May 14, 2021
DISTRICT RESOURCES K-12
Instructional Services Website: For all your district-vetted resources K-12! Check it out!
- Aboriginal Resources vetted by the District
- District Learning Commons – K-12 Resources to book out! Kits, Lit Circle Sets and more!
- TCS Sites (TCS SS-grade 3, 4-8, Secondary): Key resources are still being placed in these Teams. If you need access to one of these Teams, please email karinwright@sd35.bc.ca.
- Diversity and Anti-Racism Resources
See below for resources recently added to the Diversity Binder – specifically targeting Asian Heritage Month and combatting Anti-Asian Racism.
www.tinyurl.com/sd35diversitybinder – Check the Anti-Racism section > Resources page
https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/asian-heritage-month/resources.html#a1b
https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/asian-heritage-month/important-events.html
https://ccdi.ca/media/2659/202010322-learning-resources-anti-asian-racism-en.pdf
https://hrsa.online/antiasian-racism-resources
Eyes Open: An Anti-Asian Racism PSA
DISTRICT PROFESSIONAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES and RESOURCES
MAY PRO-D DAY
Clerical Pro-D
Friday, May 21 [Register]
IT and Finance are coming together to offer Pro-D to our school clerical staff. We are offering training on the new phone systems being implemented in all schools, KEV year-end and MyEd year-end. This Pro-D will be hosted virtually on Teams.
CUPE1260 & 1851 Pro-D Conference
Friday, May 21 [Register]
CUPE 1260 and 1851 have organized an exciting Pro-D Day on May 21st! Check out the wide range of workshops being offered for a great day of learning. This Pro-D will be hosted virtually on Teams.
Follett Destiny Software Training Session
Friday, May 21 [Register]
Interested in refreshing your Destiny skillset? Have questions around cataloguing or inventory? Want to learn about new software updates and the new Destiny Discover app? This session will be designed based on your needs. We will send out a form prior to the session for you to share your questions and requests. The learning specialist from Follett Destiny will then design the session according to what you said is relevant for you.
UPCOMING OFFERINGS
SD35’s Read-Speak-Champion virtual author series with Author Sarah Suk
Tuesday, May 25 [Register]
As contemporary educators, we have a responsibility to share diverse stories and varied perspectives with our students. To do so, it’s integral that we first listen to and learn from those voices ourselves. Join us to learn from Sarah Suk, a Canadian Korean Young Adult Author, about her author journey, diversity in kidlit, and how WE can support diverse authors in our educational spaces.
ICBC’s Road Safety Speaker Program
May 26, 2021 [Register]
Interested in booking an ICBC road safety speaker? Sign up for an overview of the ICBC Road Safety Speaker Program to learn steps for schools/facilitators on how to book a free road safety speaker presentation.
Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience in Educators: A Book Club
Wednesday, May 26 [Register]
Are you looking “ONWARD” to the next school year, wondering how you will further “Cultivate” your “Emotional Resiliency,” as an Educator? If participating in creating a safe space (virtually) with like-minded colleagues next school year, through a casual monthly book club, with the goals of building more self-awareness and uplifting and empowering one another, interests you, please join us.
Math Place: A New Math Resource for Grade 1 & 2 Teachers
September 14 & October 5 [Register]
Math Place is a newly approved Math resource for grade 1-3 teachers. This September, each school will receive 1 kit per grade of the NUMBER and OPERATIONS set. Join Diane Stang, the author of Scholastic Math Place, as she goes through the kits and shows you how this new resource aligns with the BC curriculum and how you can use it as part of your math instruction. This is a great way to start building number sense in your students right at the beginning of the year. (Note: the grade 3 set will arrive in late August and the workshops will be set up then for grade 3 teachers.)
Story Workshop Book Study Series
September 22, October 13 & November 3 [Register]
Join a small passionate group of teachers who wish to create or continue their journey with the story workshop model and explore aspects of the Early Learning Framework. In this 3-part series, we will be reading the brand new book Story Workshop: New Possibilities for Young Writers by Susan Harris MacKay (a teacher and pedagogical director of the Opal School in Portland Oregon.) Participants will be immersed in the book talk for the first 2 sessions and will also be encouraged to try story workshop in their classrooms. Session 3 will be spaced out from the first 2 sessions to give you opportunity to live that teacher researcher role and come back to share ideas and experiences with other members.
From Phonological Awareness to Reading Building a Strong Foundation
October 4, 18, & 25, 2021 [Register]
As teachers, we strive to provide a rich learning environment and a balanced literacy approach to helping all our learners become strong readers, writers and communicators. The BC Early Learning Framework recognizes that children approach learning in different ways to construct knowledge, test theories, explore and express ideas. We want to give all children access points to reading and the tools to success. We have created this 3-part series of workshops on early reading development to help you explore the skills that all students need to be successful in learning how to read. By attending this workshop, you will grow an understanding of how a child learns to read and how writing and vocabulary are an integral part of this process. While learning to talk is natural and innate, reading skills must be taught.
CALL FOR PRESENTERS!
Summer Institute 2021
The Langley School District’s Summer Institute will host a number of professional development options all packed into one day – a “smorgasbord of learning.” The areas of learning will be centered around curriculum, pedagogy and assessment and we are excited to provide learning options relevant for all teachers K-12! If you are interested in applying to present PLEASE CLICK HERE to send your submission.
OTHER EXTERNAL STUDENT/STAFF OPPORTUNITIES and LEARNING RESOURCES
Complimentary Webinar: ASSESSMENT: WHAT? WHY? and HOW? A Conversation with Carol Ann Tomlinson, Dylan Wiliam and Jay McTighe
Time. May 22, 2021
Click here to register.
Indigenous Math Symposium
From a Learning session with beader Nico Williams – theme around mathematics and beading – check out the ideas in the padlet link.
Indigenous Knowledge and Perspectives in British Columbia Mathematics K-12 Curriculum
This link is from the British Columbia Ministry of Education and details curricular connections between Indigenous knowledge and the mathematics curriculum, at all grade levels. Interdisciplinary connections at various grade levels are also included.
Virtual Bead Loom
This resource is cited in the Math First Peoples Teacher Resource Guide, developed by the First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC) from British Columbia. In the guide, they say that the virtual bead loom is “an interactive website where students choose a basket design, then replicate it using coordinate geometry. They can choose the coordinates of points, lines, and shapes on the grid, and choose fill colors. Easy to use, yet challenging enough to be engaging. There are many references to the cultural background through information and photographs. The tutorial can be used by teachers and students to find all the parts of the website. The “Beginners Software” link uses one quadrant of the grid, whereas the “Software” link uses all 4 quadrants (more suitable for Gr 8, and it’s actually easier to keep track of the points). In the “Teaching Materials” link there are many well done lesson plans for using the virtual bead loom.”
First Nations and Métis Math Voices
This site contains multiple resources developed for supporting indigenous learners in mathematics. The paper Exploring Multiplicative and Algebraic Thinking Through Algonquin Beadwork has particular relevance. While the context is the elementary level, it is easy to extend the ideas in this article to the context of slope and rates of change; a pivotal concept in the secondary mathematics curriculum. There are also opportunities to explore tessellations, as seen in Willow Road PS students find the math in Indigenous techniques of the peyote stitch.
Contemporary Geometric Beadwork
The above link is an open source architectural beadwork project from Kate McKinnon and a worldwide team of innovators. In this link, you’ll find numerous resources for constructing and assembling geometric beadwork pieces. You can watch a video on McKinnon’s work at https://youtu.be/QL6JHhxaiSg.
With Paykiiwikay Podcast on Traditional Metis Beading and Sewing Work for Secondary
This link is to a podcast which examines the cultural importance of traditional metis beading and how it can be integrated into secondary teaching.
Hexaflexagons
The hexaflexagon is a simple, geometric object, which may be constructed with a single piece of paper and a small piece of tape. Nico Williams uses the hexaflexagon within his geometric beadwork. When a piece of paper is folded in the manner detailed in the article above, the result is what appears to be a two-sided hexagon. However, the manner of folding results in a 2D shape that “flexes” to reveal a third, hidden side! While this object may seem simple at first glance, there is a deep mathematical structure within. The book, A mathematical tapestry: demonstrating the beautiful unity of mathematics contains an entire chapter dedicated to the hexaflexagon, including a proof that the motions of the hexaflexagon make up an algebraic group of 36 elements: the dihedral group D18.
Exploring First Nations Beadwork and Connections to Math
The above link is a lesson plan developed by Nadine McSpadden of the Surrey School District in British Columbia. This lesson is intended for students in grades 1-3 and details how to help students build a counter made with beads to use in playing the traditional Mi’kmaq game, Waltes. For more information on Waltes, visit here.
Place-based Learning Along the Fraser River
When: Tuesday, May 18th, 2021
Where: Zoom 4:30 – 6:00 PM PST
The Fraser River Discovery Centre (FRDC) is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to bring together the many voices of the Fraser to discover, celebrate, and inspire passionate stewards of the river. Environmental education is one of the pillars at the FRDC. Join our educators as we share strategies for place-based learning that can be applied in your classroom, school grounds, or local parks. Create your own phenology chart and share ideas for adapting the activity for students. Connect with educators and learn more about the programs available at the Discovery Centre and on-line. Click here to register. This event is open to all educators and is most applicable for teachers of grades 3 to 9.
LGBTQIA2+ Resources from the National Film Board (CAMPUS)
The National Film Board has released a number of excellent new resources and films for all grades that champion diversity and foster inclusive classrooms to mark International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia (May 17) and LGBTQIA2+ Pride month (June). All teachers in the Langley School District have free access to all of these resources through their NFB/CAMPUS account. For any staff who have not yet taken advantage of their NFB/CAMPUS account, they can learn how to access it by connecting with their school’s Teacher-Librarian or following the instructions found here.
Pro-D – Disc Golf!
When: Friday, May 21st from 9:30am-12:30pm
Where: Raptors Knoll Disc Golf Course in Aldergrove
Come learn how to play Disc Golf with Chris Hartmann. Chris is a co-founder of the world class Raptors Knoll Disc Golf course in Aldergrove and President of the Jackman Wetlands Disc Golf Society. For more information and to register, email joe.frew@abbyschools.ca or gmahil@sd35.bc.ca. DISC GOLF PRO D