B.Ed Program Day

Title: Cheat Codes for Surviving and Thriving in the Modern Education [Eco]system. 

Facilitator: Rebecca Chambers (Teacher, School Trustee, Newspaper Columnist, Media Literacy Consultant, and Parent of three school-age children).

Session Description: In this interactive session, Rebecca will illustrate the impact of personal beliefs and experiences on our applied knowledge and teaching practice. Topics will include getting hired, communicating with parents and community members, leveraging your lived experience, finding balance, and developing student and colleague relationships. Participants will be invited to explore their own strengths and experiences, and be given time to reflect and integrate topics into their practicum and professional planning.

Recommended Audience: Senior Years (although all levels are welcome).

Title: Leveling Up: Exploring Gamification to Support Students With ADHD and LD Transition From High School to Postsecondary Education 

Facilitators: Serena Chan (B.Ed. Student and Undergraduate Research Assistant) & Dr. Lauren Goegan (Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education).

Workshop Description: Navigating the intricate landscape of postsecondary education (PSE) poses challenges for all students, but especially those with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and learning disabilities (LD). To address this issue, we have crafted a solution in the form of a self-paced online game aimed at facilitating the transition to PSE. The workshop will begin with an overview of ADHD and LD, discuss the common challenges with the transition to PSE, and then provide space to try out the transition game that is currently being developed.

Recommended Audience: Senior Years

This session will be combined as one session (1 hour each with 15 minutes with a 15-minute break between) with "Kashkikwaata li troo – Mending the Gap: A Starter Guide to Indigiqueering the Curriculum."

Title: Kashkikwaata li troo – Mending the Gap: A Starter Guide to Indigiqueering the Curriculum 

Facilitators: Katie Anderson, Lauren Hallett, Meghan Young (B.Ed. Students; Undergraduate Research Assistants) & Dr. Lucy Delgado (Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education).

Description: In this session, the facilitators will discuss a project that examined how Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer perspectives show up within the Manitoba Curriculum documents, and a guide that was created to help teachers approach the task of including Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer voices across all subjects. Through an examination of the gaps and discussion of starting places, students will learn more about what they can do to create educational spaces that equitably represent diverse Indigenous voices.

Recommended Audience: Early, Middle and Senior Years.

This session will be combined as one session (1 hour each with 15 minutes with a 15-minute break between) with "Leveling Up: Exploring Gamification to Support Students With ADHD and LD Transition From High School to Postsecondary Education"

Title: Flourishing Futures

Facilitators: Kimberley Adair (Principal, Louis Riel School Division; Recent MEd Graduate and Current MEd Graduate Student).

Description: This workshop will describe a school-based project designed to provoke reflective, contemplative opportunities about our role as educators and schools in Truth and Reconciliation. Participants will learn about one school's journey with a Truth and Reconciliation Legacy Garden project. Additionally, participants will have an opportunity to collaborate and creatively ideate about how they may contribute to this project if they were a teacher in the school, and envision how this project could evolve over time, emulating the real-life experience of being part of a school staff. 

Recommended Audience: Senior Years.

Title: Digital Storytelling and Translanguaging: Supporting all Learners in Sharing their Stories 

Facilitator: Shawn Porteous (Teacher, River East Transcona School Division; Recent PBDE Graduate)

Description: This interactive workshop will highlight the use of Digital Storytelling (DST) in Middle and Senior Years classrooms. Additionally, the workshop will focus on the use of DST to support Multilingual Learners (MLLs) through the conceptual lens of translanguaging. Workshop participants will have the opportunity to explore a variety of tools and lesson ideas to support the use of DST in the classroom, as well as to support MLLs. 

Audience Level: Middle and Senior Years.

Title: Putting Our Cards on the Table: Exploring a Critical Media Literacy Resource for Teaching About Consent and Sexual Violence in the Senior Years. 
(Morning session only)

Facilitators: Lauryn Handoga and Brooke Jackson (B.Ed. Students and Undergraduate Research Assistants, 2024) & Dr. Jennifer Watt (Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education) and Dr. Shannon Moore (Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education). 

Description: While most educators acknowledge that consent and healthy sexuality education is important, teaching about “touchy subjects” (Bialystok & Anderson, 2022) is often missing or inadequate in K-12 schools. In this session we will try out and critically reflect upon a new pedagogical resource—a set of playing cards we designed to help teachers use popular media to ground conversations about gender, consent, and sexual violence, and to examine and challenge the role of popular media in constructing and normalizing societal (mis)understandings of sexual violence.

Recommended Audience: Senior Years and Middle Years.

Title: Storying Our Connections: Using the Tree of Life for Relational Learning 

Facilitator: Salmah Quadri (Ph.D. Candidate, Faculty of Education). 

Description: In this interactive workshop, we will explore the power of storytelling and relational learning through the Tree of Life approach. Through this process, participants will discover how this visual narrative tool can foster empathy, inclusivity, and meaningful connections in the classroom. Participants will create their own Tree of Life, share personal stories and experiences, and discuss how to integrate this approach into instructional design for K-12 students. 

Recommended Audience: Early, Middle and Senior Years.

Title: The Brave Classroom: Writing as Healing, Transformative, and Empowering. 
(Morning session only) 

Facilitator: Stephanie Zirino (Teacher, Pembina Trails School Division; Recent Master of Human Rights Graduate) 

Description: Each one of us, students and teachers alike, have a variety of stories that shape who we are and how we navigate the world. This workshop will use a trauma informed approach to explore how those stories impact our perspectives, worldviews, and approach to writing. As the lived experiences of students change, so too can we adapt how we teach and facilitate writing in our classrooms. 

Recommended Audience: Senior Years

Title: Developing Asset-Oriented Pedagogies Based on Experiences of Children of Refugee Backgrounds. 
(Afternoon session only)

Facilitator: Faatimah Kamalodeen (B.Ed. Student and Undergraduate Research Assistant) & Dr. Sreemali Herath (Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education). 

Description: This workshop focuses on building pedagogies built on experiences, knowledges, and capital that children of refugee backgrounds bring. We discuss the importance of asset-oriented pedagogies and provide hands-on activities to tap into students’ experiences. 

Recommended Audience: Early, Middle and Senior Years. 

Title: Emerging Stories and Outdoor Learning: More Than a Walk in the Woods. 

Facilitator: Hannelore Wurmann (Teacher, River East Transcona School Division; MEd Student) 

Description: Join me on a journey outdoors and experience how emergent learning and the co-creation of time spent together can meet curricular objectives. We will aim to experience how simple provocations outdoors can allow for curriculum to be discovered by all students and teachers. Please come prepared for the weather. If necessary, we can finish our workshop indoors where we can anchor our experiences in instructional planning sparked by our imaginations. 

Recommended Audience: Early and Middle Years (but Senior Years are also most welcome).

Title: Artful collaborations: Care practices for Teachers and Students Navigating Brave Spaces. 

Facilitator: Monica Martens (Teacher, Hanover School Division; Recent MEd Graduate). 

Description: This workshop explores art as language, where materials become active collaborators in approaching challenging topics. Participants will explore how art can nurture brave space for addressing the work of counter-oppression, fostering emotional care and connection in and out of the classroom. Teacher candidates will engage in discussions and planning around art practices as a way to care for both educators and their students, opening portals to deeper understanding and meaningful relationships. 

Recommended Audience: Early, Middle and Senior Years.

Title: Place-Writing and Place-Walking: Moving Learning and Learners Outdoors.
(Afternoon session only) 

Facilitators: Chris Hay (B.Ed. Student and Undergraduate Research Assistant) & Dr. Michelle Honeyford (Associate Professor, Faculty of Education) and Dr. Jennifer Watt (Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education). 

Description: We invite you to join us for this workshop on place-based writing. After a brief introduction to place-writing and walking and why we might integrate it into our middle and high school classrooms and curriculum, we will be exploring how to do so, going together on a place-writing walk outside. Back inside, we’ll talk about what we noticed as writers and teachers (in terms of any/all teachable areas). We’ll also share research from interviews with Manitoba Middle and High School teachers about their place-writing and place-walking practices. You’ll leave with ideas, tools, resources, and inspiration that can be brought into your own writing/walking practices as well as into your classrooms. Please dress for the weather. 

Recommended Audience: Middle and Senior Years.