Reason to Celebrate

In the first post of 'The Digital Citizen' blog you were invited to join us in our endeavour to assist our special needs students, specifically autistic students, using iPads and iPod Touches. Barrday Corporation started us off, quite handsomely, buy providing us with the funds to purchase the technology for the initiative we proposed to them. Having the devices to support our learners in an innovative way was a huge first step. We decided to take it to another level by submitting a proposal application to the Ministry of Education to be part of their Teacher Learning and Leadership Program (TLLP) for Experienced Teachers in order to professionally and financially support our initiative. Please bear with me as I take you through the TLLP application process - it is one of the reasons for the title of this blog post - Reason to Celebrate.

taken from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/teacher/pdfs/ProgramOverview.pdf

The first part of the process involved receiving our Principal's blessing. I'm not trying to make light of this part of the process but our Administrator has been and continues to be a pivotal part of this project - it is safe to say that NONE of this would be happening without the leadership and support that he has and continues to provide us with.

taken from http://fatima.wcdsb.ca/

After the school Principal signs off on the proposal application it is sent to the Director of Education to be reviewed at the Board level. Unlike the first part, there is no back-and-forth discussion around the ideas and energy that inspires one to complete such an application. The Board level team reviews the applications sent to the Director and are then permitted to send two applications to the Ministry of Education. When we found out that the Board level team had chosen our application to move to the next level we were quite honoured and humbled. This alone was a significant moment for us.

taken from www.wcdsb.ca

Once the Ministry receives the application proposals they have a team that reviews them and then decides which ones to fund. Obviously the Ministry receives a lot of applications. If every Board in Ontario sends them two applications then the Ministry could be looking at 144 applications! Long story short, the Ministry approved our application! Words can't really explain how we felt when we received the news. We are pleased and excited that our Board and the Ministry see value in our initiative and the impact it can have on our students.

taken from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/

Our project, entitled "The us of Apple iPad's and iPod Touches to enhance the learning of Autistic students", seeks to use the above mentioned devices to provide Autistic students with technology that will meet their learning needs and facilitate their demonstration of knowledge and skills. We believe that touch technology devices are examples of up to date and innovative technology that special needs students can use to improve their motivation and learning. We also believe that these devices should result in differentiated instruction for Autistic students that meet their academic and sensory needs.

We have lots of reasons to celebrate and we are looking forward to many more reasons to celebrate as we progress through our TLLP.

taken from http://humanlight.org/wordpress/