Release of Placements - Fall Term - November 2014 - Please Read Carefully

Attention ALL Professional Year B.Ed Students: 

Details Regarding The Release Of Your Winter Placement Details

This year, there have been some significant changes to the way in which students will view their placement details, during professional year. 

Below, you will find very specific information for you to follow over the next couple of weeks - leading up to the commencement of your placement.

PLEASE READ ALL OF THIS EMAIL VERY CAREFULLY

Step One:

• Confirm that the placement you see in the Education Portal online match that of our Departmental records BEFORE contacting your host school
• Tuesday October 28th 2014 we will have a table set up from 12:00 noon until 2:30pm, to verify the confirmed placement data you see in the portal, matches our records.

If you are unavailable during this scheduled time to visit the table, please confirm details within the Faculty of Education Administration Office at Heritage Place. 

WE REQUEST THAT YOU DO NOT INUNDATE US WITH EMAIL.

Important Placement Confirmation Practices:

• DO NOT CONTACT YOUR HOST SCHOOL UNTIL Monday November 3rd, 2014
• No requests for board changes will be considered 
• We do not permit confirmed placements to be traded
• Confirmed Placements will only be changed for  circumstances involving personal or professional conflicts of interest
• Remember that you can communicate with all of the other BED students via your D2L 4499 Group Section 
• (This is also a requirement as outlined in your EDUC 4499 syllabus.)

Where We Stand In Our Progress Today:

• With 2 weeks until the start of Winter Term Placements, approximately 82% of you have a confirmed placement
• For the 18% who do not yet have a confirmed placement, please be patient. We are working hard to complete the work of confirming all placements and getting them on the Education Portal - check it daily 
• At times the teacher or grade information may have changed due to internal circumstances at the placement school.  We will notify you if we receive such information, or alternately, please notify us immediately if your placement school notifies you directly
• There may be changes to confirmed placements - but we will notify any impacted students if required

How Will I Be Notified Of A Confirmed Placement?:
As the outstanding placements are confirmed we will upload them to this webpage, and you can log-in and check periodically.  All outstanding placements will be updated in this online portal, as they are confirmed. Please take a moment to ensure that you can log on (same username and password as you LU email).

Placements are confirmed at varying times, completely dependent on the specific board we have an agreement with.  Although every attempt is made to confirm placement requests as expeditiously as possible some boards due to demands on their resources may be later than others in being able to do so.

Do not, under any circumstance, contact Boards, Principals, Associate Teachers, etc to attempt to secure your own placement. Doing so will jeopardize your entire Professional Year. 

PLEASE BE PATIENT AND CHECK THE EDUCATION PORTAL FREQUENTLY FOR UPDATES - THEY WILL BE MADE DAILY, AS THE BALANCE OF OUTSTANDING PLACEMENTS ARE CONFIRMED.

New Conflicts Of Interest?

It is important that our "conflict of interest" schools records for each student is accurate.  This refers to any schools where you have immediate relatives/ spouse or schools you have worked or attended within 6 years - if there are any to add please let me know by email.

What If A School Board Cannot Locate A Placement For Me?
If a school board is unable to arrange a requested placement, the individual teacher candidate will be contacted and asked to name an alternative partnership board.

Required Documentation For Entry Into A School:EVERY student must supply the Education Administration Office with copies of their PBC with VSS and their TB skin test BEFORE they are permitted to step foot inside a host school.    

All up-to-date original documentation required (police background check/vulnerable sector screening and tb skin test) must be presented before the school Principal will allow you into the school.

Review your school board's documentation expectations found on our website, to be sure.


Incorrect Information Appearing In Your Placement Details?
If any of the information appears incorrect (including your Faculty Advisor ) please let me know.
(If you are not sure who your Placement Faculty Advisor is - this is your instructor for EDUC 4490/4499).

Are You Ready To Check The Online Education Portal For Your Placement Details? 

To check for your placements details, once confirmed:  https://fieldexperience.lakeheadu.ca/candidate/
PLEASE REMEMBER: YOU MUST BE LOGGED INTO MYINFO TO VIEW YOUR PLACEMENT DETAILS

PLEASE BOOKMARK THIS  ABOVE URL/LINK - YOU WILL NEED IT AGAIN

Please let me know if you have any issues logging in or if any error messages appear.  

Okay, What Do I Do Next?

Once you have confirmed that both the departmental records and electronic placement information that appears in the Education Portal MATCHES you may contact your associate teacher, after Monday November 3rd, 2014. 

It is important to note that the Education Administration Team will be sending out electronic Welcome/ Resource Information Packages, for all Associate Teachers.  

We aim to send all email packages to all Associate Teachers and Principals before Wednesday November 5th, 2014.

Let us know if you discover incorrect spelling of names, email addresses or phone numbers.

Good luck, have fun and learn lots! :)

Regards,
Julie

Weekly Message from the Chair - October 26th

Hello everyone, here's a link to this week's video message: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w321zPvZqkA

Have a terrific week!

Frances

Teaching Practicum in China – May 2015 - Information Session

Would you like to participate in a teaching practicum in China, in May 2015?

The Faculty of Education is offering a group of teacher candidates an opportunity to travel to China to participate in a three-week teaching practicum in May 2015. This teaching practicum is a separate opportunity from the placements in the Bachelor of Education program, and is open to all students who successfully complete the program.  Some funding will be available to help offset the costs of the trip.

Please see the attached PowerPoint to learn more about this opportunity, and to see photos from the pilot program that ran last spring. 

An application form is also attached, and you can apply now. The deadline for applications is November 17.

An information session will be held on Wednesday October 29th, 2014 from 4:45pm - 5:45pm in OH8, to outline further details on this opportunity and the application process. 

Please sign up in the Education Office if you are interested in attending the information session.

If you have any questions about the teaching practicum in China, please contact:

Jan Oakley, PhD

International Initiatives Coordinator

Faculty of Education, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay

joakley@lakeheadu.ca

Library Halloween Party

Mirror Mirror on the Wall
Who's the Scariest of them all?

Please join us for a Halloween Party on Thursday October 30, 2014
(Visit the HP Library for further information)
 
Your GHOSTS:
HP Library Staff

Costumes are encouraged!

Registration for Building Futures Opens Monday - October 27th, 2014!!!! - Please Read Carefully

Good Morning Students,

The Ministry of Education, in conjunction with the Lakehead University’s Faculty of Education, will be presenting its annual Building Futures event to Professional Year B.Ed students on January 7, 2015. The event offers interactive workshops on key education policies, programs and resources, all designed to support new teachers as they enter the classroom. 

Registration opens Monday October 27th @ 9:00am  and is mandatory for all B.Ed Professional Year students

Please make your selections soon, as seats will fill.

Registration for your 3 workshops will remain open until 9:00am November 3rd, 2014.

NOTE:

*Please refrain from using Hotmail, Gmail or Yahoo accounts to register, as your confirmation message may be blocked by these email providers. Use your university email address instead.

Please continue to monitor your LU email account, as additional information about the event, transportation etc will be made available.

Regards,

Julie

Weekly Message from the Chair- October 19th

Hello everyone. Here is a link to my weekly video: http://youtu.be/Ap1u8l0qsds

It contains information about lesson plans, student satisfaction surveys, and about practicum.

Catherine Hannon will be visiting each cohort on Wednesday this week and next to talk about the placement experience. She will be sharing her experiences to support your professional work in your first placement.

Rosa is still taking names of teacher candidates who want to take the Kindergarten workshop this Wednesday, October 22nd from 5 to 7 pm. This session is on inquiry learning in Full Day Kindergarten. It's highly recommended as Full Day Kindergartens are wonderful opportunities available to our graduates, in contract, long term occasional and supply teacher positions for the future.

We'll also have choir practice again this Wednesday afternoon between 4:30 and 5:30 in room 10, for anyone who is interested. It's more of a jam session than a choir, a chance to sing and play an instrument if you have one. Come with a song you'd like to share

I hope you have a great week,

Frances

The Online Application Process - Registering With The Ontario College of Teachers (OCT)

Good Afternoon,

Since the OCT presentation held on October 7th, 2014, we have received a number of general inquiries about the online application process for certification with the Ontario College of Teachers.

This video is a step by step instructional guide, that will assist you as you prepare your application.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0aoL3K6wfQ 

Regards,

Julie

Weekly Message from the Chair

Hello everyone. I hope you've enjoyed the long weekend. Here's a link to this week's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNqA-2r36IE&feature=youtube_gdata

Below, please find attached the OCT memo regarding exceptions to the August 31, 2015 regulation mentioned in last week's presentation at the Opera House. 

http://www.oct.ca/-/media/PDF/Memorandums/2014_1710_e.pdf

Have a great week.

Frances

Weekly Video Message from the Chair: October 5th, Start of Week 6

Hello everyone, there's a lot going on this week. Here's a list of things to remember:

Many of you have been asking about the graduation requirements for the Professional Year program. Follow this link, http://navigator.lakeheadu.ca/Catalog/ViewCatalog.aspx?pageid=viewcatalog&catalogid=20&chapterid=3238&loaduseredits=False If you scroll down the page to Academic Regulations, item #3 lists the requirements.

Tuesday is a Professional Development day, so all classes are cancelled. Meet at the Orillia Opera House (corner of West and Mississaga, one block from Heritage Place) at 9:30 am. The event will continue until 4:30 pm, with a nutrition break.

Wednesday afternoon from 5 to 6:30 pm is another mandatory event, this one a presentation by the Ontario College of Teachers.

The Food Drive, an initiative of the Professional Year Religion class, continues until Friday October 10th, with drop boxes in the Learning Commons.

If you haven't yet joined our Facebook page, please take a look, and if you know any graduates of our program who might have some advice to offer, please ask them to join too. Just search for "My Teaching Journey" from your own Facebook account. Alumni have some very interesting stories to share!

Finally, here's a link to my latest video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xoMqM58pco&feature=youtube_gdata

Have a great week!

Frances