Educators engage in professional learning
As a teacher candidate most of my time is spent in professional learning experiences, in the classroom. However, that’s not to say that I haven’t had the opportunity and pleasure of engaging in multiple professional learning experiences outside the university classroom as well! Last year we had the privileged of hosting Linda O’Neil at the university for a fantastic workshop on trauma informed practice. This really helped put into perspective the ‘why’ of some students’ behaviours and provided some invaluable advice for how to work with these students to help them overcome their challenges.
I also had the pleasure of attending a PD day in Fraser lake about Indigenizing education, at which I heard from the fantastic Dr. Dustin Louie and his ideas about what that means and how we can better incorporate these principles in our practice. During this same PD I was also able to attend a workshop by Leona Prince about combining coding and Indigenous practices through beading. It was such a fun way to bring traditional knowledge into the 21st century while practicing the core competencies.
Most recently, I was able to go to Vanderhoof with the renowned Nancy Doda, who has made groundbreaking strides in middle years education. As my practicum is going to be in this age group it was fantastic to gain some more insight into their minds as they go though this explosive transformative life stage.