DEPARTURES 2010:  
helping students soar to new heights

A01 Culture: The Moral Compass with Dr. Carolyn Crippen (K-7).  An in-depth analysis of school culture with applications for the participants in this session.

A02  Bringing Oceans of Learning into the Classroom and Community with Seaquaria in Schools Programs with Catherine Carolsfeld, Mary Holmes, Michele Tomasino (K-12).  Aquaria filled with local marine life and cared for by students are the cornerstone to the Seaquaria in Schools program. This interactive workshop demonstrates an active, multi-disciplinary teaching approach that enhances positive attitudes and behaviours towards science literacy, field trips and community involvement for K-12 students of wide-ranging learning styles. Participants will experience this approach through hands-on interaction with local, near-shore marine life and supporting educational resources, and through group discussions.

A03  Projet CRYSTAL: Strategies pour Developper la Litteratie: Vocabulaire et Depliants avec Matthew Makuch (3-8).  Les participants verront des exemples de plusieurs stratégies pour développer le vocabulaire chez les étudiants et feront des exemplaires de plusieurs sortes de dépliants. Chaque participant recevra un CD avec le document complet du Projet CRYSTAL (en anglais) contenant les descriptions des stratégies, des rubriques, des exemples et des unités de Science pour les 6^e, 7^e, et 8^e années.

A04  Action Schools! BC Physical Activity Refresher Workshop – Chair Aerobics and Classroom Workouts, and Yoga (K-7).  Designed for teachers who have already attended an Actions Schools! BC Classroom Action Workshop. Participants will learn to enhance students’ Daily Physical Activity experience by expanding on the chair aerobics routines, classroom workouts and yoga in the Classroom Action Resource.  Participants will learn how to combine leadership into classroom physical activities.  In the yoga portion, techniques for classroom yoga such as visualization and storytelling will be covered.  Copies of the Action Schools! BC Classroom Action Resource will be provided and participants may qualify their school for several complimentary resources.

A05  Teaching Algebraic Thinking in the Intermediate Grades Part 1 with Bev Ferner (5-7).  A variety of practical and developmentally appropriate activities and strategies for developing algebraic thinking in the intermediate grades will be explored in this hands-on, interactive workshop.  Participants will become familiar with the “big ideas” of algebra and the scope and sequence for Patterns and Relations outcomes in the new Mathematics IRP.

A06  Vampires, Villains, Celebrities, and Survivors: What’s Up with YA Literature!? with Jocelyn Dimm (7-12).  A combination of uniquely fascinating, award-winning YA novels and different quick and easy ways to approach these novels in the classroom with students.

A07  Language and Literacy Development for English Language Learners with Hetty Roessingh (K-12).  Trajectories for language development will be presented for different age on arrival cohort groups, with a discussion of the pedagogical implications for each group.  The focus for all ELLs is on vocabulary development.  Participants will be introduced to several websites that support this presentation.

A10  Self Selected Reading and Social Networking with Shelfari with Maryam Moayeri (K-12). This workshop will start by describing a self selected reading program that is being incorporated in several different schools in the Lower Mainland including Churchill Secondary and Steveston-London Secondary.  It will then turn into a hands-on workshop where attendees will learn how to use Shelfari, a social network application for book lovers.

A11  Comment Engager Vos éleves par L’intermédiaire de la Technologie? avec Louise Beaudry et Martine Lanouette (1-3).  Inspiré par nos récentes recherches basées sur la théorie du constructivisme, cet atelier vous propose une panoplie d’activités engageantes.  Les activités proposées utilisent des outils technologiques simples (caméra numérique, Audacity, Skype, Power Point, Movie Maker, Google Earth) qui favorisent  l’autonomie et la prise en charge de l’apprentissage chez l’éleve de l’élémentaire.

A12  It is All About Play! with Tandy Gunn (K). It is an exciting time to be a primary teacher in British Columbia!  The Primary Program is being updated and we are looking to expand our kindergarten programs to be full day.  There will be no additional learning outcomes added to the curriculum as we move to all day kindergarten and we are being supported to develop play-based, developmentally appropriate programs.  This session will discuss what play is and why it is important to all learners.  We will discuss strategies and structures to provide opportunities for exploratory, constructive and dramatic play, ensure we are learning the most we can about our learners at play through expert kid watching, and move student learning forward through play.

A13  Captain Cook and the Age of Discovery with the Maritime Museum of BC (3-8). The life, era, and many achievements of Captain Cook provide the foundation for this dynamic and relevant program.  Although targeted towards grade 4 and 5 learners, the program is highly flexible and can communicate a whole range of thematic messages for a broader age range.  This includes world exploration, cultural interaction, BC aboriginal history, trade economics, nautical technology, mapping and navigation and ocean and natural sciences.

A16  Dance for Elementary Students  with Chelsea Giorgano (K-5).  A workshop for those who need to teach some dance, but have no idea what to teach! Workshop will consist of some basic warm-up and movement exercises, as well as a short routine suitable for elementary/ middle school students. A mix of jazz and hip hop technique will be taught.

A17  Literacy Strategies across the Curriculum (I): Foldables® and Informational Brochures and Posters  with Chris Tippett (Pacific CRYSTAL) (3-10). Participants will learn how to incorporate Foldables® and informational brochures and posters into their current instruction. All participants will receive a package of support material, including strategy descriptions, suggestions for implementation, relevant research articles, assessment rubrics, student samples, blackline masters, middle school science units showing how the strategies can be integrated, and a CD with all documents in a re-writable format so that worksheets and rubrics can be modified for specific projects.

C01  Culture: The Moral Compass with Dr. Carolyn Crippen (8-12).  An in-depth analysis of school culture with applications for the participants in this session.

C02  Investigative Skills in Science with Catherine Carolsfeld, Mary Holmes, Michele Tomasino (K-12).  Through hands-on group work and using sample tools and resources, participants will work together to develop new activities that model the investigative skills that are the foundation of the scientific and learning process.  Multi-disciplinary curricular links appropriate to their students’ ages, grades and learning styles will be developed and discussed.  Participants will receive resources to help support them in further refining and delivering their new activities in their classroom.

C03  Ocean Literacy: Integrating Ocean Science into the Classroom with Linda Funk (K-7).  Ocean Literacy is a movement to highlight the importance of the oceans on the world’s ecosystems and humanity.  This workshop will provide teachers with some ideas and resources that they can use to enhance how they teach all subjects, including science, social studies, art and language arts so that they can begin to choose activities that focus on or include the ocean environment.

C04  Action Schools! BC Classroom Healthy Eating Workshop (K-7).  Looking for ideas to incorporate healthy eating into your classroom and school? The Classroom Action Zone will be highlighted with a focus on vegetable and fruit consumption.  Participants will receive a complimentary copy of the Action Schools! BC Classroom Healthy Eating Action Resource, Planning Guide, and Action Pages! – a guide to healthy living resources from British Columbia and across Canada.  After the workshop, your school may be sent complimentary Healthy Eating Action Pack.  Come and learn implementation ideas and action tips to provide more opportunities for more children to make healthy choices more often.

C05  Teaching Algebraic Thinking in the Intermediate Grades Part 2 with Bev Ferner (5-7).  A variety of practical and developmentally appropriate activities and strategies for developing algebraic thinking in the intermediate grades will be explored in this hands-on, interactive workshop.  Participants will become familiar with the “big ideas” of algebra and the scope and sequence for Patterns and Relations outcomes in the new Mathematics IRP.

C06  How to Catch a Flying Monkey: Drama Strategies Across the Curriculum with Jocelyn Dimm (K-12).  Fast and easy ways to integrate drama strategies into the curriculum to enhance learning and engage learners.  All educators welcome!

C07  Who Becomes a Writer and What to Look for in Your Students with Meg Tilly (3-12).  How do you find the writing talents that might be hiding in the most unlikely students?  What do you look for?  How do you nurture and inspire tomorrow’s authors?  Tilly will discuss the writing process, how it is important to cultivate the true voice of each individual, and the different approaches that writers use.

C10  Diigo: Social Bookmarking and Annotating the Web with Maryam Moayeri (K-12). This session will give a brief definition of web 2.0 and its potential place in education.  It will then workshop a web 2.0 tool called Diigo.  Diigo is a social bookmarking site that allows users to save, annotate, and share web pages.

C11  Using Children’s Literature to Engage Your ESL Students and Enhance Their Learning with Tricia Kearns (K-8).  Great children’s books offer a wealth of learning opportunities for ESL students whether you have one ESL student or a classroom full.  This workshop will present outstanding books along with ideas, activities and strategies for using the books to enhance the learning of reading, writing, and oral language skills.

C12  TOC 101 – How to Succeed as a Teacher Teaching On Call with Alyson King (TOCs).  Alyson will outline strategies that she uses to be a successful Teacher on Call.  She will provide information on how to get work in the district, how to be great in the classroom and how to apply for jobs in Saanich.

C13  Introduction to the Accelerative Integrated Method (AIM) in Early French Immersion (EFI)  with Jennifer de Boer (K-5). This overview of the use of AIM in EFI programs will specifically focus on the grammatical elements of the program.  It will include how to use AIM’s specialized gestures to teach key grammatical structures such as gender, articles (definite, indefinite), pronouns, verbs (present, past, future, reflexive, infinitive), possessive adjectives, adjective agreements and more.  This workshop will be presented in English and French and requires active audience participation.

C15  Re-defining Roles for Integration Support and Classroom Teachers  with Monica Braniff (K-12).  Through this workshop, the NSMS student services team will bring participants practical strategies for supporting student needs and facilitating co-teaching within the classroom setting. They will offer their experiences, and share their struggles, in a continuation of professional discussions regarding current changes to student services within our schools and classrooms.

C17  Literacy Strategies across the Curriculum (II): THIEVES and Argumentation with Chris Tippett (Pacific CRYSTAL) (3-10). Participants will learn about THIEVES, a pre-reading strategy with a catchy acronym. Through hands-on activities participants will also learn how to incorporate argumentation into content area instruction. All participants will receive a package of support material, including strategy descriptions, suggestions for implementation, relevant research articles, assessment rubrics, student samples, blackline masters, middle school science units showing how the strategies can be integrated, and a CD with all documents in a re-writable format so that worksheets and rubrics can be modified for specific projects.