EDUCATION
Additional Basic Qualification, Primary Division,
Queens University, 2007
Additional Qualification, Special Education,
Queens University, 2004
Basic Qualification, Intermediate and Senior Divisions,
York University, 2001
Bachelor of Education, Consecutive Education Program,
York University, 2001
Bachelor of Arts (Honours), Major in Theatre Arts, Minor in English,
Acadia University, 1998
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: SELECTED WORKSHOPS, COURSES & SEMINARS
Teaching strategies for Deaf students: Hearing Aids; Cochlear Implants
Applied Behavior Analysis Certification
Behaviour Management System
Foundations of Children and Youth Mental Health and Well-Being
Crisis Intervention/ Prevention Training
CPR /First Aid - Canadian Red Cross Society
“Positive Practices for Positive Classrooms” workshop
Middle Years Literacy Program and Soar to Success
Pervasive Developmental Disabilities Professional Development
Experience with Board Maker and several Augmentative Communication Devices
Working Together: The Ontario Human Rights Code and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, Ontario Human Rights Commission
AODA for Educators
Additional AODA Certifications: Workplace & Wellbeing, Customer Service Standard, General Awareness, Employment Standard, Design of Public Spaces Standard, Transportation Standard, AODA for Customer Service
Additional Training & Professional Development
Foundations of Children & Youth Mental Health and Well-Being
Students with a Hearing Loss: Info for Classroom Teachers (Hearing Aid version)
Students with a Hearing Loss: Info for Classroom Teachers (Cochlear Implant Version)
Health & Safety Awareness at Work (Workers)
Dealing with Abuse & Neglect of Students
Asthma Awareness
Diabetes Awareness
Life Threatening Allergies (Sabrina’s Law)
Seizures
Making Schools Safe for LGBT Students for Teachers
Special Education: Safety in the Classroom for Teachers
Youth Suicide: Awareness & Prevention
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Ontario College of Teachers (OCT)
Elementary Teachers of Ontario (ETFO)
Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF)
BIO: TEACHING, LEADERSHIP & INVITED GUEST SPEAKER PRESENTATIONS
Have lead, co-led, designed and/ or helped facilitate workshops courses and presentations. As always, community consultants are paid to sit in to these sessions: Deepening knowledge and broadening scope for Tour Guides (Royal Ontario Museum), Creative Description for Curators (Critical Distance Centre for Curators) , Presented Three “Snapshot Sessions”: Audio Description as a Teaching Tool for Young Children (Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability Conference, Denver, CO), Open Forum about Audio Description (CNIB), Curiosity Club Q&A (re: Audio Description; CNIB), Disability, Pedagogies, and Performance Working Group (CATR), Revision of Integrated Descriptive Video & Live Descriptive Video Best Practices Documents (DVBP Committee chaired by AMI), Curriculum Development, Trainer and Mentor: Live & Recorded Described Video Skills Training (Kat Germain in association with Closed Captioning Services Inc. & Infinity Forge), Workshop Development and Trainer: Deepening knowledge and broadening scope: Guiding Patrons who are Blind/ partially sighted (AGO), Ontario Curriculum Document revision (Little People of Ontario), Public Talk: Advocacy for Access: Working Together to Increase Description in Toronto (CCB Visionaries), Workshop Assist: Remember the Sandwich Board (Jumblies Theatre), Workshop Development and Leader: Welcoming your Blind and Partially Sighted Patrons (Young People’s Theatre), Voice as Essential Instrument in Creation (Fides Krucker), Intro to Baby Clown (Mike Kennard). Kat’s advocacy work has resulted in the commitment of the Toronto Fringe and Next Stage theatre festivals to offer at least one professionally Audio Described performance per festival, encouraged the DVBP committee to revise their Best Practices documents for Descriptive Video.
HIGHLIGHTS: TEACHING EXPERIENCE (TDSB)
Occasional Teacher, Toronto District School Board, Fall 2001 – present
Have taught every grade from kindergarten to (formerly) OAC; every subject in the Primary through Intermediate levels. Gained much experience teaching in Special Education classrooms working with students with Developmental, Multiple and Learning Disabilities, Behavioural and Gifted. Enjoy the flexibility of Occasional Teaching and the diverse experiences that come with teaching in such a multitude of schools, subjects and classroom settings.
Half-time Library Learning Resource Centre, half-time Literacy Coordinator, Jan 2010 – June 2010
Model Schools for Inner Cities site.
Created cross-curricular Balanced Literacy unit for teachers in all grades that integrated drama, media literacy and script writing into existing work on Narrative texts with a focus on the media’s representation (or lack thereof) of people with lived experience of disability or who are Deaf.
Under Model Schools initiatives, created beginnings of a Parent lending library
Purchased books resulting in dramatic increase of multicultural and bilingual books to better represent the community and the school’s 30+ languages.
Sat on boards for the school’s Multicultural Parent night and the committee to spend the school’s Performing Arts budget.
Classroom Teacher: Multiple exceptionalities (developmental disabilities coupled with low/ no mobility and intensive health concerns), March 2008 – June 2008
Worked with physiotherapists, vision and hearing specialists and arts organizations seeking to further expand the students’ abilities and experiences.
Lead the DVD Yearbook committee
Winners: Science fair. Exploration of safety, velocity and inertia which was built to allow students to independently initiate the experiment using adaptive technology.
Sat on board school-wide arts week
Organized field trips for my students. For the first time in their lives, these six children went to the theatre.
Classroom Teacher: Multiple exceptionalities (behavioural coupled with Autism and other developmental and communicative differences), September 2003 – June 2004
Devised programs that involved the students more directly in the school community and focused on students’ communication, confidence, independence and feelings of belonging.
Involved in a school-wide scheduling restructure and student placements
TEACHING:
STRENGTHS AND SKILLS
Occasional Teacher at TDSB: 19 yrs.
Specialize in alternative learning environments and intensive support classrooms for neurodiverse students
Disability & Equity Justice Activist for vulnerable populations; sit on the Equity and Social Justice Committee
Teach almost exclusively in downtown, inner city schools
Reflective practitioner
Outstanding leadership and management skills; Flexible and easy going