May 3, 2026 – Getting My Dose of HUGS

Thank you to all those who made the ABCDE Roundtable 2026 possible at SFU. Normally, I would not be attending these sessions because I do not have a specific administrative role in teacher education. I am a faculty member, and I am helping out with UBC NITEP this year with a few Teacher Candidates as a Faculty Advisor, but I know of many of these folks from BCTEN, WestCAST, graduate studies, and teacher education. It’s interesting to think how I am am connected to different people in BC Education. For me, going to ABCDE is an opportunity to reunite with some of these people, meet new people, and learn something new. I missed the BCTF session that ran concurrently to the Deans of Education meeting on Thursday because I had already booked my plane ticket well in advance prior to the announcement of this session. But, I did make it to the hotel and to the mix and mingle at the microbrewery. I had a lot of fun.

The tacos were amazing… I had a next to no alcohol IPA… and the doughnuts were a great way to close the evening. I met up with folks from UBC, UVic, SFU, and many other folks from TRU, UFV, BCTC, and other universities throughout the event. I had a great time reconnecting and meeting new people. This is my JAM. I also like presenting, as well as teaching too. I can see that I like people. LOL. That is definitely something I prefer to do. Admittedly, I had a bit of FOMO when I could not attend the BCTF session, but a colleague of mine from UNBC attended the session and I was travelling with another colleague from Prince George. We sat together on the plane and we made our way to the hotel. When I learned that session was with Dr. Lorna Williams, I saw her at TRU a few years ago, and the breakfast and the keynote were at First Peoples’ Gathering House at SFU. Yay!! The Gathering Place was beautiful and breakfast was delicious.

There was no planned session for faculty members at the Roundtable. I could have attended a session for information purpose only, like the session intended for Program Managers, but my colleague from the Regional program went to that session, the Dean went to the Dean’s session, and my other colleague went to the Practicum Placement Coordinator session. UNBC was well represented. I opted to attend an online meeting with my other colleagues at UNBC that was running concurrently to Roundtable, then go for a walk around campus, my alma mater. I checked out the new Student Union Building and went to the Bookstore. I did not buy anything except for a large iced cherry matcha at the Renaissance Cafe before lunch. The lunch was delicious too. AMAZING!! I loved the keynote session about AI, reciprocity, and teacher education, and I also enjoyed my after lunch session learning about embedding Compassionate Systems into teacher education. The day ended with a drumming circle, outside, in the sun. Brilliant.