It seems like in a blink of an eye, the leaves have turned vibrant red, yellow and orange and the winter rains have struck. These are busy times and I know you are trying to balance the needs and wishes in your buildings. Just a heads up that our new licenses have been updated and…
Category: Growing Readers
Activities and lessons for classroom and home support
Welcome Back
Hi Everyone Welcome back to a new year. Hope you had a great summer. Some items to be aware as we work through the year. New review or intro sessions are in the Staff Development calendar: https://learn.burnabyschools.ca/ If you are in need of a refresher or are brand new to the program, please consider this….
September – A New Year
Welcome back from holidays. A number of items are new this Autumn. Foundations 1, along with error reports are complete (Last year, it was in progress.) Student Errors are in a single report making it easier to review Reading Readiness and the RPI have been upgraded to html (No more Flash!) Usability of Foundation 1 and…
New on the Horizon
So many exciting things have been happening with our students’ learning that it’s hard to keep up. Updates on Intervention Practices: If you haven’t recently looked at our Interventions page, you’ll be happily surprised there are new connected activities for you. If you need assistance, please email me. Consistent review of your data reports goes…
It’s October – What’s Happening?
October has entered with stormy weather (I think there’s a song about this..). And as we watch the leaves change colour and blow in the wind, we’ve been able to connect with returning students as well as get to know new students and staff. This is a significantly busy month in Fast ForWord. Learning sessions…
Assistive Software – Inclusion in the Classroom
There are a number of assistive-type softwares that may help students with access to learning in the classroom. The following focuses on writing, reading, and vision supports. Most are free and can be easily downloaded by the student. EASE of ACCESS: This group of tools offers simple word prediction through the on-screen keyboard, magnifier (for vision…
Learning Sessions – Making the Most of Fast ForWord
Fall is definitely in the air – crisp, clean and clear. For those of you starting Fast ForWord or returning after a break, we have set this year’s 3 part series: * October 15, October 27, December 1; 8:30-12:00 at Schou-TLC Each session will build upon each other (from neuroscience basics, how the program fits,…
Connectedness & Relationships
Welcome back. Exciting things are afoot… This month is all about connecting and relationship building. Behind every one of those faces are stories waiting to be heard. Changes to both our infrastructure and Fast ForWord content is going to make this an exciting year. If you are interested in having this program in your…
When Opportunity and Resources Meet = Success Happens
Connecting a ‘just right’ opportunity to engage in independent deeper thinking and a resource that allows that to happen is a challenge. When the two meet, it’s almost magical, especially when it can include students who struggle with reading and writing. For these, time is spent mostly on the mechanics of reading/writing, leaving little cognitive energy for…
Welcome Back!
Starting a new year is always exciting and this year cannot be any different. We’ve done some updates to the blog – please take time to familiarize yourself with the organization (you’ll find new consent templates, Admin section now under Program…). New training sessions (for new sites and any teachers new or nearly new to program)…
Summer Thoughts
As we go into the summer, a huge ‘thank you’ goes to teachers, students and parents. To the students, you’ve practiced focus and attention and this is no easy feat. It takes hard work to build and exercise an efficient brain. To our parents, you ensured your children had a good night’s sleep and a…
Interventions – Positive Steps in the Right Direction
Those pesky red flags made your heart sink. And they were doing so well. At some point every student reaches this wall. Actually this can be seen as a good thing. It means that both the student and the program have located the area of need, that point where the student missed along the journey…
Secret to the Universe When Motivation Wanes
Many times I’ve been asked “how do you motivate students”? This is usually during the time when the newness of the exercises wear off and it’s clearly drudgery that takes over. This might happen during week one (sigh) or perhaps pop up in week three. If you’re lucky, you won’t see the effects for quite…
New Beginnings
A huge welcome to our new sites – South Slope, Marlborough, Buckingham, Burnaby South Access Program and Moscrop Access Program. A great time of learning with all teams and we continue to have more gatherings in the near future to continue the conversation of supporting our students. The days of January have been whizzing by,…
Reading the Impossible
Many of you have asked me if there is support for those who struggle with reading digital content especially when it is written above instructional reading levels. Every time a class attempts research out on the web, students are faced with information they cannot comfortably read. For the brain to have enough neuronal resources to…