A Sessions (10:45 - 12:00)

"A" SESSIONS - MORNING (10:45 - 12:00)

Workshop Title: A01 - Hi-Tech @Play - A.I. - Impact and Opportunities for Teaching, Learning and STEAM
Presenter Name: John Cohn, IBM Fellow Emeritus - MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab - Distinguished Agitator, Researcher
Description of session: John Cohn, IBM Fellow Emeritus working with the MIT-IBM Watson AI Research Group based in Cambridge, MA will present on Hi-Tech @Play - A.I. - Impact and Opportunities for Teaching, Learning and STEAM. Topics include innovation, resiliency, play at work, disruptions to life, bouncing back, teaching our tech to play, the joy of making under constraints, and the evolution of AI.
Target audience: ALL Staff

Workshop Title: A02 - Breakout Session: Building Collaborative Classroom Support Plans
Presenter Name: Dr. Shelley Moore
Description of session: In this session we will connect to Universal Design for Learning principles and look at how we can plan for a student with a disability, in ways that can support many students in a classroom. In this way, planning for inclusive classes can be universal, and anticipate needs of everyone in a community.
Target audience: All Educators & EA's

Workshop Title: A03 - Supporting Teachers to Address the Mental Health Needs of Newcomers from War Zones 
Presenter Name: Dr. Noori 
Description of session: This workshop, presented by Dr. Sofia Noori, will introduce teachers to an online manual, Supporting Teachers to Address the Mental Health Needs of Newcomers from War Zones. The workshop will be a place for teachers and researchers in the field to engage with each other. We hope to address some pressing needs for information and methods to support the increase of students coming here from war zones.
Target audience: K-12 Teachers

Workshop Title: A04 - Addressing Microaggressions
Presenter Name: Jennifer Ofeimu - Equity Helping Teacher
Description of session: This session will assist staff in understanding micro-aggressions and how they impact people’s various intersections of identity. Self-awareness is the first step in acknowledging when we have heard or said a micro-aggression. Focusing on how to address microaggressions and restore the relationship with kindness and compassion to build safe and accountable spaces for everyone.
Target audience: Middle and Secondary Educators and Support Staff

Workshop Title: A05 - Impacts of the 60s Scoop - FULL
Presenter Name: Elder Tina Lakey
Description of session: Join Elder Tina to learn more about Canada's policy of removing Indigenous children from their homes and communities in the 1960s and onward.  Understand the impact on survivors and the intergenerational impact today. Elder Tina will share her story of healing.
Target audience: All Staff

Workshop Title: A06 - Métis History and Culture
Presenter Name: Vanessa Fleury and Kelly Penner
Description of session: Many of our Indigenous students and families in Abbotsford are Métis and are looking to reconnect with their culture. Join Vanessa in sharing the Métis history though historic artifacts and stories. End the session with positive energy by playing the spoons.
Target audience: All Staff

Workshop Title: A07 - Smudging Practice and School Protocols - FULL
Presenter Name: Jessica Richardson
Description of session: Learn about the protocols for Smudging and Cedar Brushing. This includes Indigenous Protocols with heart work, as well as the Abbotsford School District’s Smudging Protocols in Schools. While smudging with sage and Cedar brushing have similarities, there are important differences as well. Participants will have the opportunity to participate in smudging if they choose and leave with a bundle of sage for home.
Target audience: ALL Staff

Workshop Title: A08 - Témexw Teachings in Plants Around Us - FULL
Presenter Name: Sylvia Silver and Anna Williams
Description of session: Indigenous plants are all around us in Stó:lō Témexw. This workshop will give participants a hands-on learning experience about specific plants that grow in most of our backyards, an explanation of how and when to harvest/dry, the medicinal properties of these plants and the teachings on how to create medicinal teas to take home or make a skin salve for eczema or dry skin. 
Target audience: 6-12 Teachers, All

Workshop Title: A09 - Indigenous Innovations
Presenter Name: Teresa Seo
Description of session: Teresa Seo developed a fully integrated unit along with the support and guidance of Brian Point and Chris Kelly at the Indigenous Education Department.  Explore this comprehensive unit exploring Indigenous innovations, and simple machines from the BC Curriculum.  Lesson plans, assessments, consumables and hands-on learning and explorations are all prepared for you to use in your classroom. This resource can be borrowed from the Ray and Millie Silver Library. 
Target audience: 4-6 Teachers

Workshop Title: A10 - The School Administrator's Role in School Culture 
Presenter Name: Bruce Ivany
Description of session: Session Takeaways : 1) Gain knowledge of practical examples for establishing and maintaining a positive school culture with each of teachers, students, and parents. 2) Become familiar with the 12 Norms of School Culture as a lens to examining your own school's culture. 3)Commit to ways that you can influence your school culture in a positive way. 
Target audience: Principals, VicePrincipals

Workshop Title: A11 - Understanding Islam to Better Understand Our Students - FULL
Presenter Name: Sasha Abunnadi Tang
Description of session: Have you ever wondered why some students veil and others don’t? Or why some students fast for Ramadan? For many, Islam is new, unknown, and often mis-represented in the media. With a growing population of Muslim students, finding similarities and understanding differences can strengthen our rapport and relationship with our youths. 
Target audience: ALL Staff

Workshop Title: A12 - Engaging & Fun (yes FUN!) Numeracy Routines - FULL
Presenter Name: Tawnie Hildebrandt
Description of session: Finding ways to engage students in thinking critically and applying the math they've learned has its challenges.  Come explore 4 numeracy routines created by Steve Wybornery that will get kids thinking, talking, and having fun.  We'll look at how to integrate Splat, Cubed Conversations, Esti-Mysteries & Mystery Number into your math time.
Target audience: Teachers Grade 2 - 7

Workshop Title: A13 - Inferring 2.0: Next Steps in Reading Comprehension Strategies 
Presenter Name: Kaylie Rooke
Description of session: The ability to make inferences is one of the most important strategies for making deeper sense of texts, whether they are written, visual or spoken. Inferring is more than ‘reading between the lines,’ but knowing where to start and where to go next with inferring, especially with nonfiction, can be challenging. Join this session to explore building inferential thinking and responding to text critically as a result of deeper inferences.
Target audience: Grades 4 – 8 teachers

Workshop Title: A14 - Emotion Focused School Support - FULL
Presenter Name: Shawna Enns
Description of session: Informed by emotion and learning theory, Emotion-Focused School Support (EFSS) is a simple and efficient model for increasing the capacity of school staff to effectively respond to the emotion of students in order to facilitate a “return to learning”. EFSS can be applied to all students from kindergarten through to grade 12. Given that a regulated physiology is critical for learning, the goals of EFSS include: Regulating emotion in the classroom to facilitate learning, Preventing emotional escalations, and De-escalating emotionally charged situations and/or outbursts in progress.
Target audience: EA's, CYCW's, Teachers, Admin

Workshop Title: A15 - Supporting Safety and Connection at the Elementary/Middle School Level - FULL
Presenter Name: Lori Mohitpour and Melissa Wood
Description of session: How can we support elementary and middle school students feel safe and connected at school and in their classrooms? This workshop will focus on trauma informed practices and strategies to increase students’ feelings of safety and to strengthen the connections/relationships that students have with adults at school. 
Target audience: Staff who work with students K-8 

Workshop Title: A16 - Instructional Support Staff (ISS) Open Forum - FULL
Presenter Name: Jerry Loeppky & Brian Davies
Description of session: Conversation about ISS competencies, roles, self-care, training and postings, as well as time for Q&A.
Target audience: Educational Assistants, Youth Care Workers, Indigenous Support Workers

Workshop Title: A17 - Circles in the K-8 Classroom: More than a morning meeting
Presenter Name: Karen Van Egmond
Description of session: Have you wanted to try classroom circles but don’t know where to start?  This is the workshop for you!  Participants will experience the power of the restorative nature of classroom circles and leave with proactive, practical strategies to support the learning and belonging of all students in their classrooms.
Target audience: K-8 Classroom Teachers; ELL; EAs

Workshop Title: A18 - ELL Strategies For International And Newcomer Students 
Presenter Name: Bharwat Nanuwa
Description of session: This session will provide practical ELL strategies tailored for International and Newcomer (reception level) ELL students in grades K-8. Participants will learn strategies in the Oral, Reading, and Writing domains empowering them to immediately apply these strategies in the classroom to effectively support their students. 
Target audience: Grades K-8-Classroom Teachers, ELL Teachers

Workshop Title: A19 - "Discover" Our Destiny District Resources
Presenter Name: Tambra Henderson
Description of session: Follett Destiny Discover® provides one discovery interface for students and educators to search and access all your print and digital resources, including eBooks, audiobooks, and interactive books, as well as free and paid subscription databases
Target audience: All teachers, EAs and library staff

Workshop Title: A20 - Designing Digital Lessons for Differentiated Learning 
Presenter Name: Michelle Gill
Description of session: During this session you will learn about Book Creator's multimodal tools and supports that help you in designing engaging and accessible lessons. Participants will need to bring a laptop or iPad.
Target audience: Teachers Grade 3-8

Workshop Title: A21 - Foundations of Reading Instruction for Grade 6-10 Educators
Presenter Name: Rebecca Kandal
Description of session: Participants will review components of phonological and phonemic awareness, phonics, spelling and word morphology that are foundational to teaching students to become skilled readers.   The digital platform, BookCreator is available as a district license to all teachers and will be explored as a way to differentiate lessons and activities that meet students' literacy goals.
Target audience: Middle school, ELL/LSS and LLC teachers, Secondary Grade 9/10 English, ELL and LSS teachers

Workshop Title: A22 - Creating Safer Schools Using a Mental Health Lens
Presenter Name: Gabriel Canal and Debra Cameron
Description of session: Understanding and connection are critical in student wellness, especially for those who struggle with their mental health. Creating safer schools involves identifying our own blind spots on difficult topics such as stigma, identifying a child struggling with mental health, and classroom accommodations. This workshop aims to expand knowledge and understanding of mental health and how that leads to safer schools for kids.
Target audience: Teachers

Workshop Title: A23 - Active Living in the School Setting
Presenter Name: Andie Lanji, Active Living Community Health Specialist, Fraser Health
Description of session: In this session, participants will gain valuable insights into the impactful influence of incorporating active living principles in the school setting. It will also offer practical and tangible strategies to seamlessly integrate active living into their daily work, ultimately contributing to overall well-being and increased educational outcomes for students.
Target audience: All Staff

Workshop Title: A24 - ARC-BC: Best Accessibility Practices for Digital Creation in the Classroom
Presenter Name: Victoria Woelders from ARC-BC
Description of session: With the groundbreaking Accessible B.C. Act leading the way, we're starting a journey to make all digital materials accessible. Learn about the Accessible Resource Centre of British Columbia and the latest best digital practices when creating digital materials. This session will be a hands-on workshop - so bringing any device is highly recommended - and is perfect for anyone working with students and digital materials.
Target audience: Teachers

Workshop Title: A25 - Making Cent$ of Money: Budgeting 101 
Presenter Name: Sheilagh Cahill, Credit Counselling Society
Description of session: In this seminar you will learn to: Apply meaning to your money, Set S.M.A.R.T financial goals to achieve your goals, Understand the components of creating an effective spending and savings plan, Track your expenses and identify areas of potential (behavioral) change, Plan and have enough for irregular expenses, emergency savings, and fun things, Create a pay cheque plan that matches your budget, and Understand tips to make it easier to budget with multiple bank accounts.
Target audience: All Employees

Workshop Title: A26 - Teamsters Pension Plan - FULL
Presenter Name: Liza Robbins, Teamsters Pension Plan
Description of session: Provides a detailed review of the Teamsters Pension Plan and answers your questions for how to get the most out of your pension.
Target audience: Support Staff

Workshop Title: A27 - Making the Most of Your Pension - FULL
Presenter Name: Robert Conway, MPP
Description of session: Are you establishing your career or several years away from retirement? Learn how the decisions you make throughout your career can affect your pension when you retire. This 75-minute webinar can help you learn more about: Buying service for approved leaves, Purchasing service for a time when you worked for your current employer but didn't make pension contributions, Transferring service from other plans, How the decisions you make in your career can affect your pension, The effect of life events on your pension, and Using our online tools to plan for your future.
Target audience: Support Staff

Workshop Title: A28 - ZOLL Automated External Defibrillator Training 
Presenter Name: Dave Vusich, ProSafe First Aid
Description of session: Did you ever wish to “try out” a defibrillator just to get a feel for how it works? This is the seminar for you! ProSafe First Aid experts will provide a review of currents CPR skills with a hands-on demo with ZOLL AED Trainer Units.
Target audience: All Employees

Workshop Title: A29 - Basic leadership skills for everyone in every job 
Presenter Name: TELUS Health, Judith Mclean
Description of session: Most people believe that only directors, managers, presidents and CEOs can be leaders. While there is some truth to that, everyone who works can utilize the skills that enable leaders to excel at what they do. Today leadership skills are necessary for every job since employees often work in teams, rotating the managing position. In addition, organizations expect employees to assume the habits of successful leaders so that business results may be achieved faster, more efficiently, and better, thus enabling competitiveness and viability. This seminar is not the ultimate word on leadership – it is an overview of some basic time-honored strategies that leaders use to be successful on the job.
Target audience: ALL Staff 

Workshop Title: A30 - Dealing with Difficult Personalities - FULL
Presenter Name: TELUS Health, Munir Velji
Description of session: Workplaces can produce high achievers and dynamic team players. They can also be places where employees become regularly frustrated or annoyed with co-workers, be they bullies, people-pleasers, whiners, or gossipers. Developing techniques to address these challenging personality types can greatly increase staff’s morale and job satisfaction. This seminar will look at the distinction between difficult behaviour and difficult people and provide participants with strategies to respond effectively to challenging situations with a focus on assertive communication.
Target audience: ALL Staff

Workshop Title: A32 - Eating for Energy - FULL
Presenter Name: Sharon Fast, TELUS Health
Description of session: People often find themselves trapped in a peak-and-valley pattern of high and low energy fueled by coffee, sugary snacks, and Sunday sleep-ins that never seem to provide them with quite enough rest. Keeping your energy up and at a steady pace can be made easier by selecting appropriate foods. This seminar will discuss nutritious food choices that can increase participants’ energy and reduce the mid-afternoon drowsiness that they may feel
Target audience: ALL Staff

Workshop Title: A33 - Healthy Active Living - FULL
Presenter Name: Rob Hershorn, TELUS Health
Description of session: Anyone can benefit from regular physical activity. Research shows that moderate amounts of physical activity on most days of the week can improve your health and quality of life. This seminar will teach participants about the benefits of being active as well as the risks of inactivity. They will also learn about the components of fitness and activities, and the six stages of behavior change toward a healthier lifestyle.
Target audience: ALL Staff

Workshop Title: A34 - lding a Community of Understanding: How to include Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students within our Learning Community
Presenter Name: Charlene Wight 
Description of session: Building a Community of Understanding: How to include Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students within our Learning Community, Strategies and Supports for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students, Communication: Breaking Down Barrier, and Technology Supports for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students
Target audience: Classroom Educational Assistance, Teachers and other professionals who would like to learn more about working with Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing students.

Workshop Title: A36 - Secondary Math Connections: dividing the work, multiplying the fun
Presenter Name: Ashlyen Singh
Description of session: This session was designed by and for secondary math teachers. It will create space for re-establishing relationships between math teachers, sharing experiences, and connecting around common goals. This is a first step in reviving our teacher-led secondary math community. 
Target audience: Secondary Math Teachers

Workshop Title: A37 - Creating Social Opportunities for Student with Autism (and Others) at Middle & Secondary School - FULL
Presenter Name: Provincial Outreach Program for Autism & Related Disorders (POPARD)
Description of session: This workshop will overview some practical strategies and inclusive approaches to foster social interactions, communication, and meaningful connections within educational settings for students with ASD.  While this session focuses on students with autism, the strategies are applicable to all students.
Target audience: middle & secondary school staff – classroom teachers, learning support teachers, YCWs, EAs

Workshop Title: A38 - Get Lost in Play 
Presenter Name: Angela Montgomery 
Description of session: Learn to develop and refine your play skills to build connections with students.  How do we follow the student’s lead, encourage communication, and be present in the moment?  This session is open to all but will be of particular interest to teachers and support staff working with students (of any age) with autism who are non or partially speaking.  Come prepared to sit on the floor and play!
Target audience: Classroom teachers, learning support teachers, YCWs, EAs, district staff

Workshop Title: A39 - Putting Out Fires: Classroom Management Strategies
Presenter Name: Colleen Gregory
Description of session: Join us to explore strategies and tiny tweaks to classroom routines and expectations to create calmer and happier spaces for you and your students. We will share ideas for getting students’ attention, being more cooperative and reinforcing routines. Every teacher will leave with an item or two to support classroom management.
Target audience: K-8 Classroom Teachers

Workshop Title: A40 - Overcoming burnout for employees
Presenter Name: TELUS Health
Description of session: If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the pressures of everyday work and home life, then this workshop focusing on the issues of burnout will help bring your life back into balance. Learn to identify the symptoms of burnout and explore strategies for coping with and avoiding burnout.
Target audience: ALL Staff