UPCOMING CAPE GENERAL MEETING

Date:January 24, 2012

Time:   9:00 AM to 12PM

Location:  Dufferin-Peel CDSB

Keynote   - Stuart Shanker

Dr. Stuart Shanker

York University‘Interpreting Play-based Learning to Parents and the Broader Community: The Roleof Self-regulation.’

The morning session provides participants the opportunity to both hear and interact with our keynote speaker about the role of self-regulation in play-based learning. We will continue this discussion in the afternoon with a focus on the newly released video on self regulation from the Ministry of Education.  Participants will have the opportunity to discuss thought provoking questions and have conversations about what self-regulation looks like in the classroom and how as consultants, coordinators and teacher leaders we can engage in professional learning, understanding and conversation with early childhood educators, parents and teachers.

Networking, Coffee & Tea

9:30 – 10:00         CAPE Welcome and Business Meeting

10:00 – 12:00        Dr. Stuart Shanker

12:00 – 1:00          Lunch and Discussion Time

1:00 – 2:30            Dianne Riehl and Jill Snide

r2:30 – 2:45           Reflections and Closing

Also included is an Adobe Connects session at the same time at a special flat rate of $10.00.

As a special bonus this year, all memberships purchased now will not expire until June 2013.

Registration for our January event can now be done online! Please click on the following website to register

http://capeprovokingpowerfulconversations.eventbrite.com

               

Fall Meeting October 27, 2010

 

1.0 Registration, Networking, Coffee & Tea 2.0 Keynote Presentation – Marian Small 2.1 See Keynote Summary 2.2 Marian was introduced by Julie MacLeod and thanked by Jane Bennett 3.0 Lunch and Networking 4.0 Business Meeting 4.1 Introduction of CAPE Executive 2010-2011 – Jane Bennett Jane introduced the executive members present for 2010-2011 President – Jane Bennett Past President – Kathy Thompson 1st Vice-President – Donna-Lynn Galloway 2nd Vice-President – Sandy Giles Recording Secretary – Julie MacLeod Membership/Treasurer – vacant Corresponding Secretary – Dianne Riehl Newsletter Editor – Mary McGuire Faculty Liaison – Pat Dickinson Advisor/Website Manager – Sharon McPhail Research Officer – Lyn Vause CAPERS/Historian – Kathy Thompson Program – Jonathan Rajalingam 4.2 Program Update for Next Year - Jane Bennett CAPE will be celebrating 25 years next year all ideas are welcome from the membership 4.3 Newsletter - Jane Bennett available to members on-line at www.capeonline.ca 4.4 Slate of Officers – Jane Bennett invited audience to contact any member of the executive should individuals want to contribute to the CAPE organization 5.0 Lunch and Networking 6.0 Keynote continued 7.0 Table Group Discussions Continuing the Conversation Math and Full Day Early Learning What from Marian’s presentation got you thinking about changes that could be made to a math program? (i.e., your math program of the teachers with whom you work.) What questions do you still have about effective instruction in mathematics? 7.0 Closing Meeting was adjourned at 2:30.

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NOTES FROM SPRING Meeting, 2010

 

1.0 Registration, Networking, Coffee & Tea - Dean Younger 2.0 Keynote Presentation - Rod Peturson 2.1 Rod was thanked by Donna-Lynn Galloway and a contribution was made to the following charities on Rod’s behalf   - Project TEMBO,   - Sleeping Children Around the World,   - Canadian Red Cross designated for Haiti Relief 3.0 Frances Poleschuk Awards Presentation - Kathy Thompson 3.1 award for exemplary contributions to young children 3.2 two award recipients this year Pam Rao, Kindergarten Teacher, District School Board of Niagara Joanne Pizzuto, Kindergarten Teacher, Greater Essex DSB 4.0 Lunch and Networking 5.0 Business Meeting 5.1 Introduction of CAPE Executive 2009-2010 Kathy Thompson introduced the executive members President – Jane Bennett Past President – Kathy Thompson 1st Vice-President – Donna-Lynn Galloway 2nd Vice-President – Sandi Giles Recording Secretary – Julie MacLeod Membership/Treasurer – Dean Younger Corresponding Secretary – Dianne Riehl Newsletter Editor – Mary McGuire Faculty Liaison – Pat Dickinson Advisor/Website Manager – Sharon McPhail Research Officer – Lyn Vause CAPERS/Historian – Kathy Thompson Program – Jonathan Rajalingam 5.2 Program Update for Next Year - Jane Bennett · speakers at each General Meeting · Keynote: Marian Small will be presenting at the next CAPE Fall General Meeting, Wednesday, October 27th, 2010 · CAPE will be celebrating 25 years next year · all ideas are welcome from the membership 5.3 Newsletter - Jane Bennett · available to members on-line at www.capeonline.ca 5.4 Slate of Officers - Kathy Thompson invited audience to contact any member of the executive should individuals want to contribute to the CAPE organization 5.5 Membership/Treasurer’s Report – Dean Younger 5.5.1 individual, associate, and CAPER memberships are available memberships have been extended to all professionals working with young children 5.5.2 membership form is on line 5.5.3 Treasurer’s report · investments GIC - $8186.87 · bank account - $2732.88 as of May 6, 2010 · Total Assets - $10, 919, 75 6.0 Panel Discussion 6.1 Introduction of Panel and Facilitation of Session - Jane Bennett/Julie MacLeod Panel Members: Karen Gill, Curriculum and Policy Branch, MOE; Judith Taylor, Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat; Joan Littleford, ETFO; Lyn Vause, OETCA; Diane Kashin, AECEO; Taunya Laslo, Niwasa Head Start Centre Table groups brainstormed questions for panel members during the Q & A portion of the afternoon 7.0 Meeting was adjourned at 2:30.   KEYNOTE SPEAKER:  ROD PETURSON   Ontario's Early Years Program Rod began his session with a challenge to the audience that all stakeholders play a big role in forming a coherent vision of the Ontario’s Early Years Program. The afternoon included Rod giving background on Ontario’s plan beginning with the appointment of Dr. Charles, Pascal to recommend the best way to implement full-day learning for four and five year olds. Rod stressed that child developmentis fundamental to community and economic development and explained the long term benefits to society when learning starts early. He then described what the research tells us about brain and child development and how the research helped to inform certain decisions about the Early Learning program. The key components of an integrated extended day mode were then explained. Rob emphasized the need to minimize unnecessary transitions for children and how coherence and seamlessness for children is met through a combination of teacher’s knowledge base about the continuum of learning and early childhood educator’s and their knowledge of child development. His parting question was “How do we know the delivered program is the promised program?” and commented that “There is no heavier burden than a great potential.”

FALL Meeting, 2009

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Don Jones TOPIC: Media and Technology in the Early Years (JK to Grade 3) In the presentation, data about children‘s media use were exam-ined. Video of children interacting with various texts was also used to demonstrate that media does have a strong impact on even our youngest students. Participants explored some defini-tions of media literacy as —an informed and critical understanding of the nature of the media, the techniques used by them, and the impact of these techniques? with —the ability to understand and use the mass media in an active, critical way? (Ontario Language Curriculum p. 156). They also considered its importance within the context of competing interests in primary education. Participants also discussed what it means to be literate in society today and how media literacy fits within that context. It was pro-posed that there is an evolving place for media literacy in the pri-mary grades within the broader context of literacy, other academ-ics, and physical, emotional, social development. It is not meant to sacrifice direct interaction with the world through experiential learning. It was advised that media literacy in this context is about aware-ness – media texts become naturally integrated into the explora-tions and themes of primary classrooms. When they are intro-duced for their content, they are also examined through —media glasses? using the framework from the language curriculum to examine meaning, form/technique, and creation of media texts. This framework was presented with an overlay of the Media Liter-acy Triangle as a graphic representation of the media literacy strand. Other frameworks were briefed but in the end, an aware-ness of —meaning and how it is conveyed,? encouraging kids to respond, act and create was proposed as an anchor for teachers with a simple poem for students. Examples of media lessons, approaches and resources were shared throughout the presentation.The PowerPoint can be downloaded from Don Jones until the end of March.

CAPE MEETINGS : 2008 - 2009

Note: Only two meetings were held during this school year.

Notes from Spring Meeting, 2009

 

1.0  WELCOME – President, Carol Minnel, brought greetings to members and guests     KEYNOTE SPEAKER:  Lori Jamison Rog TOPIC:  WRITE from the Start (K-3)

Notes from Fall Meeting, 2008

 

1.0  WELCOME – President, Carol Minnel, brought greetings to members and guests 2.0 EXECUTIVE Carol introduced the prospective slate of officers for CAPE executive 2008-2009 Past President - Mary Marshall President - Carol Minne First Vice President - TBA Second Vice President - Donna Lynn Galloway Program - Kathleen Williams Membership/Treasurer - Jane Bennett Corresponding Secretary - Diane Riehl Recording Secretary - Julie MacLeod Newsletter - Mary McGuire CAPERS - Carolyn Robertson Faculty Liaison - Pat Dickinson Website Manager - Sharon McPhail Program Advisor - Kathy Thompson Research Advisor - Lyn Vause   3.0 Ministry Initiative - Mary Marshall Classroom teacher or consultant/coordinator can be nominate.  The award criteria is on the Cape website. Nominations will be closing early in the new year.  The nomination process is posted on the CAPE website.   4.0 Frances Poleschuk Award – Mary Marshall CAPE is recognized as the division organized for the primary grades. Applications for the FSL curriculum review should be sent to Mary. Call for papers - Environment Education Symposium - Looking for classroom teachers/coordinators/consultants as presenters.   5.0 Membership/Treasurer’s Report: Jane Bennett Jane informed members of the balance in CAPE's account.   6.0 Newsletter Editor: Mary McGuire The newsletter has been revised to reflect a new look   7.0 Program Update: Kathleen Williams Next meeting will be Apr. 27th. Keynote speaker is Lori Jamison Rog, an educational consultant whose work has fcoused on best practices in literacy instruction.  Her keynote will look at the key components of the writing workshop for every age level (K-3) 8.0 A & E Symposium - Pat Dickinson Symposium for kindergarten teachers and early years educators.  Thursday May 14 at Charles Sturt University, Burlington, ON. Charles Pascal will be the keynote speaker.   9.0 KEYNOTE SPEAKER:  Dr. Juanita Copely   The Young Thinker: Mathematics for the Young Child Dr. Juanita Copely is a retired Professor at the University of Houston where she served as Chair of the Curriculum and Instruction Department in the College of Education. Juanita's engaging and hands-on presentation for CAPE focused on the importance of developing all students' conceptual understanding in mathematics.  Through video clips she described a teaching continuum that provides a range of learning experiences from non-directive to mediating to directive. Juanita's Advice to Teachers Focus on the child Teach important mathematics Facilitate children's engagement Assess continually and Believe that ALL children can learn mathematics!   What Should a Teacher Do? Introduce a continuum of experiences between the preprimary and primary grades and intermediate grades Help them UNDERSTAND by making explicit connections Use activities/materials that relate to children's contexts Ask questions that take into account children's understanding of language Encourage continued interaction with people and materials Explicitly focus on patterns with children of all ages Observe children and note the contexts where reasoning best occurs. Julie MaLeod Recording Secretary

CAPE MEETINGS : 2007 - 2008

Note: Only two meetings were held during this school year.

Notes from Spring Meeting, 2008

 

1.0  WELCOME – President, Mary Marshall, brought greetings to members and guests 2.0 Business Meeting 2.1 Executive Reports 2.1.1 Past President ’s Report: Kathy Thompson Kathy presented the prospective slate of officers for CAPE executive 2008-2009 Past President - Mary Marshall President - Carol Minne First Vice President - TBA Second Vice President - TBA Program - Kathleen Williams Membership/Treasurer - Jane Bennett Corresponding Secretary - Diane Riehl Recording Secretary - Julie MacLeod Newsletter - Mary McGuire CAPERS - Carolyn Robertson Faculty Liaison - Pat Dickinson Website Manager - Sharon McPhail Program Advisor - Joan Barrett Research Advisor - Lyn Vause Advisor - Kathy Thompson Kathy acknowledged Mary's work as President for the past two years and described Mary as "a true champion for young children".   2.1.2 Program Report: Kathleen Williams Kathy announced that the keynote speaker for the Fall General Meeting will be Juanita Copley, author of "The Young Child and Mathematics".  The date of the meeting will be October 20th, 2008. 2.1.3 Newsletter Editor: Mary McGuire Mary invited people to provide input on an electronic vs. paper copy of the CAPE newsletter.  She would like to know which format works best for CAPE members. In addition she asked who, other than CAPE members, should receive copies of the newsletter. 2.1.4 CAPERS UPDATE Members were requested to inform Carolyn Robertson of any colleagues who are retiring and want to keep in touch trough CAPE. 2.1.5 Treasurer’s Report: Jane Bennett Jane informed members of the balance in CAPE's account. The one year GIC is up for renewal and will be reinvested. Jane also noted that membership renewal will be coming up in the fall of 2008. 2.1.6 President's Report Mary acknowledged the work of the executive this year. She indicated that CAPE has been very involved with Curriculum Reviews and some executive members took the lead on curriculum documents. Mary noted that CAPE welcomes classroom teachers to submit names to bring a strong primary voice to the table. Health and Phys. Ed will be written this summer with consultation in the fall. Full-Day Kindergarten Dr. Charles Pascale is currently involved in a consultation process with community and regional groups regarding full day kindergarten. He will be reporting to the Ministry in March 2009. We are hoping for ongoing CAPE involvement in the process.CAPE has submitted two position papers with an eye on the research for young children concerning program recommendations and staff learning.  These are posted on CAPE website.  Questions can be directed to any member of the executive. 2.1.6 Frances Poleschuk Award – Kathy Thompson Kathy presented two awards this year. Complete information about these recipients can be read in this sites Award Section.   4.0 KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:  Jan Moxey, Tracy Vaillancourt and Shauna Brown     Dr. Tracy Vaillancourt, Canada Research Chair of Child's Mental Health and Violence Prevention at the University of Ottawa, described how bullying affects one in three school-aged children and that 10% of Canadian children are bullied on a daily basis.  The damaging consequences of the bully/victim relationship were described, information was presented on how to spot bullying and aggression, and strategies were provided for addressing aggression in the community. To reduce bullying we can: Start early - JK to 3 Lead by example - children watch adults' behaviour closely Develop formative consequences Encourage children to report Acknowledge positive behaviours Minimize opportunities for bullying Teach the social skills children lack Build on children's strengths Trust your instincts Be ready to listen and help.   Shauna Brown and Jan Moxey, authors of "Bullying - A Relationship Issue" highlighted practical strategies to promote positive relationships in the classroom that help to reduce bullying.  The presenters gave the audience opportunities to reflect professionally on how the physical, the instructional and the social environments can all be structured to promote positive relationships.   Recorded by Julie MacLeod

Notes from Winter Meeting, 2008

Notes From Fall Meeting, 2007

 

CAPE MEETINGS : 2006 - 2007

Note: Only two meetings were held during this school year.

 

Spring, 2007: KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Dr. Doug Clements

 

THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF EARLY MATHAMTICS:

In his presentation, Dr. Clements introduced several main lessons related to mathematics education and teaching young children:

• Gaps are striking and must be attended to
• Less is more
• Connect informal and school math
• Meet the needs of all students by using mastery learning correctly
• Include geometry
• Use learning trajectories

Two studies  (TIMMS, 2000 and NAEP, 1999) were used to inform the audience of some of the differences in learning that have been identified in various countries.

The speaker emphasized that more sustained time should be spent on fewer key concepts in contexts that promote problem solving, reasoning, communication, making connections and designing and analyzing representations.

In meeting the needs of all students Dr. Clements explained why he believes that using half manipulatives and half software is the strongest way to present math for young learners.

Dr. Clements,presented lessons to us and reminded us about the gaps. He helped us to appreciate trajectories, provided strategies we can share with teachers, challenged us to think about our practice, and to build and extend on young children’s affinities for mathematics.

He also provided a valuable source for technology-enhanced Research-based Instruction, Assessment and Professional Development. For more information, click on BUILDING BLOCKS to visit a website for this source.

For more complete information on Dr. Clement's presentation refer to the Winter/Spring Issue(2007) of Calliope, CAPE's newsletter.

Winter Meeting, 2007

cancelled due to inclement weather

Fall, 2006: KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Dr. Frank Serafin - University of Nevada

The Primary Reading Workshop: Creating Effective Learning Environments

 

In focussing on effective learning environments the first section of Frank's presentation addressed:

• Theoretical Assertions

• Three Primary Goals

• Primary Reading Instruction

• Establishing Literate Behaviours

• The Pros and Cons of leveled Texts

• Alphabetic Understandings

• Assertions About Teaching Graphophonic Knowledge

• Vocabulary

• Developing Fluency

Part Two of his presentation provided extensive information on Building Capacity for Effective Literacy Instruction.

For a complete version of Frank's presentation see CAPE's newsletter - Calliope, Spring 2006.

 

CAPE MEETINGS : 2005 - 2006

Note: Only two meetings were held during this school year.

Spring, 2006: KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Norma MacFarlane - Pearson

 

Processes, purposes, forms, traits... helping students become proficient writers in an ongoing challenge. Effective writing teachers use multiple instructional strategies that focus on both form and content , and they respond to students in ways that support their growth as writers. Norma's presentation examined current research identifying best practices in teaching writing and shared examples of how best practices can be implemented in the classroom.

For more complete information on Norma MacFarlane's presentation refer to the Winter/Spring Issue(2006) of Calliope, CAPE's newsletter.

Author Luncheon with Adwoa Badoe

 

A Taste of Words: Teller in the House

Pat Dickinson thanked Adwoa for her informative and entertaining presentation recognizing the many ways we can help others recognize the power of story telling for children.

 

 

Fall, 2005 : KEY NOTE SPEAKER: David Booth, OISE/U of T

Dr. Booth spoke with the audience about boys and literacy providing some methods and strategies educators might consider in order to better engage boys as literacy learners.  In addition, Dr. Booth shared a video of elementary age boys discussing their thoughts about reading.  This video is part of Dr. Booth's current research into boys as literacy learners.

 

For more complete information on Dr. Booth's presentation refer to the Fall Issue (2005) of Calliope, CAPE's newsletter.

CAPE MEETINGS : 2004 - 2005

Spring, 2005 : KEY NOTE SPEAKER: Dr. Shelley Peterson

Topic - The 4th R: RELATIONSHIPS are Key to Student Learning

.Dr. Shelley Peterson who began her career researching the writing of boys and girls after finishing her doctoral work in Alberta.

Dr. Peterson's presentation focused on research studies examining a range of questions related to the widespread gender disparity in writing and their related recommendations for practice.

• Research on Girls' and Boys' Writing Preferences
• Research Showing the Privileging of Boys' Writing Preferences
• Research on Boys' and Girls' Motivation to Write
• Perceptions of Boys' and Girls' Writing Competencies
• Teachers' Responses to Female and Male Student's Writing

 

For more complete information on Dr. Peterson's presentation refer to the Spring Issue(2005) of Calliope, CAPE's newsletter.

Winter, 2005 : KEY NOTE SPEAKER: Carrice Cummins

Topic - The Art of Making Text Explicit

 

 

Dr Cummins presentation shared strategies for focusing on 3 Key areas to explicitly develop both text knowledge and topic knowledge to support student reading comprehension. 

 

 

• IMMERSION – lots of exposure – to build text knowledge
• ANALYZE – so they truly understand the story from a place of knowledge  to build topic knowledge
• ORGANIZE – how can you put it all back together in order to share, and apply it

For more complete information on Carrice Cummins' address refer to the Spring Issue (2005) of Calliope, CAPE's newsletter.

 

Fall, 2004 : KEY NOTE SPEAKER: Gwen Babcock, Limestone DSB

Topic - Students First: Assess for Success

      

Gwen's wide variety of experiences in education as well as her enthusiasm and down-to-earth approach provided a very interesting and entertaining morning. In her presentation she dealt with the following issues:

• Understanding different types of assessment and what information these assessments can give us
• Reading assessment strategies and tools
• Collecting assessment data for writing
• Assessing in Mathematics and Science and Technology
• Using a planned student-focused approach to positively impact on student learning.

 

For more complete information on Gwen's address refer to the Fall Issue (2004) of Calliope, CAPE's newsletter.

CAPE MEETINGS : 2003 - 2004

Spring, 2004 : KEY NOTE SPEAKER: Dr. Jean Clinton

Topic - The 4th R: RELATIONSHIPS are Key to Student Learning

Dr. Jean Clinton is a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, an Assistant Clinical Professor at McMaster University and Chair of both ' Voices for Children' and of the Child Care Advisory Committee in Hamilton.  Jean is a member of the newly formed Council on Early Childhood Development and a strong advocate for children's issues, not to mention 'chauffeur extraordinaire' to her five wonders ages 9-19!

She began with an outline of the importance of the brain and how it develops and functions. In explaining how relationships are key to early learning, reference was made to the work of Mary Gordon in "The Roots of Empathy", to Bruce Perry's ideas for the classroom, and to the American Pediatric Society's statement about the use of TV and videos with children under 3. She also provided data from a study noting the differences in the development of oral language for children who do and do not have many contacts with family, friends, community and society.

An overview of research by The Search Institute that has identified 40 assets needed by children/youth to succeed was presented. Dr. Clinton then discussed strategies to promote asset building.

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FALL, 2003 : KEY NOTE SPEAKER: Lyn Vause

TOPIC: Big Ideas for Little Kids: Early Math

For more complete information on Lyn's address refer to the Fall Issue (2003) of Calliope, CAPE's newsletter.

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CAPE MEETINGS : 2002 - 2003

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SPRING, 2003 : KEY NOTE SPEAKER: Rod Peturson, Greater Essex Cty DSB

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TOPIC: Curriculum Change

In his presentation, Rod focused on the curriculum change occurring in Ontario and its effect on school systems and teachers. He provided the audience with an overview of how his district has been supporting its large number of young teachers in dealing with the changes.

For more information about Rod's presentation or this meeting, members may wish to review the Spring Issue of Calliope (2003).

WINTER, 2003 : KEY NOTE SPEAKER: Sandy Woodcock, Toronto DSB

TOPIC: Connecting Math Through Questions

Sandy explained how to begin each Mathematics lesson with a story and then connect the activities to the text. She focused on the benefits of connecting children's literature and the teaching of Mathematics.

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The audience was provided a list of some authors with Mathematics connections. Sandy then provided numerous practical ideas that teachers could utilize as they explored specific book titles. To review a list of authors and some of the activities that were shared,or for more information about this meeting, members may wish to review the Winter Issue of Calliope (2003).

FALL, 2002 : KEY NOTE SPEAKER: Susan Hill

TOPIC: The Next Step: What Do We Do After Assessment?

Susan addressed the following components of reading and writing:

• balanced literacy program
• four roles of the reader and writer
• guided reading
• text gradient
• teaching reading strategies
• how to teach children to read words they do not know
• before reading strategies
• during reading strategies
• after reading strategies
• what else to assess

For more information about this meeting, members may wish to review the Fall Issue of Calliope (2002).