OSSTF / FEESO is looking for proposals for practical, stand-alone, progressive, classroom-ready lessons/unit plans of 4 to 5 lessons in length on social issues such as (but not limited to) globalization, world peace, anti-discrimination, environmental issues, universal child care, sexual harassment, aboriginal issues, poverty and other related issues.

These units must:

• be original material;
• not have been previously published or adapted from existing published material, nor directly include material from other copyrighted sources (note: copyrighted material, such as articles or photographs, may be referenced in the unit but not directly included without copyright permission). In other words, if you didn’t write it or create it, we can’t republish it without explicit copyright permission;
• not have been developed for a board or on board time;
• have been field-tested and proven effective in providing credible alternatives or supplements to fill gaps in existing curriculum.

To support the initiative of Differentiated Instruction from Grades 7 through 10, the Ministry of Education is planning to develop examples of Differentiated Instruction in a variety of subject areas in the summer of 2009.  The Provincial Office received a request from the Ministry of Education’s Student Success/Learning to 18 - Implementation, Training, and Evaluation Branch on May 12, 2009, to identify up to two educators (classroom teachers and coordinators/consultants/instructional leaders) with the relevant experience and expertise to participate in the Differentiated Instruction writing project. The deadline from the Ministry for the Federation’s response is June 1, 2009.

The development and writing of the Differentiated Instruction resources are scheduled for July 13 to July 24, 2009, with teams working Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each week. Individuals selected as Lead Writers will be responsible for coordinating a team within a specific subject area and may be required to work additional days within the week of July 27 - 31, 2009. All writing will be done at 900 Bay Street in Toronto. Writing team participants will receive a per diem rate of $300.00 plus expenses for meals, accommodations, and transportation. Lead Writers will receive a per diem rate of $350.00.

The Provincial Executive of OSSTF is seeking the services of an individual to serve as a Bilingual Executive Assistant. This advertised vacancy is to fill the position of a member on an approved leave of absence under Article 9.04 of the Staff Association Collective Agreement which reads: “When a member’s absence, creates a vacant position [eg. death, retirement, termination of employment or leave for ten months or more], the Provincial Executive shall consider hiring a probationary Staff Association member to fill the position.”

In this situation, members applying for this position should know that since the budget approved at AMPA 2009 did not include an increase in Executive Assistant positions [as required under Bylaw 21.1.1] the successful candidate may find him/herself in a redundancy situation under the Collective Agreement if and when the incumbent returns.  Duties will commence on September 1, 2009.