PDTCA 2025

With the high demands and constant daily pressures that teachers face, differentiating instruction seems a dream of the ideal world!
Providing proven strategies, tools and resources to support teachers in differentiating learning to meet all
students’ needs, this session turns the ideal world into the reality. From research studies to personal experience, teachers will truly understand the importance and the benefits of delivering a differentiated curriculum. Above all, teachers will be able to transfer their knowledge and experience from the session, to make positive changes in the classroom and ultimately improve their students learning and performance.

Discover how to:
• Plan differentiated lessons;
• Use assessment data to inform your differentiated plans;
• Differentiate learning through ability groups;
• Manage differentiation in the classroom;
• Seek personalized support to successfully implement differentiated instruction.
Learn how to deliver a curriculum that challenges and progresses the learning for all students, regardless
of their ability so that every learner reaches their true potential!

Taking a look at music you may have heard a hundred times but never really listened to, this workshop will dive deeper into the meaning behind the melodies. Analyzing the different strategies we can learn from these timeless tunes, we will discuss techniques and examples to teach poetry, creative writing, and literary devices. Whether we’re looking at enduring classics or present-day pop hits, this workshop will give you an arsenal of toe-tapping material to pull the students into the literary arts.

Whether they’re packed with quirky quips or seriously sentimental scenes, films and series are among the most heavily consumed forms of literature today. Looking at cheesy rom coms and other blockbusters that any movie snob would turn their nose up at, this workshop will look at the clever moments and hidden gems within the popular cinema world. Using quotes and cinematic moments, we’ll pinpoint examples of creative writing techniques and literary devices that can be used in any writing discipline. Add to this some hands-on activities, and you’ll have a classroom-ready roster of examples with immediate practical application to ground it.

Are you searching for a way to effectively navigate the new curriculum? Led by a highly experienced teacher with a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction, this interactive session will provide practical activities to decode curriculum and tools to help align tasks with Bloom's Taxonomy. Gain valuable strategies for planning with the new curriculum, and differentiating instruction to meet the diverse needs of your students. Prepare to enhance your teaching skills as you bid farewell to confusion and embrace newfound confidence as you embark on this collaborative journey! Hot tip:  My goal is that you will walk away with an outline of lessons you can begin to teach tomorrow. I will be providing an ELA outcome from grades 4-6. If you want to work on a LO from your own grade - bring that page of the curriculum and a highlighter with you.

In the transformative era of education, Artificial Intelligence (AI) stands to redefine teaching and learning practices. My proposal, a hands-on exploration of AI tools like ChatGPT in K-9 classrooms, offers a compelling, forward-thinking workshop for your convention.

During this session, I'll demonstrate how AI can significantly improve student outcomes. Participants will learn how AI's data analytics can provide personalized insights on student performance, enabling tailored support to boost grades. I'll also show how AI's instant feedback capabilities can lead to swift mistake correction, essential for a dynamic learning environment.

Teachers will uncover practical strategies to implement AI tools in their daily routines, enabling them to work smarter and more effectively. My session will emphasize the importance of teachers harnessing AI as a teaching ally, not just a student tool. I'll share concrete examples of how AI can support diverse learners, including struggling students and English Language Learners.

With this workshop, my goal is to equip educators with the knowledge and skills to confidently navigate this new landscape, transforming their classrooms into dynamic, responsive learning environments. I am confident that my session will provide a valuable, inspiring, and future-ready contribution to your convention.

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.

In recent years we have seen a rise in the use of artificial intelligence in our everyday lives: from machine learning algorithms that screen resumes for job postings, to bots that can converse with one another. In this workshop, participants will explore the pitfalls of artificial intelligence when it comes to algorithms responsible for making decisions impacting lives, and what our responsibilities are to ensure our models are ethical.

From its inception, Islam has transformed the status of women and paved the way for female leadership to grow and flourish. Did you know that the first University in the world was founded by Fatima al-Fihri, a Muslim woman? Or that Sabiha Gökçen, the first female combat pilot in the world, was Muslim? Were you aware that the early spread of Islam was funded by Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, the first Muslim woman? Please join me for a walk through history as we explore the contributions of Muslim women in all fields of life, including Mathematics, Literature, Politics, Science, Education, and more. We will look at the contributions of Muslim women around the world from early Islamic civilization, through the generations, until today. This session will leave you with a foundational understanding of what Islam, unmarred by the media and mainstream society, really says about women. We will highlight some of the entrepreneurs, warriors, educators, and scholars who forged the path for future generations to walk with dignity, pride and ambition.

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.