Shared Learning Sessions

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

A01 Ey Kw’as emi “Good that you came” The Welcome Project
Presenter: Darlene MacDonald
Target Audience: All Staff
Ey Kw’as emi “Good that you came” (The Welcome Project) is intended to provide knowledge on the history of Indigenous People in Canada as well as an understanding of the impact of that history on our Indigenous students, their families and our staff. We recognize the important role that staff in our schools have in cultivating positive relationships with students and families and we thank you for being part of our efforts toward collective responsibility to provide a culturally safe environment for our students, their families and our Indigenous staff.  Participants will receive a certificate of completion for Cultural Safety Training upon completion of this workshop.

A02  High Yield Literacy Routines
Presenter:  Tyra Lasko
Target Audience: Grade K - 5/ELL/LSS Teachers
Meeting the literacy needs of all the learners in the class has many challenges. Do you have students who would benefit from daily review of phonics or phonological awareness, but struggle to find the time to meet with them daily? This literacy learning session will explore high yield literacy routines. These quick, low prep routines can offer the most ‘bang for your buck’ to meet the diverse needs of all your learners!

A03 Helping Kids who can't Speak Learn in my Classroom
Presenter: Lee Gouttin, Jessika Enns, and Wendy Costello 
Target Audience: Elementary school teachers
Elementary school teachers will gain practical classroom-based strategies for diverse learners who can’t speak. Presenters will discuss alternative ideas that can unlock classroom participation for students who struggle to show what they know in conventional ways.

A04 English First Peoples 10-12
Presenter: Taryn MacDonald
Target Audience: Secondary English teachers
Explore and unpack the Curriculum Kits available for loan from the Indigenous Centre which were created to facilitate opportunities to explore the curriculum using authentic Indigenous voices and texts. Participants will have access to unit overviews, lesson plans, student workbooks, and completed teacher guides, as well as demonstrations of learning opportunities.

A05 Storywork with Stó:lō Sitel
Presenter: Allison Gardner and Loraleigh Epp
Target Audience: K-9 Teachers and ISWs
The Stó:lō Sitel Stories are local stories written for teachers to share with their students. Join us in exploring Dr. JoAnn Archibald's concept of Storywork with a few of these stories. Leave with a couple of creative ways to use these stories in your classroom, a copy of a Stó:lō Sitel story, and feel confident in using proper protocols around storytelling.

A06 Métis History and Culture
Presenter: Vanessa Fleury
Target Audience: Middle and Secondary Teachers
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.

A07 Braiding Sweetgrass – Youth
Presenter: Janelle Dick
Target Audience: Explore the newest publication of Braiding Sweetgrass adapted for young adults by Robin Wall Kimmerer and Monique Gray Smith. Activities include connections to life science, Indigenous ways of knowing and being, and the wisdom of plants. Participants will receive student workbook pages, classroom activities, guided discussion questions and their own copy of Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults.

A08 Ways to Make Graphing Meaningful
Presenter: Tawnie Hildebrandt
Target Audience: Grade 3 - 8
Graphing can be a challenging concept to devote time to during the year, with so many concepts needed exploration.  What if there was a way to integrate graphing into your year that made it more meaningful and connected to number sense?  Come learn about ways to explore graphing throughout the year to help students not just create them, but also read and understand them.

A09 Science of Reading (SOR) and structured literacy instruction for the win
Presenter: Janet Bauer and Pat Kennaley
Target Audience: Educators working with developing readers at any age; primary, intermediate, LSS
We have shifted many of our instructional practices to incorporate structured literacy and want to share our journey and a few of our empowering student success stories. Briefly, we will share our current understanding of what SOR is, what it looks like in our classrooms, key instructional routines we’ve incorporated, how it's benefiting all of our students, and why it's essential for some. Some of the instructional practices include phoneme-grapheme mapping, word chaining, dictation, morphemes and advanced phonics. “The social justice thing to do is to teach (kids) explicitly how to read.” Kareem Weaver

A10 Book Creator Lesson Planning
Presenter: Michelle Gill/Michelle Middleton
Target Audience: Grade 6 - 12 Teachers
During this session we will explore Book Creator's powerful features allowing everyone to be creators of their own content as well as published authors of digital books.  Learn how Book Creator empowers students of all grade levels, and ability levels to communicate, collaborate, critically think and create.  Participants will have time to set up their own library and create books.

A11 Supporting Narrative Writing in Your K-3 Classroom
Presenter: Maria Limpright
Target Audience: Grade K - 3
In this session we will explore the structure of narrative writing as well as a variety of scaffolded supports for writing in this genre.

A12 Learning Focused Conversations: Mentor Learning Session
Presenter: Colleen Gregory
Target Audience: Grade K - 12
Are you supporting a new teacher this year? This session is designed for teachers who are volunteering as mentors, are informally mentoring 'the teacher next door', and those who are sponsoring a student teacher. Join us as we explore consulting, collaborating, and coaching skills to support you in your mentor role. We will learn how to have meaningful and focused conversations with teachers we are supporting.

A13 Work Avoidance is Brain Based!
Presenter: Lanie Champigny
Target Audience: Middle and High School Teachers
Teachers will come away with classroom hacks for students who are avoiding work and/or struggling with initiating work. The presenter will discuss some of the neuroscience behind executive functioning and will give practical tips for student engagement

A14 Applying for Positions: Learn About the Changes 
Presenter: Jay Pankratz & Kate Muir
Target Audience: All Staff
The software used to apply for positions in the district is changing. Learn about "Make-A-Future" and how it will be used to apply for internal postings. Join us for this online session and get a head start on the changes that are coming. 
Please note: This event will be online

A15 Performance Expectations
Presenter: Stacey Hagkull
Target Audience: All AbbySchools people leaders
A 'how-to' about how to best manage employee performance expectations from new hire to seasoned worker at Abby Schools

A16 10 Steps to Retire Without Debt
Presenter: Credit Counselling Society
Target Audience: All Employees
In this seminar you will learn:  Why Canadians are retiring with debt, Facts about government pensions, How to create a plan to pay off your debt, How to moderate your present-day lifestyle to find money that you can save, and How to create a plan to adjust to a retired lifestyle when the time comes

A17 Stress Management
Presenter: On-Track Corporate Training
Target Audience: All Employees
This skill-based course addresses these needs with knowledge of what stress is and skills in how to manage it in healthful, effective ways. Participants will learn to identify stressors in their lives, and develop positive strategies that work to manage ongoing stress and to address the conditions which foster it. 

A18 Communication Skills Workshop
Presenter: On-Track Corporate Training
Target Audience: All Employees
This practical workshop is organized to enable participants to learn about basic and more sophisticated communication processes and skills, then apply their learning in a variety of work-related activities and exercises. Theory and hands-on practice proceed at a brisk pace in an enjoyable interactive environment.

A19 Managing Difficult Conversations
Presenter: On-Track Corporate Training
Target Audience: All Employees
This workshop is designed to help participants face difficult situations of interpersonal conflict at work and deal skillfully and effectively with them through conversation.

A20 Teamsters Benefit Plan
Presenter: Kelly Nicholson, Teamsters Benefits Administrator
Target Audience: All Support Staff
Kelly Nicholson provides a detailed review to the Teamsters Benefit Plan and answers your questions for how to get the most out of your benefits.

A21 Overcoming Burnout for Employees
Presenter: LifeWorks Learning
Target Audience: All Staff
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.

A22 Happiness: Learning from Positive Psychology
Presenter: LifeWorks Learning
Target Audience: All Staff
Positive psychology focuses on enhancing well-being and helping an individual flourish. It aims to create a more balanced psychology that encompasses the wholeness of the human experience. In this seminar, participants will learn strategies to increase happiness through intentional activities.

A23 Happiness: Stress Reduction Tool Kit 2.0
Presenter: LifeWorks Learning
Target Audience: All Staff
How do you know you are stressed? Do you recognize the symptoms of stress? Explore the newest research and what experts are saying about good and bad stress. Participants will gain the tools to manage stress, including mindful communication.

A24 Silencing Your Inner Critic
Presenter: LifeWorks Learning
Target Audience: All Staff
Your inner “Critic” is that voice – the one that is all-to-ready to berate, criticize, and demean you. If your “Critic” is not managed, it can rob you of feeling good about yourself. Strong self-esteem – the value and worth you put on yourself – is an attribute that enables you to succeed at work and in relationships. In order to have healthy self-esteem, it’s important to confront the “Critic” and change the language of that internal voice. There are many strategies that can help people develop healthy self-esteem.

A25 Road to Resilience
Presenter: LifeWorks Learning
Target Audience: All Staff
Resilience is a learnt skill which can be applied immediately to better manage reactions to crisis situations; as well as it can be cultivated over the long term for a healthier, more robust approach to the demands of daily living. Join us in this 90-minute session, to learn practical, easy-to-use strategies which motivate participants through clear calls to action for short, medium and long-term resilience building skills. 

A26 ZOLL Automated External Defibrillator Training
Presenter: ProSafe First Aid
Target Audience: All Staff
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 current CPR skills with a hands-on demo with ZOLL AED Trainer Units.

A27 Websites 101: What's New, What's Changed?
Presenter: Kayla Stuckart, Manager of Communications, and Eden DuPont, Sotropa Communication
Target Audience: All PVPs, All Operations Management, All Clerical, All Web Editors
Did you hear the news?! All district and school websites are undergoing significant upgrades to their platforms. Kayla Stuckart, Manager of Communications, and Eden DuPont, Sotropa Communications, will take web users through an overview of the improved user interface and demonstrate the enhanced visual experience through the eyes of our parent and student audiences. While some things may look a little different for web editors, we're confident you'll wonder why you ever did things the old way.

A28 Instructional Support Staff Open Forum
Presenter: Jerry Loeppky and Brian Davies
Target Audience: Educational Assistants, Youth Care Workers, Indigenous Support Workers
Conversation about ISS competencies, roles, self-care, training and postings, as well as time for Q&A

A29 Implementing Trauma Sensitive Practices in Schools and Classrooms
Presenter: Lori Mohitpour and Melissa Wood
Target Audience: K-12 Teachers, LSS Teachers, Counsellors, EAs, Administrators
How can we support all students to feel safe and connected at school and in their classrooms? This workshop will focus on practices and strategies to increase students' feelings of safety at school, to strengthen the relationships that students have with adults at school, to increase students' capacity for co-regulation and/or self-regulation and on ways to provide increased opportunities for learning within school/classroom communities for all students.

A30 Moving to Microsoft
Presenter: Debbie Born
Target Audience: All Staff
Bring your laptop and learn how to move and convert your files from Google to OneDrive. Learn about Microsoft products, including Microsoft WORD and Powerpoint and how the tools will enable your students to access and engage with course content to meet their diverse needs. 

A31 Food First toolkit
Presenter: Gina Guo (Public Health Dietician)
Target Audience: Grade K - 8 Educators
Teach Food First toolkit to educators along with other nutritional information

**Check out the rest of the sessions offered in other time slots before you register. If you are ready to register, click here**