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To get in contact with us regarding group bookings, courses or products, please email us or use the contact form provided below.
FAQs
Who Teaches these Courses?
* Dr. Valdine Bjornson, EdD (FIT/OGA) teaches both the Classroom Educator and Associate OGA courses. Valdine is a Certified Reading Clinician and EAL specialist who has worked with students from Preschool to University, both in Manitoba and International (private and public) schools including Japan, Finland, and Egypt. She completed a Doctor of Education focused upon adults with dyslexia. Valdine is also accredited as a Tier 3 Dyslexia Specialist/ Dyslexia Therapist with the International Dyslexia Association(CDT/IDA).
Valdine has trained with the following professionals/individuals:
public school divisions across Manitoba (Louis Riel, Evergreen, Interlake, Rolling River, Prairie Rose, St. James-Assiniboia, etc.)
private schools - Rotherglen School (Ontario), private Catholic schools, Springs Christian Academy and St. John's Ravenscourt
First Nations School System - Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre; Split Lake, MB
other professionals and parents from across Canada (from British Columbia to New Brunswick to Qatar and California)
She is currently a Reading Specialist at the Indigenous Student Centre at the University of Manitoba and a Literacy Specialist in a public school division. Please see her professional website for more details.
Are there discounts?
Discount applies for groups of 3 or more
Are there extra costs?
Highly recommended resources are located at the RLCC shop
What are the Special Education Hours?
Through Manitoba Certification:
Section 2(b): Professional Development – OPTIONAL
Twenty (20) contact hours of approved professional development in special education related topics is equivalent to one (1) hour towards Section 2(a): Electives.
If completing twelve (12) credit hours of university course electives in special education to complete a degree for a salary reclassification, professional development is not required or mandatory for certification purposes.
Completing only approved professional development will not fulfill the Special Education Teacher’s certificate. See number: 2. a. and 2. b.
Professional development contact hours are not university credit hours and are not eligible for degree requirements.
https://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/profcert/pdf_docs/spedguid.pdf
After I take this course, am I accredited?
No. Accreditation requires a practicum supervised by an OGA FIT/F. This is an extensive process that includes a minimum number of teaching hours and a set number of observations and follow-up conferences. It also requires an additional financial investment. The practicum process is arranged directly with your supervising FIT/F. Requirements for the range of accreditation options can be found at the Orton Gillingham Academy (OGA) website.
OGA will only list you as an accredited OG tutor with OGA if you have completed the CE and Associate training and practicum (which is a total of 10 observations/lesson plans). After having completed accreditation (training plus practicum) you could also apply to other organizations for equivalent titles such as the International Dyslexia Association as a Structured Literacy/Dyslexia Interventionist and Specialist.