Woodstock delivery of Red 4 Ed Shirts; April 29th Day of Action; Earn While You Learn; Columbia Store Invitation; Red 4 Ed Shirts; Kids Help Phone; OTIP Retirement Workshop; TVOT's OT Handbook and ETFO's new OT Resource;

 

April 29th is our Day of Action: On this day, all educators from every Union in Ontario will be standing up for public education by wearing red and ETFO's "Smaller Classes" buttons. 

Already more than 1,000 Red 4 Ed t-shirts have been distributed by our Local and the permanent Teachers' Local to the Thames Valley membership to be worn on Mondays at school, and now on the April 29th Day of Action. To get yours, contact our OT Office at mail@etfotvot.com or 519-641-3936 and let us know your size (S - 6X). 

Those living in Woodstock, can pick up a T-shirt after school Monday, March 30th (times and location to be determined.)

___________

It's worth $145! Spots are still available for the March 31st Paid PD Workshops and Dinner. One session is full but there are still spaces available for two after-school paid PD sessions being held at the Lamplighter Inn on Tuesday, March 31st at 4:30 PM:  - Proportional Reasoning, Grades 3 to 8: the development of efficient mental math skills using visual representations to simplify multiplication, fractions etc.

- Empower Your Multilingual Learners Through Drama: practical strategies to boost student engagement and accelerate language acquisition. 

These sessions count as a half-day of teaching and are hosted by your TVOT Local with a dinner as well. Register in the TVDSB Employee Portal under "Elementary /Dual Occasional Teacher PD" .

__________

________________

ETFO Provincial Survey: members who identify as women can participate in ETFO's review of Women's Programming. The survey closes on Monday, April 6/26 at 9 AM so here is the link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ETFOWP2026  

For more information, contact Zoey Jones at zjones@etfo.org

________

Provincial ETFO has just released "Developing an Effective Classroom Environment and Culture" . This is a modern practical guide for Occasional Teachers.  To view and purchase this $15 ETFO Provincial resource, go to https://shop.etfo.ca/collections/resources/products/the-occasional-teacher-s-handbook-developing-an-effective-classroom-environment-and-culture

____________________

Your TVOT Local has an online resource for our Occasional Teachers. The "Daily OT Handbook" is an excellent resource for all members. 

For example you can find info on: - TVDSB policies on Fifth Disease, conjunctivitis/pink eye, and head lice, as well as policies regarding copyrights, footwear, technology, disconnecting from work, harassment and discrimination. 

- Info about Brightspace, Brightspace Classroom and Brightspace Staff Learning Hub (where the PD reflection survey is found)

- Links to all the above and other resources such as accessing Outlook from outside of Canada, completing an Employee Incident Reporting and Investigation form, how to register for TVARRIS texts and much, much more.

Go to www.etfotvot.com and check it out. 

We urge members to open an account for access to our $75 Resource Rebate and our Professional Learning Development Fund worth up to $685 per year.

__________

The Kids Help Phone is Canada's only 24/7 e-mental health service offering free, multilingual and confidential support to young people. 

Kids Help Phone has developed a module to be used by elementary educators to support mental health in the classroom - Mental Health and Help-Seeking (Grades 4-12) . Part 1 of the module is a classroom activity while Part 2 includes a 45 minute phone or video call conversation between the class and a Kids Help Phone professional counsellor. The program aims to help students identify how they can seek support and feel confidents doing so. To learn more or to register, go to https://kidshelpphone.ca/get-involved/are-you-an-educator-check-out-counsellor-in-the-classroom

________________