Evidence/Artifact #1: VILN Conference
There was an opportunity in the fall to attend the Vancouver Island Learning Network conference. This conference is hosted by School District 79 (Cowichan Valley) and is open to educators from across British Columbia. The purpose of the conference is for educators from across the province to co-construct and reframe learning through the Applied Design, Skillas, and Technology (ADST) and technology curriculum. I was fortunate to have attended the October 18-19 conference which took place in Nanaimo for free as two registrations were offered to our cohort.
Friday I attended a round robin session which included multiple presenters. I discovered interesting information about 3D Printing, block coding, green screen applications, Apple Pencil technology, Sphero robotics, and computational thinking.
Saturday I attended an all day workshop from Apple Canada on IOS app creation. My experience with app creation is very elementary so I found the workshop quite interesting. I feel the information being shared would be appropriate for grades 9-12 as the coding involved was quite advanced using Apple’s XCODE. By the end of the day I was able to create 2 basic IOS apps and transfer them to my iPhone.
I will be applying to present at the conference in the future.
References
BC Ministry of Education BC Teachers’ Council. (2019, June 19). Professional Standards for BC Educators. Retrieved from, https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/education/kindergarten-to-grade-12/teach/teacher-regulation/standards-for-educators/edu_standards.pdf
Vancouver Island Learning Conference. (2020). ADST, Computational Thinking, and Coding Conference. Retrieved from http://www.vilnbc.ca/
Evidence/Artifact #2: Competency Based IEP PLC
Throughout the year, educators take part in Professional Learning Community experiences that involve the whole school staff including the teachers, educational assistants, principals and vice-principals who are committed to learning and building knowledge. “A Professional Learning Community (PLC) is an engine that drives school improvement and builds professional knowledge. They serve as a powerful form of job embedded professional development as it enables members to work collaboratively to clarify essential learning, identify student-learning needs based on evidence, and make judgments about the effectiveness of different instructional practices on the basis of that evidence.” (SD79, 2020)
I took part in an afternoon workshop on Developing Competency Based IEPs. The workshop was hosted by SD79’s Student Support Services staff which included both District Itinerant Resource and Support Teachers, a District School Psychologist, and District Occupational Therapist. The main focus for the workshop is to assist resource and support teachers in learning how to develop strength based and meaningful individual education plans (IEP) and move away from the typical deficit based model. I found the workshop to be invaluable as the presenters displayed how to use the Ministry of Education’s core competencies to develop IEPs using ‘I can’ statements.
What I learned and Why is it important
To be an effective educator it is important to continually develop knowledge and skills that will assist teachers supporting students. Education is a never ending process that does not stop once a degree has been earned. Education is constantly changing and evolving and is every educators responsibility to keep up-to-date with this evolution. Professional development opportunities not only give teachers the ability to further their learning, but also gives the opportunity for access and collaboration with other educators, community partners, and stakeholders who may be experts in their fields.
References
BC Ministry of Education BC Teachers’ Council. (2019, June 19). Professional Standards for BC Educators. Retrieved from, https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/education/kindergarten-to-grade-12/teach/teacher-regulation/standards-for-educators/edu_standards.pdf
BC Ministry of Education. (2017). Core Competencies. BC’s New Curriculum. Retrieved from https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/competencies
Boulet, L., Conroy, J., McGeachy, C., Stacey, S. (2019). Competency Based IEP Workshop. School District 79.
n.d. (2019, October). Core Competencies I Can Big Sheet. School District 79 Student Support Services.
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