Once again, a very successful GLACIE conference was held in Toronto, May 27th and 28th, 2010.  The halls were filled with enthusiastic attendees and inspiring presenters sharing their expertise in cooperative learning.  People seemed energized by the information provided by all of the great workshops that were available on Friday.  Pre-conference speaker, Dr. Spencer Kagan shared his vast knowledge on brain functions and why cooperative learning is so essential to developing our youth of today into thoughtful, caring adults of tomorrow.  Dr. Kagan expressed his ideal of having process-oriented classrooms where students are enjoying the process of learning and not worried about the outcome. Cooperative classrooms can promote healthy competition where students are having fun, not trying to outdo one another, but are working together to complete a task.  We have the power to change the world - to change how kids interact together and this is the power of cooperative learning.

Friday’s workshops were intensive information sharing sessions that were exploding with ideas and techniques to energize our teaching and students’ learning.  Doctors Carol Rolheiser and Barrie Bennett showed us their path in cooperative learning since the 1980’s.  Many things have changed since then:  hair styles, fashion, music - but the one thing that hasn’t changed is the need for cooperative learning in the classroom.  At the end of the day, we gathered once again to reflect on what we had learned and were asked to express what we thought was important to consider in moving Cooperative Learning in the next quarter century.  A time capsule was created by Dr. Bennett (and a fine one, it was!) in which we put our ideas to be shared in the future.  Our successors will see if we will have gained the advancements we have predicted.

As the recipient of the George MacDonald Memorial Conference Bursary, I feel I have been empowered by the GLACIE conference and appreciate the ready-to-use techniques that the presenters supply in their workshops.  I have returned to my classrooms and have shared my enlightened ideas having my students work cooperatively and also have spoken to many colleagues about the gains in attending this conference.  It was a delight and a privilege for me to once again be part of the GLACIE conference.

Cynthia Jozin
Algoma District School Board
May 2010 Bursary Recipient