This was a learning project to find and describe a location to engage in place-based learning with a class. Included in the project were connections to the curriculum, ideas for activities, and connections to Indigenous pedagogy. Place-based learning is a powerful way to engage in cross-curriculum activities, making connections to the local world around learners. The opportunities to engage all learners are plentiful, particularly in a place like Tsútswecw Provincial Park that is so closely woven with the culture and history of the Secéwepemc peoples, and is still very important to them today.
The Circle of Courage: This pedagogy is a holistic model of teaching and positive child development based on Indigenous values and child psychology. The Circle of Courage teaches that when a child’s need for belonging, mastery, independence, and generosity is met, they are more likely to grow into resilient, responsible, and compassionate people. The Circle of Courage is the foundational and guiding principle in my educational practice.
This proposal is for the creation of a Visual Arts Club for K-7 students where students will have the opportunity to learn about art and how it transmits culture, history, and knowledge, and techniques of making art. Students will have the opportunity to research, contract, prepare, and host a traveling art show. This is in response to the reduction of arts programming in schools as resources have been shrinking over recent decades.
This presentation is of an activity, playing Lahal, that teaches concepts of probability. Lahal is such an important game for the Indigenous peoples of the PNW, and often serves to settle disputes and conflict, provide comfort to those in mourning, and to mark important events in communities. Its also a rich source of math and probability in the real world, and we can use it practice our predictions.
This unit plan teaches the history of Residential Schools in Canada for Grade 5 Social Studies in a way that centers Indigenous voices in an age-appropriate way. This lesson looks at the impacts of Residential Schools on individuals, communities, generations, and the entire country of Canada. Students make local connections to Residential Schools, and learn about how to be part of the reconciliation process in their own classroom, school, and community.
This presentation is about why and how to engage diverse learners in the classroom. It explains the myth of average, and how students can have widely varying profiles in different learning domains. UDL provides us with a powerful set of tools to reach the vast majority of learners without even knowing their specific needs. Paired with differentiated instruction for learners who need additional scaffolding, students are set up for success and teachers have the opportunity to reach learners who might be missed if the myth of average prevailed.
This presentation was a study on how Euro-colonial policy in Canada has impacted Indigenous communities, specifically the LGBTQ2S+ Indigenous community. The impacts of three centuries of Imperialism continue to reverberate through Indigenous families and communities today.
EO-Journey-to-the-Northern-LightsThis children’s book project was produced as part of a course on teaching writing to elementary school learners. It features the relationship between my daughter, Ellie, and our Bernese Mountain Dog, Ollie. My husband contributed the illustrations for the book.