Back to School

A positive school culture bursts at the seams with student engagement and community. When schools in Ontario closed on March 14th, 2020 a huge piece of the community puzzle ceased to exist. In this presentation, I will talk about the four parts of an individual's self - physical, emotional, social, and spiritual - a teaching and concept I have learned from Dr Nicole Bell at Trent University. In a more traditional school setting teachers are adept at fostering and cultivating these four pieces, however, with digital learning and loss of physical closeness, it is more challenging to do. I will share a strategy that I have used to bring back the sense of belonging and community in a group of students through the creation of virtual clubs. I will talk about the power of Microsoft Teams, Global Competencies, and STEAM challenges as vehicles to give students purpose, belonging, and community connections that can be lost in the virtual world.

One of our biggest challenges during distance learning is how to reach our youngest learners. How do we keep them engaged? How do we account for the variety of learning styles and academic levels? What activities can we include that are manageable for parents and our students? Using Google Slides, educators will learn how to create choice boards that help promote academic learning, address social emotional learning, stimulate motivation and engagement and meet the needs of our early learners.

School library professionals across Ontario utilized existing virtual library learning commons to connect with staff, students and families during distance learning. Join OSLA council members to discuss this important collaborative tool for distance learning and beyond. Topics include: creating, updating and maintaining the virtual library learning commons, using webinars, virtual content curation and discussions to better understand school wide value of a virtual library learning commons.

Diving into the mechanics of creating an engaging, fun and complete distance learning program that Kindergarten students can complete (almost) independently using Google Classroom, other Google programs and apps, and programs all over the internet. I'll get into the mechanics of organizing, types of activities (and how to create them), as well as effective and collaborative planning. I will also share how I have successfully integrated inquiry learning and experimenting into my program, what apps I've used successfully, and how I've worked to empower young learners to tackle their education in this new world.

As educators prepare to continue teaching online, we introduce supports for creating videos using screen capture for their students. OBS is a free, open source, cross-platform program which can be used as a tool for creating instructional videos. In this second session of OBS, we will look at bringing in videos that have already been created as well as adding layers of videos, such as webcam footage, screen recording footage or other video footage. We will look at how to bring these various kinds of media into your instructional videos in an integrated way.

Connect virtually with TVO to learn how to enhance your physical, virtual and/or blended classrooms. TVO is a leader in creating digital resources that are focused on high levels of student achievement, well-being, excellence and equity. TVO’s range of K-12 digital resources support: Equity through free access to Ontario Certified tutors with TVO Mathify, STEM skills through the game-based platform on TVO mPower, Social-Emotional Learning with TVOKids diverse content and characters, FNMI resources that directly address Indigenous Education through TVO’s Indigenous Hub, TVO in the Classroom and TeachOntario. TVO is also committed to supporting Ontario educators by providing virtual outreach sessions to promote professional learning around TVOs digital resources. Come and join us as we explore TVO’s K-12 digital resources, learn about TVO’s integrations into Brightspace, and find out how we can support you and your students for the upcoming school year!

I would like to share some strategies, ideas and resources which are geared specifically for itinerant, support, and enrichment educators. The sessions will go through my best finds since March, including a large repository of resources and tools, lessons and theme ideas (including Health), and both synchronous and asynchronous ideas.

Jen Apgar (21st Century Technology Coach from UGDSB - @JenApgar) will host a panel discussion with Author and Principal Chad Reay and veteran Technology Coach and Intermediate teacher Emma Reay. Using questions and ideas from Chad’s book “Failure Without Fear - An educator’s guide to supporting all students” Jen will invite Chad and Emma to share stories and answer questions about their biggest failures as educators (and parents) during the Emergency Distance Learning, how they survived and thrived and what lessons they are taking with them as they continue to fail forward through September 2020 start up and beyond.

The Kids' Guide to Canada project is a volunteer, teacher-led initiative connecting K-8 classes across Canada, learning and sharing across cultural, linguistic, and geographic differences to help build greater understanding, empathy, and respect for others. 2020-2021 promises to be nothing if not unpredictable, and with that in mind we are developing a number of flexible activities to support your Social Studies and Literacy curriculum needs, regardless of whether your students are learning in class, outside, at home, online, or in a mixture of learning spaces. Engage your students in truly rich and authentic learning opportunities this year from wherever you are! 1. CIRCLES of FRIENDSHIP CANADA JAY PROJECT: hand-sewn Canada Jays travelling from class to class facilitating students teaching each other about different communities across Canada 2. A DAY IN THE LIFE OF... A new writing project for Gr. 3-6 students to document and share what their daily life is like in their community (and during a global pandemic). 3 different days in Fall, Winter, and/or Spring. 3. GUIDED PARTICIPATION in the KIDS' GUIDE PROJECT: a series of 4 virtual PD sessions for teachers providing ongoing project support, as well as info sessions addressing the skills and pedagogy of teaching online. Dates tba in August. 4. CIRCLES of LEARNING (NEW): facilitating grade-alike class connections around a shared topic of inquiry, with connected learning initiated by the teachers involved.

While I have been "gradeless" in my classroom for many years now, many of my colleagues turned to gradeless when COVID happened. Without the ability to do traditional tests, it made more sense to take a feedback approach and guide the students towards mastery in each course. My session will focus on building feedback culture, advantages to going gradeless, how to get students to buy in, student self-assessment to determine their final "grade", and tips and tricks I have learned along the way.

We are heading into a year that will no doubt include challenges including learning gaps and social emotional needs in addition to the already diverse experiences and abilities that students bring with them on a regular basis, or what is referred to as learner variability. Learner variability is more important now than ever - learning sciences research is revealing how variability has an impact on more students than has been seen in the past and also which strategies show promise in addressing the needs of the full diversity of learners. This workshop will guide educators through the Learner Variability Navigator by Digital Promise revealing the intricate connections between literacy/numeracy, cognition, social emotional learning, and student background. We will look at learning sciences research and the strategies that best support and engage our full diversity of learners while exploring the workspace and creating individualized learning plans.

As a former teacher, celebrated Canadian author Eric Walters wanted to offer assistance to teachers, students and schools in unprecedented times. During distance learning, Eric offered instant literacy content to communities of learners across Canada with his novel Made 4 You, and emotional understanding and support for students by creating a real-time novel about the pandemic - Don't Stand So Close To Me. Participants are invited to join this session for an informal discussion and dialogue that explores Eric's process and the partnerships created to bring his vision to fruition.

Presentation will include: • Why this is important • How to get started • Challenges encountered • Ways to engage students in a virtual space • Thoughts going forward

Follow our journey from face-to-face delivery of a UDL robotics and coding program supporting a range of learner profiles to a virtual synchronous learning model. We used a framework of student-centred hands-on discovery learning, highly scaffolded progression of coding skill instruction and simplified computational thinking concepts. What we learned from leading 90 minutes of virtual interactive group and independent self-paced lessons has an application for other remote instruction.

The Ontario Art Education Association is dedicated to supporting teachers in their lived reality. To ensure equitable access to the Arts, we must adapt our approach. In this session, we will share not only best practice for Visual and Media Arts education but resources, lessons, appropriate safety protocols, and examples of "how-to" with a variety of media, regardless of the teaching situation you find yourself in-Face to Face, Hybrid Learning or Virtual! In order to maintain a truly safe environment for all, educators must ensure the physical, emotional, social, and safety needs are prioritized within all learning environments and platforms.

An animal sanctuary is a facility that is dedicated to rescuing abused, neglected, and/or abandoned animals. The move to online learning cancelled all field trips, but also opened up many exciting possibilities for virtual exploration. In this session you will learn about one teacher’s experience of running virtual field trips to animal sanctuaries, including the practical aspects, pedagogical scaffolding, benefits for student learning and access, advantages for sanctuaries, and cost savings.