Wednesday, February 24, 2016

March 9th Professional Development Event

Join us Wednesday, March 9, 2016 at the Best Western Lamplighter Inn & Conference Centre, 591 Wellington Road South in London, from 4:30 - 7:30 PM. The following workshops are being offered:

Workshop 1:  Applied Interviewing Skills              Presenter:  Sylvia van Campen
Workshop 2:  Applied Classroom Management      Presenter:  Connie Zoet
Workshop 3:  Voice Care                                      Presenter:  Lori Holmes

Please go to www.etfotvot.com for more details and to register.  Spots are limited.

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We look forward to hosting over 70 registrants this afternoon to hear renowned literacy Instructor Dr. Larry Swartz speak on Creating Caring Classrooms: An Arts and Literacy Approach to Address Bullying at the Stoneridge Inn and Conference Centre, 6675 Burtwistle Lane in London from 4:30 - 7:30 PM.  Dinner will be provided.
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  Two Important Reminders:

1) Applications to the LTO List will close on February 29th. Anyone who is not on the LTO List but wishes to be, must apply via the TVDSB Employee Portal, even those from the OT Roster who are currently in long-term assignments.  Those on the LTO List need not re-apply.

2) OTF is offering subsidies of up to $450 for Math and Information Technology AQ courses successfully completed after February 1, 2016.  For details, go to AQ!/ABQ Subsidies.
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April 15th Paid PD Offerings at BMO Centre (count as time worked for all purposes):

- Full day Math for 30 participants and ETFO Provincial will sponsor lunch;
- Two half-day sessions to provide an awareness of teaching students who have come as refugees - To date, TVDSB has accepted the most refugee students of any school Board in Ontario at 308 and the Peel Board is second with 169 students.
-Possibility of half-day session on Nutrition.

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The Local is still collecting names of school where the office will not hand out keys without the OT exchanging their personal keys.  Please let us know whenever this happens because HR does not believe in this practice. And please, please make sure to return school keys at the end of the day because the Board uses these instances in their argument against providing keys to all Occasional Teachers.


Wednesday, February 17, 2016

PD Event on February 24th with Dr. Larry Swartz; Teach more than 10 days; Two Reminders

There are just a handful of spots left before registration closes for our upcoming Professional Development: Creating Caring Classrooms: An Arts and Literacy Approach to Address Bullying  next Wednesday, February 24th, from 4:30 - 7:30 PM at the Stoneridge Inn and Conference Centre (6675 Burtwistle Lane, London, ON  N6L 1H5).
We are very excited to be able to offer this workshop with Dr. Larry Swartz. Participants will receive his book along with literacy and arts-based activities designed to help students work towards an understanding of building better relationships while examining their own beliefs and attitudes.  Dr. Larry Swartz has been an instructor in literacy as well as dramatic arts at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto for 18 years.  He has been an educator for 4 decades and is well-known for his use of children's literature to help young people grow as readers, writers and citizens of the world. As a classroom teacher, consultant, author and speaker, Larry has shared his enthusiasm and expertise with teachers, administrators, teacher-librarians and parents throughout Canada, the United States and Asia.  He is the author of several teacher resource publications including:
  • Dramathemes (4th edition),
  • Caring Classrooms (with Kathleen Gould Lundy),
  • This is a Great Book! (with Shelley Stagg Peterson),
  • The Bully-Go-Round: Literacy and arts strategies for promoting bully awareness in the classroom.
Dinner is provided and will be served beforehand. Please go to www.etfotvot.com to register.

Teach More than 10 days a year:
Did you know that Occasional Teachers contribute to the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan?  Each year an OT teaches more than 10 days, counts as a pensionable year, a year of service toward your retirement factor.  The retirement factor (85) is determined by adding your age plus the number of years of pensionable teaching which means someone who is 55 and has taught 30 years has reached their 85 factor and is eligible for an unreduced Teachers' pension.
It is never to early to consider your pension so as not to miss opportunities. For more information please visit Your Life with Teachers' - Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan

Two Reminders:
1) Applications to the LTO List will close on February 29th.  Anyone who is not on the LTO List but wishes to be, must apply via the TVDSB Employee Portal, even those from the OT Roster who are currently in long-term assignments.  Those on the LTO List need not re-apply.
2) OTF is offering subsidies of up to $450 for Math and Information Technology AQ courses successfully completed after February 1, 2016. For details, go to AQ/ABQ Subsidies





Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Math/IT AQ Subsidies are back;

OTF Offers $450 Dollars for Math / IT Additional Qualifications
 Through the Ontario Teachers' Federation, the Ministry of Education is offering subsidies of up to $450 to Teachers/OTs who complete Math or Information Technology Additional Qualification courses. This applies to courses successfully completed on or after February 1, 2016.
Eligible courses include Math, Primary and Junior: Part 1, Part 2, and/or Specialist; Math - Intermediate, Senior; Math Gr. 7&8; Math - Honours Specialist and any undergraduate course which is a prerequisite to the above AQ courses.
Integration of Information and Computer Technology in Instruction: Part 1, Part 2 and/or Specialist as well as Teaching and Learning through e-Learning, are the eligible for subsidy IT courses.  Check out the following link for more information on the programme.
http://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/02/FAQs.pdf

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Places are filling quickly for our upcoming Professional Development on February 24th at the Lamplighter, Stoneridge Inn from 4:30 PM - 7:30 PM.

Avoid disappointment and choose from one of the following workshops:

1) Creating Caring Classrooms:  An Arts and Literacy Approach to Address Bullying   or
2) Achieving Balance at Work and in Life

A light dinner will be served beforehand.

Registration for this event can be found at www.etfotvot.com under Local PD Events.


Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Annual LTO List Applications, PD in Toronto, Building Better Schools

Interest in the LTO List Survey
If you are not already on the TVDSB LTO List but are interested in being interviewed, you have until February 29th to apply. Log into the Employee Portal and click on the new "LTO Elementary" under Personal Information and follow the steps.  By logging back into the site, you can verify that you have completed your application.

ETFO Provincial PD Opportunities

Did you know that both Daily and Long-Term Occasional Teachers are eligible to attend ETFO Provincial's conferences and PD sessions? Though these are offered in Toronto, your travel costs (Via Rail business is most convenient), shared-room accommodation, resource, dependent care and meal costs are covered by a small registration fee, usually around $50.  If the session takes place on a school day, ETFO Provincial will pay release costs: for a LTO that is the cost of the OT who takes over or for a Daily OT, this means they will pay your daily rate to attend. Check www.etfo.ca on a frequent basis to see what is being offered for your personal self-directed professional development.

Ontario College of Teachers' Survey
ETFO members are reminded not to participate in the current OCT Surveys. The College is not the advocate of the profession - that is legal the role of the federations. OCT is the legal regulatory and disciplinary agency of the profession.  For details about these surveys and our position please see http://www.etfo.ca/adviceformembers/octsurveys/pages/default.aspx



Building Better Schools
We believe that ensuring more one-one-time with our students can make a huge difference to their educational environment and to their learning success. If you are looking for shareable facts to support ETFO's push for better schools, we encourage you help spread the word. Find out how by visiting http://buildingbetterschools.ca/





Registration is filling up quickly for our upcoming PD event on Wednesday, February 24th, 4:30 - 7:30 PM at the Best Western Stoneridge Inn & Conference Centre  (6675 Burtwistle Lane, London,  N6L 1H5).  Avoid disappointment as spots are limited. Please choose one workshop to participate in at www.etfotvot.com.