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By Chris Brown

Conventions combined

Online teaching, mental health sessions key at annual teachers’ convention

Feb 19, 2021 | 1:56 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Teachers had the opportunity to become students this week at the annual Southeastern Alberta Teachers’ Convention.

The convention took place virtually on Thursday and Friday and this year it was combined with the southwestern Alberta conference giving teachers access to a wider range of speakers and topics.

“We have had a focus on connecting online, teaching online,” says Cam Bernhard, president of the Southeastern Alberta Teachers’ Convention. “Also some of the other topics and themes that we have that we focus on is of course education for reconciliation, mental health resiliency and various sessions around literacy/numeracy and curriculum-based sessions.”

Mental health was a big consideration for teachers and sessions, he adds.

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“We tried to make sure that we have sessions that allow teachers to not only support their students in this new reality of working at some points online and also in the classroom. But also their needs as well and looking teachers’ well being and both teachers and students’ mental health. So we do have a number of sessions that focus on that.”

Bernhard says the southeast convention usually services about 1,100 teachers and combining with the southwest convention meant 3,700 teachers involved. He said it offered exciting opportunities for teachers to connect with peers and tap into resources they might not have otherwise.