FMPSD Professional Development Day

Target Audience: Educational Assistants

Emotions can run pretty high for some students and when they are in an escalated emotional state, no learning can take place. Sometimes our responses can further ramp up their emotions--like throwing gas on a fire! This workshop will teach you a new way to respond that is easy to remember and practical. This approach was developed specifically for use in the classroom by Dr. Adele Lafrance (Mental Health Foundations) and is based on her work in emotion-focused family therapy.

Educational Assistants will learn why emotions are important signals to attend to; how cultural and historical events impact our ability to respond effectively to emotions; what happens in the brain when a person is flooded with emotion and why no learning can take place in this state; and most, importantly, EAs will learn a simple two-step method to help anyone (aged 2-102) de-escalate any intense emotion, quickly and kindly.

All learning opportunities with the ERLC regional team will focus on the Alberta Education and district priority areas.