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.

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.

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.

Unfortunately the Coaching to Support Inclusion speaker is unable to make it due to family illness. Sorry for the inconvenience. The participant guide for this session is available at http://l.ead.me/CoachingToSupport.


This workshop introduces school leaders to Coaching to Support Inclusion: A Principal’s Guide, a new Association publication designed as a self-paced program to explore the use of coaching to support inclusive practices. Coaching is defined as a professional development strategy in which coaches work with teachers to meet the diverse learning needs of students within an inclusive school environment. Coaching to Support Inclusion reflects the collegial and collaborative culture of Alberta schools and encourages principals to work with their teachers to consider the academic and social needs of students with exceptionalities in an inclusive learning environment. This session will prepare school leaders to facilitate the activities included in this resource intended to engage the school staff in the dialogue, design and implementation of coaching to support inclusion.