PDTCA 2025

Évaluer de façon efficace à l'aide de grilles d'évaluation (rubriques d'évaluation). L'objectif de cette session est d'avoir des outils et des modèles permettant de créer rapidement des grilles d'évaluation à échelle descriptive afin d'évaluer plus efficacement les apprentissages des élèves. Durant cette session, vous aurez accès à des exemples de grilles d'évaluation, mais aussi à des outils pour concevoir des grilles en lien avec les résultats d'apprentissage des différents curriculums. La première partie de l'atelier consistera à mieux comprendre comment construire des grilles et à la présentation d'outils utiles, c'est-à-dire, entre autres, comment identifier les critères d'évaluation ainsi que formuler les échelles descriptives en utilisant des termes qualificatifs. La deuxième partie de l'atelier consistera à créer des grilles d'évaluation selon vos besoins. Les grilles d'évaluation sont un moyen efficace d'évaluer surtout, en contexte d'intégration des matières, et elles permettent de donner une rétroaction rapide aux élèves tout en informant les parents du cheminement académique de leur enfant.

This session will provide participants with a variety of strategies for managing the often onerous marking load of a humanities teacher in Jr. or Sr. High. The advice presented will move beyond generic time management and organization and focus on specific tips and pointers that can be easily incorporated into any teacher’s assessment practice. Information is based on lived classroom experience and will be presented in a light-hearted and down-to-earth manner.

Well-meaning parents in school communities are often eager to contribute to the success of students through much-appreciated fundraising initiatives providing funds intended to enhance students’ educational experiences. Principals and those well-meaning parents are sometimes not aware of their legal responsibilities, and potential liabilities that may result from their efforts. Join ASCA to discover more about the parent’s, and the principal’s, roles, responsibilities, and authority with a registered, incorporated fundraising association. This interactive session will also introduce how to identify, and mitigate, financial, functional, and relational, risks.

With the diverse learning needs of our students in part due to large gaps from Covid, we took the time with a number of our Math 9 outcomes to organize the concepts into Acceptable, Proficient, and Mastery categories which guided our assessment and instruction in our classroom. We would like to share our journey and insights and how we have applied our version of outcome based learning to other subjects and levels of math and, project based assessments.

Ensembleship is the ability of musicians to function effectively (i.e. creatively and artistically) in groups. Secondary School Band and Music conductors/educators have pursued that goal with a relentless focus on individual preparation (musicianship) and connection through convergent thinking. This session will connect contemporary music educational methodologies and practices to traditional rehearsal practice to build a more effective and ultimately artistic method of developing ensembleship, including rehearsal activities and techniques based on interactive and ensemble-based methods. Material to develop character, define point of view, and enable interaction (as opposed to simple presentation which tends to be the ensemble musician’s default) will be interwoven in the presentation. The emphasis for the session will be on how to achieve the shift in values, thinking, and behaviours that not only strengthens musicianship in you bands, but more importantly supports ensembleship your program's present and into the future.

What do we mean by artificial intelligence, machine learning, and deep learning? What are the potential impacts on education and society, and how do we talk to students about all of this? In this (session or panel discussion) we will explore these topics, try out some examples, and talk about the potentials and pitfalls of AI and related technologies.

Come show off your braiding skills as we learn to make traditional Ukrainian bread know as Kolach, and practice pinching (and eating) Perogies. Bring your culinary skills and your appetites.
AIRDRIE: WH Croxford School 2654 Chinook Winds Dr SW; Airdrie

Interest rates and inflation are taking a bite out of everyone's monthly income.
If you have a mortgage coming due in the next 18 months, join Maura, a Behavioural Cash Flow Specialist and Qualified

Learn how to best prepare for a mortgage renewal, including understanding your credit score and what Banks and financial institutions look for when approving a mortgage.

Learn the differences between banks and mortgage brokers.

Understand the overall cost of debt and how to make debt management decisions

Identify the heuristics, biases and emotions that can cloud your decision making abilities.

Workbook included Q and A

As mathematics teachers, we enjoy the process of doing mathematics and far too often we no longer actively do mathematics ourselves. This session is designed for you to come and do mathematics yourself and work on problems that you do not immediately know the answers to. Involve and immerse yourself in doing mathematics for a short time.

Technology is all around us and students seem to be on it constantly. Why not harness that power of technology in a music educational class that can inspire and promote an even stronger musical culture within our schools outside of our traditional instrumental/band programs? Now, more than ever, students are using ready, affordable, and at-hand music technology to create incredible musical pieces, scores, and experiences - all in the comfort of the their rooms or parents basements (with makeshift egg-carton soundproofing). Gone are the days where young artists are having to shell out a ridiculous amount of money to rent out a studio space and engineer; all of this is now happening in the palms of students' hands at a very affordable price. This session will focus on the ins and outs of getting approval for, setting up, promoting, and offering a General Music 9, 10, 11, and 12 course that focuses Music Technology and its application for students and musicians in our 21st Century educational environment. These are designed courses that foster a students' passion for music and offers a credited General Music course for students who may have no interest (or not an interest YET) in our traditional band classes.

Attention all colony teachers! Come join us as we unpack pedagogy, assessment practices, & curriculum planning for the multi-grade ELL environment. If you have something to share, please bring it along as we will have time to collaborate with our peers!

The work-energy theorem is fundamental to physics and is the basis of understanding many mechanical systems. [In Physics 30 we extend it to systems involving electric fields as well.] Teachers will perform a simple experiment that illustrates this theorem and builds intuition for Physics 20 students. The materials are inexpensive, and the design is simple enough that students will know precisely what is happening and can concentrate on the algebra. We will discuss similar experimental designs, extending this idea to different types of energy exchanges.

Money is still a taboo topic for many, people would rather talk about extra-marital affairs, addiction and death than money.
Financial stress impacts physical and mental health, has been linked to anxiety and depression, and has been listed as main reason for relationship dissolution.
It seems as if money should be easy to manage, after all, it's just numbers.
This presentation will identify biases, heuristics and emotions that impact our money decisions along with the practical strategies to get control of your monthly cash flow.
You will learn
* Why budgets don't work for most people
* What budgets are actually good for
* What mental accounting is and how it makes it hard to track our money
* How cash flow strategies help you stay on track without a restrictive budget
* How short term rewards help you stay on track financially

Work book included
Q and A

There are a lot of arguments as to why we should no longer be teaching Shakespeare in a modern curriculum, but they all fail when held up to two counter arguments: 1. We don't control the curriculum, and 2. Even if Shakespeare was removed from the curriculum, students, especially academic students, still need to engage with difficult texts. This session aims to provide you with a "bag of tricks" to make your study of the bard both engaging and enriching. Many of the strategies discussed and modelled are ready for immediate use in the classroom, so come and learn how to love the Bard, and maybe you'll be able to convince your students along the way.

Poetry is one of the most polarizing subjects in the English Language Arts classroom. Before it is studied formally, most students will have decided whether they love it or hate it, and it can be Herculean task to convert the haters. As a self-proclaimed "poetry hater," I stumbled across slam poetry in the late 2000s, and it radically changed my opinion of the genre. In 2012, I founded a high school slam poetry team and that year, our top poet was asked to audition for the national team. In 2019 we won the top group poem award, and in 2020 we won the Can You Hear Me Now? Provincial Slam Championships. Aside from a being a great extracurricular activity for students, slam poetry is also the avenue I use to bring poetry in the classroom and just like it did for me, slam poetry has gone a long way to converting the poetry haters. This session will include discussions on both the formal study of poetry and slam poetry as well as slam poetry as an extracurricular activity.

Reflecting on the unpredictable journey of how David Naylor charted his career path in Astrophysics in Southern Alberta, and looking ahead to how you can prepare your junior and senior high school students to be equipped for the challenges in the Era of "New Space". This session will be of interest to science and physics teachers in junior and senior high, and anyone with an interest in the field of astronomy and space research happening locally.

Are you a teacher or parent of teenagers? Do you often feel frustrated or stuck when it comes to understanding them? Come learn about basic brain structures and what happens to the brain during adolescence. Topics such as: neuroplasticity and how the brain learns, executive function and, behavioural changes in teens will be broached. Leave with some ready-to-use tools and resources to help support the teens in your life.

Like any other subject in school, assessment in a band class should be a measure of student achievement and understanding, attitude and overall effort. While the Alberta Instrumental Music and Band Programs of Study dictate both specific and general learning objectives for students in a band class, there seems to be much latitude on how band students are actually assessed. More often than not, in most classes and particularly in band class, most students and their parents/guardians are generally more concerned about marks than meeting the objectives of the curriculum. If we simply award high marks we can keep everyone happy. But are we really showing students the value of hard work and achievement if they receive high marks just for showing up? In this session, we will explore these topics and have an opportunity to collaborate and share assessment practices.

Data analysis skills are vital for everyone! Collect data using devices such as Micro:bit and Adafruit Circuit Playground express, then analyze that data using Common Online Data Analysis Platform (CODAP), a simple yet powerful FREE data analysis tool. Whether you teach math, science, ELA, or social studies, you can use data in your classroom – and with a little help from Northern Coding Academy, you will!

As a visual art senior high specialist for 20 years I had developed selection of art assignments that had proved to be particularly successful. One of these, the "Conte Still Life Drawing" assignment was particularly successful. I found this assignment dealt with several, often challenging, drawing concepts, including "working progressively from the most general to specific details", the use of values to give the illusion of three dimensionality and perhaps most importantly "drawing what you see - not what you know."

Participants prepare their drawing paper by creating a grey "ground" with the drawing conte' (similar to charcoal) then set up 3 - 4 "still life" objects (vases, mugs etc.) then dramatically light them with the table lamps.
Using the white erasers, participants draw their objects in big basic shapes. Then, participants will look for the basic highlight areas of their set up and erase those areas on their prepared drawing paper. That done, participants draw in the darker areas of their set up. Then, they will draw in any finer details using their conte' sticks and erasers.
One of the intents of the lesson is to create a convincing "range of tones" from light to dark to appear "3 Dimensional" and not Flat - 2 Dimensional.

I had presented this assignment to the Art 10 students but have found it to be of value to students of all ages and prior experience. In March of this year I presented this assignment to members of the "Calgary association of Lifelong Learners" and received a most positive response and was very pleased with the resulting drawings from the group.

I would be bringing in all of the items needed including: table lamps (to "highlight" the still life objects), drawing materials - cartridge paper, conte' drawing sticks and cheap white erasers. Although the materials are inexpensive, I would ask participants to either prepay $10.00 for materials or simply "pass a hat" to compensate me.

Teaching physics often begins with kinematics. Interval timers allow students to approximate velocities and accelerations. Science 10 is a great place to introduce the use of interval timers. In this session, teachers will experiment with several types of interval timers – from biological to mechanical to electrical to digital. We will discuss pros and cons of each of these types.

Join us to uncover the essential role of fluency, specifically prosody and phrasing, in developing secondary students’ reading abilities. Fluency is one academic key in developing older student’s reading and comprehension skills, and is often overlooked. This session will look at how to structure and plan for fluency practice through both ELA texts and within the content areas. We will talk about deep and wide reading, and ways to structure fluency practice through the lens of differentiation and meeting the wide range of needs in your classroom. You will leave with strategies, tools, and practices to embed with your secondary students right away.

As educators, it is critical to consider how diversity, inclusion, and equitable our practices are. But how can we ensure that a curricular focus lives alongside a social-justice approach? Join ACEE staff to learn about climate justice, and how to include multiple perspectives when teaching about the climate and environment. Questions covered include:

What is intersectionality? What is the role of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in understanding climate impacts, resilience, and solutions? What is the role of environmental education in reconciliation? Why are two-eyed seeing and social justice vital climate solutions?

During this session we will focus on answering the following questions:
- What is executive function?
- Why is it important?
- How to improve it?
- Classroom applications.

Participants will walk away with practical strategies and ideas for helping students with executive function deficits and what they can do for all students to develop their executive functioning abilities.