Instructional Capacity

<p class="editor-paragraph" dir="ltr"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Cataline’s educational assistants and support teachers met with our speech and language teacher Ms. Rilla to continue learning about how to support assistive communication users with their talkers. Talkers are devices such as iPads that students can use to communicate their needs via an audible button. Supported by snacks, staff had the opportunity to learn more about devices and play with the settings to better support learners in our school.</span></p><p class="editor-paragraph"><img src="/images/f8924a8f-7552-45f1-9143-a81d3ac12d13" alt="Staff development on supporting students with AAC Tess Riley 1" width="519" height="389" style="width:519px;height:389px;display:inline-block"></p><p class="editor-paragraph"><br></p>

<p class="editor-paragraph" dir="ltr"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Cataline begins every meeting with a compassionate systems activity. Sometime this is grounding or gratitude, and in February, staff looked at the iceberg model. This includes recognizing that what we see in our communities is often the tip of the iceberg, and their are may things “below the surface”. By starting our staff meetings this way, teachers can begin to incorporate techniques and learnings into their own practice as we lead ourselves to a more compassionate system over all!</span></p><table class="editor-table"><colgroup><col><col></colgroup><tbody><tr><th class="editor-tableCell editor-tableCellHeader" style="width: 350px; background-color: rgb(242, 243, 245); border: 1px solid black; vertical-align: top;"><p class="editor-paragraph"><img src="/images/198523ff-ce27-4ba8-bc3a-8410bb7b53c5" alt="Compassionate Systems Staff Meetings2 Tess Riley" width="100%" height="inherit" style="width:100%;height:inherit;display:inline-block"></p><p class="editor-paragraph"><br></p></th><th class="editor-tableCell editor-tableCellHeader" style="width: 350px; background-color: rgb(242, 243, 245); border: 1px solid black; vertical-align: top;"><p class="editor-paragraph"><img src="/images/4c60a8a0-3ab8-454e-b7ce-835367d71189" alt="Compassionate Systems Staff Meetings1 Tess Riley" width="100%" height="inherit" style="width:100%;height:inherit;display:inline-block"></p><p class="editor-paragraph"><br></p></th></tr></tbody></table><p class="editor-paragraph"><br></p>

<p class="editor-paragraph" dir="ltr"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Teachers Mrs. Tomlinson, Mrs. Enns, and Mrs. Dikur shared with Cataline staff their learning from the Get Your Teach On Conference they attended. With a passion and enthusiasm towards improving literacy practice, these teachers led the sharing with practical ideas, while providing staff with resources that will help inject refreshing new ideas and energy into daily instruction. It’s about infusing energy and movement; using whole brain teaching approaches that will get students active, targeting kinesthetic learners and making literacy instruction interactive and fun.</span></p><p class="editor-paragraph" dir="ltr"><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">This sharing began during a Cataline staff meeting and continued the following Professional Development where Mrs. Tomlinson and Mrs. Enns led Cataline and district teachers through their shared learning, targeting early literacy ideas and providing new resources to support our school’s literacy plan around early foundational reading skills and phonemic awareness. Further, the learning session concluded with teacher collaboration around classroom management strategies, while reviewing the refreshing new ideas and resources share by their colleagues. Both learning sessions infused new energy among staff, and reignited an enthusiasm to deliver high interest, active, and engaging instruction.</span></p><table class="editor-table"><colgroup><col><col></colgroup><tbody><tr><th class="editor-tableCell editor-tableCellHeader" style="width: 350px; background-color: rgb(242, 243, 245); border: 1px solid black; vertical-align: top;"><p class="editor-paragraph"><img src="/images/ccecc172-621c-4da5-bc7b-914eddec970b" alt="Get Your Teach On Teach with Energy1 dwayne benvin" width="100%" height="inherit" style="width:100%;height:inherit;display:inline-block"></p><p class="editor-paragraph"><br></p></th><th class="editor-tableCell editor-tableCellHeader" style="width: 350px; background-color: rgb(242, 243, 245); border: 1px solid black; vertical-align: top;"><p class="editor-paragraph"><img src="/images/08717a6f-8d06-4852-8ef1-d993590b4dca" alt="Get Your Teach On Teach with Energy dwayne benvin" width="100%" height="inherit" style="width:100%;height:inherit;display:inline-block"></p><p class="editor-paragraph"><br></p></th></tr></tbody></table><p class="editor-paragraph"><br></p>

<p class="editor-paragraph" dir="ltr"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Cataline Elementary School primary teachers continued their literacy connection and work with District Helping Teacher, Marianne Okrainetz, during the November Professional Development Day. Ms. Okrainetz has supported our primary teachers this school year with their literacy assessments, as well as joining us for our literacy scoring session, assisting with ‘next steps’ and targeted literacy instruction.</span></p><p class="editor-paragraph" dir="ltr"><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">During the November Pro-D, most Cataline primary teachers joined Ms. Okrainetz for a day of planning and collaborating around literacy. The goal was to spend time discussing literacy assessments and how to analyze the data and then look at the “What Next” and “Next Steps” in literacy instruction. As well, teachers collaborated with colleagues from around the district, to look at how to help with literacy interventions to support students who with the highest priorities.</span></p><table class="editor-table"><colgroup><col><col></colgroup><tbody><tr><th class="editor-tableCell editor-tableCellHeader" style="width: 350px; background-color: rgb(242, 243, 245); border: 1px solid black; vertical-align: top;"><p class="editor-paragraph"><img src="/images/b707a8e4-7acf-4a39-b34b-b10cf11ae874" alt="Collaborative Literacy Next Steps1 dwayne benvin" width="100%" height="inherit" style="width:100%;height:inherit;display:inline-block"></p><p class="editor-paragraph"><br></p></th><th class="editor-tableCell editor-tableCellHeader" style="width: 350px; background-color: rgb(242, 243, 245); border: 1px solid black; vertical-align: top;"><p class="editor-paragraph"><img src="/images/4cb645b4-7327-42e6-b2e0-4853d4ae0fe3" alt="Collaborative Literacy Next Steps2 dwayne benvin" width="100%" height="inherit" style="width:100%;height:inherit;display:inline-block"></p><p class="editor-paragraph"><br></p></th></tr></tbody></table><p class="editor-paragraph"><br></p>

<p class="editor-paragraph" dir="ltr"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Many SD27 educators recently participated in a four-week Outdoor Learning course designed to strengthen Social Emotional Learning (SEL) practices. Each 60-minute session offered practical strategies to support student wellbeing through nature-based experiences.</span><br><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Over the four weeks, educators explored:</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">-Mindfulness and self-awareness through sit spots, nature observation, and journaling.</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">-Social awareness and communication through cooperative outdoor play and group activities.</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">-Emotional regulation and perseverance through outdoor challenges that require patience and problem-solving.</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">-Ethics, stewardship, and community-building using Indigenous pedagogies and land-based learning.</span><br><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">This learning series expanded instructional capacity by equipping teachers with simple, powerful routines that connect SEL and the outdoors—strengthening both classroom practice and student engagement.</span></p><p class="editor-paragraph"><br></p><table class="editor-table"><colgroup><col><col></colgroup><tbody><tr><th class="editor-tableCell editor-tableCellHeader" style="width: 350px; background-color: rgb(242, 243, 245); border: 1px solid black; vertical-align: top;"><p class="editor-paragraph"><img src="/images/8bc725e3-8479-48f0-ba37-56d1d04107f5" alt="Outdoor SEL kimberley ikebuchi" width="100%" height="inherit" style="width:100%;height:inherit;display:inline-block"></p><p class="editor-paragraph"><br></p></th><th class="editor-tableCell editor-tableCellHeader" style="width: 350px; background-color: rgb(242, 243, 245); border: 1px solid black; vertical-align: top;"><p class="editor-paragraph"><img src="/images/e2c06472-82a6-4430-bb57-6126fd91a38d" alt="Outdoor SEL 2 kimberley ikebuchi" width="100%" height="inherit" style="width:100%;height:inherit;display:inline-block"></p><p class="editor-paragraph"><br></p></th></tr></tbody></table><p class="editor-paragraph"><br></p>

<p class="editor-paragraph" dir="ltr"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Ms. LeBourdais presented the "Story Workshop" to Cataline staff. Teachers had the opportunity to listen to the presentation, work with the story kits, and time to collaborate about the implementation of the program within the school and their class. This literacy program is hands-on student centered, and will inspire creativity and engagement. Cataline will be designing and creating additional workshop kits to further expand and support our literacy programming.</span></p><p class="editor-paragraph"><br></p><p class="editor-paragraph"><img src="/images/5603c2a6-94df-42e5-af41-bf8b451acdbe" alt="IMG 4223 dwayne benvin" width="501" height="501" style="width:501px;height:501px;display:inline-block"></p><p class="editor-paragraph"><br></p>

<p class="editor-paragraph" dir="ltr"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Our Grade 4 teachers, supported by admin and our learning support department, met for a working lunch to collaborate and plan for a successful FSA season. This ensures all students can find success in the assessment and teachers can effectively use the FSA to guide their teaching and learning.</span></p><p class="editor-paragraph"><img src="/images/8f2cb7c9-3960-4d16-b0dc-fd0b32e4ba74" alt="IMG 0556 Tess Riley" width="458" height="343" style="width:458px;height:343px;display:inline-block"></p><p class="editor-paragraph"><br></p><p class="editor-paragraph" dir="ltr"><br></p><p class="editor-paragraph" dir="ltr"><br></p>

<p class="editor-paragraph" dir="ltr"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">During September 29 Professional Development Day, most Cataline Elementary School primary teachers focused their day around early literacy instruction and programming. Teachers used the morning to collaborate and learn about a phonics program (UFLI) that focuses on the systemic and explicit teaching of foundational literacy skills. The program is being used at Cataline to support our young readers and build the skills necessary for reading. During the afternoon, the primary teachers were introduced to the Story Walk program. Led by Ms. Lebourdais, teachers explored and developed literacy kits designed to foster creativity and spark imagination, increasing written engagement and communication.</span></p><p class="editor-paragraph"><img src="/images/de025fd6-1e6c-4719-9213-8bd07bda3a93" alt="IMG 3883 dwayne benvin" width="623" height="623" style="width:623px;height:623px;display:inline-block"></p><p class="editor-paragraph" dir="ltr"><br></p>

<p class="editor-paragraph" dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Cataline teachers and helping teachers gathered to assess spring reading and writing activities. Anchoring our learning and reviewing examples ensures students are assessed accurately and teachers are growing their practice.</span></p><p class="editor-paragraph"><img src="/images/2a6fb860-2db3-4c9a-a99a-0c21a33fa0dd" alt="Marking and Anchoring Student Assessment" width="626" height="876" style="width:626px;height:876px"></p><p class="editor-paragraph"><br></p>

<p class="editor-paragraph" dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Cataline Elementary School had the pleasure of hosting Bryan Gidinski during the latest professional development day. As part of School District 27 Learning Series, Mr. Gidinski was welcomed to Cataline where he worked alongside the intermediate teachers, collaborating and practicing valuable and meaningful literacy instruction with Ms. Allan's grade 5/6 class. This session supported the positive literacy programming at Cataline while helping to foster and inspire our young writers.</span></p><p class="editor-paragraph"><img src="/images/ba8c74bb-31d1-4796-b48b-42bc4c9339e0" alt="Literacy with Bryan Gidinski" width="493" height="493" style="width:493px;height:493px;display:inline-block"></p><p class="editor-paragraph" dir="ltr"><br></p>

<p class="editor-paragraph" dir="ltr"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">With the support of Helping Teacher, Marianne Okrainetz, Cataline teachers participated in a literacy benchmarking dinner session, where teachers got together to collaborate with their colleagues, bounce ideas off each other, while also sharing a few laughs. Conversations leads to learning; the sharing of questions and each others' expertise demonstrates the commitment these teachers have to help guide their instruction to improve their students’ achievements.</span></p><div data-lexical-layout-container="true" style="grid-template-columns: 1fr 1fr; display: grid;"><div class="editor-layoutItem"><p class="editor-paragraph" dir="ltr"><img src="/images/d794c3c7-95fc-5c4c-be0c-e72bfefc59b2" alt="vjbxl85r.jpg" width="100%" height="inherit" style="width:100%;height:inherit"></p></div><div class="editor-layoutItem"><p class="editor-paragraph" dir="ltr"><br></p></div></div>