PTA Conference Summary #1

When teachers apply to the Pro-D Fund for conference funding, we ask that they find a way to share what they have learned, pass their professional learning on to colleagues, and make use of new skills or ideas with their students. One of the options for response is to craft a statement to be posted here. We are pleased to celebrate the professional development of our teachers.
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Conference: 2014 BC Primary Teachers' Association -- http://www.bcpta.ca/wordpress/

Participant: Lana McGown Rudolph, Pinewood Elementary

Summary: On October 24th, I and a colleague attended the Primary Teachers' Conference. We participated in several workshops concerning reading and math engagement, literacy and learning. We were able to have great teaching conversations with primary teachers from across the province. We saw workshops developed by practicing teachers who are researching and developing strategies and teaching methods that are changing how we teach in our province. We left the conference with a multitude of practical ideas and resources which we are introducing into our own practice and applying to our Learning Team work as well. Specifically, we will be focusing on experimenting with changing how we approach Calendar time in our classrooms to achieve more learning time for all students while also increasing engagement of all learners and decreasing the necessity of managing student behaviour during this learning time. We will be focussing our learning team time on developing new strategies around math to improve our practice and reach more students. I have attended the Primary Teachers Conference twice and I highly recommend it to all primary teachers. These kinds of opportunities allow us to expand our knowledge, improve our practice and develop more effective strategies for our learners. My teaching is already changed due to this experience and I am looking forward to our learning team time as a means of developing both my students’ and my learning.