In the Loop – September 5, 2024

September 5, 2024

KEY RESOURCES IN LANGLEY

HONOURING TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION

Truth and Reconciliation Week 2024 – September 23 to 27 | More info
The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation is offering a wide variety of excellent programming for teachers and classes to honour, recognize and celebrate Truth and Reconciliation Week from September 23 to 27, 2024.  This free, online educational programming offers all Canadians the opportunity to learn about the history and ongoing legacy of Canada’s residential school system from First Nations, Inuit, and Métis residential school Survivors and develop a profound understanding of the experiences of residential and their enduring spirit. To learn more about all of the types of programming available to teachers and classes, please click on the link above.

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

CURIO Webinar | Wednesday September 11 – 3:30 pm | More info
CURIO is CBC’s educational platform that provides Langley educators with FREE access to a wide-range of resources, programs, lesson plans and teacher guides for use in classrooms with students. To help introduce Langley staff to everything that CURIO offers them, we will be hosting a free webinar on Wednesday September 11 from 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm.  All staff are welcome to join the webinar using the link in the flyer above under “More info”.

Provincial Pro-D Day | Friday October 25, 2024
While it may seem like a long way off, it is never too early to start thinking about options for the Provincial Pro-D Day next October.  The Langley School District will be hosting two Professional Development Conferences here in Langley on Friday October 25 – see below for more details:

  • NEW! Connecting the Pieces: The Early Years Conference | October 25, 2024 I Register
    Connecting the Pieces: Pre-K and Kindergarten Conference is our annual conference dedicated to professional development for kindergarten teachers and early childhood educators.
    Our workshop line-up includes local and internationally recognized experts selected to share their innovative and practical ideas for working with young learners. Featured Speaker Raffi!
  • Langley Middle School Literacy Conference | Save the Date | October 25, 2024
    We are excited to be hosting the first ever Langley Middle School Literacy Conference at Yorkson Creek Middle School on the Provincial Pro-D Day on Friday October 25!  This will be an opportunity for Middle school teachers from around the district to gather together and share best classroom practices, strategies, resources, supports and intervention strategies for middle school learners.  Our keynote speaker will be Robin Bright, Professor at the University of Lethbridge and author of “Sometimes Reading is Hard.”  Registration and more information will be released later in September.

Ensouling Our Schools 2023-2024 with Len Pierre | Think Langley On-Demand website
“Teach us love, compassion, and honour that we may heal the earth and heal each other.”
– Ojibwe Prayer

As part of the Langley School District’s continuing work around Truth and Reconciliation and Ensouling our Schools, over the last year, we had the good fortune of having Len Pierre provide us with an incredible speaker series that touched on topics such as reconciliation, embedding Indigenous cultural safety into our lives and schools, two-eyed seeing, and Indigenous teachings on wellness. This four-part series is a must-watch for any district staff and is available for all staff to access at any time through our Think Langley website (see link above).

Part 1: The Path to Reconciliation | Register

Part 2: Embedding Indigenous Cultural Safety and Humility into Our Schools | Register

Part 3: Introduction to Two-Eyed Seeing: Indigenous Cultural Safety Practices | Register

Part 4: The Teachings of Wellness | Register

DISTRICT EVENTS

Graveyards and Gardens | Chief Sepass Theatre | More info
On Thursday September 12th and Friday September 13th, don’t miss a unique, genre-bending presentation by Pulitzer Prize and Grammy Award-winning musician Caroline Shaw and phenomenal local dancer and choreographer Vanessa Goodman. Through dance, acoustic, and electronic music, “Graveyards and Gardens” is a project that digs “deep into the beauty of how the body remembers”.

This “spellbinding” (The Georgia Straight) and “mindblowing” (Stir Vancouver) indescribable performance is at the Chief Sepass Theatre at Langley Fine Arts School and tickets are only $25 for adults, $10 for students under 18. Both shows are at 7:00pm.

EXTERNAL PROFESSIONAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

Matt Glover Series – How to Become a Better Writing Teacher | More info
POPEY (Provincial Outreach Program for the Early Years) is offering a four-part series hosted by Matt Glover on how to help teachers with teaching writing to students. This is a virtual learning series that runs from 3:15 pm to 4:15 pm and is free to all staff to attend. For all the dates and overviews of what topics each session will cover as well as the link to register, please see the flyer at the link above.

Literacy Equity for Every Student: Building Bridges to Brighter Futures | Sept 27, 2024
Join Our Fall Zoom Summit on September 27th, 2024. The workshop includes five teacher demonstrations of Heggerty’s Building Bridges literacy program. The researcher presentation is about “Why Heggerty programs and literacy research are such a match!”
Click here to view the detailed Summit Program Schedule
Click here to register for the summit online

Educating Students with Down Syndrome Conference | Oct 25, 2024 | More info
The Greater Victoria Down Syndrome Society is hosting a conference Embracing Success: Educating Students with Down Syndrome on Friday, October 25th, 2024. This conference explores strategies for supporting students with Down syndrome and other disabilities. There’s a virtual option for attendees who aren’t able to travel to Victoria.

LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR STAFF/STUDENTS/CLASSES

Railway Safety Week September 23-29, 2024 | More info
Railway Safety Week is a valuable opportunity to educate students about the dangers associated with railway crossings and trespassing on railway property. The Canadian Pacific Kansas City Police is teaming up with Operation Lifesaver Canada (OL) to help educate school communities. OL is a non-profit organization funded in part by the Railway Association of Canada and Transport Canada (branch of the Federal Government of Canada). OL has created and provides free of charge, a Rail Safety Toolkit for Canadian Educators, and the toolkit is designed for students from K – Grade 12.  This free toolkit is found here. In the toolkit there will be various items such as colouring kits, PowerPoint presentations, videos, pamphlets, and other activity sheets. Join us in helping reduce track tragedies and promote a culture of safety among our youth.

Celebrating Olympic & Paralympic Sport Heroes | More info
In honour of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame is celebrating the contributions of inspiring Olympic and Paralympic sport icons to Canada’s rich sporting history, with a special focus on equity and equality in sport. Throughout September, students will have free access to impactful opportunities to connect with iconic sport role models and explore their stories through a variety of synchronous and asynchronous educational opportunities.

Museum of Surrey School Programs 2024/2025 | More info | Flyer
Bookings are now open for the Surrey Museum for their onsite and offsite school programs. Their goal is to equip teachers and homeschoolers with quality programming. Curriculum current Museum of Surrey school programs are created by expert staff with in-depth knowledge of provincial curriculum and Surrey’s history.

Langley Children’s Choir is looking for singers! | More info
Openings are now available for singers in grades 3 to 7. They are looking for school choir members (if your school has one), a good attitude and enthusiasm, and a desire to develop as a singer. Students have amazing opportunities on a choir tour or camp in the spring, and to sing at festivals. The directors Kim Hardy and Patti Thorpe are both Langley Music Teachers who provide lasting experiences for these students. Please see the attached for all the details.

Royal BC Museum | More info
Registration is now open for in-person field trips, online programs and outreach kits. These programs along with the online resources and inquiry guides, will support teacher lessons to help create engaging and dynamic learning environments. The Museum helps bring history, science and art to life, encourage critical thinking, inspire creativity and cultivate lifelong learners.

Museum of Anthropology | More info
MOA’s inquiry-based school programs and resources offer students and teachers a unique opportunity to engage deeply with diverse artworks and cultural belongings, fostering a greater understanding and appreciation of indigenous cultures. By encouraging critical thinking and curiosity, these programs help students connect classroom learning to real-world perspectives, promoting empathy, cross-cultural awareness, and respect for different traditions. This hands-on, explorative approach not only enhances students’ knowledge but also equips them with valuable skills in observation, analysis, and interpretation, which are essential for lifelong learning and future education.

LEPS Environmental Education Programs 2024-2025 | More info
LEPS Education Program provides information about environmental education workshops offered free or subsidized for Langley schools. They are all about bringing the outside…..Inside! Please see the brochure at the link above for all their workshop choices for K-8.

Jess Dance, Education Beyond The Body | More info
The popular Afro Dance, Hip Hop, and Indigenous programs for Strongstart and Kindergarten to Grade 12 students are now available for booking. The Hip Hop program includes Popping, Locking, and Breaking, a.k.a. Breakdancing. Our Afro Dance program may include Afrohouse and Afrobeat. Indigenous educators can perform, sing on the hand drum, teach Métis Jigging, Powwow dance, Indigenous crafts, and tell stories to all ages, all in one day. Powwow performances are available on Fridays all year long. Métis Jigging instructor, Bev, is only available on October 2/3/4 in the Lower Mainland, so book as soon as possible!  Métis Bev brings 50 Métis items to assist in her highly educational and engaging workshops!

Join the Reading Buddies Program | Fall 2024 Session | More info
Reading Buddies is a program that pairs high school students with kids in Grades 1 to
3 who need extra help with reading, outside of school hours. Big buddies must be ages 15+ and/or registered in Grades 10 to 12. A Grade 10, 11 or 12 student buddies up with a Grade 2, 3 or 4 student to practice reading. Paired buddies meet at the library for 1 hour each week. This initiative is great for little buddies to practice and improve their reading skills and for high school students who are looking for a fun way to obtain their volunteer hours. New sessions begin October and February.

LEARNING RESOURCES

NFB (National Film Board) CAMPUS – now NFB Education | More info
NFB Campus is now called NFB Education. This is a free resource available to all educators in Langley that provides access to all of the amazing videos and teaching resources from the National Film Board of Canada including:

  • Access to the NFB’s massive Canadian film catalogue, in English & French
  • Thematic playlists
  • Mini lessons
  • Teacher guides
  • Pedagogical film descriptions
  • Media School; Digital Storytelling Workshop
  • Ocean School Learning Program
  • Search by school subjects
  • MARC Records, to integrate with your library

Power Smart for Schools | More info
Power Smart for Schools is your sidekick in lesson planning. They have hundreds of ready-to-use activities and other resources to help with:

Unlocking the Mysteries of the Brain | Free education Resource for Grade 7 & 8 Educators | More info
The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame honours excellence in medicine and the health sciences to inspire the pursuit of careers in this important field. Their teacher-led, six-session program called Unlocking that Mysteries of the Brain is available to educators in Canada. Each session includes a lesson plan, an informative slide deck with links to helpful videos, activity worksheets and a new vocabulary list. The program was developed with academic health leaders to help Grade 7 & 8 students to learn about brain myth & how the teenage brain is malleable and flexible and extend the knowledge of the brain making meaningful curriculum connections. Teachers can use the six learning modules at no cost. Please see the details in the link above.

TECH TIPS

Doing Attendance in MyEDBC | More info
Are you a newer teacher and still trying to figure out how to take attendance in MyEDBC?  Check out the simple instructions by clicking on the link above.

Instructional Services | #Think35

4875 222 Street, Langley
BC, V3A 3Z7
Phone: 6045347891
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