Traditions and Transitions
TESL Conference
Johnson Collegiate
April 29-30, 2016
Tentative Agenda
Friday, April 296:00-7:00 pm / Registration (dessert & coffee)
7:00-7:15 pm / Introductions, housekeeping items, etc.
7:15-8:15 pm / Greetings: Ralph Goodale, MP Wascana, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Keynote: Dr. Guzder – Creating Cultural Safety for Refugee Families: Syrian Refugees and Other Minorities Arriving in our Communities
Saturday, April 30
7:30-8:30 am / Registration & Continental Breakfast
8:30 -9:45 am / Introductions/Announcements/Etc.
Keynote: Andrea Sterzuk – Emerging visions for English Language Teaching in Saskatchewan schools
9:45 – 10:00 am / BREAK
10:00 – 11:00 am / Breakout Session 1
11:00 – 11:10 am / BREAK
11:10 - 12:10 pm / Breakout Session 2
12:10 – 1:00 pm / LUNCH
12:20 – 1:00 pm / TESL SASK AGM
1:00 – 2:00 pm / Breakout Session 3
2:00 – 2:30pm / BREAK
2:30 - 3:45 pm / Keynote: Anna Bartosik – Traditions in Transition:Are times changing? Do we change with the times?
Closing (thank-you’s, prizes, etc.)
3:45 / SK TEAL AGM
Keynote Speakers
Dr. Jaswant Guzder
Title: Creating Cultural Safety for Refugee Families: Syrian Refugees and Other Minorities Arriving in our Communities
The presentation will be oriented to the role of the school as a facilitator of strength and resilience for refugee children in the context of the expected arrival of Syrian refugee families.
The session will focus both on cultural specific and universal aspects of the refugee family adjustment and promotion of their integration into schools and communities. Schools are a secure base for children who are recovering from trauma, acculturating and adjusting. The cultural safety may be created as a reciprocity between communities and newly arrived refugee communities as an active process that evolves over time involving a creative response from school and local community support.
Andrea Sterzuk
Title: Emerging visions for English Language Teaching in Saskatchewan schools
In this presentation, I draw on applied linguistics research and theory to examine the traditions and transitions of English language teaching as a professional discipline. I also use examples from my own research; examine Saskatchewan educational language policy; and explore local historical writing on English language teaching to consider the place of English language-teaching, language loss and shift, and multilingualism in Saskatchewan’s past and present. The talk concludes with considerations for professional discourses and practices in English language teaching in Saskatchewan schools.
Anna Bartosik
Title: Traditions in Transition:Are times changing? Do we change with the times?
This keynote addresses the challenges teachers face: being fearful of technology, being cautious about using technology, using too much technology, examining constructivist theories in education and the 21 century classroom- Do we change with the times, or should we be cautious? Are our students missing any opportunities because of our cautiousness? Are teachers missing anything by being cautious?
Breakout Presentations
*Subject to change. Please note that times have not been scheduled yet.*
Best Practices for Supporting Positive School Experiences for EAL Children and Their Parents
Sacha Sahlmueller, Alissa Siggelkow, Amy Strauch and Maya Dabo
This practical and informative session provides a variety of best practices for supporting elementary EAL students and their parents while they transition to the Canadian Schooling System. Positive behaviour support, teaching strategies, and the importance of communication with newcomer families will be discussed.
The Cultural Capital on IELTS and TOEFL
Dr Hilda Freimuth
This research focused on a comparative content analysis of the cultural capital found on the reading components of the IELTS and TOEFL examinations. The reason for the study was to determine which of the two standardized examinations would better suit Emirati students in the United Arab Emirates, given their socio-cultural and educational background. The presentation will highlight the findings of this study and discuss the wider implications of the findings themselves.
Creating Cultural Safety
Dr. Jaswant Guzder
The presentation will be oriented to the role of schools as a facilitator of strength and resilience for refugee children in the context of the expected arrival of Syrian refugee families. The session will focus both on cultural specific and universal aspects of the refugee family adjustment and promotion of their integration into schools and communities. Schools are a secure base for children who are recovering from trauma, acculturating and adjusting. The cultural safety may be created as a reciprocity between communities and newly arrived refugee communities as an active process that evolves over time involving a creative response
Is Anybody Listening?
Elsie Johnson and Karen Bradley
In support of PBLA and task-based learning, this workshop will use Eye On Literacy wordless books to demonstrate the process of developing listening skills through a variety of activities and assessment materials at CLB 1. Participants will be organized in small groups, presented with a variety of tasks related to the wordless picture books, and encouraged to share their own experiences and/or ideas. Hands on material will be supported with PowerPoint visuals throughout the presentation.
Journey Through Patterning
Elsie Johnson
This interactive workshop will demonstrate how the technique of patterning reinforces the reading process. Patterning develops oral drills with visual cues that encourage left-to-right movement across the page. Also patterning combines oral skills with those that develop discrimination of letters, words, and sentences. By participating in a variety of mini lessons, teachers will leave with practical ideas to use in the classroom.
Beyond PPT: Engaging Your Audience with Nearpod
Anna Bartosik
Teachers worry that students disengage when they have access to mobile devices in class. Students cannot engage with traditional slide presentations. Can these two issues be resolved? This workshop will demonstrate the advantages of using an interactive presentation tool, Nearpod, which engages learners and gives them an active role in a presentation, while teachers monitor student participation and utilize Nearpod as a formative assessment tool. Please BYOD to participate; you will also see how Nearpod works for students on different devices.
EAL Activities
Avril Jones
Avril will be presenting a collection of EAL activities that have been collected and used in her classroom as part of her graduate program. The activities are geared towards an interactive approach within the classroom. Activities range from paper based to technologically-based.
High School EAL from Literacy to Graduation
Sarah Baumgartner
This workshop will talk about how the high school EAL program works at F.W. Johnson from literacy to grade 12. It will briefly describe the different programs, including literacy, sheltered grade 10, a grade 11 EAL writing class, and grade 12 team teaching. There will then be time for discussion and questions from the attendees as to what their needs are.
SIOP - Overview and Proven Practices in Literacy
Fiona Smith and Barb Hilts-Most
This workshop is intended for all EAL educators. We will be providing a brief overview of SIOP - Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol, followed by practical strategies for teaching literacy in the EAL classroom. Using the 8 SIOP components and 30 features, we will provide teaching ideas and effective techniques to plan and deliver engaging lessons for Kindergarten to Grade 12 students, as well as adult learners. This workshop is practical and interactive. We hope that by working through the SIOP model, teachers will be able to use these proven practices in their EAL classrooms.
Help! I`m Getting New EAL Students!
Susan Ballantyne
Susan will discuss strategies that will assist classroom teachers with differentiating assignments. Participants will learn a variety of ways in which to tailor assignments so that they are in line with Outcomes and Indicators. She will also discuss factors which effect second language learners as they transition to a new life in Canada. If you would like to attend an informative and practical workshop, this one is a great option!
Refugee Camp and Immigration Experience
Molla Manie Wollel
Refugees and Immigrant explanation, refugee camp and Immigration experience, and advantages for having refugees and immigrants in the country
Empowering Educators through Action Research
Teri Thompson and Bula Ghosh
This workshop strives to build your confidence and comfort level working with the Action Research framework. Action Research is a process that empowers individuals to attack and solve real everyday problems in their working /teaching environment. The goal for the workshop is to provide the participants with the tools to use action research in their individual situations. Action Research is a powerful tool for affecting change in your learning environment and for validating your experiences. Using Action Research projects, educators have eliminated or minimized reoccurring classroom issues and have also provided a rationale to administrators for additional resources and funding.
Get That Thought out of Your Head
Chad Parker and Ricardo Arisnabarreta
“Communicative techniques for beginners involve appropriately small chunks of language and build in some repetition of patterns for establishing fluency” - H. Douglas Brown (2001). Based on the above principle, language drills can be used to help students take ideas and concepts, existing only as thoughts, and transfer these more fluently to oral messages. A language drill could be defined as a technique focusing on language structure through some type of repetition combined with substitution. Drilling seems to be a hotly debated topic as the technique was commonly overused by language teachers through the 50’s and 60’s. Currently, language teachers tend to be of the opinion that drills should be completely avoided in favour of creating and exploring more “real” scenarios. Personally, I believe many students can benefit through appropriate and moderate drilling. In this workshop, we will explore some drilling techniques for oral fluency. *20 participants max
Full Circle: Learning From the Voices of Canada's Indigenous People
Leslie Erhardt and Peter Turner
This session will present lesson plans intended to educate Newcomers to the role that residential schools' played in Canadian history, including the loss of First Nations languages and how this impacted identity. It is the intention that Newcomers will develop an understanding of the reasons why some of our First Nations citizens are still struggling to overcome generations of abuse while also learning the value of keeping one's first language.
Teaching Soft Skills
Prudence Swaan
This presentation will provide information on Soft Skills which are important and beneficial to include in P.B.L.A. when instructing adult immigrant students in the area of employment. It will enable instructors to have the knowledge to understand, describe and identify soft skills, as well as information on how to improve those skills. Soft skills are needed for immigrant students to enhance individual relationships, job performance and career prospects.
LINC Learning Technology Innovation Leadership
Rob McBride and Nancy Van Dorp
Improving program outcomes and learner access through learning technology is a goal of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Blended learning combines the face-to-face engagement of a traditional classroom with online learning and can improve access, learner engagement and learning outcomes. Implementing blended learning in language programs represents an opportunity and a challenge for managers and lead teachers. Edulinc Courseware provided free by IRCC through the LearnIT2teach Project fills the need for CLB-referenced software, but how does a program get started? This session will discuss hardware, software and human resource questions, and describe the project’s online course for learning technology innovation leadership.
Poetry and Prose Remixed
Stacey Scott
At the secondary level we often lose engagement of EAL learners because they struggle with standard English. They are constantly engaging in broken English due to their first language (pidgins or patios), or popular culture influences (slangs and text code) outside of class. Many even excel, showing confidence in their ability to master these variances of English. But a student’s ability to maneuver registers and create original languages are often overlooked in favour of ensuring they can grasp “proper” English. Given the globalized society our EAL students face they need to be able to seamlessly move through various situations online and offline that constantly ask them to dip in and out of registers and voices. This poster will focus on the research supporting inclusion of Broken English to create stronger EAL learners and look at 2 Secondary ELA units (Poetry Remixed, Olde English vs. My English) incorporation of varying medias and modes of text to embrace and make advantageous students’ multilingual lifestyles.
Building Resilience in Refugee Children
Maryam Karimi
How do people deal with difficult events that change their lives? The death of a loved one, experiencing war and trauma, terrorist attacks and other traumatic events. These are all examples of very challenging life experiences. Many people react to such circumstances with a flood of strong emotions and a sense of uncertainty. "Refugees have extraordinary coping skills and resilience. Finding ways to support the personal and social resources that promote resilience is at least as important as identifying pre- and post-migration miseries" (Beiser, 2010). Yet people generally adapt well over time to life-changing situations and stressful conditions. What enables them to do so?