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MTS PD Day 2017

November 01, 2017

mts pd day.jpgFrom Westwood Collegiate to Kildonan East Collegiate, Manitoba teachers spread out all across the city on MTS PD Day to further share and develop their professional skills. The 2017 Manitoba Teachers’ Society Professional Development Day took place on Friday, October 20. This inservice day provides teachers with an opportunity to learn from one another in an inspiring, collaborative educational environment near the start of the school year. Our staff participated in MTS PD Day in a variety of capacities, including: helping organize full day events, leading and planning professional development sessions and attending events all across the city to learn more about their respective fields. 
  “I think the most important take away for the participants was that empathy is at the heart of the design process,” said SJASD coordinator Ms. Badger, who facilitated an afternoon workshop alongside coordinator Ms. McLauchlan at the Manitoba Association of Computing Educators event. 
  The PD event was called “Literacy & Makerspace at Millennium Library,” and the afternoon session was titled Picture Book Engineering. Using the design thinking process, participants were asked to identify an issue, ideate solutions, and build a prototype to solve a problem for the character in a book.
   “Ms. McLauchlan and I have facilitated this workshop many times and we are always surprised by the variety of creative solutions people come up with to solve their character’s problem!” 

       MTSPD DAY.jpgMeanwhile, at L’Université de Saint-Boniface, SJASD Coordinator Mme Burnett was leading an escape room en français as part of the Manitoba Association of Teachers of French event. The activity, called “Le jeu d’évasion,” was a breakout activity that encouraged critical thinking, problem solving and teamwork through cultural exploration infused with language enrichment. Participants worked together to solve riddles, where the solution was either a word, key, direction or number, to open a series of locks on a Breakout Box. The goal of the session was to solve the full riddle and open the box before the time runs out. As seen in the photo above, two SJASD teachers, along with their team, successfully unlocked the Festival du Voyageur Breakout Box to reveal a faux beaver pelt.
   While many other staff in our Division shared their professional skills and led an array of engaging sessions, SJASD also had the privilege of hosting MTS PD day events. The Science Teachers Association of Manitoba (STAM) carried out the day at Westwood Collegiate and the Physical and Health Educators of Manitoba (PHE Manitoba) event took place at Collège Sturgeon Heights Collegiate. Westwood Collegiate teacher and incoming President of STAM, Mr. Johnson, explained there was a change from the ordinary this year as they introduced a speaker’s series, which is in the same vein as a TED Talk style event.
    “Our keynote speaker was Dr. Jennifer Gardy, occasional host of “The Nature of Things,” explained Mr. Johnson. “She gave a great talk on engaging our students in science learning."
   The STAM event at Westwood Collegiate received extremely positive feedback and sold out the venue. At the same time, the event hosted by SJASD on behalf of PHE Manitoba at Collège Sturgeon Heights Collegiate experienced a record turnout.
  “The famous line in the classic film Field of Dreams says, “if you build it, he will come!” referenced SJASD Physical and Health Education Coordinator Mr. Ross. “People from all across the country came out in droves to attend the 2017 Power of Play Conference as just shy of 800 participants attended the annual MTS PD Day.”
  A diverse range of delegates listened to the world’s top researchers in the area of play and explored the benefits of risky play, back to nature and the need for creativity in play. Participants then dispersed into break out sessions to put this message into practice. Students from Stevenson-Britannia School and Ecole Robert Browning participated in the event too as they helped provide examples of circus arts instruction.
    Thank you to everyone who took part and dedicated their time, energy, skills and willingness to learn to make this year’s MTS PD Day a great success. This full day of scheduled collaboration and communication generates richer learning experiences for students all across the province and works to strengthen and connect the education community in Manitoba.  Congratulations to all of the volunteers, organizations, leaders, and participants on a  fantastic job this year!

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