GETCA 2025

Over many years the Association has been able to construct a safety net for teachers and their families. This presentation provides an overview of what teachers have in regard to sick leave and other leaves through the collective agreement, extended disability, life insurance, other benefit plan provisions, as well as pension and death benefits. This is a light-hearted presentation that is intended to be presented to local teachers in order to provide very relevant and necessary information on existing entitlements.

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.

Comprehensive literacy instruction is important at all levels of education. Effective instructional leaders can enhance the literacy instruction within their schools. This session provides insight into current practice, strong pedagogy, an understanding of the science of reading, and practical strategies that literacy leads, consultants, and administrators can use within their schools to become more effective literacy leaders.

Adapting a process for collecting data on hours of work, both instructional and assignable, defining assignable time, and monitoring time assignments.

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.

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. 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. 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!

Are you and your students tired of the same learning centers? Are you looking for purposeful stations to develop your learning outcomes? This session will ensure that you're equipped with proven strategies, tools and resources to not only incorporate centers into your program, but ensure that each learning center is fully differentiated to meet the needs of all learners, engaging and fun. Teachers will be eager to apply their knowledge and experience from the session to implement learning centers that transform student learning and the classroom environment. Discover how to: • Plan differentiated learning centers; • Create learning centers to meet specific outcomes that are fun and engaging; • Use assessment data to inform planning; • Effectively manage differentiated learning centers in the classroom. Learn how to implement, manage and maintain learning centers that challenge all of your student's learning, in engaging and fun ways!

Are you ready to leap into a world where learning knows no boundaries and creativity reigns supreme? Join educator Kara Weis as she takes you on a whirlwind tour of her unique Project Based Learning classroom, where textbooks take a backseat and hands-on adventures drive the learning experience! In this engaging and comical session, Kara will share the wonderful—and sometimes hilariously chaotic—things happening in her classroom. From transforming ordinary days into epic quests (yes, there was that time they built a life-sized airplane) to navigating the tricky waters of planning and execution, she’ll reveal the secrets behind her successful approach. You’ll laugh, you’ll learn, and you might just leave with a newfound appreciation for the beauty of glitter-covered chaos! Kara will discuss her step-by-step planning process, highlighting the innovative ways she connects curriculum to the real world. Expect insightful anecdotes that demonstrate the benefits she’s witnessed—like students becoming not just learners, but active contributors to their community (and occasionally, local wildlife). But wait, there’s more! This isn’t just a talk; it’s a treasure trove of concrete ideas you can take back to your own classroom. Kara will equip you with practical strategies to implement Project Based Learning effectively, ensuring that you too can create a vibrant, engaging learning environment. Prepare to be inspired as Kara encourages you to step outside your comfort zone and embrace the creative teaching possibilities that await. Whether you’re a seasoned educator or just starting your teaching journey, this session promises to ignite your passion and leave you ready to dive into the adventurous world of Project Based Learning. So grab your explorer’s hat and join Kara for a session that’s equal parts informative and entertaining—because learning should always be an adventure!