Trinity College School educational staff got a jumpstart on the spring term with professional development activities on Monday, March 27th. In addition to departmental planning time, the day included two guest speakers who shared their expertise to combined groups of Junior and Senior School staff.
In the morning, Dr. Andrew Campbell (“Dr. ABC”) spoke to educational staff as part of the School’s ongoing efforts to enhance student belonging and wellbeing. A graduate of the University of Toronto’s Ph.D. program in Educational Leadership, Policy and Diversity, Dr. Johnson led a presentation and workshop on “Fostering Belonging in Schools.” With more than 25 years of teaching experience, Dr. Johnson is the author of two books on education. He encouraged faculty to have brave, honest conversations around student belonging, and to be resolute on the path to implementing culturally relevant and responsive pedagogy. Myke Healy, assistant head of Senior School - teaching & learning, noted that “through sharing his approach in the classroom and academia, Dr. Campbell provided a moving example of an authentic approach to fostering belonging that can transform the student experience.”
Junior and Senior School math teachers enjoyed the chance to collaborate as they welcomed guest speaker Jerrold Wiebe, who is a facilitator for the “Building Thinking Classrooms” (BTC) model. Created by Peter Liljedahl, BTC encourages teachers to implement practices that promote “deep learning” in students through critical thinking, problem solving and collaboration. A graduate of the University of Manitoba with a master’s degree in education, Mr. Wiebe has been a curriculum consultant and teacher trainer for several years, specifically in the field of mathematics and numeracy. He presented the 14 practices developed by Mr. Liljedahl to help teachers get students thinking within the classroom, which include practical suggestions in areas such as the physical set-up of the classroom space, lesson planning, tasks, homework, assessment and more. Steve Patterson, head of Senior School mathematics, noted, “The math department had a great session with Jerrold. It was informative, thought-provoking and practical!”
Thank you to both of our guest speakers for sharing their expertise and insights with staff.
