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Teacher Jill Kelsall says "Work smarter, not longer. Use the expertise of our professional librarians. Tell them what you are looking for and they will access and provide you with high quality learning resources."
The library is located at 3 Tippett Road and is open year-round, M-F, 8 am - 5 pm. For more information click here or call (416) 395-8289. |
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What about a Board-wide eco-video library?
Has your club made a video you'd be willing to share? Send them our way. We'll do our best to create a library of your treasures!
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June 22 is the last chance to sign up for the Summer Institute!
Invite a colleague to join you. Don't miss this rich opportunity to extend your teaching repertoire.
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Check out these new STEP OUTSIDE Nature Guides:
Whether you are a novice or a veteran nature buff, there's lots here to amaze and delight. |
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EcoSchools co-host Wattwise Community Events
This spring John D. Parker, JS Woodsworth and Bellmere became the first EcoSchools to co-host Wattwise community events, taking their dedication to energy conservation beyond the school. Congratulations to everyone for making this extra effort to "green" our communities! |
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Any changes in your EcoSchools contact information?
Be kind to our Auditor General Wendy Abbot. Let her know of changes so that she can sleep at night!
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Richard Heinberg is the author of ten books, including The End of Growth: Adapting to Our New Economic Reality; He is a senior fellow in residence at the Post Carbon Institute.
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Who has time to read a newsletter in mid-June?
Think of this as your summer issue--filled with lots of suggestions for leisurely summertime thinking and exploring about how you might enrich your program next year. At our end, planning is already underway for fall kickoffs and Demonstration EcoSchools, taking your excellent feedback into account to make improvements wherever we can. But we hope that you'll read on now to learn how you might win a free book and also scroll down so you don't miss any early deadlines!! |
Draw for free books -- with reasonable strings attached!
EcoSchools Sections 4: All questions
Instructional leader Pam Miller's love of books is an inspiration. She often comes in from the Board's professional library with another new "find." We asked Pam to recommend books that we could give away to teachers looking for tried-and-true ideas for environmental teaching and learning. Here are her picks:
 Teaching Green: The Elementary Years (K-5) Teaching Green The Middle School Years (6-8) Teaching Green The High School Tears (9-12) Schoolyard-Enhanced Learning: Using the Outdoors as an Instructional Tool.
We'll draw for two copies of each. Enter the draw by sending us an email stating the book you'd like, your name, grade/subject taught, and school (with route #)! Put free book in the subject line.
Draw to be held on Friday, June 22nd. We'll send the books out to the lucky winners via Board mail. In return we ask winners to write a short reflection and send it to us by August 31. We'll publish your response (with your permission) in newsletters in the fall. Click here for a simple response form.
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News from our schools
Oakridge PS's Room 110 Grade 5 class asks Board of Trustees for help in spreading plastic bottle ban to other schools
A PowerPoint presentation about the environmental harm that plastics can do inspired Room 110 students to distill what they had learned into a 6-minute video "Seeing Plastic Clearly." After showing it at a school assembly, the class conducted a referendum to determine whether the school would ban disposable plastic bottles. On May 23rd, the referendum passed with a resounding 72% in favour! Great work! Students have notified the Board of Trustees, hoping to gain support for getting other schools to follow their lead. We'll keep you posted!
You're Getting Warmer: A new comedy about global warming for student actors
You're Getting Warmer, written and directed by teacher Roberto LiVolsi, premiered at Mountview Alternative's spring concert May 9th. This seriously funny 3-act play takes us from an office to an outdoor marketplace (complete with tree and soapbox) to the Arctic as we follow the antics of I-can-never-be-rich-enough business tycoon Harpoon and his passionate climate-change campaigning niece Kyoto, the I-wanna-be rich problem-solver Beeno, talent scouts Stella and April, and an array of other characters who get swept up in the drama. This play is witty, lightfooted, and lots of fun as well as lots of hard work for LiVolsi, his cast, fellow staff and parents--truly a whole school effort! Congratulations!
To learn more about the play, contact Roberto directly at roberto.livolsi@tdsb.on.ca
Green bin program at York Mills Collegiate- learn about it in just 3 minutes!
The enterprising York Mills Environmental Council has produced a high-spirited, artfully funny 3 minute video on how to set up a green bin program at your school. Thanks to Bethune EcoSchools staff advisor Sonya Goldberg who passed on this story to us at EcoSchools Central with a great idea. In her own words: "This is an amazing way to store and share ideas. It would be great to have a library of such videos, created by clubs and the STEP group and shared with all clubs. If clubs wanted to undertake something like this (or any other initiative) they would not only know that it's possible, but also the 'how tos' and who to contact if they have questions. The format and simplicity of this video works perfectly and if these videos were easily searchable, it would be an amazing mentoring tool."
Congratulations to the York Mills Environmental Council and staff advisor Tim Heffernan. Beautiful teamwork, great results!
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Calling all school EcoTeams: Locker clean-outs as stewardship!
EcoSchools Sections 1 & 2.3 & 3: Questions 1.6, 2.3.1 & 3.6 
Is a school-wide locker clean-out a feature at your school this month? If so, do what you can to make it a green event! Place bins clearly marked RECYCLING, REUSE, and GARBAGE in strategic spots in the hallways. If you don't have enough bins, sturdy cardboard boxes will do!
If you don't have a location for sharing REUSE materials (pencils, pens, binders, rulers, notebooks etc.) at your school, Mieke Foster says "Send them to Arts Junktion, which is visited by hundreds of teachers every year looking for supplies for their
students."
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SUMMER
Read on for exciting opportunities to explore the outdoors!
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Linking Literacy Learning to Nature
and the Outdoors (K to 8)
EcoSchools Sections 4: Questions 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, and 4.4
Dates: July 17 and 18 Location: Mississauga U of T campus Cost: $100 (includes two days of program, breakfast, lunches and overnight accommodation)
Select COEO/Outdoor Education Open to OTF members only. School teams welcome to attend
Deadline extended to Friday, June 15th
Bring the vibrancy of the real world to the essential tasks of developing literacy and numeracy skills.
Teachers will gain: * Skills to address the challenges of taking your class outdoors to learn * Experience in identifying the natural phenomena and biodiversity in most schoolyards and neighbourhoods throughout the year * Identification and application of key learning strategies such as inquiry, integration, acting on learning, and making real world connections to create meaningful learning experiences that address curriculum expectations. For further program information see flyer or contact: Stan Kozak 519 826-0408 skozak@sentex.ca
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EcoSchools Summer Institute: Mapping Pathways for Effective Environmental Education
August 20-23, 9:00 am to 3:30 pm (Grades 4-8)
EcoSchools Section 4: Questions 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, and 4.4
Combine professional development with being outdoors! Discover new ways to integrate science, art, and literature using Runnymede's Outdoor Classroom and Nature Study Area and the nearby Humber River watershed as your summer classroom. An emphasis on learning "in, about, and for the environment" will provide many entry points for engaging students in structured outdoor learning experiences.
Environmental educators Pamela Miller (TDSB EcoSchools Instructional Leader) and Hilary Inwood (OISE educator) will be joined by classroom teachers who will share their best work. You'll connect in grade groups to trade ideas and further enrich your learning opportunities.
TO REGISTER: Go to Key to Learn>Teacher-Elementary>Professional Growth> SBR EcoSchools (access link on a Board-networked computer) Course Fee: $50.00 per person. You will be contacted with payment options after registration. For more information click here or contact Lisa Fisk, Project Manager at 416-737-3678 or lisa.fisk@tdsb.on.ca.
Limit of 35 participants. |
Summer workshop: Teaching and learning with Monarch butterflies
EcoSchools Section 4: Questions 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, and 4.4
Learn about the Monarch's life cycle, migration, and habitat requirements through indoor simulations, outdoor games, and visual and performing arts. The ethics of species conservation and the topic of social justice in Mexico will also be addressed.
You will come away knowing how to handle the butterflies, care for and feed them, and learn about tagging and tracking migrating Monarchs.
 Cost: $95 for 2 days, includes snacks.
Toronto area locations:: * July 18 & 19, 2012, OTTAWA, Ontario (en Francais)
* July 24 & 25, 2012, OSHAWA, Ontario
* July 31 & Aug. 1, 2012, WOODBRIDGE, Ontario
To register, go to www.monarchteacher.ca or contact Nancy McGee: 289-268-3911 or nmcgee@trca.on.ca.
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STEP OUTSIDE: Summertime exploring...
EcoSchools Section 4: Questions 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3
Summer is a great time for trying out some of the ideas for enriching teaching and learning that just can't be squeezed into the school year. Here's one we especially recommend!
Step Outside draws attention to Nature's store of exciting environmental learning opportunities. Guides (written in the Kawartha region of Ontario) appear 2-3 times each month providing detailed information about events in nature's ongoing "exhibition" as they emerge. (City of Toronto readers may need to make small time adjustments to witness the same seasonal occurrences.) The "Top R4R Picks" chart on the right hand side of each of the guides will lead you related R4R classroom resources.
Get outside with squirrels! Stan Kozak's exploration of squirrels with his Grade 2s grew out of the late November 2011 Nature Guide's wealth of information on the subject. When time permits, click here to read about how Stan used the Nature Guide in class and on a simple neighbourhood walk, and what a long afterlife this learning had!
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For FALL: Special enriched learning!
We're highlighting these two programs because they get booked up so fast! Book as soon as registration opens. |
EcoSpark
EcoSchools Section 4, Questions 4.2 and 4.3
Changing Currents: In this very popular half-day EcoSpark field trip (grades 8-12), students will visit their local stream or river and assess its health by examining the bugs that live in the water. EcoSpark staff will provide the expertise, the equipment, and lots of in-class resources. Teacher training is required first. Check out the website for more information.
Wattwize: An EcoSpark conservation coach will help your EcoTeam (elementary or secondary) to assess electricity use and decrease consumption in their school, create a student-led conservation campaign, and implement the plan. For more information, visit the website.
Book NOW (June, July, August - anytime!) for the 2012-13 school year to avoid disappointment! First-come, first-served! Contact Erin Way erin@ecospark.ca or Paul Tucker paul@ecospark.ca.
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WOW!
EcoSchools Section 4: Questions 4.2 and 4.3

TRCA's free Watershed on Wheels is one of the city's most popular environmental education programs. With some of its programs, WOW comes right to your school!
For WOW programs at a glance: see pages 18-19 of the Education through Exploration guide. Programs meet the Ontario Science and Technology elementary expectations.
WOW programs usually run from 9:00-11:30 a.m., or 12:30-3:00 p.m. Times can be changed to fit your school's schedule. Most programs require at least two classes at a time and whole day bookings are preferred.
Booking begins August 1st. Mark your calendar! Spots fill up quickly.
Best to book by phone: Contact Karen Bromberg 416-661-6600 x 5623.
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Take learning outdoors in the fall
with new Science & Technology kit EcoSchools Section 4: Questions 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3
The new Primary Outdoor Inquiry Science and Technology kit will soon be available to enrich teaching and learning outdoors. The kit comes with binoculars, hand held lenses, bug boxes, a terrarium with soil, trowels, field guides, etc. Perfect tools for letting the outdoors teach us! Included in the kit is the award-winning Discovering Nature with Young Children.
Beginning the week of June 18th, you can order the kit at media net. Use the quick search function, and limit format to Science and Technology Kit (ST). |
EcoSchools kick-offs begin in late September
EcoSchools Section 1: Question 1.1
No matter how many times you've attended an EcoSchools kick-off event, we want you to come back!! There are always new developments, and besides, these kick-offs are often our only chance to connect with each school's EcoTeam. Nothing is better for building the EcoSchools community.
People tell us they like the kickoffs because there's time to start planning for the year. And our staff is right there to answer any questions as you work! It's also a time to network, to share best practices and ideas for overcoming common hurdles.
A change for secondary schools! Kick-offs will be held separately this year at the U of T downtown campus. This will be a whole day event that brings students together to build their leadership skills, take part in team challenges, and start their EcoSchools planning.
Half-day elementary school kick-off dates and locations: Watch for your notice in early September.
Full day secondary EcoSchools kick-off dates: Watch for your notice in early September. |
From the editors' desk
"Thinking in 3-D and colour"
These are the words that Richard Heinberg uses to describe systems thinking in a conversation with Michael Stone from the Center for Ecoliteracy. Where does our fragmented, linear thinking start? His advice for becoming more aware of the systems way of seeing? "I don't think there's anything that helps more than spending time in nature, especially if we have someone along who can describe to us what we are seeing so that see a little more deeply. A lot of us are simply tone deaf to nature. Even if we go outside and look around, we don't understand what we're seeing." This issue is full of information and ideas that encourage us all to be open to taking our learning outside more often--returning to where, in the beginning, we first learned to see "in 3-D and colour."
On behalf of the whole staff at EcoSchools Central, happy summer vacation!
Eleanor Dudar, Jenn Vetter, and Diana Suzuki
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