The Integra Program

A parent of one of our students recently shared with me the name of a program that is part of the Child Development Institute (CDI), an accredited children’s mental health agency in Toronto.  The Integra Program is an accredited  agency that provides services to children, youth and families who are dealing with mental health issues complicated by learning disabilities.
The Integra Program provides family-centred, evidence-informed direct clinical services to children and youth ages 8 to 18 with diagnosed learning disabilities and mental health issues in Toronto. Although we at Sagonaska have not attended any of their workshops and cannot speak directly to the services they provide, the program does come highly recommended by several parents.  Below is a link to their website and a quick look at some of their upcoming workshops. If you have any feedback regarding their services or workshops, we would love to hear so please comment below.

Click here to go directly to The Integra Program's website

What Are Learning Disabilities

Was your child recently diagnosed with a Learning Disability? Are you new to teaching and you have a student in your room with an LD profile and you want some basic information regarding how to meet their needs? Recently, the Ontario Ministry of Education released a revised Policy/Program Memorandum (PPM 8) which outlined the definition, recognition, identification, as well as program planning for students with learning disabilities.  It is an important document that sets out requirements for school boards and schools, but can be overwhelming if you are learning about LD for the first time and would like some general information.  LD@School's website is a great resource for parents and teachers and provides a wealth of information regarding LDs, classroom resources, and professional learning.  The link for the website is listed on the right hand side of our blog, so check it out if you get a chance.  Below is a link to an article LD@School shared under their Professional Learning section - it explains what a learning disability is, how it can affect different processes in the child/student, what it might look like, and things to keep in mind when teaching a student with an LD.  It's a great, easy read! I hope you find it useful.

Click here to read "What Are Learning Disabilities"

Celebrate the Hero

Weekly Mission 

Spring Clean Up

Spring is on its way so it’s time to look at all the things we have collected over the last year and get rid of some of the unnecessary stuff. It’s important to take the time to clean up and reevaluate some of the things you have been doing in the past, while clearing the way for a brighter future ahead. This can also be a wonderful opportunity to give to those that are less fortunate than us by passing on our objects. Also, this time can be a great chance to leave some of the negativity behind with Mr. Winter and let a wave of positivity and optimism guide you into the Spring/Summer season. We want this spring summer to be your best yet, and what better way to get things going that a great spring clean up.

Using Twitter in the Classroom

I found this presentation online and because it was shared via Creative Commons it is open for anyone to share or adapt! It's a great resource and has lots of innovative suggestions for how to leverage Twitter in the classroom to engage and motivate students!

THE DAILY ROUTINE - Secondary Perspective

The following is the second installment of a project our secondary students worked on which is meant to offer prospective students insight into life at Sagonaska. It was collaborative project, written by our students using Google Docs.  Please enjoy reading what a day at Sagonaska is like from our high school students' perspective. 

THE DAILY ROUTINE:

MORNING:

N - An average day at Sag. for me is: I wake up and then we have food made for us.  We then come to school, which is on the campus, about 2 minutes from residence.             

D – You can wake up at any time, you just have to be out the door by 8:30 am. Breakfast is cooked by the morning counselor.  If you wish to have a shower in the morning, you can, but you also can have one at night before bed.

DURING SCHOOL:

N - During school hours, we come in and get to work.  The work here starts off really easy, then gets harder as the year progresses.  Most of the work we are doing now, personally, makes me mad because I am easy to confuse.       

D - We have small classes, which allows us to get more one-on-one time with the teacher.

D - We have a full-time technology advisor, Mr. Mortaley.  If we have a problem with technology, he can fix it.

N -  Mr. Mortaley named my pet fish, Mr. Mortaley. He is very approachable.

J - In the morning, you go to Student Health Services at 8 am (if you need to), then head over to the gym.  At 9:20 am, we head back over to the school.  We have classes from 10 am to 11 am.  At 11 am, we go over to the cafeteria and eat their food.  When we are all finished, we walk back to the school and hang out outside till 12 pm.  We have classes from 12 pm to 1:40 pm.  Then at 1:40 pm, we have a snack, usually Ms. Halliday bakes us something like muffins or nachos.  Sometimes, she makes really good smoothies or hot chocolate too.  Then at 2 pm, we go back to class until the end of the day.

AFTER SCHOOL:

J - At 3:00 pm, our residence counselors bring us back to residence (unless we have an outing after supper, then we do homework right after school).  In residence, usually all of the girls sit around the island in the kitchen and talk about the day.  In the fall and spring, we usually go outside.  At 5:00 pm, we go over to the cafeteria and eat supper.

D - After school, we do our homework and then Lexia (online reading program), once we are done our homework.  

N - We have an hour for homework every night; we can use technology (i.e. Dragon and Kurzweil) to help us with our work.  In residence, we have a 30 minute cool down period, then we are free to do what we want until supper.

K - Residence life is where you will live for your year at Sag.  We have counselors who take care of us while we are on campus.  In my residence, we have three counselors in the day and one at night.  The one at night will check up on us while we are sleeping.  He makes us breakfast in the morning too.  The counselors will push us to do our homework and we get in trouble if we do not do it (we have to go to our room if we don’t get our homework done).  In the morning, I like to sleep in a little, wake up, eat and then leave.

N -  Our residence counselors also take us to the ski hill weekly to ski and snowboard.    

D - Some students will get their off-campus.  This means that they are allowed to go in the town of Belleville for a time period and a certain distance from the school.  There are three levels: Luc’s is the first level, which just a convenience store down the street, the next level is Giant Tiger, which is about a 10-minute walk from the school, and the final level is the Quinte Mall, which is about a half an hour walk, but this level allows you to go other places (for example Walmart and Canadian Tire).

K - You need to earn your off-campus with trust though.  

M - The biggest things I’m going to miss here are residence experience, school (the class sizes), and the Belleville skate park. There are two ways you’re allowed to leave the school and go to the store to buy something: you can walk with a counselor or you can get your off-campus, which allows you to go with a friend.   

Celebrate the Hero

Weekly Mission

GET ACTIVE

This week CTH challenges us to get active; all it takes is finding an activity you love and going with it!  With the weather starting to warm up, there's lots of ways to get active outside.  Go for a walk or a jog, ride a bike or throw the frisbee around.  If you’re not a fan of the outdoors, there are many ways to get active indoors too at Sagonaska! You could go swimming, or ask your counsellor to take you to the gymnasium or fitness room! It doesn’t take much to get a little action into a busy day!
If you have any suggestions on how we can get active here at Sagonaska or you want to share why you did to get some physical activity in your day, comment below this post!

Differences Between Inattention and Hyperactivity

Parents and Educators! Take a look at this great visual shared by Ontario Special Needs Roadmaps. It's important to know the difference.  The inattentive subtype can often be overlooked in a busy classroom. This visual shares some signs to look for that is helpful for parents and teachers alike. Thanks Ontario Special Needs! Follow them on @ONTSpecialNeeds or check out their website www.specialneedsroadmaps.ca

A Day In The Life - Secondary Perspective

A Day in the Life of a Sagonaska Secondary Student

The following is meant to offer prospective students insight into what a day in the life of a Sagonaska student is like, as written by our students. We worked on the document together using Google Docs. Students were all able to add to the document at the same time as we discussed the pros and cons of life as a Sag student! Once we started, our students found they had so much information to share that we decided to split it up into three installments! The first gives a general overview of life at Sagonaska. Stay tuned for more after the March Break!

J - Being here is like a roller coaster; it has its ups and definitely has its downs, but in the end you're happy that you went on the beautiful and terrifying ride.  When you come here, you meet amazing new people - great teachers, counsellors, students, etc.  I've met my some of my closest friends here.  But Sagonaska is only a one-year program and everyone that comes here are from across Ontario.  At the end of the year on recognition day, it will most likely be the last time you see a majority of the people you’ve been living with for the past year, and it’s terrifying.  But the education you gain is amazing; you learn so much from being here.  The teachers work extremely hard to make sure the students are learning.  I've never seen teachers care about my education as much as they do here.  They really want us to succeed.  The residence counsellors can be very strict and they always follow the rules, which is good and bad, but they do it because they care.

K - One day at Sag. is not like your normal school day; everyday something different is going to happen.  At Sag., there is more help than you will get at a normal school (lots of one-on-one support). The teachers will understand that you have an LD and will consider that when they are marking your work.

N - Some good things about this school are the small classes (not too many people) and there are lots of things to do here.  The school program has helped us all quite a bit and the classes are usually fun, unless we are doing exams, tests, essays, or quizzes.  Some challenges about this school are that we live in such close quarters with each other, so it’s difficult to get mad at someone.  I think that Sag. is a very unique school and it is a privilege to be here because not everyone gets to come to this school.  Now, I do think this school has flaws like, the food at the cafeteria, and sometimes it feels like there is a lack of freedom because you live and go to school on campus.

Free Webinar Offered Through LD@School About Dyscalculia - March 31st!

Check out this great FREE webinar about dyscalculia that @ldatschool is hosting!

http://ldatschool.ca/pro-learning/webinars/understanding-developmental-dyscalculia-a-math-learning-disability/ 

Approximately 5% of children have a specific learning disability affecting their ability to acquire even the most basic numerical and mathematical skills. This difficulty has been referred to as ‘developmental dyscalculia’. So what is developmental dyscalculia, how does it impact learning, and how can educators help? Find out by tuning into this webinar on Tuesday, March 31st from 3:30 - 4:45pm.

Great Visual!

This image came from from the LD@School website (see link on the right under "Links Worth Checking Out"!) Great quick reference for both parents and teachers! Check out their website for lots of other great references, articles, webcasts, and downloadable materials for both school and home.

Love this simple diagram explaining the many types of #LearningDisabilities pic.twitter.com/zLGc2iMAab Remember to follow @ldatschool

— ONTSpecialNeeds (@ONTSpecialNeeds) March 6, 2015

Anxiety in Kids - Great Read!

Parents and teachers - we know that students that have a learning disability may also experience increased anxiety levels. Obviously not every student with a learning disability experiences this comorbidity, but when you think about the frustrations and obstacles that our students face in their daily lives, is there any doubt that they occasionally feel anxious or stressed to some degree? This article is a great read for parents and teachers with helpful tips and strategies to teach our students to overcome the effects of anxiety.

Anxiety in Kids - Click Here To Read Article Now!