are tools that help people overcome the challenges they face. We make use of everything we can afford--from personalized spelling dictionaries to talking word processors. The wide range of assistive technologies available today is well outlined in A Parent's Guide to Helping Kids with Learning Difficulties.

Individualized Education Plan (I.E.P.) ...

a document that describes the personalized instructional program for a student with special needs. The creation and use of an IEP is required by law to ensure that students with special needs receive an appropriate education. IEPs typically include information such a description of the student's strengths and abilities as well as specific goals and strategies for achieving them. Ideally, IEPs are living documents that are developed with close collaboration between home and school. Please see also our explanation Individualized Programming!

Individualized Programming ...

is the heart of what we do here in THRIVE as well as one of the biggest differences between this kind of environment and mainstream classrooms. We take time to get to know each student's strengths and interests and use these to help them overcome their weaknesses.

Individualized programming in reading, writing and math takes up about half of our time each week -- with the rest of the time spent on traditional whole-group instruction plus art, music and PE. Feel free to ask for more information or to see some sample Reading & Writing Growth Plans!

Now in our ninth year, we have found that we can only effectively run individualized programming when a teacher's aide is present. (The demands of this kind of learning require two trained bodies in the room--and we have TA support for only about half of each week.)

Learning Strategies ...

are ways that students with learning disabilities can improve their academic skills. Once we determine a need and set a goal to overcome it, we can probably find (or develop) a specific strategy to help.

For example, people with a reading disability may decode text too slowly to allow for proper understanding of the meaning. One strategy we teach in this situation is called Two-Pass: basically, read especially difficult text twice! The first time through, focus on decoding all the hard-for-you words; the second time through (which should be much quicker), focus on the main idea. You can check out a few of our other strategies in the Resources section of this site.

Academic research proves that there are strategies to overcome all kinds of learning challenges! Here in THRIVE, we seek to find out which ones work best for each student -- and then give tonnes of guided practice -- to maximize long-term learning success.

Performance Scales ...

are tools developed and used by teachers to make the process of evaluating student work easier to understand. In THRIVE, we have developed formal 4-point scales to cover most subject areas and activities. Scoring grids (also called rubrics) describe what we are looking for as well as how student work stands up to the selected criteria. In general, 3.0 points are awarded for work of good quality. Higher marks indicate excellence while lower scores indicate a need for improvement. Earning fewer than 2.0 points on any task should be considered a failing mark. Looking at some sample rubrics may help you to understand how they work! Here are two that we frequently use: the first one evaluates student work in their Individualized Programs while the second explains and marks Classroom Participation.

Scholar Dollars ...

is a program that allows students to earn rewards for producing high quality work. We keep track of earned monies in a classroom bank account. The Scholar Dollar prize box gets stocked with things like school supplies, how-to kid's books, tools, stuffed animals, granola bars, fruit juice, gift certificates, etc. Purchases can occur on Friday afternoons only.

Note: Any work marked according to one of our formal 4-point Performance Scales can earn Scholar Dollars. Scores between 2.0 and 3.00 earn an equivalent number of Scholar Dollars. Scores between 3.01 and 4.0 earn twice the number of Scholar Dollars. Scores of 1.99 or lower (i.e. failing marks) earn no Scholar Dollars.

Shared Writing ...

is an approach that we use often in THRIVE to help students learn some great strategies they can use to get their thoughts on paper. We've developed a totally-cool, high-tech way to involve everyone in the "The Writing Process." Using a notebook computer and an LCD projector, students take turns leading the planning, organizing, drafting, editing and publishing stages of writing. You've got to see it to believe it!

This approach offers every student many opportunities to contribute to the task of producing a finished piece of writing. And it gradually empowers students to do these things for themselves. (Much of the writing we publish in The Times, our online newspaper, is developed in this way.)

Urban Hiking ...

gets kids out into the community, exploring local parks on foot. It is part of our physical education program and each trip includes some kind of connection to topics we are studying in class. In previous years, we have hiked many local parks including Burnaby Mountain, Stanley Park, the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve, Lynn Canyon and -- once every three years or so -- even up the Grouse Grind!