Quarantine pay for Daily OTs; More Paid PD Options;

New - Covid Wage Supports in TVDSB

Daily Occasional Teachers in the TVDSB who are instructed by the relevant Health Unit to self-isolate or quarantine as a direct result of school exposure, will now be paid during the isolation period based on the average hours they have worked over the previous 4 weeks. Covid testing is required for Quarantine pay to be provided. LTOs have access to paid leave in such circumstances as provide in our Collective Agreement.

For more information, please do not hesitate to contact your OT Local at etfotvot@gmail.com   

_________________________________________________

ETFO's International Women's Day T Shirts - $9

International Women's Day for 2021 will be held on March 8th and the theme is "Amplify All Women's Voices".  The art on ETFO's shirts is by the acclaimed Indigenous artist, Selena Mills.

Provincial ETFO will only accept offers until January 4th, 2021 so for the Women's tapered cut, click Shop ETFO Women's Cut and for the unisex cut the link is Shop ETFO Unisex Cut .

___________________________________________________________________

16 NEW Paid PD Sessions to be held January 22/21! 

Registration is now open in the TVDSB Employee Portal for paid PD on:

• Number Talks and Counting Circles
• Triangulation; Fractions and Decimals 
• Guiding Students to a Deeper Understanding 
• Accepting a Job in a Digital Classroom/Brightspace 
• Kindergarten 
• Practical Tips and Tricks for Teaching French
• Building Comprehension in the Classroom

These exciting new workshops will be held on the January 22, 2021 PD day and count for all purposes as time worked. To see the full slate and details of each session, log into the Employee Portal > Conference Registrations > Elementary Occasional Teacher PD 2020-2021. These sessions fill quickly so we urge members to register ASAP, however please only register if you plan to attend. It is not fair to your peers to waste these spots and be aware that the Board notes those employees who are no-shows

The Local thanks those in Staff Development for their work in putting together this wonderful assortment of relevant workshops for TVOT members. 

__________________________________________________________________________

"Be Thankful" by Dennis Lee (2020, December 12) Letter to the Editor - London Free Press 

Imagine you were born in 1900. When you are 14, the First World War begins and 22 million die. When you are 18, fifty million will die from the Spanish Flu. When you turn 29 the global economy collapses bringing on the Great Depression. When you are 39 years old, the Second World War begins eventually leaving 60 million dead. Food and other essentials are rationed. At age 52, the Korean War begins and then at age 64, the Vietnam War begins.

Today we have many comforts that did not exist in our grandparents' day. We complain because we have to wear masks and stay home where we have food, electricity, running water, WiFi and Netflix, because of the corona virus.

None of our current luxuries existed for those grandparents, but humanity survived and they never lost their joy of living.

Be thankful you are alive. Do what you can to protect yourselves and help each other. 

_______________________________________________________________________

Your ETFO Thames Valley Occasional Teachers' Local and staff wish you -

           The Local TVOT Office will be closed during the Christmas Break

Benefits for LTOs; More Paid PD sessions and Columbia Employee Store Invitation

Benefit Plan for LTOs - Those Occasional Teachers who are in long-term assignments of 90 calendar days or longer, are eligible to participate in the ETFO Employee Life and Health Trust/ELHT. Participation is mandatory for those in a full FTE position, and available to those in part-time positions if they agree to pay the remainder of the premium. Those who accepted postings with defined end dates, would already have received communications from the Ontario Teachers' Insurance Plan/OTIP via their TVDSB Outlook email account. Those without an end date will receive word from OTIP shortly after they cross the 90 calendar day threshold. In both instances, coverage is for the duration of the assignment and is retroactive to the beginning, if receipts are provided. Unfortunately, there is no benefit plan yet available for daily Occasional Teachers, though OTIP does have a plan for purchase on their website https://www.otip.com/Group-Benefits/Occasional-Casual

 ______________________________________________________________

Did you know EduGAINS is closing?

This one stop website with Ministry policies and programs related to teaching and learning in Ontario will be closing on December 31st. EduGAINS was designed to support Teachers from K -12 and includes links to Ministry licensed resources and links to subject associations.  will be closing on December 31st. After that,  Teachers will have to log into eCommunityLearningontario in the Virtual Community and search for "EDU Resources Community". 

Teachers can also access Ministry of Ontario Curriculum and Resources by clicking here.

______________________________________________________________________

More Paid PD Offerings 

Your OT Local has been meeting with the TVDSB Staff Development team on a regular basis and we are pleased to announce that there will be many new paid professional development opportunities in 2021. Registration will open in the Employee Portal next week, but spots fill quickly so don't wait too long before making your selection.

Just a reminder that participation counts for all purposes (E.I., seniority, Teachers' Pension etc.) as time worked so if you are a daily Occasional Teacher or someone in a long-term assignment of .5 or less, you are eligible.

_______________________________________________________________

Shopping at Columbia Sportswear

TVOT members have again been invited to shop at the Columbia Sportswear Employee Store. Please find your invitation below -

_________________________________________________________________

Your First LTO-Surviving to Thriving- repeat PD session; Comments from a TVOT member re OCT magazine; Please Participate in this Survey for Teachers

Your First LTO - Surviving to Thriving (repeated session)

Due to Popular demand, we are pleased to offer a REPEAT SESSION of Your First LTO - Surviving to Thriving on Tuesday December 8, 2020 from 4:30 pm - 7:30 pm.  This session is intended for elementary OTs who are eligible for paid PD (those with an FTE/Contract equal to or less than 0.5).  If you are ineligible for pay but would like to attend, we kindly request that you wait until 24 hours before the session to register.

This session will be offered online via Zoom.  The link is located in the session description which is found by clicking on the session title within the registration section of the Employee Portal.

As a reminder the ONLINE reflection form link is located at the top of the Elementary Conference registration page:  https://tvdsbo365.sharepoint.com/teams/SSD/SitePages/OT-Elementary-PD.aspx . NOTE: This is a Google form so you will need to sign in to your gotvdsb (Google) account. If you are not signed in you receive an error message prompting you to request access.

______________________________________________________________________

Covid Grinch Nomination - Ontario College of Teachers by Angus Johnson, TVOT member

Incredibly, the December issue of "Professionally Speaking" the publication of the OCT, stages a full cover portrait of teacher predation, trumpeting itself as provider of "Better Protection for Ontario Students".

Every classroom Teacher in Ontario, every day, is doing more to protect their students - at no small risk to their own health - than the College of Teachers has ever done or will ever do in its entire dubious tenure. Yet Ontario Teachers are forced to pay for publishing this trash and for operating this odious spawn of the Harris regime.

As repugnant as book burnings are, this rag cries out for a bonfire. Copies of the December issue should be gathered up and burned on the steps of 101 Bloor St. W.

Failing some convincing retraction or apology, every elected OCT Teacher should resign and future College elections should be boycotted by Ontario Teachers. 

____________________________________________________________________

Survey from Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers and ETFO

Provincial ETFO is seeking data from their members so that they can better advocate for Teachers during this second wave of the pandemic.

Click here to access the survey which should only take a few minutes of your time.

_____________________________________________________________________

Website Development Continues 

Unfortunately, our new website is still not fully functional so we ask for your patience as we work to restore your access to the secure membership section. Hopefully we are within a week or two before members will again be able to register and have access to the full functions of the site.