ONLINE REGISTRATION - Please visit our website:www.bctf.ca/ssta

Now What?!SSTA PD Day 2016 - Friday, April 15th

Howe Sound Secondary38430 Buckley Ave, Squamish BC

Sea to Sky Teachers’ Association Suite 104-40775 Tantalus Road, Squamish, BC V8B 0N2 Phone 604-892-3056 Fax 604-892-2296. . . . . Please visit our website at: www.bctf.ca/ssta . . . .

Connecting Aboriginal Ways of Learning

to the New Curriculum

The SSTA PD Committee proudly presents:

Monique Gray Smith

keynote speaker

Monique Gray Smith is a mixed heritage woman of Cree,

Lakota, and Scottish descent and is the proud Mom of twelve

year old twins. She is an award winning author, international

speaker and sought after consultant. Monique has been

running her business, Little Drum Consulting since 1996. Her

career has focused on fostering paradigm shifts that emphasize

the strength and resiliency of the First Peoples in Canada.

Monique’s strong understanding of education has led her

to work as the Executive Director for Aboriginal Head Start

Association of BC and the National Aboriginal Advisor for Roots

of Empathy. Her leadership in the field of Aboriginal Education

led her to create a resource called The Ripple Effect of

Resiliency: Strategies for Fostering Resiliency with Indigenous

Children. Monique’s first published novel, Tilly: A Story of

Hope and Resilience won the Canadian 2014 Burt Award for

First Nation, Métis and Inuit Literature. Her first children’s board

book, My Heart Fills with Happiness has just been released by

Orca Books and is receiving starred reviews. Monique is being

touted as one of the up and coming Canadian authors to read.

She is well known for her storytelling, spirit of generosity and

focus on resilience. Monique has been sober and involved in

her healing journey for over 23 years.

Lineup of WorkshopsTheme Presenter Workshop TitleKeynote Monique Gray Smith Ripple Effect of Resilience and the Power of OneTheme 1 Monique Gray Smith Fostering Resilience with Indigenous Students

Theme 2 Adrienne Gear Nonfiction Reading Power – Linking Thinking to Reading in the Content Areas

Theme 3 Cory Hartling, Brittany Carter, Alexandra Norris Project Based Learning

Theme 4 Lisa Sigurgeirson Maxx Literacy through Music Theme 5 BCTF Presenter - Christie Weigel Education Change: The Big PictureTheme 6 Margaret Paxton Tribes Learning CommunitiesTheme 7 Henry Verbeek Adobe Photoshop in the ClassroomTheme 8 Stewardship Pemberton Society Nature Education in the Sea to Sky Corridor

Theme 9 Sorcha Masterson & Diana Lonergan Creating and Using Visual Supports with Our Students, for Education Assistants (EAs)

Theme 10 Collaborative Learning/Self-Directed

Keynote:

Ripple Effect of Resilience and the Power of One Each of us, no matter what our role is in the school system, has the

ability to influence and foster the resilience of students.

This engaging and inspiring Keynote will explore resiliency from

an Indigenous perspective. It will provide a unique opportunity to

reflect on the importance of resilience and identifying our role in

fostering the resilience of the students we work with. We will briefly

explore Canadian history from an Indigenous perspective and the

critical role resilience has in both our history and our future. Through

an introduction to the 4 Blankets of Resiliency: Strong sense of self;

family; community; culture, language and connection to the land,

participants will leave with new tools to support their work with

students.

Theme 1 - Workshop:

Fostering Resilience with Indigenous Students This workshop is an extension to the

Keynote Address and will begin with an

overview on how stress & trauma impact

a student’s wellness and why we may see

behavioural disruptions, challenges in

connection and learning.

We will delve further into the 4 Blankets

of Resiliency, spending time exploring

how each blanket might be used in your

class/school/program.

Theme 2 - Nonfiction Reading Power – Linking Thinking to Reading in the Content Areas Ad r i e n n e G e a r has been a teacher in

the Vancouver School district for over 18 years

working as a classroom teacher, ESL teacher,

teacher librarian and District Literacy Mentor. She is currently teaching two

days a week at Sexsmith Elementary. Adrienne developed Reading Power

almost 10 years ago and has been since working with teachers in many

districts throughout the province. She has also presented workshops in the

United States in Atlanta, Kansas and Pennsylvania.

Adrienne is the author of several books, Reading Power – Teaching Students

How to Think While They Read (Pembroke, 2006), Nonfiction Reading Power

– Teaching Students How to Think While They Read All Kinds of Information

(Pembroke, 2008) , Writing Power (Pembroke, 2011) and Non-Fiction Writing

Power (Pembroke, 2014) .

Nonfiction Reading Power - Linking Thinking to Reading

Reading Power is a reading comprehension approach which focuses

students’ attention on their thinking, enabling them to interact more

meaningfully with the text. Based on research, Reading Power is a practical

approach to comprehension being implemented in many districts

across the province. This session is an introduction to the key concepts,

including meta-cognition, common language and levels of understanding

text. Adrienne will share practical lessons to help students read more

thoughtfully and interactively in the content areas as well as share how

Reading Power links to the new curriculum. Strategies she will highlight

include Making Connections, Questioning, Inferring and Transform. As

always, Adrienne will link her lessons to recommended anchor books and

share her favorite Non-fiction “Top Picks”.

Theme 3 - Project Based Learning

Cory Hartling, Brittany Carter, Alexandra Norris

This workshop will take participants through the PBL process as it has been implemented at the Learning Expeditions Program. We will

introduce participants to aspects of PBL and UbD that have been utilized at Learning Expeditions. Participants can expect to learn, and

apply, fundamental aspects of PBL and UbD, including: big ideas, essential questions, critique and various protocols.

Theme 4 - Literacy through Music

Lisa Sigurgeirson Maxx

Lisa is also a professional singer-songwriter and brings her enthusiastic passion for music and lyrics to

her presentations. Lisa loves to inspire and encourage teachers to remember that children can learn

the educational curriculum joyfully through music and movement. And, through learning joyfully stu-

dents will develop the most important thing we can offer them: the love of learning.

Literacy through Music

Literacy through Music will offer a backbone of supportive, brain-based information about how children learn literacy in these

body-engaging ways, being the eager, kinaesthetic learners they naturally are. This information will provide teachers’ some peace-

of-mind about imparting the curriculum to their students. As well, it will give educators a body of information they can share with

parents who are eager for their children to be “learning the 3R’s.”

Literacy through Music will be a hands-on – and voices joined! – workshop, offering interactive, experiential learning that teachers

can take directly into their teaching environments and watch the joy begin to radiate in the faces of their young learners.

Theme 4 - Education Change: The Big Picture

BCTF Presenter - Christie Weigel

Education Change: The Big Picture

This BCTF workshop provides teachers with the “big picture” issues in education change including the importance of:

• the school community and the values that are fundamental to public education.

• the teacher’s professional voice, autonomy, and collective agreement rights related to education change.

• resources, support, and working conditions necessary for the successful implementation of education change.

• a thorough understanding of the many elements of the government’s education change plans, including revised curriculum.

Theme 6 - Tribes Learning Communities

Margaret Paxton

Margaret has been an educator since 1992, and was a Sea to Sky teacher, literacy

coordinator and principal until June 2015. Margaret has been a Tribes District

Trainer since 2006, as well as a Roots of Empathy and Ruler Method for Emotional

Literacy teacher. Margaret loves to learn and share ideas about how addressing

students’ social emotional development can lead to greater academic success.

Tribes Learning Communities

“Tribes is a process to create a culture that maximizes learning and human development.” In this

session, participants will learn some ways to explicitely teach the competencies through cooperative

and collaborative activities. We will discuss the power of group dynamics to facilitate deeper learning,

and will use a variety of reflection questions to “make learning sticky.” We’ll share some ways to help

students become more independent problem-solvers and create a positive class climate.

Theme 7 - Photoshop in the Classroom

Henry Verbeek

Henry Verbeek has been teaching for 28 years in a variety of subjects but is most

passionate about Information Communication Technology. He has been the ICT

Teacher and CRT at DRS/DRM for the past eleven years and has been using the

Adobe Suite for over ten years in the classroom. He uses a flipped classroom with

all assignments on video so students can learn technical processes at their own rate.

Photoshop in the Classroom

This Pro-D opportunity will not be aimed at teaching you how to fully use Photoshop but coming up

with one lesson that can be used in your next class on Monday. A lesson that will get students excited

about learning. An opportunity for students to present something in a different way. Three examples

will be used. Each of these lessons was made not for IT class but for another teacher to use in their class

at DRM. The goal will be to create a lesson designed specifically for your classroom.

Theme 8 - Nature Education in the Sea to Sky Corridor

Stewardship Pemberton Society

The workshop is brought to teachers by Stewardship Pemberton Society

in partnership with, Squamish River Watershed Society, South Coast

Conservation Program, Cheakamus Centre, BC Green Games, Science World and local outdoor educators.

Stewardship Pemberton Society is a volunteer based not for profit charitable organization connecting

community and nature. They encourage the protection, restoration, and long term sustainability of the

natural environment through education, cooperation, and community involvement.

Nature Education in the Sea to Sky Corridor

This workshop will provide teachers with a sampling of why nature education matters, ways to

incorporate nature based and environmental learning into the classroom, and insight on how

organizations can help you to achieve your nature based environmental education goals.

To provide regional insight on opportunities for teachers and staff within School District 48 to engage

in nature based environmental learning and teaching initiatives. This workshop will specifically provide

information on:

• benefits of nature based participatory learning

• introduction to local Sea to Sky and regional environmental and science organizations, their programs

and their leaders

• current collaborative learning initiatives

• accessible and easy grant opportunities

• outdoor games and activities in action

• resource materials including applicable funds and handout material on games, activities and

• local Sea to Sky non profit environmental organizations links

• building a foundation - keeping open lines of communications to achieve our collective goals

Theme 10 - Collaborative Learning/Self-Directed

This option is a great opportunity for those who would like to collaborate on a

learning project or work on a self-directed plan but would still like to network

with their colleagues from all over the District!

ONLINE REGISTRATION - Please visit our website:www.bctf.ca/ssta

Theme 9 - Creating and Using Visual Supports with Our Students, for Education Assistants (EAs)

Sorcha Masterson & Diana Lonergan

A long time learning support teacher in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, Sorcha Masterson is

a member of the Low Incidence Support (LIST) and Mulch-interdisciplinary support (MIST) Teams

for SD#48, helping support school teams around their students with low incidence and behavioural

designations. Sorcha is also our District Partner for the Provincial Outreach Programs for Autism and

Related Disorders (POPARD), and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (POPFASD), as well as Inclusion

Outreach BC (formerly PISP). Diana Lonergan is a long time Special Education Assistant (SEA)

with SD#48. She is also on the MIST team, supporting school teams and students with behaviour

challenges. Besides her SEA certification, Diana is also a certified Early Child Educator (ECE), has her

Orton-Gillingham certificate and has Provincial Autism training.

Creating and Using Visual Supports with Our Students, for Education Assistants (EAs)

Visual supports are tools that are used to increase the understanding and retention of language,

environmental expectations, and to provide structure and support for our students. Research has

determined that the majority of students in a regular classroom need to see information in order to

learn it, this is particularly important for many of the students that Education Assistants (EAs) support

due to their academic, attention and/or behavioural challenges.

This workshop will lead EAs through how to use a variety of visual supports with their students,

and how and where to access them. Opportunity will be provided for participants to create visual

supports for the students they work with.