In the Loop – February 22, 2024

February 22, 2024

KEY RESOURCES IN LANGLEY

HONOURING TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION

Coffee and Conversations Webinar Series – Working with Indigenous Families and Communities in Education | Register
As shared by Len Pierre in the most recent Ensouling our Schools session, his consulting group is hosting a series of after school Coffee and Conversations Webinars for educators.  Join facilitators Nadine McSpadden and Twyla Perrin in an enriching four-part series named “Coffee and Conversations,” drawing from their extensive experience in Indigenous Education. This series aims to delve into best practices for supporting Indigenous learners, their families, and those directly engaged in working with Indigenous students. Participants can anticipate a safe and collaborative space for dialogue, questions, and idea sharing. Session #3 on Cultural Safety is currently sold out; however, there is space in session #4 on culturally safe pedagogy scheduled for Wednesday March 13 starting at 3:30 pm.

DISTRICT PROFESSIONAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES
To see our full calendar of offerings, visit www.thinklangley.com

The Path to Reconciliation: Embedding Indigenous Cultural Safety and Humility into Our Schools with Len Pierre | On-Demand Learning Feature
In this second session in our Ensouling Our Schools series, Len Pierre focuses on decolonization, reconciliation, and cultural safety in schools. Setting out with the intention to focus on good, culturally safe practices for educators, Len outlines a number of cultural strategies for school districts to embed in their practice at the classroom, school and district and district level. As well, Len also shares some exciting, promising practices and resources that he has encountered in this work that offer continued hope for ensuring cultural safety lives in our classrooms and schools.

Getting Started with Book Creator | Feb 27, 2024
Curious about Book Creator? Book Creator is a District approved app that is available to teachers to use with their classes that allows students to create and publish high-quality books as part of a rich classroom literacy program.  If you would like to learn more about Book Creator and get an introduction to how you could get started with Book Creator in your classroom, please join us and Jon Smith from Book Creator for these virtual session on Tuesday February 27. The Session will be held on Teams and can be accessed via the link below.

  • Feb 27th Session with Book Creator: An Introductory Session | Teams Link

Nurturing Young Writers (K – 3) with Matt Glover – Session 2 | Feb 29, 2024 I Register
Writing Conferences are at the heart of teaching students to write well. They’re also challenging since they require teachers to make responsive, in the moment decisions. In this session we will use writing samples and video clips to examine strategies for more effective conferring with students.

That Wellness Thing | Langley Education Centre | March 6, 2024 | More info
Langley Education Centre is hosting its fifth annual wellness event on Wednesday March 6, 2024 from 4:30 – 7 pm! We hope you can join us. #thatwellnessthing features information and resources from a variety of community agencies, service providers, and some of our local post-secondary schools. There will be opportunities to try yoga and light refreshments will be served. The event is open to students 16+ and their families, staff, and the public.

EXTERNAL PROFESSIONAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

ConnectedPE Online Conference | February 26-28, 2024 | Register
The ConnectedPE Online Conference is a global Physical Education event that takes places over the course of one week. Each day you will presented with two amazing Physical Education themed sessions led by presenters from all over the world. All attendees will be presented with certificates of completion highlighting the professional development you’ve received.  To learn more about the sessions being offered please see link above under “Register”.

Centering Indigenous Pedagogies in Math Education Webinar Series | More info | Register
The next session of this four part webinar series for teachers, where leading scholars and educators explore strategies for centering Indigenous pedagogies in mathematics education, is coming up on February 27.  Sessions will focus on classroom teachers sharing examples, ideas, and questions on various Indigenous pedagogies such as Indigenous Storywork, teaching mathematics with/from place and land, and culturally responsive mathematics education and assessment practices. The series is free to educators.  If you are unable to attend the live, after school sessions, registered participants will receive the recording. https://elvlc.educ.ubc.ca/unreal-5-cinematics/

PHEBC Chat – Critical Conversation about Daily Marks in PHE… what are we looking for? | March 5, 7 – 8 pm | Register
Historically speaking, gathering daily marks has been a common practice in many PHE classes. The methods used to gather these marks, and the number of marks available (e.g., 3, 5, 10) have differed, but the approach has largely been the same: to record a daily score for students in a PHE class. Should we gather daily scores in our PHE classes? What information are we gathering, and how is it used? Are there other ways to approach this practice and support student learning? Join us on Tuesday, March 05, 2024, from 7-8 pm PST as we explore this topic and possibilities for our PHE classes. This is open to everyone, and it will not be recorded.

CAfLN Conversations | Wednesday March 6 – 5:00 pm | cafln.ca
The next CAfLN Conversation from the Canadian Assessment for Learning Network is coming up on Wednesday March 6 starting at 5:00 pm.  CAfLN members can join for free.  Not a member of CAfLN? Then go to cafln.ca to learn more about how to become a member and get access to all of the excellent resources and professional learning opportunities that CAfLN offers their members.  More details on the next CAfLN conversation will be on the website soon!

Harnessing the Power of AI to support Teaching and Learning | Mar 7, 2024 | Register
Meet the Teaching Assistant you never knew you needed. Join Learning Forward BC with Cari Wilson and Alex Bleim from West Vancouver Schools online from 4:00-6:00 pm PST on March 7th. The theme of this session will cover making teaching easier, practical ideas and suggestions for using AI in the classroom and supporting the myriad of student demands that face educators daily.

Catch UDL-Con: International Savings Before They Fly Away | Register
Register for the world’s largest international Universal Design for Learning Conference. CAST’s Annual Symposium and the UDL-IRN Summit are coming together as one event – UDL-Con: International. Join us as we explore how Universal Design for Learning (UDL) can be used to break down barriers to learning.
Through online and in-person sessions, participants will:

  • Discover the unique ways UDL can enhance and improve the most cutting-edge practices in education today.
  • Be inspired to use UDL as a framework for pulling together multiple initiatives across a school, university, or workplace.
  • Challenge their own assumptions about teaching, instruction, and learning.

Join us July 30-31, 2024 to engage with experts across a variety of fields and explore how UDL can improve the future of learning! This year’s event will be held online and in person (Sacramento, CA).

CAfLN – Assessment as Communication Conference | October 3-5, 2024 | More info
Speaking of CAfLN, the Canadian Assessment for Learning Network will be hosting their Fall Conference entitled “Let’s Talk – Assessment as Communication” in Canmore, Alberta this coming fall!  Save the dates – October 3 to 5, 2024.  More information and registration details still to come.  Check out the link above to learn more and see the incredible line-up of assessment experts who will be present. And to learn more about CAfLN and how to become a member, go to https://cafln.ca/.

LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR STAFF/STUDENTS/CLASSES

High School Economics Field Trips | Deadline Feb 26, 2024 | Register
Last chance to register your class for these engaging field trips! These High School Economics Field Trips are free one-day programs and are a great way to get students to engage with the economic concepts they learn in class through hands on activities. These field trips are open to students grade 8-12 and applicable to a variety of courses like Business, Career Education, Entrepreneurship, Economics, Social Studies and more. Don’t have your students miss out on these fun-filled field trips!

The Great Big Crunch | Thursday March 7 – 10:00 am | More info
Teachers and students are invited to participate in the Canada-wide Great Big Crunch on March 7 at 10:00 am PST. The Great Big Crunch is a moment of “anti-silence” where participants bite into crunchy local produce in unison. Invite your classroom, your whole school, or colleagues to crunch together in celebration of nutritious, B.C.-grown school food. Registration and information can be found on the website.

Edward Jones in your class, are you interested? | More info
Engaging students in conversations about saving or investing their money can be challenging, especially when a Timmies stop on the way to school feels like a high school rite of passage.
EVERFI and Edward Jones are partnering to give high school students the opportunity to talk about their long- and short-term financial goals and how they can save and invest to get there! Students will be able get started on digital activities to practice their finance skills in a safe environment. You’ll project the video call on the board, and students will engage with the activities on their own devices. Please note: students will need a Chromebook/laptop for the session and headphones (if they have them!). Sign up below for one of the virtual sessions:

LEARNING RESOURCES

Canadian Primary Sources for use in the classroom | More info
The Begbie Contest Society has a website full of rich primary source documents that teachers can utilize in teaching a variety of subjects related to Canadian History. The site includes maps, pictures and other primary resources plus a large volume of useful and relevant political cartoons that can be used to teach both the history as well as to provide students more knowledge and understanding of primary and secondary source materials.  You can access the website at the link above.

Book Creator – Calendar of Opportunities | More info
Are you using Book Creator with your students and want to find more ways and opportunities to bring Book Creator into your classroom? Then be sure to check out Book Creator’s Planner/Calendar filled with lots of learning opportunities and great ideas for integrating Book Creator into your classroom learning on a regular basis.

PROFESSIONAL AND PERSONAL READINGS AND RESOURCES

Five Ways to Stop Thinking for your Students | Article
Looking to promote more independent, critical thinking with your students and create a more student-centered (and less teacher-centered) classroom?  This is a great article with five simple strategies and ideas to get students to do more of the thinking in your classroom.  The ideas and suggestions are built off of learning from Peter Liljedahl’s work in Building Thinking Classrooms. You can find the article at the link above.

Building Thinking Classrooms – Peter Liljedahl | Article
To learn more about the ideas expressed in the article above and Peter’s work, be sure to check out his website for more simple ideas and resources for creating a student-centered, thinking classroom where your students are doing the majority of the thinking and doing!

TECH TIPS

Internet Browser: Looking for a solid browser home page that will respect your privacy? Look no further: https://www.startpage.com rated ‘A’ by https://tosdr.org

‘Langley’s Teachers using AI’ Team: Interested in learning more about Generative Artificial Intelligence tools and the considerations of how you could use them as a teacher? Join the “Teachers using AI” Team. Open your Teams app>click on Teams>click on All Teams>click on Join or Create a Team>Paste this code into Join a Team with a code: czgfcy3

How-to’s:

  • Skitch: Have students add reflective comments on a screenshot or photo of their work. Learn how: Skitch Overview
  • Primary-using the iPad Camera: Simple ideas for meaningful strategies for using the iPad camera with primary students.

Digital Citizenship Terms:

  • Curiosity Gap: the desire people have to figure out missing information.
  • Dox: to search for and publish private or identifying information about (a particular individual) on the internet, typically with malicious intent.
  • Identity Theft: a type of crime in which your private information is stolen and used for criminal activity.

Artificial Intelligence Terms:

  • Algorithm: a set of instructions or rules that machines follow to solve a problem or finish a task.
  • Big Data: datasets that are too large to process using traditional methods. Used to understand patterns which then informs decision making.
  • Data Science: extracting insights from data using scientific methods, algorithms, and systems.

Instructional Services | #Think35

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