Social Media Presentation for School Council

Last night at our school council, we had a short presentation on the types of social media our students are using. Click through this slide show to see a brief description, the pros and cons, and educational applications of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Vine, and Ask.fm. It's hard to stay on top of all the different applications and platforms out there, and this list will most likely be out of date by the time I hit "Post", but as educators and parents we need to at least be a part of the conversation. For those that attended last evening, I was able to find some information on Tumblr and have included it as well!  Check out the Google Presentation from last night and contact me at Anne.Truaisch@ontario.ca if you have any questions.

Self-Advocacy Podcasts on LD@School Website

There are many reasons to visit the LD@School website, one of them being the many podcasts they release that can be listened to directly from the website or downloaded to a portable audio player and listened to at a later time.  Click the link below to take you to their Talk LD archive of podcasts and check out their newest podcasts on Self-Advocacy.  As many of you know, one of the three main goals of Sagonaska is to help our students develop the skills necessary to advocate for themselves when they return to their home schools.  Our teachers and our counselors emphasize with the students the importance of understanding themselves as a learner, identifying their strengths and knowing how to use them to overcome deficits, and determining the areas in which they need support.  Our students can vocalize what accommodations need to be in place in order for them to be successful and are willing to share with their future teachers the technology they use to demonstrate their learning in less traditional ways. The two most recent podcasts, "Supporting Students on their Self-Advocacy Journey" and "The Journey to Becoming a Self-Advocate: Three Students' Perspectives"offer some great insight and tips on how to further develop these skills.  Click the words, "Talk LD" below to take you to their site and take the time to look at some of the other podcasts they have available as well!

Talk LD

Dictation and Speak Selection on iOs Devices

Once again, Geoff Mortaley has created a simple demonstration of how to turn on Dictation and Speak Selection on iOs devices.  Our students use the features on a daily basis to support their learning.  In this short clip you will see how to activate and use these assistive features, as well as hear some tips for use.  Watch and learn the basics of Dictation and Speak Selection!

Celebrate the Hero

Weekly Mission

Live with Integrity

Integrity means being honest and having strong principles, and we know that all of our students have integrity! This week CTH wants us to complete simple gestures because in our hearts we know it's the right thing to do - not just because CTH challenged us to do so.  It's one thing to do something nice for recognition, but it's so much more rewarding when you just do it to see someone else smile. Make the choice to do something nice for a peer, a counsellor, a stranger, a family member, or a friend.  Be kind to one another, live your life with integrity, and it will enhance the lives of others. 

If anyone has done something to make your day or enhance your life, comment below and let  them know you appreciated their gesture!

Personal Devices as Assistive Tools Webinar! WATCH NOW!

Last Monday, we offered an after-school workshop for parents and teachers who wanted to learn more about how our students are using their personal devices as assistive tools. Geoff Mortaley, our assistive technology advisor, demonstrated some of the basic built-in supports that are available on iOs devices, as well as several apps that our students are using to access text, create digital products, and demonstrate their learning.  We offered the workshop via ADOBE CONNECT and were able to record the session for those who could not attend. Please click the link below to watch part or all of our 45 minute webinar!

Click here:  PERSONAL DEVICES AS ASSISTIVE TOOLS WEBINAR

Google Read and Write - SPEECH RECOGNITION

Take a look at how to add Google's new free Speech Recognition add-on to your Google account! 

For those of you who aren't familiar with Google Read and Write, it is an extension that can be added to your Google account and one of its basic (and best) features is text-to-speech! This means when you are using Google Chrome or Google Docs, you can have the words on the screen read to you (just like Kurzweil)! If you have a Gmail account, you can download the full tool bar for free (this includes word prediction, highlighting tools, etc) but you will lose many of the features after 30 days. The good news is the text-to-speech feature will remain.  If you are an educator, you will be able to keep the full tool bar indefinitely!

This video created by Geoff Mortaley, however, demonstrates how to add another cool feature to your Google account, Speech Recognition.  The Speech Recognition add-on is free and it allows the user to dictate into a microphone and the text will appear on the screen.  It works like Dragon or Siri, and in our experience, it is pretty accurate.  If you, or your student or child, loves to use Google Docs, this is a great alternative to some of the other speech-to-text software options out there.  Watch how Geoff demonstrates how to add it to your account and how it works!

Celebrate the Hero

Weekly Mission

Lend a Hand

Lending a hand to someone in need is a small gesture that can make a huge difference. This can be as simple as opening a door for someone that has their hands full or helping a family member out with their homework. If there is one thing every person in the world could use from time to time, it is help. Doing something that is relatively simple for you can really mean the world to someone else, which is what helps make the world a better place. So let’s lend a hand heroes! 

Please comment on this post and share some ways you have helped another person this week and inspire others to do the same!

Let's Talk About LDs

Once again, we would like to share a video made by one of our students who was asked to create a presentation about learning disabilities to share with the resource teachers back in her home board. Watch the video below to see one of our second year students, Megan, speak eloquently and with exceptional insight into what it is like to be diagnosed with a learning disability and the strategies and tools that have helped her to persevere! Megan is an incredible example of resiliency and we hope her words will inspire and motivate other students who learn differently to advocate for what they need to be successful.