Every year in the early Fall, more or less (since More With Less), we’ve descended on the SD13 Retreat Centre at Purden Lake for an evening and day of great conversation, fare, and professional learning. While knife-throwing games and revelry by the fire or in the water are optional, we do get down to some stirring conversation and professional learning that has immediate reverberation in our classrooms.
This year’s theme is "Survivor." We will see a History 12 role-play simulation in action ("Soviet Survivor") and design the framework for a new Social Studies 11 simulation involving global poverty and development. We have often found role-plays/simulations to be a great short-cut towards enthusiastic student engagement with learning outcomes... no surprise really; students make authentic connections when their identities are in focus.
At our Professional Development sessions we use a "critical friends" approach, also know as the Socratic Fire Circle, to prod each others' thinking. We also spend some time checking in on our various teaching practices.
Thursday evening 5:00-10:00 pm and Friday 9:00am-2:00 pm. Sign up at https://pdreg.sd57.bc.ca.