BCTEA President’s Message – Jan. 13, 2023
Happy new year to all! It has been a long while since there has been a president’s message so hopefully this is the first of a more consistent communication. Let’s acknowledge that it has been a difficult couple of years to be a teacher, so… many… changes. Most districts are finally coming to decisions about timetable schedules moving forward and like them or hate them, hopefully this will set some needed consistency. As tough as the past years have been, teaching, and teaching shop in particular, is still a great job and I am continually encouraged that great things are happening when I see all the projects posted in our Facebook group.
It feels like forever ago already, but we had a fantastic time at the PSA Day pro-d at Vancouver Technical, it was clear everyone was happy to meet in person again. If you are not aware we also held a hybrid District Representatives meeting the day before the conference and a hybrid AGM the day of the conference. These went better than we imagined, turns out we can manage the technology! The BCTEA executive will investigate increasing hybrid and on-line options for the next conference as we know this is helpful to those who can’t travel to the conference. And speaking of that… we are looking forward to seeing many of you in the Comox Valley next October.
The BCTEA executive continue to work on improvements in communication since it mostly focused on the Facebook group during the pandemic. This website is continuing to get repaired and updated and we are talking about options for an email list like our old listserv. We are also looking at ways to support Local Specialist Associations (LSAs) financially and with resources. More information on this will be coming in the next couple weeks. The executive are also working with a writing group and BCTF Legal to complete the updates to our Best Practices Guide and we hope this project will wrap up by the end of this school year.
Best of luck to those of us who are finishing the first semester this month and to all, keep up the great work you are doing. Technology Education is a synergy of head, heart and hands and although the adolescent mind has a hard time connecting these, you are facilitating this for your students and making better capable citizens. I know it doesn’t always feel that way, but you are!
Nigel Reedman
President
British Columbia Technology Education Association