Saturday 18 June 2016

We are all learners.

Everyone can learn. 

It's just a little bit more of a challenge for some students. 

Our job as teachers, is to find a way to help every student maximize and exceed their potential. It is our job to help everyone of our students, despite their learning challenges, to develop a growth mindset.  It is our job to enable all of our students to see that they have LearnAbilities instead of just focusing upon their Learning Disabilities.

This blog is a place to access information and resources for teachers, parents and students regarding a wide range of topics or issues that a child with  learning disablities might face. It is important to note, that this blog is just a resource and should not be used as a diagnostic tool. The blog posts represent my opinions entirely and the lessons I have designed and suggestions or ideas I put forth are intended to primarily assist a teacher gain a better understanding of what Learning Disabilities are and what strategies seem to work best. Furthermore, this blog has come into being as a vehicle for the innovation project I completed as a member of the first TED-Ed Innovative Educators Cohort. As a teacher in a school who specializes in students with diagnosed learning disabilities, I found that it wasn't always easy to find the information I needed in order to understand and help my students. My innovation project was initially designed to be a series of TED-Ed Lessons on specific aspects of learning disabilities I found important to learn more about. 

However, this project has become so much more. It has become a labour of love. There is nothing more important than ensuring that teachers have as much information about the students they teach as is possible. Without knowledge and specific, workable strategies, it can be overwhelming to try and make learning possible for everyone. 

This project has also resulted in so many amazing conversations with my students, my students' parents and with my colleagues. It is through these conversations, that I have begun to understand how truly difficult it can be when you can't seem to learn with the same ease as others.  I have been priviledged to the most profoundly honest and heartfelt stories of adversity, frustration, sorrow, heartbreak. And, most of the time, for not every story has a happy ending, stories of acceptance and perserverance and hardfought victories.  


So, LearnAbilities is for all of those students who don't fit the norm. For all of those parents who are fighting tooth and nail to find the best possible education for their child. For those teachers out there who know that knowledge is a powerful tool. But most of all, I would like this blog to be a celebration of learning. 

Everyone can learn. Isn't it time we start doing something about it? 




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