Standard 8: Educators contribute to the profession.
Definition: Standard 8 to me is a responsibility as an educator to be supportive of educators and future educators.
WestCAST workshop
On April 4, 2024, myself and three of my classmates delivered a workshop at the WestCAST conference in Calgary. WestCAST is an annual conference Western Canadian Association for Student Teaching. The workshop we prepared was called “Grounded Connections” and the focus was on wellness and how the concept sit spot can be incorporated into the classroom as a lesson for wellness. The first half of our presentation was inside the University. In our presentation we included aspects of BC’s curriculum and an explanation of the core competencies that we must embed in our lessons. We explained which core competencies applied to our workshop and why. We also explained the significant of including principles from the First Peoples Principles of Learning and how it is unique to BC. We gave a description on wellness and what it means to be well and finally described what the activity “sit-spot” is and how it can contribute to wellness.
Our second half of our presentation was to go outside and practice our activity “sit-spot.” We were hoping for good weather for this activity, but of course it ended up snowing all day. We decided to still bring everyone outside and stick with the plan but modified it and told participants that they can stand if they prefer. We began outside by forming a circle and explaining what participants are expected to do. The purpose of sit-spot is to sit in a spot that is close to home, somewhere you love, or somewhere you frequent often. The idea is that you can return to this spot frequently. Once participant found a “sit-spot” they were asked to stand or sit in silence for 10 minutes and use their senses and pay attention to what they notice and how they feel throughout this time. We all decided to participate as well to model how this can be beneficial for teachers to participate in as well. Once we spent 10 minutes in silence, we returned back into a circle. Before we reflected, on our experience doing the activity, I quickly explained why we do things in circle and the significance of it. After, we went around the circle and got each participant to describe using one word how they felt before the activity and how they felt after the activity. The results and the reflections were very moving and thought provoking. It was a very powerful reflection and discussion and we all could feel the impact it had on each participant. We received extremely good feedback from participants and many of them said they are going to try it with their class and tell us how it goes. This experience was extremely positive, beneficial, and fostered the importance of collaboration and teamwork. As a group, we spent a lot of time on this presentation, and it was very well thought out. I felt very proud of al of us for delivering such an impactful workshop and something that educators will be able to use in their future classrooms.