Inside this issue: BEST WISHES TO EVERYONE IN THE DEPARTMENT

FOR A SAFE AND HAPPY CHRISTMAS

MAY YOUR CHRISTMAS BE FILLED WITH PEACE, JOY AND THE LOVE OF FAMILY AND FRIENDS,

AND MAY YOUR NEW YEAR BE BLESSED WITH GOOD HEALTH, PROSPERITY AND HAPPINESS!

• MONDAY, JANUARY 6TH, 2003- CLASSES RESUME FOR DAY & EVENING PROGRAMS

• IN-SERVICE WORKSHOP- “THE STATE OF THE WORLD: SHOULD WE OR SHOULD WE NOT RATIFY KYOTO?”-TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2003 AT HUMBER SHEPPARD COMMUNITY CENTRE

• ANNUAL P.D. DAY- FEBRUARY 17, 2003 AT BISHOP MARROCCO/THOMAS MERTON SECONDARY SCHOOL • PRONUNCIATION TEACHING WORKSHOPS - JONES AVE. ADULT ESL SCHOOL (see enclosed flyer) DEC. 4, 11 & JAN. 15, 22, 29th

Visit our Web Site: www.tcdsb.org/adulted

TO: ADULT EDUCATION PROGRAM STAFF FROM: Shirley Hynes and Hanna Cabaj,

Continuing Education Department

Policies/New Information 2003 LINC Contribution Agreement 1 Opportunities for Professional Development Sponsorship ............ 2 Special Citizenship Ceremony ........ 2 Minolta’s New Phone Number ........ 2 Staff Survey 2002 .................. 2 Problems with Electronic Messages 2

Employee-Related Information

CUPE 1328 Awards of Merit ........ 2 Inserts included in this memo ....... 2 In-Service Workshop Acknowledged 3 TESL Ontario Conference ........... 3 P.D.Day – February 17th, 2003 .... 3

Tips for Classroom Instructors

Monthly Website Activities ....... 3 Feature Resource of the Month .. 3 Free “Food” Picture Cards ......... 4

Adult Education Nursery Program

Role Model .......................... 4

On a Lighter Note ....... 4

Important Upcoming Events

2003 LINC CONTRIBUTION AGREEMENT Please be aware that in the 2003 LINC Contribution Agreement there is a clause stipulating that all new LINC instructors shall be TESL Ontario certified. Since this is important information, we wanted to bring this to the attention of all LINC instructors. Information regarding TESL Ontario Certification can be found on their website at www.teslontario.org/cert.

Vol. 2002/2003 No.75 December 2002

Policies/New Information

Page 2 To: Adult Education Program Staff

From: Shirley Hynes and Hanna Cabaj, Continuing Education Department

PROBLEMS WITH ELECTRONIC MESSAGES Marie Sarvananthan (SAFSS-Finch) submitted elec-tronically an application for the occasional consulting position that was advertised in last month’s Memo but due to a technical difficulty the application was not re-ceived in the Department and, subsequently, Marie was not considered for the assignment. While we benefit greatly from the use of technology, there is no guarantee that electronic communication reaches its destination all of the time. The Continuing Education Department is not responsible for any unde-livered emails/faxes/mail. In future, we suggest that you confirm by phone as to whether your resume/application has been received in the Department when you apply for a job posting.

CUPE 1328 AWARDS OF MERIT submitted by Christine Doyle, President of CUPE 1328 Maureen Suchon, Vice President of ESL Adult In-structors and ESL Instructor at Mary Ward LINC & ESL Centre, received the CUPE 1328 Award of Merit at the Celebration Dinner/Dance on November 16th, 2002 for her dedication to the Adult Education Program and her fellow colleagues. Also honoured that night was Beverley Coleman, Nursery Instructor at Lakeshore LINC Centre, who re-ceived the CUPE 1328 Award of Merit for her many years of dedication to the children in the Nursery Pro-gram.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SPONSORSHIP The Adult Education Program, Continuing Education Department is encouraging all adult ESL staff to partici-pate as workshop presenters in local, provincial, na-tional, and international conferences. The goal is to pro-vide support to instructors and program consultants, who wish to, not only enrich the program, but also pro-mote the expertise of the Department to other profes-sionals and organizations in the field. For this purpose, the Department has allocated limited funding to sponsor workshop presenters. The Guidelines and Eligibility Criteria and the Professional Development Sponsorship Application Form are available on our website at www.tcdsb.org/adulted. SPECIAL CITIZENSHIP CEREMONY On November 15, 2002 the Adult Education Program and the Court of Canadian Citizenship held a special Citizenship Ceremony at the Catholic Education Centre for 81 learners who participated in the Adult Education Citizenship Preparation programs. Sandra Montgom-ery, Superintendent of Education and Hanna Cabaj, Program Coordinator, were in attendance and Judge Rita Cox presided. Our thanks go out to Program Consultant Lisette San-tos de Sousa for doing such a great job facilitating this group project and to the following instructors who were involved with the Citizenship Preparation classes: Tho-mas Au, Margaret Chan, Agnes Chung, Clarinda Cruz, Theresa Fung, Kam Yin Ho, Leszek Kielar, Priscilla Lee, Po Man Liu, and Mary Wong. The event was exceptionally well organized and a great time was had by all! Be sure to check out the enclosed photomontage featuring some of the highlights of the evening. MINOLTA’S NEW PHONE NUMBER When placing a service call to Minolta for photocopier service please note that the new telephone number is 905 890-1005. Due to unexpected difficulties during Mi-nolta’s recent office move, the old number is no longer valid. STAFF SURVEY 2002 The Department received 122 responses from the Staff Survey that was sent out in the June Monthly Memo. We were very happy to receive such good feedback and we thank all who took the time to respond. There will be a compilation of results coming in the New Year.

Employee-Related Information

Inserts included in this memo (December 2002) : ◊ Seasons Greetings ◊ In-Service Workshop ◊ Pronunciation Teaching Workshop ◊ Citizenship Ceremony Photos ◊ Allen Gardens Tours ◊ Supply List

Page 3

To: Adult Education Program Staff

From: Shirley Hynes and Hanna Cabaj, Continuing Education Department

The exercises will involve: working with word forms, matching with synonyms, working with word associa-tions and completing a cloze exercise. This month’s reading exercise will explore the impacts of noise pol-lution on our society. Following the reading, learners will be required to complete vocabulary and comprehen-sion questions. The grammar focus will be on the subjunctive. As usual, you can access the archive of previous activities at: http://www.tcdsb.on.ca/adulted/activities.htm If you have any questions or comments, please contact Jean-Paul at: jpbedard@sympatico.ca FEATURE RESOURCE OF THE MONTH submitted by Julia Chemali, Materials Consultant TITLE: AMERICAN HEADWAY 1 AUTHORS: LIZ & JOHN SOARS PUBLISHER: OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS ISBN: 0-19-435375-3 American Headway is a multilevel ESL series that uses the most up-to-date techniques to make learning the English language enjoyable, interesting and effec-tive. It is built on the belief that an understanding of English grammar is one of the key enabling skills for language learners. The series consists of American Headway Starter for very low basic (pre-benchmark), American Headway 1 (Benchmarks 1-4), Headway 2 (Benchmarks 5- 8), Headway 3 (Benchmarks 9 and up) if referenced to the TCDSB Adult ESL Curriculum Guidelines. Headway 4 is in the process of being pub-lished. Each student book comes with audiocassettes, CDs, a workbook, a teacher’s book and a teacher’s re-source book (photocopiable). Tape scripts are available for teachers at the end of the student book for use if audiocassettes are not available. American Headway 1, like the other books in the se-ries, integrates the four language skills. It provides a foundation in language structure and builds on the learners’ understanding of basic grammar, vocabulary and functions of English. Grammatical structures are introduced in context, with questions that encourage learners to work out the rules for themselves. It pro-vides an in-depth treatment of grammar, with clear presentations, self- check exercises, and detailed expla-nations followed by extensive practice activities. It also offers the choice of interesting and universal topics with manageable and motivating tasks that help learners develop important listening and reading skills. It also integrates pronunciation work at appropriate points. At the end of each unit it practices functional language and social situations (Using English in the Commu-nity).

IN-SERVICE WORKSHOP ACKNOWLEDGED Our thanks go out to Toronto Public Health nurses Sue Mizzi and Madge Hylton for presenting the in-service workshop on November 28, 2002 at the Dundas LINC & ESL Centre entitled Heart Health for Adult ESL Learners. Participants were provided with the contents of a resource binder containing lessons, activi-ties, and information. Everyone in attendance went home with good ideas for promoting heart health in ESL classes. TESL ONTARIO CONFERENCE Our thanks go out to all the Adult Education workshop present-ers who did such a fine job representing our Board at the TESL Ontario Conference. The workshops were on a wide range of topics and were all very professional. We also extend thanks to Sharon Rajabi, Program Administrator, for doing another great job as Chair of the Computer Fair and to Linda Cocker-ham and Baldev Sikhana for setting up and managing the “Publishers” display table. On Friday evening of the TESL Ontario Conference, a special multicultural dinner was held for conference participants. Guests enjoyed a program of performances by a variety of cul-tures and backgrounds. Michael Galli did another fine job as MC this year and everyone who attended enjoyed the evening immensely. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17TH P.D. DAY Our annual Professional Development Day is scheduled for Monday, February 17th, 2003 and once again it will be at Bishop Marrocco/Thomas Merton Secondary School (1515 Bloor St. West). The theme of the day is “Striving for Excel-lence”. Watch for more details in the January Monthly Memo.

MONTHLY WEBSITE ACTIVITIES submitted by J.P. Bedard, COSTI Corvetti Centre Despite the recent debate surrounding the Kyoto Ac-cord, politicians have neglected to address another en-vironmental pollutant- “noise”. Living in a congested urban area such as Toronto, we are subjected to the adverse effects of noise pollution. The title of this month’s activities is Audible Anguish: The Dangers of Noise Pollution. In the vocabulary exercises, learn-ers will be introduced to some of the more difficult vo-cabulary encountered in the reading passage.

Tips for Classroom Instructors

Page 4

To: Adult Education Program Staff

From: Shirley Hynes and Hanna Cabaj, Continuing Education Department

submitted by Marie Jones-Imhotep, Scadding Court Community Centre A language instructor was explaining to her class that in French, nouns unlike their English counterpart are grammatically desig-nated as masculine or feminine. “House,” in French, is feminine- “la maison”. “Pencil,” in French, is masculine- “le crayon”. One puzzled student asked, “What gender is computer?” The teacher did not know, and the word wasn’t in her French dic-tionary. So for fun she split the class into two groups appropri-ately enough, by gender, and asked them to decide whether “computer” should be a masculine or feminine noun. Both groups were required to give four reasons for their recom-mendation. The men’s group decided that computers should defi-nitely be of the feminine gender (“la computer”) be-cause:

1. No one but their creator understands their in-ternal logic.

2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else.

3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long-term memory for possible later retrieval.

4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.

The women’s group, however, concluded that computers should be masculine (“le computer”) because:

1. In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on.

2. They have a lot of data but still can’t think for themselves.

3. They are supposed to help you solve problems but half the time they ARE the problem.

4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you’d waited a little longer, you could have got-ten a better model.

The women won!

FREE “FOOD” PICTURE CARDS submitted by Maggie Au, Goldhawk Community Centre Maggie Au wrote in to say that she obtained free “food” picture cards from “The Garden Basket” and “IGA” supermarkets. The cards are beautifully made with lots of details and represent the different food groups e.g. fruits, vegetables, meat, seafood, herbs, etc. Maggie uses the cards to teach about food, time, col-our or cooking instructions. The cards can be also used in pair or group work. Since the cards have been such a great success in Maggie’s classes, you might want to visit these supermarkets to take advantage of a good thing!

Submitted by Grace Szumilas, COSTI Corvetti Education Centre

ROLE MODEL ARE YOU A MODEL?….LEADER THAT IS!!

How do you fit this description?

· A hole in the head, to create an open mind for ideas to pass in and out

· Two eyes- one to see the children as individu-als, the other to watch their progress and as-sess their specific needs.

· Two ears- one to listen to what the children are saying, the other to hear what they are not saying.

· A nose to smell out problems. · A flexible mouth- open to give advice if/as/

when needed; closed to let the children learn to make their own decisions.

· A smile, to show your sense of humour, and that you are enjoying the child’s participation in this worthwhile organization.

· A heart, for love and kindness. · Two hands- one open to help, the other closed

to let the children learn by doing themselves. · Two legs- one nimble enough to keep up with

the children, the other not quite so nimble, to avoid putting your foot in your mouth!

“People seldom improve when they have no

other model but themselves to copy after.” Goldsmith

AE Nursery Program

☺ On a Lighter Note

Shirley Hynes Holy Name School

690 Carlaw St. Toronto, ON M4K 3K9

416-222-8282 ext.6576

416-397-6118 Email: shirley.hynes@tcdsb.org