Happy November TESL Canada Members,
My, how quickly the fall is zipping by! It has been a busy and productive one at TESL Canada with our AGM in October and our first board meeting on November 14th. It was great that so many TESL Canada board members participated in the ATESL conference as presenters and attendees. Judy Sillito, our past president, offered a couple of sessions; Sheri Rhodes, our Outreach chair presented a lighting talk; Wendy Chambers, our new ATESL rep, gave two workshops; and yours truly did a presentation with my UNB colleagues and another with Dianne Tyers on our recent research project on professional standards. It was a terrific conference and the TC board congratulates ATESL on offering such a quality PL event.
Speaking of professional learning, other provincial partners have also been busy with events this fall including TESL Manitoba’s conference on mental health on October 25th, TESL NS’s conference on Nov 17th; and TESL SK’s upcoming (Nov. 23rd) PD on gamification. We also look forward to the spring TESL Atlantic conference in Halifax on May 1st-2nd and TESL SK’s conference in Regina on April 24th-25th. Again, TESL Canada board members are taking part in the planning committees for these events and as presenters as well. It is wonderful to see the collaboration and collegiality in TESL across the country.
I am so pleased to be able to present to you the new TC board members for 2019-20 (also see below). We are fortunate to have had some people offer to serve for another term as well as to welcome new members to the board. As well, at the most recent board meeting, Eric Violago from TESL Manitoba and the University of Winnipeg, was voted in as our interim Treasurer. We are grateful for this important service to the federation. As per our motion at the AGM, TESL Canada will conduct a financial audit early in 2020 and will present the full financial reports for 2018 and 2019 to our partners in the new year.
The TESL Canada Connects Newsletter is going strong and the Outreach Committee, with Sheri Rhodes as Chair and Celia Logan as Newsletter Editor, is happy to present the November issue! This issue gives you a chance to meet some of our new TESL Canada board members and features a conference retrospective from one of our 2019 TCEF bursary winners. Stay tuned for more PL bursary opportunities for TESL Canada members in the new year! Also in 2020, we hope to continue to offer webinars and other resources for our members. If you have any great resource ideas you would like to share with your colleagues via TESL Canada Connects, we’d love to hear from you (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). Additionally, if you wish to share a webinar on a TESL-related topic to your fellow TESL Canada members, please submit your proposal as per the guidelines to us at any time. Finally, in terms of professional learning, please do not forget to check out the most recent issues of the TESL Canada Journal.
Wishing everyone a productive and positive end to fall 2019 and a peaceful and joyous month of December. Keep an eye on your email and social media (Twitter and Facebook) for pertinent information, news, and events.
Sincerely,
Paula Kristmanson
President- TESL Canada
TESL Canada Board 2019-20
- President: Paula Kristmanson (NB)- Chair of Executive Committee
- Vice-President: Donald Moen (ON)- Chair of Governance Committee
- Past-President: Judy Sillito (AB)- Chair of Nomination Committee
- Secretary: Kathy Whynot (NB)- Chair of TCEF
- Interim Treasurer: Eric Violago (MB)- Chair of Finance Committee
- Professional Development Chair: Yalda Ahmadvand (BC)
- Standards Chair: Dmitri Priven (ON)
- Settlement Language National Network Chair: Elsie Johnson (AB)
- Outreach Chair: Sheri Rhodes (AB)
- TESL Newfoundland and Labrador Rep: Xuemei Li (NL)
- TESL New Brunswick Rep: Andrea Leitch-Blake (NB)
- TESL Nova Scotia Rep: Darlene MacGinnis (NS)
- TEAM Manitoba: Scott Poole (MB)
- TESL Saskatchewan: Vicki Schoch (SK)
- ATESL Rep: Wendy Chambers (AB)