Examining teachers teach new teachers, in this new space
Lawrence Holbrook, Denise LaPrairie and Ingrid Veilleux, University of British Columbia

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) has provided both the systemic support and the mental, temporal and physical space for us to share our stories of shifting identities from public school teachers to instructors in UBC’s Teacher Education Program. How does the dance between these cultures shape our practice? How does the comparison of past and present, the self and other lead to increased self-knowledge and collaboration? A lens for considering SoTL’s impact is Guskey's five-levels of professional development and action research methodology. In this workshop, narrative and theory meet to reveal the tapestry of our SoTL experiences.

Panel presentation

Learning from and with literature in K-12 classrooms: Every teacher’s trusted resource
Pamela Joyce Winsor and Robin M. Bright, University of Lethbridge

Exemplary literature has a place of power in all classrooms, K-12, all subject areas. Sharing that literature through effective read-alouds and other interactive strategies enables maximum student learning. Teachers and student teachers need to know the literature and strategies. This session will present exemplary examples of both.

Workshops and/or symposium

Beyond transitions: Flourishing as an immigrant teacher in Alberta
Sandra Joy Janusch, University of Calgary/Chinook Learning Service

This paper describes a research project that uses the personal stories of foreign-trained immigrants in Alberta to answer questions such as: What does it mean to flourish as an immigrant teacher in Alberta? How do immigrant teachers describe this process? What seems to get in the way? The participants of this study are graduates from the Transitions to Alberta Classrooms Program, a six-month credit course for immigrant teachers offered in partnership with the University of Calgary and the Calgary Board of Education. The course instructor and researcher will present preliminary findings of this study.

Single and/or multiple paper presentation

Feeling’s ARE Groovy - an exploration of student emotion
Matthew R. Christie, University of Victoria

How often are children asked how they feel about the subject material they are presented with in the classroom? This workshop will focus on innovative methods to help children explore their emotions and connect their feelings with information they are presented. Come explore this often overlooked component of the classroom with host Dr. Rick Kool program head of the Environmental Education and Communication Program at Royal Roads University.

Workshops and/or symposium

Concept mapping – a formative assessment tool for gauging conceptual change
Jeremy McIvor, University of Calgary

Recursive concept mapping, a process by which students build and restructure over time a graphic model of their developing conceptualization of knowledge, can be a powerful tool for generating both student and teacher insight into a student’ s progression of conceptual change.  This session will provide delegates with a link to IHMC website where they will be able to download free Cmap Tools software, introduce participants to concept mapping, use the software to collaboratively demonstrate concept mapping and illustrate and explore how Cmap can be used as a formative assessment tool to gauge conceptual change.

Workshops and/or symposium

How working on one’s knowing-to act in the moment can improve pedagogical agency in pedagogical moments
Thomas Falkenberg, Nancy Grant and Barbara McMillan, University of Manitoba

Every day a teacher encounters hundreds of “pedagogical moments” in her teaching, moments which do not leave time for reflection-in-action, but rather demand an immediate and spontaneous coping. As teachers we often respond in those pedagogical moments in habitual, even unconscious ways. In this session we introduce, discuss and illustrate through practical activities an approach that provides teachers with a systematic way of working on their “knowing-to act in the moment” in order to improve the chances that they respond in pedagogical moments in the thoughtful way that they wish they do.

Workshops and/or symposium

Does “A” stand for excellence? Creating third space between a Chinese parent and a Caucasian teacher
Yi Li and Pamela Joan Young, University of Manitoba

This presentation will introduce our audience to third space theory and its application to parent-teacher interactions. Through narrative and drama, we will enact the creation of third space between a Chinese parent and a Caucasian educator in a series of three parent-teacher interviews. The interactions will highlight the thoughts, feelings, tensions, and at times, miscommunication that can occur between two individuals from different cultural locations. Specifically, we will highlight a Chinese parent’s changing perspective and a Caucasian teacher’s increasing awareness of the importance of reciprocity in cross-cultural meaning-making.

Single and/or multiple paper presentations
-------------------------------------------------------------
The Kenanow learning model: Bringing cultural identity in the classroom
Kristjan Robinson, Jennifer Struthers, Ian Siemens and Brittany Armstrong, University College of the North

Students have been at a disadvantage in the Manitoba school system due to the lack of emphasis placed on cultural identity in the classroom. The authors present the Kenanow learning model, a pedagogy that has served Aboriginal people for generations as an educational philosophy that is suitable for all students. The model guides teachers and learners through place-based and holistic learning to cooperatively realize the good life.

Single and/or multiple paper presentations

Eportfolio pain and pleasure: "Just make them short because no one wants to read them anyway" or do they?
Tim Hopper, Kathy Sanford, Chris Filler, Luanne Krawetz, Jodean Sargeant and Navi Bhatti, University of Victoria

This presentation will use an ethnodrama genre to represent findings from the development and examination of a program-wide ePortfolio practice. The research group will perform several scenes from a play that endeavours to present the competing and coherent perspectives surrounding the implementation of a program-wide eportfolio. Allowing for multiple perspectives, ethnodrama as a method allows for the interpretation of the polyvocality of a given situation. In this case each member learning from the others through their own lived experience of working with the eportfolio within the Faculty. We will represent, (1) the technology expert, (2) the seminar leader with a favourable class, (3) the seminar leader with a challenging class, (4) the Faculty administrator, the (5) manager of field experiences and the (6) "other" voice of unidentified other(s).

Panel presentation

Bodies and brains in motion beyond gimmicks and games: Differentiated instruction in the physical education classroom
J. Nicole Lunau, University of Calgary

In this workshop presentation, physical educators, or any elementary classroom teachers will learn how to differentiate instruction to increase motivation, fitness, and comprehension. Workshop participants actively engage in innovative lessons for the motor, cognitive, social and emotional domains that put differentiation strategies into play. Participants will also learn how to teach the components of health related fitness for students to see. This presentation will encourage educators to look at the space of the gymnasium and it’s potential as a rich environment for differentiated instruction.

Workshops and/or symposium

Get CONNECTED! Using technology to educate
Todd Christopher Powell, University of Victoria

Education seems to have a love-hate relationship with technology, especially when it comes to the development of our students grasp on the English language.  However, the reality is that technology is here to stay!  This workshop will be focused on the effectiveness of using technology within the Language Arts classroom.  The integration of relevant technologies will be explored in a hands-on, easy to use way.  By using the power of media that our students have already mastered, we are able to establish an engaging, procedurally-based learning environment in which the students can both have fun and think creatively.

Workshops and/or symposium

Broad based assessment: Directions for success through multiple and diverse approaches
Irene Naested, Mount Royal College

The Department of Education and Schooling at Mount Royal utilize forms of assessment which incorporate a wide variety of evaluation techniques specifically designed to assist pre-service education students in becoming reflective practitioners. This session will demonstrate how this particular approach has been integrated throughout the program curriculum.

Workshops and/or symposium

Value of place: Connecting classrooms with communities
Carlo D. Pavan, Vancouver Island University

Working with an interactive and hands on approach we will examine the possibilities of how to imbue our pedagogy with a deeper sense of our natural affinity for life and natural systems. Our focus will be on beginning to discover how the act of reconnecting our selves, students, schools, and communities with the places we live, study, teach, and play can be a tool to better address contemporary issues in education and improve our practice. There will also be an emphasis on seeking ways to incorporate an understanding of First Nations values in teaching and learning about nature and place. Strategies and resources that help put this in a curriculum friendly context will be introduced and group discussion and questions will be in invited and encouraged.

Workshops and/or symposium
-------------------------------------------------------------
How to become an ally: taking a closer look at our own privilege and creating anti-oppressive educational spaces
Jenny George and Ali Donnelly, University of Victoria

In order for all students to be able to learn in a supportive community that meets their needs, teachers need to be able to create safe spaces. Teachers have a responsibility to recognize and raise awareness in regards to diversity of class, culture, ability, gender, and sexual orientation. In order to do this, we must first look inwards to ourselves and our own beliefs and inheritances. This workshop focuses on how to become an effective ally through recognizing our own privilege, and focusing on how we can use our privilege to take action to create safe spaces.

Workshops and/or symposium

U ARE SO BUSTED! Youth engagement in civic and legal learning
Catherine E. McGregor, University of Victoria

In the age of Obama and the politics of hope, civic engagement can be a powerful learning experience yet schools and classroom teachers are more likely to emphasize traditional civic knowledge than active involvement in civic problems or concerns of youth. In this panel presentation a group of youth and UVic researchers explore the pedagogical and knowledge-building benefits of a community based, youth led research project devoted to exploring issues of justice among youth. They will share the results of their joint research program and discuss with participants the importance of civic, place-based learning for youth.

Panel presentation