Glooscap Legends, Oral Histories and our Cultural Memory Timeline Gerald Gloade
Looking at the oral history, of our Mi’kmaw ancestors, we see that these legends were not just stories of fantasy and fancy. They were recollections of actual occurrences that took place here in what has become to be known as Nova Scotia. We are using the knowledge of these Legends to confirm the findings of many scientific disciplines.

Gerald Gloade is an artist, carver and educator from the Mi‘kmaq First Nation, Millbrook, Truro, Nova Scotia. Gerald started his career working as a Graphic Designer for the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources‘ Communications and Education Branch. The focus of his work with the Province moved from Forestry Education to Wildlife, Wildlife to Nature and then from Nature to Native. After 25 years with the Department of Natural Resources, Gerald is currently assigned to the Confederacy of Mainland Mi‘kmaq to work on the Mi'kmawey Debert Project through the Office of Aboriginal Affairs. Located near a 13,000 year old Paleo Indian site, the Mi'kmawey Debert Project's primary goal is to build a Mi'kmaw Cultural Centre to protect the sites and share their stories. As an artist, educator and Mi'kmaw storyteller, Gerald has become both an advocate and spokesperson for the project. In his capacity as the Program Development Officer for Mi'kmawey Debert he guides the development of visitor and educational programs for the future cultural centre. His stories and interpretations of the Kluskap legends have captured many audiences. This new position has taken Gerald and his wife Natalie, and their 2 sons, Gerald Donovan and Kyle, on the road throughout Mi'kma'ki, revisiting the Sacred Places found in the Kluskap legends.

Math Anxiety and Learning Disabilities Part 1: What Is It? What Does It Look Like?   Simone Le Gendre-King
This math workshop will take an in-depth look at math anxiety and math learning disabilities, how they present in the classroom and its impact on teaching and learning. The session will also explore validated tools to gauge learners' levels of math anxiety in order to inform praxis and identify strategies and resources that can help build learners’ self-efficacy as well as strengthen tutors’ understanding of numeracy for adults who struggle with numbers. This is Part 1 of a 2 part workshop series. Note: the session Math Anxiety & LD Part 1 is not a pre-requisite to attend the session Math Anxiety & LD Part 2.

Simone Le Gendre-King is the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) Curriculum Consultant with the Adult Education Division of the Department of Labour and Advanced Education. She has over 10 years of international experience working with diverse adult learners in both formal and informal educational settings with a focus on STEM subjects.

Introduction to Structured Reading Techniques for Struggling Readers   Amanda Stoddard
Research has shown that explicit, systematic instruction in the structure of the English language is most effective for struggling readers, such as persons with dyslexia. Even highly educated adults struggle with spelling, vocabulary, and comprehension if they have dyslexia. Amanda will share the tools and resources gained from her experience teaching ESL abroad, training public school English teachers in Malaysia, adopting a holistic approach to reading instruction at a Reggio Emilia inspired pre-school, and current training in the Orton-Gillingham Approach. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in several activities and be given access to resources they can use immediately with their learners.

Amanda Stoddard has over 16 years experience teaching English Communication in a variety of settings and ages all over Asia, and now in Dartmouth. Amanda has a passion for remedial reading practices, and is an advocate for structured reading approaches coupled with holistic practices that are inclusive and accessible to all learners.

Equity-Centered Assessment Practices   Kate Snyder, Jill Provoe and Shakira Weatherdon
This workshop will assist faculty in designing assessments that embody cognitive, cultural and interdisciplinary diversity. The session will use theories, examples, and quality indicators to demonstrate ways to apply culturally responsive practices and universal design for learning principles in building equity-centered assessment practices. Session participants will leave with resources that provide opportunities for continued reflection and growth aligned with an equity-centered approach. At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• describe the influences of cultural norms, biases and expectations in the design and implementation of equity-centered educational assessment.
• apply an equity-centered approach to designing formative and summative assessment.

Kate Snyder is the Special Advisor, Teaching & Learning at NSCC. She is an educator who has taught in both P-12 and post-secondary educational settings in Canada and the US. Kate has a doctorate in education and teaching certification in middle school education, P-12 special education, and reading intervention. Much of her work over the past ten years has been in teacher education and professional development and she currently collaborates with NSCC faculty and staff to design equitable learning environments and to promote educational practices that engage all students.

Jill Provoe, Senior Advisor, Educational Equity (NSCC) is a bi-racial woman from Cape Breton Island and holds a degree in Public Relations, along with two Master’s Degrees in Human Ecology and in Education. In her previous role as Dean, School of Access, she was responsible for managing access programs across the province to provide pathways for, specifically, racialized and marginalized students. Currently in the role of Senior Advisor to the Vice-President Academic on Educational Equity at Nova Scotia Community College, she is responsible for building a framework and organizational structure to grow and sustain a culture of equity within Academic and across the college community.

Shakira Weatherdon is a respected trainer with nearly a decade of experience in sexualized violence, equity and inclusion. She provides subject matter expertise and leads the implementation of equity-related programs and services at the Nova Scotia Community College as the Equity and Inclusion Consultant. Her passion is supporting organizations to create safer, more welcoming, and inclusive environments. Shakira received her MA in Gender and Peacebuilding from the United Nations mandated University, for Peace and her Honors Bachelor of Arts in Gender and Development Studies from the University of Toronto.

Human Rights Awareness Education   Tinaye K. Manyimo
Participants will receive an overview of Human Rights in Canada and Nova Scotia. This experiential reflective workshop will look at aspects of history, terminology, legislation, barriers and drivers with respect to Human Rights. Our discussion will allow us to have an engaging conversation on best practices, share resources and be informed on what we can do in our roles as learners, educators and community members to reduce barriers. Designed with group exercises, video clips, pop quizzes and a series of debriefs, the session will aim to maximize participant engagement and knowledge transfer.

Tinaye K. Manyimo is a consultant for Shumba Consulting, a small business in Halifax with a mission to focus on diversity and inclusion, and to work with organizations to develop and deliver engaging and impactful workplace education and management solutions. Tinaye has a Bachelor of Business Administration in Organizational Behavior and Industrial Relations and Bachelor of Arts and Community Studies from Cape Breton University. He also has a Certificate in Adult Education and a Certificate in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution from Dalhousie University. His journey as a Diversity and Inclusion practitioner has been facilitated through successful past occupations in student/human rights advocacy, and retail, finance, government and post-secondary education. Tinaye is currently a member of the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion as an Individual Practitioner. As a Human Rights advocate, educator and lifelong learner, Tinaye’s goal is to courageously facilitate through collaboration, the transfer of knowledge and practice of diversity and inclusion in the workplace and our community.

ALP Online – The 3-C Recipe to Reduce Barriers Karla Wilms
Interested in reaching and keeping students through flexible pathways? Seven years ago, we launched online ALP efforts with the 3 C's - comfort, course outline clarity and communication as our foundation to guide best practice. We have been in growth mode ever since. Word of mouth is filling our online courses in ways we never expected. Retention rates are amazing. We will show you some of our courses and demonstrate how we communicate and give feedback. You will have lots of opportunity to ask questions and speak directly with faculty. Join us to learn how we structure the team, how we advise, how we connect, how feedback is given and get a sneak peek of what could be next.

Karla Wilms has been an educator for thirty years. She started teaching in the P-12 system, and joined Workplace Literacy in early 90's. Karla taught at NSCC and ran customized efforts from Shelburne Campus, and then part-time studies provincially for NSCC. Karla is now the academic chair/site manager at Shelburne Campus for Schools of Access and Health & Human Services, in addition to being the lead academic chair responsible for online ALP initiatives.

Math Anxiety and Learning Disabilities Part 2: Activities and Strategies   Lyssa Steponaitis
Join former HCLN GED instructor and math whiz Lyssa Steponaitis for some creative ideas on making math fun for those working toward passing the GED math test or facing other math difficulties. She has experience with students with learning differences such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, or dyscalculia, or another difference such as an Autistic or Asperger’s diagnosis. An inspiring challenge for her is to create opportunities for all learners to learn in ways that appeal to their learning style and needs. Expect to explore and practice activities, games, puzzles and riddles; you will leave with not only these, but also strategies to try with your students, tutees and classes. Note: the session Math Anxiety & LD Part 1 is not a pre-requisite to attend the session Math Anxiety & LD Part 2.

Lyssa Steponaitis has been teaching for over 10 years in Middle School Math and Science, and before that, had broad experience in the not-for-profit sector. Lyssa has a clear memory of the challenges encountered by students in middle school and beyond. Since moving back to Nova Scotia in the summer of 2018, Lyssa spent time working as the Halifax Community Learning Network's GED instructor, substituting all over the Halifax Regional Center for Education at different levels, and is currently at the Halifax Independent School covering for a maternity leave in middle school math. Lyssa strongly believes that if individuals "don't like" math, that they have not yet found the right teacher or the best way to interact with the subject.

Introduction to Structured Reading Techniques for Struggling Readers   Amanda Stoddard
Research has shown that explicit, systematic instruction in the structure of the English language is most effective for struggling readers, such as persons with dyslexia. Even highly educated adults struggle with spelling, vocabulary, and comprehension if they have dyslexia. Amanda will share the tools and resources gained from her experience teaching ESL abroad, training public school English teachers in Malaysia, adopting a holistic approach to reading instruction at a Reggio Emilia inspired pre-school, and current training in the Orton-Gillingham Approach. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in several activities and be given access to resources they can use immediately with their learners.

Amanda Stoddard has over 16 years experience teaching English Communication in a variety of settings and ages all over Asia, and now in Dartmouth. Amanda has a passion for remedial reading practices, and is an advocate for structured reading approaches coupled with holistic practices that are inclusive and accessible to all learners.

Building Safer Places in Your Classroom: The LGBTQ+ Factor Daniel Clairmont and Dana Osmond
This workshop will include information with first person stories in different media formats, as well as audience participation through question and answer format on these topics:

• Transgender-appropriate language for teachers
• Promotion of equity for members of the LGBTQ+ community
• Recognition of Cisgender and heteronormative biases and privileges
• Honouring everyone’s unique history and identity related to gender and sexual orientation
• Discussion of unique interaction between trauma and these unique populations, and intersectionality with other traumas including that experienced through educational experiences thus far
• Preparation for non-cisgender and heteronormative students to survive and thrive in different work environments post-education

Daniel Clairmont (MSW, RSW) is a local mental health practitioner specializing in trauma and serving the LGBTQ+ community in rural Nova Scotia. He has a history of working with at-risk-youth, youth experiencing homelessness, mandated clients and those struggling with addictions. He has attended at specialized training for transition assessments for transgender clients, and also serves on the Board of Directors for the LGBTQ+ Alliance Centre of Yarmouth.

Dana Osmond has been working in adult literacy since 2010 in Shelburne and Yarmouth counties. She serves on the Board of Directors for the LGBTQ+ Alliance Centre of Yarmouth, as well as a lengthy involvement in promoting individuals’ stories within rural communities through advocacy, photography and volunteer work. She expertly combines lived experience, collaboration with other professionals, and study, to foster increased connection and wellness for diverse communities.

Understanding Micro-aggressions   Tinaye K. Manyimo
What are micro aggressions and where do they come from? In this workshop, participants will use some key terminology and an unconscious bias lens to learn about micro-aggressions and discuss the social, cultural and environmental impacts they have in the workplace and community. Designed with group exercises, case studies, pop quizzes and a series of debriefs, the session will aim to maximize participant engagement and knowledge transfer. At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Describe the importance of land acknowledgments
• Demonstrate an understanding of the importance of pronoun checks
• Recognize and reflect on the assumptions we make and the impact they can have
• Identify and define relevant terminology with respect to unconscious bias, stereotypes and micro-aggressions
• Reflect on and express a deeper self-awareness of unconscious bias and understand how it can impact certain groups and individuals in the workplace, the classroom, and the community
• Recognize and describe the various forms and categories of micro-aggressions
• Demonstrate an awareness of existing resources, initiatives and information available to inform best practices in the workplace and in the community

Tinaye K. Manyimo is a consultant for Shumba Consulting, a small business in Halifax with a mission to focus on diversity and inclusion, and to work with organizations to develop and deliver engaging and impactful workplace education and management solutions. Tinaye has a Bachelor of Business Administration in Organizational Behavior and Industrial Relations and Bachelor of Arts and Community Studies from Cape Breton University. He also has a Certificate in Adult Education and a Certificate in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution from Dalhousie University. His journey as a Diversity and Inclusion practitioner has been facilitated through successful past occupations in student/human rights advocacy, and retail, finance, government and post-secondary education. Tinaye is currently a member of the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion as an Individual Practitioner. As a Human Rights advocate, educator and lifelong learner, Tinaye’s goal is to courageously facilitate through collaboration, the transfer of knowledge and practice of diversity and inclusion in the workplace and our community.

Opening Doors for Everyone (ODE) Amanda Grinter
ODE is a disability and inclusion awareness workshop focused around Nova Scotia’s Accessibility Act, the Business ACCESS-Ability Grant Program, and resources available to businesses across Nova Scotia. This training module is part of a province-wide accessibility roadshow providing businesses access to the very best in inclusion expertise at no charge. ODE will cover the following topics, ensuring you leave with a comprehensive tool kit of resources available while providing straight forward answers to your inclusion questions and addressing your business needs.

• Disability Awareness & The Importance of Inclusion
• NS Accessbility Act
• Accessing available grants/funding and partners
• The Ease of Accommodation
• Next Steps

Amanda Grinter is a program coordinator with reachAbility; a non-profit organization in Halifax that offers services to people facing barriers to wellness in their community. Their programs cover a wide range of topics including self-development, employment, physical and mental health, arts and recreation.

Reducing Barriers for Ex-offenders Andrea MacGregor and Audrey Arsenault
Audrey and Andrea will be discussing students who have had involvement in the Justice system - both pre-and-post-release. They will touch on the barriers these students face and discuss tips and strategies to help them succeed.

Andrea MacGregor has been teaching for almost 15 years, and has worked in a variety of positions, including as a high school teacher in Toronto and a grade three teacher in South Korea. She has also taught at the Nova Scotia Youth Facility, The Wood Street Center, and most recently, at the Northeast Nova Scotia Correctional Facility. Outside of work, she enjoys travel, cooking, and she is currently completing her Masters in Adult Education.

Audrey Arsenault has been the Academic Chair for the Schools of Access and Health and Human Services at the Pictou Campus of NSCC since 2004. Prior to that, she taught in the Adult Learning Program and at the High School level. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology; a Bachelor of Education; and a Masters in Higher Educational Leadership. She lives in Antigonish.

Boost Learning with Blended Learning! A Workshop for Instructors and Tutors of Adult Basic Education Marcia Franklin
What does “blended learning” mean, and what does it look like in the ABE environment? How do you implement a blended learning model, and why might you want to do so? If you’re interested in using blended learning to better your practice but aren’t sure where to begin, then this workshop is for you. It will broaden your instructional reach and boost learning by using blended learning. Specifically, this workshop will:

• Define blended learning
• Introduce you to different blended learning models
• Contextualize blended learning for the ABE environment
• Showcase examples of blended learning for ABE
• Highlight usable and affordable resources for blended delivery

Marcia Franklin is a learning specialist with experience in both classroom teaching and instructional design. She has taught EFL to middle school students (Bangkok), English and Psychology to high school students (Melbourne), and GED Prep to adult learners (Halifax), and has since shifted to instructional design. Since 2013, she has developed a range of eLearning and blended instructional solutions. Currently, Marcia leads instructional design projects at Bluedrop Training & Simulation. Previously, she led the development of eLearning lessons for adult basic education at Dartmouth Learning Network, as well as created eHealth courseware at the IWK. Marcia's passion is learning, and she's always looking to leverage the use of technology to improve learner outcomes. In December 2018, she completed UBC's Master of Educational Technology program.

Essential Skills for Atlantic Fisheries Information Session
Brenda Lavandier and Wendy Kraglund-Gauthier
The Government of Canada, the Province, and other national and international organizations have recognized that skills associated with literacy (i.e., reading, writing, document use, and numeracy) and thinking skills, oral communication, computer use/digital skills, working with others, and the skills associated with continuous learning are crucial for work, learning, and life. Currently, there are established models of essential skills training used across Canada in construction and mining and for Indigenous workers; however, there has been no established curriculum for the Atlantic fisheries, which is Atlantic Canada’s largest private sector employer. In response, the Literacy Coalition of New Brunswick (LCNB, 2018), in partnership with the PEI Literacy Alliance, Literacy Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador Laubach Literacy Council launched the project, Essential Skills for Atlantic Fisheries (ESAF), funded by the Government of Canada’s National Essential Skills Initiatives. The overall vision of the ESAF program is to deliver an innovative essential skills program through customized training that supports employment success and retention for the fisheries sector. This presentation is an update on the ESAF curriculum revisions component of the project and a discussion on the results of an environmental scan of other literacy essential skills programming across Canada. Participants are encouraged to share their experiences and effective practices embedding essential skills into their literacy curriculum and program delivery methods.

Brenda Lavandier is an adult educator and trainer with over ten years experience in program and curriculum delivery. Currently, she is the facilitator for the Practitioner Training Program with Literacy Nova Scotia, providing foundational training for adult literacy practitioners. In addition, she is an adult learning instructor, currently working with the Adult Learning Association of Cape Breton County, providing a variety of literacy and training opportunities for learners within CBRM. Brenda is keenly interested in helping people acquire the tools they need to help themselves and achieve their goals. As a community-minded individual, she strongly believes in inclusion, diversity, and building supporting relationships and partnerships, which in turn, helps to strengthen our communities.

Wendy Kraglund-Gauthier, PhD, is an educator, researcher, and life-long learner with over 25 years’ experience in K–12, post-secondary, and adult learning classrooms. Central to her work is achieving and facilitating sound teaching pedagogy in face-to-face and online classrooms to promote collaborative, safe learning for students of diverse ages, abilities, and backgrounds. She balances work at the Coady International Institute, StFX University as the Manager of Networks and Ongoing Learning with being a core faculty member with Yorkville University’s Faculty of Education where she coordinates the MEd capstone program and teaches graduate-level courses, including Foundations of Adult Education, Diversity in Adult Education, Teaching Adult Learners, and Philosophy and Ethics in Adult Education. Her consultant work fuels her passions for curriculum development, leadership, and workplace and personal skills development.

Education, Essential Skills and Empowerment (E3) Information Session
Simone Le Gendre-King, Andrew Stalker, Kristina Silmarie, Louise Sutherland
In 2016, the Adult Education Division (AED) of Nova Scotia's Department of Labour and Advanced Education (LAE) funded the development of an Education, Essential Skills and Empowerment (E3) program to support adult learners whose goal was to upgrade their literacy and essentials skills to enter or re-enter the workforce. The E3 program uses as task-based approach which emphasizes how adults apply their skills and abilities to accomplish real-life tasks outside of the classroom. The E3 framework and curriculum are organized around six competencies which, with the exception of Engage with Others, are consistent with the skill domains identified in Employment and Social Development Canada's (ESDC) Essential Skills framework. Essential skills are defined as the skills that people need for learning, work and life, and form the foundation for carrying out responsibilities at work, at home and in the community. The program uses three performance levels to describe learners' proficiencies in carrying out tasks within competencies and sub-competencies. E3 was designed to be incorporated into NSSAL programming in a variety of ways - as a standalone program, or integrated into other ALP programming. Additionally, the competencies can be used as standalone modules. Some of E3's key strengths are its flexibility and relevance, allowing practitioners to adapt the delivery to individual learner needs and goals in a way that lends itself to practical application outside of the classroom.

Simone Le Gendre-King is the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) Curriculum Consultant with the Adult Education Division of the Department of Labour and Advanced Education. She has over 10 years of international experience working with diverse adult learners in both formal and informal educational settings with a focus on STEM subjects.

Andrew Stalker has worked and volunteered with Antigonish County Adult Learning Association (ACALA) in Antigonish for nine years. After numerous years teaching in Level 1 and 2 classrooms, he transitioned into employment skills-focused programming in the spring of 2015, where he has run learner-centred programs and engaged with numerous pilot projects focused on the incorporation of tools such as the E3 Curriculum (Essential Skills), NSSAL (Nova Scotia School of Adult Learning) Learning Plans, ESAT (Employment Skills Assessment Tool) and CAMERA (Communications and Math Employment Readiness Assessment).

Kristina Silmarie, BSc., BEd. has been an Adult Education Instructor at Queens Learning Network since 2011. While Kristina's first love is teaching mathematics she has diversified her training and experience with instruction of Orton-Gillingham Remedial Reading and Writing methods, CAMERA assessment certification and Essentials Skills (E3) instruction. Kristina's energetic and creative approach to lesson planning shines through in the classroom and creates an atmosphere of positive engagement for students.

Louise Sutherland has been working as a GALA instructor in the District of St. Mary's for several years. She is a former high school teacher with the English Montreal School Board.

Practical Strategies for Practitioners and Tutors to Reduce Barriers to Learning Patricia Derby
This workshop will provide a comprehensive look at teaching/tutoring using the principles of UDL, multi-sensory strategies and human-centred design of learning as methods to reducing barriers to learning. Participants will learn how to recognize learner strengths and cognitive deficits, which are barriers to learning. Applying the principles of UDL, HCD and multi-sensory strategies, participants will learn how to effectively reduce those barriers to learning and how to incorporate the strategies into their instruction; these strategies will beneficial to all learners as it will help them to retain information taught and to more easily retrieve the information which can lead to academic success. Participants will have an opportunity to create lessons based on a variety of the strategies presented in the workshop, using curriculum for communications and math. Each participant will leave with comprehensive handouts to support their learning in order to apply the ‘tried and true’ teaching strategies with their learners.

Patricia Derby has a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and a Bachelor of Education degree and was a teacher in Ontario for close to 20 years. She especially loved being a Special Education Resource teacher for over 15 years. Patricia left teaching to pursue a career in the non-profit sector where she worked for the national office of Girl Guides of Canada, Child Find Ontario and the Canadian Centre for Abuse Awareness. She taught Levels 1 and 2 at Dartmouth Learning Network and has delivered many workshops to CLOs across Nova Scotia. Patricia enjoys research on best practices in education and she enjoys sharing this research with her colleagues. She is currently the Community Coordinator for Frontier College, overseeing 150 volunteers who work with close to 250 learners each week. She enjoys creating programs that benefit the learners in her programs and help to empower them. As a lifelong learner, Patricia enjoys sharing her passion for reading, writing and learning and feels honoured to learn from her students every day!