I want to be sure that my students have a smooth transition to high school so I have asked them to create a pamphlet to describe their strengths and needs as learners.The pamphlets the students created surprised me!  It wasn't how good they looked that surprised me, I knew they would create greatness, it was the students' mindfulness of how they learn that I found to be most amazing! My students all live with a learning disability and they are challenged by their LD day in and day out as students. I am a big proponent of mindfulness in the classroom. We are all very open and inclusive in the classroom.  The fact that every student in my room is full of grit and resiliency has made them so successful in working to overcome their LDs.

Here is an explanation of the activity we did written by the students for the LD@School website.

"We started by going over York Region’s Understanding Learning Disabilities - How Processing Affects Learning chart, WE call it “The Waterfall Chart” [http://ldatschool.ca/classroom/executive- function/york-waterfall-chart/].  We went through the waterfall chart with our teacher and jotted down our strengths and needs into an app called Popplet [http://popplet.com/].  Some of you may have already seen Denver’s Popplet presentation [https://twitter.com/Mr_DzzzClass?lang=en]!"


After finishing the activity, I found this assignment to be extremely empowering for students. They are better at explaining exactly what they need in order to overcome their LD, which makes them better self-advocates. I am excited to learn about these students' successes in high school.

Below is a sample of what the students have created. You can see why I am so proud!

Transitioning to High School with an LD

Here at Sagonaska one of the most important jobs teachers have is to prepare students with learning disabilities for their future by teaching them how to self-advocate. Self-advocating is in fact the second of three overarching goals we have here at Sagonaska. I always explain the idea that "everyone needs help, and everyone can give help". I try to teach my students to be aware of when they need to both ask for help, and when to give help. Being an elementary teacher, students often become solid self-advocators rather quickly, perhaps because they feel comfortable with their teachers and peers. Unfortunately this is not always the case in a high school setting. Enter the LDAO!
     The hard working, knowledgeable people at the LDAO (Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario) realize that transitioning from elementary to high school can sometimes be an overwhelming process for students. To make self-advocacy skills better in a more unfamiliar setting, they are hosting a FREE webinar Wednesday, January 21^st from 6:30 – 7:45pm EST. Whether you are a student, parent, or advocator this is a must see webinar.

Building Your High Schoolers Self-Advocacy Skills

Ergonomics in the Classroom

At first glance, many people would say that Aiden is sending a text, interacting in some sort of social media, or perhaps building something in Minecraft. Infact Aiden here is writing an expository paragraph on why crime doesn't pay!
     As a teacher I spend a lot of time on ergonomics in my classroom. We have exercise balls to sit on, rocking chairs and even a couch in front of the Smart Board.  Even after putting many hoursa oif thought into how to design my classroom so that it best fits my students' needs, sometimes, haqving a good lean is exactly what my students need. Try giving your students choice in where or how they are working. If a student does their best work standing up, why make them sit down and do work?

The Gift of Time

All of the students I teach have a learning disability. A HUGE misconception, sometimes even in the realm of education, is that people with learning disabilities are not as smart as a person without a learning disability. In actuality it means "A person's learning disability affects their ability to perceive or process verbal or non-verbal information" (Sagonaskaschool.blogspot.ca 12/12/14). Lately I have been giving my students more think time.
     Think time is exactly that, time for a student to think. I ask a question to students and then immediately start counting backwards from 5 on my hands without using my voice. This allows students to organize their thoughts prior to explaining.
     Through this process I have seen two huge successes. First, I've seen an increase in the fluency in which students verbally express their ideas. Second I've seen a great boost in student confidence. Some of the students I have, used to be, children who would "hide" in the back of the class and hope that they would just be passed over. Now my students have taken a lead role in their own education.

Minecraft in the Classroom

As you all know Minecraft has become a lot of kids' favourite game. I borrowed the idea of using Minecraft in the classroom from Ms. Vader, a fellow teacher. Here is what we did.  Students had to illustrate their knowledge about the organelles in plant and animal cells using a Minecraft design then present their designs on the SMART Board. Student engagement was at its highest all year.

     Check out Aiden's Mincraft cell presentation and more importantly how much he knows about cells.

Popplet...What can you use it for?

Here is a video of a student explaining an app called  Poppplet. Give it a try as it helps us to organize our thoughts prior to writing. How would you use it?

The Amazing Cue Card Reader!

Check out the first addition to "Tricks and Tips for the 21st Century Learner"!

Coming Soon!

We started a new blog page called "Tips and Tricks for the 21st Century Learner". As the teacher, my goal is to have students and teachers showcase any ideas or forms technology that assist students with learning. If you have any ideas please post them here! Check in regularly for new tips, tricks and ideas to make learning easier!