Power to Play
I was able to attend a workshop led by the Dairy Farmers of Canada in September 2014. Amy Skeoch, a Provicincial Program Manager of Nutirition Health Education in Ontario, explained the benefits of the Power to Play program (a superhero-themed program about healthy living for the primary grades) and led my peers and I through interactive activities focused on healthy eating and active living.
Physical Literacy Summit
The Physical Literacy Summit is a conference in which all of those involved in the physical development of children (parents, teachers, coaches,etc.) come together to learn more about the skills needed for developmental and fundamentally sound movements. Physically literate people aim to create physical activities that develop the whole person. The day was full of new ideas and interactive workshops.
Learn more about it by clicking here:
View my reflection on the summit here:
Ongoing Professional Learning
"Members recognize that a commitment to ongoing professional learning is integral to effective practice and to student learning. Professional practice and self-directed learning are informed by experience, research, collaboration and knowledge." -OCT website
You can always learn more than what you know now. I am constantly reminded of this as I attend education classes, workshops, and conferences. A teacher needs to invest in his or her learning as they teach in order to teach to the best of his or her ability. Understanding subject content, curriculum, standards, best practices, etc. increases teacher and student success in the classroom.
While completing my B.Ed., I attended the Edifide conference organized by the Ontario Christian School Teachers Association, a healthy living workshop run by Diary Farmers of Canada, and the Physical Literacy Summit presented by Thompson Educational. I took a personal interest researching the Buck Institute of Education's explanation of Project-Based Learning and learning about the best practices for teaching mathematics for enduring understanding. I continue to learn more about my profession through conferences, internal professional development days, and through my own reading and research.
Below are some examples of ways in which I have adhered to this standard.
Professional Development Conferences
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I recently attended a conference put on by the Canadian Reformed Teachers' Association (see link for details). My favourite workshop was called "Counting on Fun." Follow the link to be redirected to the CIRA Ontario website- a website dedicated to getting children moving (even while learning math!)
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Edifide is a Christian educators convention that is held at Redeemer annually. In 2014, I attended many different workshops, including workshops on teaching styles, assessment (as learning, for learning, of learning) ,and project-based learning. My favourite workshop was about Project-based learning; to the left, I've included a handout which we discussed during the workshop.
View my reflections on the Edifide conference 2014 here: