Many of you will have encountered this term at conferences, in training and publications. It sounds appealing, ground breaking and slightly daunting!

This session will seek to introduce the basic concepts of Universal Design for Learning from a hands-on-perspective: What is it? Why is it becoming increasingly important in achieving inclusion? How can I start exploring and implementing it as a teacher everyday in my own clasroom?

February 3, 2014

Presenter Frederic Fovet brings to the field of inclusion a unique profile in the sense that he has a combined background in Law (he was a practising solicitor in the UK) and an academic research interest in Social, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties (he holds a MEd in SEBD from the University of Birmingham in the UK). It is undoubtedly this dual perspective that makes UDL so appealing. He has himself been a Special Ed teacher and the principal of a residential school for adolescents with Learning Disabilities and behaviour difficulties for over a decade, before triggering at the head of the OSD at McGill a radical and campus wide drive for UDL implementation.

When working with students with special needs, the resource teacher can be a key link between the student, classroom practices and school environment. During the fall of 2013 a survey was distributed to resource teachers within the English School Boards in Quebec asking about the tasks they perform.  The results of this survey provide invaluable insight and acts as a springboard for a conversation about the role of resource support in the delivery of special education within your school.

September 22, 2014

Presenter Tara Wheeler has worked with students with behavioural, intellectual and physical disabilities for 16 years. She has been a Resource Teacher, Special Education Consultant and is now the Project Development Officer for the Work-Oriented Training Path. She has a Masters in Educational Leadership and so is interested in both special education and educational leadership.

This workshop will review three key aspects of learning. First, we will identify which brain networks are involved in learning. In part, we will review brain plasticity and the role of emotions in learning. We will then discuss what can be done within the classroom environment to enhance activation of these networks. Lastly we will discuss factors that can hinder learning such as mindset, anxiety and attention. The goal of this workshop is to provide teachers with relevant neuroscience information to help create a classroom environment that is conducive to learning and the brain.

November 24, 2015

Presenter Cindy Hovington, PhD. is the founder of Curious Neuron, a program that provides people with the necessary skills and knowledge related to the brain. They create customized private sessions for children, students and seniors as well as workshops for students, teachers and parents.

Schema Based Instruction: Teaching Children with Different Learning Needs to Successfully Solve Word Problems

Schema Based Instruction (SBI) is an instructional strategy that uses visual representations to teach children the underlying mathematical structure of a word problem. SBI helps children understand the relationships between the numbers in the problem, reduces the cognitive load on working memory, and helps them become more efficient problem solvers. During this webinar, you will be introduced to Schema Based Instruction and shown how it can be used to help children solve word problems. 

September 21, 2015

Presenter Kim Desmarais is an educator and Clinical Activities Specialist with over 12 years with children with special needs and their families. Instruction. She is currently a PhD student in the Research and Clinical Psychology program at Concordia University. Her research focuses on the problem solving strategies used by children with different learning needs during Schema Based Instruction (SBI).