Upcoming Professional Learning Opportunities

Here are some upcoming professional learning opportunities you may find interesting.

Pembroke Publishers will present Supporting Student Mental Health, a free webinar, on Thursday, March 4, 2021 at 6 p.m. Central with Kathy Lundy, author of Teaching Fairly in an Unfair World and Creating Caring Classrooms, and Joey Mandel, author of Stop the Stress in Schools and Moment to Moment. Both Kathy and Joey are from Ontario. (In addition to amplifying the voices of Canadian educators, Pembroke Publishers also distributes Stenhouse Publishers in Canada.) 

Today’s students are dealing with unprecedented changes, issues, and demands. Author-educators Joey Mandel and Kathy Lundy have the tips and tools you need to respond to kids’ feelings, questions, and challenges in proactive and positive ways.

How do you support your child, without taking away their opportunities to attempt difficult tasks or navigate hard moments? Joey Mandel, author of Keep Growing, will focus on how we can respond to children when they are having BIG feelings, so we can begin to understand… 
• when to move in and help a child through a struggle 
• when you can help a child most by stepping back and letting them experience a difficult situation 
• what tools we can give children so they are able to take initiative, and attempt to tackle challenges on their own

School should not be a difficult place for students to be. Instead, it should be a place where they are nurtured and cared for as well as challenged and taught. Kathy Lundy, author of Teaching Fairly in an Unfair World, 2nd Edition, will illustrate ways that we can support the mental health of our students by making them feel valued, welcome, and safe. As collective “communities of conscience” emerge, each member of the classroom will have an ethical responsibility to understand each other, be sensitive to differences, and be kind to one another. Once the groundwork has been done by everyone, exploring curriculum connections to oneself and others becomes richer and more authentic.

Image Source: @ILAToday on Twitter. https://twitter.com/ILAToday/status/1363620011475091462

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​The International Literacy Association (ILA) will present Culturally Relevant and Responsive: Literacy Instruction in 2021 and Beyond, on Tuesday, March 9, 1–4 p.m. Eastern. The event will feature keynote speaker Gloria Ladson-Billings, host Pamela Mason, and panelists Lucía Cárdenas Curiel, Matthew R. Kay, and Guofang Li. ILA writes that the event will address "how educators can identify the effects their own backgrounds and implicit biases have on teaching and learning; how to question pedagogy and policies that negatively impact learner outcomes; and proactive steps literacy and school leaders can take to dismantle oppressive systems." The cost to register is $99 USD. 

Also, if you missed ILA Next this fall, you can now purchase learning packages as part of ILA Next On Demand. The packages feature the main stage sessions, learning labs, and pathway workshops. These webinars are available until August 15, 2021 and vary in price. Many RCGW board members participated in ILA Next this fall – and they loved the experience! Take advantage of this opportunity to learn from inspiring educators.