Visit our Web Site:

www.tcdsb.org/adulted

Adult Education Program

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

Vol. 2017/2018 No.257 February 2018

In This Issue

Upcoming Events/Dates

March Break Week 1

PBLA Training 1

New/Important Information

2018/2019 LINC Budget 2 2017 Tax Forms 2

Personal Finance for Newcomers 2

Outreach Report 3

Conferences and Webinars 4

Toronto Public Library Service 4

Chinese Lunar New Year 4

AE Nursery Program 5

Employee Related News

Memorial 4

Inserts included this month

February Substitute Lists

Upcoming Events/Dates

March Break Week: Saturday March 10 to Sunday March 18, 2018

Classes will resume on Monday, March 19, 2018.

New/Important Information

PBLA training As we continue the winter/spring semesters in our programs, we ask instructors to ensure that any new learners joining their classes have received a PBLA Language Companion and that a record is made on the class register so that it can be captured in CLARS. At this point, we expect that all our active learners use the Language Companion on a regular basis and understand better and better its purpose and value to their learning. During Stage 1 training that followed October sessions, we started working with our learners on the About Me Section of their Language Companions by having learners file their needs assessment, include their autobiography, continue daily entries in their learning journal with reflections on their learning and work on fine-tuning their goal statement. In Stage 2 currently underway, following the December training sessions– we are starting to introduce the learners to the concepts and practice of self-reflection and peer feedback. Instructors are asked to use the self-reflection and peer feedback tools that were provided during the December PBLA training sessions, and make requests or recommendations to their Program Consultants for any additional resources that may be helpful. The next PBLA sessions will take place at the end of April and beginning of May. A separate communication with training dates and details will follow. We thank all staff for participating actively in this initiative.

New/Important Information

2018/2019 LINC Budget

The fiscal year of 2018/2019 constitutes the second year of our current Contribution Agreement with IRCC for the delivery of LINC programs. We are happy to report that we have received a promise of a status quo budget for the next fiscal year. While we will need to put some economies into place with anticipated increased costs, we have no reductions in the number of classes we provide.

One change that all LINC providers have been asked to implement, is to discontinue the use of overrun seats for each class, but to change the capacity of classes for CLB 4-5 and higher to 25. So our higher level LINC classes that had the capacity of 20 with 5 overrun seats to accommodate 25, will now have the capacity of 25 with no overrun. We are told these changes have been implemented across programs not only in Ontario but Canada. At this point, we are not sure if there are any implications of this change. We will monitor both the CLARS and ICARE systems to see how this affects our program delivery and address any issues that may arise with our project officer.

2017 T4, T4A & T2200 Tax Forms

The 2017 T4, T4A & T2200 tax forms will be available as of Friday February 23, 2018, by accessing the TCDSB Employee Self Service site (ESS). The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) approves of the distribution of employee taxation slips electronically, without obtaining express consent in advance from the employee.

Employees who still wish to request a hard copy of their tax slips, must do so by contacting the Payroll Department by email only at payrollrecpt@tcdsb.org.

Similar to accessing the electronic pay statements, all staff have network access to log on to a TCDSB computer and use a web browser to navigate to the ESS site, which is the employee portal where the tax slip information is securely available to the employee. From the ESS site, the employee can choose to print to a designated printer configured for that TCDSB computer. You may also access Employee Self Service externally by logging into: https://intranet.tcdsb.org

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact the Payroll Department at 416-222-8282, ext. 2102 or email payrollrecpt@tcdsb.org.

Personal Finance for Newcomers to Ontario

Credit Canada Debt Solutions is excited to be partnering with the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration to provide financial literacy training to newcomers across Ontario. The workshop will focus on the Canadian Banking System, Money Management and Budgeting, Handling Credit and Financial Fraud. The project goal is to teach newcomers about Canadian financial services, as the information and guidance provided through the workshops will contribute greatly to their financial wellness.

Credit Canada Debt Solutions is looking for agencies to host a Newcomers Money 101 workshop at their agency or in their community. Credit Canada will provide the facilitator and the education materials. The workshops will be held throughout 2018, and are approximately 90-120 minutes long (based on the group’s availability). Due to the requirements of the Ministry, 25 or more newcomers are needed to attend the workshop. The organizers feel LINC classes are a good fit for this program, as well as other classes or community groups working with Newcomers to Ontario. That way, they can gain the knowledge required to manage their day-to-day finances and to take the fear out of finances.

For those interested, contact Sandra Sherk at 416-228-3328 ext. 8053 or ssherk@creditcanada.com

Page 2

To: Adult Education Program Staff

From: Hanna Cabaj, Continuing Education Department

New/Important Information

Outreach Report for February 2018 Memo Submitted by Kay Ham, Program Consultant

Social Media: Instructors are sending pictures taken with guest speakers or on field trips for posting on our social media. I would like to express special thanks to those instructors who have done so. Any contributions will help increase traffic to our pages and website, and increase followers on our platforms. Let us keep it up!! Please refer to the Social Media insert in the November, 2017 Memo and encourage your learners to follow us as well as post pictures or tweets individually. Our Social Media handles are: Facebook: @TorontoAdultEducation Instagram: @TorontoAdultEducation Twitter: @AdultEdTCDSB REQUEST: In order to strengthen our presence in the social media platforms, more videos and pictures are needed. Send them to kay.ham@tcdsb.org. Please ensure that everyone in the photo(s) has signed a release consent form BEFORE sending the photo(s) to facilitate speedier posting.

Upcoming Events: 1. Newcomer Fair: Toronto West LIP Newcomer Council is hosting WinterAction Event at Ken Cox Community Centre (28 Colonel Samuel Smith Park Drive) on Saturday, February 24, 2018. TCDSB will have a table at this event. 2. A presentation is scheduled to Community Settlement Workers of North York Community House (NYCH) on Friday, February 23, 2018. NYCH provides Settlement and Education Partnerships in Toronto (SEPT) program to many schools in the Toronto West area. 3. Itinerant Services at Chesswood Employment and Social Services Office will resume in March at its new location, Yorkgate Mall (1 York Gate Blvd.). This location is much closer to our Northwest Cluster (Norfinch, John Booth, Driftwood, St. Jane Frances).

Page 3

To: Adult Education Program Staff

From: Hanna Cabaj, Continuing Education Department

New/Important Information

Upcoming webinars (free)

The webinars below are for TESL Ontario members, who also join the TESL Ontario group on Tutela. Visit Tutela to register, and for a more extensive list of webinars.

Sun Feb 25, 7-8 pm: Using the Best Practices Directory of Resources (Judith Bond)

Wed Feb 28 7-8 pm: Hearing Rhythm, the Key to Speaking English Fluently (Jacqueline Johnson)

Sun Mar 4, 7-8 pm: An Inter-Culturally Sensitive Apporoach to Address "The Issue" of Plagiarism (Dr. Marlon Valencia)

Sun Mar 25, 7-8 pm: Teaching Intercultural Awareness and Communication (Yecid Ortega)

Wed Mar 28, 7-8 pm: Langauge Barrier and its Cognitive Consequences in the Workplace adn Education (Edalat Shekari)

The webinars below are offered by the Centre for Excellence in Immigrant and Intercultural Advancement. Register at https://centre.bowvalleycollege.ca/workshops

Tues Feb 27, 6 pm: Teaching ESL Literacy - Skills and Activities (Emily Albertson)

Tues Mar 27, 6 pm: Towards Creating a Welcoming Space (Veena Zarour-Murthy)

Employee Related News

Memorial

Let us remember in our prayers the soul of: Wlodzimierz Konstanty Chmiel, who passed away on December 18, 2017. He was the father of Pawel Chmiel, instructor at Lakeshore LINC Centre.

Toronto Public Library Service

Evening Citizenship Education Circles are offered from February to May at different locations throughout the city in a

selected number of Toronto Public Libraries. If you have any clients who are interested, they should inquire at their local

library for specific dates, times and requirements.

Gong Xi Fa Cai/Happy Chinese Lunar New Year

Page 4

To: Adult Education Program Staff

From: Hanna Cabaj, Continuing Education Department

For those who celebrate this time of the year.

2018 is the Year of the Dog

AE Nursery Program Submitted by Naomi Paramanantham, Nursery Program Consultant and Dallia Aziz and Aikatereina Kringos, Nursery Instructors at Mary Ward Linc & ESL Centre.

Adult learners in two LINC classes at Mary Ward, CLB 4 and CLB 5/6, visit the CNC classroom to read to the children once a week for ten minutes. One or two days prior to the scheduled reading day, adult learners select a story from the book centre to review and familiarize themselves with. This is a beneficial arrangement for both the adult learners and the children. The adults can improve their reading skills while the children enjoy story time with different story tellers and learn new vocabulary. The CNC staff appreciates the initiative of Kevin (CLB 4) & Elena (CLB 5/6) of having their learners participate and

contribute to the development of early literacy skills in children from our Nursery program.

Page 5

To: Adult Education Program Staff

From: Hanna Cabaj, Continuing Education Department

Submission to:

Jaime Puentes

Adult Education Program

80 Sheppard Avenue E.

416-222-8282 Ext. 2513

Fax: 416-512-4992

Email:

puentej@tcdsb.org