B Sessions (1:00 - 2:30)
"B" SESSIONS - AFTERNOON (1:00pm - 2:30pm)
Title: B01 - AI for Educators: Advanced Techniques and Strategies
Presenter: Holly Clark, Keynote Speaker
Audience: All Educators
Time: 1:00 -2:30 pm
Description: Ready to go beyond the basics of AI in education? This deep-dive workshop is designed for educators who have a foundational understanding of AI and are eager to explore how this tool can be used with students with more advanced applications and unlock its full potential in the classroom.
Title: B02 - Echolalia: Understanding Gestalt Language Processing - FULL
Presenter: Jessika Enns & Lee Gouttin with guest contributor Tina Lang
Audience: EAs, classroom teachers, LSS, PVP
Time: 1:00 -2:30 pm
Description: Come learn about what is new in our understandings of Gestalt Language Processing, previously known as echolalia, to gain strategies for understanding and supporting our students who are complex communicators.
Title: B03 - Powerful Mornings: Soft Starts & Literacy Interventions for Intermediate Grades
Presenter: Amy Baker
Audience: Grades 4 & 5
Time: 1:00 -2:30 pm
Description: This workshop will equip teachers with practical tools and engaging games to incorporate into morning routines. You’ll learn strategies to make the most of soft start time by pulling students for quick, targeted literacy interventions that enhance skills, support growth, and set students up for success throughout the day.
Title: B04 - Practical strategies for working with challenging student behaviours - FULL
Presenter: Kelsey Veinot, Rhonda Wiens, Sarahlynn Zimmerman, Veronica Janzen
Audience: Support staff (EA, ISW, YCW - K-12)
Time: 1:00 -2:30 pm
Description: Trauma-informed tips and tricks for supporting students with dysregulated and challenging behaviours. An interactive workshop to learn more about strategies for inclusion and integration in the school environment. Games, prizes and snacks included. Please bring your phone for a Kahoot challenge.
Title: B05 - ARC BC - Accessibility and Artificial Intelligence
Presenter: Victoria Woelders - ARC BC Teacher
Audience: All teachers utilizing or exploring the use of ARC BC supports and resources
Time: 1:00 -2:30 pm
Description: A discussion of AI categories and how to craft accessibility-focused prompts for AI platforms. Various AI categories and how to create accessibility-focused prompts. How AI has and will continue to assist diverse learners.
Title: B06 - Story Workshop
Presenter: Colleen Gregory
Audience: Grade 4-5
Time: 1:00 -2:30 pm
Description: Are you interested in finding ways to include more oral storytelling and scaffolds for writing in your intermediate class? Come and explore ways to implement story workshop with your students. Story Workshop provides a structure for literacy that explores the relationship between thinking creatively, oral language and writing. In this session we will explore a variety of read aloud storybooks and non-fiction texts to inspire Story Workshop lessons.
Title: B07 - "History as Past, Present, and Future: How to Make the Most Impact With Your Students"
Presenter: Dr. Sharanjit Kaur Sandhra
Audience: All high school grades social studies teachers.
Time: 1:00 -2:30 pm
Description: This session will explore the discipline and foundations of History, and critique its colonial roots in order to forge a pathway as to how Social Studies classrooms in high school can become meaningful and engaged classrooms of learning that is both relevant to student experiences, and inclusive of many different styles of learning.
Title: B08 - “Mind the Gap”: Middle School Literacy Tools, Tips, and Tricks
Presenter: Sara Strocel
Audience: Middle School (Grades 6-8)
Time: 1:00 -2:30 pm
Description: Students arrive at middle school with a variety of literacy skills and experience. How can you work with the 60 students in your pod to help their reading and writing skills, without differentiating for every single student? This session will offer practical ways teachers and EA's can introduce decoding, vocabulary, and sentence structure strategies into lessons, while still meeting Grade 6-8 curriculum content.
Title: B09 - EasyConnect & Sparkrock - Administrative Assistant Focus
Presenter: Adrianne Harley, Kate Muir, & Teresa Wertman
Audience: Administrative Assistants
Time: 1:00 -2:30 pm
Description: An overview of EasyConnect (create/edit an absence, occasional preferences, my calendar & job board), mySparkrock Timesheets, & mySparkrock Expenses and Claims
Title: B10 - Intro to Metis Culture
Presenter: Vanessa Fleury
Audience: All
Time: 1:00 -2:30 pm
Description: Join Vanessa in sharing Métis history through historic artifacts and stories.
Title: B11 - Stó꞉lō Teas and Salves - FULL
Presenter: Sylvia Silver and Anna Williams
Audience: Grades 5+
Time: 1:00 -2:30 pm
Description: 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.
Title: B12 - Halq'emeylem
Presenter: Delaina Stromquist
Audience: All
Time: 1:00 -2:30 pm
Description: Connect to the land and culture through language. Learn Halq'emeylem through games and fun.
Title: B13 - Oral Storytelling
Presenter: Tyrone Thomas, Jessi Old Coyote and Jenavieve Old Coyote
Audience: All
Time: 1:00 -2:30 pm
Description: Across Indigenous territory, with our written language being so young, oral storytelling has been our teaching guide for our children. Tyrone, Jessi, and Jenavieve will share the importance of oral stories and they will tell a couple stories. One from the Stó:lō territory and one from their family, to help identify the lessons within.
Title: B14 - Empowering Educators: Understanding ADHD and Effective Classroom Strategies - FULL
Presenter: Lanie Champigny, Deb Cameron, Gabriel Canal, Melissa Wood, Amy LeClair
Audience: Teachers, support staff and administrators, K-12
Time: 1:00 -2:30 pm
Description: Join us for an insightful workshop designed specifically for all staff to better understand ADHD and its impact on students in the classroom. This session will provide practical strategies that can support students' success and will provide a look at what ADHD is and how it affects students' learning, behaviour and emotional regulation.
Title: B15 - How to Interview Students to Understand Their Number Sense - FULL
Presenter: Tawnie Hildebrandt
Audience: Gr. K - 5+
Time: 1:00 -2:30 pm
Description: This session will explore a new resource called the “Number Sense Interview” designed to provide teachers with a way to gather assessment about a student’s depth of number sense. You’ll learn how to do the interview with students and leave with a copy of the interview, ready to use on Monday! Interview is currently set up for numbers that are applicable to Grade 1 – 5, but there are applications for higher grades.
Title: B16 - Clevr from Novice to Expert
Presenter: Walid Alieldin
Audience: Teachers, Admin Assistants, PVPs
Time: 1:00 -2:30 pm
Description: Elevate your working experience with Clevr to the next level. Enhance your search, understand various attributes of form records, and discuss existing form workflows.
Title: B17 - KidsAction: An inclusive physical activity approach to support children with neurodevelopmental and intellectual disabilities in school settings.
Presenter: Lise Olsen and Stephanie Glegg
Audience: Physical Education teachers, Learning Support Services teachers, education assistants, K-12
Time: 1:00 -2:30 pm
Description: KidsAction is an approach to supports children with diverse need by providing tangible and accessible resources to support their physical activity skills and promote active lives. When signing up please choose the description that matches your role if either a Teacher or an EA.
Title: B18 - We Thinkers- Social thinking curriculum
Presenter: Karen Van Egmond
Audience: Teachers PS-gr.4
Time: 1:00 -2:30 pm
Description: “We Thinkers” curriculum, designed to enhance social-emotional learning in young children. You’ll gain insights into key concepts and strategies, participate in interactive activities, and learn practical tips for classroom implementation. This session will help you create a supportive learning environment and foster essential skills like perspective-taking and problem-solving.
Title: B19 - Co-regulating Behavior Through Movement, Games, and Sport - FULL
Presenter: Rod White
Audience: Teachers and EAs
Time: 1:00 -2:30 pm
Description: Fun activities and games built into the day can assist students with behavior regulation as well as reinforce physical fitness and cooperative team building skills. Be prepared to engage in discussions, activities, and games with colleagues. Comfortable clothing and indoor running shoes required. Please note that this session will be offsite at Yale Secondary Gym.
Title: B20 - Accessibility Tools Starter Kit – A Look at Microsoft 365
Presenter: Maria Romanelli SET BC Provincial Educator
Audience: All grades and all subjects
Time: 1:00 -2:30 pm
Description: Do you have students who have difficulty writing, or who struggle reading? Do literacy skills impact the completion of assignments? This workshop is for you! You will explore built-in and free reading and writing tools to support literacy. When working on a laptop, these built-in tools allow students to access information, make annotations, create & edit their own writing. Some supports include: dictation, predictive text, text-to-speech online & in Word, annotation of PDFs for assignment completion, and the reduction of visual distractions from websites. These tools align with the principles of UDL as they will benefit all students. Come explore them with us. This is a hands-on workshop – laptops provided.
Title: B21 - Understanding & Supporting Students with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) - FULL
Presenter: Wendy Costello
Audience: K-12 Classroom Teachers; LSS Teachers
Time: 1:00 -2:30 pm
Description: Do you have students who struggle with memory, processing, regulation, sensory processing, attention, planning & organizing, etc.? These are challenges that many students with FASD struggle with, but these might be challenges other students have as well. In this session you will learn what FASD is, how alcohol exposure impacts student learning and explore ways to support students to overcome challenges at school.
Title: B22 - Effective Strategies for Targeted Instruction with Emerging ELL Students
Presenter: Bharwat Nanuwa
Audience: ELL Teachers Grades 4-12
Time: 1:00 -2:30 pm
Description: This session will provide practical strategies for delivering targeted instruction to emerging English Language Learners, with a focus on foundational literacy skills. You will learn how to start lessons with engaging oral activities and connect activities to students' ongoing classwork. We’ll also explore the role of Reading Coach in supporting literacy development. By the end of this session, you’ll have a toolkit of strategies to enhance ELL instruction and support diverse learners in their literacy journey.
Title: B23 - 10 Steps to Retire Without Debt - FULL
Presenter: Sheilagh Cahill
Audience: All
Time: 1:00 -2:30 pm
Description: In this session 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.
Title: B24 - Understanding Different Personalities for better collaboration - FULL
Presenter: Jayeson Shaffer
Audience: All
Time: 1:00 -2:30 pm
Description: 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 behavior and difficult people and provide participants with strategies to respond effectively to challenging situations with a focus on assertive communication.
Title: B25 - Eating Plan for Stress Management
Presenter: Jess Young
Audience: All
Time: 1:00 -2:30 pm
Description: 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 defenses, and mental clarity. They will also explore what they can do to maintain a balanced diet that promotes a stress-free lifestyle.
Title: B26 - Happiness: Learning From Positive Psychology - FULL
Presenter: Sundeep Hans
Audience: All
Time: 1:00 -2:30 pm
Description: 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 research 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.
Title: B27 - The Sandwich Generation - FULL
Presenter: Mark Wessner
Audience: All
Time: 1:00 -2:30 pm
Description: 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.