Learning Opportunities

Coaching with Diversity in Mind

Presented By

Krystal Abrahamowicz, Donna Ross, Kim Tackaberry & Wanda Dechant

Series Sessions

Date	Time
Monday, October 29, 2018	9:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Wednesday, November 28, 2018	9:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Thursday, January 17, 2019	9:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Wednesday, March 06, 2019	9:00 AM - 11:30 AM

Location

In Person St. Leo Centre 6220 Lakeview Drive SW, Calgary, AB

TARGET AUDIENCE: K-12 COACHES AND INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND

Student variability is the rule, not the exception!! With such a high number of students in need of considerations, accommodations, and additional supports, how do Learning Leaders guide educators in designing for diversity in a manageable way?

If you are a Learning Leader looking for guidance on how to coach with distinction, CRC is offering you an opportunity to collaborate, explore, and practice designing for diversity in ways that are manageable and evidence informed. This 5 part series will support learning over time through a Collaborative Community where you will learn about and create conditions in your schools/classrooms that incorporate strength based approaches to building resilient, capable, achieving students.

We will:

Topics for Exploration in this Collaborative Community Include:

Mental Health - Every student, every day, can benefit from teachers who are knowledgeable about how to set the stage for learning in ways that are accessible for all learners by design. We will explore ways to support teachers in being proactive about providing students with multiple pathways to prepare for learning, engage in learning, and demonstrate understanding that are brain friendly, strength based, manageable, and supportive of student well being.
Indigenous Ways of Knowing -Essential coaching strategies for supporting the learning experiences of all students using resources that accurately reflect and demonstrate the strength and diversity of Alberta’s Indigenous people will be shared. Strategies for learning from story, learning from land, and cultural experiences will be shared.

Literacy - Imagine using fishing wire to string together a mosaic of ways that literature can unite your students and instill confidence in them to celebrate their unique gifts. We will explore how this mosaic can maintain its strength through strategic coaching from a reading, writing, listening and speaking perspective.
Numeracy - Numeracy is more than just math, but it has a mathematical component to it. We will look at practical and manageable ways to differentiate math in grades K - 12 while we keep our eye on that larger concept of Numeracy.

This learning opportunity is being offered through curriculum implementation funding from Alberta Education.

Krystal Abrahamowicz

is currently the Coordinator of Inclusion for Foundations for the Future Charter Academy. With extensive background and training in gifted education, and many years of experience supporting diverse learners, Krystal is a passionate believer that every student can experience success at school. Krystal has extensive experience with adult professional learning, serving as the Executive Director for the Calgary Regional Consortium (CRC) from 2019 - 2022. During her time with the CRC, she authored the Supporting High School Completion a Tool Kit for Success resource and had a key role in developing the Implementation and Planning Tool in the Government of Alberta Resource Working Together to Support Mental Health in Alberta Schools, as well as the ARPDC Weaving Ways resource which supports teachers in including Indigenous knowledge systems in their practice.

Donna Ross

is a 32-year educator. She is Cree Métis from Saskatchewan and member of the One Arrow First Nation, Treaty Six territory. Donna began her teaching career as a classroom teacher with Tsuut’ina Nation and continued to support First Nations learners in subsequent positions with Siksika and Stoney Nakoda Nations, and is currently an Indigenous Designer of Learning with the Calgary Regional Consortium. Donna brings passion and a deep knowledge of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit histories, the impact of residential schools, and the embedding of Indigenous ways of knowing into Alberta curriculum and organizational culture. She is also a proud kokum!

Kim Tackaberry

is a Designer of Professional Learning with the Calgary Regional Consortium. Her areas of focus include literacy and inclusive education. She is presently continuing her Master of Education Studies at Queen's University, specializing in literacy. Kim’s teaching career spans over 30 years, ten as a classroom teacher at Foothills Academy Society, a school specializing in children with Learning Disabilities and ADHD. Kim has designed several e-courses for teachers, titles include Learning Disabilities and Introduction to Literacy and Numeracy Progressions.

Wanda Dechant

is a Designer of Professional Learning with the Calgary Regional Consortium. Her role includes supporting teachers, E.A.s, school admin, learning coaches and parents in K-12 Math and Numeracy. Wanda began teaching math and science in 2000, her teaching experience extends from grades 7 – 12. For the past 7 years Wanda’s work has included a major focus on K-6 Mathematics. Three critical aspects of learning that Wanda embeds into her work include:

Student and teacher self-confidence in math
Students and teachers making their thinking visible to themselves and to each other
Students and teachers as mathematicians - let’s do the math