Category Archives: Volunteering

Showcase Your Lifelong Learning Commitment: Include Certificates on your LinkedIn Profile 


If you’ve been a TESL Ontario member for a while, you probably have more than one PD Certificate sitting in your inbox as a result of attending one of our webinars, conferences or TESL Dialogue sessions. While these certificates are essential in accruing the PD hours required to maintain your OCELT each year, they also make a great addition to your professional LinkedIn profile!
  Read on for instructions for how to upload certificates…
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Growing Your Career During the Winter Months

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Guest Contributor: Catherine Crawford

Winter is a dormant season in Canada where the cold weather brings nature into hibernation. As such, our careers can also tend to fall into a period of stagnation during this time of year. It’s cold, dark and not many people are feeling energized compared to other times of the year. So, if you are trying to grow your career, how do you ensure it doesn’t suffer during these winter blues? Here are 4 career tips to implement this winter season:  

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Joining the TESL Ontario Board

Inspiration to Join the TESL Ontario Board

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During the Ontario College strike in October 2017, I felt compelled to be more politically aware. Then, in October 2018, I attended the Canadian Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) Pan-Canadian Research Conference and I found the global and local initiatives to improve education truly inspiring. At my institution, I joined our Senate, Honorary Degree Committee, Local Executive Council, and became the Chair of the Academic Policy Committee. Being a driver of change is really hopeful and promising.

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Preparing for the TESL Ontario Conference

The 47th Annual TESL Ontario Conference is quickly approaching, and I am gearing up for a great time.

A Chance to Network and Learn

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This will be my first conference as a newly certified teacher. I am looking forward to seeing my colleagues – some new faces, and, hopefully, some I have seen before – and learning something new.

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After Decades in the Field, I Am on the Board!

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In 2018, after some 37 years in the TESL field, I joined the TESL Ontario Board. This is the ideal volunteer challenge for me at this point in my life. I am keen to do what I can to contribute to the health of the organization and, most importantly, to the ongoing professionalization of TESL. Throughout the life of a teacher, you gain perspective as your career progresses and at one point you realize that you are ready to pitch in and give some time to the profession at large.

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A Positive Group Volunteer Experience

multi-ethnic volunteer group hands together showing unity
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While teaching a module about working in Canada, I found my students were a bit surprised when I told them that volunteer work was not only valuable to have on a resume, but also one of the best ways to gain work experience in Canada.  For many, “paid” work experience seemed to be the only valued work experience they had known.  So, when I mentioned to my class that employers like to see volunteer experience on resumes and hear about it in job interviews, students started asking how they could do it.

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