Those
on the executive remain committed to providing the support junior teachers
need, in a way that is meaningful to you.
The OAJE executive continues to represent you on various Ministry initiatives.
We continue to attend the Ministry and Curriculum forum meetings on your behalf,
where we can express your concerns on issues related to junior education.
OAJE has been heavily involved in the curriculum review process for all subjects
at the elementary level for the past few years. This unique opportunity allows
us to advocate for junior education in all areas of the curriculum. OAJE members
have been recruited to Ministry projects from a number of Boards to represent
your organization with passion and expertise.
Currently we have embarked on an ambitious resource development project (Essentially
Science and Technology) to support teachers in addressing the newly revised
science and technology curriculum in an engaging manner with straight grades
or with combined grades. The first of these resources will be available January
16, 2009. The rest will be developed over the course of 2009.
Essentially
Science and Technology is an exciting resource series for teachers in grades
4-6. It contains:
• a unit for each of the four strands in the Ontario Curriculum for
Science & Technology: Grades 4-6
• specially designed units for combination classrooms
• designed for non-specialist teachers in regular classroom settings
• focusing upon skills of inquiry, problem solving and communication
• providing opportunities for students to develop their understanding
of relevant environmental issues
• including opportunities to design and construct
• using simple, easily found materials
• supporting assessment and cross-curricular connections
Three
units available January 2009
- Grade 4 Light & Sound
- Grade 5 Properties of Matter
- Grade 4/5 Exploring Matter & Energy (a unit for combination classrooms)
The rest
of the 20 units for grades 4-6 will follow
Professional development around these resources will also be offered beginning
in January, by request, to schools and school boards as required.
We also plan to continue to offer some mini-conferences dealing with important
topics for junior teachers. Keep an eye out for our flyers.
Membership to OAJE continues to be free. We will be asking members to sign
up on our website for valuable correspondence and notices pertinent to junior
educators, and for opportunities to be involved in upcoming conferences, resource
development, and other projects.
The passion that the executive brings to the support and improvement of Junior
Educators in the province remains strong. As we continue to set direction
for the future, we would love to hear from you. Please let us know how we
can meet your needs. We welcome your comments.
Yours in education,
Don Jones
President
OAJE
We are halfway through the 2006-2007 school year and it seems that life in education continues to get busier. For OAJE, this is a year of change. For your executive this is a year of reflection. We are examining goals of the organization and setting the direction for the future.
Those on the executive remain committed to providing the support junior teachers need, in a way that is meaningful to you; we are currently involved in the process of determining the best way of meeting those goals.
OAJE is not offering any mini-conferences this year, but plan to do so next year, if that is determined to be one of the ways to best meet the needs of our Junior teachers.
Another change this year is that memberships are no longer offered. Instead, we recognize that the increasing technology of the world around us allows everyone access to the web site where we post the newsletters and therefore you could say that, if you visit our website, if you are a Junior Educator, then you are a member. We welcome your feedback on anything you read on our website.
The OAJE
executive continues to represent you on various Ministry initiatives. We continue
to attend the Ministry and Curriculum forum meetings on your behalf, where
we can express your concerns on issues related to junior education.
The passion that the executive brings to the support and improvement of Junior
Educators in the province remains strong, despite feeling stretched thin at
times, a sentiment not unfamiliar to anyone involved in education.
As we go through the process of setting our direction for the future, we would love to hear from you. Please let us know how we can meet your needs; we welcome your comments.
Yours in education,
Judy
Kaufmann
President
OAJE