May In-Lieu Professional Learning Opportunities

2018-2019:

Below are some of the professional learning opportunities that Mission Public School District is offering in the 2018/2019 school year. These can be used in-lieu of the May 17th 2019 professional development day.

Core French Learning Series (first session begins October 25th):

Facilitated by: Shauna Néro

(Gr.5-12) (Maximum 30 participants) (Location: École Mission Central)

Shauna Néro is Mission’s French Program Coordinator and Vice Principal at École Mission Central Elementary. She is also a sessional instructor for teacher-learners at Simon Fraser University and is the President of the BC Languages Coordinators Association. She has experience teaching secondary Core French, Sciences Humaines and Français langue 8-12. Shauna’s experience as Surrey School District’s International Languages and Zonal Support Helping Teacher has given her the opportunity to work with teachers from K-12 in connecting their instructional practices to quality formative and summative assessment practices. She has worked with teachers at all grade levels from different disciplines to develop assessment practices that honour students’ learning.

Click here to register for the Core French Learning Series.

Siwal Si’wes Professional Learning Opportunities:

As we embark on the Year of Respect, it is a good time to set personal and professional goals for acts of reconciliation that extend on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission 94 calls to action.

Below are three professional learning opportunities and some additional resources that focus on acts of reconciliation.

1. UBC Massive Open Online Course: Reconciliation Through Indigenous Education

(First session begins October 25th)

Facilitated by Peggy Janicki and Vivian Searwar, (K-12) (Maximum 30 participants)

We have received information from UBC, regarding a free online course called Reconciliation Through Indigenous Education. This course has been offered for a few years now and is both informative and transformative. Best of all, it’s free, and you have the option of receiving a certificate of completion at the end!

As part of the May In-Lieu Pro-D Opportunities, we would like to offer registrants of this course time to gather in Portable 6 (Camille Anderson’s work space) at MSS from 3:30-5:00 pm on the following dates:

Thursday, Oct 25
Thursday, Nov 1st
Thursday, November 8
Thursday, November 15
Thursday, November 29th.

Note that there will be NO scheduled class during the week of November 20th.

We plan to view one (or if time permits more than one) video presented in the week’s module followed by discussion and dialogue. Snacks will be provided.

The intention is that you attend a minimum of four of the sessions, which would then fulfill your obligation for the May In-Lieu Pro-D.

You must register with UBC before October 23 at: http://pdce.educ.ubc.ca/Reconciliation/ (You can also register at: https://www.edx.org/course/reconciliation-through-indigenous-education-0)

To register for the MPSD sessions, email vivian.searwar@mpsd.ca .

2. Feast on Local Knowledge with Naxaxalhts’i, Albert (Sonny) McHalsie:

November 14th, 3:30-6:00, HPMS Cafetorium & Clarke Theatre

(K-12) (2.5 hours) (Maximum 150 participants)

Enjoy an evening of learning over a catered meal with esteemed Stó:lō knowledge keeper, Naxaxalhts’i, (Sonny McHalsie). Listen and learn about the unique relationship between the Stó:lō, “the River People”, their land and their environment. Discover (and re-discover) local resources to use in the incorporation of Aboriginal Worldviews and Perspectives in your classroom.

Naxaxalhts’i, Albert (Sonny) McHalsie – Cultural Advisor/Historian and Honorary Doctorate of Law, University of Victoria.Dr. Naxaxalhts’i is the Cultural Advisor/Historian of the Stó:lō Research and Resource Management Centre. Naxaxalhts’i has worked for the Stó:lō as a researcher in cultural heritage and aboriginal rights and title issues since 1985. He is a much cited author of several publications focusing on Stó:lō culture and history. His areas of expertise include Halq’eméylem Place Names, Fishing, and Stó:lō Oral History. He has also been featured in many television documentaries for the CBC, APTN and Omni. He currently acts as the cultural advisor on the Treaty Negotiation Team for the Stó:lō Xwexwilmexw Treaty Association. He is a member of the Shxw’ow’hamel First Nation, the proud father of two girls and six boys, and has six grandchildren. He continues to fish at his ancestral fishing ground at Aseláw in the Stó:lō Five Fishery in the lower Fraser River canyon.

Click here to register for Sonny McHalsie.

3. Beyond the poster on the wall: Jo Chrona

The First Peoples Principles of Learning as a Framework for Transformation and Equity

February 5th, 3:30-8:30, HPMS Cafetorium & Clarke Theatre

(K-12), (5 hours), (Maximum 150 participants)

Enjoy an evening of learning over a catered meal with respected educator and presenter, Jo Chrona.

How do we create an education system that supports the success and well-being of ALL learners? What are our individual roles within this process? The First Peoples Principles of Learning (FPPL) are making an impact on our education system, but we have only begun to understand how they can be used as a framework to build a stronger education system for all learners by building on the strengths that we each bring. Join us for a discussion about how we can take our individual and collective next steps in our own learning journeys. Through a combination of presentation and small group conversation we will explore such questions as:

What do our schools and classrooms look and sound like when they are grounded in the FPPL?
How can we use the FPPL as a framework for our work to support an equitable education system for Indigenous learners
What assumptions do we need to challenge in order to do this work?
What does it feel like for students? For families? For you as an educator?
What is your personal/professional role in this transformation?

Click here to register for Jo Chrona.

Additional Resources:

Personal Acts of Reconciliation: 10 Simple Actions you can take to learn more about reconciliation

Beyond 94: Truth and Reconciliation in Canada

First Contact (APTN series)

Competency-based IEPs (first session begins November 19th):

Facilitated by: Sheri Montgomery and Shannon Bowsfield

In lieu of May pro-d, the four sessions offered are: November 19, 2018, and January 7, February 4, and March 11, 2019 from 3:30-5:00 at Riverside College. Snacks provided.

(K-12) (Maximum 30 participants) (These sessions are now full.)

Now that we have developed an understanding of the history behind the design of the competency based IEP- we are ready to put the structures in place to support the implementation. During these four sessions you will:

Gain access to My Ed, (including FOIPA training)
Learn some basic Navigation tools in My Ed BC
Obtain access to the CB IEP;
Develop an understanding how to support students to write a strengths-based student profile, including how to write both Core and Curricular competency goals,
Gain access to templates, examples and resources and self assessment tools.

Outdoor Education Series (first session begins November 30th):

Facilitated by: Sue McLeod

(K-9) (Maximum 20 participants) (Location: HPMS) Three of five sessions are required for May in-lieu.

To register, please email susan.mcleod@mpsd.ca.

Building Thinking Classrooms (first session January 14, 2019):

Facilitated by: Rebekaah Stenner

(K-6) (Maximum 30 participants) (Location: MSS, Portable 6)

To register, email rebekaah.stenner@mpsd.ca.

Inquiry-Based Learning with Rebecca Bathurst-Hunt:

January 17, 2019, 3:30-6:00, HPMS Cafetorium

(K-9) (Maximum 100 participants.)

Join Rebecca Bathurst-Hunt, co-author of Inquiry Mindset: Nurturing the Dreams, Wonders and Curiosities of our Youngest Learners, in exploring how to adopt the inquiry process into your K-9 practice. You will leave understanding how to use various tools to provoke your learners and allow their interests to guide the direction of your inquiry. Rebecca will help you unpack the types of student inquiry and look at the inquiry cycle of a unit. This session will be full of practical ideas and ways to empower your learners and to feel confident implementing inquiry into your practices. Additionally, you will leave with the access to resources to further explore and use when designing inquiry experiences for your learners.

Rebecca Bathurst-Hunt is a French Immersion Kindergarten teacher in the Greater Victoria School District, BC, Canada. Rebecca co-authored Inquiry Mindset: Nurturing the Dreams, Wonders and Curiosities of our Youngest Learners with Trevor MacKenzie published by EdTechTeam Press.

Click here to register.

Meaningful and Quality Assessment:

Facilitated by: Shauna Néro

1. Gathering Evidence: Assessment of the Curricular Competencies and Content Learning Standards K-9

(K-9) April 15 *new date* 3:30-6:00, Location: Heritage Park Cafetorium

The BC curriculum redesign is based on a “Know-Do-Understand” model to support a concept-based competency-driven approach to learning. Since assessment and instruction are interconnected, we need to honour K-9 students’ learning and understanding. As we design learning experiences that connect to the curricular content and competencies, we need to design a framework for quality assessment that focuses on the learning process by providing multiple opportunities for students to demonstrate their learning.

Competency-based assessment is a process that collects evidence based on observations, conversations and products that are connected to the curricular and content learning standards. Our report card language is shifting to support the curriculum redesign, but it is just as important to connect our assessment practices to the instructional shift. During this introductory session, participants will reflect on their past and present assessment practices and explore meaningful questions to deepen their understanding of competency-based assessment. Participants will leave the session with theoretical knowledge and some practical examples to design a framework for quality assessment.

2. Connecting Curriculum Design to Competency-based Assessment: Rethinking Percentages and What They Mean for our Learners in Grades 10-12

(Gr. 10-12) February 26th, 2019, 3:30-6:00, Mission Secondary School, Portable 6

The BC curriculum redesign is based on a “Know-Do-Understand” model to support a concept-based competency-driven approach to learning. Since assessment and instruction are interconnected, we need to honour grade 10-12 students’ learning and understanding. As we design learning experiences that connect to the curricular content and competencies, we need to design a framework for quality assessment and focus on the learning process by providing multiple opportunities for students to demonstrate their learning.

Competency-based assessment is a process that collects evidence based on observations, conversations and products that are connected to the curricular and content learning standards. During this introductory session, participants will reflect on their past and present assessment practices and explore meaningful questions to deepen their understanding of competency-based assessment. Participants will leave the session with theoretical knowledge and some practical examples to design a framework for quality assessment. It’s time to rethink percentages and letter grades to make our assessment and reporting meaningful for our learners!