Deb Weston Special Education

Trouble with Hybrid Learning

ETFO Provincial – Algoma OT

ETFO’s position on in-person learning remains unchanged. The union firmly believes that the daily, in-person model of instruction and support best meets the educational, developmental and social needs of students, provides the best experience for support, and is the most equitable learning model for all students. ETFO’s expectation is that elementary virtual learning in any capacity, including through hybrid models of instruction, will end once the pandemic ends.

As a teacher of the hybrid synchronous in class and online instructional model, I’ve been vexed by the real possibility that this model will be sustained in Ontario’s public education system. As a person who studied education policy implementation, I have considered how this model would be implemented. I solely believe that implementing this model, would be detrimental to students and their families.

As a teacher with experience teaching in the Hybrid model, I’ve written a few blogs about the educational challenges faced by students, parents, and teachers. In this blog, I’ll consider the dark side of implementing this model beyond the months of the pandemic as it could become a set mode of instruction in Ontario.

Highlights of the Elementary School Hybrid Teaching Model:

Cost Savings

  • Less infrastructure is needed for online teaching so there will be less need for schools
  • Less schools means less costs for heating/cooling, internet, cleaning, repairs etc
  • Transportation costs would be reduced due to students learning from home, instead of requiring bussing
  • Class sizes could grow as more physical space for students becomes available, while students move to online learning; this would mean more students online and more students in class
  • Less staffing would be required as less onsite students would mean less onsite supports for students with behavioural and special education needs (i.e. as these needs and supports would be provided at home by families)
  • Online learning via laptops would be less expensive than funding classrooms but cost savings may be neutralized by the technological and pedagogical needs of classroom teachers
  • Instructional materials and consumables would have to be virtual so physical textbooks and other printed materials would not be required, consumables such as pencils and markers would be provided by home
  • Physical education, art, and music equipment would not be required as all these topics would be taught online
  • Closing down or consolidating community schools with fewer in class students could occur to safe infrastructure costs

Less Community Supports

  • School clubs, trips, and other extra curricular activities would not be provided to online students as they participate in school from an online platform
  • Social support programs such as Breakfast Clubs and social work would not be provided by schools as students would only do school from home, these supports would likely be downloaded to regional governments
  • Newcomers to Canada would not receive the supports put in place by schools and these supports would be handled by regional governments instead
  • Students with little knowledge of English/French would not be immersed in an English/French language setting and would not become fluent as quickly
  • Special Education, students with special education needs could be taught from home instead of being integrated with their peers
  • Schools, as community hubs, would be diluted as there would be fewer relationships developed with parents and students
  • Downloading the monitoring of class work would be done by family members instead of the teachers and educational assistants who are trained for this purpose
  • Administrators could recommend that students with high physical and behavioural needs move to online learning so schools do not have to deal with these challenges

Hybrid Hurts Relationships

  • Online students would not have the opportunity to develop relationships with their teachers as they would not be in the same physical space as their teachers
  • Teachers would have a harder time getting to know online students as they could not observe them working and interacting with other students
  • Teachers would naturally focus on in class students who are directly in front of them and not online students who are only seen through a camera
  • Assessment and feedback of student work would be challenging as teachers could not guarantee that work was done by the students
  • Teachers would face challenges showing students how to do work, such as math, that is best taught and assessed in person
  • Learning is built on developing relationships between teachers and students – online students would not get to know their teachers as well

Competing Agendas (Online vs In Class)

  • Schools are run by schedules where periods are set for all subjects including physical education, art, and music
  • With the hybrid model two sets of students would have to be accommodated for all subjects like online/in school gym, online/in school art, and online/in school music
  • Result would mean having to provide subjects such as physical education to online students while in class students would be with their gym teacher making coordinating timetables difficult

Long-term consequences

  • Two-tiered system – hybrid teaching would offer two levels of education in one class
    • online learning would provide a watered-down version of school, with no social opportunities to interact with peers and teachers, with no physical education, no opportunities for being part of school clubs and all the other in person opportunities face to face school learning provides
    • online students could become “invisible” participants in classrooms as they are not present and not there physically to get attention
  • Flexible flipping back and forth opportunities could be offered to parents allowing students to go to and from in class/online learning , putting great stress on teachers to accommodate these students’ needs, which would be exacerbated by larger class sizes
  • Not all students do well in an online setting as some students need to be face to face with teachers in order to attend to lessons and stay on task

As a teacher who has experienced teaching online and in the hybrid model, I know that I could not sustain another year of this work. My experience was especially trying as I teach students with special education needs. After teaching all day, trying to meet the needs of my online students, I was left with little energy to do anything else … and if you know me, I’m usually a high energy person.

In a real-life case, a teacher, providing hybrid instruction, was having behavioural challenges with a student. Administration suggested that the student be switched to online to prevent behaviour happening at school.

Imagine …

Due to decreased funding, schools do not have the resources to support all students, especially with behaviour and significant special education needs. Imagine, how this hybrid model could be used to download “problem” students to online learning from home. This would mean that students would not get the appropriate supports provided by professionals in order for them to be successful learners. Administrators could also suggest that students learn online to avoid expensive bussing transportation or physical care needs.

If education costs are put ahead of students’ needs, this can only end poorly for students with significant learning needs.

Speak out to stop the hybrid model from being implemented.

Collaboratively Yours,

Deb Weston, PhD

Deb Weston COVID19, Remote Learning, Special Education

Online Instruction of Students with Learning Disabilities

ETFO’s position on in-person learning remains unchanged. The union firmly believes that the daily, in-person model of instruction and support best meets the educational, developmental and social needs of students, provides the best experience for support, and is the most equitable learning model for all students. ETFO’s expectation is that elementary virtual learning in any capacity, including through hybrid models of instruction, will end once the pandemic ends.

Since March of 2020, I’ve been teaching students with learning disabilities in an online environment. I’ve been wondering how well the online learning environment supports the needs of students with learning disabilities.

As a special education teacher of a contained learning disability classroom, this has been a question that’s been tricky to answer. In addition, I’ve got “skin in the game” as I also have a learning disability and can place myself in my students’ shoes.

As with all debates, there are always two sides and I’ll try to capture the main points of each side.

Online learning supports students with learning disabilities

As online learning is technology based, students can access their tools of technology by using talking word processing and many applications that support their lack of phonemic awareness and reading ability in writing and comprehension. My students seemed to thrive in this area as online learning promoted their use of technology to complete assignments. In addition, the forum also allowed them to explore new ways to present their work that did not focus on text.

For my students, some thrived as they preferred working on their own or collaborating via video with another student. One student stated that they would like to learn online all the time. Note that this student had excellent learning skills and support at home. I had my doubts as they would have missed developing the skills needed to work with others face to face. I felt that the student was missing the opportunity to develop the critical soft skills such as collaborating with peers and in building the essential friendships students need as they grow into adults.

Online learning does not support students with learning disabilities

Although I only have a small sample size of students in which to reflect on this statement, I will summarize what I noticed in this last year.

Students with learning disabilities need a great deal of teacher support to develop their reading and writing skills in order to eventually thrive in a mainstream classroom. The challenge with online instruction is that students must have some level of independence to complete work. Further, their teacher must be able to assess when to support the student and when to let the student work alone.

In Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development, teachers must provide just enough support to let the student learn on their own without getting frustrated. As a teacher, teaching online, I was challenged by finding this golden spot as I could not use my senses to determine where the student was in their learning. As learning is linked to emotion, I use my senses and empathy to determine students’ level of success or frustration. Without being able to access this skill through a video link, I noted that students became increasingly frustrated before I was able to sense their distress. This is never good as students usually shut down at this point. This is where learning stops.

During online video lessons, I also noted that students with attention deficits had a great challenge attending to lessons. Often, this resulted in me calling their name several times. In a classroom, when watching students, I can redirect those who are off task. Despite presenting my very interesting online lessons, several students became disengaged. This was especially true for students with learning profiles that were tactile in nature.

Further, online learning does not provide the many accommodations needed to support students’ learning needs. Some feedback from students noted “I need to move around when I learn”, “I like to work beside my friend so we can help each other”, “I prefer doing work with a pencil instead of typing things” and “I really need to go for a walk right now.”

Online learning needs and skills specific to students’ profiles

Success in online learning depends on support from home, adequate technology, and students with good learning skills. Due to managing multiple agenda’s, parents are not always able to support their child online. This includes literally sitting beside their child to help them attend to online lessons. Many students lack adequate technology and/or reliable internet access leaving them at a disadvantage to their more resourced peers. Further, not all students have the learning skills to successfully attend and complete work online, instead needing another person to support them in their work. I’ve included a list of considerations to be made when making decisions to learn online.

Students with learning disabilities may consider online learning if they:

    • are able to follow written and/or verbal instructions effectively
    • enjoy working at their own pace
    • are able to work independently
    • are able to interact with peers and the teacher in a positive way
    • have good online manners
    • are able to communicate and ask questions when they don’t understand an assignment or directions
    • are able to start a task with confidence
    • have parental support
    • have adequate technology and internet to support learning online
    • have adequate executive function to attend to online lessons
    • have adequate self control to not play games or watch videos while online lessons are occurring
    • get one-on-one time with their teacher to support learning on an individual basis

Students should consider not participating in online learning if they:

    • need significant instructional support from teachers and/or educational assistants
    • have challenges attending to lessons online
    • need support to follow through and complete assignments
    • lack adequate support at home to stay focused
    • have challenges negotiating the online environment (i.e. finding assignments, resources, etc)
    • lack support at home (i.e. help with homework & completing class work)
    • have poor learning skills
    • enjoy the social part of school and working with others
    • are behind in multiple high school credits

8 Proven Ways to Overcome Teacher Burnout and Love Teaching Again | Prodigy Education

Teaching online is draining

From a teacher’s point of view, I found teaching online extremely draining. It did not help that at several points in the pandemic, I was teaching synchronously online and in class using the hybrid model. Without being able to use my intuition and empathy to read my students needs and feelings, I felt blind. I was only left with my visual and audio senses which became taxed very quickly.

In online learning, teachers must attend to all students, all at the same time. In an in class environment, teachers can focus on one student at a time, while others work on assigned tasks. With my students online, there were simply too many things to attend to … leaving me little energy to focus on specific individual students’ needs.

Online learning does not support the needs of most students with learning disabilities

In the end, I strongly believe that students who have learning disabilities MUST be taught in an in class environment. This means that teachers can assess, if and when students need support. Further, in class instruction allows teachers to assess and focus specifically on what one student needs to support their learning.

In this pandemic, online learning has been a stop gap to provide students with a classroom environment that is just a hint of what happens in an in class environment. Online learning does not promote collaboration and the occasions to play and interact with other students. It lacks the fundamental need, of students, for opportunities to build social skills and make friends. And I believe these skills are what make us most human.

Collaboratively Yours,

Deb Weston, PhD

Tammy Axt physically active, Special Education

Physical Health in students with Developmental Disabilities

If you have a student in your class this year with a Developmental Disability, I’d like to share some statistics today to help you make some decisions about their programming. Students with a DD have a different set of needs than the rest of the students that goes beyond academic programming.

Here are a few statistics taken from the Journal of Intellectual Disability Research:

Adolescents with autism and Down syndrome are two to three times more likely to be obese than adolescents in the general population.

Secondary health condition are higher in obese adolescents with IDD including high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, diabetes, depression, fatigue and low self esteem.

Obesity presents a higher incidence of health problems including decreased social and physical functioning, reduced quality of life, difficulty forming peer relationships and increased likelihood of depression.

Clearly some of our students with Developmental Disabilities are more vulnerable to becoming overweight or obese. Much of the time they have so many things working against them like a disability that has obesity as a symptom, greater medication uses or altered eating habits related to their disability. However, that does not mean that as educators we cannot support students and families to manage their fitness levels.

As educators, we can:

  • Have an excellent relationship with the family of the student. You will NEED their help to ensure the wellness of their child.
  • Ensure that parents know how to access community programs that offer activities that include physical fitness. In addition, help connect parents with community supports that offer funding for these programs. (During Covid, many of these programs are not running as the requirements for physical distancing can’t be maintained with makes the next two points really important)
  • Talk about and model physical activity often. When we meet online, we speak almost every day about activities that we are doing at home.
  • Most importantly, include physical activity into the daily routine of your class. The government of Canada recommends 60 minutes of physical activity every day. During a pandemic, that is tough but encourage your student(s) with a Developmental Disability to move during class. You need to get their heartrate up and a good sweat going on!
  • When you go back to school, prioritize physical fitness for these students. Walking, running, biking, stairs, games, dancing. Put it ahead of many other programming goals to help get these students get back to daily activity.

Anecdotally, when some of my students returned to school in September their physical fitness had dropped significantly. As mentioned above, organized sports for these students did NOT open back up during the summer and my athletic group of students who used to run circles around me struggled to move for 5 minutes at a time. From September to December, I added a segmet of the daily routine that focused only on physical fitness and by December they were back to being very active for an hour at a time.

For many of us beginning any kind of physical program can be tough and motivation can be VERY low. Make sure you have a solid reward program based on anything the student likes (that hopefully is not food). For some of my students it was stickers, for others it was hot wheel cars and my other student was obsessed with Baby Shark colouring pages. Find whatever works and reward them for movement. Start with a couple of minutes at a time and keep increasing from there.  As our students begin to return to learning at school, this is going to need to be a priority for these students to protect their long-term physical health as well as their mental health.

As Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod used to say “KEEP FIT AND HAVE FUN!”

Tammy Axt General, Special Education

Weekly Plan for Online Learning: Special Education Classroom

Here is the plan for our first week of online instruction in January.

Have a wonderful first week back everyone!!

9:30-10:00 Small group instruction using a combination of Google Jamboards and Boom cards. Below are some pictures of the activities that we will be using.

10:00-10:30 Exercise Time!! All students will join in and do an exercise program to get moving and get our heart rates up!!

Here is my New Year’s Playlist for our excercise time this week:

Exercise:

Warm up/Stretches

  1. 20 seconds Running on the spot
  2. 20 Jumping Jacks
  3. 20 Leg lifts
  4. 20 Body Twists
  5. 20 push ups on the table or wall

Dance Break

Do at least 1 more set of movement exercises. 2 if time permits

Cool down/Stretches

Remind parents that their child needs a place to move, some running shoes and comfortable clothes. It is going to be a 2021 party!!

10:30-11:00 Morning Meeting- All students gather. We practice communication, math, reading and life skills through a series of slides and songs.

11:00-11:30 Small group instruction: focus on communication, functional mathematics and functional language.

Similar to the first period in the morning we will be using a combination of Boom cards and Google Jamboards. Jamboards are ideal if your students are able to click on a link in the chat box and move to a new page. If your students are unable to do that, Boom cards are a much better option.

11:30-12:30 Lunch

12:30-1:00 Small group instruction:focus on communication, functional mathematics and functional language.

1:00-1:30 Afternoon Meeting- All students gather. We practice communication, math, reading and life skills.

1:30– Art/Creation/Friday Favourites-

Art: We do a simple drawing that works on student’s listening skills and fine motor skills. I have found that having the students use either markers, pencil crayons or crayons works best as everyone has different materials in their home. I use pastels when showing the students as it shows up better on camera.

Creation: With everyone at home, it is time to get out the lego and other materials that work on fine motor skills.

Friday Favourties: What is your favourite sport?- Every Friday we take a poll about some of our favourite things. We graph the results and work on our communication and numeracy skills. Here are a few pictures of previous Friday Favourites.

 

 

Tammy Axt General, Special Education

Teaching Students with Down Syndrome to Read

I have tried to teach my one student with Down Syndrome to read words for the past two years with some success. However, it wasn’t until this year when I read about a different approach that things really started to click. Since we introduced this method into our instruction, she has been able to read a group of words consistently, comfortably and with confidence. It is the first time that she really gets excited about reading words.

In a quest to try something new with this student in October, I picked up a book I had bought a couple of years ago called “Teaching Reading to Children with Down Syndrome: A Guide for Parents and Teachers” by Patricia Logan Oelwein. The book was written in 1995, which seems quite a long time ago, however from our experience this fall, it was the one methodology that really worked for my student. Also, the general thesis of the book that any child with Down Syndrome can read if the programming is appropriate is a principle that I also strongly believe.

The book is divided into 3 sections. The three sections are: background information about the learner with Down Syndrome, the How-To section and reading units to use with your students.

Background Information

This section is highly important to read before you begin instructing your student. Even though the book was written quite a while ago much of the information remains accurate and up to date. I cross referenced much of the information in this section with the educator guide posted on the Canadian Down Syndrome Website and find the information to be consistent.

As mentioned above, the primary thesis for this book is that all children with Down Syndrome can be taught to read if programming is done correctly. Ms. Oelwein also does a very effective job of describing hurdles that you may face and things to watch out for if your student is not being successful with the methodology described in this book.

Some of the areas that she highlights are:

  1. Medical concerns: People with Down Syndrome have a higher rate of vision problems, hearing problems and chronic illnesses. Ensure that you read your student’s OSR and speak with parents about any concerns in this area. Any unaddressed medical concerns will greatly impact the ability of the student to be successful in learning to read. (Interestingly, according to the Canadian Down Syndrome Society, people with Down Syndrome are less likely to get asthma, many types of cancer and dental cavities.)
  2. Continuous Intervention: Many times, in special education we hear about early intervention and the importance of it. Ms. Oelwein takes it one step further. She speaks about the importance of early intervention and continuous intervention. She stresses the importance of maintaining high expectations for the students and providing them with high quality education throughout their academic career. I feel this is especially important as the student enters grade 6, 7 and 8 in Ontario in an inclusive setting. It is important that the student has modified tasks that are both aware of the social dynamic of this age as well as tasks that are academically appropriately for the child. Ongoing intervention is paramount to the student’s success in reading.
  3. Avoidance Behaviours: My students are very smart. Just like many students, they know how to avoid certain tasks if I have given them things that are too easy, too hard, or not interesting to them. Effective programming is the key to success and using consistent best practices in assessment will help you to develop tasks that support student’s language acquisition.

The How-Tos

The next section of the book explains how to introduce sight words, the alphabet, beginning phonics and writing and spelling.

The instructions are very clear and can be followed by you, your education assistant, your special education team or a parent at home. This can provide ample opportunity for the student to practice the skills. Ms. Oelwein has also provided many, many ideas for activities and ways to keep learning fun and engaging. Below are some pictures of my student following the steps outlined by the author.

  1. We began by selecting a few personally relevant words for the student and followed a number of steps to introduce the words to the student. She surprised us at how quickly she learned them.

2. Next, we spent some time focusing on the beginning letter of the words we introduced.

3. Finally, we created some fun activities to reinforce the words.

Reading Units

The final chapters of the book use the same steps to continue to introduce additional words and many activities to help solidify understanding. All the materials to play games and create activities to build  understanding are provided in appendices at the end of the book. There are units on foods, action words, household words etc.

If your students with Down Syndrome are struggling, this might be one book to try to get you started. The steps worked for my student and it might just work for your student as well.

 

Tammy Axt General, Special Education

Down’s, Downs, DS?

I know I am bias, but I truly believe that I have one of the best jobs in education.

I am the proud teacher of the most amazing group of students, many of whom have Down Syndrome.  The school and the community that we visit often (under normal cirucumstances) have been so kind and welcoming to us over the past three years. However, what I have seen over the past three years is that there are a lot of errors that people make when referring or speaking about people with Down Syndrome.

Student with Down’s / Down’s Kid / Down’s Person

This is the most common error that I hear people make. They often refer to Down Syndrome as Down’s and until I took this job, I made this error as well.  To clarify, Down Syndrome was name named after John Langdon Down  because he was the doctor that first described the genetic condition not because he had Down Syndrome himself. Therefore, the possessive apostrophe s is incorrect.

Down Syndrome Kid / Down Syndrome Students / Down Syndrome child

Another common error is to speak about student’s with Down Syndrome by using their disability first.  This really diminishes who my students are and focuses only on one part of what makes them amazing. The goal should always be to use person first language.

They are so great / They are amazing / Wow, they are fantastic

This happens in my school and community often when we are out and about. Many people speak about my students to me when my students are standing right there. My advice is instead of speaking to the teacher, speak directly to the child. Instead of “they are so great”, use the phrase, “you are so great” and look directly at the child. Imagine how you would feel if everyone spoke about you when you were standing right there.

Suffering From Down Syndrome 

This is another common thing that I hear. I can assure you, my students are not suffering. They are vibrant, energetic, creative and brilliant members of our class. They teach me many things every day. They contribute a lot to our class, school and community. They do not suffer from Down Syndrome.

Downs / Child with Downs

Another common mistake when abbreviated Down Syndrome is to add the S onto the word Down. The correct way to abbreviate Down Syndrome is by using the term DS not Downs.

Your students are so happy / People with Down Syndrome are so happy

This is something that I often hear about my class. The reality is that all of my students have been upset or angry and they don’t spend every day, all day as happy people. I have some students who are incredibly shy and some who are incredibly outgoing. Every child in my class is unique and each have the same emotions as the rest of society.

If you are teaching a student with Down Syndrome, The Canadian Down Syndrome society has created a fantastic Educator Package for you to use in helping to support your student in class.

A cartoon image of a bald person holding a finger to their lips to signal "shhhhhh."
Tammy Axt Communication Tools, Special Education

Shhhhhhhhhhhhh

My students with Developmental Disabilities have taught me so many things in the past year and a half. They are absolutely an incredible group of kids that are some of the most resilient, funny and committed students I have ever had the pleasure of teaching. They come to school every day pumped up for school and even in the midst of deep, and I mean deep, puberty they manage to hold their hormones in check in order for us to accomplish our goals for the day.

One of the best things my students have taught me is to listen more than speak. As teachers we give instructions all day long. We give instructions on where to line up, which book to read, when to take out instruments and if you are a kindergarten teacher you have probably reminded a student to take their hand out of their pants or nose at least once this week. Most of my students understand the same instructions that many other students understand. I can tell them to line up, get their lunch and many, many other typical school instructions. The difference is that many of the students in my class have some difficulty communicating. Some have stutters, others have mouths that are formed in a way that it is difficult for them to form words and others can’t handle multiple instructions in rapid succession. I realized that in order to hear what they are trying to communicate with me I would have to be quiet a lot of the time and really listen.

My students use a multitude of communication strategies throughout the day to communicate their ideas, thoughts and feelings.

They use:

Visuals- Wow, what would we do without pictures in the classroom? I have understood preferred choices and questions about assigned tasks from the visuals that the students present to me. My newest student quietly reminds me that her time on her bike is coming up next by making sure I notice the picture on her schedule.

Technology- It is a really great time to be a teacher in many ways. There are so many amazing aps and devices that can support student’s learning. My students have told me all about their weekend, favourite items and requests for upcoming events in the classroom using technology.

Gestures/Facial Expressions- My students use a lot of pointing and gestures to communicate in my class. For me as the teacher, the most important time that I use gestures or facial expression is when my students are in distress and escalated. A neutral face and body accompanied by simple one- or two-word instructions are the most important tools in deescalated the stress of my students. When my student’s emotions are heightened, it is very important that I don’t stress them further by asking them to take in a lot of spoken language.

I am so thankful for my students and all that they have taught me.

 

“Listening is an art that requires attention over talents, spirit over ego, others over self” -Dean Jackson

 

 

Deb Weston Advocacy for change, Special Education

Empowering Readers and the Right to Read

The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC)  (October 2019). Recent Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) test scores show over 25% of Grade 3 students and 53% of Grade 3 students with special education needs did not meet provincial standards.

The OHRC cites that students who cannot read struggle with many aspects of school and are more vulnerable to psychosocial stress, behavioural issues, bullying and much lower levels of educational achievement (Schumacher, 2007). The result of these challenges means that these students face life-long consequences including , homelessness, and involvement with the criminal justice system (Bruck, 1998; Macdonald, 2012); Maughan, 1995; Rice, 2001).

All students with reading disabilities, such as dyslexia, have a right to learn how to read. The OHRC is concerned that these students are not getting the supports they need to become literate. This is particularly challenging when students are not receiving early intervention and supports that are known to be effective in increasing reading ability.

The OHRC inquiry wants to hear from parents, student, and educators from across Ontario to determine if school boards are using evidence-based approaches to meet students’ right to read. The OHRC will be assessing five benchmarks as part of an effective systematic approach to teach all students to read which includes:

All about Reading Disabilities

How can teachers support students with suspected reading disabilities?

  • promote early identification through tracking reading levels and psychoeducational assessments
  • develop effective interventions and accommodations support through an Individual Education Plan (IEP)
  • instruct through scientific evidence-based and systematic instruction in reading
  • advocate for more support via funding of psychoeducational assessments as parents may struggle financially to get assessments, interventions and accommodations for their children, and in many cases have no options, if able, to pay for services privately

Empowering Readers

As a contained Communication Classroom teacher, I am trained to use the Empower™ Reading Program provided by The Hospital for Sick Children (Sickkids). This program, developed by Maureen W. Lovett and her team, is based on a series of evidence-based reading interventions that reinforce skills in reading, comprehension, and writing. As the SickKids’ website states “ The Empower™ Reading Program  includes decoding, spelling, comprehension and vocabulary programs that transform children and adolescents with significant reading and spelling difficulties into strategic, independent, and flexible learners. The success of the program is proven through the extensive  rigorously designed research conducted by the research team.”

There are four distinct literacy intervention programs that comprise the Empower™ Reading Program:

In my classroom of Grade 4/5 students who cannot read at grade level, I’ve seen dramatic results in students increasing their reading ability several grade levels in a 2 year period. One of my students, this year, went from a Kindergarten to mid-grade 2 level in 4 months. Students usually stay in the Contained Communications class for about two years and return to a mainstream classroom.

In the 3 years I’ve used the Empower™ Reading Program Grades 2-5 Decoding and Spelling program, I typically have students entering the program reading at two or three grades below level and leaving at a grade 5 reading level. The program is well laid out for teachers and students. I appreciate that it’s a hour of my day that has already been planned. Teachers receive 3 to 5 days of training and are provided with face to face Empower support check-ins. Teachers are also required to provide assessment tracking via PM Benchmark assessment, Empower Sound and Word Assessments, and the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement (KTEA-III) testing.

As a teacher, I strongly advocate for boards of education to take on the  Empower™ Reading Program, not only because of its effectiveness, but because it changes students’ lives by boosting their overall self concept and their ability to thrive as learners.

Finally, I know what it is like to not read and write well as I struggled for years in all levels of my academic studies. I failed grade 1 as I was very uncoordinated and a slow learner. In my time as a elementary, secondary, and university student, I was told that I made careless mistakes and that I needed to work harder. I had grades taken off my essays and exams due to poor spelling and grammar. I did not come out to colleagues and professors as being learning disabled until I was accepted into my PhD program as often people would not believe me.

The biggest challenge with being learning disabled was my lack of confidence in myself as a person and in my ability to read and write. I am still a poor speller. My self-worth remained low for a significant part of my life and I lived with depression and anxiety. I posit that my drive to overachieve in education is a compensary response to my life as a learning disabled person. Even though I present as being highly self confident, I still struggle with my confidence today.

I ask you as an parent, educator, and/or student to push for more support and intervention for Ontario students who deserve the Right to Read as the right to education is a Human right.

Collaboratively Yours,

Dr. Deborah Weston – B.Sc., B.Com., B.Ed., M.Ed., PhD OCT# 433144

PS: It took me 4+ hours to research and write this blog using a talking word processor.

Media contact:

Yves Massicotte
Communications & Issues Management
Ontario Human Rights Commission/Commission ontarienne des droits de la personne
416-314-4491 Yves.massicotte@ohrc.on.ca

OHRC announces locations for Right to Read public hearings

The Right to Read public hearings will run from 6 to 9 p.m., with registration beginning at 5:30 p.m. at all locations.

January 14, 2020: Brampton –   Chris Gibson Recreation Centre 125 McLaughlin Rd N, Brampton, ON, L6X 1Y7

January 29, 2020: London – Amethyst Demonstration School Auditorium, 1515 Cheapside Street, London, ON, N5V 3N9

February 25, 2020: Thunder Bay – Public Library – Waverley Community Hub Auditorium, 285 Red River Road, Thunder Bay, ON, P7B 1A9

March 10, 2020:  Ottawa – Nepean Sportsplex, 1701 Woodroffe Avenue, Nepean, ON, K2G 1W2

Members of the public can participate in three ways:

  • Filling out a survey at least two weeks before the hearing they want to participate in and being selected to make a presentation up to seven minutes long
  • Attending a public hearing and registering to speak for three minutes during the “open mic” session
  • Attending a public hearing to observe.

References

Bruck, M. (1998). Outcomes of adults with childhood histories of dyslexia. Reading and spelling: Development and disorders, 179, 200.

Macdonald, S. J. (2012). Biographical pathways into criminality: understanding the relationship between dyslexia and educational disengagement. Disability & Society, 27(3), 427-440.

Maughan, B. (1995). Annotation: Long‐term outcomes of developmental reading problems. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 36(3), 357-371.

Rice, M. (2001). Dyslexia and crime, or an elephant in the moon. In 5th BDA International Conference: At the dawn of the new century, York.

Schumacher, J., Hoffmann, P., Schmäl, C., Schulte-Körne, G., & Nöthen, M. M. (2007). Genetics of dyslexia: the evolving landscape. Journal of medical genetics, 44(5), 289–297. doi:10.1136/jmg.2006.046516

An image of a person in a circle surrounded by icons representing life skills
Tammy Axt General, Special Education

Life Skills Assessment

Life skills are a broad topic to teach students. They can range from communication, safety, meal prep to managing money. Throughout our week, life skills are integrated into many activities we do. Our life skills program also changes as the need arises. We added a section in our life skills program about menstruation after our girls begun to get their period and we also added safety conversations after we learned about incidents at home and in the community.

Some common books to get you started with life skills program design and assessment are the FISH (Functional Independence Skills Handbook) and the Carolina Curriculum.

After connecting with parents early in the year about some life skills goals they had for their children, we developed a little 20 minute life skills time after lunch each day that looks like this:

Each student is assigned a life skill for two weeks. The assignment chart looks like this:

 

 

Each staff member is assigned two students to train in their life skill. The goal over the course of the two weeks is to move the student as close to independence as possible. Below is a portion of our assessment chart that helps us focus on where our students need assistance.  We may start with verbal and gestural prompts earlier in the process but by the end of their time on their assignment the need for prompts is reduced.

The goal of this life skills time is to have the student be contributing members of their family and the classroom. We have heard from many parents who are seeing the impact at home with students taking over responsibility of their own living space and helping with the care of shared space. My students feel good when they know that they have achieved a level of independence.

A slip of paper saying "Patience is a practice in trust."
Tammy Axt Special Education, Teacher Wellness

Just a Little Patience

I’ve often been described as a person with a lot of patience.

However, in my current role as a contained classroom teacher of 10 students with developmental disabilities, my patience has been tested over the past year and a half.

My students sometimes demonstrate their anger or frustration in aggressive or difficult ways. Other days, my students may forget things that they have mastered for months. Parents sometimes aggressively advocate for their students and yell at me because they are frustrated by the system that allows two year wait lists for things like occupational therapy or speech therapy. All of these things would test most people’s patience.

But that is not what has challenged my patience. I am finding that what I am most impatient with is myself. I’ve asked myself so many questions over the past 15 months on this amazing journey with my students. Why didn’t that approach work today? Why didn’t I handle that conversation differently? Why is the student feeling so angry today? Why? Why? Why? I’ve been really anxious about the speed at which problems have been resolved and how fast my students have settled into their new school.

What I wish is that when all of those self doubts and impatience started to bubble up in September 2018 when I began this class, I could read what I am about to write now 15 months later…

It will all come together. Trust yourself and your skills. You will find a rhythm among your team that address the needs of your students. You will be able to anticipate your student’s stressors and know how to calm and reassure them. You will be able to anticipate the needs of parents and have built such a trusting relationship where they know that you are advocating for their children just as hard as they are. The student that is screaming 8 hours a day at school, just needs a couple of months to adjust to all the new people in his life. The student who has challenges around self regulation will be able to use a calming space regularly to help him stay safe at school.

What I didn’t realize at the beginning of this journey was how much time many of these things would take. All of these changes took many school days of an incredibly committed and reflective team. It also took a lot of humility to admit when I needed assistance. But most of all, it has taken a lot of patience with myself to allow the time needed to build relationships and to really get to know all of the awesome things about my fantastic students.