Workshop Sessions
Judo Math (Session A1) Damian Gay
Judo Math was designed to increase student engagement in mathematics. Instead of completing a Unit and moving on to the next, students earn coloured belts based on the level of material that is completed. At the beginning of the Unit the student receives all the material (videos, text book questions, quizzes, checkpoints) for the entire Unit. They are able to go as fast as they wish with the material, although the oath that students take at the beginning of the year is that they will do whatever they can for the betterment of the group. Therefore whenever they can, they collaborate in little groups, and work through the material together. On a set day, students write what is called an ‘Advancement’(no more tests!). They are only 10 questions and are the more in depth questions of the Unit. A student may only pass if they earn a 7/10. If they do not earn a 7/10, they must master the material and re-write the Advancement. This is not a bad thing! The main change in this classroom atmosphere is that failure is nothing to be feared. Students quickly realize that failure is a way of finding out where you need to focus your attention. The culture I set for my students strictly follows these three Judo Principles: Art of Mastery, Art of Cooperation and Art of ‘Sen’ or Initiative. That is Judo Math!
Restorative Practices (Session A2) Sandy Phillips
IRP professional development imparts practical knowledge and skills you can use immediately in your personal and professional life - whether you are involved in education, criminal justice, social services, counseling, leadership, the pastoral field, volunteer or other work. The skills you learn in this four-day conference will strengthen your ability to help others handle their own issues and achieve their own goals. Supported by extensive research, Restorative Practice has demonstrated positive outcomes in a wide variety of settings.
Engagement, Resilience and Children's Development (Session A3 or A4) Peter Johnston (Keynote speaker)
Research shows that focusing on learners’ engagement affects their development, individually and collectively, and the qualities of the learning community. The session will show how apparently small changes in classroom language and practice can affect student learning but more importantly leverage larger changes in school behavior, self-regulation, literacy learning, and, among other things, happiness (yes, happiness).
Mindfulness in the Classroom (Session A5) Jacquie Albinati
No one would argue that students go to school to grow intellectually. The question is what should we be teaching them? Educators have tremendous pressures to follow the rigorous demands of curriculum and school policies. However, in many learning environments there is a major component that is missing. Teachers must not ignore the importance of nurturing emotional intelligence. How do we create a culture of compassion? How well do we as educators really know our students? Children of any age face great pressure academically and socially. Some have healthy home lives and some are not as fortunate. How does helping students in the social and emotional realms of their lives enhance their academic learning? A safe and stress-free environment is optimal for the growth of any child. Focusing on incorporating emphatic skills into the curriculum and co-curricular school life will build academic success and self confidence. This session is interactive, cooperative and informative providing strategies to promote and enhance compassion in your school community and classroom. All participants will be lead through developmentally appropriate activities to ensure educators of every age learn how to shape the school culture through cooperation and a safe learning environment. When you arrive be prepared to talk, move, share and change little things to make big change.
Reggio Emilia: Collaborative Project Work in the Elementary Classroom (Session A6) Katelyn Hunter
The children’s curiosity has moved from the construction site to the imagined geography of the underground. The children graphically represent their ideas on a long roll of paper. By providing this large surface we suggest the vastness of the underground. We ask the children to consider depth, scale, and perspective. Working with small groups is a strategy that creates focus and an intimate setting for dialogue. A rich context is established and many theories are shared. One child’s idea feeds another’s graphic representation. Another child’s graphic representation ignites questions from the group. This sharing supports our belief in the co-construction of understanding. The children are not alone in their thinking, they are together.
DisruptEd (Session B1) Craig Jollymore
#disruptED days What happens when we throw our normal assumptions about learning out the window for a day or two? Disrupt our traditional use of classroom time, space and subject divisions? Rooted in actual practice over the past three years at a range of grade levels, this presentation examines how full and multi-day cross-curricular learning events can challenge students in new ways to collaborate, problem solve, and engage in critical, convergent and divergent thinking. It also considers how such events can challenge teachers to be deeply creative and uncomfortably collaborative in how they construct learning experiences. In their best moments, these experiences are a catalyst for richly unconventional and deeply engaged learning for our students. Craig Jollymore, incoming Director of Faculty and Programs at Rothesay Netherwood School, has led or been involved in a broad range of innovative learning initiatives over the past five years that have #disruptED traditional teaching practice. Graham Vogt, incoming Grade 9-10 Grade Band Leader at Rothesay Netherwood School, has initiated or led or supported multiple #disruptED events at these age levels.
Role Play (Session B2) Mark Jenkins & Charles McEvoy
ROLE Play (Real World, Open-Ended Learning Experience) In this one hour session, participants will gain some basic knowledge about the role that social discourse can play in enhancing the Social Studies classroom. Examples will be presented of Socratic Circles, Harkness Discussion, and Crisis Simulations. The objective of this session is to engage in an immersive simulation of real world issues that model the processes that students can employ in their research and critical analysis of the world around them. Beginning with a warm up activity followed by an overview of practices, the session concludes with a full simulation experience.
Storytelling Today (Session B3) Joanne LeBlanc-Haley
"After nourishment, shelter, and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world." Philip Pullman. Storytelling is one of the oldest forms of communication and capable of enveloping you in narrative transport! This session will look at its relevance to today's children and curriculum. Questions that will be considered are: What are the educational and personal values of storytelling? Should storytelling be given ample time during the instructional day? Are we truly storytelling animals? And of course, there will be stories as what is a session on storytelling without stories? "Stories make us more alive, more human, more courageous, more loving." Madeline L'Engle.
Valuing Formal Assessment in High School Classrooms (Session B4 or B6) Erma Appleby
Despite a multitude of evidence that suggests formative assessment is valuable to both student and teacher learning, research indicates this practice has not yet become routine in the high school classroom culture. The traditional high school environment of teaching, testing and moving on is not supported by research, and is actually disputed by many (Kohn, 1999; Muncer, 2006). This report has been motivated by reputable and comprehensive research conducted by Brookhart (2011), Leahy, Shepard and Stiggins (2001, 2002, 2009), and Black and Wiliam (1998, 2011). Undeniably, though, it was the landmark article by Black and Wiliam, Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards through Classroom Assessment (1998) which identified the correlation between effective formative assessment and student achievement that motivated professional development in formative assessment for and of learning. In their research, Black and Wiliam (1998) point to the use of formative assessment in classroom practices as being essential to increasing achievement among students. In addition, formative assessment “. . .within the reach of all teachers, can contribute substantially to raising standards. . .” (p. 146). The aim of this presentation, does not include finding one definitive answer, but to initiate and/or expand the dialogue on formative assessment practices at the High School.
Cooperative Learning Strategies (Session B5) Scott Jay
In this session we will demonstrate a few activities that involve cooperative learning and explain a handful of techniques that participants will e able to try and execute in the session. Cooperative learning involves working in groups, but in a way in which they can rely on each other for resources, information, or skills.
Living a Digital Life (Session C1) Matt Stevens
Bring all your devices and get hands-on with streamlining your use of Google Tools, or just take in the demo. Learn how to live your digital life within one organized environment without completely changing how you do things. Leveraging the power of Google Drive and more.
Collaborating with Google Classroom & Drive (Session C2) Jamie Gray
The ability to collaborate on assignments is a key tool for students to have, as it leads to real world problem solving skills. Google Drive and Google Classroom offer many ways to effectively collaborate with others, from creating and sharing documents, to designing and building presentations in a timely fashion. This hands-on session will give tools and ideas as to how to utilize and implement the power of Google Drive and Classroom, which will help redesign your classroom.
Community Based Learning (Session C3 or C5) Amanda Lagace
Global climate change is incredibly complex and overwhelming for individuals to tackle. Thus, the pervasiveness of global climate change in the media unintentionally promotes a sense of disengagement and desensitization to devastations such as melting glaciers, increase in storms and dying polar bears, to name a few. Coincidentally, the anthropocentric way of learning about climate change inside the four walls of the classroom has unintentionally allowed students to feel powerless, be disengaged and read about what scientists think about climate change because ultimately, what could they possibly do about it? This is not particularly motivating or empowering for students. In attempts to combat this, a two-week community unit was created for two Grade 10 Science classes. The unit revolved around the Petitcodiac watershed within student’s community.
Breakout EDU-This Isn't Your Atari Breakout (Session C4 or C6) Mario Eleftheros
Breakout EDU creates ultra-engaging learning games for people of all ages. Break Out activities/games teach teamwork, problem solving, critical thinking, and troubleshooting by presenting students with challenges. Aside from classrooms, Breakouts are also great for staff training. Breakout EDU activities/games can incorporate math, science, history, language arts and have embedded standards that apply problem solving strategies within a real world OR collaborative context. So join us for an exciting session which will light up your students with engagement!
Judo Math was designed to increase student engagement in mathematics. Instead of completing a Unit and moving on to the next, students earn coloured belts based on the level of material that is completed. At the beginning of the Unit the student receives all the material (videos, text book questions, quizzes, checkpoints) for the entire Unit. They are able to go as fast as they wish with the material, although the oath that students take at the beginning of the year is that they will do whatever they can for the betterment of the group. Therefore whenever they can, they collaborate in little groups, and work through the material together. On a set day, students write what is called an ‘Advancement’(no more tests!). They are only 10 questions and are the more in depth questions of the Unit. A student may only pass if they earn a 7/10. If they do not earn a 7/10, they must master the material and re-write the Advancement. This is not a bad thing! The main change in this classroom atmosphere is that failure is nothing to be feared. Students quickly realize that failure is a way of finding out where you need to focus your attention. The culture I set for my students strictly follows these three Judo Principles: Art of Mastery, Art of Cooperation and Art of ‘Sen’ or Initiative. That is Judo Math!
Restorative Practices (Session A2) Sandy Phillips
IRP professional development imparts practical knowledge and skills you can use immediately in your personal and professional life - whether you are involved in education, criminal justice, social services, counseling, leadership, the pastoral field, volunteer or other work. The skills you learn in this four-day conference will strengthen your ability to help others handle their own issues and achieve their own goals. Supported by extensive research, Restorative Practice has demonstrated positive outcomes in a wide variety of settings.
Engagement, Resilience and Children's Development (Session A3 or A4) Peter Johnston (Keynote speaker)
Research shows that focusing on learners’ engagement affects their development, individually and collectively, and the qualities of the learning community. The session will show how apparently small changes in classroom language and practice can affect student learning but more importantly leverage larger changes in school behavior, self-regulation, literacy learning, and, among other things, happiness (yes, happiness).
Mindfulness in the Classroom (Session A5) Jacquie Albinati
No one would argue that students go to school to grow intellectually. The question is what should we be teaching them? Educators have tremendous pressures to follow the rigorous demands of curriculum and school policies. However, in many learning environments there is a major component that is missing. Teachers must not ignore the importance of nurturing emotional intelligence. How do we create a culture of compassion? How well do we as educators really know our students? Children of any age face great pressure academically and socially. Some have healthy home lives and some are not as fortunate. How does helping students in the social and emotional realms of their lives enhance their academic learning? A safe and stress-free environment is optimal for the growth of any child. Focusing on incorporating emphatic skills into the curriculum and co-curricular school life will build academic success and self confidence. This session is interactive, cooperative and informative providing strategies to promote and enhance compassion in your school community and classroom. All participants will be lead through developmentally appropriate activities to ensure educators of every age learn how to shape the school culture through cooperation and a safe learning environment. When you arrive be prepared to talk, move, share and change little things to make big change.
Reggio Emilia: Collaborative Project Work in the Elementary Classroom (Session A6) Katelyn Hunter
The children’s curiosity has moved from the construction site to the imagined geography of the underground. The children graphically represent their ideas on a long roll of paper. By providing this large surface we suggest the vastness of the underground. We ask the children to consider depth, scale, and perspective. Working with small groups is a strategy that creates focus and an intimate setting for dialogue. A rich context is established and many theories are shared. One child’s idea feeds another’s graphic representation. Another child’s graphic representation ignites questions from the group. This sharing supports our belief in the co-construction of understanding. The children are not alone in their thinking, they are together.
DisruptEd (Session B1) Craig Jollymore
#disruptED days What happens when we throw our normal assumptions about learning out the window for a day or two? Disrupt our traditional use of classroom time, space and subject divisions? Rooted in actual practice over the past three years at a range of grade levels, this presentation examines how full and multi-day cross-curricular learning events can challenge students in new ways to collaborate, problem solve, and engage in critical, convergent and divergent thinking. It also considers how such events can challenge teachers to be deeply creative and uncomfortably collaborative in how they construct learning experiences. In their best moments, these experiences are a catalyst for richly unconventional and deeply engaged learning for our students. Craig Jollymore, incoming Director of Faculty and Programs at Rothesay Netherwood School, has led or been involved in a broad range of innovative learning initiatives over the past five years that have #disruptED traditional teaching practice. Graham Vogt, incoming Grade 9-10 Grade Band Leader at Rothesay Netherwood School, has initiated or led or supported multiple #disruptED events at these age levels.
Role Play (Session B2) Mark Jenkins & Charles McEvoy
ROLE Play (Real World, Open-Ended Learning Experience) In this one hour session, participants will gain some basic knowledge about the role that social discourse can play in enhancing the Social Studies classroom. Examples will be presented of Socratic Circles, Harkness Discussion, and Crisis Simulations. The objective of this session is to engage in an immersive simulation of real world issues that model the processes that students can employ in their research and critical analysis of the world around them. Beginning with a warm up activity followed by an overview of practices, the session concludes with a full simulation experience.
Storytelling Today (Session B3) Joanne LeBlanc-Haley
"After nourishment, shelter, and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world." Philip Pullman. Storytelling is one of the oldest forms of communication and capable of enveloping you in narrative transport! This session will look at its relevance to today's children and curriculum. Questions that will be considered are: What are the educational and personal values of storytelling? Should storytelling be given ample time during the instructional day? Are we truly storytelling animals? And of course, there will be stories as what is a session on storytelling without stories? "Stories make us more alive, more human, more courageous, more loving." Madeline L'Engle.
Valuing Formal Assessment in High School Classrooms (Session B4 or B6) Erma Appleby
Despite a multitude of evidence that suggests formative assessment is valuable to both student and teacher learning, research indicates this practice has not yet become routine in the high school classroom culture. The traditional high school environment of teaching, testing and moving on is not supported by research, and is actually disputed by many (Kohn, 1999; Muncer, 2006). This report has been motivated by reputable and comprehensive research conducted by Brookhart (2011), Leahy, Shepard and Stiggins (2001, 2002, 2009), and Black and Wiliam (1998, 2011). Undeniably, though, it was the landmark article by Black and Wiliam, Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards through Classroom Assessment (1998) which identified the correlation between effective formative assessment and student achievement that motivated professional development in formative assessment for and of learning. In their research, Black and Wiliam (1998) point to the use of formative assessment in classroom practices as being essential to increasing achievement among students. In addition, formative assessment “. . .within the reach of all teachers, can contribute substantially to raising standards. . .” (p. 146). The aim of this presentation, does not include finding one definitive answer, but to initiate and/or expand the dialogue on formative assessment practices at the High School.
Cooperative Learning Strategies (Session B5) Scott Jay
In this session we will demonstrate a few activities that involve cooperative learning and explain a handful of techniques that participants will e able to try and execute in the session. Cooperative learning involves working in groups, but in a way in which they can rely on each other for resources, information, or skills.
Living a Digital Life (Session C1) Matt Stevens
Bring all your devices and get hands-on with streamlining your use of Google Tools, or just take in the demo. Learn how to live your digital life within one organized environment without completely changing how you do things. Leveraging the power of Google Drive and more.
Collaborating with Google Classroom & Drive (Session C2) Jamie Gray
The ability to collaborate on assignments is a key tool for students to have, as it leads to real world problem solving skills. Google Drive and Google Classroom offer many ways to effectively collaborate with others, from creating and sharing documents, to designing and building presentations in a timely fashion. This hands-on session will give tools and ideas as to how to utilize and implement the power of Google Drive and Classroom, which will help redesign your classroom.
Community Based Learning (Session C3 or C5) Amanda Lagace
Global climate change is incredibly complex and overwhelming for individuals to tackle. Thus, the pervasiveness of global climate change in the media unintentionally promotes a sense of disengagement and desensitization to devastations such as melting glaciers, increase in storms and dying polar bears, to name a few. Coincidentally, the anthropocentric way of learning about climate change inside the four walls of the classroom has unintentionally allowed students to feel powerless, be disengaged and read about what scientists think about climate change because ultimately, what could they possibly do about it? This is not particularly motivating or empowering for students. In attempts to combat this, a two-week community unit was created for two Grade 10 Science classes. The unit revolved around the Petitcodiac watershed within student’s community.
Breakout EDU-This Isn't Your Atari Breakout (Session C4 or C6) Mario Eleftheros
Breakout EDU creates ultra-engaging learning games for people of all ages. Break Out activities/games teach teamwork, problem solving, critical thinking, and troubleshooting by presenting students with challenges. Aside from classrooms, Breakouts are also great for staff training. Breakout EDU activities/games can incorporate math, science, history, language arts and have embedded standards that apply problem solving strategies within a real world OR collaborative context. So join us for an exciting session which will light up your students with engagement!