Opening Keynote:  Joel Hilchey 

Thursday, March 7, 2019   9:00 - 10:30 AM

Shaw Conference Centre (Salons 8-12)

In a world overwhelmed by the pressure to succeed, one educator is calling for a new focus. Education has a problem; Our "best" students consistently cheat, crumble after disappointment, and flounder without hand-holding. Worse still, they are driven only by grades. (…You know the question: “Will this be graded?”) Meanwhile, our most challenged students consistently disengage, drop out, and think the whole thing is a waste of time. In this lively and hilarious presentation, teachers will get concrete strategies on how to use failure to create resilient, capable, self-motivated students.

           

Closing Keynote:  Dr. Jody Carrington

Friday March 8, 2019  1:00-2:30 PM

Shaw Conference Centre (Salons 11-12)         

Dr. Jody Carrington is a Clinical Psychologist who has spent most of her career working with children and families who have experienced trauma. Growing up on a farm in rural Alberta, Canada, and after 13 years of post-secondary education, she took her first job on the Mental Health Inpatient Units of the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary. It was during those 10 years that she learned the most about kids, families, relationships, and the vital importance of connection. Today, she is back living in a rural setting, managing a private practice, raising a family, speaking around the country about relationships, connection and her new book, “Kids These Days”. Jody passionately believes in the power of the relationship with the people we love, lead, and teach. Her favourite thing on the planet to do is to speak with educators – they have the power to change the trajectory of a life every single day. It’s time, she believes, that we need to start focusing less on kids these days, and more on those of you who hold them every day. The core of everything she speaks and writes about comes down to this: we are wired to do hard things. We can do those hard things so much easier when we remember this: we are wired for connection.