Christi Belcourt

The week of February 7 – 11, 2022

GATHERINGS

What a strange, disturbing, teachable, learnable week in Ottawa! We know that a number of you live downtown and around campus, and that the protest/occupation might be causing a lot of stress. Please take good care.

The Trucker Convoy (we will not use the word Freedom) presents many teaching opportunities. What does it represent? Who is participating? Who is funding or fuelling it? Who is being affected? What are the police doing? What have the police done? When is a gathering dangerous? What have the police done in other situations with protests in Ottawa? One good way to elicit student conversation and thinking about events like this is to post photos and get them to talk about what is going on,  what they see, what they infer. Here are some photos for you to look at as well as a CBC online article from 2020 – about a BIPOC protest.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/protest-ottawa-arrests-day-of-action-for-anishinabeg-1.5811276

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HELLO from Heather and Paul

Thank you to those of you who expressed condolences on the passing of Paul’s mother. We appreciate your reaching out. It is a difficult time but we held a small, lovely funeral mass that honoured both of Paul’s parents. They were incredible people to love and to be loved by.

We know that a lot is going on right now for all of you as you attend classes, work on course assignments and get ready for your teaching career, AND make the adjustment of not being in practicum. Many of you have been asking questions about what is going on with temporary certification and the Ontario College of Teachers, and we have tried to be as clear and informative as possible —  however, information is changing very quickly.  Continue to check Brightspace  AND your e-mail for Tracy Crowe’s and the faculty’s announcements and bulletins. Excerpts from Tracy’s latest announcement about OCT are pasted below.

OPEN OFFICE on Thursday, February 10th: we will hold open office hours from 8:30 to 11:20, using the usual zoom link for 3151 H/HH. We will be happy to answer any questions you have about your digital hub, S4C project, AEL, interviews, school boards, job assignments etc.. If you want to show us what you have so far for the digital hub, or take a look at your practicum binder — all good. We will take turns ‘manning’ the screen and will do our best to answer your questions. If you have a small group that wants to meet with us to be efficient, please organize on your end, contact us, and we will meet with you on Thursday morning. The next class is on February 17th focusing on parent engagement and transitions. We will certainly provide resources on that topic but will focus on what you need and want. Digital hub? Interviews? OCT? LET US KNOW, please! 

Don’t forget to complete and send us your practicum assignment by February 10th. We really want to hear about your practicum experiences.

CAREER FAIR: February 8th and 9th – an important message for you all:

OCT

OCT Applications

Please read carefully the guidelines for applications on the OCT website. All inquiries about the application process, requirements for certification, or your own file should be directed to the OCT.

Temporary Certificate

Information about the temporary certificate and the process to apply can be found at https://www.oct.ca/becoming-a-teacher/applying  and in the email sent on December 6, 2021. Please check your OCT application regularly but understand that processing a temporary certificate may take time.

Those with deferred practicum and those who missed the initial Faculty deadline, you will be able to submit your intention to apply for a temporary certificate later in February. The form link will be sent to you. Please watch these announcements and your UOttawa email for information about the process. You can start your application through the OCT now.

At this point, any supply teaching by a teacher candidate is still considered unqualified supply and presents significant risk in the case of an allegation, accident or incident.

AEL

RESOURCES

Home

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

https://www.canadashistory.ca/education/kayak-in-the-classroom/black-history/black-history-educational-package  

https://www.etfo.ca/socialjusticeunion/anti-black-racism/black-history-month-february

https://www.blackhistoryottawa.org/

https://ocdsb.ca/our_schools/equity__diversity_and_inclusion/black_history_month_landing

.     STAY SAFE, STAY PROUD, STAY CLEAR!

The weeks of January 17th and 24th, 2022

HELLO, all!

You are now in the last week of your full, 2nd-year practicum, with a few of you completing your practica in the spring. Bravo! We have been really impressed by your perseverance and progress. The interim reports were wonderful to read — you have come a long way and have a great journey ahead. Your first full 3151 class back is on Thursday, February 3rd, and we look forward to seeing you in on-line class at 9:45 a.m.. We will be re-acquainting and hearing about your practicum experiences. You know we would love to meet you all in person but 3150/3151 classes will remain online. We would be very happy to host a get-together for the H/HH cohort at our humble abode once all of your classes are done, and the coast is clear, public-health wise.

In your last week, please make sure you have gathered some good artifacts that document your teaching and learning experiences in your practicum. Photos, lesson plans, student work, images — all great for your memories and for use in your digital hub and S4C project.

Final reports are due on January 28th. Please ensure that you send a copy to us as well as the practicum office.

NEWS

From the Practicum Office re: final reports:

It is the responsibility of the TC to ensure that these forms are completed by the AT(s) and that both the Faculty Supervisor AND the Practicum Office receive a copy of each report. 

 Candidates are advised to keep a signed copy for their own records

• The report, as an attached PDF, is to be emailed to the Practicum Office at practic2@uottawa.ca
• practic2@uottawa.ca is an email specifically for the submission of evaluation reports
• The evaluation reports will only be accepted electronically as attached PDFs (not links)
• ATs can provide candidates with hardcopies or alternative electronic versions, but it is the TC’s responsibility to submit it as a PDF
• The Practicum Office cannot issue a final grade without the completed Interim and Final reports
• Ats and TCs have also received this information

For reference, the forms can be found below the practicum guide on our website. The timelines are also outlined for reference in the practicum guide. To optimally use these forms, they must be downloaded and saved, then opened from the computer’s saved folder (otherwise they will not save). The forms have been created in Adobe to comply with the Ontario Government and University of Ottawa accessibility standards. The Final Report is to be completed and submitted at the end of the placement, on January 28^th, 2022.

OCT and TEMPORARY CERTIFICATION

The news changes almost every day in a lot of ways and with regard to OCT certification. This just in from Tracy Crowe:

Please be aware that the Academic Secretariat is checking the eligibility of those Year 2 candidates who submitted their names to us by the January 14 deadline. The list will be sent to the OCT by the end of the month and we expect candidates will get their temporary certificate by the end of February.

Those  Year 2 candidates who missed the deadline and will be completing their practicum soon will be able to apply by January 28 at noon. In addition to applying to the OCT, all interested Year 2 candidates must complete the Faculty’s form.  Here is the link to the uOttawa Teacher Education – Expression of interest to apply for a temporary certificate. YOU MUST HAVE AN OCT APPLICATION NUMBER TO COMPLETE.

In the meantime, you need to have all of your required information submitted to the OCT so that you can teach when you graduate this spring. Teacher candidates must correspond individually with the College to ensure all required docs are filed and ok.. The faculty cannot do this for you.

NEXT CLASS: Thursday, February 3rd at 9:45 am with H and P.  Focus –  hearing about your practicum experiences and fielding questions, planning for 3 remaining classes. Any suggestions, photos, questions – please send our way and we will incorporate into the meeting.

HUMOUR:

SHOVELLING WOES – imagine this great kid a few years from now in high school!

Here’s my kid! https://t.co/LAKmXRjewN pic.twitter.com/NCpoJYgPbo

— Rachel DiSaia (they/them) (@HopHeadRachel) January 18, 2022