Education Undergraduate Society

University of Lethbridge (TH368)

4401 University Drive West
Lethbridge, Alberta
T1K 3M4
403-329-2442

April 27, 2020

To Whom It May Concern:

Each semester the Education Undergraduate Society hosts a variety of Professional Development
seminars for the Faculty of Education students. Thanks to our invaluable speakers, these seminars offer
meaningful learning opportunities for aspiring educators. This letter is written to acknowledge Alison
Wild, who attended the following seminars during the Spring 2020 semester:

“Lesson Support for Critical Thinking: Introducing TC2 The Critical Thinking
Consortium” was presented on January 16, 2020, by Beth Cormier. During this seminar, Beth
introduced the TC2 platform and demonstrated the ways in which it can be utilized to enhance
lesson planning. As the Curriculum Librarian, Beth is a wealth of knowledge for aspiring educators
and her seminars are always incredible for showcasing cutting edge resources.

“Hard to be Humble: Generating Relationships” was presented on January 21, 2020, by Jana
Boschee. In this session, Jana discussed the importance of forging generative relationships with
peers, colleagues, mentors, support staff, and students. To facilitate this discussion, participants
engaged in personality inventories to better their understanding of themselves, and the things that
drive their professional relationships.

“E-Liability” was presented on January 23, 2020, by Ian Stewardson from the Alberta Teacher’s
Association. This session was an invaluable source of information regarding professional
expectations for teachers in the digital age. With a plethora of examples of what not to do, he
explained many possible scenarios, and how to keep yourself from crossing any professional
boundaries online. In addition to tips on personal conduct, he provided practical advice for ensuring
digital safety.

“Creating Reading Culture in the Classroom” was presented on January 28, 2020, by Rhona
Harkness. Rhona is an instructor for the Faculty Education, who is best known for her amazing taste
in books. In this session, she shared hundreds of titles that will capture young readers, as well as
providing fantastic ideas for how to use them in a classroom. This session was creative, inspiring,
and full of useful teaching strategies for all ages.

“I Have to Know What? Learning the Who, What, Where, and When of Teaching” was
presented on January 30, 2020, by Kieth Griffioen. In this session, Keith offered a practical
rundown of important things to know in the field that are not part of the faculty’s curriculum. From
writing professional report card comments to operating the photocopier in the staff room, this
session focussed on things that typically get overlooked, but that is extremely valuable to know.
 “Using Humanism as a Purpose for History” was presented on February 4, 2020, by Aaron Stout.
In this session, Aaron discussed the importance of using excellent narratives when teaching the
humanities, in order to foster an appreciation of different historical perspectives. He introduced
historical letters from soldiers, films, novels, and beautiful picture books as potential resources that
would make an excellent addition to any classroom.

“Teaching on a Colony” was presented on February 10, 2020, by Rob VanSpronsen, the current
principal of Palliser School Division colony schools. This session provided students with a great
deal of practical knowledge of what to expect from a colony placement. His thorough list of what to
do and what not to do would be exceptionally helpful for anyone new to a colony classroom. The
session covered everything from the dress code, to the absence of technology, as well as the
religious beliefs that need to be respected while working there.

“ROAR into PSII with Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Resources from Lions Quest” was
presented on February 11, 2020, by Dr. Robin Bright, Lucy Johnson, and Carol Young. Having
collective experiences specializing in early education, middle school and high school these
presenters offered a wealth of knowledge on how to create service-based learning experiences in
practicum. They also presented the fantastic collection of new “Lion’s Quest” resources available in
the curriculum lab, explaining effective ways to incorporate them into lesson planning.

“Supporting English Language Learners Through Vocabulary Development” was presented on

February 24, 2020, by Dr. Greg Ogilvie. In this session, Dr. Ogilvie presented information on
language development and the complications that arise with supporting ELL students. He discussed
how their limited vocabularies contribute to their learning difficulties and provided resources and
strategies for strengthening their word retention.

“Callysto in the Classroom” was presented on February 25, 2020, by PSII students: Raeesa Shivji,
Kaisa Roggeveen, Joyce Huynh, Rebecca Lindquist, Ashley Berreth, and Ethan Pullan. In our first
student-led professional development seminar of the academic year, this session introduced
participants to an excellent online resource called Callysto. In this hands-on seminar, participants
were able to learn how to utilize this interactive tool to introduce computational thinking and coding
into the classroom.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact Jenn Pellerin at edu.eus@uleth.ca

Jenn Pellerin Ben Beland

Director of Professional Development President
Education Undergraduate Society Education Undergraduate Society
University of Lethbridge University of Lethbridge