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New ATA Publications
Check out the latest publications from the Alberta Teachers’ Association. To order your copy of the Association’s newest publications, email distribution@ata.ab.ca.
PRISM Secondary Edition
PRISM is an acronym for Professionals Respecting and supporting Individual Sexual Minorities. The PRISM Secondary Edition toolkit was created by practicing Alberta teachers to help secondary schools promote safe and supportive spaces for sexual and gender minorities. This teacher resource has been developed in collaboration with Alberta Education as a result of the popularity of the PRISM Elementary Edition for elementary students, originally published in 2014. The PRISM Secondary toolkit includes lesson plans for teachers of all core subjects and many options that tie directly to curricular outcomes in the Alberta program of studies for grades 7 to 12.
(PD-80-15e, 2016 10, 152 pp)
Rich Accountabilities for Public Assurance: Moving Forward Together for a Great School for All
How do we define school success? Based on research partnerships with Finland, New Zealand, Australia and Norway, the ATA is committed to broadening the definitions of school success. Not an accountability pillar, but rather rich accountabilities that give an account of what really matters in Alberta Schools.
COOR-114 2016 05
Promoting Success with Arab Immigrant Students Teacher Resources
This document was developed by Alberta teachers to assist classroom teachers and school administrators throughout Alberta to better understand the culture and needs of Arab immigrant students in their schools. This is the fourth resource in a series developed by the Canadian Multicultural Education Foundation (CMEF) in partnership with the Alberta Teachers’ Association. It is intended to promote the success of students from Arab immigrant families and strengthen school-community connections within the Arab community.
(AR-CMEF-4, 2016 04, 36 pp)
Creating a Compassionate Classroom
This is a reference booklet for teachers about the mental health needs of their students. The most important factor for success in dealing with a mental health issue is support—and teachers are an important part of their students’ support system. This booklet provides teachers with information on common mental health issues, tools to help identify students in need and resources to help teachers make referrals to mental health professionals.
(COOR-79e, 2015-12, 44 pp)
To order your copy of the ATA’s other newest publications, email distribution@ata.ab.ca.
Walking Together: Education for Reconcilliation Project
June 2016, Alberta Education, the Alberta Teachers’ Association, the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation and four other education stakeholder organizations in Alberta signed the Joint Commitment to Action to ensure that all students learn about the histories, cultures and world views of First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples. The Alberta Teachers’ Association has begun to fulfill its commitment by establishing the Walking Together: Education for Reconciliation Professional Learning Project.
Walking Together is being led by six First Nations, Métis and Inuit education consultants from across Alberta, all of whom are experienced classroom teachers with strong knowledge and expertise in Indigenous education. The consultants will lead the way toward ensuring that teachers are ready to meet the foundational knowledge of First Nations, Métis and Inuit as outlined in Alberta Education’s new draft of the Teaching Quality Standards.
Walking Together will engage local indigenous communities by establishing regional advisory committees that include representation from Elders and local knowledge keepers. This process will ensure that the professional development programs and resources developed include regionally specific content for teachers. In spring 2017, newly developed workshops will be offered to school jurisdiction representatives to facilitate knowledge sharing throughout the province.
For further information on the Walking Together: Education for Reconciliation Project, contact executive staff officer Andrea Berg at andrea.berg@ata.ab.ca.
Maternity Leave Answers Available Online
The Association’s Teacher Welfare program area has developed a maternity information online tool for teachers who are expecting to expand their families. The informative videos and resource kit for maternity and parental leaves answers many of the most often asked questions about the benefits to which pregnant teachers are eligible before and during their maternity leave.
In addition to maternity benefit information, the online tool also provides sample letters to notify your employer of your intent to take a leave of absence, to return to work and even extend your leave.
Access the maternity information online tool at web.teachers.ab.ca/matleave.
For more information, and if you have specific questions, contact the Alberta Teachers’ Association Teacher Welfare program area. Phone: 780-447-9400, in Edmonton; 1-800-232-7208 from elsewhere in Alberta; Fax: 780-455-6481; Email: tw@ata.ab.ca.
Specialist Council Membership Has Benefits
As a benefit of ATA membership, active members are entitled to join one specialist council of their
choice each year at no cost. Specialist councils are an integral part of the Association’s activities. Granting members automatic membership in a specialist council is an innovative step toward increasing professional development opportunities for teachers throughout Alberta and a way of promoting the professional expertise of teachers in curriculum and specialty areas.
Regular membership is restricted to active members of the ATA and to associate members who are ineligible for active membership as specified in ATA bylaws. Regular members are entitled to all the benefits and services of council membership, including the right to vote and hold office. Each council is operated by volunteer teacher members who contribute their time, talents and enthusiasm to plan and implement programs and activities for the councils. Specialist councils organize annual conferences, produce publications, maintain websites and offer regional workshops and seminars.
For more information, visit the ATA website (www.teachers.ab.ca) and click on For Members > Professional Development.
