SEL/Wellness

For many years, I have been developing projects that I call BOBs (Building Outside the Blocks projects) that help students build skill, autonomy, community, and connection to self. I have been sharing these projects with teachers around the world for students in Grades 3-12. When remote learning hit, the best way to sustain the community we had built and value each individual voice on their terms was through these projects. My Grade 8's completed 4 BOBs during remote learning, and they reflected that the projects were essential touchstones for them to find meaning in school and for their social emotional learning, even from a distance. Through this workshop, I will share a few different BOBs and how/why, whether in school or at home, these projects are sure things in unsure times.

“Maslow before Bloom”—a phrase that continues to weigh heavily on educators, especially during these challenging times. While there is no true replacement for face-to-face connection at the classroom level, a wellness-centered approach to teaching is attainable through virtual learning as well. Join PDSB teacher Timea Szoboszlai as she shares how her simple #MindfulMonday icebreakers evolved into whole-school virtual wellness programs and a brain-targeted approach that centralizes student wellness in all aspects of pedagogy.

Have you found a curiosity on how to use video lessons in your school or even virtual classroom? Are you CURIOUS on how you may utilize a Green Screen or video production to teach MINDFULNESS and SEL skills? If you answered “YES!”, then this session is for YOU! We as educators are always looking for innovative ways to inspire creativity and wonder in our students. We are also in a time in education that SEL (Social Emotional Learning) and incorporating MINDFULNESS in our schools is more important than anything else we teach. We are in a time with uncharted stressful waters that could use healing for both educators and their students. Both SEL and mindfulness-based initiatives in education emphasize the development of positive self, moral, social, and emotional understanding as well as personal healing and coping strategies. Therefore, I have found a way to incorporate #MindfulSEL practices into creative video production that will cultivate compassion in ANY classroom! Join me for a guaranteed uplifting and Mindful session! SESSION OBJECTIVES: *Participants will be introduced to how to incorporate Mindfulness into any classroom setting as well as resources to build on their own personal practice. *Participants will be introduced to options on how to make your own homemade ‘green screen studio’ on a budget. *Participants will learn how to incorporate Mindfulness and Social Emotional Learning using the power of video as well as with the use of a Green Screen through some provided lesson plans ideas and creative activities. *Participants will be introduced to MANY examples of how to cultivate compassion through Creativity with video production!

Using the elements from my book, #ThePepperEffect, I will share the application of Belief in Vision, Belief in Collaborators, Belief in Your Masterpiece, and Ignoring Naysayers as a way to ignite inspired action for all educators.

We all know the importance of STEM to prepare students for jobs of the future. According to tech giants like Google, however, more important than STEM skills are soft skills like flexibility, empathy, and collaboration. Is it possible to develop STEM skills and soft skills typically associated with SEL, simultaneously? We'd argue you might already be doing so! This session will explore the natural connection between SEL and STEM, and ways to help build these competencies in tandem.

Our new curriculum recognizes the impact of social-emotional learning (SEL) on mathematical processes. Free CanCodeToLearn resources link math & coding to art, social studies & global competencies in a project approach. Explore dispositions inherent in coding that nurture SEL & discover options for support in your classroom. Lynx is a text-based coding environment made in Canada by Seymour Papert's company. It is available in English, French, Ojibwe, & Mi'kmaw & is Ontario Min of Ed approved!

Make mistakes, accept failure, persevere, collaborate, empathize and consider someone else’s perspective! K-12 students are encouraged to be human in their everyday learning environments. However, integrating learning design to develop these learning outcomes is a lot harder to do. Open data science and open source programming is premised on the idea of a shared learning commons, where people intentionally share information so others can build new knowledge and expand learning beyond isolated computer files, research labs or classroom walls. This presentation will focus on how open data and being part of the open source community amplifies human-centered learning by bridging technology human interactions. Considering ethical perspectives in data science, computational thinking strategies will be used as a framework to guide human-centered critical thinking.

The Mentoree is a community that supports professional learning and efficacy through different forms of supportive mentorship. In this workshop, we will share some definitions of mentorship and the mentorship models currently on the education landscape, showing why The Mentoree is unique. Additionally, we will illustrate why this growing mentorship community is a place where we foster the idea that we all have something to teach, and we all have something to learn. Finally, we will invite participants to explore our offerings - 1:1 Mentorship, Conversations to Build Capacity, the OnEdMentors Podcast, and Mpact.

The Kindergearten Program Document supports play-based learning, so what happens when school moves online? We explored small group virtual playdates to help support social-emotional expectations, as well as linking literacy and math to learning done at home. Hear about a few of our experiences as well as talk about other virtual playdate possibilities for kindergarten and beyond. Learning starts with relationships. How might these virtual playdates help solidify them for educators, parents, and kids?