BCTen Conference March 23, 2022 – Pushing Boundaries, Crossing Borders: Decolonizing Ourselves and Our Systems

To further my professional development, I attended the BCTen Conference focused on decolonizing ourselves and our systems. In this powerful conference, I took away many meaningful aspects that I can apply in my teaching practice. During this workshop, some of the key questions that resonated with me were, “What does decolonization mean to you? Who is doing the work for Truth and Reconciliation and what is my role?”.

Reflecting on this important question, I realized the importance of each individual as a contributor to the work for Truth and Reconciliation and we all play a role together. I believe we have an obligation to every student as educators to actively participate and take part in implementing the First Peoples Principles of Learning throughout our practice. Throughout this workshop, something that stood out to me was thinking of reconciliation as a verb, which helped me to understand that it is an action. Here are some of the actions that I learned throughout the BCTen Workshop:

“The power of story and the power of listening”

BCTen Workshop
  • Listening and learning, making a space for voices to be heard.
  • Invite Elders and Knowledge Keepers in to share stories and have conversations.
  • Use literature to begin conversations around social justice, decolonization, and anti-racism.
  • Bias on the bookshelf –> look for diversity in authors to provide authenticity in literature circles surrounding these topics.

Professional Development Day Feb. 28th, 2022

“Mistakes are good, look for mistakes and when we find them, celebrate them”

Gretchen wegner

During my Educ 391 practicum at Heritage Elementary, I attended the Build Math Minds workshops. Through the “Neuroscience of Teaching Math” seminar, I learned about topics such as turning the information to “encoding” in the students brain and the importance part of retrieving learned information by testing if we got it right or wrong, followed by then practicing encoding the information again in a new way. A quote from the presenter stood out to me, “mistakes are good, look for mistakes and when we find them, celebrate them”. I believe this mindset is valuable when teaching math, because often only one correct answer if sought and celebrated when found. However, it’s important to celebrate the mistakes to encourage students to try again!

PSA Day Oct. 22nd 2021

To continue my professional development on the PSA Day, I engaged in learning with POPEY – Provincial Outreach Program for the Early Years. This workshop focused on Planning & Designing K-3 Literacy Instruction for students, Reading & Writing Competencies, and Oral Storytelling for K-2 Literacy.

Indigenous Learning Sept. 24/21

For the Professional Development day on Sept.24/21, I attended the Indigenous Learning Workshop, which focused on handling resistance and challenges to reconciliation, decolonization, and Indigenous Education with Dr. Dustin Louie. During the workshop, I took away many key powerful aspects that I will carry forward in my future practice. Dr. Louie asked us what reconciliation is to us and helped us to define it as:

“Reconciliation is creating a relationship of mutual respect and an environment of equity that eliminates current colonial practices that continue to harm Indigenous people.”

Dr. Louie

This quote really resonated with me and helped to define what reconciliation means to me. It allowed me to see that I can commit to eliminating barriers to mutual respect to create an equitable environment. The workshop highlighted the importance of creating spaces for other viewpoints and welcome all cultures and perspectives.

SOGI Presentation 2021

In Educ 336, we had the opportunity of engaging in professional development regarding SOGI in the school district and how to foster an inclusive environment in our classrooms. We gained many useful resources and tools to use in our future teaching practices.