• Primary and Junior, Parts 1, 2, 3
• Grades 7 &8
• Intermediate
• Senior
• Honours Specialist

• Behavioural Needs
• Communication Needs:
  • ASD
  • Speech and Language
  • LD
• Intellectual Needs:
  • Developmental Disability
  • Giftedness
  • Mild Intellectual Disability
• Multiple Needs
• Physical Needs
• Use and Knowledge of Assistive Technology

1. Approval from Chantal Moore prior to registering for a course
2. Proof/letter of registration
3. Proof of payment
4. Letter of successful completion

Our next step is to collect teachers' planning documents (Semester II). Prior to that please look at your current plans, make necessary adjustments, and reach out to your Area Leader and/or Administration for support.

The article above explicitly differentiates learning goals and success criteria and highlights the necessity of the learning goal to come BEFORE the success criteria.

Please expect Taryn and Janet in your classes to look for learning goals and success criteria!

When crafting success criteria, I:

• describe what it looks like/sounds like to achieve the learning;

• align with the high-level criteria described in the achievement chart*;

• focus on both qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the learning;

• use language meaningful to my students and helpful to their learning; 

• organize them in a way that is helpful to the learner;

• express them in a way that encourages students to take ownership of and monitor the learning;

• revisit and refine the criteria as necessary.

*The achievement chart is a framework within which teachers “assess and evaluate student achievement of the expectations...It enables teachers to make consistent judgements about the quality of student learning based on clear performance standards and on a body of evidence collected over time.” (Growing Success, 2010, p. 16)

The attached video demonstrates explicit, systematic instruction in a secondary math classroom.

EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT TEACHING

Explicit instruction is systematic, direct, engaging, and success oriented—and has been shown to promote achievement for all students. This highly practical and accessible resource gives special and general education teachers the tools to implement explicit instruction in any grade level or content area. The authors are leading experts who provide clear guidelines for identifying key concepts, strategies, skills, and routines to teach; designing and delivering effective lessons; and giving students opportunities to practice and master new material.

Connecting Learning Goals, Vocabulary, Exemplars

Resource: What Works Best 2020

Please enjoy a restful holiday and watch for January's posts on January 7th.

Today's post presents the challenge of why some students cannot independently get through learning tasks, resources to help teachers identify why, and tools and strategies to support student growth in this area.

To explicitly teach vocabulary, it is essential to understand that words can be taught in tiers. Have a look at the definitions below. As content area teachers, we focus on Tier 3 words which REQUIRE content and context to teach.

TIER 1  

Tier one words are high frequency words, used over and over again in the course of general conversation. Because tier one words are basic everyday words, most of them are learned through oral communication with family members, peers, or teachers.  There is no need for specific instruction with tier one words. Examples of tier one words include table, happy, baby, and clock.  

TIER 2

Tier two words are also referred to as academic vocabulary.  They are cross-curricular words, appearing frequently across topics and content areas.  Tier two words are not common words used in conversation, making them ideal candidates for direct instruction. Examples of tier-two words include complex, analyze, restrict, ultimate, and foundation.  In addition to being cross-curricular, tier two words often have multiple meanings, making them an integral component of reading comprehension. The more students learn high-utility (tier two) words, the better they will be able to comprehend text that contains those words. 

TIER 3   

Tier three words consist of low-frequency words that occur in specific domains.  Tier three words are central to understanding concepts within various academic subjects and should be integrated into content instruction.  Examples of tier three words include molecule, tundra, and legislature.     

Spaces are limited and registration is on a first come first serve basis and is limited to 1 course per person. Registration deadline is Tuesday, February 27. 

Please see the attachment for a description of available course.

To register:

If you already have a Sonderly account, please email pamela.fregeau@kpdsb.ca with the name of the course you would like to register for.

If you have not previously registered for a Sonderly account, please email pamela.fregeau@kpdsb.ca with the name of the course you would like to register for and for further registration instructions.  

Used correctly, anchor charts can be an effective way to build independence in students. Anchor chart should be built into teacher modelling, or think-alouds, as the teacher refers to the anchor chart to check understanding and/or determine a next step.

Have a look around you room and ask yourself if you are using this teaching strategy to support explicit teaching.

This week we watched students flounder when moved to 'You Do' too quickly.

From the attached article:

When introducing a new task or skill, it may seem counterintuitive to provide students with worked examples to study instead of giving them practice time to solve or complete the task. When students are introduced to a new task, they often do not have a firm grasp of the material and principles being represented in the task and may resort to ineffective problem-solving strategies such as aimless trial-and-error or plug-and-chug (Renkl, A., 2023). Trial-and-error involves trying various solutions without a proper problem-solving strategy, while plug-and-chug involves looking for existing problems with similar surface-level features without considering if their underlying structure aligns with the current problem. For example, when faced with a mechanics problem presented in the context of an inclined plane, novice students may search for another “inclined plane problem” without considering whether the underlying concept is the same (Figure 2 and Chi et al., 1989).

Courses include:

Introduction to Autism 

Understanding and Supporting Students with Autism

If you already have a Sonderly account, you can log into your account and register for the course directly. If you do not already have a Sonderly account please complete the following to create an account.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: DO NOT register directly from the Sonderly.io website, Sonderly.csod.com or with an incorrect link. This may prevent you from being able to receive the funded training.

If you have any difficulties creating your Sonderly account, please email contactus@sonderly.io.

Accelerate reading gains with high-impact practice with Renaissance.

REGISTRATION LINK

Join us for a series of webinars from April 9–11 on unlocking the power of purposeful reading practice at every grade level. Expert panelists Anita Archer, Linda Diamond, and others will share proven strategies for:

• Maximizing opportunities for practice within daily literacy instruction

• Cutting through the distractions to capture students’ interest in reading

• Identifying the right supports and maximizing practice in Tier 2 & 3 interventions

• Ensuring students are practicing the right skills—and are on track for success

Most of our PD for the remainder of the year will focus on the WHY and the HOW of de-streaming.

https://www.youtube.com/live/2OuJ8Z5ogy0?si=Uhb5b1qLss8PPlzh&t=967 

Introduction will start at about 16:07 - runs to about 28:47 (about 12 minutes).

Why Now:

The timing of this important but necessary change is strategic…we know that this call to action on the part of educators is mired by the shadows of staff shortages and no new curriculum to drive the process. However, even though the current conditions are not necessarily the ideal settings for change and could become an excuse to delay, we cannot delay this work.

De-streaming to the Academic Grade 10 curriculum may require some adjustments, however; the curriculum is not new. Systemically, we are working with teams of teachers to support this call to action and design of learning opportunities to support students as well as teachers in implementing an academic only pathway through Grade 10. You are not alone in this work.

The discrepancy in access to postsecondary education is particularly concerning, given its emerging importance in overall life outcomes. It has been demonstrated that postsecondary education is linked to improved long-term health and securing financial independence and well-being (Berezina, Lior & MacLaughlin, 2015; Fonseca Benito & Zheng, 2011; Pew Research Centre, 2014). 

The value of a strong public education system is equity of outcomes  - this is the work we have to do; the research is clear that we have not yet achieved this yet and we have work to do here to positively affect trajectories…this is our moral imperative.

• fewer credits earned; 

• lower graduation rates; and

• just one in five applied students go on to college.

  
  

Ontario was the last province to eliminate streaming in Grade 9.

Long-term data showed that streamed groups map onto socio-economic groups perpetuating current economic disparities. Streaming has an especially negative impact on Indigenous and Black students.

Based on their international research, The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recommended that education systems should “avoid early tracking (streaming) and defer student course selections until upper secondary.”

May's posts will support the HOW.

Effective instruction in a de-streamed course requires high academic expectations of all students, appropriate supports for learning, and the belief that all students are capable learners. 

By placing students’ well-being and academic success at the centre of their planning, teaching, and assessment practices, teachers can understand how the learning experiences they provide will improve achievement of all students.

• Review the ‘Front Matter’ of the Curriculum document

• Review the Course Overview and Overall Expectations

• Review the Course Overall Expectations from the pre-requisite course(s) to know where they might be coming from

• Review the Course Overall Expectations for the course following to know where they are heading

Determine the priority - What are the enduring understandings (need to know/understand/do in order to be transferable or successful in the next course, be able to use in the future) vs. what is nice to know or is not actually in the curriculum

National Indigenous History Month is a time to reflect on the history, cultures, contributions, and strengths of First Nations, Inuit, and Metis Peoples. It is also a time to celebrate and honour Indigenous heritage and diversity, as well as the outstanding achievements of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples throughout Canada.

Please use the following links to access resources to support classroom learning: FNMIEA0, resources & other Indigenous History Month Resources.