Workshop Participant Testimonials
One participant (a parent and a teacher) in Clay's "Meeting the Needs of Learners with Mindfulness" seminar at Okanagan College in July, 2014 had this to say:
"I really enjoyed my time in Clay's seminar. I found him to be respectful of our needs, well organized and flexible with his plans at the same time. The fact he could 'go with the flow' or use a situation or discussion in the seminar as a teaching moment is a sign of an excellent educator. I loved having access to a wealth of resources on the wiki and appreciated his use of technology."
- Natalie Perrier
Another participant (a parent) said this:
"I would highly recommend Clay's Mindfulness seminar to both parents and teachers. Clay's enthusiasm and passion for teaching, learning and engaging his audience is contagious. His teaching style appeals to all styles of learners and Clay frequently mixes up his style of teaching to engage his audience visually, aurally and kinesthetically. His ability to effortlessly incorporate various computer links, video clips and other multi media presentations allowed for a collaborative, dynamic and fun classroom environment. I valued the plethora of resources that Clay provided during the week long seminar. I also was grateful for learning many of the practical ways to incorporate Mindfulness principles into my children's daily life. "
- Corinne Wade
Participants in Clay’s “Revealing Diversity through Critical Consciousness” seminar at the Summer Institute in Education 2013 at UBC’s Okanagan Campus had this to say:
"Revealing Diversity is a lively course that challenges its participants to critically evaluate taken-for-granted assumptions held in our society and generates suggestions and strategies for how to create questioning communities of learners in a variety of classroom settings. One of the things I enjoyed the most about the course was the impressive library of resources Clay shares; it's particularly a goldmine for visual learners."
- Kelly Hanson
"I really enjoyed your seminar. I found your topic to be enlightening, and I believe that my future students will find it just as engaging as I did. I think that intellectual self-defence and critical consciousness are important concepts to be aware of in our media saturated age. Thank you for putting on this seminar."
- Ryan Holly
Participants in Clay’s “Learn and Teach Intellectual Self-Defence” workshop at the 2013 B.C.T.F. New Teacher Conference had this to say:
“engaging and vital”… “very good study techniques and lots of thought-provoking discussions”… “good flow”… “lots of hands-on activities”… “his passion for the topic was clear”… “I really enjoyed the activities to generate movement and conversations”… “his passion came off very clearly and was inspiring”… “had lots of confidence and knowledge”… “very engaging activities”… “made presentation [Prezi] available to everyone to go to after workshop”… “I feel re-energized”… “Thank you!”
One participant in Clay's “Learn Intellectual Self-Defence” seminar at the Summer Institute in Education 2012 at UBC's Okanagan Campus in had this to say:
“engaging and vital”… “very good study techniques and lots of thought-provoking discussions”… “good flow”… “lots of hands-on activities”… “his passion for the topic was clear”… “I really enjoyed the activities to generate movement and conversations”… “his passion came off very clearly and was inspiring”… “had lots of confidence and knowledge”… “very engaging activities”… “made presentation [Prezi] available to everyone to go to after workshop”… “I feel re-energized”… “Thank you!”
One participant in Clay's “Learn Intellectual Self-Defence” seminar at the Summer Institute in Education 2012 at UBC's Okanagan Campus in had this to say:
"Clay McLeod is a very well defended man - intellectually speaking that is. Armed with a broad knowledge of today's world including economics, politics, and social issues, Clay is able to help fellow teachers arm their students with the knowledge they need in order to defend themselves. In a world of easily accessed information, Clay will help you to teach students to weed through what is fact, fiction and the importance of biases in all our media. Don't let your students be swept away in the tidal wave of persuasive advertising and news. Arm them with the intellectual self-defense they will need to make informed decisions for the rest of their lives!"
- Paula Lockwood, Fully armed, intellectually self-defended teacher.
Participants in Clay’s “Global Education in the Elementary Classroom” workshop at the 2005 B.C.T.F. New Teachers’ and Student Teachers’ Conference described it as follows:
“interesting and informative”... “inspiring!”... “reaffirming”... “good mix of theory and practical ideas”... “great speaker!”... “I appreciated the obvious passion and interest the facilitator brought to the topic”... “I appreciated the friendly, approachable demeanour of the instructor, Clay”... “I appreciated the enthusiasm of the facilitator.”
Participants in Clay’s “Global Education: In and Beyond the Classroom” workshop at the 2005 Second Annual B.C.T.F. Okanagan Regional Social Justice Conference described it as follows:
“excellent transitions between theory and activity and both [activities] were great examples”... “lots of energy and information”... “It’s great to get such specific information that is immediately applicable”... “practical ideas – inspiring”... “good job!”... “empowering”... “great workshop”... “handouts were greatly appreciated”... “I appreciated your pace and variety”... “well-structured, paced, opportunities to exchange ideas with facilitator and fellow participants.”
This is what a participant in Clay McLeod's very first professional-development workshop for teachers - back in 2003 - had to say:
“interesting and informative”... “inspiring!”... “reaffirming”... “good mix of theory and practical ideas”... “great speaker!”... “I appreciated the obvious passion and interest the facilitator brought to the topic”... “I appreciated the friendly, approachable demeanour of the instructor, Clay”... “I appreciated the enthusiasm of the facilitator.”
Participants in Clay’s “Global Education: In and Beyond the Classroom” workshop at the 2005 Second Annual B.C.T.F. Okanagan Regional Social Justice Conference described it as follows:
“excellent transitions between theory and activity and both [activities] were great examples”... “lots of energy and information”... “It’s great to get such specific information that is immediately applicable”... “practical ideas – inspiring”... “good job!”... “empowering”... “great workshop”... “handouts were greatly appreciated”... “I appreciated your pace and variety”... “well-structured, paced, opportunities to exchange ideas with facilitator and fellow participants.”
This is what a participant in Clay McLeod's very first professional-development workshop for teachers - back in 2003 - had to say:
“I found Clay's workshop “CREATING GLOBAL CITIZENS” to be thought-provoking and informative. He presented us with practical ideas to get our students thinking differently about global situations. Activities are prepared in a way the students can relate to. He is seriously passionate about the benefits of teaching to empower a new generation of global citizens who can think for themselves and act on their beliefs.”
- Pamela Raith