Local elementary and secondary school teachers will learn something new themselves before they head back to the job in two weeks as they attend the annual “Summer Institute” Wednesday and Thursday at Fort Frances High School.
The conference, which is focused on literacy, will kick off with keynote speaker Tony Stead, an Australian educator who will talk to teachers from 8:30-9:15 a.m. on Wednesday at the Townshend Theatre.
Teachers then will split up into two groups—K-Grade 5 and Grades 6-9—to attend two different seminars.
For the first group, Stead will be giving strategies on how to overcome the “I Don’t Know What to Write About” syndrome in the classroom.
He promises to give teachers ideas to provide a variety of writing experiences for students spanning different genres.
Meanwhile, Maureen Ricard, literacy co-ordinator for the Rainy River District School Board, will instruct the second group on “Later Literacy.”
This two-day seminar is aimed at helping students aged 11-14 who may have literacy problems which took root early in their education and still not overcome.
Both these sessions will run from 9:30 a.m.-3:45 p.m., with lunch and coffee breaks in between.
Then on Thursday, the K-Grade 5 teachers will learn “The Art of Seeing” with Heather D. Holmlund.
Holmlund, a former Fort Frances resident who now lives in Pickering, Ont., is a children’s book illustrator and commissioned artist who travels abroad speaking on using visual art to expand children’s imaginations.
She will explain to teachers how to use drawing to problem-solve and build confidence in their creative abilities, among other things.
Meanwhile, Ricard will continue to instruct the Grades 6-9 teachers on “Later Literacy.”
Also Thursday, education support personnel (ESP) will attend an all-day seminar on coping with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), led by Dr. Ken McCluskey of the University of Winnipeg and his wife, Andrea.
They not only will speak as experts in the field, but from their own experience with their daughter, Amber, who’s been diagnosed with ADHD.
All of Thursday’s sessions will run from 8:30 a.m.-2:45 p.m., with lunch and coffee breaks.
An annual event now in its sixth year, “Summer Institute” drew more than 80 teachers and education assistants to the various workshops last year.
As in past years, the teachers come from both the local public and separate school boards as well as the boards in Kenora and Dryden.
(Fort Frances Daily Bulletin)
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
