Learning - Ontario Library Service

I’d like to tell you a story about a program at our local libraries,
that is …
part adventure, part action, part human drama and
100% INSPIRATION
THE EXCITING
TALE OF …
The
Incredible Partnerships
Between
The Educational
Community of Sudbury
&
The Greater Sudbury
Public Libraries
Written By:
Visionaries
FORWARD
This story has:
• strong characters
•character development
p
•a great plot line
•rising action (every September)
•many climaxes
•and the most rewarding conclusions
With all these wonderful literary strengths,
this good news story
promises to become …
…A Happily, Never-Ending,
LEGEND!
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
The Coaching Program
CHAPTER TWO
Th Resource
The
R
Library
Lib
CHAPTER THREE
The Bridges
g To Learning
g Room
Back
To
Our
Story
Coaching
Program
Not so long ago….
and not so far away
away….
in the City of Greater Sudbury,
there lived thousands of students with Learning Disabilities.
Th
These
bright
b i ht young students
t d t
were faced with
super-human personal battles
as tthey
ey st
struggled
ugg ed
in academic environments
that taught and tested
with a visual and linguistic focus.
Because these students
learned a different way
way…
… they would often
spend their school-day
failing in public.
Their intelligence was being
tested on paper,
paper
and they had difficulty
proving how smart they were
when they had to prove it
using
i th
the written
itt word.
d
After a period of time…
these young people forgot that,
even though they had a
learning disability,
they were STILL;
Superb
Strong
Smart
St d t
Students
TIME
OUT
For
The
Facts
Adults
with
Learning Disabilities
Grow Up To Be
Children with Learning Disabilities
The Education Act Recognizes 12 Exceptionalities
Autism
Behavior
Blind & Low Vision
Deaf & Hard of Hearing
Developmental Disability
Gifted
Language Impairment
Learning Disabilities
Mild Intellectual
Multiple
Physical
Speech Impairment
Learning
Disabilities
FACTS
Learning
Disabilities
FACTS
Average
or
Above Average
Intelligence
Brains
process
information
differently
Difficulty
y With:
-writing
-reading
-math
-organization
-social skills
Great abilities
Lifelong
Common
Heredity
up to
1 in 10
Ranges from mild to severe
www.edtech.tennessie.edu
A marked difference between…..
Capabilities
Gains to be made
Present Achievement
To learn the brain processes information.
With a learning disability “processing information” is challenged.
Todd Cunningham’s Metaphor for Processing Information
The brain is like a filing cabinet!
Filing information requires four actions:
Receive information (auditory & visual information)
Organize and store the information
Retrieve information from its storage in the brain
Communicate the retrieved information to others
M.A. in Clinical Psychology, U. of Toronto
B.Sc (Honors) in Psychology, Trent U.
Working on: Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, U. of T.
With a Learning Disability, some, or all of these steps can be challenged….
Some or all of these processing steps can be challenged.
Receive
O
Organize
i & Store
St
Retrieve
Communicate
These filing cabinets are still highly effective.
effective
“Learning is experience.
Everything else is just information!”
Brain Exercises
Meant to demonstrate different processing challenges for
people with learning disabilities
Visual Perception
Ability to make sense of information taken in through the eyes
We process information through
Spatial Perception
Something has meaning based on the space it takes up.
=
A rocky coastline.
A mother & child…
As a child we learn that every symbol has a name associated with it…
until we get to school,
school and we begin to learn about all of these symbols.
symbols
If a student has difficulty with spatial perception, many of the symbols will look the same
b
d
p
q
h
6
9
R di & W
Reading
Writing
iti challenged
h ll
d with
ith reversals
l
/ alignment / spacing
Letters seem to float
along the page.
Aq
qe
cdall
witq
q
rson wbo das
endes
sqatial bercebtion
qefin
ulty
itely will bave qiffic
essind
acc
ces
lidrary servi
A qer
cdall
witq
son wbo das
endes
sqatial bercebtion
qefin
ulty
itely will bave qiffic
essind
acc
ces.
lidary servi
A person who has challenges with spatial perception
definitely will have difficulty accessing library services.
Directionality
Left-Right / Before-After / First-Last / Over-Under / Up-Down / Yesterday-Tomorrow / Analogue Time / Tying Shoes
Sequencing
Alphabet / Days of the Week / Months of the Year / Multiplication Tables
Letters seem to float
along the page
SPATIAL PERCEPTION
Auditoryy Perception
p
Processing information through our ears
Auditory Processing Difficulties:
- identifying the number of syllables in a word
- blending sounds to form a word
- pronunciation
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
p
g
p
Su per cal i frag il is tic ex pi al i do cious = 14
Students challenged with visual perceptions often
have strengths with auditory perception.
perception
Wen eh purseon haz divkltea dekdn wudz thaa myte
rekire odio innputt fer teh pasauge inn eh behk two mayk cents.
Visual weakness BUT Audio strength
g THEN
“Read With Your Ears”
Wen eh purse on haz divkltea dekdn wudz, thaa myte
rekire odio innputt fer teh pasauge in eh behk two mayk cents.
When a person has difficulty decoding words, they might
require audio input for the passage in a book to make sense.
Reading requires: the mechanical element (decoding) & comprehension.
Time and energy spent decoding words compromises comprehension
A person who has challenges with spatial perception
definitely will have difficulty accessing library services.
When a person has difficulty decoding words they might
require audio input for a passage in a book to make sense.
Trying to learn with a learning disability
sometimes feels like,
like
the episode of “I Love Lucy” where Lucy and Ethel worked in a candy factory.
Anxiety inducing!
Life and learning involve environments were we are often required
to process large amounts of information.
Information just keeps coming and coming.
A person with a Learning Disability may find it very difficult to do two cognitive tasks simultaneously.
Example: Listening
& Writing
.
Richard Lavoie
Times up for Brain Exercises
They need to get it and we need to get it…
These are Smart People!
Don’t ask
How smart are you?
Ask:
Howard Gardner
Multiple Intelligences
How are you
smart?
Students with Learning Disabilities are:
BLESSED WITH A BURDEN
Lindsay
Wagner
(Bionic
Woman)
Patrick
Danny
Glover
Dempsey
Dr.
McDreamy
Sting
John
L
Lennon
John Lennon
Greg
Louganis
Orlando
Bloom
Einstein
Whoopie
p
Goldberg
Magic
Johnson
Richard Branson
Ty
Pennington
(Virgin Airlines)
Tony
Bennett
Jay Leno
Steven Spielberg
These individuals all have a learning disability!
They all state that they have been successful
because of their learning disability.
Spielberg
Sting
James Earl Jones
Back
To
Our
Story
These young people forgot that,
they were;
Superb
Strong
Smart
St d t
Students
They felt that their
learning disability
was like kryptonite
weakening their
super powered dreams.
Learning Disability = Kryptonite
Some of these
potentially
i ll super students
d
started to believe that
they couldn’t learn.
COACHING PROGRAM TO THE RESCUE
The students started to change
their beliefs about themselves.
These future teachers stepped in as
Coaches,
helping the students
to begin to recognize
their strengths.
strengths
They matched learning strategies
with the jewels of their abilities and
began transforming into
more confident, successful students..
And where, you might ask,
did these exciting
transitions take place?
Fortress of Solitude
Sudbury Public Libraries Provided the Fortress for Students & Coaches
8
13
7
12
11
10
9
2
6
1
4
Library Branches
1) Main
3)) South
5) Lively
7) Valley E.
9) Garson
11) Dowling
13) Levak/Onaping
3
5
Picture of Library
y Map
p from Office
2) New Sudbury
4)) Copper
pp Cliff
6) Coniston
8) Capreol
10) Azilda
11) Chelmsford
C
Coaching
hi
Program
P
•Greater Sudbury Public Library
•Laurentian University
Bachelor of Education Program Students & Staff
•Rainbow School Board
•Sudbury Catholic District School Board
•Learning Disabilities Association of Sudbury
•Synergy of partnerships
•Multiplier
Multiplier Effect
•Institutionalizing
Main
M i Characters
Ch
t
Back
To
Our
Story
To Resilient
F
From
Risk
Ri k
Learning (processing)
(
i ) is NOT “One Size Fits All”
Varieties of Way To Process Information:
Some need to hear information.
Others need visual cues.
Some need to physically manipulate.
Others have
ha e to write
rite things do
down.
n
Some see the big picture.
Others start with details and build.
Super students understand “HOW” they learn.
Learning Strategies
Self-Testing
g
Diagramming
Color Coding
Mnemonics
Flash
Cards
Recorders
Rhythm
Cues
EDU-KINESTHETICS
Coaching Program
RESILIENCY
ADVERSITY
Learning Disability
The Coaching Program,
with the
Greater Sudbury Public Libraries
providing a
safe and stimulating environment,
allowed students to have a
positive learning experience where
they remembered that they were;
Superb
Strong
Smart
Students
WHO COULD
Soar To Great Heights!
The Coaching Program gave them the confidence to let their dreams fly….
Coaching Program STATS
2006-07
2007-08
40 Coaches
40 Gr. 8 Students
36 Coaches
36 Gr. Students
2008-09
Grades 7 & 8
Potentially
80 Students
80 Coaches
END of Chapter ONE
Back
To
Our
Story
Resource
Library
Ontario Chapter
p
Guideline:
Each office of an LDAO Chapter
will provide a resource library of:
books audio tapes,
books,
tapes and videos,
videos
available for loan to their membership.
2004
Learning Disabilities Resource Section
Sponsored By: Lions Club
ONLY ONE IN ONTARIO
RESOURCE LIBRARY
TODAY
Learning Disabilities Section For Parents & Teachers
Books / Videos / Publications
Your Library
Can Create This Programming
How We
Did It
WISH
LIST
The library flags all the items
that are placed in this section
with a sticker on the spine.
We identify these items
in our catalogue with the
collection code.
CIRCULATED 2500+ TIMES
STATS
204
ITEMS
Partners / Sponsors
Your Local
Service Groups
Back
To
Our
Story
Back
To
Our
Story
Bridges
To
Learning
Room
Working Together
For
Rising Stars
2005
Community Partners Build
Bridges To Learning Room
ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY
Software Programs that allow persons of many exceptionalities to;
increase, maintain or improve their interaction with the written word.
The Future In Education
will incorporate
Assistive Technology
The Future is NOW!!!!
If this is what classrooms are starting to look like,
then this is what libraries will also look like.
Your computer stations are high traffic areas!
Occupants at those terminals are getting younger and younger.
Read with your ears! Write with your mouth!
Voice Input
&
Software
Voice Output
To Produce Written Work
Put on your microphone
Dragon Naturally Speaking
&
Write With Your Mouth
Mouth”
“Write
To understand the written word
Pop on your earphones
Kurzweil
&
“Read With Your Ears”
500 Scanned Curriculum Textbooks
Text Help
Edit Assignments
Smart Ideas / Inspiration
Organize thoughts into sub-topics
that support a main idea.
Assists with:
Projects / Essays / Assignments / Planning
Low Vision
Scanners / Magnifiers
Assistive Technology Display / Summer 2007
High Tech / Low Tech - High Cost / Low Cost
How-To:
Bridges To Learning
Bridges To Learning
Main Messages
g
Main Messages
g Cont’d
-A WORK IN PROGRESS
-Requires technical support
Cambrian College/Glenn Crombie
-Never ending work in progress
due to the advances in Technology
-Requires
R
i
St
Staff
ff Training
T i i
Adopt A School Program/Laurentian
-Dependent on Super Strong Foundations:
Leadership By Libraries
P t
Partnerships
hi / Sponsorship
S
hi
Commitment
-Addresses multiple exceptionalities
Learning
L
i Di
Disabilities
biliti
Hearing Impaired
Sight Impaired
Back
To
Our
Story
•The Coaching Program
•The Resource Library
•The
The Bridges To Learning Room
All of these services provide
the citizens of Sudbury
opportunities
to engage with
lifelong learning.
Through PARTNERSHIPS,
students, youth, adults & seniors now have
a clearer perspective of their world and their libraries
as a community resource
resource…and…
d
…through
through these meaningful partnerships
partnerships,
individuals with learning disabilities
now have the opportunity to fly…
…not like a bird
…not
not like a plane
but like the
SUPER CITIZENS
that they are!
Get On Track!
These services are Transferable
to
YOUR SUPER COMMUNITY.
THE END
Any
QUESTIONS
?