CATCA 2025

As Canadians and Indigenous People, we all inherited a history together. Cadmus Delorme provides a message of hope, truth, understanding, and strategy as we all embark on a Truth and Reconciliation journey.

As educators, it is critical to consider how diversity, inclusion, and equitable our practices are. But how can we ensure that a curricular focus lives alongside a social-justice approach? Join ACEE staff to learn about climate justice, and how to include multiple perspectives when teaching about the climate and environment. Questions covered include: What is intersectionality? What is the role of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in understanding climate impacts, resilience, and solutions? What is the role of environmental education in reconciliation? Why are two-eyed seeing and social justice vital climate solutions?

Learning Outcomes:
- Understand that climate change is a human rights issue, not just a global and scientific one
- Understand how positionality impacts how we view and understand global issues
- Gain tools on how to approach topics with students from a justice perspective

This session offers valuable insights into the significance of First Nations protocol, presented by Phillip Campiou, a respected Elder and knowledge keeper from the Driftpile Cree Nation. The discussion will explore the importance of integrating these protocols into various settings and provide practical guidance on how to do so respectfully and effectively.

kiyokewin is visiting in Michif. kiyokewin is a traditional way in which Métis people connect and shape community and relationships with each other, the land, water, plants, cosmos, and animals. In this session you will learn how kiyokewin can educators, students and community connect more deeply. Rupertsland Institute will share how many initiatives, resources and programs are created through kiyokewin. Explore how meeting the TQS and LQS standard of fostering, building and maintaining relationships is woven into authentic Métis resources.

Join Alberta Native Friendship Centres to explore how community-based non-profits can support Indigenous students in their educational journey by addressing barriers and promoting cultural connection. Discover how programs like Weaving Wicihitowin For Learning support authentic relationships between schools and organizations, like Alberta Friendship Centres to advance overall student outcomes across the four quadrants of the Medicine Wheel: mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual.

Angela Hall will share her Trauma Informed & Indigenous Ways of Knowing Art lessons that she has developed to support students in self expression, feeling safe, emotional regulation and understanding oneself. These include: My Safe Place Landscape Art, Tree Meditation & Art, Star Blanket Art Renewal, Sacred Circle Meditation & Art, Flowers are Our Medicine, Rites of Passage Art Mandala, Dressing Up Your Spirit, and Medicine Wheel Reflection Art. Teachers will be able to participate in the Sacred Circle Meditation & Art workshop to understand the significance and effectiveness of these art lessons.

A $10 dollar fee by February 7, 2025, is a requirement to confirm your spot and receive the following art materials: 12” x 12” Black Canvas, One Dotting Tool, Seven-1 oz containers filled with Fluid Acrylic Paint (White, Yellow, Red, Blue, Green, Orange, Pink, and Purple) and a Rag/Cloth. Please e-transfer your fee to aguenus@gmail.com and include your name, title of the art workshop, and the teachers’ convention you will be attending (CCTCA, CATCA or GETCA) in your e-transfer.

Discover the transformative potential of Wahkohtowin as a guiding principle that promotes harmony, respect, and interconnectedness. Explore ways to integrate these teachings into educational practices, fostering empathy, cultural appreciation, and community building. Join us as we honor Cree traditions and explore pathways to inclusive and sustainable relationships within and beyond the classroom.

Land-Based Learning is central to Métis ways of knowing and being. When we create relationships to the land, we have a responsibility to live in reciprocity by protecting and caring for the land and all that lives on it. Seeing the land as a relation is an important Métis worldview. Join Rupertsland Centre for Teaching and Learning in exploring what Land-Based Learning could look like in schools, what it is and resources to support this learning.

Bring a fun art project, based on a local Indigenous artist, into your classroom! Join me in this hands-on, interdisciplinary session as we study a local artist, Jason Carter, use Feldman’s art critique to critique his art, look at stories connected to the themes in the artwork, sing songs, and create a landscape painting! No music experience is necessary! This art project will give you opportunities to express your creativity with painting, while making connections to children’s literature, music, and social studies. Project ideas and resources will be shared to bring into your class right away! Do send a $5 email transfer to cblenkhorne@gmail.com to reserve your seat and pay for supplies for this session.

Connecting with Indigenous Ways of Knowing and offering rich experiences in support of TQS 5 can be intimidating, especially for non-Indigenous teachers. While we cannot have first-hand knowledge of the hardships and celebrations of our Indigenous peoples, we are privileged to have the opportunity to impact hearts and minds in the spirit of reconciliation and continue to pursue practical methods of reconcili-ACTION in our classrooms. I’ll share my experience of developing a research project and unit plan for my 30-1 students, and the widely applicable learning, growth, and gold that was generated through our practices of metissage, or collaborative storytelling and narrative weaving. Students can to learn to see themselves and one another in fresh, exciting, vulnerable, and deeply impactful ways as they share their own narrative strands and braid their stories with the stories of others while making choices for their own comfort and safety. The incredible transformation power I witnessed unfold with my class during my research has led me to continue practicing processes reflective of metissage, and has continued to support both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students in remarkable and exciting ways. If you struggle with supporting kids as they seek out and navigate peer, friend, classmate, and community connections, implementing practices of metissage (from major to minor approaches) will allow you to hold space and support new depths of inter- and intra-personal understandings with your students and your classroom community as a whole through this beautiful narrative practice.

Enter a realm where winter's embrace invites storytelling to flourish. Join us in exploring the profound significance of storytelling during the snowy season. Why do stories resonate when snow blankets the earth? Delve into the diverse forms of storytelling, discovering how each holds the power to captivate and educate.

Angela Hall will present her Trauma Informed & Indigenous Ways of Knowing Art lessons that she has developed to support students in self expression, feeling safe, emotional regulation and understanding oneself. These include: My Safe Place Landscape Art, Tree Meditation & Art, Star Blanket Art Renewal, Sacred Circle Meditation & Art, Flowers are Our Medicine, Rites of Passage Art Mandala, Dressing Up Your Spirit, and Medicine Wheel Reflection Art. Teachers will be able to participate in the Rites of Passage Art Mandala workshop to understand the significance and effectiveness of these art lessons.

A $10 dollar fee by February 7, 2025, is a requirement to confirm your spot and receive the following art materials: One Math Compass, Pencil, Watercolour Paper, Felt Markers and/or Pencil Crayons and/or paints, and Hand-out with Instructions. Please e-transfer your fee to aguenus@gmail.com and include your name, title of the art workshop, and the teachers’ convention you will be attending (CCTCA, CATCA or GETCA) in your e-transfer.

Discover the profound practice of smudging, a ritual that harmonizes mind, body, and spirit while forging a connection to the Creator. Learn how smudging circles serve as a gateway to communal sharing and dialogue, fostering an environment where stories and wisdom are respectfully exchanged. Join us as we honor ancient traditions and embrace the transformative power of smudging for holistic well-being and spiritual connection.

Why are outcomes for Indigenous students so unequal? Join authors Douglas Sanderson (Amo Binashii) and Andrew Stobo Sniderman for a discussion about their acclaimed book, Valley of the Birdtail: An Indian Reserve, a White Town, and the Road to Reconciliation. This book follows multiple generations of two families, one white and one Indigenous, and weaves their lives into the larger story of Canada. Valley of the Birdtail is about how two schools became separate and unequal—and what it means for the rest of us.
DO COME EARLY TO THE SESSION TO RECEIVE YOUR FREE COPY OF THE BOOK. 

Come and see how you can enhance literacy skills in your STEAM (Science Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) classes. Teachers are storytellers, we weave together concepts with relatable stories to help make learning more exciting, but also more memorable. In this session, you will learn how to engage your students in active listening exercises while listening to a variety of stories about STEAM concepts. This will also include a focus on Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Being in STEAM as well as suggestions on a variety of authors and books to fit your curriculum. this session is for all grade levels, although more appropriate for Division 2-4.

Immerse yourself in a hands-on cultural journey with Elder Phillip Campiou from Treaty 8, where you'll deepen your understanding of the traditional uses and teachings of the Tipi. Engage in a unique opportunity to create your own miniature Tipi while learning about its historical significance and cultural importance. Through interactive storytelling, we'll explore the profound narratives that shape these traditions, offering valuable perspectives that resonate in our lives today.

Are you interested in authentically weaving Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Being into your STEM lessons but don’t know where to start? Are you mindful of avoiding tokenism and teaching reconciliation with respect and authenticity? If so, then this is the session for you! Amanda Green will share her journey in learning from Indigenous people and appropriately implementing a variety of lessons that you can then use either on your own, or with guidance of a community member. Please remember that this is from the point of view of an ally, who sometimes makes mistakes, but ultimately wants to help others learn from them and do better. Amanda primarily focuses on Junior High (both in English and French), but has many ideas you can use with students of all ages.

Michif is a mixed language, derived mainly from Cree and French. This workshop is an educational approach that allows teachers to integrate Métis languages, knowledge and perspectives into their teaching. This workshop is intended for teachers who wish to develop and apply basic knowledge about First Peoples for the benefit of all students (EQS 5), but who have difficulty navigating the range of resources available. By exploring the web resources of the Michif Awakening Kit, participants will discover the mechanisms of this language, but above all they will see how the use of Michif educational resources can make it possible to achieve a multitude of learning outcomes
in the program (in French, arts, social studies, science, well-being), while working towards reconciliation. Specifically, teachers will explore the various resources available on the website. On the practical side, participants will work to adapt the available resources to their needs, in line with recommended good practices for making authentic and respectful use of the knowledge shared by Elders. Participants will leave the workshop with access to multiple lesson plans and corresponding resources.

Developing and applying foundational knowledge about First Nations, Metis, and Inuit for the benefit of students has been a new task challenging teachers in the classroom. In this session, Erin reviews a simple, effective and interesting project that makes these FNMI Connections for students, yet isn’t too complicated or time consuming and can be used across any subject area or grade level. Participants will have the opportunity to learn about what Wintercounts are, their value in the classroom and will engage in the Wintercount process first hand. Exemplars will be shared along with templates that are ready to use in classrooms on Monday morning. If you are a teacher that values inclusion, creativity and literacy, then this session is for you!

Like a lot of teachers in Science I had no idea what to do when The TQS was updated to include teaching about First Nations, Metis and Inuit perspectives. This session will focus on my beginning of and still continuing journey to develop the competencies listed in TQS 5. The goal of this session is to help teachers find a place to start in their journey understanding First Nations, Metis and Inuit perspectives, especially in a science classroom.
Many teachers, especially in math and science really struggle to include First Nations, Metis and Inuit knowledge into their classes. Because this is a difficult task and teachers are afraid to do something wrong, it is often simply ignored. I want to help teachers understand that we don’t have to be perfect right off the bat, we are going to make mistakes and that is ok! By talking about my journey and the things that I’ve tried and learned about that I can help other teachers find a place where they fit and are willing to try something new. Being willing to try is an important part of reconciliation and being able to create schools that are safer for all students, particularly those who are affected by the legacy of residential schools.

Embark on a transformative cultural journey with Elder Phillip Campiou from Treaty 8, as we delve into the sacred teachings and traditional practices centered around the Tipi. Experience the profound connection to the land as we participate in the hands-on process of setting up a full-size Tipi. Through immersive storytelling, we'll uncover the timeless wisdom embedded in these teachings, offering invaluable insights that resonate deeply in our contemporary lives.