SWATCA2018

Teachers must be experts on the organ they teach—the brain! The more we educators understand the brain, the better able we are to design instruction to match how our students learn best. Knowledge about brain development and function allows teachers to make informed decisions about teaching practice related to learning. Is testing good for the brain? How should a lesson be structured in order to achieve maximum learning and recall? What effect does physical activity have on learning? How are diet, gender, music training, sleep and stress connected to learning? Participants will explore a range of topics related to the brain and learning, and discover how to develop teaching strategies that engage students’ brains.

Topic:The panel presentation will highlight perspectives that seek to uncover the voices that are often lost within a grand narrative of history. These researchers will highlight indigenous perspectives and the interesting traces of women and children that enrich our understanding of the past. This promises to introduce educators to the stories and considerations that make the Program of Studies come alive.
Summary:This session will highlight the cutting edge perspectives and arguments that are being represented in our own University of Lethbridge. Within the Faculty of Arts and Science, many leading professors work to question and redefine what we know andhow we know. This session will reveal work that is being done in the humanities and the sciences that can support the work of the classroom teacher. Each presentation has been chosen for its relevance to the Alberta Program of Study. The talks will be short in duration with a panel discussion at the conclusion which will take on a Q and A format. Come and connect!

Explore various choices for the busy bodies in your classroom! Discussion topics will include fidgets, lighting, and sensory tools to help students succeed in inclusive classrooms. We will discuss various tools and strategies for meeting the needs of all students, focusing on flexible seating and various sensory needs. Specific strategies will include wiggle pads, stools, rocking chairs, standing desks, lap desks, pillows, etc. We will have several items on hand to allow attendees to have a “hands on” experience. Research says that students can retain, recall, and apply knowledge better when they are active. We have applied these ideas in our classrooms to prevent a sedentary lifestyle, and we are excited to share our personal experiences, struggles, and successes in our own classrooms. The presentation will give attendees ideas and tools to implement in their own schools, starting with a list of simple and attainable items to put to work in the classroom. We will address concerns and possible roadblocks, while providing strategies and solutions. We have seen these tools at work in our classrooms, and we are excited to share our findings and help other teachers find success. We are passionate about making inclusive classrooms work for everybody!

Ours is a species of builders. Since our evolutionary ancestors tamed fire and fashioned the first stone tools, humanity has been driven to construct increasingly elaborate and ingenious solutions to meet its needs and address its problems. Simply put, ‘we were made to make’. But we shouldn’t forget that we are also a species of storytellers. If we were to trace any one of our collective accomplishments back to its point of inception, almost immediately we would find a group of individuals gathered around a campfire, a meal, or a drawing on the wall talking. In this presentation, the ATA’s expert on innovative learning spaces will explain how you can tap into your inner builder and storyteller to bring curricula to life in your classrooms. In this time of significant change, meaningful teaching may not require the latest technogadgetry, but may draw instead on our ancestral urges to build stuff out of sticks and talk about it.

For new teachers this session will give you support and encouragement with numerous creative, original resources & proven humorous strategies. Ongoing online help in Word available Let me share over fifty years of many proven, practical strategies designed to empower your students and develop in them a desire to learn. Using humor as to develop creative and positive connections with your class. Laughter encourages them to work with you and achieve personal success which in turn builds their self-esteem. The session will be practical and hands-on. "What you do you understand, what you then own you can share" with courage and confidence. Multiple online support "stuff" will be made available in Word for you to adapt to your situation. This session is meant to make you feel good about your choice to be in the best profession !

We’re a year in to an ambitious curriculum overhaul and a year closer to new programs of study for K-12 arts, language arts, math, science, social studies, and wellness. Kindergarten to Grade 4 programs of study should be complete by 2018; Grades 5-8 in 2019; Grades 9-10 in 2020-21; and Grades 11-12 in 2021-22. This session will provide teachers and school leaders with an opportunity to engage in a conversation with colleagues and with Alberta Education and Alberta Teachers’ Association staff about curriculum development and implementation.

Many teachers struggle to successfully integrate technology in a meaningful way. This workshop provides opportunities to gain confidence, knowledge and best practices to move forward in planning for the classroom. Integrating technology not only addresses 21st-century skills, but also meets the Teacher Quality Standards of Alberta and the eight cross-curricular competencies. This workshop is designed to share the Substitution Augmentation, Modification and Redefinition (SAMR) model with teachers to facilitate technology implementation in their classrooms.

This session will help you get over the trials and tribulations as a Guest Teacher & provide numerous (36)proven strategies that will give you support and encouragement to carry on. One More Successful Day in the Life of the Guest Teacher ! “Too many/not enough instructions” ?...” “Are they happy to see “the sub” ?”…”Wwwhich room ?”… Oh, we’ve all been through it. To calm you down and give you confidence this session will give you one strategy a week for the school year. 36 proven, adaptable, creative, humorous activities that will involve, instruct and inspire your students. The ideas will be delivered to you in a variety of different ways that have proven effective in the classroom. By engaging you in the activities you will understand how you could modify them to your situation. Expect a lot of laughter, in a positive environment that will encourage and empower your students to accept responsibility for their learning. Teaching them to learn how to learn is the essence of quality education. On-going online support in Word will be made available for you to adapt and adopt.

The Balanced Classroom concept from CDI Spaces features a classroom environment suited for all learning styles as well as the desired teaching style of the educator. We aim to create a dynamic, collaborative and focused area within the classroom – Studies have determined the best design for a balanced learning space is to incorporate flow where the more dynamic students don’t interfere with the learning experience of the focused learner who requires their own space and fewer distractions. Whether you are replacing a few chairs and desks or outfitting an entire school, how can you be sure to choose the right furniture? When answering this question, we at CDI Spaces recognize that furniture needs and preferences can vary significantly depending on the environment within the classroom. That's why we encourage you to begin your selection process by allowing us to help you in identifying the needs in the classroom.

This year, the Alberta Teachers' Association's Provincial Executive Council struck a Committee on Convention Review and tasked its members with reviewing the current vision, mandate, structure, governance, operation, financing, and programming of teachers’ conventions to determine what changes are needed, if any, to better meet members' professional development needs.

If you want to be involved in shaping the future of teachers’ conventions in the province or are simply interested in finding out more about the convention review, bring your ideas and questions to this focus group session!

There has been a shift in education toward inquiry and hands-on, exploratory learning. The makerspace movement lends itself to many of these ideals. This workshop provides background information about makerspaces and the maker movement, and encourages teachers to get involved and bring it into their classrooms. Students will benefit from the challenges of hands-on inquiry that challenges the traditional classroom setup. Makerspaces provide an opportunity for all students to be successful and for parents and the greater school community to become involved in the classroom.

This workshop aims to create critical awareness of the implications of the consumption and production of information as related to living in a society that uses technology daily. The goal of this workshop is to create critical awareness of the implications of the consumption and production of information as related to living in a society that has changed on a technical and social front wherein there is now a convergence of technology. Traditionally, we were socialized by school, family and religion but now media significantly influences the formation of society and knowledge construction, production and consumption. Through this workshop, we aim to engage students in a discussion on current and future implications of living in an information society and our growing dependency on connectedness.

This session takes a look at the design and implementation of effective project-based learning in any classroom environment. Whether your classroom is low-tech, high-tech, high school or primary, Project-Based Learning can have a benefit and a place in inspiring your students to greater learning.

The classroom environment should facilitate learning for all students. The workshop is based on three key assumptions: (1) that every student needs to succeed, (2) that students must learn to take responsibility for their actions, and (3) that dignity and respect characterize all successful classroom management approaches. Participants will learn how to teach students positive social skills and responses, and create structures and procedures that help students to understand what is expected, and to accept responsibility for their actions. The workshop will also demonstrate specific strategies that teachers can use to deal with difficult students and to respond to their parents.

Teaching the Heart with Heart Aristotle wrote, “Educating the mind without educating the heart, is no education at all.” Centuries of research tell us that effective learning and teaching take into account both the affective and cognitive domains. Aristotle wrote, “Educating the mind without educating the heart, is no education at all.” Effective teachers touch and engage the heart as well as the mind. How do we help students to feel something about what they are learning? How do we teach compassion, respect, integrity and other values? Come and learn practical teaching strategies that will build emotional intelligence and at the same time consolidate learning and motivate your students.