GETCA 2025: Full Schedule

Welcome to GETCA 2025! We are excited to see you soon...

9:00am MST

Grades that Inform: Using Cognitive-Based Assessment vs. Traditional Grading

Thursday February 27, 2025 9:00am - 10:00am MST

What is it that we want a student’s grade to tell us? More importantly, what do want a breakdown of their grade to tell us? Too often, traditional grade categories tell us whether students are strong or struggle with unit exams or assignments, but tell us little about what cognitive skills and abilities they need in order to improve their learning. This session will examine the advantages of cognitive-based grade categories, how it can improve assessment design, and give more detailed feedback to students on what cognitive skills they need to improve their learning. We will also examine examples of cognitive-based grading (including year plans, assessments and grade book setup) in multiple subject areas, and look at ways to adapt your current assessments so this is not more work for teachers. Participants will learn about an assessment approach that can be easily adapted to their current practice so that their assessments give them a clearer picture of where their students are strong or struggling, as well as examine examples that show how it works in different grade levels and subject areas. Resources will be shared and participants will have the opportunity to make a Cognitive-Based Assessment.

Speakers

Shelly Cloke

Teacher

A former high school principal, vice principal, secondary teacher and instructional coach, I am currently teaching Grade 7 Language Arts and Social Studies at HW Pickup School in Drayton Valley, as well as a casual Alberta Assessment Consortium contract presenter. My career-long passion... Read More →

Thursday February 27, 2025 9:00am - 10:00am MST
Westin - Turner Valley Room

English Language Arts, Social Studies

Company English
format Chairs
Room Details Westin - Turner Valley Room (Westin Hotel, Chairs Max capacity for 90 people)
Tags English

9:00am MST

How Well Do Your Students Read?

Thursday February 27, 2025 9:00am - 10:00am MST

Westin - Chancellor Room

This 1-hour session will explore some of the practical ways in which Grades 7-10 teachers can model and scaffold for readers and writers the skills needed to more actively and meaningfully engage with texts of all kinds. Teachers will come away with tools and strategies that enable students to make visible to us the often-invisible process of comprehending, a process that can’t always be captured by a standardized multiple-choice assessment. Tannis will also provide a brief overview of Pearson’s new Literacy Success Assessment (Grades 7-10), a tool for gaining insights into how our students comprehend and communicate.

Speakers

Tannis Niziol

Throughout her 32-year career as a teacher, administrator, and curriculum consultant, in both Alberta and Manitoba, Tannis has remained passionate about teaching and learning. She believes all learners deserve access to rich, diverse learning experiences and to a safe equitable space... Read More →

Thursday February 27, 2025 9:00am - 10:00am MST
Westin - Chancellor Room

English Language Arts, English Language Arts

Company English
format Chairs
Room Details Westin - Chancellor Room (Westin Hotel, Chairs Max capacity for 50 people)
Tags English

9:00am MST

Writing Modern Monsters: Creatures, Mythology, and Folklore Workshop

Thursday February 27, 2025 9:00am - 10:00am MST

Westin - BC Room

From sparkly vampires to teenage werewolves and witches, modern monsters come in all shapes and sizes. This interactive workshop examines the origins of famous creature stories, exploring the things that go bump in the night, and how to look at old myths with a modern edge. Warning: Many monsters have been created in this workshop. Why This Session is Relevant to Teachers: Students are often fascinated by horror, monsters, and creatures. This workshop teaches students the formula for creating a modern monster to be used in their writing, while looking at the history of popular mythological creatures.

Speakers

Andrew Buckley

Author/Speaker/Creator

Today, he’s a traditional and self-published novelist of rather silly, yet enjoyable speculative fiction for all ages, a comic book writer, screenwriter, podcaster, creator, and speaker. For over 20 years, he’s worked in the dreaded world of marketing as a content creator, copywriter... Read More →

Thursday February 27, 2025 9:00am - 10:00am MST
Westin - BC Room

English Language Arts, Social Studies

Company English
format Chairs
Room Details Westin - BC Room (Westin Hotel, Chairs Max capacity for 100 people)
Tags English

9:00am MST

Come Alive! Developing Character Through Role Play and Storytelling

Thursday February 27, 2025 9:00am - 11:20am MST

Westin - Consulate Room

Characters become real to us when we uncover their inner conflicts, their hidden fears and joys, and the small details that make up their daily lives. In this workshop, participants will create character worksheets, investigate how to uncover information about the character, and use verbal storytelling techniques to bring the character to life. This workshop will empower teachers to guide their students in creating vivid, believable characters that resonate with readers. The lessons here can also be used on existing characters in curriculum mandatory texts, as students can use the concepts of investigation and storytelling to learn more about characters in literature. Key takeaways include practical strategies for character development, techniques to inspire student creativity, and resources to integrate character-driven narratives into the classroom.

Speakers

Finnian Burnett

Finnian Burnett holds a doctoral degree in English Pedagogy, with a specific emphasis on using story-based education to create equity in multicultural classrooms. Their novella-in-flash, The Clothes Make the Man, shortlisted for the Bath novella-in-flash awards and was published by... Read More →

character worksheet pdf

GETCA character workshop pptx

Thursday February 27, 2025 9:00am - 11:20am MST
Westin - Consulate Room

English Language Arts, Drama

Company English
format Chairs
Room Details Westin - Consulate Room (Westin Hotel, Chairs Max capacity for 45 people)
Tags English

9:00am MST

Enhance Student Writing Starting on Monday: Practical Strategies for Increasing Student Engagement and Improving Their Skills in Creative Writing (K–12)

Thursday February 27, 2025 9:00am - 11:20am MST

Westin - Leduc Room

Writing is the last mode of communication that humans develop. It is challenging. It is nebulous. It can feel overwhelming, even for the most experienced educators. Come join us and learn how to not only increase student engagement - the biggest hurdle in any ELA classroom - but improve the overall quality of their written work. Whether you are a novice teacher or a more seasoned educator looking to reframe how you could be teaching creative writing in your classroom, walk away from this session with a wide array of strategies that will help transform your students' writing beginning Monday!

Speakers

Darrin Wilson

President, ATA's Fine Arts Council (FAC)

Darrin has worked within the CBE since 2008, focusing mostly on teaching English language arts, visual arts, and drama to middle school students. He was the Art Representative and is currently President for the ATA’s Fine Arts Council. He has a Diplôme d'Études Collégiales in... Read More →

Thursday February 27, 2025 9:00am - 11:20am MST
Westin - Leduc Room

English Language Arts, General Interest/Wellness

Company English
format Chairs
Room Details Westin - Leduc Room (Westin Hotel, Chairs Max capacity for 70 people)
Tags English

9:00am MST

Experiments with Sound Poetry

Thursday February 27, 2025 9:00am - 11:20am MST

Center High - Room 303

Thinking beyond the limits of word-based forms of communication in the language arts classroom, this workshop will take seriously the challenges and possibilities presented by sound poetry, an experimental artistic practice that bridges literacy and musical composition, and which is particularly well suited to allow entrance into the prelinguistic world of sonic invention, where language is but one small subset of a wider world of potential vibrational meaning. We will listen to, watch, and theorize various examples of sound poetry, develop "sound" versions of printed poems, and create and perform our own compositions. Though this workshop is explicitly focused on the curricular context of secondary literacy classrooms (and the ELA strands of listening and representation), teachers from other levels and disciplines may also find this workshop useful for their classroom practice.

Speakers

David Lewkowich

Comics and Language Arts, University of Alberta

David Lewkowich is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta. He is the author of "The Figure of the Teacher in Comics: A Psychoanalytic Study of Immaterial and Fragmented Education," and works with theories and practices of sound and multimodality... Read More →

Thursday February 27, 2025 9:00am - 11:20am MST
Center High - Room 303 10050 MacDonald Dr NW, Edmonton, AB T5J 0S3, Canada

English Language Arts, Drama

Company English
format classroom smartboard - no Chromebooks
Room Details Room 303 (Centre High , classroom smartboard - no Chromebooks Max capacity for 32 people)
Tags English

9:00am MST

How Does a Film Mean?

Thursday February 27, 2025 9:00am - 11:20am MST

Center High - Room 318

Film studies are often accompanied by a list of frames and angles, but often students fail to connect these technical aspects to the filmmakers intentions for the audience. This session will help to bridge that gap, drawing clear connections between how a film is constructed, and how that construction creates meaning and emotion for the audience.

Speakers

Shane Lawrence

Shane has been teaching for 19 years. In that time, he's taught everything from English to Photography, Drama to Computers. Through it all, he's developed a passion for creativity and creation which he now explores through teaching Art, Film, Drama, and Technology.

Thursday February 27, 2025 9:00am - 11:20am MST
Center High - Room 318 10050 MacDonald Dr NW, Edmonton, AB T5J 0S3, Canada

English Language Arts, CTS/CTF

Company English
format classroom - desks
Room Details Room 318 (Centre High , classroom - desks Max capacity for 25 people)
Tags English

10:20am MST

Introducing HSISSFF: Your High School’s Independent Shakespeare Short Film Festival!

Thursday February 27, 2025 10:20am - 11:20am MST

Center High - Room 309

Looking for new ways to get your students excited about Shakespeare? Consider running your own Shakespeare short film festival! In this authentic, creative assessment, students go beyond basic comprehension and analysis, and leap into creative synthesis by combining the close reading of Shakespearean drama with exploratory, independent film viewing, ultimately creating their own short film adaptations of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the style of a contemporary filmmaker of their choice. In this project, students research filmmakers, study their aesthetics, and create their own short film to be screened at a school-wide film festival. Students become personally invested in their own unique interpretations of the Bard’s plays and contribute authentically to the ongoing discussion of the relevance of Shakespeare in today’s world. Session attendees will view films from past film festivals and be given tips on creating their own film festivals, using adaptable student handouts and materials from past festivals.

Speakers

Tyler B. Perry

Teacher, CSSD

Tyler B. Perry is a secondary English language arts teacher in Calgary, one of the executive organizers of Can You Hear Me Now? (Alberta’s junior-and-senior high school poetry slam competition), Alberta Events Coordinator for Poetry In Voice, and the author of three books of po... Read More →

Thursday February 27, 2025 10:20am - 11:20am MST
Center High - Room 309 10050 MacDonald Dr NW, Edmonton, AB T5J 0S3, Canada

English Language Arts, Drama

Company English
format large open space - tables good for draping
Room Details Room 309 (Centre High , large open space - tables good for draping Max capacity for 80 people)
Tags English

10:20am MST

It’s All Part of the Plan: Story Structure Workshop

Thursday February 27, 2025 10:20am - 11:20am MST

Westin - BC Room

Storytelling principles have remained the same for centuries and yet writers still struggle to properly plan their stories before beginning to write. This workshop will take students through the formula of storytelling, performing a writing autopsy on an existing story and then planning and creating a new story from scratch. Worksheets provided for future use. Why This Session is Relevant to Teachers: Story structure and planning are two of the biggest challenges students face when writing. This workshop provides tools allowing students to take a step back and look at the big picture.

Speakers

Andrew Buckley

Author/Speaker/Creator

Thursday February 27, 2025 10:20am - 11:20am MST
Westin - BC Room

English Language Arts

Company English
format Chairs
Room Details Westin - BC Room (Westin Hotel, Chairs Max capacity for 100 people)
Tags English

10:20am MST

Literacy Instruction Matters

Thursday February 27, 2025 10:20am - 11:20am MST

ECC - Salon 13/14

Planning for and teaching language arts is overwhelming for many! Unlike content-area subjects, the teaching of the language arts curriculum is not a linear process. Whether you are new to the elementary classroom, new to teaching language arts, or looking to improve your literacy instruction, Karen will provide you with many practical strategies grounding in research and strong pedagogy. Learn how a weekly schedule can make both your planning and instruction more effective.

Speakers

Karen Filewych

Words Change Worlds

Karen Filewych has over twenty-five years of educational experience as an elementary teacher, school administrator, and language arts consultant. In 2007, she completed her Master of Education degree in the area of literacy. Karen has four books published by Pembroke Publishers: How... Read More →

Thursday February 27, 2025 10:20am - 11:20am MST
ECC - Salon 13/14

English Language Arts, English Language Arts

Company English
format csv
Room Details ECC - Salon 13/14 (Edmonton Convention Centre (ECC), Max capacity for 50 people)
Tags English

10:20am MST

Playing With Words – Upper Elementary Literacy Games for Grades 4-6 and ELL

Thursday February 27, 2025 10:20am - 11:20am MST

Westin - Saskatchewan Room

Are you looking for engaging and effective ways to help your upper elementary students gain confidence and competence with key reading, writing and comprehension concepts? Throughout the session participants will have opportunities to play literacy and vocabulary games, learn how to differentiate the activities, how to develop extensions, and how to use the game activities for assessment purposes. Student samples, gameboards, ideas for whole/small group instruction will be provided. Interspersed will be practical ideas for classroom organization and management to ensure effective implementation of games as a teaching strategy. Participants will be able to implement what they learn the next day in their classrooms and schools. Come prepared to play literacy games that incorporate the use of cards, dice, alphabet dice, letter tiles and other easily found literacy manipulatives. Concepts covered include: • Review of Phonics, Word Families and Sight Words • Reading and Writing Strategies • Effective use of Adjectives and Adverbs • Parts of Speech • Questioning strategies An extensive handout with games and gameboards will be available for download.

Speakers

John Felling

presenter, Box Cars And One Eyed Jacks

The workshops and seminars John Felling presents are engaging, informative, fun, and hands-on. In his workshops, teachers learn a variety of games and activities (new ones every year), closely tied to provincial curriculum standards. The games and activities presented integrate easily... Read More →

GETCA Playing With Words Upper Elem Literacy Games John Felling pdf

Thursday February 27, 2025 10:20am - 11:20am MST
Westin - Saskatchewan Room

English Language Arts, Division 1/2 Core

Company English
format Tables
Room Details Westin - Saskatchewan Room (Westin Hotel, Tables Max capacity for 180 people)
Tags English

10:20am MST

Scaffolded Assessment: Building Targeted Assessments that Show Where Students are at in Their Learning

Thursday February 27, 2025 10:20am - 11:20am MST

Westin - Turner Valley Room

What happens when we give an assessment and find that many students are not meeting the outcomes--now what? This session will look at building more targeted assessments that show where students are at in their learning--do they have the foundational skills? Are they struggling with complexity or abstract concepts? Are they showing signs of going beyond the outcomes? Scaffolded assessments give a much clearer picture of student learning and help teachers determine interventions for students who struggle. Participants will develop a scaffolded assessment based on the outcomes they are currently teaching that will show where students are at in their learning.

Speakers

Shelly Cloke

Teacher

Thursday February 27, 2025 10:20am - 11:20am MST
Westin - Turner Valley Room

English Language Arts, Mathematics

Company English
format Chairs
Room Details Westin - Turner Valley Room (Westin Hotel, Chairs Max capacity for 90 people)
Tags English

10:20am MST

Twelve Ways You're Sabotaging Your Writing Progress... and How to Flip that Script!

Thursday February 27, 2025 10:20am - 11:20am MST

ECC - Salon 19/20

Whether you teach ELA, Social Studies, Science, Art, or anything else, have you always been yearning to write a novel, or maybe even publish just one short story? So why aren’t you? Trust me--it’s not about brains. If you have the ability to teach dozens or even hundreds of kids per year, create and mark their assignments, and handle their individual and group dynamics, you not only have proven you’re smart, but you’ve also got nearly unlimited material! All those personalities, minds, dreams, and drama are perfect for characterisation and plotting. So why aren’t you writing that book? Join Malcolm Azania, who under the pen-name Minister Faust is an award-winning novelist and journalist, who’s taught creative writing across North America, and was writer in residence at the University of Alberta, to learn the twelve ways you’re short-circuiting your own writing … and how to overcome each one so you can write and publish your work like a pro! And because he taught junior high and high school English for a decade, you can use all his strategies with your own students!

Speakers

Malcolm Azania

President, Project Saqqara

Having taught English in Edmonton high schools and junior high schools for a decade, Malcolm Azania is an award-winning novelist, award-winning print journalist, radio host-producer, television host and associate producer, sketch comedy writer, video game writer, poet, and community... Read More →

Thursday February 27, 2025 10:20am - 11:20am MST
ECC - Salon 19/20

English Language Arts, Drama

Company English
format csv
Room Details ECC - Salon 19/20 (Edmonton Convention Centre (ECC), Max capacity for 50 people)
Tags English

11:40am MST

Practical Literacy Foundations

Thursday February 27, 2025 11:40am - 12:40pm MST

Westin - Athabasca Room

This session will cover some practical foundations skills for teaching reading and writing: teaching phonemes, graphemes, morphemes ad well as basics for grammar and syntax.

Speakers

Jaime McLachlan

Jaime McLachlan (BEd, Recreation Therapist) is a literacy/numeracy specialist who coordinates a collaborative project with the First Nations School Board (FNSB) in the Yukon, providing coaching to literacy teachers and assistants and instruction to FNSB students. Jaime supports the... Read More →

Practical Literacy Foundations pdf

Thursday February 27, 2025 11:40am - 12:40pm MST
Westin - Athabasca Room

English Language Arts, English Language Arts

Company English
format Chairs
Room Details Westin - Athabasca Room (Westin Hotel, Chairs Max capacity for 30 people)
Tags English

11:40am MST

What is and what isn’t the Science of Reading?

Thursday February 27, 2025 11:40am - 12:40pm MST

Westin - Alberta Room

This introductory workshop demystifies myths and provides teachers with clarity on the terminology and elements of the Science of Reading. Learn how the Science of Reading and MTSS (Multi-Tiered Systems of Support) dovetail with each other and walk away with practical strategies you can use in your classroom and staffroom tomorrow.

Speakers

Nicola Lott

Trainer, Coach & Community Guide, Canadain Academic Interventionists' Hub (CAI Hub)

Nicola Lott M. SpEd is an educator, founder of the Canadian Academic Interventionists' Hub and passionate advocate for inclusive education. Driven by a deep commitment to ensuring that neurodiverse children are served fully by their education, Nicola interprets research to the Canadian... Read More →

What is the SoR Handout pdf

Thursday February 27, 2025 11:40am - 12:40pm MST
Westin - Alberta Room

English Language Arts

Company English
format Tables
Room Details Westin - Alberta Room (Westin Hotel, Tables Max capacity for 80 people)
Tags English

1:00pm MST

Priority Outcomes and Prerequisite Skills

Thursday February 27, 2025 1:00pm - 2:00pm MST

Westin - Turner Valley Room

Research shows that investing time in identifying and developing lagging prerequisite skills leads to better outcomes for new learning. This session will seek to answer 1. How do we identify priority outcomes and the prerequisite skills needed to master them? 2. What do we know about the development of knowledge and skills--looking at cognitive skills through the work of Bloom, Webb and Hess 3. How do we assess student prerequisite skills before new learning? 4. Once we know what skills are lagging, how do we support students to develop them? 5. How do we scaffold learning to support prerequisite skill development? At each stage, participants will be invited to develop ideas to use in their classroom practice.

Speakers

Shelly Cloke

Teacher

Thursday February 27, 2025 1:00pm - 2:00pm MST
Westin - Turner Valley Room

English Language Arts, Mathematics

Company English
format Chairs
Room Details Westin - Turner Valley Room (Westin Hotel, Chairs Max capacity for 90 people)
Tags English

1:00pm MST

The Science of Reading and Inclusive Teaching

Thursday February 27, 2025 1:00pm - 2:00pm MST

Westin - Alberta Room

Ever wondered if or how the Science of Reading meshes with inclusive teaching practices? Join us as we delve into the Science of Reading through the lens of inclusive teaching and learn how equity-focused, explicit instruction works for all types of learners. Leave with a concrete understanding of how to support diverse literacy learners in your classroom.

Speakers

Nicola Lott

Trainer, Coach & Community Guide, Canadain Academic Interventionists' Hub (CAI Hub)

SoR Inclusive Handouts pdf

Thursday February 27, 2025 1:00pm - 2:00pm MST
Westin - Alberta Room

English Language Arts, Leadership

Company English
format Tables
Room Details Westin - Alberta Room (Westin Hotel, Tables Max capacity for 80 people)
Tags English

1:00pm MST

Words Matter: A Guide to Exploring Trans and Non-Binary Narratives in Reading and Writing

Thursday February 27, 2025 1:00pm - 2:00pm MST

Westin - Chairman Room

Navigating the nuances of gender and the ever-changing language around identity can be challenging. In ELA classrooms, teachers can explore these changing terms through story. In this generative writing workshop, participants will read short stories written by LGBTQ people, craft their own narratives, and discuss the challenges around using neo-pronouns and they/them as a singular. Through writing prompts, instruction, and shared conversations around the work created, participants will gently learn how to find more LGBTQ inclusive texts and how to facilitate discussions around the subject.

Speakers

Finnian Burnett

GETCA trans and non binary narratives presentation pptx

Thursday February 27, 2025 1:00pm - 2:00pm MST
Westin - Chairman Room

English Language Arts, General Interest/Wellness

Company English
format Chairs
Room Details Westin - Chairman Room (Westin Hotel, Chairs Max capacity for 50 people)
Tags English

1:00pm MST

Experiments with collage in the language arts classroom

Thursday February 27, 2025 1:00pm - 3:20pm MST

Center High - Room 303

This session will engage participants in a variety of hands-on experiments with multimodal collage in the language arts classroom. Drawing inspiration from such disparate sources as Henri Matisse (Painting with Scissors), Pauline Oliveros (Deep Listening), and William Burroughs (The Cut Up Method), we will collectively create characters, stories, and story-environments (worlds) by leaning into the unexpected and accidental possibilities of collage. Though focused on the curricular context of secondary classrooms, teachers from all levels may find this workshop useful for their classroom practice.

Speakers

David Lewkowich

Comics and Language Arts, University of Alberta

Thursday February 27, 2025 1:00pm - 3:20pm MST
Center High - Room 303 10050 MacDonald Dr NW, Edmonton, AB T5J 0S3, Canada

English Language Arts, Art

Company English
format classroom smartboard - no Chromebooks
Room Details Room 303 (Centre High , classroom smartboard - no Chromebooks Max capacity for 32 people)
Tags English

2:20pm MST

I can read

Thursday February 27, 2025 2:20pm - 3:20pm MST

ECC - Salon 10

If your students are at the beginning of their reading journey, come and learn more about some best practices to support their growth. Using the outcomes in the new language arts curriculum, Rebecca will share more about her literacy program: phonemic awareness, phonics, poetry, small group reading instruction (with decodable books) and read aloud programs. You will gain an understanding of how to teach letter sounds and move students along to be able to read trade and early chapter books. Rebecca has a masters in language and literacy from UBC and has recently completed the UFLI trainer program.

Speakers

Rebecca Robins

Grade 1 teacher, Edmonton Public Schools

Rebecca is a master teacher who is passionate about sharing engaging classroom practices that develop mastery in literacy, numeracy and inquiry in a student centred space. She values creating experiences that foster a sense of inclusion and empathy within my classroom community, honour... Read More →

I Can Read GETCA '25 pdf

Thursday February 27, 2025 2:20pm - 3:20pm MST
ECC - Salon 10

English Language Arts

Company English
format csv
Room Details ECC - Salon 10 (Edmonton Convention Centre (ECC), Max capacity for 240 people)
Tags English

2:20pm MST

I Thought I Only Had to Teach Vocab and Comprehension? Activities that secondary teachers can use to get students to build decoding, fluency, and vocabulary skills

Thursday February 27, 2025 2:20pm - 3:20pm MST

Westin - Turner Valley Room

The primary focus in secondary language arts tends to be vocabulary and comprehension--but what about students who struggle with foundational reading skills? This session will explore an approach that gets secondary students to work with words so they can use the phonological, morphographic and structural elements of words to find meaning, increase fluency, and build vocabulary, without having to use elementary-focused resources.

Speakers

Shelly Cloke

Teacher

Thursday February 27, 2025 2:20pm - 3:20pm MST
Westin - Turner Valley Room

English Language Arts, Languages/EAL

Company English
format Chairs
Room Details Westin - Turner Valley Room (Westin Hotel, Chairs Max capacity for 90 people)
Tags English

2:20pm MST

Introducing Morphology - Empowering Readers and Writers Through Word Structure, Vocabulary, and Spelling

Thursday February 27, 2025 2:20pm - 3:20pm MST

ECC - Salon 13/14

The Alberta ELAL Curriculum has an explicit focus on morphology. Are you wondering what it is and how to teach it? In this session, Karen Filewych will provide a foundational understanding of morphology and the many benefits of teaching it to students. She will also walk through the new Pearson resource: Bug Club Morphology to demonstrate how it can support your teaching in this area.

Speakers

Karen Filewych

Words Change Worlds

Thursday February 27, 2025 2:20pm - 3:20pm MST
ECC - Salon 13/14

English Language Arts

Company English
format csv
Room Details ECC - Salon 13/14 (Edmonton Convention Centre (ECC), Max capacity for 50 people)
Tags English

2:20pm MST

Japanese Canadian resources for the K-12 curriculum

Thursday February 27, 2025 2:20pm - 3:20pm MST

Center High - Room 318

In response to anti-Asian sentiments during the COVID pandemic, a committee was struck in the Japanese community to explore how to promote racial equality. Through education, of course! Bring your electronic device and learn about a new resource that shows how to integrate content about Japanese Canadian culture, experiences and contributions into various subject areas in your classroom. We shall use this Directory to sample activities for the grade levels you are interested in: https://ejca.org/directory-of-japanese-canadian-resources Come explore some great ideas to learn about Japanese Canadians!

Speakers

Olenka Bilash

Olenka Bilash is a professor emeritus in the Faculty of Education, curriculum specialist, Anti-racism Trainer, and interested in inclusion, diversity and multicultural education.

Terri Rolfson

Terri Rolfson is a Research Coordinator in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities at the University of Alberta. She has helped support the Gordon Hirabayashi Anti-Racism Project, a campus-community partnership which aims to advocate for racial equality.

Thursday February 27, 2025 2:20pm - 3:20pm MST
Center High - Room 318 10050 MacDonald Dr NW, Edmonton, AB T5J 0S3, Canada

English Language Arts, Social Studies

Company English
format classroom - desks
Room Details Room 318 (Centre High , classroom - desks Max capacity for 25 people)
Tags English

9:00am MST

All the Resources I Wish I Had as a Beginning ELA Teacher

Friday February 28, 2025 9:00am - 10:00am MST

ECC - Salon 7

I did not feel prepared to teach reading and literacy skills when I graduated university, and had no idea where to start figuring it out. Over the years, I have amassed a collection of books, websites, tips, and tricks that helped me become confident in an extremely ELA diverse classroom. I'd love to share what had been most useful for me, and hear about what has worked for you!

Speakers

Courtney Steiner

Courtney Steiner has been a junior high ELA teacher with EPSB for 13 years. She is passionate about improving her teaching practice, and about sharing ideas and collaborating with colleagues. She has previously presented at the 2024 ELAC conference.

Friday February 28, 2025 9:00am - 10:00am MST
ECC - Salon 7

English Language Arts

Company English
format csv
Room Details ECC - Salon 7 (Edmonton Convention Centre (ECC), Max capacity for 45 people)
Tags English

9:00am MST

The ‘Not So Happily Ever After’ Storytelling Workshop

Friday February 28, 2025 9:00am - 10:00am MST

Westin - BC Room

This workshop takes attendees on a magical journey through the origins of classic fairy tales, showing how storytelling principles as told through the lens of centuries old tales can inform modern writing techniques. Before two Grimm brothers compiled a collection of 'happily ever after' fairy tales, there existed the 'not so happy ever after' fairy tales. This interactive session is designed to empower teachers to inspire students through purely silly fun with a dark twist and a singular writing lesson: all stories must teach a lesson. This workshop provides a different perspective on storytelling and how to teach students one of several primary writing principles, while having a ridiculous amount of fun.

Speakers

Andrew Buckley

Author/Speaker/Creator

Friday February 28, 2025 9:00am - 10:00am MST
Westin - BC Room

English Language Arts, Drama

Company English
format Chairs
Room Details Westin - BC Room (Westin Hotel, Chairs Max capacity for 100 people)
Tags English

9:00am MST

Using a Dialogic Feedback Approach to Get Students to Use Feedback

Friday February 28, 2025 9:00am - 10:00am MST

Westin - Turner Valley Room

Teachers spend a lot of time giving students feedback but it does not always mean students will use that feedback to improve their learning. This session will explore different ways to use a dialogic feedback approach that is interactive and involves students at every stage of the assessment cycle. From strategies to technology that are designed to make assessment more targeted, efficient and easier for teachers to use, participants will leave this session with concrete ways to increase students' feedback uptake.

Speakers

Shelly Cloke

Teacher

Friday February 28, 2025 9:00am - 10:00am MST
Westin - Turner Valley Room

English Language Arts, Social Studies

Company English
format Chairs
Room Details Westin - Turner Valley Room (Westin Hotel, Chairs Max capacity for 90 people)
Tags English

10:20am MST

BLAST: A Targeted Literacy Intervention

Friday February 28, 2025 10:20am - 11:20am MST

ECC - Salon 7

With so many of our students needing intervention to bridge the gaps created by learning interruptions, how do we meet each student’s specific needs? This session will highlight how implementing a large-scale intervention can be an effective way to improve literacy levels for all students. Phonemic awareness and phonics skills are assessed and students are placed in small, flexible groups to receive instruction on a specific reading or pre-reading skill (such as rhyming, letter sounds, blends, long vowels, etc.). Whether you start with just a couple of classes, a couple of grades, or the whole school, this approach can be beneficial for all students- performing below, at, or above grade level. Join me to learn about this locally developed program, with numerous samples and resources shared.

Speakers

Nancy MacLellan

Nancy has been an educator for more than 30 years, with experience teaching classes from Kindergarten to High School. Before her retirement in 2022, she taught in a JK to Grade 3 school in Alberta for 15 years, supporting staff and students as the Inclusive Education Facilitator and... Read More →

Friday February 28, 2025 10:20am - 11:20am MST
ECC - Salon 7

English Language Arts, Leadership

Company English
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Room Details ECC - Salon 7 (Edmonton Convention Centre (ECC), Max capacity for 45 people)
Tags English

10:20am MST

Novel Studies - How to do it well!

Friday February 28, 2025 10:20am - 11:20am MST

Westin - Leduc Room

Do your students hate reading? Do they struggle to complete tasks/assignments due to lack of engagement? Please join us for engaging ways to teach novels that will have your students asking, “Are we going to read today?” We will be going through a variety of different novels for different grade levels/abilities, as well as different approaches to novels and reading, strategies to build literacy and comprehension skills, tasks to develop academic writing, the gathering of evidence, critical analysis of the text and creative hands on projects.

Speakers

Nicholle Morrison

Teacher, Calgary Board of Ed.

Nicholle has a BA in Sociology and a BEd Education. She has taught for 14 years. She began by primarily teaching elementary grades 5 and 6 and then 9 years teaching social studies and humanities at the junior high level. Nicholle currently is a high school Social Studies teacher with... Read More →

Joanna Zakus

Joanna has a BA History and a BEd Secondary Social Studies. She has been teaching primarily social studies and humanities for the last 20 years at the junior high level. Joanna currently is a teacher at a junior high school with the Calgary Board of Education. She focuses on interactive... Read More →

Friday February 28, 2025 10:20am - 11:20am MST
Westin - Leduc Room

English Language Arts, English Language Arts

Company English
format Chairs
Room Details Westin - Leduc Room (Westin Hotel, Chairs Max capacity for 70 people)
Tags English

10:20am MST

PLAY ON WORDS - PRIMARY LITERACY GAMES FOR SMALL GROUP AND CENTER INSTRUCTION

Friday February 28, 2025 10:20am - 11:20am MST

Westin - Saskatchewan Room

We know brains learn best through PLAY. Come prepared to play literacy games that incorporate easy to find manipulatives including letter tiles, word decks, literacy dice and dollar store finds. Games and strategies will focus on: learning the alphabet and its' sounds, rhyme and word patterns, spelling simple CVC words, vocabulary boosters, work with vowels and blends. The activities are easy to differentiate and can be used whole class, small group or in centers, can be adapted for intervention and used for assessment purposes. Perfect for home play. If you have lots of ELL students, this is a great session to get some engaging activities to implement into your literacy program. Handout will contain gameboards for immediate use.

Speakers

Jane Felling

Presenter, Box Cars And One-Eyed Jacks Inc

Jane is author of the award winning Box Cars and One-Eyed Jacks series of teacher resources - both for math and literacy. Jane has presented workshops across North America for over 30 years and has been a featured speaker at 100's of provincial, state, national and international conference... Read More →

GETCA Play On Words Primary Literacy Games Jane Felling pdf

Friday February 28, 2025 10:20am - 11:20am MST
Westin - Saskatchewan Room

English Language Arts, Early Childhood (Pre-K)

Company English
format Tables
Room Details Westin - Saskatchewan Room (Westin Hotel, Tables Max capacity for 180 people)
Tags English

11:40am MST

A Look at Vretta: The Future

Friday February 28, 2025 11:40am - 12:40pm MST

Westin - Turner Valley Room

Have you heard of the mystical new assessment platform known as Vretta? Do you wish you knew more? If you answered "yes" to either of the previous questions, then this session may be right for you! Starting this year, high schools in Alberta will be required to use the Vretta platform to administer diploma exams. Join me as I walk you through using the Vretta platform in your classroom. From getting classes and assessments set up to viewing student responses and troubleshooting some glitches, this session will cover it all. There will also be resources available for introducing students to the Vretta system and a question and answer session.

Speakers

Cindy Leung

I am a high school English and math teacher with Edmonton Public Schools. I have been trying to incorporate new technology into my classes, including the Vretta assessment platform.

Vretta Teacher Guide for GETCA pdf

Friday February 28, 2025 11:40am - 12:40pm MST
Westin - Turner Valley Room

English Language Arts, Social Studies

Company English
format Chairs
Room Details Westin - Turner Valley Room (Westin Hotel, Chairs Max capacity for 90 people)
Tags English

11:40am MST

Addressing neurodiversity in the language arts classroom

Friday February 28, 2025 11:40am - 12:40pm MST

Westin - Consulate Room

Refusing a deficit model, this session will address the particular situation of neurodiverse learners in the secondary ELA classroom, suggesting curricular, environmental, affective, relational, and communicative strategies to engage such students effectively and without discrimination; these shifts in teaching may also be beneficial to all students. This talk will also consider the situation of neurodiversity among teachers.

Speakers

David Lewkowich

Comics and Language Arts, University of Alberta

Friday February 28, 2025 11:40am - 12:40pm MST
Westin - Consulate Room

English Language Arts, Diversity/Equity/Anti-racism

Company English
format classroom smartboard - no Chromebooks
Room Details Room 303 (Centre High , classroom smartboard - no Chromebooks Max capacity for 32 people)
Tags English

11:40am MST

Quick Collaboration - Humanities Essential Academic Terms and Skills (HEATS) in Junior High

Friday February 28, 2025 11:40am - 12:40pm MST

Westin - Saskatchewan Room

This learning session is designed to help encourage collaboration between English and Social Studies in an easy way which requires only brief planning time. The goal is to support teachers to engage their students in the understanding and competency of fifteen common skills and terms found in the Junior High Humanities curricula. The HEATS project addresses essential skill-building by providing clarity to these terms/skills for all learners and by engaging them in meaningful opportunities to practice and develop the skills. The goal of the learning session is to introduce you to some resources and strategies that you can use in your classroom and share with others in the Humanities departments to support student learning and critical thinking across subject areas.

Speakers

Carolyn Fenrich

Curriculum Consultant, Edmonton Catholic School Division

Carolyn is a book worm with a love of the outdoors. She works as the Junior High Curriclum Consultant for Language Arts for Edmonton Catholic Schools and is a strong believer in collaboration as a means for engaging students.

Chris Manderscheid

Secondary Social Studies Consultant (7-9), Edmonton Catholic School Division

Chris brings over two decades of Social Studies education experience to his role at ECSD as the Junior High Social Studies consultant. He is passionate about supporting educators in enhancing their instructional and assessment strategies while fostering engaging and collaborative... Read More →

HEATS Documents Convention pdf

HEATS CONVENTION 2025 pptx

Friday February 28, 2025 11:40am - 12:40pm MST
Westin - Saskatchewan Room

English Language Arts, Social Studies

Company English
format Tables
Room Details Westin - Saskatchewan Room (Westin Hotel, Tables Max capacity for 180 people)
Tags English

11:40am MST

Gr1-6-Literacy Interventions that Work! (Tier 2 and 3)

Friday February 28, 2025 11:40am - 2:00pm MST

ECC - Salon 8/9

So many kids need help - where do you possibly start? Tracey will help guide you through the process, starting with easy diagnostic assessments then how to use that data to set up simple treatment plans for your small groups (Tier 2 or 3). Suggestions for resource materials, timelines, progress monitoring tips, and time management will be explored. Handouts for this session will be available at https://mackjacklearning.ca/academy/ (under "Workshop Handouts"). NOTE: The first part of this session will be for information and the second part will be for questions and demonstrations (if time.)

Speakers

Tracey Bowes

Dyslexia Practitioner/Literacy Consultant, Mack Jack Learning

After 31 years in the classroom in a variety of roles (elementary/middle school classroom teacher, K-12 Learning Support, K-12 Music/Drama/Musical Theatre, Special Education Coordinator), Tracey left the public school system to start her own private practice in Calgary, Mack Jack... Read More →

HANDOUT 1 6 Literacy Interventions that Work PDTCA + GETCA pdf

Friday February 28, 2025 11:40am - 2:00pm MST
ECC - Salon 8/9

English Language Arts, Division 1/2 Core

Company English
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Room Details ECC - Salon 8/9 (Edmonton Convention Centre (ECC), Max capacity for 560 people)
Tags English

1:00pm MST

Story Starters: How to Use Prompts to Motivate Students to Write

Friday February 28, 2025 1:00pm - 3:20pm MST

ECC - Salon 11/12

Ever have a student complain they don't know what to write? This PD session will give you the tools and tips to inspire even the most reluctant writer to fill the page with story ideas. Marty shares easy-to-follow strategies that help students conquer the blank page. He reveals primers that teachers can use to encourage kids to brainstorm story ideas, create characters, develop conflict and write engaging stories. He'll share a half-dozen writing project ideas that teachers can use in their classrooms.

Speakers

Marty Chan

Author, Ink Jockey Inc.

Marty Chan writes books for kids, theatre for adults, and social media posts for fun. A veteran writer and speaker, he's presented at schools, libraries, and conferences across Canada. In 2024, the Writers Guild of Alberta awarded Marty the Golden Pen for his lifetime of contributions... Read More →

Friday February 28, 2025 1:00pm - 3:20pm MST
ECC - Salon 11/12

English Language Arts, English Language Arts

Company English
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Room Details ECC - Salon 11/12 (Edmonton Convention Centre (ECC), Max capacity for 600 people)
Tags English

2:20pm MST

ELA and SS - Engaging Tasks Connected to Conflict

Friday February 28, 2025 2:20pm - 3:20pm MST

Westin - Leduc Room

Want to bring conflict and military history to life in your classroom? Want your students to connect to different challenges associated with people's experiences with conflict? Want your students to think critically and build skills? We will be looking at a variety of different conflicts connected to the curriculum (EG: War of 1812, Conquest of the Americas, Remembrance Day, etc.) in social studies as well as a variety of different ELA texts that have conflict as a theme (EG: The Sniper, War Poetry, songs connected to war and peace, etc.). Students get to explore and understand situations where individuals are interacting with conflict and war and the consequences individually and for society. There are many connections to be made to other times in world history to allow students to critically think about the movement of peoples. You will walk away with the complete lessons, activities, projects and resources.

Speakers

Nicholle Morrison

Teacher, Calgary Board of Ed.

Joanna Zakus

Friday February 28, 2025 2:20pm - 3:20pm MST
Westin - Leduc Room

English Language Arts, English Language Arts

Company English
format Chairs
Room Details Westin - Leduc Room (Westin Hotel, Chairs Max capacity for 70 people)
Tags English