On Friday January 28th I was able to attend two professional development courses. The first one, was by Kevin Lamoureux, who spoke on Truth and Reconciliation. It was very beneficial to hear his insight on what reconciliation should look like for teachers in schools now and going forward. Mr.Lamoureux stated, “Reconciliation in its truest form comes down to safety for all children in schools – not only physically, but safety of identity and grief. We need to recognize that historically schools haven’t always been safe for children. What is essential is for every child to know that there is someone in the building who is absolutely crazy about them. Loving them and providing an opportunity for them to flourish. Reading, writing, and arithmetic are not the basics.”
I found this extremely helpful. As someone who will be teaching in an area that has a significant Indigenous population, I was unsure of what exactly was expected of me. I want to be a part of the solution and I need to be aware of what I need to do to accomplish that. Lamoureux’s workshop made me stop and think: How do I make sure that from the day kids step into my classroom they see themselves as someone who is capable of success? It wasn’t until I watched the second workshop put on by Katie Price that I had a clearer idea of how to do that. What really stuck with me from her workshop with building positive assessment culture in your classroom. To begin, there needs to be a conversation around assessment. A few examples of establishing a positive culture around assessment include: helping students set up authentic and meaningful goals, framing assessment in a way that is not intimidating for students but encourages growth and the language we are using surrounding assessment.