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Find out about upcoming web workshops, webinars, conferences, and exhibits. New strategies, knowledge and resources for enhancing your learning environment!
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Widgit Online: Quick and Easy Visuals for Childcare Settings
Date: September 28
Time: 5:30 PM ET | 4:30 PM CT | 2:30 PM PT
Where: Virtual
Duration: 60 mins
For over a year the team from Progress Child Care Centre have been creating hundreds of engaging visuals, quickly and easily with Widgit Online: schedules, vocabulary labels, name tags and more.
Janet Burchert (Manager) and Mark Rocamora (educator) return to update us on how their centre in Centennial College is using Widgit’s dual language tools to reflect and connect with their multi-cultural community. They’ll share single and dual language activity resources and engaging invitations that they’ve developed.
Using clear consistent visual materials is good practice that is mandated in childcare centres in many jurisdictions across the country.
Join us as Mark and Janet share how visuals created with Widgit Online can fit into an early year's context and reflect on the impact of this implementation on the children, their parents, and staff.
Creating an EY Classroom with the Curiosity Approach
Date: October 6
Time: 3:30 PM ET | 2:30 PM CT | 12:30 PM PT
Where: Virtual
Duration: 45 mins
Join us as we explore classroom layout applying the Curiosity Approach to learning.
This web workshop will consider the child’s rights in classroom design, inspired by noted EC educator and author Sandra Duncan. We’ll look at how we can implement these rights into classroom layouts that respect the need for play and exploration, active learning and creating opportunities for thinking critically.
Join Julie as she shares how you, too, can create a classroom that is child-centred, accessible and that ignites a child’s natural curiosity to explore.
Professional Development
Leader @Bridges
Susie leads the professional learning team at Bridges. She has backgrounds in occupational therapy and education and has over thirty years of experience working in the field of augmentative and alternative communication and consulting to classroom teams concerning access to curriculum. She has done research on computer access, the inclusion of students who have complex learning challenges, and accessible coding. Susie provides professional learning on educational and assistive technology both nationally and internationally.
Manager @Progress Child Care Centre at Centennial College
Janet has been an RECE for 41 years and the Manager of Progress Child Care Centre at Centennial College for over 20 years. The childcare centre is lab school of the highly-respected Child Studies program at Centennial College.
Urban Indigenous EarlyOn Coordinator @Sault Ste. Marie Indian Friendship Centre EarlyOn
Samantha Boyer is an Ojibway, Irish woman from Batchewana First Nation and member of the buffalo clan. A graduate of Shingwauk Kinoomaage Gamig and Algoma University, she holds an Honours degree in Sociology, Anishinaabe Studies and Anishinaabemowin. Her passion is working with Indigenous people as a helper; helping to forge a stronger, healthier future for her community and family. Samantha fills the position of Indigenous Cultural Competency Facilitator and Urban Indigenous EarlyON Coordinator for the Sault Ste. Marie Indian Friendship Centre, though she is currently on maternity leave.
Indigenous Teachings Leader
@University of Winnipeg Child Care Centre
Tara Myran is from Long Plain First Nation and has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology and Rhetoric Communications from the University of Winnipeg. She attended residential school when she was eight years old. She has always been passionate about instilling the importance of education to her five children.
At the University of Winnipeg Child Care Centre she volunteers her time where she teaches the children Indigenous teachings once a week. She does this through reading Indigenous books, puppet shows, teaching the 7 sacred teachings and the Ojibway language of each of the animals. She believes that the 7 teachings are universal and therefore can be adapted to different cultures and the importance of these teachings are lifelong. While pursuing her undergraduate degree she was part of the Indigenous Summer Scholar Program (ISSP) where she participated in field research for a project that delved into mental health issues and outcomes for Indigenous women throughout pregnancy, “Indigenous Doulas for First Nation’s Women Who travel for Birth”. The importance of having an Indigenous Doula present to incorporate traditional practices and knowledge into the birthing process is of particular interest for Tara.
She’s currently pursuing a Master's in the Development Practice program at the University of Winnipeg. She hopes to incorporate her Indigenous knowledge and experience when working in First Nation communities with sustainable development to address health-related issues that many Indigenous communities face.
Early Years Support Specialist (RECE) @London District Catholic
School Board
An RECE from London, Ontario, with over 25 years of experience, Amanda currently is the Early Years Support Specialist at the London District Catholic School Board supporting fellow RECE’s in Kindergarten programs. Amanda also teaches in the Child Development Practitioner program at Fanshawe College.
In collaboration with Strive (London/Middlesex/Elgin’s professional learning organization), Amanda has facilitated various professional learning opportunities on topics including: Loose Parts, Deconstructing Provocations, Early Years Math, Outdoor Learning Community of Practice and Continuous Professional Learning. In 2017, Amanda was invited to the FRP Canada National Conference: The Power of Play to team facilitate a ‘Walk Shop’ that provided interactive learning about playgroups in the forest and exploring the outdoors with families. Amanda has a passion for sharing and developing engaging learning environments for young children that provoke and inspire inquiry.
Teacher Librarian
@TDSB
Lesley is a Toronto based educator who has taught Kindergarten to Grade 6 and worked centrally as a Math Coach for 5 years. She is currently beginning a new chapter in her career this fall by working outside of the classroom in a support role as a Teacher Librarian. Her main areas of interest are math and coding, she also loves looking for new and exciting picture books to use in her classroom.
@TDSB
Melissa has been both a teacher and Instructional Leader in Mathematics/Numeracy (K-8) and Early Years (K-2). Melissa’s main areas of interest include: early years, visual arts, mathematics, STEM, and inquiry-based learning. Currently she is a Grade 1/2 teacher and Digital Lead Learner (DLL), and she occasionally teaches AQ courses at OISE.
OCT
Passionate about the early years with a focus on mathematics, S.T.E.A.M and coding Usha was part of the original Faculty that opened Fraser Mustard Early Learning Academy, the all-kindergarten school. There she was the Lead Math Teacher and created innovative programs such as Math Studio and Expressive Arts. Formerly a K-12 Learning Coach for the Toronto District School Board with Masters of Education at OISE/UT in Educational Leadership and Policy, today she teaches JK-1, delivers and facilitates professional development for educators across Ontario.
RECE
Diane is a registered early childhood educator in the province of Ontario and retired ECE professor. Diane taught at both the degree and the diploma level for over 30 years. Diane’s doctoral thesis on emergent curriculum was published in 2008 and she has co-written three ECE textbooks, Empowering Pedagogy in Early Childhood Education (2016), Playing and Learning in Early Childhood Education (2019) and Outdoor and Nature Play in Early Childhood Education (2019).
Passionate about education, Hélène Pouliot-Cleare has worked in education for over 40 years in Central-Southwestern Ontario, in addition to leading workshops and training at the provincial, national and international, in French and in English. Her lectures cover a wide variety of topics related to early childhood, language learning in a minority setting, leadership and personal motivation.
Sales Manager @Louise Kool and Galt
Iain started his career in education 20 years ago, working in a school for students with special needs. He has worked in many capacities, and over the last 6 years held the position of National Sales Manager for Louise Kool & Galt and Bridges. He has presented and been an exhibitor at domestic and international conferences and loves any opportunity to talk with people about the products and services we represent. As a father of two young boys, he stays very active in his spare time working to tire them out and enlists them as quality testers for any new products we bring in.
Director of Marketing @Louise Kool
Bogdan has been working with educators for almost 25 years including marketing, training, system implementation, product development and curriculum localization. A teacher by training, he taught in Ontario, Moscow, and Chicago before being drawn to technology and curricula for students with special needs. Since 2016 he’s been Director of Marketing for Louise Kool & Galt and Bridges. He has spoken and presented at conferences across Canada and in the US and has written articles for several Canadian and US publications. When not blogging for LKG and Bridges he can be found in the block area of LKG’s showroom building his dream ski hill/moon colony/dance palace.
Request you NEW 2022 Louise Kool Early Years catalogue, with new products and expanded categories!
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