PDTCA 2025: Full Schedule

The PDTCA Board hopes you have an amazing Convention 2025!
Emergency Procedures Calgary Telus Convention Centre
Emergency Procedures Hyatt
Human Rights Statement
Land Acknowledgement

CALGARY TELUS CONVENTION CENTRE (CTCC) and HYATT - address

Pre-Registration will OPEN February 1, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. and CLOSE February 17, 2025 AT 8:00 p.m.

For Pre-Registered sessions please use the pre-registration link on the pre-registration page at pdtca.org. Adding the session to your Sched schedule does not mean you are pre-registered.

Reason to Create a Profile in Sched
You do not need to create a profile and log in to see sessions in Sched. However, if you want to add yourself to a session to create a schedule or evaluate a session you must be logged in.

Convention at a Glance Link will be available here in Mid-February
Off-Site Addresses are included.

Professional Responsibility
“On the two school days of your assigned teachers’ convention, you have a legal and professional responsibility to attend convention. If you are not able to make it safely to your assigned convention, however, your collective agreement may include impassable roads or inclement weather clauses that you can access. If your collective agreement does not include language specific to road conditions or weather, you may make use of the personal leave clauses of your agreement in most cases. Please be aware that using any of these types of leave may require you to pay substitute costs, forego a portion of your salary and benefits, or report to your school or another work location in your district. Refer to your collective agreement for more information. Should you require any additional information or if you need assistance interpreting your collective agreement, please contact Teacher Employment Services at 1-800-232-7208 or 780-447-9400.”
This information is also found on the Frequently Asked Questions page on the www.ataconventions.ca website. If you have any further questions regarding this, please contact Daniel.Maas@ata.ab.ca.

09:00 MST

Lab Skills Performance Assessments in Chemistry

Friday February 21, 2025 09:00 - 10:00 MST

Telus 106 - CTCC

Performance assessments are authentic ways for students to demonstrate their abilities and can positively affect students’ attitudes toward the lab, their academic achievement, and upon the overall environment of the classroom. When used in conjunction with student self-assessment checklists performance assessments can also promote metacognitive activity. This session will present how to administer performance assessments of five basic lab skills and the benefits to the classroom that result.

Speakers

Tyler Buchan

Tyler Buchan is a teacher at Salisbury Composite High School in Sherwood Park, Alberta. He has taught science for over 15 years at schools in Alberta, Burkina Faso and Jamaica. He has degrees in Education and Arts from the University of Alberta, and a Master’s of Science in Science... Read More →

Friday February 21, 2025 09:00 - 10:00 MST
Telus 106 - CTCC

Science (TQS 3), Div4 (Gr 10-12)

Session has participant fee No
Level of content Intermediate content
Presentation Language English
Is Pre-registration required No

10:20 MST

Student Self-Marking as Formative Assessment

Friday February 21, 2025 10:20 - 11:20 MST

Telus 106 - CTCC

This presentation is an overview of an action research project on the effects of having students mark their own formative quizzes upon their level of metacognition, attitude and academic achievement. In addition, the reliability of student self-grading, and the potential benefits upon the instructor’s time were also evaluated. Come to this session to hear about how this action research was conducted and the takeaways from this project.

Speakers

Tyler Buchan

Friday February 21, 2025 10:20 - 11:20 MST
Telus 106 - CTCC

Assessment (TQS 3), Div3 (Gr 7-9), Div4 (Gr 10-12)

Session has participant fee No
Level of content General overview for novice learners
Presentation Language English
Is Pre-registration required No

11:40 MST

Solve Real-World Problems Using Gizmos STEM Cases

Friday February 21, 2025 11:40 - 12:40 MST

Telus 106 - CTCC

Get ready to ignite curiosity and critical thinking with ExploreLearning Gizmos! As the proud recipient of the 2024 CODiE Award for Best STEM Instructional Solution in Grades K-12, Gizmos is your passport to dynamic STEM learning. In our immersive STEM Cases, students step into the shoes of STEM professionals, tackling real-world challenges using critical thinking skills. Dive deep into a STEM Case, and as you explore, consider the pivotal role of the teacher. But that’s not all! Discover how to track student progress, decode results, and accelerate student learning throughout the process. Please bring an electronic device to get the most out of this session.

Speakers

Lindsay Beaulieu

Implementation Coordinator, ExploreLearning

Lindsay Beaulieu has taught in Alberta for the past ten years and has witnessed the impact of Gizmos on student understanding. Lindsay has been using Gizmos in the classroom since she began teaching. Lindsay joined ExploreLearning this year as an Implementation Coordinator to support... Read More →

Friday February 21, 2025 11:40 - 12:40 MST
Telus 106 - CTCC

Science (TQS 3), Div2 (Gr 4-6), Div3 (Gr 7-9), Div4 (Gr 10-12)

Session has participant fee No
Level of content General overview for novice learners
Presentation Language English
Is Pre-registration required No

13:00 MST

Explore How Online Science Simulations Support Scientific Literacy

Friday February 21, 2025 13:00 - 14:00 MST

Telus 106 - CTCC

Enhance scientific literacy using ExploreLearning Gizmos, the 2024 CODiE Award Winner for Best STEM Instructional Solution for Grades K-12! This session introduces the pedagogical approach of CER, claim-evidence-reasoning, to promote scientific understanding and discourse. Participate in a modelled lesson using online science simulations to experience firsthand the strengths of a CER approach. Teachers are encouraged to bring a device.

Speakers

Lindsay Beaulieu

Implementation Coordinator, ExploreLearning

Friday February 21, 2025 13:00 - 14:00 MST
Telus 106 - CTCC

Science (TQS 3), Div3 (Gr 7-9), Div4 (Gr 10-12)

Session has participant fee No
Level of content Intermediate content
Presentation Language English
Is Pre-registration required No