In the Loop – September 24, 2021

September 23, 2021

  • 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

Summer Boot Camp and Summer Institute
Teachers can now access the recordings from sessions at Summer Bootcamp and Summer Institute. Please see links to all videos below:

 

HONOURING TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION

Kootenay Boundary Environmental Education:  In advance of Orange Shirt Day and Canada’s new National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept 30, KBEE has compiled a list of 15 actions recommended by Indigenous advisors and partners as a way to deepen understanding and undertake meaningful action. We have developed an image for each day from Sept 15-30 and you can find the full list here: https://outdoorlearningstore.ca/indigenous-learning-resources/

  1. On September 23 we are hosting Indigenous Advisor Faye O’Neil for a free virtual workshop on Indigenous Resources & Perspectives for Outdoor Learning
  2. In partnership with GreenLearning Canada and Wildsight, have just added 2 new Indigenous learning resources for elementary students: Sila and the Land and The Heart of a River
  3. In partnership with Strong Nations, we have just added a new Indigenous learning resource for secondary students – Groundswell: Indigenous Knowledge and a Call to Action for Climate Change
  4. In partnership with Strong Nations, we are offering the Strong Stories Bundle which is a collection of 48 books which share Indigenous stories and knowledge from across Canada
  5. We are now offering new Every Child Matters school flags and lanyards – we suggest ordering these by Sept 15 in order to receive them by Sept 30

 

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

From Phonological Awareness to Reading Building a Strong Foundation
October 4, 18, & 25 [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.

SD35’s Read-Speak-Champion Virtual Author Series with Author Danny Ramadan
October 5 [Register]
Sign up your class for a virtual session with Danny Ramadan, a Syrian-Canadian author and LGBTQ – refugees activist who wrote Salma the Syrian Chef, a 2021 Langley Picture Book of the Year! During this interactive session, Danny will talk about his book, his writing and answer student questions! Designed for teachers to sign up their class and to present the session to students during class time.

Math Place: A New Math Resource for Grade 1-3 Teachers
October 5, October 19 [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.

NEW Microsoft Office Training Info Session
October 6, 2021 [Register]
Want to learn the Microsoft Office Suite? Already know Office, but want to buff up your skills or get certified? Join us for this Microsoft Office Training Info Session! Choose to learn one Microsoft Office app or learn them all. For those who have some foundational skills, you can challenge yourself with expert levels. You can also get certified! This program is available to all SD35 employees.

The Power Hour of Co-planning
October 6, December 1, 2021, and January 12, 2022 [Register]
Get ready for an energized shot of learning! Tan Huynh will be guiding teachers through three different topics to co-plan with a colleague (or more)! These are virtual so that you can grab a snack, your laptop, and your favourite teaching buddy all from the comforts of your own classroom. Work together on pre-existing units, lessons, or brew some new ideas.

Beyond the Classroom
October 12 [Register]
An opportunity to have an inspiring and motivating conversation around a book written by Langley teacher Tim Stephenson. The book is a collection of themes and ideas taken from a long career that has been marked by strategies and activities that have taken Tim’s practice…beyond the classroom.

NEW Capturing Student Learning using Digital Portfolios: Intermediate/Middle Focus
October 27 [Register]
Digital portfolios are excellent ways for students to show their learning and growth over time! As the way we communicate student learning changes and evolves, digital portfolios are proven to make capturing and sharing student achievements easy and fun. This session is focused on having intermediate/middle years students use myBlueprint: All About Me to develop their K-12 learning journey portfolio. Participants should bring a computer as well as a mobile device (iPad etc) with them to the session and be prepared to do hands-on learning.

NEW Creating Community with Green Screens (for the Holidays)
November 24 [Register]
Just in time for December activities! Come learn how easy green screens are to use. This hands on workshop will walk you through how to use the green screen kits available for booking from the District Learning Commons.

Provincial Pro-D Day | Friday, October 22

ACT CPR & AED Teacher Training Workshop with NEW Opioids Overdose Response Training enhancement [Register]
The ACT program prepares teachers to deliver the Compression-Only CPR and AED course to students. ACT is now adding the Opioid Overdose Response Training to the existing CPR and AED program already established in Langley schools. This workshop will provide teachers with Level A CPR & AED certification. Taught by CPR agency Instructor Trainers, the content takes into account the teaching expertise of high school teachers and is designed to prepare teachers for delivery of the program in the school environment.

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN Connecting the Pieces: Pre-K & Kindergarten Conference [Register]
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. This year’s keynote is Susan Harris MacKay from the Centre for Playful Inquiry.

Get Your Marking Game On, It’s in Your DNA… 9 [Register]
Proficiency Scales, what do they mean to you? Get a better understanding of marking using proficiency scales by grading last year’s DNA9. This year is the first year Grade 9s will be receiving a proficiency mark, no percentages or letter grades will be given. So get a leg up on your marking ability!

Tan Huynh’s Guided Co-planning with Colleagues [Register]
This full-day event is dedicated to giving teachers time to collaborate with their colleagues to support their language learners. Teachers will be guided by Tan in ways to co-plan at various levels such as writing, lessons, and assessments, and then given time to create together. They may choose to work with other ELL teachers, content teachers, and resource teachers to foster rich learning opportunities for their students. At the heart of collaborative professionalism is “leadership from the middle (your peers in your own and other schools).

To see our full calendar of offerings, visit www.thinklangley.com

 

DISTRICT LEARNING RESOURCES

The District Learning Commons (DLC) is now located in the SBO next to the print shop.
What is the DLC?
The DLC is a lending library of classroom and teaching resources available to all school staff in the Langley School District. All of our items are available to view and book online through the Destiny Library system. We also deliver and pick up all the items you request through district mail twice per week (check with your admin assistant to see which days your deliveries are on).

How do I access DLC materials?
Although you are welcome to come by to see what is available, materials must be signed out online as many will already be reserved by staff in the district. Click here for more information on DLC hours and how to book materials online.

Two items to note: 1) The laminator in the DLC is exclusively used for laminating book covers for the district’s school libraries and 2) the printing materials in the neighbouring print shop are for SD 35 Print Shop use only. For more information on the SD 35 Print Shop, please click here.

Thank you so much and we look forward to sharing our amazing resources with you!

Aboriginal Program Cultural Presentations Booking
The Cultural Presentation program will be open for bookings starting at 2:30pm on Friday, September 24th for the 2021-2022 school year. All bookings must be completed through the Cultural Presentation program website (http://culturalpresenters.simplybook.me/sheduler/manage). The first date for presentations will be Monday, October 4, although some won’t be available until later in the month. All bookings must be done using a school district email and each teacher can only book for themselves. Please make sure that you read all the directions around booking times and availabilities. Note that some presentations are only being offered virtually at this time. For more information about the presentations offered, please check out the Aboriginal Program website for the cultural presenters booklet.

Mathletics Sign Up information: – K-8 teachers
Mathletics licenses will be available again this school year for students grade K-8 at a cost share of $5.00 per student. Schools will need to provide their student information (class list, div. # etc.) in order to sign up for Mathletics licenses. Therefore, the program won’t be up and running until your school has submitted it’s complete student roster. Instructions for teachers are listed below.

TEACHER INSTRUCTIONS:

  • Check with your Admin for permission to use Mathletics this year as there is a cost to the school.
  • Download this TEACHER Spreadsheet and complete it with the necessary information. Please ensure accuracy and email the completed spreadsheet to your Admin Assistant no later than Sept. 27
  • Admin Assistants will then add your class information to a SCHOOL spreadsheet. Your Admin Assistant will submit the SCHOOL information to Deanna Lightbody.
  • Once the set-up is completed, you’ll receive an email from the Mathletics/3P Learning team with steps on how to download the login information for the students.

Please be patient. This process does take some time to complete. More information will follow regarding pro-d and other webinars. If you are new to Mathletics, please refer to the video links for an overview of the program.

Why Teachers Love Mathletics

Mathletics Video – Distance and Classroom teaching

Mind Up
We are excited to let you know that we have secured a promotional price for the Mind up online platform.  Mind up is a social emotional learning program that is based firmly in neuroscience and teaches the SEL skills and knowledge children need to regulate their stress and emotion, form positive relationships, and act with kindness and compassion.

The cost is $40 USD per person per year and provides access to their platform with all the training, lessons (new and updated from the book) , video library and the soon to be released adult well-being and family resources.  Mind up lessons and activities are suitable for students ages 3-14.  As it is a CASEL approved, evidence-based program, there is an online training required to unlock the lessons. The online training takes 4-6 hours if you are new to mind up or there is a 30-minute refresher for people who are already familiar with it.

Please see MindUP Membership Promotion for details and reach out to Gail Markin,  gmarkin@sd35.bc.ca with questions.

Call for Nominations for the Langley Primary Teachers Executive 2021-2022
The September Annual General Meeting will elect the executive for the coming school year. The Langley Primary Teachers Association will hold their Annual General Meeting on September 28th at 3pm. A zoom link will be sent out via your school’s Primary Teachers contact. Look for it in your inbox!

We are looking especially looking for primary teachers in the Langley School District who are interested in joining the executive for the September 2021-September 2022 year. If you are interested in letting your name stand, please contact Barb Peck (bpeck@sd35.bc.ca) or Jennifer Espin (jespin@sd35.bc.ca). We look forward to seeing you there!

 

EXTERNAL STUDENT/STAFF OPPORTUNITIES and LEARNING RESOURCES

ShareEdBC
Over the summer, http://www.shareedbc.ca/ has continued to grow and change. Currently, there are over 2,500 resources that can be accessed, as well, educators can connect with over 10,800 other ShareEdBC users. Over the past few months, a special focus has been to add more resources to support educators in French Immersion teaching environments, and those educators teaching in the Francophone School District. These 300 + resources span K-12 and are in a variety of curricular areas.
For those staff that have not signed up, their invitations have expired. ShareEdBC is planning on resending the activation email to those educators in late September/early October. Users can also email shareedbc@gov.bc.ca directly to be re-invited.

The Sky’s No Limit – Girls Fly Too! 
is not an air show and the event is not just for “girls”. In fact, it’s the world’s largest gender diversity outreach event of its kind in Aviation, Aerospace, Marine and Defence and it is taking place on October 2 – 3, 2021. Everyone is welcome regardless of age, gender or citizenship and no registration is required to participate. The event is completely free to ensure there are no barriers to participation, thanks to the generous support of agency, industry, education, and other community partners.

Nelson Professional Learning Opportunities:
Read more HERE  Nelson is offering 3 different professional learning webinar series around equity including Truth and Reconciliation, Relationships First:  Rethinking the Post-Pandemic Classroom, and Teaching about the Black Canadian Experience.

Outdoor Learning Resource from EdCAN Network:
Outdoor learning spaces are rich learning environments that can help students appreciate nature and biodiversity before being introduced to bigger environmental issues (e.g. pollution and deforestation). Tips for teachers

Environmental Education:

Burnaby Village Museum
The Burnaby Village Museum is now accepting bookings for visits from Kindergarten to Grade 9 students. More info: Burnaby Village Museum School Program Flyer

Be the Change Earth Alliance (BTCEA Digital Flyer)
is a charitable organization founded in 2005 with a mission to support global sustainability and justice through education that empowerspersonal and collective change. Our core programs educate and empower middle and high school students to take action on environmental and social justice issues. We offer several workshops, ProD opportunities, and hundreds of free resources for educators through our flagship program, Students Leadership for Change (SLC).

Two of our offerings that engage students and teachers to learn about climate change and sustainable development, focusing on social-emotional learning approaches are the Sustainable Development Goals Unit and Water is Life Workshops. Learn more about them below:

Sustainable Development Goals Unit – New to the resource library this year!
What if we could create a much more just, sustainable and healthy world by 2030? What does that world look like, and what steps do we need to take as individuals, communities and nations to get there? The United Nation (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a roadmap.  The SDGs consist of 17 ambitious targets for reducing suffering and promoting the health of humans, animals, and the environment.

As young people, it is important to learn about and participate in this global effort to end poverty, achieve gender equality, protect biodiversity, stop climate change, and more. The SDG Unit provides an introduction to the SDGs, with a specific focus on six important and interconnected goals. The SDG Unit features:

  • Student Primers — factsheets with reflection questions providing an introduction to six SDGs
  • Action Packs — fillable PDF learning resources guiding students through research, critical thinking and action on topics related to the SDGs
  • Teacher Primers — designed to inspire lesson plan ideas, supplement teachers’ understanding of the Goals, and as speaking notes to accompany our prepared Lesson Plans.
  • Lesson Plans — inquiry-based and experiential activities for students to engage with the SDGs

Water is Life Workshops REGISTER
This is a 2-part workshop designed to deepen students’ understanding of climate issues, the importance of water in our lives and the environment, and possible actions/solutions to take. The first part of the workshop aims to foster knowledge and empower students to explore the climate movement, systemic change, and to take collective action, starting with the formation of positive, sustainable water-related habits (i.e., shortening shower time to 5-10 minutes). An action tracker is provided for each student so that they are able to track their personal progress and impact which will hopefully allow for them to contemplate on their habits in relation to the environment. After a month of tracking, students meet with the workshop facilitator again for a follow-up session in order to discuss and reflect on their experiences and any challenges they faced with completing their habits, and to celebrate the impact they made.

Instructional Services | #Think35

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