Wondering What Happens on a Pro-D Day?

Friday, November 8, 2024, was the third professional development day (Pro-D) of the school year. For students, this means an extra long weekend and more time to play or relax. But for our teachers and many of our support staff, this is a day set aside specifically for them to learn.

Why are these days important?

Education, like other professions, changes with new practices, new understandings, and improved approaches. Professional development days provide time for staff to learn new skills to implement in their classrooms, collaborate with others, and further develop their expertise. You may not be aware that the type and minimum number of non-instructional days in a school year are determined provincially through negotiation between the Ministry of Education and Child Care and the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation.

It is also important to know that professional development days are not a loss of instructional time for students, as these days were added to the school calendar. The inclusion of professional development days in the school calendar increased the number of days of work for teachers, with no loss of instructional days for students.

A couple of highlights from the day include 150 middle and secondary school teams taking part in a learning session with Leyton Schnellert, long-time educational consultant, Rural Education Chair at the University of British Columbia, and author of several books. Staff delved into universal design for learning, inclusive practices for classroom teachers, the importance of knowing your students, universal supports for all students, and working in school teams. Those taking part also had an opportunity to work with colleagues teaching in the same subject area.

One example of activities from the elementary school level is from Parkview. In the morning, the entire school team joined more than 80 other educators from SD83 in the virtual “The Behavior Code” session with Dr. Jessica Minahan. Minahan’s goal has been to help clinicians, teachers, and parents identify and understand the variables that cause students with anxiety, trauma, and other mental health challenges to act inappropriately. Since 2000 she has worked with students who struggle with mental health issues and challenging behaviour in public school systems.  She specializes in training staff and creating behaviour intervention plans for students who demonstrate explosive and unsafe behaviour. She also works with students with emotional and behavioural disabilities, anxiety disorders, trauma histories, and autism. Her particular interest is to serve these students by combining behavioural interventions with a comprehensive knowledge of best practices for those with complex mental health profiles and learning needs.

With up to one in four children struggling with anxiety in the post pandemic classroom, overwhelmed adults are in need of a new approach as well as an effective and easy-to-implement toolkit of strategies that work. Through the use of case studies, humorous stories, and examples of common challenging situations, participants learned easy to implement preventive tools, strategies, and interventions for reducing anxiety, increasing self-regulation, accurate thinking, and self-monitoring in students.

Then, in the afternoon, the Parkview staff took part in a session with teacher Angela Hannis who presented about her personal writing journey and how to get students to think of themselves as writers.

At Hillcrest Elementary, the staff focused on Indigenous learning in the morning and connections to literacy instruction and strategies. They also explored online resources to support the weaving of Indigenous learning into classrooms.

In the morning at Silver Creek Elementary, staff focused on technology in the classroom (including 3D printing and interactive screens) while in the afternoon they looked at restitution and control theory.

Other examples of sessions taking place across the district included a session in the UFLI (phonics and literacy) learning series, “Would You Rather…?” (math investigations and routines) and Ask Alexandria! (a session for librarians).

Some highlighted sessions from earlier this year:
SD83 Teachers Learning Ways to Increase Engagement and Learning
Teachers Attend Math Conference
Earth, Forest & Fire: SD83 Careers Pro-D Event A Success
Playing on Purpose
Developing Skills in Young Writers
Teachers Pilot Resources to Engage Active Citizens

These types of learning series enable educators to develop tools and strategies that support ongoing improvements in student learning, exemplifying the District’s Strategic Plan priority for Intellectual Development.

The next professional development day is a regional session on Friday, February 14, 2025. With Family Day falling on Monday, February 17, 2025, families will enjoy a four day long weekend.