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Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario - LDAO

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Tinkercad | From mind to design in minutes

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Tinkercad is a free, easy-to-use app for 3D design, electronics, and coding.

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The Work of Each Council

2008-2018 - Celebrating 10 years of the Minister's Student Advisory Council (MSAC)

MSAC marked its 10 year anniversary in March 2018 with a meeting of the 2017-18 and 2018-19 councils that was attended by the Deputy Minister, Minister of Education and Premier. At the meeting, a range of MSAC accomplishments were celebrated with a poster and handout that highlighted the impact that MSAC has made on Ontario's publicly funded education system.

2017-18 Minister's Student Advisory Council

The council greeted Minister Hunter in August 2017 with a poem that emphasised the diversity of Ontario's students, the places they came from and their shared experience in schools.

Meet the members of this year's Minister's Student Advisory Council.

2016-17 Minister's Student Advisory Council

The council met with Minister Hunter in August 2016 to discuss, among other priorities, student engagement in mathematics. The students explored the following themes during an interactive World Café discussion activity:

Learning mathematics;

Developing mathematic skills;

Mathematical application in the real world; and

Motivating students to learn mathematics.

During these discussions, artists were on site illustrating the math-related ideas and emerging themes that the council identified. The result was this visual representation of the council's ideas:

2015-16 Minister's Student Advisory Council

The council met in August 2015 to participate in round table "World Café" discussions with the Minister of Education, consultations with many branches from across the ministry and leadership development activities.

Discussions between council members and Minister Sandals were focused on the theme of student well-being and covered topics such as:

What do you want the ministry to know about students and schools in order to support well-being?

What does the classroom and school look like/feel like when there is a sense of well-being?

How can we share ideas among each other and find solutions to help make schools places of well-being?

Give some examples of what makes your school a safe and accepting environment?

What obstacles exist that might get in the way of well-being?

During these discussions, artists were on site illustrating the key messages and themes related to student well-being that the council identified. The result was this visual representation of the council's ideas:

2014-15 Minister's Student Advisory Council

In August of 2014 this council shared their ideas on how Ontario can reach the goals set out in its new Achieving Excellence vision for publicly funded education. This graphic captures their ideas for implementing the 4 key goals of the vision:

Their To Achieve Excellence spoken word poem expresses the challenges students can experience and their hopes for Ontario's education system.

2013-14 Minister's Student Advisory Council

In August of 2013 the Minister's Student Advisory Council shared their ideas on the future of Ontario's education system during the ministry's Great to Excellent consultations. This graphic captures MSAC's big ideas and was used at all of the consultation sessions.

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MSAC 2013 also contributed to a new resource for student councils. In the fall of 2013, the Student Council and Student Voice Toolkit was distributed to student councils at secondary schools. It provided student councils with resources and ideas to help integrate diverse student voices into decisions at school and board levels. The tool kit included: a discussion guide, a poster, ambassador buttons and a USB key with more resources and Student Voice videos featuring MSAC students.

2012-13 Minister's Student Advisory Council

The 2012-13 council met with the Minister of Education twice to share their perspectives and ideas about education in Ontario. Below is a visual snapshot of just some of their ideas. Their poem describes their vision for education.

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The 2011-12 Minister's Student Advisory Council created a video called Lending a Hand to share their ideas on how to make school more engaging.

They also wrote to describe their vision for education. Furthermore, the council also established sub-committees on Curriculum and Student Government, Classroom Culture and School Culture, so that they could continue their discussions virtually.

The 2010-11 Minister's Advisory Council recommended changing the Community Involvement Hour Policy. As a result of this recommendation and supporting ideas from students attending regional forums, the Ministry amended the policy. Now students can start accruing their volunteer hours as soon as they have completed Grade 8. This means that they can count their summer volunteer work towards the 40 community involvement hours they need to graduate from high school - even before they start Grade 9.

This council also identified 3 priorities for strengthening student engagement:

1. Build a strong extra-curricular program that builds a sense of belonging, self-confidence and enjoyment of school, particularly for those students at risk.

2. Encourage and support teachers to build strong relationships with students.

3. Foster a teaching approach that includes designing learning tasks that are focused on students' interests.

The inaugural meeting of the 2009-10 Minister's Student Advisory Council was held on May 12, 2009. Sixty students from across the province had their first opportunity to provide advice to the Minister of Education on a variety of topics regarding the publicly funded education system.

The very first MSAC recommended increasing student engagement in school and hearing all student voices so that:

1. The school culture becomes one where students feel that they belong.

2. The classroom culture becomes one where the individual needs of all students are met.

3. Improvements are made to the curriculum (e.g. Civics, Career Studies) to encourage greater student engagement in education and learning.

4. School guidelines and policies become more student driven/centred and representative of students' educational needs.

Read the results from the May 2009 MSAC meeting (PDF, 145 KB). These were reviewed and approved at their August 2009 meeting and formed the foundation for developing the Student Voice Indicators that are now used to gauge student engagement at schools.

In August 2009, the council had its second meeting. Members participated in discussions, team-building and leadership activities at the Ontario Educational Leadership Centre in Longford Mills.

Building on their work from the May meeting, they identified a list of the top nine ideas (the 9 Student Voice Indicators, PDF) that over 1,500 students in Ontario suggested would strengthen their engagement in learning and ensure all voices were heard.

Check out the video to see and hear what a few students had to say about their experience on the council.

Meet the members of this year's Minister's Student Advisory Council.

Questions?

Still have a question? Email us at MSAC@ontario.ca or like us on Facebook!

facebook/SpeakUp Ontario

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MSAC marked its 10 year anniversary in March 2018 with a meeting of the 2017-18 and 2018-19 councils that was attended by the Deputy Minister, Minister of Education and Premier. At the meeting, a range of MSAC accomplishments were celebrated with a poster and handout that highlighted the impact that MSAC has made on Ontario's publicly funded education system.

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You've heard of the 'flipped' classroom. What is it...and what is it not? We will define, discuss and deconstruct the term for beginners. We will look at best practices for a flipped model and help you think about pedagogy so that your flip isn't a flop! Even this session is flipped! Click here for your pre-viewing learning!
Resources:

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You've heard of the 'flipped' classroom. What is it...and what is it not? We will define, discuss and deconstruct the term for beginners. We will look at best practices for a flipped model and help you think about pedagogy so that your flip isn't a flop! Even this session is flipped!

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Warren New Tech is a public high school in rural North Carolina that uses project-based learning. Instead of taking typical classes, students learn by doing projects. In a traditional school, kids studying the Civil War might hear a lecture then take a test. But at Warren New Tech, they put together a presentation connecting the war to their town's local history.

Personalized learning can take many forms. One possible approach is project-based work.

If you read about how education is changing these days, you'll often hear buzzwords like personalized learning. In fact, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook made news recently by saying the approach "makes sense."

What you won't always hear, however, is how kids with learning and thinking differences like ADHD can be part of these changes. Sadly, kids with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and 504 plans are often an afterthought.

When it comes to these kids, the traditional approach has been to drill basic skills. While basic skills are very important, they can crowd out other types of work. People also often assume that kids with learning and thinking differences can't learn through project work or through a personalized learning approach.

Warren New Tech is one of the schools proving that assumption is wrong.

Even though James has an IEP with services, the structure of a traditional classroom makes it very hard for him to learn.

James has found his place at Warren New Tech. The school's project-based approach has been very engaging for him. He finds it easier to focus when working actively on tasks, rather than listening passively to information.

Remember the Civil War example I started with? Working with a group of students, James interviewed community members about the Civil War. The teacher also assigned James the role of teacher liaison, responsible for compiling the group's questions and findings. This accommodation enabled him to connect more frequently with the teacher.

When the research was done, James and his teammates presented their findings to other students, teachers and the community. The Civil War never seemed so relevant as when it was connected to people buried in the local cemetery.

James isn't unusual. All the students graduating from Warren New Tech this year are heading to college (including all the kids with ADHD).

But although project-based learning is an exciting approach to personalized learning, it's not a cure-all. These kinds of models only work if schools take the time to plan for how to include kids with learning and thinking differences. Extra support is a must.

All of these steps are critical to making sure all students can participate. Personalized learning is for everyone. And schools like Warren New Tech are showing how.

Any opinions, views, information and other content contained in blogs on Understood.org are the sole responsibility of the writer of the blog, and do not necessarily reflect the views, values, opinions or beliefs of, and are not endorsed by, Understood.

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At This High School, Teens With ADHD Excel Through Project-Based Learning

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Warren New Tech is a public high school in rural North Carolina that uses project-based learning. Instead of taking typical classes, students learn by doing projects. In a traditional school, kids studying the Civil War might hear a lecture then take a test.

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Hi there. We're ExploreLearning!

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We're an education technology company creating seriously fun solutions for the most critical challenges in K-12 STEM learning.

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All too often in education, we focus on the gaps in learning, what's missing, and what a learner needs to do to be more successful. Instead, we can think of learners through an asset lens. When we view learners as capable, creative, communicative individuals we are more apt to construct opportunities that capture their interest and engage them in learning because we are thinking about what they can do, not what they cannot do. Oh, and did I mention, it is a whole lot more fun for the educators too? To support this approach to learning it is helpful to keep in mind three facets of the learning experience:

1. rich and relevant learning opportunities,

2. the climate of the learning environment, and

3. the communication skills of the members of the learning community.

First, we want to ensure the opportunities to learn are rich and relevant. Establishing a positive caring relationship between educator and student provides an opportunity for the educator to know their learners, their strengths and interests. It is then possible to create relevant and meaningful deep learning opportunities, preferably those that lead to some action on the part of the learner. Each participant should be able to identify, what they are learning, why they are learning it, and how it connects to their life and beyond. They also need to receive constructive feedback and continuously reflect on their progress given the relevant success criteria.

Second, is the climate of the classroom, the physical space, and how members of that community conduct themselves within that space. When educators co-construct the learning environment with their students they are valuing the input of every individual, ensuring each can see themselves reflected in the space so that everyone feels they belong. What does the classroom look like and how does it feel? Does the space lend itself to peer dialogue? Is there flexible seating and access to resources? Are ideas valued, built upon, and respectfully challenged? Knowledge building principles (Scardamalia, 2002) including idea diversity (understanding contrasting ideas), epistemic agency (participants take responsibility for their learning), and democratizing knowledge (every participant is a valued contributor), helps to sustain a climate where positive risk taking in learning is supported and every learner is valued.

When we think, not as individuals always, but as a collective, to solve problems, we build a community who can support and care for one another because we have greater understanding and acceptance of one another.

Finally, when we are provoking deeper thinking, we need to ensure that the learners have the skills to build on and challenge thinking, they must have strong communication skills to be able to benefit from the learning opportunities and the environment that has been created. This takes practice and direct instruction with feedback. Using knowledge-building discourse (Scardamalia, 2002) may be one way to teach participants how to share and respond to the ideas and work of others. The outcome is improved ideas or solutions to challenges. When we think, not as individuals always, but as a collective, to solve problems, we build a community who can support and care for one another because we have greater understanding and acceptance of one another.

Self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000) identifies basic psychological needs that support well-being that are consistent with elements recommended for moral development (Nucci 2009), and are often found in high performing schools (Doll, 2010). For well-being and an opportunity to flourish every learner needs to feel a sense of belonging, to believe they can be successful and have some autonomy. Educators have tremendous influence over the lived experience of school beginning with the pedagogical practices they employ and the relationships they establish. When learners are viewed as having assets and interests, and we meet their basic psychological needs, we are better equipped to focus the learning opportunities so as to engage all learners, thereby improving outcomes for our students substantially. Mental health and wellbeing, pedagogy, learning for all.

Kelly Rizzo is an Elementary School Principal with the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board. Her doctoral research, in the area of cognition and learning, focused on educator practice and student socio-moral reasoning. Kelly has instructed Master of Education students for Brock University and has contributed to several initiatives with the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, including, the IThink Project, and New Pedagogies for Deep Learning. She can be reached at: krizzo@hwdsb.on.ca.

Doll, B. (2010, December). Positive school climate. Principal Leadership, 12-16. References

Nucci, L. (2009). Nice is not enough: Facilitating moral development. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
Ryan, R., & Deci, E. (2000). Self determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist 55(1), 68-78.

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All too often in education, we focus on the gaps in learning, what's missing, and what a learner needs to do to be more successful. Instead, we can think of learners through an asset lens.

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Flip is a video discussion and sharing app, free from Microsoft.

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Flip (formerly Flipgrid) is a video discussion and video sharing app, free from Microsoft, built for classrooms and beyond. Learn more.

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Educator Resources & Technology Training - Google for Education

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Discover numerous educator resources including technology training for teachers, courses, certifications and professional development for educators.

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Math in Action takes in-depth look at the teaching and learning at a Toronto school, where educators work to engage students in mathematics through real-world situations and explorations. Learn how staff identify and address the needs of their students by creating partnerships between school, home and the community.

This resource features primary-junior educators who build upon the varied lived experiences of their students in order to bring the curriculum to life. When educators integrate locally situated learning into daily instruction and learning processes and engage students in issue-based community action, students of all ages become agents of change.

This resource captures how one school built success in mathematics through collaborative learning and discourse. It features the critical role of the principal as instructional leader, as well as the importance of educators acquiring deep understanding of the math. Through collaborative learning and discourse, a principal and her staff positively impacted their own mathematical instruction as well as the achievement and attitudes of their students.

Depart from the struggles and anxieties attached to the practice of mathematics with help from math education experts Jo Boaler, Nora Newcombe and Connie Quadrini. Navigate through their ideas for change within classroom culture and hear from educators who have seen not only a change in their students, but also their own relationships with numbers.

Primary and intermediate educators and their students investigate spatial reasoning and spatial visualization and highlight the power of using visual, concrete and digital representations to support math learning in the number sense and numeration strand.

Teachers and students in one classroom learn how representations and models can help students to build conceptual understandings about multiplication and division.

Today, declining mathematics scores is a new challenge that will not wait. In elementary schools across Ontario, educators are responding. Reflected here are the stories of some schools that have seen their mathematics scores move from below the provincial target five years ago, to meeting or exceeding the target five years later.

This resource features the importance of math conversations in classrooms grades 1 to 12, and in educators' professional learning journeys. These conversations serve a variety of purposes, including diagnosing developmental growth of concepts, understanding and assessing mathematical thinking, responding to descriptive feedback, and extending personal content knowledge of math. Also included are multi-grade math topics, and student clips that can be analyzed to increase understanding of math content.

In the resource Linking Today's Understanding to Tomorrow's Learning: Proportional Learning you will see teachers who think deeply about ways to help students develop proportional reasoning. They determine how to make ideas explicit for students, to help them "notice things that would not otherwise be seen. The teachers use a wide variety of teaching strategies to have students learn deeply ratio tables. Each day, these educators increase their understanding of how and what their students learn. at the same time, they develop their own capacity as learners and teachers.

Explores the math program which contributes to the development of confident mathematicians in Matthew Oldridge's Grade 6, 7, and 8 classes. While this is just one example, and specifically pertains to Grade 6, 7 and 8, there are valuable insights for primary, junior and secondary educators as well.

Bruce Rodrigues, (former) CEO of EQAO, presents primary, junior and grade 9 mathematics assessment data in the context of current provincial conversations, positioning EQAO as only one piece in the assessment picture of Ontario. From the design of particular assessment items to cohort tracking over time, questions emerge that challenge current perspectives and that warrant further investigation and discussion.

A montage showcasing the mathematics learning happening across Ontario at all levels.

Jo Boaler is conducting research on mathematics, mistakes, and growth mindset with Stanford University professors Carol Dweck and Greg Walton. In this series of video clips Jo Boaler discusses the impact of Growth Mindsets on learning.

Propelled by a concern for the decline in mathematics assessment results, the Ministry of Education designed a two-day conversation - a Forum for Action -to mine the best thinking of researchers and practitioners alike to the end of improving mathematics teaching and learning in Ontario schools. Each researcher was asked to address the following question: "What has your research revealed about the effective learning or teaching of mathematics?"

As teachers collaboratively experience this process, they learn how to teach through problem solving on a more consistent basis. They also gain a better personal understanding of fraction concepts, how they develop from grade to grade, and awareness of potential student misconceptions. As a result, teachers are more responsive to student learning and can more flexibly adapt the unit to student needs.

The Study Group professional learning occurs both during Study Group full day learning sessions and in schools between sessions. Principals work alongside with teachers, university educators and the school superintendent as they examine student learning of mathematics. The content focus of this series is on equivalence.

This resource allows viewers to observe students as they are learning. They also observe educators as they watch and examine the classroom footage and the student work from the lesson. Throughout this video, viewers have the opportunity to consider the mathematics that students learn within the Ontario Curriculum and how contexts set the stage for learning.
Leadership in Mathematics Honouring Student Voice in Mathematics Differentiating Mathematics Instruction Understanding Geometric Figures through Drawing and Paper Folding OFIP Resources Coaching for Student Success in Mathematics Teaching Mathematics Through a Social Justice Lens Three Part Lesson in Mathematics: Co-planning, Co-teaching and Supporting Student Learning Making Mathematics Accessible for All Students Engaging Students in Mathematics Through the Eye of the Learner: From Student Work to Teacher Practice Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching with Dr. Deborah Loewenberg Ball

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Math in Action takes in-depth look at the teaching and learning at a Toronto school, where educators work to engage students in mathematics through real-world situations and explorations. Learn how staff identify and address the needs of their students by creating partnerships between school, home and the community.

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Easily create mathematical equations, formulas and quizzes. Intuitively type or handwrite, with no tricky math code to learn.

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G Suite Enterprise for Education

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G Suite for Education | Google for Education

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G Suite Enterprise for Education G Suite Enterprise for Education offers powerful collaboration and communication tools that help faculty, students, and administrators be more successful. Includes advanced controls, enhanced analytics and search, and enterprise-grade communication tools.

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Bedtime Math – We inspire kids to love math so they embrace and excel at it.

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Mathematical Mindset Teaching Guide, Teaching Video and Additional Resources - YouCubed

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We have designed a Mathematical Mindset Guide to help teachers create or strengthen a growth mindset culture. This guide contains five Mathematical Mindset Practices along with links to teaching videos. […]

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Thank you for visiting EduGAINS.

This website will be retired on June 30, 2021
and is no longer being updated.

K-12 educators from Ontario's publicly funded schools can continue to access selected EduGAINS resources by signing into eCommunity Ontarioin the Virtual Learning Environment. Search for the course name " EDU Resources Community ".

In June 2020, the Ontario Ministry of Education introduced the Curriculum and Resources website. This bilingual digital space provides parents, educators and the public access to curriculum and learning resources in a user- and mobile-friendly format. The website is fully accessible and will grow steadily with more content and features over time.

Need help with a question or resource? Please contact casspb@ontario.ca

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This website will be retired on June 30, 2021 and is no longer being updated. K-12 educators from Ontario's publicly funded schools can continue to access selected EduGAINS resources by signing into eCommunity Ontarioin the Virtual Learning Environment. Search for the course name " EDU Resources Community ".

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Research is clear: communication is an essential mathematical process. This book provides all the tools to make communication come alive and to ensure the classroom is a vibrant, collaborative learning environment. Centred around three main sections-Mathematical Discourse, Reading in Mathematics, and Writing in Mathematics-Dr. Cathy Marks Krpan provides practical suggestions on how to create such an environment.
Each section includes:

What the Research Says

Collaborative Skills and Structures

Teaching Strategies

Assessment Tips

Supports for English Language Learners

Canadian Student Samples with modelled Teacher Feedback

Line Masters and a Companion Website

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Research is clear: communication is an essential mathematical process. This book provides all the tools to make communication come alive and to ensure the classroom is a vibrant, collaborative learning environment.

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Banish math anxiety and give students of all ages a clear roadmap to success!

Mathematical Mindsets provides practical strategies and activities to help teachers and parents show all children, even those who are convinced that they are bad at math, that they can enjoy and succeed in math. Jo Boaler-Stanford researcher, professor of math education, and expert on math learning-has studied why students don't like math and often fail in math classes. She's followed thousands of students through middle and high schools to study how they learn and to find the most effective ways to unleash the math potential in all students.

There is a clear gap between what research has shown to work in teaching math and what happens in schools and at home. This book bridges that gap by turning research findings into practical activities and advice. Boaler translates Carol Dweck's concept of 'mindset' into math teaching and parenting strategies, showing how students can go from self-doubt to strong self-confidence, which is so important to math learning. Boaler reveals the steps that must be taken by schools and parents to improve math education for all. Mathematical Mindsets:

Explains how the brain processes mathematics learning

Reveals how to turn mistakes and struggles into valuable learning experiences

Provides examples of rich mathematical activities to replace rote learning

Explains ways to give students a positive math mindset

Gives examples of how assessment and grading policies need to change to support real understanding

Scores of students hate and fear math, so they end up leaving school without an understanding of basic mathematical concepts. Their evasion and departure hinders math-related pathways and STEM career opportunities. Research has shown very clear methods to change this phenomena, but the information has been confined to research journals-until now. Mathematical Mindsets provides a proven, practical roadmap to mathematics success for any student at any age.

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Banish math anxiety and give students of all ages a clear roadmap to success! Mathematical Mindsets provides practical strategies and activities to help teachers and parents show all children, even those who are convinced that they are bad at math, that they can enjoy and succeed in math.