CATCA 2025: Full Schedule

COMPLETE THE CATCA 2025 SURVEY TO IMPROVE FUTURE CONVENTION

CLOSURE REMARKS FROM CATCA 2025!

THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING THE CONVENTION AND FOR CATCA 2026 WILL HAPPEN ON FEBRUARY 19 AND 20, 2026 AT RDP.

STAY TUNED FOR MORE INFORMATION FROM YOUR ATA LOCALS.

All pre-recording videos will be up until May 31st.

9:00am MST

Play On Words - Box Cars Literacy Games for Elementary

Thursday February 20, 2025 9:00am - 10:00am MST

RDP Room 2303

Brains learn best through PLAY! Come prepared to play elementary literacy games that incorporate literacy dice, letter tiles and word decks. Game and strategies are easy to differentiate to meet the needs of all students including regular, ELL and special ed. Games will focus on: learning the alphabet and its' sounds, word patterns and rhyme, spelling simple CVC words, vocabulary boosters, vowels and blends. These games can be used whole class, small group or in centers, and can be adapted for intervention and assessment. Ideas are easily transferred to home practice and family literacy games nights. Handout will contain gameboards, ready to use Monday a.m. This is a fast paced, hands-on session!

NOTE T PROGRAM CHAIR: We need a table set up for this session, lots of manipulatives.

Speakers

John Felling

presenter, Box Cars And One Eyed Jacks

The workshops and seminars John Felling presents are engaging, informative, fun, and hands-on. In his workshops, teachers learn a variety of games and activities (new ones every year), closely tied to provincial curriculum standards. The games and activities presented integrate easily... Read More →

Thursday February 20, 2025 9:00am - 10:00am MST
RDP Room 2303

Special Education (TQS 3), Division 4 (Gr 10-12), Division 3 (Gr 7-9) | Language Arts (TQS 3), Division 4 (Gr 10-12), Division 3 (Gr 7-9)

10:20am MST

Shake Up Your Operational Fluency

Thursday February 20, 2025 10:20am - 11:20am MST

RDP Room 2303

Come prepared to shake rattle and roll and get your operational fluency practice rolling with Box Car favorite games and strategies for practicing the following concepts: basic addition and subtraction facts including doubles, make 10, using number lines, commutative and associative properties, multiplication basic facts including square facts, using arrays, patterns and skip counting, commutative and associative properties. Games are easy to differentiate and can be used whole class, small group or in centers. Games will integrate regular dice, math shakers, and multi-sided dice, highly engaging manipulatives for all students. Handout will contain games, concept skill checklists for assessment. Be ready for a fast paced, hands-on session!

Speakers

John Felling

presenter, Box Cars And One Eyed Jacks

Thursday February 20, 2025 10:20am - 11:20am MST
RDP Room 2303

Special Education (TQS 3), Division 2 (Gr 4-6), Division 1 (Gr 1-3) | Mathematics (TQS 3), Division 2 (Gr 4-6), Division 1 (Gr 1-3)

11:40am MST

Hands-on Minds On: The Intersection of Trades and STEM in K-12 Education

Thursday February 20, 2025 11:40am - 12:40pm MST

RDP Room 2303

Dive into an Alberta-based STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) initiative in partnership with Lethbridge Polytechnic that enriches K-12 education with practical trades experience. The session features an interactive opportunity for you to be in your students’ shoes to explore and engage with our free digital and hands-on resources. We'll start with a brief overview of the project and its connections to the mathematics and science curricula and industry. You will then spend the majority of the session interacting with the activities and resources that can be immediately implemented into your practice. We will seek your feedback on classroom application and potential resources. You’ll leave better equipped to answer the question of “Why do I need to learn this?” by connecting mathematics and science concepts to students’ everyday lives.

Speakers

Jöelle Lavergne

Kiri Stolz

Your Partner in STEM - Lethbridge Polytechnic

Lethbridge Polytechnic

Lethbridge Polytechnic: Your Partner in STEM are passionate advocates for the intersection of trades and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) subjects in K-12 education. They play pivotal roles in developing and implementing an innovative STEM initiative in collaboration... Read More →

Thursday February 20, 2025 11:40am - 12:40pm MST
RDP Room 2303

Mathematics (TQS 3), Division 2 (Gr 4-6), Division 1 (Gr 1-3) | Technology (TQS/LQS 2), Division 2 (Gr 4-6), Division 1 (Gr 1-3) | Science (TQS 3), Division 2 (Gr 4-6), Division 1 (Gr 1-3)

1:00pm MST

Priority Outcomes and Prerequisite Skills

Thursday February 20, 2025 1:00pm - 2:00pm MST

RDP Room 2303

Research shows that investing time in identifying and developing lagging prerequisite skills leads to better outcomes for new learning. This session will seek to answer
How do we identify priority outcomes and the prerequisite skills needed to master them?
What do we know about the development of knowledge and skills--looking at cognitive skills through the work of Bloom, Webb and Hess?
How do we assess student prerequisite skills before new learning?
Once we know what skills are lagging, how do we support students to develop them?
How do we scaffold learning to support prerequisite skill development?
At each stage, participants will be invited to develop ideas to use in their classroom practice.

Speakers

Shelly Cloke

Teacher

A former high school principal, vice principal, secondary teacher and instructional coach, I am currently teaching Grade 7 Language Arts and Social Studies at HW Pickup School in Drayton Valley, as well as a casual Alberta Assessment Consortium contract presenter. My career-long passion... Read More →

Thursday February 20, 2025 1:00pm - 2:00pm MST
RDP Room 2303

Curriculum & Pedagogy (TQS 3), Division 3 (Gr 7-9), Division 4 (Gr 10-12) | Assessment (TQS 3), Division 3 (Gr 7-9), Division 4 (Gr 10-12)

2:20pm MST

The W.I.S.E Choice: A simple and effective formula for emotionally controlled decision making.

Thursday February 20, 2025 2:20pm - 3:20pm MST

RDP Room 2303

In the face of adversity, it is common to feel engulfed by stress, anxiety, and overwhelming emotions. Learning to navigate and master these emotional challenges is pivotal in steering clear of decisions that can derail our lives.

Through the experience of losing his hand and almost his life, Levi teaches valuable strategies for approaching decision-making with clarity and intention, fostering a mindset crucial in shifting from being a victim to becoming an achiever and from following others to leading with confidence.

Attendees will leave the event understanding the following:

By mastering the art of managing our thoughts, we have the ability to steer our emotions towards making logical and sound judgments.

How to assess the cost-benefit dynamics: evaluating the trade-offs between our decisions and their ensuing consequences.

The necessity of research to comprehend the full scope of a situation before responding, as every narrative presents multiple sides for consideration.

Encouraging thoughtful reflection on how our decisions impact the lives of those we hold dear, fostering a sense of responsibility and empathy in our choices.

Recognizing that our errors and misjudgments are inherent in the human experience, vital for personal development when we can learn from them and move forward.

Speakers

Levi Stanford

Keynote Speaker - Comedian - Musician

Only five days after marrying his beautiful wife, Levi was involved in an accident that not only led to the amputation of his left hand but also left him fighting for his life. Upon waking up from a medically induced coma, Levi was filled with immense gratitude for his second chance... Read More →

Thursday February 20, 2025 2:20pm - 3:20pm MST
RDP Room 2303

Health and Wellness (TQS 3), Division 3 (Gr 7-9), Division 4 (Gr 10-12) | School Leadership (LQS 1-9), Division 3 (Gr 7-9), Division 4 (Gr 10-12) | Counselling & Student Support (TQS/LQS 4), Division 3 (Gr 7-9), Division 4 (Gr 10-12) | Fostering Effective Relationships (TQS/LQS 1), Division 3 (Gr 7-9), Division 4 (Gr 10-12)

9:00am MST

Novel Studies - How to do it well!

Friday February 21, 2025 9:00am - 10:00am MST

RDP Room 2303

Do your students hate reading? Do they struggle to complete tasks/assignments due to lack of engagement? Please join us for engaging ways to teach novels that will have your students asking, “Are we going to read today?” We will be going through a variety of different novels for different grade levels/abilities, as well as different approaches to novels and reading, strategies to build literacy and comprehension skills, tasks to develop academic writing, the gathering of evidence, critical analysis of the text and creative hands on projects.

Speakers

Joanna Zakus

Joanna has a BA History and a BEd Secondary Social Studies. She has been teaching primarily social studies and humanities for the last 20 years at the junior high level. Joanna currently is a teacher at a junior high school with the Calgary Board of Education. She focuses on interactive... Read More →

Nicholle Morrison

Teacher, Calgary Board of Ed.

Nicholle has a BA in Sociology and a BEd Education. She has taught for 14 years. She began by primarily teaching elementary grades 5 and 6 and then 9 years teaching social studies and humanities at the junior high level. Nicholle currently is a high school Social Studies teacher with... Read More →

Friday February 21, 2025 9:00am - 10:00am MST
RDP Room 2303

Language Arts (TQS 3), Division 3 (Gr 7-9)

10:20am MST

Writing for Social Studies (Div 3 and 4)

Friday February 21, 2025 10:20am - 11:20am MST

RDP Room 2303

Are you struggling to develop your student’s academic social studies writing skills? This is the session for you! We will be focusing on paragraph structure building towards essay writing and interpreting sources and developing critical written responses leading to the source analysis. The scope and sequence from grade 7 to high school written tasks will be examined. We will be providing PowerPoint lessons, tasks, templates and exemplars for a variety of different grades and abilities.

Speakers

Joanna Zakus

Nichole Morrison

Friday February 21, 2025 10:20am - 11:20am MST
RDP Room 2303

Language Arts (TQS 3), Division 3 (Gr 7-9), Division 4 (Gr 10-12) | Social Studies (TQS 3), Division 3 (Gr 7-9), Division 4 (Gr 10-12)

11:40am MST

Gr 9 - Engaging Projects

Friday February 21, 2025 11:40am - 12:40pm MST

RDP Room 2303

Do you struggle engaging your students with the topics of government and economics? Want your students to think critically and build skills? This session will walk you through a variety of different tasks that can be interactive, develop critical thinking skills, work to apply knowledge and interpret a variety of sources. Tasks range from government simulations, YCJA scenarios and trials, cross curricular ELA texts/resources, economic simulations, videos to support learning, propaganda, etc.

Speakers

Joanna Zakus

Nichole Morrison

Friday February 21, 2025 11:40am - 12:40pm MST
RDP Room 2303

Social Studies (TQS 3), Division 3 (Gr 7-9) | Language Arts (TQS 3), Division 3 (Gr 7-9)

1:00pm MST

ELA and SS - Engaging Tasks Connected to Conflict

Friday February 21, 2025 1:00pm - 2:00pm MST

RDP Room 2303

Want to bring conflict and military history to life in your classroom? Want your students to connect to different challenges associated with people's experiences with conflict? Want your students to think critically and build skills? We will be looking at a variety of different conflicts connected to the curriculum (EG: War of 1812, Conquest of the Americas, Remembrance Day, etc.) in social studies as well as a variety of different ELA texts that have conflict as a theme (EG: The Sniper, War Poetry, songs connected to war and peace, etc.). Students get to explore and understand situations where individuals are interacting with conflict and war and the consequences individually and for society. There are many connections to be made to other times in world history to allow students to critically think about the movement of peoples. You will walk away with the complete lessons, activities, projects and resources.

Speakers

Joanna Zakus

Nicholle Morrison

Teacher, Calgary Board of Ed.

Friday February 21, 2025 1:00pm - 2:00pm MST
RDP Room 2303

Language Arts (TQS 3), Division 3 (Gr 7-9), Division 2 (Gr 4-6) | Social Studies (TQS 3), Division 3 (Gr 7-9), Division 2 (Gr 4-6)