It's All About the JOY: Teaching with Big Beautiful Problems

Alicia Burdess

Numeracy Lead Teacher

Grande Prairie and District Catholic Schools

Alicia Burdess has been a teacher, assistant principal, and math coach with Grande Prairie and District Catholic Schools since 2005. Her passion is teaching through problem solving in a Thinking Classroom; she enjoys working with students and teachers implementing Peter Liljedahl's research and framework. She loves visiting classrooms, presenting at conferences and PD days, and is always excited to talk about learning and loving math. She wants everyone to experience the joy, confidence, and flow of solving big, beautiful problems and has recently published The Dragon Curve: A Magical Math Journey, a children’s book to share the beauty of math.

Jessie Shirley

Superintendent

Grande Prairie and District Catholic Schools

Dr. Jessie Shirley is the Superintendent of Grande Prairie and District Catholic Schools in Alberta, Canada. She has her Doctorate in Education from the University of Calgary. She has extensive experience as a teacher, administrator, and district leader. She is passionate about teaching and learning, student engagement, and High School Redesign. She envisions learning environments that elicit joy and engagement for all students. She has presented at numerous conferences on the local, provincial and international stage.