Bill Forrester
Hamilton,ON
Summary
Think of something.
Overview
21
21
years of professional experience
Work History
Teacher
HWDSB
Hamilton, Ontario
04.2004 - Current
- Homeroom teaching placements include Ancaster Meadow, Bennetto, and Dr. Davey
- Tailored teaching strategies to accommodate diverse student needs.
- Promotion of Indigenous awareness by asking guest visitors to help students design and create indigenous crafts and jewelery, while learning about Indigenous culture
- Mentor new teachers through NTIP.
- Initiated a JOY Committee and organized whole school events to build community.
- Math Teacher Lead. Literacy Teacher Lead.
- Directions Team Member. C.L.I. Team Leader and Divisional Chair.
- Associate teacher for 17 teacher candidates.
- Invited Islamic groups to speak about the meaning of Ramadan.
- Held conferences with parents to address questions, discuss academic progress and encourage learning goals.
- Conquered challenges of working with highly diverse student population to attain exceptional student achievement.
- Designed interactive, hands-on, and inquiry-based lessons to foster active participation.
- Collaborated with colleagues to plan lessons that integrate various subject areas into a cohesive unit of study.
Instructional Coach
HWDSB
Hamilton, Ontario
09.2014 - 09.2017
- Collaborated with educators and administrators to develop, organize, and implement professional development for staff at the school level, during staff meetings, teacher release, and Professional Development Days.
- Crafted and delivered a workshop to the K-12 team to provide classroom examples of rich, real-world math experiences for students, and to build capacity around the 3-Act Math Task framework.
- Initiated and facilitated the co-planning of professional development for teachers with school-based Directions Teams.
- Encouraged and supported teachers to take on leadership roles within the school and at the system level (staff meetings, PD Days, Voices from the Field).
- Initiated and facilitated a book club at Queen Victoria - IQ a Practical Guide to Inquiry Based Learning
- Collaborated, developed, and facilitated learning sessions for teacher release in the areas of mathematics, literacy, and inquiry to build teacher capacity, and promote student achievement.
- Established the use of the Number Talks strategy in response to student needs in mental computational fluency.
- Created and facilitated Collaborative Inquiry Learning (CIL) opportunities for teacher release.
- Facilitated the introduction and investigation of the new Kindergarten Document, the Communication of Learning Document, and the Kindergarten Addendum to the Growing Success Document with kindergarten educators from three schools.
- Connected school staff together for professional development opportunities.
- DIBELS Math and Literacy Mentor.
- Assisted teachers in developing differentiated instruction strategies tailored to meet the needs of all learners.
- Provided professional development to teachers and administrators on instructional strategies, best practices, and implementation of curriculum.
- Analyzed data from observations, assessments, and other sources to create action plans for improvement.
- Attended conferences related to educational topics such as assessment methods, instructional strategies.
- Served as a resource person for faculty members seeking information about curriculum development processes.
- Coached teachers in effective use of technology tools to enhance instruction and student engagement.
- Assisted in the collection of analysis to determine the best instructional strategies.
Education
Dyscalculia - The Science of Decoding Math -
Lord Math
Miami, Fl03-2025
Additional Qualification - Special Education, Part 1
Western University
London, ON08-2014
Additional Qualification - Principal Qualifications part 1 & 2
ETFO
Toronto, ON06-2014
Additional Qualification - Intermediate Math Specialist
Western University
London, ON12-2007
Additional Qualification - Computers in The Classroom, Part 1
Western University
London, ON12-2007
Additional Qualification - Reading Specialist
Western University
London, ON08-2007
Master of Science - Education
D'Youville College
Buffalo, New York04-2004
Bachelor of Arts - Sport Management
Brock University
St. Catharines, Ontario04-2003
Skills
- Adaptive Schools, HWDSB
- Cognitive Coaching, HWDSB
- Advocate for Indigenous Peoples by supporting guest speakers and field trips
- NTIP Mentor Team
- Mentor to colleagues and leading staff development around the '5 steps to interruption'
- Planner of PD days and breakout sessions Topics include math talks, early literacy development to achieve school goals
- Designated Teacher Training and regularly acting DT
- Ally of Pride initiatives, such as the International Day of Pink events, supporter
- Presenter at Bringing It Together (BIT): 'Going Deep with One Math Question'
- Presenter at Bring It Together (BIT): 'The Less I Talk, The More You Learn - Using Technology for Inquiry'
- Presenter at ReWired, HWDSB: 'Using online tools for math enrichment'
- Presenter at ReWired, HWDSB: 'A Collaborative Approach to Reading Interventions'
- HWDSB PD Place - 'Coding with Scratch for Junior Grades'
- HWDSB iPad rollout to grades 3 and 6: 'Effectively using 6 iPads with a whole class'
- Facilitator of TLLP, Bennetto, Building Teacher Capacity with Early Literacy, with 21st Century Fluencies
- Facilitator of TLLP, Queen Victoria, Maker Spaces
- Believer in equity and human rights initiatives, such as many discussions around child labor
- Original co-organizers of 'EdCamp Hamilton'
- HWDSB - Aspiring Leaders participant
- Supporter and educator of 'Re-imagining Wellness'
- DIBELS Math and Literacy Mentor Training
- Differentiated Instruction - Elementary
- CFL Grey Cup Lesson plan writer for Grey Cup week in Hamilton
Accomplishments
- HWDSB Profiling Excellence award
- Past Co-Organizer of the HWDSB Checker Tournament for 10 years
- Actively coaching many sports teams in HWDSB
- Volunteer for HWDSB Prom Project
- Team manager and lead fundraiser for Mount Hamilton Hockey Select Team
- Volunteer for Kidz Club at Bayview Resort during summer
References - With Permission to Contact
- Mrs. Kelly Dunford - Current Principal - 289-684-6554
- Mr. Simon Goodacre - Most Recent Principal - 905-308-1045
- Mr. Chris Blunsdon - Past Vice Principal - 289-775-5627
- Jo-Ann Corbin-Harper - Former Colleague - 289-237-8539
Timeline
Instructional Coach
HWDSB
09.2014 - 09.2017
Teacher
HWDSB
04.2004 - Current
Dyscalculia - The Science of Decoding Math -
Lord Math
Additional Qualification - Special Education, Part 1
Western University
Additional Qualification - Principal Qualifications part 1 & 2
ETFO
Additional Qualification - Intermediate Math Specialist
Western University
Additional Qualification - Computers in The Classroom, Part 1
Western University
Additional Qualification - Reading Specialist
Western University
Master of Science - Education
D'Youville College
Bachelor of Arts - Sport Management
Brock University
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