STF PROFESSIONAL LEARNING ANNUAL REPORT 2019-20 TABLE OF CONTENTS Organizational Structure 1 Objectives 2 Mission 3 The Year in Review 5 Provincial Facilitator Community 9 Purposes and Beliefs 15 Activity Report 17 ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE Shaun McEachern Michelle Naidu Connie Molnar Linda Aspen-Baxter Lindsay Shaw Director Associate Director Associate Director Associate Director Associate Director Nicole Turcotte Jay Salikin Pam Driedger Rosemarie Palidwor Marla Mullie Associate Director Senior Manager Administrative Administrative Administrative Learning Technology Assistant Assistant Assistant MANAGEMENT ADVISORY BOARD • Mr. Ted Amendt, Saskatchewan School Boards Association • Mr. Robert Bratvold, League of Educational Administrators, Directors and Superintendents • Mr. Scott Burant, Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation • Mr. David Burgess, Saskatchewan Educational Leadership Unit • Ms. Xia Ji, Faculty of Education, University of Regina • Ms. Elizabeth Hutton, Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation • Ms. Patricia Prowse, Saskatchewan Educational Leadership Unit • Ms. Amanda Durocher, Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation • Ms. Melissa Gerlach, Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation • Mr. Steven Korecki, Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation • Mr. Harold Robertson, Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation • Ms. Maria Chow, Ministry of Education PROFESSIONALSASKATCHEWAN GROWTH TEACHERS’ OPPORTUNITIES FEDERATION – EARLY PROFESSIONAL LEARNING LEARNING ANNUAL REPORT 2019-20 1 OBJECTIVES THE OBJECTIVES FOR THE 5. Resources and programs to support school UNIT ARE THE DEVELOPMENT divisions, school staff and local teacher AND PROVISION OF: associations in promoting understanding of the need for ongoing high-quality professional 1. Consultative and capacity-building services development. to those who plan and deliver professional development. 6. Evaluation services related to professional development and professional development 2. Opportunities for the teaching profession that education. cannot be adequately accomplished at the local level. 7. Synthesis, interpretation and dissemination of research related to professional development. 3. Networks for communication and influence amongst educational organizations regarding 8. Sustainable leadership and systems that professional development. promote a vision for high-quality professional development. 4. An information network about exemplary professional development programs, resource 9. Partnership relationships with educational persons and events. organizations provincially, nationally and internationally. 2 SASKATCHEWAN TEACHERS’ FEDERATION PROFESSIONAL LEARNING ANNUAL REPORT 2019-20 MISSION To support, empower and advocate for the growth of educators and students through responsive professional learning opportunities. VALUES RESPECTFUL WELCOMING GENEROUS AND CARING PROFESSIONAL PROFESSIONALSASKATCHEWAN GROWTH TEACHERS’ OPPORTUNITIES FEDERATION – EARLY PROFESSIONAL LEARNING LEARNING ANNUAL REPORT 2019-20 3 4 SASKATCHEWAN TEACHERS’ FEDERATION PROFESSIONAL LEARNING ANNUAL REPORT 2019-20 In 2018-2019 STF Professional Learning connected with 4,079 participants, by 2020 that number had increased to over 4,700. THE YEAR IN REVIEW As was the case for many of us in the world in order to support teachers in their transition to of public education, 2019-2020 was a year of emergency remote teaching. During the remote unprecedented opportunities and challenges for teaching months, STF PL offered more than 15 STF Professional Learning (STF PL). In August of professional learning sessions on a wide array of 2019, we added two new members to our growing topics via Zoom to an audience of more than 2,000 team, Ms. Nicole Turcotte and Mr. Jay Salikin. Nicole Saskatchewan teachers. By the summer of 2020, became the fifth member of a passionate group the Saskatchewan Teacher’s Federation purchased of associate directors committed to supporting, a Learning Management System (LMS) and STF advocating and empowering Saskatchewan Professional Learning’s development of online educators through responsive professional learning. learning resources for our members began Jay’s appointment was to a newly created Senior in earnest. Manager of Learning Technology position with responsibilities related to the design of a learning AS YOU BROWSE THROUGH OUR ANNUAL technology framework to support our members. REPORT, YOU WILL SEE THAT THERE ARE FIVE SIGNIFICANT AREAS OF WORK FOR By December of 2019, STF PL had re-configured its STF PROFESSIONAL LEARNING: web presence, joined the social media world with new Facebook and Twitter accounts and increased 1. Contracted services at the local level. the number of professional learning workshops 2. Contracted services at the provincial level. available to our members to over one hundred. By 3. Provincial workshops. the time the pandemic hit in early 2020, Jay and Nicole found themselves, along with the existing 4. Conferences. members of the STF PL team, applying their 5. Supporting initiatives of the Federation. considerable skills, as well as learning new ones, PROFESSIONALSASKATCHEWAN GROWTH TEACHERS’ OPPORTUNITIES FEDERATION – EARLY PROFESSIONAL LEARNING LEARNING ANNUAL REPORT 2019-20 5 In 2019-20, prior to the pandemic and the move emerged containing items such as social media towards emergency remote learning, STF PL and communication tools, a website, a learning provided 180 days of professional learning to management system, shared cloud storage, a video Saskatchewan teachers. From March until late June, conferencing solution, integrated event booking and virtual sessions were provided via Zoom. Please see an integrated login system. chart below for a description. We started with a Twitter account and began SERVICE DAYS PARTICIPANTS website development, which allowed us to transition Contracted Services 54.5 1934 from Remind.com. The IT department set up Office 365, which allowed us to move away from Dropbox School 9.50 304 and Google Drive. Zoom and Teams were utilized School Division 22.50 652 for video conferencing, and work began researching learning management systems. Integrated events Local Association 9.00 540 booking and login systems were tabled so that IT First Nation 11.00 334 services can be updated and streamlined. Post Secondary 1.00 31 The COVID-19 pandemic surfaced in March and Other 1.50 73 caused acceleration. We activated the website and provided supports for teachers as they moved to Provincial Workshops 18.00 272 emergency remote teaching. We used Twitter to Ministry Contracts 8.00 239 advertise and started a Facebook page to increase the audience. We used Zoom to offer online learning Accreditation 44.00 225 opportunities that allowed teachers to learn and Provincial Facilitator connect virtually. Canvas was chosen as the learning Community 4 89 management system in June 2020, and work is Development currently underway to pilot and develop resources Online Virtual Sessions 17.00 2027 for online learning opportunities. (March-June) MARCH TO JUNE: REMOTE CONTRACTED SERVICES LEARNING AND STF AT THE LOCAL LEVEL PROFESSIONAL LEARNING’S In 2019, STF Professional Learning had the RESPONSE TO THE PANDEMIC opportunity to partner with Northwest Teachers’ Association, North East Teachers’ Association, Between March and June, STF Professional Learning Prairie Spirit Teachers’ Association, Sun West started hosting online learning events with panels of Teachers’ Association and for the first time, the Saskatchewan teachers and expert guests to assist Conseil des écoles fransaskoises, to co-plan and teachers with emergency remote teaching. These deliver the majority of professional learning for their were the first online events ever hosted by STF local association conventions. Members of the STF Professional Learning, and the high turnouts and PL’s core team and Provincial Facilitator Community positive feedback were evidence that teachers were presented a range of sessions for the participants. pleased to have the opportunities to connect and learn. STF PL’s website also became a repository Work with school divisions and individual schools of online learning resources to assist teachers with continued to be an important component of the STF emergency remote teaching. Within weeks of the PL work in 2019. The STF PL core team and the website’s creation, over 6,000 unique hits occurred. Provincial Facilitator Community carried out this By mid-June, those numbers had exceeded 18,000 work. Topics in demand continued to include: Early unique visitors. learning, literacy, numeracy, supporting diversity in the classroom and assessment. Work at the school division level was often guided by the distributive E-Learning leadership model. STF PL worked closely with With the hiring of Jay Salikin in August 2019, system leaders who in turn helped support the we began the visioning process related to how professional growth of their teachers. School-level technology could be utilized to enhance professional facilitation contracts were customized to meet the learning opportunities for our members. A plan needs of a particular staff in their unique context. 6 SASKATCHEWAN TEACHERS’ FEDERATION PROFESSIONAL LEARNING ANNUAL REPORT 2019-20 STF Professional Learning continues to cultivate In 2019-2020, six systems in the province engaged positive professional relationships with First in the initiative as a new cohort of leaders and Nations, Métis and Inuit educational authorities learners, while the previous year’s two cohorts went and tribal councils in support of teachers who into the implementation