President Sam Hammond

On December 22 the Minister of Education released a statement to the media announcing that beginning in 2010, the fall report card would be replaced with a new progress report. This led to a frenzy of media requests to interview President Hammond for his reaction to this change. On December 22nd alone, Hammond completed 9 interviews—with many more to come over the holiday break.

• TV Interview: Ontario Axes Fall Report Card - CTV News Channel
• Talk with teacher should be part of timely feedback - London Free Press, January 9, 2010
• Revamped report cards gets praise, teacher training - YorkRegion.com, December 26, 2009
• Ont. drops fall report cards in elementary schools - CBC.ca, December 22, 2009
• No more fall report card for Ontario kids - The Globe and Mail, December 21, 2009 

New ETFO-AQ Website

Last week ETFO launched a new website for its Additional Qualification courses: www.etfo-aq.ca.

This site was created, in part, to highlight ETFO's bold new AQ plan: 20 new online AQ courses to be rolled out this summer, with a total of 50 courses to be developed over the next three years.

Soon members will have the option to take an ETFO Additional Qualification course either face-to-face, online or in a blended format (both face-to-face and online).

If you need Additional Qualifications courses that are affordable, engaging and grounded in current practice to help you strive for excellence, then we encourage you to check out www.etfo-aq.ca.

ETFO's video One in Six has been selected to receive a CINE Golden Eagle Award for excellence in production.

Recognized as a mark of excellence throughout the film and television industry for over 50 years, the Golden Eagle Award acknowledges high quality production in a variety of content categories for professional, independent and student filmmakers.

As a CINE Golden Eagle winner, One in Six is automatically nominated for CINE's competitive awards. The winners of the Special Jury Award will be announced next month.  Masters Series Award winners will be announced this spring at CINE's annual Awards Gala in Washington, D.C.

One in Six - Education and Poverty in Ontario, produced by ETFO in 2008, was designed as a tool to generate discussion and awareness of poverty among Ontario educators. If you haven't seen the film, One in Six can be streamed from the ETFO website: www.etfo.ca > Multimedia > Webcasts.

• Learning Together: A Teacher's Guide to Combined Grades is ETFO's newest publication. This resource outlines the successful strategies, ideas and expertise that has been developed by experienced teachers of combined grades. Purchase this comprehensive resource now for only $34.50 at shopETFO.
  
  
• ETFO Conference: Teachers Volunteering Abroad, Toronto, Saturday, April 10. This one-day conference is open to ETFO members who are interested in volunteering internationally and want information about where to volunteer and what to expect when they work abroad. ETFO will cover travel costs for all participants and accommodation costs for members outside the GTA. One spot per local will be held until March 12, 2010.  Selection will be based on the registration questionnaire. For more information, visit the ETFO website.
  
  
• Are you a fan of Voice magazine's Trivia puzzle?  If so, you can now access puzzle solutions online at www.etfo.ca > Publications > Voice Magazine.
  
  
• Ontario Nature's Writing and Art Contest for grade 7 and 8 students. This year’s topic is 'Wild species and wild spaces: why biodiversity is important to me.'  Prizes will be given to the top three essays and the top three paintings or drawings. Deadline for entries is February 26, 2010. To download the entry form, visit www.ontarionature.org.
  
  
• The Grade 4 or 5 SnowPass from the Canadian Ski Council. The Canadian Ski Council wants to help keep grade 5 and 6 kids healthy and active this winter season. Pick up a SnowPass and find hundreds of ways to save this winter. The SnowPass booklet is valid from December 1st to the end of the season. It includes up to three ski-free coupons for each participating ski/snowboard area and also comes with coupons for amazing deals on lessons and rentals at more than 30 ski/snowboard areas! For more information, visit www.snowpass.ca.
  
  
• ESL teachers - complete CASLT's English as a second language (ESL) teacher survey until January 26. The survey is now live on the Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers website at: http://www.caslt.org/what-we-do/what-we-do-projects-esl_en.php. Please take a few moments to answer the questions and circulate this survey among your contacts. Your answers will help CASLT develop a research report that will be published in October 2010.

This issue of @ETFO/FEEO features free resources from Natural Resources Canada and The National Research Council Canada (NRC).

THe atlas of canada from natural resources canada

The Atlas of Canada, located at http://atlas.gc.ca, contains hundreds of interactive maps and resources about Canada's environment, society, economy and history. Included are reference maps, topographic maps, over 1000 archive maps, and interactive thematic maps on Canadian society, the environment, Aboriginal Peoples, economy, history, climate change, and health.

Resources for Science Learning from the NRC

The NRC provides curriculum materials in both official languages that complement studies in life science, physical science and astronomy, as well as Canadian discoveries in science and technology. The materials include:

• a poster for grades 4-12 that details Canadian research accomplishments through the decades;
• a periodic table of the elements in handout and poster form for grades 8-12;
• a poster providing background on the evolution of the universe, motions in the sky, and more (grades 6-9);
• binder dividers on plant and animal cells, and bacteria and viruses (grades 5-12);
• and a ruler listing the website address to the NRC's online student science and technology resources.

To order these resources, please access the following online form.