NCTCA 2025: Full Schedule

EVENTBRITE (PRE-REGISTERED SESSIONS) -- Get your tickets here!
Tickets go on sale Monday, December 9th at 7PM
- EVENTBRITE IS THE ONLY WAY TO SECURE YOUR SPACE IN A PRE-REG SESSION!
- ONLY add a pre-registered session to your schedule on Sched if you have purchased your Eventbrite ticket.
- Sales end Monday, January 27 at 12PM

Wednesday Social - KARAOKE NIGHT!!
Location: The Westin Hotel - Devonian Room
Time: 7PM - 10PM
Appetizers will be provided throughout the evening.

2025 Tours
Art Gallery of Alberta
"Guided Tour": Thursday February 8th 9:30AM - 11:00AM
"Guided Tour": Friday February 9th 12:00PM - 1:30PM

Telus World of Science - Edmonton
Thursday February 8th PM

Fort Edmonton Park
Thursday, February 6th 9AM - 3PM
Friday, February 7th 9AM - 3PM

Muttart Conservatory
Thursday, February 6th 12:30PM - 1:30PM
Friday, February 7th 9AM - 10AM

Royal Alberta Museum
FRENCH Classroom: Thursday, February 6th 9:30AM - 11AM
ENGLISH Classroom: Thursday, February 6th 1PM - 2:30PM
FRENCH Tour: Friday, February 7th 9:30AM - 11AM
ENGLISH Tour: Friday, February 7th 1PM - 2:30PM

2025 Partners In Education Luncheon with Scott Ervin -- Get your ticket here!
Tickets go on sale Monday, December 9th 2024 at 7PM
10:30AM Doors open
11:15AM Program begins
11:30AM Scott Ervin to speak
12:15PM Lunch will be served

2025 Venues:

The Westin Edmonton: 10135 100 St. NW
Edmonton Convention Centre: 9797 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton
Saville Community Sports Centre: 11610 65 Ave, NW, Edmonton
Art Gallery of Alberta: 2 Sir Winston Churchill Square, Edmonton
Offsite locations: There are numerous offsite locations which all require an Eventbrite ticket. All Attendees with an Eventbrite ticket will be emailed directly with a location address.

arrow_back View All Dates

9:00am MST

Worldbuilding Fun for Fiction Writing

Friday February 7, 2025 9:00am - 10:00am MST

ECC - Salon 10

Author and master-worldbuilder, Alexis Marie Chute inspires teachers to bring new dimensions to their creative writing curricula. Delving into the art of worldbuilding, this session provides innovative and interactive techniques to help students construct compelling fictional worlds for their stories. Attendees will learn how to guide students in creating intricate cultures, geographies, histories, and societies within their narratives, fostering imagination and critical thinking. By igniting the spark of creativity through worldbuilding, this presentation offers teachers a unique tool to inspire their students, enhance storytelling skills, and nurture a love for fiction writing in the classroom.

Speakers

Alexis Marie Chute

Creative Director, Alexis Marie Productions Inc.

Alexis Marie Chute is an award-winning visual artist, filmmaker, art gallery curator, and bestselling author of 7 books, including the fantasy trilogy Above the Star, Below the Moon, Inside the Sun, and memoir Expecting Sunshine. Her latest non-fiction books include Prairie Spirits... Read More →

Friday February 7, 2025 9:00am - 10:00am MST
ECC - Salon 10 Edmonton Convention Centre

Language Arts / Arts Langagier, Social Studies / Études sociales

Language of Presentation English
Grade Focus Division 2/3
format Tables
Room Details ECC - Salon 10 (Edmonton Convention Centre, Tables Max capacity for 120 people)
Tags English, Division 2/3

9:00am MST

Exploring the New Curriculum Through MakeCode Arcade Games

Friday February 7, 2025 9:00am - 10:00am MST

ECC - Salon 05

Strengthen your students’ problem-solving skills and engage creatively with the curriculum by creating games in Microsoft MakeCode Arcade! This session will provide you with the foundational knowledge to help your students design their own video games, then bring those games to life through block-based coding. Learn how computational thinking skills such as pattern recognition, algorithm design, and debugging are necessary when coding and how to connect games to curricular concepts in any subject. This session explores connections to the Computer Science curriculum for grades 4 and up. A laptop, Chromebook, or tablet is required for this session.

Speakers

Bernadette Blakey

Whitney Horban

TELUS World of Science – Edmonton is dedicated to fostering life-long learning by creating a vibrant science and technology culture in our region. We offer a diverse array of in-person and virtual school programs. Our programs are connected to the Alberta curriculum and designed... Read More →

Friday February 7, 2025 9:00am - 10:00am MST
ECC - Salon 05 Edmonton Convention Centre

Science-sciences, Technology / Technolgie

Language of Presentation English
Grade Focus Division 2/3
format Lecture
Room Details ECC - Salon 05 (Edmonton Convention Centre, Lecture Max capacity for 70 people)
Tags English, Division 2/3

9:00am MST

Writing for Social Studies (Div 3 and 4)

Friday February 7, 2025 9:00am - 10:00am MST

Westin - Yukon Room

Are you struggling to develop your student’s academic social studies writing skills? This is the session for you! We will be focusing on paragraph structure building towards essay writing and interpreting sources and developing critical written responses leading to the source analysis. The scope and sequence from grade 7 to high school written tasks will be examined. We will be providing powerpoint lessons, tasks, templates and exemplars for a variety of different grades and abilities.

Speakers

Nicholle Morrison

Teacher, Calgary Board of Ed.

Nicholle has a BA in Sociology and a BEd Education. She has taught for 14 years. She began by primarily teaching elementary grades 5 and 6 and then 9 years teaching social studies and humanities at the junior high level. Nicholle currently is a high school Social Studies teacher with... Read More →

Joanna Zakus

Joanna has a BA History and a BEd Secondary Social Studies. She has been teaching primarily social studies and humanities for the last 20 years at the junior high level. Joanna currently is a teacher at a junior high school with the Calgary Board of Education. She focuses on interactive... Read More →

Friday February 7, 2025 9:00am - 10:00am MST
Westin - Yukon Room Westin Hotel Edmonton

Social Studies / Études sociales, Language Arts / Arts Langagier

Language of Presentation English
Grade Focus Division 2/3
format Lecture
Room Details Westin - Yukon Room (Westin Hotel Edmonton, Lecture Max capacity for 100 people)
Tags English, Division 2/3

10:15am MST

Teaching Students to Write Cool Characters, Superheroes, and Themselves

Friday February 7, 2025 10:15am - 11:15am MST

ECC - Salon 10

Learn how to ignite your mind and fuel your imagination—and lead your students to do the same. Deepen your understanding of: Free writing The hero’s journey Creating cool characters Writing about meaningful events in your life Writing from new perspectives Crafting new worlds in fictional stories The inspirational teaching time will open you up to new ways of looking at the world and at your own experiences. You’ll learn new methods to express yourself, get inspired, and have a blast. You’ll also come away with tools to help release stress that are healthy and empowering. Positive expressions of the mental health journey will be explored. Put these writing styles and exercises to the test—then bring them back to your classrooms.

Speakers

Alexis Marie Chute

Creative Director, Alexis Marie Productions Inc.

Friday February 7, 2025 10:15am - 11:15am MST
ECC - Salon 10 Edmonton Convention Centre

Language Arts / Arts Langagier, Health - CALM / Santé

Language of Presentation English
Grade Focus Division 2/3
format Tables
Room Details ECC - Salon 10 (Edmonton Convention Centre, Tables Max capacity for 120 people)
Tags English, Division 2/3

10:15am MST

All Aboard for Algebra!

Friday February 7, 2025 10:15am - 11:15am MST

ECC - Salon 09

Many of the Algebraic concepts that lived in junior high are now seen by and are engaging Division 2 students. Roll up your sleeves, one more time and dive into the manipulatives that can help us engage our learners in these algebraic concepts. Knowing ‘why’ we do what we do in algebra is very important to students making those valuable connections.

Speakers

Chris Zarski

Designer of Professional Learning, ARPDC

Chris is an Educational Consultant supporting Alberta teachers as a Designer of Professional Learning with the Central Alberta Regional Learning Consortium. She has served as a Teacher, Administrator, Curriculum Director of Curriculum, Examiner with Alberta Education, and Author... Read More →

Friday February 7, 2025 10:15am - 11:15am MST
ECC - Salon 09 Edmonton Convention Centre

Math, Teaching Practices/ Pédagogie

Language of Presentation English
Grade Focus Division 2/3
format Tables
Room Details ECC - Salon 09 (Edmonton Convention Centre, Tables Max capacity for 120 people)
Tags English, Division 2/3

11:30am MST

Reading, Writing, Speaking: The Metacognitive Connection

Friday February 7, 2025 11:30am - 12:30pm MST

ECC - Salon 10

Metacognition is more than simply 'thinking about thinking'. Students who have a variety of metacognitive strategies to draw upon do better with evaluating the quality of their learning, knowing when they’re getting ‘derailed’, and knowing where and when to seek help. This session will focus on the connection between language, consciousness, and metacognition and will include takeaways, examples, and strategies for teaching students to be more metacognitively aware learners.

Speakers

Dr. Karena Hartson

Consultant

Dr. Hartson is a secondary literacy consultant who delivers high-level, high-energy professional learning sessions that help teachers leverage their own experiences to support student learning. Teachers attending her sessions will come away with tools and strategies that they can... Read More →

Friday February 7, 2025 11:30am - 12:30pm MST
ECC - Salon 10 Edmonton Convention Centre

Teaching Practices/ Pédagogie, General Interest / Intérêt Général

Language of Presentation English
Grade Focus Division 2/3
format Tables
Room Details ECC - Salon 10 (Edmonton Convention Centre, Tables Max capacity for 120 people)
Tags English, Division 2/3

12:45pm MST

Using Riddles and Unsolvable Problems to Encourage Oral Language and Higher Order Thinking Skills

Friday February 7, 2025 12:45pm - 1:45pm MST

ECC - Salon 10

Here’s a great entry point for thinking, speaking and problem solving! Riddles and unsolvable problems contain clues, mysteries, and thought-provoking opportunities seen as ‘play’, but in reality they encourage complex cognitive investment. Along with developing valuable language-manipulation skills, riddles and unsolvable puzzles support higher level thinking, literacy and numeracy competencies, and promote subject-specific skills. Teachers will walk away with a number of riddles and puzzles that encourage students to engage in oral language, problem solving, and critical thinking. Join us for a puzzlingly good time!

Speakers

Dr. Karena Hartson

Consultant

Friday February 7, 2025 12:45pm - 1:45pm MST
ECC - Salon 10 Edmonton Convention Centre

Teaching Practices/ Pédagogie, General Interest / Intérêt Général

Language of Presentation English
Grade Focus Division 2/3
format Tables
Room Details ECC - Salon 10 (Edmonton Convention Centre, Tables Max capacity for 120 people)
Tags English, Division 2/3