B Sessions (1:00 - 2:30)
"B" SESSIONS - AFTERNOON (1:00pm - 2:30pm)
Workshop Title: B01 - 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: B02 - Understanding SOGI 123 - FULL
Presenter Name: Jennifer Ofeimu - Equity Helping Teacher
Description of session: Our shared value of ensuring all students have a sense of belonging and feel safe in all spaces of our schools leads this critical discussion on understanding SOGI 123. Focusing on how to create gender-affirming environments, knowing district policies and the resources available, and how to engage in discussions with families.
Target audience: If you engage with kids - this session is for you!
Workshop Title: B03 - Directed Drawing - FULL
Presenter Name: Carlos Julian
Description of session: Carlos Julian, artist, ISW and member of Mathxwi First Nation will share his passion for art, with practical step by step opportunity to learn about drawing with Indigenous shapes and designs.
Target audience: ALL Staff
Workshop Title: B04 - Indigenous Board Games Make and Take - FULL
Presenter Name: Loraleigh Epp and Tasha Ellis
Description of session: Join us in learning about how gifts from nature can be transformed into board games that teach teamwork, sportsmanship, and having fun. You will leave this session with your own Indigenous board games kit with 3 games to play.
Target audience: K-5 Teachers, EAs and ISWs
Workshop Title: B05 - Introduction to Halq'emeylem
Presenter Name: Tyrone Thomas and Jessi Old Coyote
Description of session: Join Tyrone and Jessi for this interactive session to learn some key phrases in Halq'emeylem the language of our local First Nation. Learn about the importance of language and the deep connection to culture and the land.
Target audience: ALL Staff
Workshop Title: B06 - Getting Started with Whole Brain Teaching - FULL
Presenter Name: Tawnie Hildebrandt
Description of session: Whole Brain Teaching (WBT) focuses on strategies to help manage your class and keep kids engaged during lessons. We'll be looking at the "Class? Yes!" attention getter, how to use the "Scoreboard," the "Mirror" and "Mirror Words" routine, and we'll look at the WBT "Class Rules" suggestions. This will be an interactive session where you learn about WBT by engaging in all the strategies!
Target audience: Elementary & Middle School Teachers
Workshop Title: B07 - Graphic Novels: Read Between the Panels
Presenter Name: Kaylie Rooke
Description of session: Many of our students, especially our striving readers, are obsessed with graphic novels. But rather than just ‘put up with’ graphic novels, how can we explicitly teach the elements of graphic novels to help those students become stronger readers of both graphic novels as well as more traditional text? Join this session to explore a few beginner ideas for teaching about and with graphic novels in the intermediate and middle classroom.
Target audience: Gr 4-8 classroom teachers
Workshop Title: B08 - AI In Education: Microsoft and Teams Integration
Presenter Name: Debbie Born
Description of session: Help your students become digital citizens with Microsoft Tools and Learning Accelerators in Teams. These tools promote effective use technology - responsibly, ethically and safely. You will learn how to use and integrate Edge, Bing Chat and Immersive Reader along with Teams Learning Accelerators for online research, reading skills and reflection.
Target audience: Grade 4-12 Teachers with Teams experience
Workshop Title: B09 - AI for Educators: How to Save Time - FULL
Presenter Name: Nelly Fargeon
Description of session: AI is here! Come learn how AI can help you save time with tasks, feedback and planning. Leave with skills to prompt AI, help you develop lesson & unit plans, write quicker emails, come up with brainstorming ideas, quickly differentiate instruction, make your classroom more inclusive and so much more.
Target audience: All educators (Teachers, EAs, ISWs, LSS, ELL, YCW, Admin...)
Workshop Title: B10 - Supporting Regulation 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’ regulation at school and in their classrooms? This workshop will focus on trauma informed practices and strategies to support students’ capacity for co-regulation and/or self-regulation and on ways to provide increased opportunities for regulation within school/classroom communities for students
Target audience: Staff who work with students K-8
Workshop Title: B11 - Engage and empower your French language learners with Le Français en Images!
Presenter Name: Natalie de Wit
Description of session: During this interactive session, participants will explore a rich resource and communication tool for their students. Come experience a variety of French language activities, instructional strategies, and identity projects that align with the FSL curriculum and the Action-Oriented approach to language learning. *Participants will receive 15 copies of this resource for their classroom and a 3 year online license with audio!
Target audience: Core French 5-10, FI K-8
Workshop Title: B12 - 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 9-12. 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 9-12-Classroom Teachers, ELL Teachers
Workshop Title: B13 - Tour and Try at The Reach Gallery - FULL
Presenter Name: Kanta Naik
Description of session: The Reach is offering a Tour and Try afternoon session. Teachers will get to experience the current exhibit entitled Des Pardes, which showcases the contributions and stories of South Asian families in the Valley. There will be a make and take art activity as well as information and resources for teachers to use in classrooms. Click Here to learn more.
Target audience: K-12 Teachers
Workshop Title: B14 - Learn how playing Dungeons & Dragons can help students practice and build upon their SEL skills - FULL
Presenter Name: Tiffani Smith
Description of session: Tabletop role playing games have been proven to be a positive and safe way for kids to explore all sorts of social skills and have fun while doing so. It teaches teamwork and cooperation, as well as, helping to develop improvisational and critical thinking skills, all while dissolving social hierarchies.
Target audience: Anyone and Everyone
Workshop Title: B15 - Creating Safer Schools Using a Mental Health Lens - FULL
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 and support staff working with middle school and/or secondary school students
Workshop Title: B16 - Vaping - FULL
Presenter Name: Nicci Allen & Gwen Dwyn, Healthy Schools Nurse, Fraser Health
Description of session: Participants in this session will delve into the fundamentals of vaping, exploring emerging health evidence and data. Staff will gain valuable insights on how to effectively educate students about this topic in a comprehensive manner while acquiring resources that enhance understanding and facilitate informative discussions.
Target audience: All Staff
Workshop Title: B17 - RC-BC: Building Your Accessible Digital Toolbox to Empower Your Students
Presenter Name: Victoria Woelders from ARC-BC
Description of session: How do your students interact with their digital materials? By the end of this session, you will learn about the Accessible Resource Centre of British Columbia and have a collection of accessible digital tools to use with your students. Uncover the magic of accessibility features in Microsoft Word, and educational apps that will allow "reading" of 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: B18 - 10 Steps to Retire Without Debt - FULL
Presenter Name: Sheilagh Cahill, Credit Counselling Society
Description of session: 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.
Target audience: ALL Staff
Workshop Title: B19 - Teamsters Benefit Plan - FULL
Presenter Name: Joti Sandu, Teamsters
Description of session: Provides a detailed review of the Teamsters Benefit Plan and answers your questions for how to get the most out of your benefits.
Target audience: Support Staff
Workshop Title: B20 - Approaching Retirement - FULL
Presenter Name: Robert Conway, MPP
Description of session: Are you planning for or within five years of retirement? Understand the important decisions you need to make about your pension. The decisions you make about your pension as retirement approaches are important, and planning for retirement now can make your transition easier. This 75-minute webinar can help you learn about: How your pension is calculated, Eligibility for an unreduced pension, Choosing your best pension option, The retirement application process, and Returning to work after you have started collecting a pension.
Target audience: Support Staff
Workshop Title: B21 - 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 Staff
Workshop Title: B23 - Happiness: Learning from Positive Psychology - FULL
Presenter Name: TELUS Health, Sundeep Hans
Description of session: 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. Several researches on happiness have been conducted based on the concept of positive psychology to understand what allows people to flourish, be more resilient and increase their perception of happiness. Scientists found that when referring to happiness, we need to look at positive feelings and overall life satisfaction which is largely attributable to intentional activities. In other words, we must empower ourselves to create our own happiness. In this seminar, participants will learn strategies to increase happiness through intentional activities.
Target audience: ALL Staff
Workshop Title: B25 - Resiliency at work - FULL
Presenter Name: TELUS Health, Munir Velji
Description of session: Resilience is often described as your ability to bounce back from adversity. Being resilient is an important building block of individual and organizational health and well-being. This seminar will provide participants with an understanding of the different components that contribute to resiliency and will show them how they can thrive under pressure.
Target audience: ALL Staff
Workshop Title: B26 - The Sandwich Generation - FULL
Presenter Name: TELUS Health,
Description of session: Giving to work and family at the same time can be difficult for anyone, but for people in the sandwich generation—those who care for children and elderly parents—life can be especially demanding. Children need parents to look after their physical needs, take an interest in their activities, and give them emotional support and guidance. As parents age (and particularly if they become ill), they may need their children’s help with personal care, financial matters, and routine errands and tasks. This seminar will encourage participants to tune into important considerations in their lives with respect to caring for elderly family members, caring for children and grandchildren, as well as caring for themselves.
Target audience: ALL Staff
Workshop Title: B27 - Conflict Resolution in the Workplace
Presenter Name: TELUS Health, Rob Hershorn
Description of session: In the workplace, unresolved conflict can negatively impact the individuals involved, other team members, and the organization as a whole by affecting productivity and morale. The approach you take to managing conflict determines whether stress or opportunities for growth will be created. This seminar will examine various types of conflict and provide participants with a model for successfully resolving conflict at work.
Target audience: ALL Staff
Workshop Title: B28 - Eating Plan for Stress Management - FULL
Presenter Name: Sharon Fast, TELUS Health
Description of session: Stress is a common workplace challenge that can have an impact on mental and physical wellbeing. Eating habits play a significant role in helping the body combat stress, yet as stress mounts, even healthy employees can see their eating habits deteriorate. In this session, participants will learn how the right foods can bolster energy levels, immune defences, and mental clarity. They will also explore what they can do to maintain a balanced diet that promotes a stress-free lifestyle.
Target audience: ALL Staff
Workshop Title: B31 - Yes, Coach! Creating the conditions for a successful school team
Presenter Name: Ashlyen Singh
Description of session: This collaborative session presents applications of sport psychology and sports leadership research for school teams. We invite all coaches of school teams to join us in growing our understanding of sport psychology and our capacity to create conditions for student athletes to thrive.
Target audience: School Sports Coaches and Athletic Directors
Workshop Title: B32 - Creating Social Opportunities for Student with Autism (and Others) at Elementary 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: Elementary school staff – classroom teachers, learning support teachers, YCWs, EAs
Workshop Title: B33 - Connection Over Compliance - FULL
Presenter Name: Angela Montgomery
Description of session: Things go more smoothly when students listen to the adults and follow directions. But sometimes students can demonstrate problem behaviour when presented with a demand. Come and learn about how to increase student cooperation while strengthening student-adult relationships and building independence. This session is open to all staff but is most applicable to staff case managing and/or working directly with students with developmental and/or intellectual disabilities. Whole-class/small group and individual strategies will be discussed.
Target audience: Classroom teachers, learning support teachers, YCWs, EAs, district staff
Workshop Title: B34 - Calming the Fires: More Classroom Management Strategies! - FULL
Presenter Name: Colleen Gregory
Description of session: As a follow up to ‘Putting Out Fires’, we invite you to join us for a deep dive into two highly requested aspects of classroom management. We know that teaching expectations for routines and behaviours is important, but the ‘how’ is tricky! We’ll share concrete strategies to get you going. As well, we will share ideas for carving out time to find calm through mindful activities that will help regulate students and teachers!
Target audience: K-8 Teachers
Workshop Title: B36 - Using Circles in the Secondary Classroom
Presenter Name: Karen Van Egmond
Description of Session: Are you looking for a structured way to build community and connection in your classroom? In this workshop, participants will experience the positive and restorative effects of classroom circles while using different strategies (Socratic, Fishbowl) to increase communication and student engagement.
Target audience: Secondary Teachers, EAs, LSS, ELL