Leveling the Playing Field

Don Adams English and Humanities, Head of School, Technology No Comments

YMCA Academy student using in-class assistive technology on a laptop.

On March 30, like students throughout Ontario, YMCA Academy students participated in the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT). Unlike a vast majority of them, however, Academy students make use of a full range of accommodations to enable them to write the test on an equal footing with all of their peers.

Because The Academy is a school for students who learn differently, there are many potential barriers to their access to the testing process. Students with dysgraphia, for example, can have extreme difficulty with writing or typing. Students with language-based learning disabilities can have difficulty reading text from a page. Others, by virtue of learning disabilities or learning style differences, cannot access test materials in ways common to most learners. Such students can be fully literate (and after all, the purpose of the OSSLT is to determine a basic literacy level for all Ontario Students), but would not appear to be so without accommodations.

What are the accommodations available to students for the OSSLT? Students have access to a wide array of supports. The test is made available in a variety of formats, including text to speech, large type and Braille versions. Laptops are available to access these formats. As well, students can use computers to compose their responses. According to their specific learning needs, students can type their responses, dictate them using speech to text software, or even have a person scribe their answers.

Students with processing speed issues can be given extra time to complete the OSSLT; those with attention issues can be given an individual or small group setting for their test. They are allowed periodic supervised breaks and the supervising adult can prompt them back to work as needed.

Students with learning style differences can be at a disadvantage if they are not appropriately supported. At The YMCA Academy, we ensure that the full range of supports is in place to give our students the best possible opportunity for success – on the OSSLT, in school, and beyond.

Trek Talks: Bridging Science and the Arts

Zareh Demirdji Arts, Beyond the Classroom, Experiential Learning, Science and Math, Technology No Comments

This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the debut of Star Trek, a show that has captured the imagination of its fans, inspired the creation of many technologies, and most importantly, given viewers an encouraging vision of the future where the human race has learned to work with one another in a utopian society. In honour of this milestone, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) Lightbox Theatre has put together a series of events to celebrate the occasion.

One such event is Trek Talks: Bridging Science and the Arts. This is a panel style discussion on Star Trek and education which includes a physician (Sonny Kohli) a Canadian astronaut (Jeremy Hansen) and Royal Ontario Museum Managing Director (Marianne Mader). The panel will discuss how science can inspire the arts and how the art in turn can inspire science. The panel will also discuss how film and television projects like Star Trek inspire careers in science, space, technology, math, arts, and engineering.

Since Star Trek embodies so much science, it was (as Mr. Spock would say) a logical conclusion to take the grade 10 science class to partake in this discussion. And so on star date 10.13.16, the grade 10 science class, along with their Captain and the Academy’s Technical Analyst officer, boldly navigated their way to the TIFF Lightbox Theatre at warp speed, and listened in awe to the stories and anecdotes of the presenters.

After being introduced to the panel, the audience was shown a video montage of a variety of scenes from the various Star Trek television shows that visually demonstrated the science and art themes of the event. The panel discussed and explored a variety of questions and topics audience which included:

  • How Star Trek influenced their career path
  • What aspects of Star Trek have allowed its legacy to last for 50 years?
  • The importance of scientific accuracy in television shows
  • The ethics of scientific progress
  • The advantages of a scientifically literate society
  • Star Trek’s influence on the development of technology
  • The importance of risk taking in scientific exploration

After listening to the panel members’ personal and enthusiastic answers, the audience were granted an opportunity to ask questions to the panel. Three of our student’s posed their questions to the panel and listened with curiosity to the answers. After the event concluded, we had the honour of taking a group photograph with one of the panel members, Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

Check out more photos from this event on our Facebook page!

To watch the entire panel discussion see below! (To skip to our student questions, forward to time index 1 hour, 31 minutes)

Students visit Tattoo Sound + Music

YMCA Academy Community, Experiential Learning, Technology No Comments

As part of a unit on the world of sound, the Academy’s two Grade 10 Communications Technology classes travelled to Tattoo Sound + Music earlier this week.

Dana, Steve, and the Tattoo staff spent their morning conducting an interactive, hands-on workshop for the group. Students learned about the process of creating a rich sonic tapestry, how to get started in the industry, what it’s like to work with major clients, and how the equipment in a professional recording studio works. Then, volunteers from each class got behind the microphones and recorded some foley sound effects for a commercial!

Authentic learning experiences like these are vital and highly engaging opportunities for students to build on and apply the skills they learn in class. The Academy group asked many excellent questions, and were excited to learn that some major musical stars had once graced the very spot where they stood.

But we couldn’t do it without support from people like Dana, Steve, and the Tattoo Sound + Music crew, who opened their doors to the school and took time out of their busy schedules to enrich our students’ learning. You can read more about our commitment to experiential learning here.

Check out the rest the rest of the pictures on our Facebook page!

The Academy visits CBC News

YMCA Academy Experiential Learning, Technology No Comments

Students from the Grade 9 English and Grade 10 Communications Technology classes went on a field trip last week to CBC News. We went there so we can see the jobs they have at the CBC, and maybe think about working there some day. At the CBC we met a lot of people, and visited a lot of newsrooms and a big elevator.

Some of the highlights of our trip included:

  • David Common doing a live broadcast and telling us about his life (Zachary)
  • when we went the radio station (Patricia)
  • when the class went in the green screen room and played with the green screen (Lucas)
  • everything, especially the robot that goes around delivering mail to people in the news station (Adam)

We learned a lot about the different jobs you can do at CBC.

  • The job I would like to do at CBC is being a radio announcer host. (Zachary)
  • The job that I most like to do at the CBC is being the news reporter, because I like doing the news so people can find out what’s going on in the world. (Patricia)
  • The job that I most like to do at the CBC is being a radio announcer or host because I like being on the radio. (Lucas)
  • I would like to be a camera operator because you work with cameras. (Adam)

Field trips like this are good because we can experience more. Reading gives you some details, but going to a place actually gives you more details. We get to live the experience of seeing people doing their jobs, and choose a job you want to do off of that.

Thanks to Mark and everyone at the CBC for welcoming us!

Written by:

Zach DS.
Lucas H.
Patricia R.
Adam V.
and Todd Harrison

Experiential Learning at the YMCA Academy

Andras Nagy Experiential Learning, Student Spotlight, Technology No Comments

The Grade 12 Communications Technology class at the YMCA Academy was responsible for creating several videos that showcase experiential learning.

As part of their culminating activity students organized, filmed, edited and produced 5-10 minute long videos documenting some of the workshops, field trips, and other examples of experiential learning that happens at The YMCA Academy.

The completed videos have been posted below, they include:

  • Crumple Zone Design Challenge: Students design, build and test car crumple zones.
  • Evergreen Downsview Stewardship: Supporting Evergreen Downsview Park through environmental initiatives.
  • History of Civilizations Class: History/Geography course which uses gamification to teach curriculum.
  • Shovel and Spoon Program: Life Skills and hands-on learning related to cooking, gardening, nutrition and wellness.

 

Crumple Zone Design Challenge

Downsview Park Environmental Stewardship

History of Civilizations Class

Shovel and Spoon Program One

Shovel and Spoon Program Two

Shovel and Spoon Program Three