Speaker Kathy Salmon conducts a workshop called "High impact vocabulary, strategies for EAL learning" for local teachers at the Southeastern Teachers Convention held at Medicine Hat College. The convention wraps up this afternoon.--NEWS PHOTO BRENDAN MILLER
bmiller@medicinehatnews.com
Adam Growe, known as the host of the Canadian TV show “Cash Cab,” will be quizzing teachers this afternoon as the two-day southeastern Alberta Teachers Convention wraps up at tMedicine Hat College.
Growe will be putting teachers in their students’ seats by hosting a game sow that will have educators answer questions based on teaching topics.
“He will basically be reenacting or simulating ‘Cash Cab,’ but it’s all focused around educational content,” says Cam Bernhard, president of the Southeastern Alberta Teachers Convention.
In Alberta all active full-time teachers must attend teacher conventions that offer professional development opportunities.
This year more than 1,100 teachers from five district,s including Medicine Hat Public and Catholic as well as Prairie Rose, Grasslands and Franco Sud, attended the convention held over the February break.
“We have teachers from not only within the city in city limits, but also in the rural areas and in Brooks and there’s a lot of connection between the teachers in Medicine Hat and teachers in Brooks,” said Bernhard.
This year’s convention provided teachers with 152 sessions, speakers and workshops that offer a broad spectrum of options for educators to attend, including ‘I like big maps and I cannot lie,’ ‘Math and Science meet and greet,’ ‘High impact vocabulary strategies for EAL learning’ and ‘Canada out of the closet, stories to help you support 2SLGBTQ+ students.’
“We have everything that meets lots of varying degrees of professional development,” says Bernhard. “We are trying to support new curriculums, trying to support literacy, numeracy, pedagogy and just good teaching practice. And also health and wellness for teachers as well.”
In preparation for the workshops offered to teachers, the association says they examine ‘hot topics’ in education and then provide teachers support so they feel prepared approaching new emerging topics.
“Trying new strategies and also encouraging they’re doing amazing work,” says Bernhard. “Because teachers in Alberta do amazing work and that also needs to be recognized in a conference like this.”
Other keynote speakers at the convention include Vanessa Vakharia ‘The Math Guru’ and Canada’s first First Nations hockey player to be named to Canada’s national women’s team, Bridgette Lacquette.
The annual convention is organized a volunteer board of 12 members.
