Category Archives: Connection

2024 Award Nominations Now Open

Kiara Kim, Learning and Development Assistant, TESL Ontario

Nominate Now: Recognize Excellence in TESL for 2024

As we prepare for the TESL Ontario 2024 Annual Conference: Navigating New Routes in Language Education, it’s time to spotlight the leaders who are making a significant impact in the TESL community. One shining example is Gonul Turkdogan, the 2023 recipient of the Sparks of Excellence Award. Gonul’s journey since receiving this prestigious award offers a glimpse into the profound impact and inspiration these accolades can bring.

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Maximize Your Potential: Why OCELT Certification Maintenance Matters

by Reza Mazloom-Farzaghy, Accreditation Services Manager, TESL Ontario 

Did you know that in order to maintain your certified status, OCELT (Ontario Certified English Language Teacher) certification must be renewed annually? This annual renewal process isn’t merely administrative; it’s serves as a gateway to a host of advantages that benefit teachers, employers, learners, and all stakeholders involved in language education.  These benefits enable employers and funders to ensure the high quality of their language instruction services, motivating teachers to regularly upgrade their knowledge and skills, while also staying abreast of the latest developments in the field of TESL.  OCELT is awarded to qualified English language teachers of adult learners by TESL Ontario, and is valid for twelve months.  Like many professional certifications, OCELT requires renewal at the end of each certification cycle to ensure the association can verify the continued professional development of OCELT holders.

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Mitigating the Effects of Trauma

Photo by Susan Wilkinson on Unsplash

“Two of my brothers were killed in the war in Ukraine.”

“My family’s houses were destroyed in Palestine”

“I have PTSD from a trauma in my homeland.”

“There is fighting in my street back home, and I can’t reach anyone.”

“My mother was sent to a re-education centre for being a Uyghur.”

“My husband and I and our two sons were put on a kill list, so we had to flee my country.”

“My sister is sick, and I cannot go back and see her before she dies.”

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Managing Disruptive Behaviour

Image taken from: Big Stock Photo

While teaching young people is often not easy, managing classrooms with students of mixed abilities and diverse backgrounds can be really challenging. Perhaps one of the biggest challenges is getting a class to be quiet. Picture this: it’s the first day of school and you are required to be the homeroom teacher for a class of boys in their early teens. Boys at this age can be a handful! 

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The Power of Storytelling

Photo by NiseriN http://www.photocreo.com/

Everyone loves a good story. For generations, people of all ages and backgrounds have entertained one other with their exploits and adventures, sometimes fanciful, sometimes not. Stories can be told over dinner, sung in a song, enacted on stage, painted on canvas, or printed in a book. They can be long, short, sad, uplifting, serious or funny. You don’t need much to create a story, other than a couple of ideas and a voice or pen and paper. And yet, for such a simple tool, its benefits are prolific.

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Getting to Know Each Other Better in the Language Classroom

Image from Padlet search engine “Team Work.”

In my very first TESL Ontario blog post, I shared an activity to help teachers remember their students’ names.1 It also happens that the activity helps students learn each other’s names and, as a result, helps to build community. By addressing each other by name, students are more likely to build bonds and feel valued. Building community is a process, however, and although this activity is a good start, teachers can incorporate other activities throughout the term or academic year to make the process memorable.

The following activity is one I use to help strengthen students’ sense of community by letting them share something about themselves that highlights a positive attribute. This activity also gives the teacher the opportunity to do the same.

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First Day Back

Back to Class
Source: Jason Goodman on Unsplash

As the streetcar lurched toward George Brown College, I gazed at the familiar storefronts, churches, and coffee shops that lined the route. How could everything be the same when it felt so different? I was nervous, panicked even. After all, I hadn’t taught in-person for close to three years. I berated myself for checking off the box to teach on campus. Wasn’t it easier to stay enclosed in my basement lair? I rechecked the supplies in my backpack and pulled out the instructions sheet for the tenth time. Offices have moved here, photocopiers are now there; do this if you need to print something, do that to access the computer system. Ughh.

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TESL Ontario 2022 Conference: Takeaways from 6 Talks on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion  

TESL Ontario’s 2022 conference, which marked the organization’s 50th anniversary, brought forth current perspectives, reflections, and suggestions related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. This post highlights takeaways from six talks about fostering inclusion, advancing accessibility, and supporting newcomers.

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TESL Teacher To TESL Ontario Intern

As I finished my TESL program at Conestoga College this academic year and was in the process of applying for my OCELT Certification at TESL Ontario, an email popped up from our program head about a summer opportunity with TESL Ontario. Fast-forward nine weeks and here I am, feeling deeply connected and grateful for this opportunity, not to mention highly impacted by this team of individuals. 

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Navigating Ontario’s EAP Sector (Part 1)

Image sourcewww.bigstockphoto.com 

2022 marks a professional milestone for me: one decade as a contract instructor within Ontario English for Academic Purposes (EAP) programs. The last ten years have seen me criss-cross the province undertaking assorted contracts for eight post-secondary institutions. Every college/university I have worked for has had a unique culture and slightly different approach to academic preparation for English language learners. However, some common themes have emerged about how the Ontario EAP market seems to operate.

In a two-part series, I will share insights about navigating a career in EAP that I wish I had realized from the start. I am confident much of what I say can apply to other TESL environments too.

In this first blog of the series, I discuss how people can get their foot in the door.

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