Archives of Past Events
Choose from the links below to access archived footage from past webcasts. You may choose from streaming video, online video on demand, or save a copy using the video downloads.
All Children Can Achieve: A Focus on Equity of Outcome
March 8, 2007: Effective educators believe that all children can learn. Each child, each school, and each community has a unique identity which includes strengths and challenges. Understanding both and responding with skill and sensitivity allows the education system to support all students in reaching their full potential.
This webcast explores the current demographic realities that exist in Ontario, including socio-economic status and other related factors such as linguistic and ethno-cultural background. It will highlight how proactive educators committed to equity of outcome for all students are having a positive impact on student learning and well-being.
Building Upon Our Successes
September 28, 2006: This webcast discusses strategies designed to meet the diverse needs of all students, including particular learners that may be "at risk" such as Aboriginal learners, black learners, English language learners, boys, and students in special education programs. It is intended to stimulate professional dialogue, collaborative problem-solving and action focused on improved student learning.
Character Development Initiative Symposium
October 15 and 16, 2006: Focused on developing the whole student as a learner, and becoming an active member of the school and broader community, this symposium aims to develop our collective knowledge and experiences in helping all students succeed.
Coaching for Student Success in Mathematics
June 28, 2007: What does it mean to coach for student success in mathematics? Coaching for student success isn't just about having a numeracy coach. It is about including everyone in contributing to the improvement of numeracy instruction and student learning and achievement in mathematics.
During this webcast, you will become familiar with some key notions of numeracy coaching from the experiences of Ontario classroom teachers, principals, consultants, superintendents, and math education researchers. These educators will offer several examples of effective instructional strategies that are applicable in classrooms and in job-embedded professional learning contexts.
Creating Capacity for Learning: Leading Learning Communities
Wednesday June 14, 2006: This webcast features Dr. Louise Stoll as she shares current research and evidence-based information regarding the power of professional learning communities.
Critical Literacy
November 29, 2007: Today's students live in the information age, saturated with enormous amounts of information that come to them instantly and in a multitude of formats. They must become critical consumers and users of information in order to be successful in school and beyond. Critical literacy allows students to be active participants as they respond to and create texts of all types. It provides students with a lens through which to look critically at written, visual, spoken, multimedia and performance texts, to challenge the intent and content, and to get the most enjoyment and deepest meaning out of text.
The student's classroom learning experiences must help them assume a critical stance when responding to or creating texts. They need to uncover how texts are constructed and how they work. Students need to understand what texts are attempting to do and they need to move toward taking an active, meaning-making stance toward texts.
This webcast will explore what critical literacy is, why it is essential, and what it might look like in an elementary classroom.
Culture and Pedagogy in Ontario French-Language Schools
December 18, 2006: The French-language school is a place of learning devoted to the academic success and personal growth of all its students. It plays a crucial role in the creation and preservation of a culturally rewarding space where young people can develop a strong sense of belonging within structured surroundings. This webcast introduces the seven principles of the Pedagogy and Culture project: identity building, fulfilling environments, oral communication, self-accountability, academic congruity, evidence for an emerging leadership, and assessment. It also details the historical perspective of the project.
Differentiated Instruction: Continuing the Conversation
Wednesday, March 29, 2006: Featuring Dr. Jeffrey Wilhelm, Dr. Lyn Sharratt, Elizabeth Coelho and Camille Williams-Taylor. This webcast explores differentiated instruction as a means to achieve equity of outcome, and improved student achievement for all students.
Differentiating Mathematics Instruction
May 28, 2008: What does differentiating mathematics instruction mean to you? What differentiated instructional strategies have you used in your classroom? What are some challenges to implementing such strategies?
In a general sense, any differentiated instructional approach is based on the premise that instructional approaches should vary and be adapted in relation to the diverse students in the classroom so that students have multiple options for engaging with and making sense of mathematical ideas and strategies. Any model of differentiated instruction requires teachers to be flexible and adaptable in their teaching rather than expecting students to modify themselves to the curriculum program and class instruction. Yet, for mathematics teaching and learning, careful attention must be paid to the mathematics content and learning processes.
During this webcast, you will develop an understanding of purpose and rationale for differentiated mathematics instruction; relate initial assessment (diagnostic) and assessment for learning (formative) to differentiation strategies; and become familiar with several classroom strategies for differentiating mathematics instruction.
Dr. Allan Luke: The New Literacies
May 31, 2007: Dr. Allan Luke is an educator, author, activist, and international researcher and policy change agent in all Australian states as well as New Zealand, Singapore, and Hong Kong. His work has influenced educators globally, including in Canada and the United States.
In this webcast, Dr. Luke presents his views and provides an international perspective on the new literacies, with a focus on the importance of helping our students develop in the area of critical literacy.
Dr. Ben Levin
Wednesday, May 10, 2005: Dr. Ben Levin, Deputy Minister of Education for Ontario, speaks to the teachers and administrators of Ontario and responds to questions.
Dr. Michael Fullan
Wednesday, June 7, 2005: Dr. Michael Fullan speaks to the teachers and administrators of Ontario and responds to questions.
Effective Instruction in Reading Comprehension
October 25, 2006: Comprehension is central to effective communication. It does not happen after reading or viewing, but rather throughout the process; before, during and after. In order to make meaning, students need to know how language and words work and what strategies they as communicators need to utilize in order to critically analyze, make or convey meaning. They need to understand that the skills, strategies and behaviours they develop as proficient communicators, are transferable to all content areas within school and beyond. This webcast will explore key messages related to effective instruction in reading comprehension.
Effective Leaders...Successful Students: The Time is Now! Symposium
September 27 and 28, 2006: Featuring webcasts of the plenary sessions and selected workshops from The Second Annual Symposium for Supervisory Officers, sponsored by the Ministry of Education in cooperation with The Supervisory Officers of Ontario.
This webcast features Dr. Louise Stoll as she shares current research and evidence-based information regarding the power of professional learning communities.
Enseignement différencié: poursuivre le dialogue
May 3, 2007: A commitment to the academic achievement of all students requires a system-wide approach involving all stakeholders in the field. Such an approach insists upon high expectations for student achievement, efficient allocation of resources, judicious use of classroom time, and teaching practices adapted to the specific needs of students, which all contribute to differentiated learning.
To differentiate learning, one must "eschew conventional teaching – the same lesson and the same problems for all – but, above all, it is to establish organized work and academic structures that will provide everyone with optimal circumstances."
(Perrenoud, 1997, Pédagogie différenciée : des intentions à l'action, p. 1)
This webcast is only available in French.
Finding Common Ground: Character Development in Ontario Schools, K-12
December 11, 2006: Finding Common Ground: Character Development in Ontario Schools, K-12 features provincial and international experts in the field of character development. You will hear educators discuss the essential role character development plays in addressing the cognitive, affective and behavioural domains of the whole student. This webcast is intended to stimulate reflection and dialogue around how character development is embedded in the life of learning communities to support students in realizing their full potential as responsible and capable students, individuals and global citizens.
Getting to 75%...Together
September, 2005: A partnership between The Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat and the Supervisory Officers of Ontario. There are webcasts of the plenary sessions presented at this symposium.
High-Yield Strategies for Improving Mathematics Instruction and Student Learning
February 26, 2008: How can schools learn about and implement high-yield strategies that address the learning needs of all students? Which high-yield strategies improve students' mathematical thinking, use of problem-solving strategies, and mathematical communication?
During this webcast, you will become familiar with several high-yield strategies for teaching and learning mathematics through problem solving. Within the professional learning contexts of co-teaching and teacher inquiry/study, you will experience the different ways that teachers can be:
- Using mathematics curriculum expectations for their curriculum planning, instruction, and assessment.
- Preparing themselves to anticipate a possible range of mathematical thinking in response to lesson problems.
- Activating students' mathematics learning and experiences.
- Providing time, space, and learning materials for students to construct mathematical understanding.
- Coordinating students' sharing of solutions to make explicit mathematical ideas, strategies, and solutions to a lesson problem and to improve students' mathematics communication.
High-yield Strategies to Improve Student Learning
May 2, 2008: Today's classrooms are filled with learners whose strengths are as diverse as their needs. In order to teach all students effectively to build on strengths while zeroing in on areas that need more attention teachers must have an extensive repertoire of strategies. Based on assessment data, research, experience and professional observations, The Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat has selected a sampling of high-yield strategies to illustrate effective classroom practices.
Hon. Gerard Kennedy
Wednesday, September 21, 2005: The Honourable Gerard Kennedy, Minister of Education for Ontario speaks to the teachers and administrators of Ontario and responds to questions.
Kindergarten Matters: Building Blocks for Learning
January 30, 2007: Kindergarten is a magical place where children and adults grow and learn together! By carefully observing and documenting children's strengths and areas for future learning in terms of the whole child, Kindergarten teachers plan purposeful and playful learning experiences that enrich each child socially, emotionally, and intellectually. In this webcast, you will step inside a Kindergarten classroom that is alive with authentic learning experiences that engage young children in thinking, reading, writing, speaking, listening, creating, representing, and problem-solving in a wonderfully integrated fashion.
Leadership and School Improvement
October 4, 2007: Educators striving to achieve the complex goal of "success for all students" understand that the best results are achieved through a whole-school approach and the involvement of a wide range of partners playing key roles in student learning. A whole-school approach ensures high expectations of student achievement, an optimal use of resources, the judicious management of learning time, and teaching methods adapted to the various needs of the students. Leadership is one of the key elements for student success. School principals, literacy leaders, teachers, parents and the community play important roles in establishing the school's priorities and an effective learning environment.
This webcast is only available in French.
Leadership for Ontario Schools (Special Webcast)
April 30, 2007: Leaders of the 21st century know that yesterday's education is not sufficient for today's learners. Effective leaders today are learners first and foremost. They know that if they are going to make the required changes in student learning, they must dramatically increase the skill and knowledge level of every educator in the system.
This webcast will introduce you to directors, superintendents, and principals who are instructional leaders within their school districts. You will learn how they are managing the complexities of school improvement, and how they make available the skill and knowledge that enable people to do things they either have not yet been able to do or have not yet learned to do – and that involves connecting people to sources of knowledge and skill outside of their own workplace. This webcast will also show how effective leaders connect people within the workplace and substantially increase the type of professional learning that has a focus on instruction and is designed to enhance student achievement.
Leading Student Achievement: Our Principal Purpose
August, 2005: A partnership between The Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat and the Provincial Principals' Associations (ADFO, CPCO and OPC). There are webcasts of the plenary sessions presented at this symposium.
Leading Student Achievement: Our Principal Purpose
Friday, April 1, 2005: Presentations are given by Dr. Avis Glaze, Chief Assessment Officer of The Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat; R. Douglas Acton, President of OPC; Patrick Murray, President of CPCO; Claire Thibideau, President of ADFO; Dr. Michael Fullan; The Honourable Dalton McGuinty, Premier of Ontario; Dr. Ben Levin, Deputy Minister of Education for Ontario.
Learning Mathematics Within Contexts
October 30, 2007: What is the purpose of understanding students' mathematical knowledge at the start of a lesson? What is the significance of contexts for student learning of mathematics? Why is it important for teachers to solve mathematical problems that they will use during their classroom lessons?
During this webcast, you will develop an understanding of the landscape of learning, in terms of fractions and ratios; experience strategies for solving mathematics problems in order to anticipate the range of mathematical knowledge and skills that students could demonstrate; and become familiar with strategies for designing lesson problems that provoke students' mathematical thinking and learning.
Literacy for All with David Booth
Wednesday, October 5, 2005: David Booth, literacy expert from O.I.S.E., speaks to prospective teachers at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, followed by a question and answer period with a group of teachers from the Rainbow School district in Sudbury, Ontario.
Littératie chez les garçons — Perspectives d'avenir : Lire, c'est conquérir le monde! (Webémission spéciale)
May 17, 2007: Boys' literacy is part of a comprehensive process that has brought all education stakeholders in Ontario to reflect upon the academic achievement gap between girls and boys. The Boys' Literacy Teacher Inquiry initiative of the Ministry of Education is intended to support teachers in using a reflective-practice process to identify effective strategies for improving boys' literacy achievement levels.
This webcast is only available in French.
Making Mathematics Accessible to All Students
March 29, 2007: Do you believe that all students can learn and do significant mathematics? What key conditions can teachers and school leaders put into place to ensure that all students have access to learning significant mathematics? What key high-yield strategies enable students to understand mathematics deeply?
This webcast will explore some research and illustrate several effective teaching practices in elementary mathematics classrooms. It will demonstrate effective strategies that engage all students in learning mathematics.
Making Sense of Reading Instruction: Grades 4 to 6
January 31, 2007: Reading is one of the keys to success across the curriculum within school and beyond. It has the capacity to broaden our children's world view and deepen their understanding of themselves as individuals within that world. Reading must always be about thinking and making meaning. This webcast explores the classroom as a literate culture within which effective reading instruction takes place and is able to support students as they develop into proficient communicators.
Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching with Dr. Deborah Loewenberg Ball
Wednesday, November 2, 2005: Dr. Deborah Loewenberg Ball, Interim Dean of the School of Education and William H. Payne Collegiate Professor at the University of Michigan speaks about mathematics education.
Networked Learning Communities
January 30, 2008: Networks provide educators with opportunities to interact and learn from and on behalf of each other, both within the boundaries of their own schools and boards or far beyond those traditional boundaries. These networks take many forms and can include members who represent one role or a variety of roles. Networks operate on the belief that when professionals come together and share their expertise, they build new knowledge, and that new understanding leads to a change in practice that will result in improved practice and student achievement.
This webcast will feature researcher Stephen Katz, who shares insights based on his experience and his research into what makes networks effective. It will also introduce various networks, each unique in their composition and operation. Webcast participants will share their goals, challenges, successes, and lessons learned from their network experiences.
Non-Fiction Writing
April 18, 2008: We live in the information age. Over 80% of the texts we encounter or create daily are non-fiction. It is essential that students develop the skills with which to make and convey meaning using non-fiction texts of all types.
Learning how to write non-fiction allows students to explore the depth and breadth of the world as it relates to their interests, lives, and the world beyond the classroom. They develop their own voice and learn how to form an opinion based on evidence. Students learn to assume a critical stance when responding to or creating media. Looking closely at media techniques, language structures, patterns, and word choice helps students develop into competent communicators.
This webcast will look at the teaching of non-fiction writing in four junior classrooms. You will see how teachers create environments that value talk and interaction, flexible groupings, active engagement, and collaborative learning.
La nouvelle approche de l'enseignement de la grammaire
November 30, 2007: When we think about grammar, the first thing that comes to mind is usually spelling, its numerous rules and its many exceptions, but there is more to grammar than that.
French grammar has gone through many changes in the past couple of years: knowledge building and French didactic methods have influenced the way we see the language now.
This webcast offers different approaches to reflect and discuss on the new approach to teach grammar.
This webcast is only available in French.
La numératie...la tangente à prendre
April 30, 2008: "What is the purpose of mathematics?" If you are a teacher, you are likely to have asked yourself this question dozens of times. During this webcast you will have access to interviews conducted during a symposium held in Ottawa in February 2008 entitled "La numératie...la tangente à prendre". This webcast is appropriate for teachers at any level- from elementary to secondary. We hope that this webcast will generate a wealth of ideas, rouse your own curiosity, as well as stimulate discussions with your colleagues. In order to do so, the webcast will allow you to see educational speakers that will share their knowledge and enthusiasm.
This webcast is only available in French.
Numération et sens du nombre – Les nombres naturels
March 31, 2008: In grade 5, students discover many new concepts
through the exploration and experimentation of illustrated or concrete materials,
personal and recognized algorithms and problem-solving strategies.
This webcast deals with the process of enumeration and numerical sense. To show this, a student is asked to associate a number to one that can be counted or measured in order to find out how many seats a theatre can hold.
This webcast is only available in French.
La Politique d'aménagement linguistique: le mandat des écoles de langue française / The mandate of French language schools
Wednesday, January 18, 2006: Michelle Boucher, French Language Policy and Programs Branch, Ministry of Education, presents the policy and its implications. This is simultaneously translated for English viewers.
Principals' Symposium: The School Effectiveness Framework: A Collegial Process for Continued Growth in the Effectiveness of Ontario Elementary Schools
September 17-21, 2007: Principals Symposium: The School Effectiveness Framework: A Collegial Process for Continued Growth in the Effectiveness of Ontario Elementary Schools was developed to assist boards and schools in sustaining a culture of continuous school improvement.
During the week of September 17–21, principals and supervisory officers gathered to learn more about the Framework. This webcast documents the proceedings at the two symposia.
Rethinking Classroom Assessment with Purpose in Mind
Thursday April 27, 2006: Dr. Lorna Earl provides insight into assessment as learning, assessment for learning, and assessment of learning. She discusses how different planning, use and reporting of assessment assists to promote student learning.
The School Effectiveness Framework
October 31, 2007: The School Effectiveness Framework is a resource intended to support educators in schools and boards in a self-assessment process in order to improve student achievement for all students.
The School Effectiveness Framework provides indicators to facilitate the critical analysis of the nine components of school effectiveness, including four essential and five locally selected components. This webcast will include video clips to illustrate the indicators mentioned for each of the four essential components.
School Effectiveness Framework Symposium for Principals of OFIP 3 Schools
November 28-29, 2007: Principals of OFIP 3 schools met to explore high-yield strategies, to develop strategies to engage the entire staff in the school improvement process and to learn from their colleagues. This webcast features a number guest speakers at the symposium as well as principals from across the province who have worked with their staffs to improve student learning and achievement.
Schools on the Move: Lighthouse Program
May 30, 2008: The context for Schools on the Move is the diversity of Ontario and the good work being done in schools across the province. Emerging from both the Schools on the Move themselves and the research literature are five major themes that describe the practices that are required to move schools forward:
- Monitoring student learning and setting direction
- Managing cultural change
- Focusing on teaching and learning
- Sharing and distributing leadership for learning
- Connecting with families and communities
Shared Reading: Continuing the Conversation
Shared Reading: Continuing the Conversation webcast includes a wealth
of ideas, strategies, and details to support your professional learning in the area of literacy instruction.
The teachers featured on this webcast share with you the shared reading practices that they find to be successful in improving student achievement. You will see teachers collaborating as they analyze assessment data and decide on next steps to meet the needs of all of their students.
Successful Practices in the Education of Black Students
Thursday, February 23, 2006: In Ontario today, there is evidence that Black students are facing many challenges in achieving success at school. The focus of this webcast is to illuminate the data that identifies this issue, and more importantly to share some evidence-based strategies which can be utilized to facilitate greater success for this group of students. In addition, specific examples in Ontario of the effectiveness of such strategies are highlighted.
Les tâches d'évaluation diagnostique en mathématiques
January 29, 2008: The diagnostic tools in mathematics allow us to determine if a student has mastered the prerequisites essential for the learning of a new concept.
This webcast will allow you to have deeper discussions in PLCs and to guide the planning for your learning. Indeed, you will see three teachers and a principal discussing many pedagogical components including backward planning, diagnostic evaluation, and student growth.
This webcast is only available in French.
Teacher Moderation: Collaborative Assessment of Student Work
September 10, 2007: Assessment has an impact on student learning. It influences the teacher's instructional decisions and informs the student as to his or her strengths, needs, and next steps. Assessment is a complex process and it is challenging to ensure that assessment is fair, valid and consistent for all students. One way to work toward consistently effective assessment practices is through a process called teacher moderation.
During this webcast, you will explore the teacher moderation process through the experiences of three Junior-division teachers as they come together to compare, confirm, and adjust judgments about their students' work. You will see how they collaborate to establish a shared understanding of the levels of achievement and of what learning or gaps in learning are revealed in each student's work. After analyzing the students' work samples, conferring with each other, and referring to anchors, rubrics, curriculum documents, and support materials, the teachers collaboratively determine where students should be and then "design down" to plan the next steps required to move the students forward in their learning.
Teaching and Learning in Multilingual Ontario
Wednesday, December 7, 2005: Elizabeth Coelho and Jim Cummins share successful practices for improving instruction for second language learners.
Unlocking Our Children's Potential: Literacy and Numeracy as a Foundation
Thursday, November 24 and Friday November 25, 2005: The Council of Ministers of Education Canada (CMEC) forum in partnership with The Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat, Ontario Ministry of Education presents Dr. Michael Fullan - Achieving Large Scale Reform, Sir Michael Barber - One Mission, One Opportunity and Three Metaphors, and Dr. Carmel Crévola - Making the Pieces Fit: Solving the Puzzle of Literacy Success.
Unlocking the Potential of Aboriginal Students
Wednesday, May 24, 2006: This webcast focuses on improving the achievement of Aboriginal students. Participants engage in professional dialogue, reflection, and appropriate actions based on research, effective practices, and current thinking of experts in the field of Aboriginal education.
Hosted by the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat in partnership with Curriculum Services Canada