Literacy Day in Brantford:

  • 350 second and third year concurrent education students were inspired during Dr. David Booth's Literacy Day presentations. Focused on developing critical literacy, David's presentations included a mosaic of strategies to meet students' diverse needs and interests, including use of multi-modal text. (Brantford Campus, March 2010)

What's NEW in Literacy?:

  • The Nipissing Campus held an Invitational Conference for 100 teachers from four districts in the North Bay Region. (North Bay Campus, May 2009)
  • Our Brantford Campus also hosted a conference for 150 teachers, administrators, and consultants from the local school boards. This special event featured well known literacy experts David Booth and Larry Swartz. Lisa Donohue, author of Independent Reading Inside the Box, children's author Frieda Wishinsky, and Kathy Gould-Lundy offered sessions on topics such as innovative approaches to writing and integrating literacy and the arts. (Brantford Campus, October 2009)

Going Graphic:

  • Co-sponsored with Lynda Marshall and the Near North School District, 100 Teachers (Grades 6 through 12) participated in a conference focused on The Use of Graphic Novels in the English Classroom. (North Bay Campus, February 2009)

Other Initiatives:

The Brantford campus is the site for ongoing professional development in the area of Early Learning for two local school boards.  Kindergarten teachers from across the Grand Erie District School Board and the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic School Board along with teachers from the Six Nations reserve attended workshops provided by part-time instructor Jenny Guibert. Topics ranged from early literacy and numeracy (independent writing, phonemic awareness, read aloud program, developmental stages and assessment) as well as activity centre set up and classroom management.  The workshops were held in a model Early Learning Classroom/Teaching Room which provides teachers with examples of teaching strategies, classroom organization and student work. Nipissing will also be the host site for “Early Learning Networking Sessions” for teachers from the two boards who will meet regularly to collaborate on implementation strategies for the Full Day Early Learning and Kindergarten Program.