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!

Promote your Passion Aiden

The Promote your Passion Project.

The project started out as a language assignment called "My passion tree." For the Passion tree we wrote what our passion is and what it stemmed from and what makes us passionate about it.
After that we did a poetry class with Martha from LTTA. We wrote a poem about our passion.

Then Mr. Brown and Mr. Di Donato told us that we were making a video to go along with the poems, using imovie and the green screen. We first used a storyboard to match the poem with some backgrounds. Then we used some tracing paper so we would know where to stand and what actions we would do in front of the green screen. Once all that was done we started filming.  It was pretty easy, some of the lines were hard to remember but it didn't take very long. The last step was the most annoying, editing. Editing the video was hard and it took a while but they turned out great.

My favorite part of LTTA was doing a project about something I'm passionate about.
My least favorite part of LTTA was making the storyboard.
What I would change about this LTTA project is I would make the processes shorter.


Check out my work below!
  

The Importance of Reading Books that Interest you

I was reading this book for a couple of weeks and I thought that I liked the book at first, but then after reading the book for a wile I decided that I didn't like the it. So I got a new book and Mr. D asked me, "Why did you get a new book?" So I said, "yesterday I forgot my book and I didn't really like the book I was reading." He said "That's good! So do you think that you have enough time in your life to read ten of twenty books that you're not interested in?".  

I think that it is important to like what you are reading because if you don't like what you are reading you will grow to dislike reading because you don't like what you're reading.


What do you think?

What Transformational Technology Means to Me

How have you blended your understanding and technology to make something awesome? Explain?

    I used my technology and my understanding to make my self advocacy pamphlet.
My teacher helped me understand my LD so I could make make my pamphlet.
I used a Mac and the program pages to make the pamphlet. I still could of make this with out my tech but wouldn't be as nice.

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!

Sketches Read Aloud

Here I am reading a few lines from Eric Walters "Sketches". we are reading Sketches as a class read aloud. we are reading aloud to improve our reading fluency. I think that my reading was good, to make it better, next time, I need to slow my reading down.

By watching this I learned more about the reading skills.  

Aiden's Short Story

What do you like about your finished product?
 What I like about writing this story was that I could be super creative.

What would you change about it if you were to do again?
 What I didn't like about writing this story was I had to write the story around what the images in the    story where.

What did you learn from doing it?
 Next time I write a story, I would write the story fist and take the images second.  

Aiden's Epilogue for "The Giver" - From start to Finish!

After reading Lois Lowry's The Giver the grade eights were left with a lot of questions. If you have read the book you will likely share the students' bewilderment at Lowry's ending. Students were asked to write a new epilogue for The Giver.
     After moving through the writing process, students were asked to reflect on their own work in hopes that the process of reflection will help them become better learners.

Here is Aiden's epilogue from beginning to end.

The Popplet App

Aiden's First Draft

Comments from the Blog

Aiden's Final Draft

Reflection:

After reading your own work, think about then comment on the following. What you like about your writing? What would you change if you did it again? What did you learn from doing this assignment?

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?

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.