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Adult Education Program

Memorandum To: Adult Education Program Staff From: Hanna Cabaj (Coordinator) and Jaime Puentes (Admin Assistant) Adult Education Program

Vol. 2019/2020 No. 281 February 2020

In This Issue

Upcoming Events/Dates

Family Day Weeekend 1

March Break Week 1

Newcomer Day 1

New/Important Information

New PBLA Leads 1 Changes to CLARS Referrals 2 PBLA Course for Learners 2

Outreach Report 3-4

Employee Related News

Memorial 4

Tips for Classroom Instructors

Elders in Residence 5

Upcoming Webinars 5

AE Nursery Program

Promoting Literacy 6 Nursery Online Resource 6

Inserts included this month

Coronavirus Update—Public Health

Toronto Newcomer Day

2020 CRA TD1 Personal Tax Credit

Upcoming Events/Dates

Family Day Weekend: Saturday February 15 to Monday February 17, 2020

Classes will resume on Tuesday, February 18, 2020

March Break Week: Saturday March 14, 2020 to Sunday March 22, 2020

Classes will resume on Monday, March 18, 2019.

Toronto Newcomer Day: Thursday, May 21, 2020. 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Location: Nathan Phillips Square (100 Queen St. West, Toronto)

For more information, visit toronto.ca/newcomerday

New/Important Information

NEW PBLA LEADS We thank all staff who had expressed an interest in the role of the PBLA lead with the Adult Education Program. Their initiative and engagement in their professional growth is highly commendable. The selection committee comprised of Adult Education PBLA Leads and Program Consultants had a difficult time narrowing down the selection to two required candidates: one from the LINC and the other from the ESL program. Mary Eddy, an instructor at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Adult Education Centre, who was our PBLA lead in the past and is returning to the role and Ewa Kowara, an instructor at the Eglinton LINC and ESL Centre are two individuals who bring to the role the wealth of their professional background and experience, demonstrated understanding of adult language training principles and practices, knowledge of Canadian Language Benchmarks and Portfolio Based Language Assessment as well as personal and leadership skills. With these two new additions to our current PBLA team of Ana Paula Cardona, Valli Di Lallo and Tom Zalewski, we are well positioned to meet our contractual obligations of PBLA implementation. What a team !!!

Submissions to: Jaime Puentes

Adult Education Program

80 Sheppard Avenue East

416-222-8282 Ext. 2513

Fax: 416-512-4992 Email:

puentej@tcdsb.org

New/Important Information

Change to CLARS Referral Process – from joint MCCSS and IRCC communication to Ontario service providers

Effective February 3, 2020, IRCC and MCCSS are introducing a joint approach to referrals to federally and provincially funded language training courses for permanent residents and protected persons. The change affects how CLARS assessors present and discuss course options with learners who are eligible for federal and provincial courses. Beginning on February 3, 2020, CLARS assessors will suggest appropriate federal courses to clients first and encourage them to consider choosing one of these options. Provincial eligibility criteria have not changed. Permanent residents are still eligible for provincial classes, as well as naturalized Canadian citizens, refugee claimants, approved provincial nominees and Live-in Caregivers.

In the context of growing demand for language training in Ontario, this new referral approach will help relieve pressures by making full use of seats in all funded courses and maximizing joint federal and provincial investments in language training. It will also help newcomers and immigrants find and access opportunities to improve skills in official languages as quickly as possible.

PBLA course for learners As part of the TELLON Project, our team has created 2 PBLA mini courses for Learners in Stage 1 and Stage 2. These courses are fully online, self-directed and housed in the Onyx Learner Management System (LMS). They consist of three units each and can take up to 6 hours for learners to complete. These mini courses can be used in a number of ways: -As an orientation to the PBLA. The courses can be projected onto a screen by the instructor in the first week of the term. -Encouraging learners to enrol in the course and learn it independently on their own outside class time. This is especially helpful with continuous intake of new learners in your classes. More information on how to enrol your learners will follow in the next memo.

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To: Adult Education Program Staff

From: Hanna Cabaj, Continuing Education Department

Outreach Report for February 2020 Submitted by Kay Ham Community Engagement:

1. Naomi and Kay attended New Year’s Levee hosted by Mr. Gary Anandasangaree, MP for Scarborough-Rouge Park, on Sunday, January 26, 2020. We were able to connect with his office staff and community members for future promotion opportunities in Scarborough as well as outreach to the Tamil community.

2. A ‘Meet & Chat’ session with assessors at the Consumers Road YMCA took place on Friday, January 30, 2020. This is the time I provide updates on the changes in our program if any and talk about notable trends in clients’ needs.

3. Ms. Shelley Carroll, Councillor for Don Valley North, held a New Year celebration at Ernest Public School (150 Cherokee Boulevard) on Saturday, February 1, 2020. Naomi, Michael (Naomi’s son) and I promoted our program next to the YMCA Assessment Centre which helped visitors understand the two parts of language training. As a result of this outreach, I met with the councillor’s staff to speak about our programs in her ward on Friday, February 7, 2020. A big thank you to Michael who was so helpful throughout the event.

Social Media Posting:

Please continue to send picture and videos, after securing participants’ consent, to Sharon Rajabi Sharon.Rajabi@tcdsb.org or Gabrianna Jolie – Gabrianna.Jolie@tcdsb.org. Also request to promote our media handles with your learners and encourage them to follow them.

Our media handles are:

Facebook: @TorontoAdultEducation Instagram: TorontoAdultEducation Twitter: @AdultEdTCDSB

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To: Adult Education Program Staff

From: Hanna Cabaj, Continuing Education Department

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To: Adult Education Program Staff

From: Hanna Cabaj, Continuing Education Department

Outreach Report — February 2020 Submitted by Kay Ham

Adopt a Library Branch Campaign: There are 100 branches of Toronto Public Library in the city of Toronto. I would like to appeal to our staff to adopt a branch and monitor the level of our program directory in the branch. When low, you can simply email me at kay.ham@tcdsb.org for replenishment. By working together, we can have our program directories available to the public at all time. Your support of this campaign is highly appreciated.

LINC Learner Satisfaction Survey I would like to conduct LINC learner satisfaction surveys in the next few weeks. In other years, I personally visited sites and conducted the survey with your learners on the computer and/or on paper. This year, I am piloting a new approach in which LINC learners in CLB 4 and higher classes will be emailed the survey link for them to complete it at their convenience. Please encourage your learners to participate in the survey when they receive email with a subject heading "Learner Satisfaction Survey -TCDSB". Learners in CLB 3 or lower classes will participate in the survey on paper and I will make an arrangement with the instructors for the date and time of the survey. Translated surveys in several languages are also available as per other years.

Employee Related News

Memorial Let us remember in our prayers the soul of:

Mehdi Hossein Tehrani who passed away on January 17, 2020 in Iran. He was the brother of mother of Mitra Hossein Tehrani, Nursery Instructor at Victoria Park LINC Centre.

Dr. Ali Samet who passed away on January 19, 2020 in Toronto. He was the father of Soudabeh Behbahani,

Nursery Instructor-in-charge at Mary Ward LINC & ESL Centre.

Tips for Classroom Instructors

Elders in Residence

The Elders in Residence and Visiting Elders Programs are a part of TPL’s Strategies for Indigenous Initiatives, which is the Library’s official response to the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action. Frances Whiskeychan and Patrick Etherington served as the first ever Elders in Residence for Toronto Public Library (TPL) in 2018, and they continue to work with TPL on a visiting basis. In their role as Visiting Elders, they work with Indigenous community members and provide culturally informed support and guidance. They also work with non-Indigenous community members to raise awareness and understanding of Indigenous history, culture and current issues. During their time with the Library, Elders Frances Whiskeychan and Patrick Etherington have delivered programs, met one on one with members of the public to provide counsel and advice, met with staff, and delivered traditional teachings. They have also visited elementary school classes and met with Newcomers who attend conversation circles and ESL classes at TPL. https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/programs-and-classes/featured/elders-in-residence.jsp About Frances Whiskeychan and Patrick Etherington

Frances Whiskeychan and Patrick Etherington are a husband and wife team that have worked in a variety of Indigenous communities and non-Indigenous organizations. They both provided support to Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence during her hunger strike in Ottawa, undertaken to focus attention on Indigenous Issues and the Idle No More Movement. They are Indian Residential School Survivors and have led Awareness and Healing Walks for Truth and Reconciliation, as well as Iskapowishak Grassroots Treaty Walks to educate and to elevate discussions about Treaty rights. Elders Frances Whiskeychan and Patrick Etherington act as expert guides as the Toronto Public Library takes its first steps on the path towards Reconciliation.

Upcoming Webinars Visit Tutela to register for the webinars below. Webinars below with a star are for TESL Ontario members, who also join the TESL Ontario group on Tutela.

*Feb 23, 7-8 pm: Using ESL Students as Instructional Resources (Mostafa Hasrati)

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To: Adult Education Program Staff

From: Hanna Cabaj, Continuing Education Department

AE Nursery Program

Promoting Literacy in your early childhood classroom Submitted by Naomi Paramanantham, Nursery Program Consultant

Developing early literacy skills involves immersing children in a literacy rich learning environment. Early exposure to age-

appropriate books with illustrations can encourage children to label/point, build up vocabulary, create print awareness,

spark imagination, and recognize letters/ words in print. Making books/print materials an essential component and

integral part of everyday learning can help lay the foundations of literacy.

Acknowledgment: Dallia Aziz – RECE/Nursery Instructor (Casual) – Adult Education Program

Online Resource for Nursery Instructors Nursery staff are encouraged to login to the website and follow the tutorial in the below link on how to identify different types and indicators of abuse, cultural considerations, and steps to report and document suspected abuse–as well as strategies to support staff, parents, and children after a report has been made . NEW CMAS ONLINE COURSE: UNDERSTANDING CHILD ABUSE AND YOUR DUTY TO REPORT https://cmascanada.ca/2020/01/08/new-online-course-understanding-child-abuse-and-your-duty-to-report/

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To: Adult Education Program Staff

From: Hanna Cabaj, Continuing Education Department