Teacher Education Conference Blog
I recently attended the 3-day Teacher Education Conference at Niagara University in Ontario. The Teacher Education Conference provided me with the opportunity to gain more insight on tools, resources, strategies and activities that I can incorporate into my future teaching practice to create a positive, engaging experience for all students. I attended 6 conferences over the course of 3 days.
These conferences included:
1. Active Learning for All/ The Ontario Human Rights Code for New Teachers,
2. Embodied Teaching: Clarity and Compassion in the Classroom,
3. Chess with Math/ Michele Guerin,
4. Culturally Responsive and Relevant Pedagogies/ Indigenous Canadian Armed Forces,
5. Financial Literacy/ Infusing Indigenous Perspectives into Any Classroom,
6. Ten Strategies to Create a Collaborative Classroom Culture.
This reflection will focus on two of the conferences mentioned above.
First Conference
The first conference that will be discussed is Chess with Math/ Paddy Morgan. During the first hour of this conference, the focus was on how to incorporate a game of Chess into the math curriculum to help students learn about math concepts in a more fun and engaging way. At the beginning of this conference, I was able to learn that Chess can be used for more than just problem-solving; it can also be used to teach students about numbers, algebra, data, spatial sense, and financial literacy. Students are able to learn more about numbers during Chess by creating a number line and placing one of each of the different chess pieces on it to reflect their material value. They will also be able to learn more about algebra by asking one student to make at least 3 errors when setting up the board and then allow the other students to try to find the errors and correct the pattern. Along with that, Chess is a great way for students to learn more about data by using the pieces to create concrete graphs or placing a select number of black and white pawns in a bag, then ask the students “What is the probability of selecting a black pawn?”. Fourthly, Chess can be used to help students learn about spatial sense by using a timer to measure each player’s time usage, which can then be expressed as a ratio, or the students can subtract the players’ times to calculate the difference. Last but not least, students can learn about financial literacy using Chess by providing them with a word problem similar to this: “Your class wants to start a school-wide Chess Club. How can they determine interest and generate a funding proposal to share with the Parent Council or principal? Assume there is a budget of $500 for two years, what materials are needed for the club? Create a budget and expense list”. After having a discussion about these curriculum expectations in the conference, I was provided with the opportunity to explore with a large chess board and pieces. Since myself as well as others were new to this game, the administrator, Paddy Morgan, walked us through the rules of the game and provided us with helpful strategies to remember how each Chess piece can move. After we became more familiar with this, we were able to explore with the different math concepts using Chess. The learning was meaningful and significant because I have gained insight on a new way to teach math that will help students build on their creativity, think strategically, better understand problems, as well as many others. I will apply the learning, especially to my future teaching by providing students with various mathematical problems and ask them to use the Chess game to solve them.
Second Conference
The second conference that will be discussed is Ten Strategies to Create a Collaborative Classroom Culture. During this conference, the administrator, Tony Ceelen, discussed 10 strategies that can be used in the classroom to ensure that it is collaborate, welcoming and inclusive for all students. Some of my favourite strategies that were mentioned are as follows: “Work smarter, not harder – plan cross curricular lessons that are engaging for students, and meet curriculum expectations across subject areas/ strands”, “Celebrate natural talents and gifts; multiple intelligences of your students” and “See the best in each child, expect the best from them and seldom will they disappoint you!” In my opinion, these strategies are crucial to incorporate in the classroom because it will support teachers in planning for cross-curricular subjects, as well as create an engaging and welcoming classroom environment for all students where they know that their gifts are celebrated and the best is always seen in them. Throughout this conference I learned these strategies by listening to real-world examples provided by the administrator and participated in discussions on how we as future teachers would incorporate them in our classroom. The learning was meaningful and significant because I have gained more knowledge on various strategies to support students through their learning journey and tips on how to make it the best possible experience for them. I will apply the learning, specifically, to my future teaching by always keeping these strategies in mind when planning how to create a collaborative classroom culture.
To conclude, The Teacher Education Conference was a fantastic experience that has supported me in collecting further resources to incorporate in my future classroom. I had the opportunity to meet new people and connect with them on the different educational topics being discussed in the conferences. I really enjoyed attending the 3-day conferences and I cannot wait to apply what I have learned into my daily teaching to inspire, support and educate students.
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