An Oxford System-Wide Professional Learning Day
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2023
9:00 AM – 2:45 PM
This event is made possible by funding from the Province of Ontario and Oxford County.
Exploring relationships and connections as the foundation of early childhood education and care.
SCHEDULE
9:00 - 9:30AM Doors Open and Breakfast
9:30 - 10:00AM Welcome, Introductions, and Housekeeping
10:00 - 11:30AM Morning Keynote: Rosita Hall
11:30AM - 12:30PM Lunch
12:30 - 1:00PM Kahoot
1:00 - 2:30PM Afternoon Breakout Sessions
2:30 - 2:45PM End of Day
REGISTRATION
Registration opens on October 7, 2024 and closes on October 25, 2024.
Please be sure to register only once, based on the afternoon breakout you would like to attend. By registering for the afternoon breakout, you are registering for the full day.
Questions or concerns? Please email the Strive Team at info@striveswo.ca.
KEYNOTE SESSION
CARING FOR OURSELVES AND EACH OTHER
FACILITATED BY ROSITA HALL
In order to create a work environment that promotes belonging, connection, collaboration, resiliency, and respect for each other, employees must appreciate the importance of prioritizing their own health and recognize how not doing so can adversely affect their relationship with others and impact the overall success of the organization’s objectives.
Challenging times can be emotionally, mentally and physically draining. Are you ready to come up for air and boost your energy quotient? Are you ready to take the wheels off your ‘Worry Bus’, and start thinking of how you can implement daily self honoring strategies in order to revitalize yourself and others?
Participants will:
Create and implement a personal self honoring strategy that will assist them in improving their quality of life, build personal resiliency, and deal with challenges more effectively both on and off the job
Enhance team morale, foster the creation of a healthy work environment, and increase retention through the power of self honoring
Create an environment of belonging by prioritizing their own health, as well as the health of others - when we feel better, we do better
Practice the art of self honoring and discover how it enhances our ability to be authentic, to ask for help, and to communicate more effectively and with increased empathy towards others
With over 26 years spent in various leadership positions, Rosita inspires others to walk unapologetically in their authentic truth each day. Rosita encourages others to care deeply for their hearts and souls and to seize the opportunities with their name on it. Rosita holds a Bachelor of Social Work degree from the University of Windsor and has been operating her own speaking and consulting business - Motivated Minds for the past 23 years! Although Rosita is the recipient of several prestigious awards, she says her greatest accomplishment is the loving and fun relationship she has with her husband of forty years, her two adult sons, and her soon to be daughter-in-love.
AFTERNOON BREAKOUT SESSIONS
READY TO READ ALOUD: INTENTIONALLY BRINGING BOOKS TO LIFE
FACILITATED BY HOLLY BROWN AND SHANNON FOLLINGTON
LOCATED AT OXFORD AUDITORIUM
Discover how to boost your read-alouds and book engagement to a new level with Holly and Shannon, the Literacy Program Specialists from Oxford County Library. Learn about the research-based value of reading aloud, how to choose appropriate books, and how to amplify a book’s impact with intentional and interactive early literacy strategies and activities. Participants will be provided with guidance in how to plan, facilitate, and assess outcomes when conducting read-alouds. In this interactive workshop, Holly and Shannon will model an effective read-aloud that encourages children’s development of pre-reading skills, followed by participants practicing what they have learned in small groups.
Holly Brown empowers and motivates young people through sharing good books in family and children programs at Tillsonburg Branch of Oxford County Library. Some of her favourite library programs to facilitate include storytimes, STEAM-based Maker Mondays program, Level Up! Gaming Club, and library sleepovers with local Girl Guides groups. Holly began her career fostering youth development through facilitating art camps, followed by being a high school teacher, and then moved into non-profit community work serving low-income families and newcomers to Canada in Northeast London, Ontario as a Literacy Specialist. She soon fell in love with libraries and working holistically with families to boost literacy. Holly has worked at Tillsonburg Branch as the Literacy Program Specialist for four years and is currently pursuing a Masters of Library and Information Science part-time.
Shannon Follington found herself in the library world after graduating from the Concurrent Education program as a Primary Junior teacher. Throughout university Shannon worked in children’s programming at a museum and after graduating she worked as an EarlyON program facilitator. Shannon spent a lot of her childhood in her local library and always loved the atmosphere of possibilities there. She went on to get her Library and Information Technician diploma from Conestoga College and has worked within the Oxford County Library system in multiple roles for 6 years. Now a Literacy Program Specialist, Shannon has the opportunity to bring her passion for reading, early learning, and programming together while having fun along the way.