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Ignite Your Light – Minding Ourselves as We Light the Way for Others

ESCI Wellness Series for Educators –

Rest, Restore, Recover & Renew in Mind, Body & Spirit

As a response to the overwhelming concern for the well-being of our educators at this time, ESCI will be supporting school staff through a wellness series of Webinars & Podcasts throughout the academic year.

Come away to a space of rest, recovery and renewal; a safe space where you can renew your energy and ignite the light within through a series of self-care and mental health webinars and podcasts which will include:

• inspirational speakers from both inside and outside of education
• discussions that support the stellar work you are doing in your school
• regular practical self-care practices that can be brought into your everyday school and personal life as you navigate this difficult terrain
• music and poetry to calm your body, soothe your mind and ignite your spirit

An empty lantern provides no light; self-care is the fuel that allows your light to shine for yourself first and then for others. Over the past eight months, we have experienced challenges in our lives at a personal, local, regional and national level that are unprecedented.  Working in a school, you took up the mantel of moving an entire education system online, followed by bravely re-opening our schools in September.  You have guided the way through a dark time for your pupils, students and their families and continue to do so.  This has had a direct positive impact on local and regional communities; just because we cannot measure it, does not mean that it does not exist.  However, in order to light the way for others, you also need to ignite your own light and find ways of keeping it lit over the coming weeks and months.  You are the influencers, the leaders, the caretakers, the guides and the shapers of young minds.  You are part of the national frontline as an essential service and therefore both require and deserve to be supported and empowered within this vital role that you are fulfilling at this time, not just for those in your school but also for your own family and loved ones too. 

Our Launch Webinar on November 5^th will introduce you to the Wellness Series, it’s meaning and purpose, and will include a discussion with Fr. Peter McVerry of the Peter McVerry Trust who has campaigned tirelessly on issues of poverty, injustice and homelessness.  We will be asking him how he keeps going in the face of adversity and keeps his own light ignited.  We look forward to welcoming you to this space where we can guide one another through these darker times by igniting the light within.

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Padlet is a free online tool that is best described as an online notice board. Padlet can be used by students and teachers to post notes on a common page. It is an ideal tool for sharing images, video, audio, screencasts, links and other media with students. The topics covered in this webinar include:

• How to sign up to Padlet
• How to create a Padlet and add posts
• The different types of Padlets and how they can be used
• How to share a Padlet with students

This webinar is suitable for Principals, Mainstream Class Teachers, Special Education Team and SNAs who are supporting very high risk learners. 

There will be plenty of opportunities to ask questions during these  sessions.

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This hour-long webinar will discuss key themes and techniques in Seamus Heaney’s poetry. We will begin with a short introduction about his life and work before exploring the poem ‘Digging’ to uncover the themes, images and techniques used in it. This talk will also suggest alternative ways of exploring his poetry through craft activities and highlight the rich variety of online resources offered by ‘Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again’.

Biography of Presenter

This webinar will be presented by Lisa Flanagan who is a Visitor Experience Assistant with ‘Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again’, a National Library of Ireland exhibition based in the Bank of Ireland Cultural and Heritage Centre, Westmoreland Street, Dublin 2. This exhibition tells the story of Seamus Heaney's life and poetry through the archive of drafts, letters, and notebooks he and his family donated to the National Library of Ireland in 2011. It opened in 2018 and is a partnership between the National Library of Ireland, the Department of Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht and Bank of Ireland.

Lisa has a degree in English Literature and over the years she has worked with several cultural organisations to develop and deliver engaging curriculum-focused tours, workshops and resources for students of all ages.

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LEARNING INTENTIONS FOR THE SESSION

Participants will:
• Be familiar with the legislative, policy and curriculum underpinnings of student voice
• Learn about the potential of student voice for improved engagement in learning
• Identify steps towards using SV for increased engagement in learning
• Reflect on their motivation regarding student voice and have potential concerns about student voice addressed

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Introduction to Google for Education and Google Classroom: Supporting Schools with Very High Risk Learners

In this webinar participants will learn about the range of apps within  G Suite for Education. The main differences between G Suite for Education and a personal G Suite account will be explored. The suite of apps available within Google for Education will be explained and how they can support distance learning for pupils in the Very High Risk Category. How to set up a Google for Education account within the school will be discussed along with what apps should be enabled/disabled. Google Classroom will be introduced. Participants will be shown how digital work can be sent to pupils, how pupils can submit completed tasks and how a teacher can comment/correct tasks/assignments digitally. This webinar is suitable for Principals, Mainstream Class Teachers, Special Education Team and SNAs who are supporting very high risk learners. 

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This webinar aims to provide parents with a comprehensive understanding of Seesaw, an online learning platform that many schools use to share resources and activities with their pupils.

The topics covered in this webinar include:

• Getting Seesaw and adding a child/children using information provided by the school
• An explanation of Seesaw, how it can be used by teachers and how children respond
• A demonstration of the Creative Tools used in Seesaw
• Using the Seesaw Messages feature (if enabled by schools)

Parent will see how Seesaw works from both a Teacher’s viewpoint and a pupil’s viewpoint.

There will be plenty of opportunities to ask questions during the webinar.

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Information Evenings on Epilepsy Awareness for Teachers and School staff.  

Epilepsy Ireland will host an Information Evening for teachers and Special needs assistants through zoom on Wednesday 21st October from 4.30pm to 6pm. Community Resource Officer, Kathryn Foley will speak about epilepsy related issues in school, including types of seizures, first aid, triggers, activities and how to manage seizures in the school environment.

This event is suitable for all staff dealing with students with epilepsy in both primary and post primary schools.

There is no fee for this webinar.

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This webinar is designed for school personnel with the responsibility for the administration side of Google for Education. Learn how to add new users, set up groups for users, assign different access rights to apps for different groups within the school (eg. school staff have access to GMail but pupils will not) ,how to access Google 24-365 support services for schools and more.

Bibliography

Martin Hanly graduated from St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra in 2001. He has taught in a variety of settings from urban to rural, private to public and advantaged to disadvantaged. Martin graduated with a Masters of Education in 2010. He has facilitated PDST Technology in Education summer courses for the past 4 years. Martin is a teaching principal in a four teacher school in Co. Westmeath. The school has embedded the use of Google for Education in all classrooms from 1st to 6th class in the past three years. At present Martin is a Support Teacher in Edmonton NS, Killucan. Martin is presently facilitating webinars for numerous Education Centres on the use of Google for Education to support face-to-face teaching and remote learning.

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Digital Inking; writing on your SMART Board with pens and fingers

This webinar will explore:
- How to launch SMART pens/Ink
- The different features of the Ink
- How to configure favourite settings
- How to Ink (write) within SMART Notebook from a class teacher's perspective
- How to Ink over web pages, PDFs, PowerPoint and Microsoft Word from a teacher's perspective
- Common trouble shooting issues
- A "cheat sheet"of some frequently used features

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