srta newsletter may 2013

7/16/2019 SRTA Newsletter May 2013

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May, 20Volume 8SRTA Executive

President

Suzanne Moore , DTS

Vice-President

Pat Liss , DTS

Secretary

Jenn Seesahai, ESNI

Treasurer

Chantal Tytgat, CLC

Collective Bargaining

Pat Liss, DTS

Professional Development

Jonathan Waite, ARB

Health & Wellness

Colleen Kachur-Reico, EIDCS

Equity & Social Justice

Rebecca Sheffield, DO

Education Finance

Jason Sparling, CSNC

Resolutions

Suzanne Moore, DTS

Employee Benefits

Wendy Chase, SAC

Public Relations

Rebecca Brown, EIDCS

Workplace Safety & Health

Kathy Dubesky, CSNC

Contact Information

204-270-0215

[email protected]

http://seineriverteachers.

Need Help?

The role of the president of the SRTA is to help members

and guide them through conflicts, find answers or direct

them to available resources. Don’t hesitate to contact

me at [email protected] or call me at 204-270-0215.

Wishing all of you a really warm

May and June to make up for the

past two months!

Suzanne

My Dear Colleagues:

New Executive

At its council meeting on April 23, 2013, the

SRTA Executive for 2013-2014 was finalized.

The following is your new executive:

President – Jonathan Waite

Vice-President – Pat Liss

Secretary -- Jennifer Seesahai

Treasurer -- Chantal Tytgat

Collective Bargaining – Pat Liss

Professional Development – Allison Graham

Workplace Safety & Health – Kathy Dubesky

Employee Benefits – Wendy Chase

Health & Wellness – Colleen Kachur-Reico

Education Finance – Jason Sparling

Excellence in Education Outstanding School Leader – Yvan

St. Vincent

I was very privileged to attend the province’s Excellence in Education

Awards on Thursday, April 18, 2013 at the Manitoba Legislature and

celebrate with Yvan St. Vincent as he was given the Outstanding School

Leader Award for 2013. (See story in newsletter)

SAGE 2013

The date of October 25, 20

been set as the date for SA

this coming fall. The senio

administrators have assure

that administrators’ retreat

not conflict with SAGE this

coming year.

We Have a Ne

Website!

Kudos to our incomin

president who has be

very busy already and

created a new websit

us: http://

seineriverteachers.co

Our thanks go out to

Shannon Keith for init

our first website and

getting us online. We

a further decision to s

our own domain and

support it with Public

Relations budget. Th

website will be compl

the near future.



Health & Wellness

Spring Into Spring

Social Activity

The 35 or so

members who

attended our social

gathering at the

Dawson Trail

Motor Inn on

March 21st eachreceived a Health & Wellness kit, dined on hors d’oeuv

and enjoyed each others’ company. As an added bonu

prizes were drawn:

� Kindle was won by Dianne Bulloch

� iPad Mini was won by Glen Dawyduk

Toques That Touc

Kudos to Rebecca Brown, Pu

Relations Chairperson, for

successfully landing an MTS to purchase 300 SRTA toque

These toques have arrived a

be distributed in the fall; 10

will be sent to each school in

division and to each Health Centre in the division for c

who are in need of winter head gear.

Hockey Tournament Funds

t year, we hosted the MTS annual hockey

rnament and were able to realize a profit of

t over $1000.00. The funds are being used to

chase an extra set of hockey jerseys and socks

white colour, as well as ice time for a

mmage for all interested members.

MTS Annual Golf Tournament

Saturday, June 15, 2013

(1 p.m. Shotgun Start)

at the Meadows at East St. Paul Golf Course, Manit

Presented by the River East

Transcona Teachers’

Association

$85/golfer – includes 18 holes,

½ golf cart, dinner

or

$65.00/golfer – includes 18

holes & dinner (no power cart)

nadian Museum of Human

Rights

mbers were polled regarding support

$1.5 million donation to the Canadianman Rights Museum. According to the

lts, approximately 60% of the

mbers either support or have noblem with the donation. In order toect the members’ wishes, the five SRTA delegates to the Annual General

eting of The Manitoba Teachers’ Society will vote in kind: 3 of the 5egates will vote in favour, and 2 will vote in opposition.

MTS Golf Tournament

The Seine River Teachers’ Association sponsors a tea

four, or up to four individuals who would like to parti

in the annual MTS Golf Tournament. This year, th

tournament will be held on

Saturday, June 15, 2013 at the Meadows at East St.

Golf Course, Manitoba; 1:00 p.m. start. If you would

participate, please contact Suzanne

[email protected]

By May 30, 2013

SRTA Texas Scramble and Dinner

Come out and enjoy our second annual SRTA

Texas Scramble and Dinner on Thursday, May

23 @ the Southside Golf Course. The game

and dinner are free to members, and at a

minimal cost to any friends or significantothers who wish to join us. Just be sure to

register with Laura Nault ([email protected]) for

her or both activities.



University coursework-

Educational Researchattended a winter course through the

University of Manitoba this winter

ession entitled (5800) Educational

esearch. This course is a requirement

or my master’s degree.

he content of this course focused on

the requirements and

challenges of

conducting researchin the field of

education. Any

teachers interested in

conducting research

would benefit from

taking this course.

The course textbook

is entitled Educational

Research, by

Creswell. The

textbook is very wellwritten, using simple

and direct language. Issues such as

ethics, methodology and literature

reviews are addressed. Many examples

are provided which clarify the concepts

presented. The characteristics which

differentiate between qualitative and

quantitative research are discussed at

length.

The assignments for this course included

writing a critical analysis of an article on

teachers’ understanding of bullying,

designing and reporting on a

questionnaire (subject of choice), apersonal reflection on our experienc

with educational research and a

literature review on a subject of cho

This course was very informative an

invaluable for anyone interested in

either pursuing writing a thesis or do

other educational research.

Holly Sorenson

f I get injured at work,what happens to my

pay and my sickleave?

f you get injured at work, you willbe paid full wages until you run

out of sick leave. Then, Short-

erm Disability kicks in to cover approximately 80% of

your take-home pay. When you return to work, your sick

days will be credited back to you.

If I leave Seine River at the end of December or April, what happens to

my summer pay?

f you leave the employ of Seine River during the course

of the school year, the portion of your salary that is set

side for the months of July and August will be paid

within the first 10 (ten) days of the month after you leave

your employment.

Can I take time off to care for a seriously ill family

member?

Yes. Under the Manitoba Employment

Standards Code, you are entitled to

compassionate leave up to 8 (eight) weeks toprovide care or support to a seriously illfamily member. You would not be receiving full pay, howev

Your income would be EI benefits for those eight weeks.Further, according to our collective agreement, at the end oyour leave, the division shall reinstate you the position you

occupied when the leave began, if available. If not, then acomparable position will be given.

If I started teaching in October,when can I expect to receive

an increment in pay next year?According to our Collective Agreement, the

anniversary date for annual increments shall be

September 1, January 1 or April 1, whichever

date immediately follows the accumulation of

one complete year of experience. In your case,

you can expect your paycheque in January the following yea

reflect an increment increase in pay.

Why is the SRTA charging $195.00 forsubstitute costs for Professional

Development?the past, substitute costs ranged anywhere from $128/day

$450/day, depending on who was substituting and forw long he/she had already been substituting in the

vision. As you are aware, after five days of consistent workour division, substitutes receive full pay on day six,troactive to the first day of the assignment. As an

ample, we have had invoices of $900 for a two-day

minar for one teacher.

an effort to standardize costs for the PD Fund, and to easethe invoicing of the SRTA PD fund for the school division,

e agreed on a set cost for all substitute days used. TheTA PD fund pays the division $195.00/day for any

bstitute costs incurred.



Harassment isdefined by the Workplace

Safety and Health Act as:

) Objectionable conduct that creates a

risk to the health of an employee, or

) Severe conduct that adversely affects

an employee’s psychological well-be:

RaceCreedReligionColourSexSexual orientationGender-determined characteristicsMarital statusFamily status

Source of incomePolitical belief Political associationPolitical activityDisabilityPhysical size or weightAgeNational ancestry or place of origin

When is conduct considered to be severe

under a complaint of harassment?

onduct is severe if it could reasonably cause

n employee to be humiliated or intimidated

nd is repeated, or in the case of a single

ccurrence, has a lasting, harmful effect on an

mployee.

What vehicles of behaviour fall under the Workplace

Safety and Health Act that could constitute

harassment?

ny behaviour that is known or should be

nown to be offensive, embarrassing or

umiliating to other individuals can be

egarded as harassment. Such conduct may

nclude:

Written. Verbal Electronic media and/or. Physical conduct

What is not consideredHarassment?

Harassment is not:

a. Appropriate performance reviews,

counselling, coaching or discipline by a

supervisor or manager

b. Day-to-day management or

supervisory decisions involving work

assignments, and implementation of

appropriate dress codes, provided they

are carried out in a manner that is

reasonable and not abusive

c. Physical contact necessary for the

performance of the work using

industry/profession standards

d. Conflict or disagreements in theworkplace that are not based on any of

the objectionable conduct listed in 3.2

of GBECA policy, and any other

conduct that would reasonable be

considered acceptable within a

workplace setting

e. Occasional misunderstandings,

thoughtlessness or poor

communication

f. Reasonable words or actions related to

isolated stress or frustrationsencountered in the performance of

work duties.

g. Consensual banter or conduct, or

romantic relationships, where the

people involved do not find it offensive

or unwelcoming and consent to what is

happening.

Who is covered by the newHarassment Policy

(GBECA)?

This policy applies to all employees,

volunteers and students of Seine River School

Division, including persons employed or self-

employed person(s) or contractor(s)

contracted by the division.

Does the Harassment Policy only cover division

buildings?No. Naturally, any location whereby the

business of the division is being carried o

covered by this policy. But other location

and situations also are covered by this po

such as during professional development

conferences, work related social gatherin

business travel, extra-curricular program

etc....and where the prohibited behaviou

may have a subsequent impact on the

working relationship, environment and/o

performance.

What can I do if I feel I abeing harassed?

If you feel that you have been harassed, a

feel comfortable doing so, you are

encouraged to advise the alleged harasse

that the behaviour is unwelcome and sho

stop. If he/she stops the behaviour, and are satisfied with the outcome, you do no

have to go any further.

If this approach does not stop the unwelc

behaviour, or if you feel unable or unwilli

use this approach, you are encouraged to

approach your direct supervisor/manager

school administrator with a harassment

complaint. If you feel you are being subje

to harassment, you are encouraged to ke

written log of all incidents, including date

times and other individuals in the area, an

detailed description of the events.

What constitutes Harassmen



Harrassment Continued

How do I file a harassment complaint?

o to SharePoint, under Workplace Safety and

ealth, and open the link: GBECA_Statement

f Complaint Form, Harassment

fter you complete the complaint, in a

onfidential envelope, submit your statement

f complaint to your immediate supervisor,

eing either Supervisor/Principal/Manager.

lease be sure to make a copy for yourself,

nd send a copy to your president.

What if the person I amcomplaining about is myimmediate supervisor?

the person being addressed in your

omplaint is your supervisor/principal/

manager, send the envelope or fax marked

Confidential” directly to Human Resources at

ivision Office.

When can I expect aninvestigation to occur?

he filing of the complaint does not guarantee

hat an investigation will occur. The

upervisor/manager or school administratorwill endeavour to help all parties reach a

esolution. If this is successful, a copy of the

omplaint and its resolution will be forwarded

to Human Resources. (5.2 of GBECA)

If the complaint is not appropriate for

informal resolution, or if the resolution is not

acceptable, it will be forwarded to Human

Resources and an investigation must begin assoon as possible, but no later than 2 days.

Will the person named inthe complaint be made

aware of who is making thecomplaint?

Confidentiality of the persons involved in the

complaint will be maintained, as is reasonably

practicable, and is allowed by law. The

complaint may be disclosed to the respondentin an attempt to arrive at a resolution of your

complaint.

What if I am not pleasedwith the investigation or

resolution of thecomplaint?

Your complaint may be covered under the

Human Rights Code (Manitoba Human Rights)

or the SRTA Collective Agreement. If the

complaint fits the criteria, you are always able

to file a complaint under these avenues,

regardless if you have already filed a

complaint with the division.

I am afraid of submittincomplaint of harassme

for fear of retaliationAnyone who retaliates in any way agains

person who has brought forth a complai

allegation of harassment may be guilty o

harassment and will be held accountable

evidence of retaliation is found and will b

subject to any of the following corrective

actions: (though not limited to these ac

a) formal apology

b) counseling and/or education on

harassment

c) a written warning

d) suspension without pay

e) a disciplinary transfer

f) termination or removal of offend

worker, contractor of person

Yvan St. Vincent of Ste. Anne Collegiateand Ste. AnneElementary School inthe Seine RiverSchool Division – St.Vincent becameprincipal at a timewhen the adjoiningschools were facingmany challengeswith studentperformance andbehaviour, staff morale and the

school’s reputationin the community.

St. Vincentdemonstratedexcellence inleadershipthrough hisclarity of vision,his progressiveideas and hiscollaborativeapproach.Teachers fromboth schoolswere broughttogether into aneffective and

cohesive group thatfelt empowered and

respected. Studentswere engaged inways that improved

the school climate

while focusing ondeveloping the

academic, socemotional skilwould allow t

succeed andthrive as leaParents andcommunityleaders werinvited to wcollectivelyeducators tfoster schooand to strenthe positive

of the school w

the communit

Outstanding School Leader(as spoken by Minister Allen)



e course examined the notion of

entorship exploring the educative

actices of mentoring teacher

ndidates and new teachers. The main

ea of the course was that in order to

ovide mentorship, mentors must

nsider what it means to learn to teach

d what learning to teach does to theacher. This course draws on literatures

teacher mentorship, as well from the

oader field of teacher education, in

der to consider: the discourses of

eacher”, teacher identity, teacher

velopment, and mentoring; the

ntext of teacher mentorship; as well as

w the mentor teachers given

e issues and difficulties

countered in being a teacher

d in learning to teach.

me of the key questions and

ues addressed in the class were:

1. How do teachers

experience, construct and

negotiate their teacher

identity? Teachers come

into their career with a lot

of past experiences,

“baggage” if you will and

how does that impact their

teaching experience?

2. In what ways to teacher

candidates (as well as

teachers) experience the

“becoming” of a teacher?

3. How do we engage in

mentorship when the

process of learning to teach

itself is such a troubled

endeavour?

These questions plus many others

provided for a lot of interesting and

thought provoking discussions with

from around the province who were

this class. One particularly interestin

assignment we had to do was to

construct our educational biography

purpose was to examine the tension

that surround this becoming, the dif

moments that challenge and, perhapinform(ed) our becoming of a teache

was a very relevant assignment to w

we do in our jobs and for that reaso

a lot of value which made it easy to

engage in. Overall, a good course to

for any teacher, especially those wh

in a leadership role and have had or

have student teachers in their classr

Yvan St Vincent

Mentoring for Teachers 5870- University of Manitoba

Professional Development Fund Update

eading into the home stretch, I am excited to say that

he SRTA PD Fund has been accessed more than 100

mes! So far, almost $55,000 has gone towards funding

utonomous professional development for our association

members, which includes

�

62 in-area applications,� twelve out-of-area applications,

� 18 university course applications, and

� six group applications!

here are still funds available for PD opportunities for the

emainder of this term, which runs until September. So, if

’s a summer course, a great out-of-area conference, or a

ocal seminar you want to attend, please apply so we can

elp you in your professional development goals!

onathan Waite, PD Chair

Diversity in SeineRiver

Diversity Policy

Our Equity and Social Justice chair,

Rebecca Sheffield, has been working

with administration to draft a diversity

policy for our division. She has asked

me to let you know that the policy is in

the editing stage, with intent to bring itto the board in the very near future.



Assessment and Instruction in

Inclusive Special Educationessment and Instruction in the Inclusivessroom is a core course towards a Post-calaureate in Inclusive Special

ucation. This course qualifies you as aource teacher to do Level B testingch is essential when digging deeper into

y a student is struggling. I not onlyrned how to assess for the strugglingrners but also that it is fundamental forchers to learn how to assess in order togram properly for students. Assessment

ves our instruction. We need to knowat our students already know before we

plan our lessons. If we only assess aftersson or unit is complete, there are no other

portunities to re-teach. I asked myself: What need to teach in order for students to

derstand the essential outcomes? What dostudents already know? How do I help my

uggling learners? Do I need to differentiate?at are the different learning styles of mydents?

s course offered opportunities not only tolore assessment but also to discuss how

portant classroom community is for alldents. Children’s social and emotional well-

being is key to success in school. We, as

teachers, need to ensure every child feels safeand welcome in our classrooms. They need tofeel needed and valued for the gifts and talents

they bring to the classroom community. Inorder to enable children to recognize theirtalents, we need to teach them all the differentways in which we learn. The first part of thiscourse focused on building a classroomcommunity and multiple intelligences. Thesecond part was planning our teaching aroundthese different learning styles (UniversalDesign) and finally assessing students withlearning difficulties and / or behaviour issues inorder to program appropriately for thesestudents’ needs (Differentiation, Adaptations

and Modifications).

There were a total of 8 assignments, all reto one particular student with learning

difficulties. The idea was to follow thisstudent and develop programming to bassist him or her to attain academic orbehavioural goals. Throughout the yearwere to build a classroom profile on thea learning profile for the chosen studenthen finally develop an IndividualizedLearning Plan for him or her. We were gtons of opportunities to discuss andtroubleshoot with our peers throughoucourse. For me, co-teaching and collabo

with my peers was by far the best way tlearn.

The class was very rewarding and useful tprofessional learning. It gave me more inon how to better program for ALL studenshowed me how important classroomcommunity is to the social and emotionabeing of our students and how this directrelates to their learning and engagementchild feels safe and is actively engaged in her learning there are less likely to bebehaviour issues. If we plan to differentiathe needs of all our students; all of our

students can and will learn. Lori Gauthier

Western CanadianStudents at Risk

Conference

rch 18-18, 2013

s was the second time that Ie been fortunate enough toticipate in this conference. Twors ago, during my first year asguidance counselor atorgate, I accessed the SRTA PD

d to attend this conference, aseemed to provide an endless listni sessions all of which seemeduable to someone new to thedance role. It was because of value I found in this conference011 that I continually kept mys open to see if this year’sference would again be

ering sessions that I would seenformative as well as beneficial

my skill set. I was notappointed.

s is now my third year in thedance counselor’s role atorgate. With a few yearsind me now, I can now

ectively look in the mirror andasses my own strengths and

se areas that I want to develop.was with that mindset that Iected which sessions I was toend.

I participated in the followingsessions: The Making and

Unmaking of a Bully, Current

Trends in the Drug Culture, The

Do’s and Don’ts of Discipline, Boys

Adrift, The Teacher Every Student

Wants, Anxiety Disorders in

Children and Teens, and Self

Injurious Behaviours

Without a doubt, my favoritesessions was the Boys Adriftseminar, whichfocussed on thedifficulties seen inthe ability for botheducator tomotivate youngboys to excel ineducation, as wellas the lack of intrinsicmotivation seen inyoung boys tomotivate themselves. I found itvery interesting as the speaker tied

current trends in education tosupporting the naturaldevelopmental stages of girls farmore than boys. TakeKindergarten for example; it is nonew news that girls aredevelopmentally more often thannot better prepared to succeed inthe rigors of their first school year.What I did not know was that boysat that age tend to learn better

standing and moving, than in aseated position. Yet in school,what would a young boy hear fromhis teacher if he was constantlyleaving his chair and moving aboutthe room. Not positive’s, thatmuch is certain. Boys areencouraged to steer clear of writing on natural things of interest, like explosions, guns, carwrecks and the like. The schoolsystem from very early tends to

lean on the natural gifts of theyoung girl, while taps into thenatural short comings of the youngboy. Often very quickly, the youngboy becomes aware that even theinteractions he has with schoolpersonal are generally due to hisinabilities, rather than hissuccesses.

If one looks down the road to theuniversity years, I found it startlingthat close to 70% of Universityapplicants country wide were

female in 2008, a completereversal from as little as the 80’s – early 90’s when 68% oapplicants were male. Threeas many males that do attensecondary schooling are molikely to drop out than femathose males that do achievedegree were close to four timless likely to achieve honor rcalibre grades.

Every session I attended hadleast a bit of material that I wcategorise as new to myself is exactly what I was lookingattending the conference. I absolutely encourage anyonmy role to at least considerattending this event at leastIt was well run, within the corange that our PD fund couldsupport and even providedparticipants with complimenlunches each day. Another not found a lot in other sess

that I have attended was thabut one of the presenters thtook in offered to email theipower points to those inattendance. It allows me tosupport discussions in staff meetings should the need awith great power points thatcan speak to with competenThank you for the experiencTrevor Zetaruk



e following are excerpts of

mments from staff at Ste. Anne

legiate that were submitted to the

ovince of Manitoba, nominating

an St. Vincent as outstanding

ool leader:

an actively engages staff in

ministrative decisions, especially

en staff members and/ordents are impacted. He also

courages staff to work with and

our students, keeping our

erall goal of education in mind

d our priority of improving the

es of our students.

an acknowledges the challenges

ing school staff members. He

ens to their concerns and is

mpathetic. This allows staff to

ove beyond the immediate

ues and develop realistic plans

address the challenges.

an supports resource teachers

d counsellors without

cromanaging them. He expects

be kept 'in the loop' of all

dent plans and to get involved,

ere necessary. However, staff

encouraged to try a variety of

ategies that match their own

rsonal style and to think 'outside

the box' for solutions!

In sports terminology, Yvan would

be called a "players' coach". That

is, staff members have a deep

respect for him and want to do a

good job, based on that general

sentiment. Moreover, this feeling

goes a long way in keeping

school morale at a high level!

Yvan’s trustworthiness is so

contagious that staff

members need not worry

about confidentiality with

him. Personal issues can be

brought to his attention, in

complete assurance of

privacy.

Yvan is extremely

approachable and does not

get 'caught up' in school

politics! He remains veryconnected to and supportive

of the local community (Ste.

Anne, MB), and has worked

diligently to improve the

overall image of our school.

From cooperating with town

officials to raising funds for a

needy family, Yvan has remained

focussed on the immediate issues,

in a most proactive way.

Overall, as our leader, Yvan has

high expectations for our school;

both for student behaviour and

achievement. He has worked at

this location in several roles

already, and takes great pride in

the school and the communities

our students are from. Yvan has

consistently communicated these

expectations in a way that is

positive and encouraging to both

students and staff, since taking

over as principal.

In dealing with both studen

staff, Yvan is exceptionally

respectful. For instance, w

addressing students, he do

talk down to them, but rath

includes them in the proble

solving process, as equal pa

working towards a commone.g. establishing a dress cod

school. He also maintains a

relationship with Grade 12

students, who are in their f

year of high school and on

verge of graduating.

Yvan has the innate ability

connect with people, as a f

human being, conscious of

strengths and weaknesses,

respectful way.

With this humble yet assertapproach to dealing with st

parents, staff personnel an

community members, Yvan

been very successful in

establishing good relations,

building bridges, and rallyin

people of mutual concern t

common causes for the

betterment of all involved.

Manitoba’s Celebration of Excellence in Teachin

nada is second only to Finland in

ucation and skills among 16 developed

tions, says the Conference Board of

nada.

a report card covering a wide-range of

teria, Canada and Finland were the only

o countries to be given an A for

ucation and skills.

While the results of the study were

released last month, they were roundly

ignored by the media.

The board says that Canada’s strength is

delivering high-quality education with

comparatively modest spending.

“While Canadians are at school, they

become well educated (for the most part)

in core subjects like mathematics, reading,

and

science,” it says. “Canada now has th

second-highest rate of high school

completion and the highest rate of co

completion among its peers.”

Canada ranked highly in what the boa

called equity in learning outcomes.

In other words, there was less of a ga

between students in disadvantaged

schools and least disadvantaged scho

Among a few weaknesses cited, the bsaid Canada needs to improve workp

skills training and lifelong education.

“Canada’s adult literacy skills are

mediocre, with a large proportion of

adults lacking the literacy skills neces

to function in the workplace. Canada

a “C” and ranks 10th out of 15 peer

countries on the indicator measuring

participation in job-related non-form

education.”http://www.mbteach.org/news/news.html#second

Canada second behind Finland in education and skills, says stud

srta newsletter may 2013

Documents

mts annual hockey tournament

health wellness kit

hockey tournament funds

health centre

mts annual golf tournament

srta toques

vincentiwasve wellness

glen dawyduk toques