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Monday, November 3, 2014

PTA Conference Summary #2


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. We also ask them (optionally) 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: Debbie Byman, Pinewood Elementary

Summary: In October 2014 I had the opportunity to attend the BC Primary Teachers' Association Conference. The keynote speaker, Regie Routman, specializes in helping students achieve success in reading through writing. She inspired me to spend even more time than I already do on writing, and gave me a place to start to further investigate her strategies, which I will share with our staff as we are always looking for ways to improve our students' literacy skills.

Another speaker, Colleen Politano, shared many ideas for helping students with self regulation, as did our yoga instructor, Tanya Armstrong. Our school is focusing more on social emotional learning as a foundation for personal and academic success, so I am very interested in sharing what I have learned. We are hoping that improved self-regulation, along with greater academic achievement, will give our students the confidence and resilience they will need to feel successful.
I really enjoyed attending these workshops and connecting with other teachers. I highly recommend this conference to other primary teachers.