December 2, 2021
Odyssey Professional Development Day – February 11th: As we continue our commitment to Truth and Reconciliation in Langley Schools, our focus for Odyssey this year is on Truth and Reconciliation. As Justice Sinclair said, “Education is the key to reconciliation.” Odyssey is being organized to be relevant to all employees in the District with a focus on our collective responsibility to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action. Save the date – more details to come!
KEY RESOURCES IN LANGLEY
- Links to Key Info AND Resources in Langley
- 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 mismith@sd35.bc.ca
DISTRICT PROFESSIONAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES
To see our full calendar of offerings, visit www.thinklangley.com
Asian Canadian Book Study
December 8, January 5, February 23, April 13, June 1 [Register]
Let’s talk books! Join us as we explore Young Adult novels created by Asian Canadian authors and artists. Together, we will curate a list of novels to support teachers looking for high-quality and engaging Young Adult literature that reflects our diverse community. Read one book or read ten! You determine what works for you throughout the Book Study series.
English First Peoples District Initiative
December 1, January 19, February 11, May 18 [Register]
This Professional Learning Community will connect high school teachers interested in learning more about, advocating for, sharing their current practice and ultimately teaching English First Peoples 12. We will be learning more about English First Peoples 12 as a course, creating connections amongst ourselves as well as community stakeholders, and advocating within our school communities for English First Peoples 12 with the support of this Professional Learning Community.
Geocaching 101
January 26, March 2 [Register]
In this two-part workshop, you will learn how to use a GPS (Global Positioning System) device in order to take your class outside and explore your local place through geocaching. In session 1, you will learn about the GPS units, how to find geocaching sites around Langley and how to create your own geocache. In session 2, we will spend time in a local environment putting this knowledge into practice.
La collaboration en immersion française (M-7e)
January 11 (Kindergarten), January 18 (Gr. 1-3), January 25(Gr. 4-7) [Register]
Veuillez nous joindre en janvier! Collaborez, partagez, apprennez, questionnez et mangez! Les séances sont organisés par niveau et nous allons discuster les sujets suivants: la progression des sons, les mots frequents, le vocabulaire commun, a progression de la grammaire, les livres pour nos élèves (étude de roman, cercles littéraires), les resources utiles, les autres items que vous aimeriez discuter et/ou partager. Public: Enseignants du primaire de James Kennedy et Belmont.
Odyssey 2022: Save the Date – February 11, 2022
Listen. Reflect. Act. Waking up to our collective responsibility. Odyssey is our annual K-12 professional development conference open to all Langley School District staff and to guests from out-of-district.
DISTRICT LEARNING RESOURCES
EASE Kits for Educators (more info)
These kits come with 25 picture books, each corresponding to a subtopic related to anxiety, and are recommended by EASE (Everyday Anxiety Strategies for Educators). Subtopics range from Body Awareness to Spot the Thought. A list of the EASE categories is included in the kit and these kits are on a 3 week lending period from the DLC.
Teach Food First (more info)
The province has recently launched a new nutrition education toolkit for teachers called “Teach Food First”. It is designed to align with the 2019 updates to Canada Food Guide.
As the name implies, the focus is to shift teaching to be about food first, as opposed to nutrition, using a food exploration approach to nutrition education, that has been linked with long-term, positive eating attitudes, and behaviors.
This toolkit supports educators with best-practice approaches, resources, and lessons that:
- Connect with Canada’s food guide and British Columbia Curriculum
- Are grade-specific and age-appropriate
- Consider equity and cultural inclusivity
Kids Boost Immunity (more info)
Kids Boost Immunity (KBI) is unique in that it rewards learning by enhancing school spirit through friendly competition that results in a global impact. This is an especially uplifting, positive way to engage students during a time when things have been difficult due to a pandemic and extreme weather issues.
KBI offers students from Grades 4-12 over 100 teacher-developed lessons aligned to curriculum in science, health, social studies, and media literacy. Each lesson is accompanied by a quiz designed to test their knowledge of the material. Students scoring 80% or higher on a quiz earn a vaccine for another child in support of UNICEF Canada. KBI is already being used in 200 schools in British Columbia with students from BC and across Canada donating over 200,000 vaccines for UNICEF. A First KBI Lesson Plan is all that is needed to fully support teachers to get students using KBI.
Teachers can monitor and assess student participation on lesson quizzes and report progress to meet specific learning outcomes. Educators can easily preview KBI’s lesson material on our Example lessons page.
Staying connected: KBI fosters connectivity by providing students learning opportunities that also help them make sense of their experience during this unusual time. For example, mental health support to reduce anxiety is provided through a mindfulness lesson.
As the winter holidays approach, new resilience-building lessons focusing on gratitude, kindness, and leadership skills help students focus on positive messaging and actions. Interactive activities along with earning vaccines for others through UNCEF make KBI an engaging, empowering, and enjoyable experience for students. Something they are all in need of right now.
EXTERNAL STUDENT/STAFF OPPORTUNITIES and LEARNING RESOURCES
The Accessible Resource Centre – British Columbia (ARC-BC) is a Ministry of Education-supported online repository of digital alternate format versions of learning materials (e.g., textbooks, workbooks, novels). These resources are created for use by students with perceptual (or print) disabilities, which include learning disabilities, physical disabilities, and visual impairments.
Printed learning materials represent a significant barrier to access for these students. Digital versions from ARC-BC enable a student to more flexibly access learning content using tools such as text-to-speech software. Linked here are two ARC-BC informational posters.
One poster highlights the ARC-BC online repository containing the learning materials in digital formats mentioned above. The other poster highlights our various web resources and workshops devoted to digital accessibility in K-12 that are available to all BC educators.