Category Archives: Uncategorized

ALDI Update-June 2020

ALDI’s new coordinator has been in place since February 24th, 2020. Heather Scott has 20 years of teaching experience and has worked as a literacy consultant for two of those years. Some of her passions include pedagogy, inclusive co-teaching models, learning communities and reaching struggling readers through research-based practices.

Since February 24th, the new coordinator has been:

Working collaboratively with consultants, via digital platforms, to build targeted intervention workshops in the area of literacy and numeracy.
Building resources and professional development material to support new-to-resource teachers.
Building professional development material to provide specialized training to resource teachers.
Building resources to collaboratively lead Response to Intervention initiatives.
Adapting professional development to on-line platforms and ensuring that all proposed activities adhere to social distancing guidelines.
Collaborating with LEARN to update the ALDI website in order to improve communication and access to resources.
- Please take a look at the redesigned ALDI homepage. Go to ALDI homepage.
- The topics in the Resource Library are being grouped for convenience, and now include brief descriptions to enable efficient searching. Go to the Resource Library

For all inquiries or to plan professional development at your school board, please contact hscott@swlauriersb.qc.ca

March 2019 — Food for Thought

A podcast about teacher preparation in the area of reading:

https://www.apmreports.org/story/2018/09/10/hard-words-why-american-kids-arent-being-taught-to-read

ALDI update – April 2018

A new coordinator for the Advancing Learning in Differentiation and Inclusion Project (ALDI) has been in place since December 4, 2017. Caroline Erdos, PhD, is a clinical speech-language pathologist with extensive experience as a consultant in the areas of learning disability, French immersion education and multilingualism.

Since December 2017:

Caroline was invited to present an overview of research findings pertaining to neurotypical and at-risk students learning an additional language to staff at Lester B. Pearson School Board, Riverside School Board, Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board and New Frontiers School Board.
Caroline presented workshops on targeted intervention for students who struggle with reading at Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board; follow-up hands on sessions were also offered.
Caroline also provided bilingual workshops on phonological awareness at Riverside School Board and Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board.
Beginning in September 2018, Caroline will colead Resource Teacher Network (RTN) and Work-Oriented Training Path (WOTP) Professional Development and Innovation Grant (PDIG) projects at Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board.
Caroline will be presenting bilingual workshops on Phonological Awareness and Dialogic Reading at the 2018 Quebec Provincial Association of Teachers (QPAT) conference.
Additionally, Caroline is working on assembling a collection of evidence-based intervention materials and teaching video clips for resource teachers (see Caroline’s Top Picks).

For all inquiries or to plan support activities at your school board, please contact cerdos@swlauriersb.qc.ca or (450) 621-5600, extension 1388.

ALDI Symposium 2013

We’re busy preparing for the upcoming ALDI Symposium on September 24th and 25th, 2013. It promises to be an inspiring event featuring professional development in four strands: literacy, numeracy, assistive technology and resource models.

The symposium program is available here:

Symposium_Flyer_Final_2013

Each year we welcome approximately 250 resource teachers from the nine English boards, who engage in interactive sessions and discussion surrounding cutting-edge topics in teaching and learning for students with special needs. A special welcome goes out this year to teachers in the Adult Education sectors in each of our boards.

We thank our school boards, CEGEPs and universities who have submitted proposals from across the province. The two-day program is packed full of sessions, sure to motivate, engage and build knowledge and skills!

We have some exciting keynotes this year:

Dr. Tara Flanagan is a professor in the Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology at McGill University. She will be discussing the connections between transition planning, inclusive education, and social inclusion for people with disabilities.

Mr. Frederic Fovet is Director of the Office for Students with Disabilities at McGill University. He will be discussing the Universal Design for Learning framework and its application in the classroom.

In addition, Dr. Marian Small from the University of New Brunswick will be providing in depth professional development sessions on supporting struggling students in upper elementary and secondary mathematics.

Just a sample of our sessions:

Daily 5 Math-a model for differentiation (numeracy)
Digital storytelling for the 21st century resource teacher (technology)
Introduction to ALERT self-regulation training (resource models)
Literacy and language in the work-oriented training path classroom (literacy)
iPad apps resource guide for adults with special needs (technology)
Non-fiction texts to support writing (literacy)
ALDI edcamp-an “unconference” within our conference (resource models/professional development)
Session for resource teachers new to the role (resource models/professional development)
Literacy, numeracy and mental health: Helping students get better grades by focusing on emotional competency (literacy/numeracy/mental health)

And don’t forget our exciting onsite exhibitors…plenty of resources to access while attending the symposium.