September 8, 2023
Fun Facts & Quick Quotes
Fun Facts & Quick Quotes to add some knowledge and inspiration to the end of the week. Thanks to Leanne for sharing the first fun fact for this year’s Staff Updates.
Pomodoro: It's not just a sauce!
The Pomodoro technique is proven to support periods of focused work. Great for students. Great for adults, too!
Staff Social
On Friday, September 22 come and join your colleagues for our first Staff Social at the Madison for a beverage and snacks from 4 to 6 p.m.
Curriculum Night
All staff involved in Curriculum Night are invited to have dinner at the Buffeteria starting after the school day and ending at 5:50 p.m. before their duties at Curriculum Night.
On Monday, parents will all be receiving their Curriculum Night schedule which will follow their child’s class timetable.
On Tuesday after school, please avoid hosting extra curricular activities as the Facilities team and teachers will need to set up their classrooms. The UTSPA parent reception will start at 5 p.m. in the Fleck Atrium.
At 5:30 p.m., F1 to M3 parents will have an assembly in the auditorium and at 5:50 p.m., parents will start heading to classes.
Idea Factory - Brainstorm Superstars
UTS Staff YOU ARE AMAZING!
Together, you came up with 473 AMAZING ways to use the Lang Innovation Lab!
The Health and Physical Education Department won yesterday’s challenge with a total of 72 ideas!
Congratulations HPE!
- Nat and the Innovation Team
Artful Design & Artificial Intelligence: "What Do We (Really) Want from AI?"
Professor Ge Wang from Stanford University, author of Artful Design, and co-founder of Smule will be at UTS to give a STEAM keynote performance on - Artful Design & Artificial Intelligence: "What Do We (Really) Want from AI?" Here’s a teaser. Explore the fascinating intersection of music, coding, art, science, design+making and artificial intelligence; for human connection around the world.
We invite you to join us in the Withrow Auditorium from 4 to 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 21 (UTS Day 2). This special event is open to the UTS community, including students, parents, staff, alumni and prospective students/families.
UTS teachers: This is sure to spark many possibilities for post-event classroom discussion! We invite you to bring your class(es) to this unique STEAM learning event, especially if you teach a Day 2 Period 4 Block H class. You can bulk order your tickets at the link below. Some of your students may have already gotten their own ticket - no need to include these students in your bulk ticket order.
STEAM Symposium at U of T’s Munk School
U of T’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy is hosting a full-day STEAM symposium on September 20: “Cultivating STEM/STEAM Thinkers: Linking Policy, Research, and Practice.”
For more information and free ticket(s), visit their Eventbrite page.
Prof. Ge Wang will also be doing his keynote performance at this event from 3 to 4:30 p.m., which he will repeat at UTS on September 21 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in the Withrow Auditorium.
Join Truth and Reconciliation Week's Free Classroom Learning Series
On September 25, the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation is kicking off an immersive five-day free learning series, seamlessly delivered through a virtual platform that intertwines live sessions with pre-recorded materials.
Students will have an exclusive chance to learn from survivors of the residential school system, visionary Indigenous artists, accomplished athletes and other experts in the field.
To learn more and register your classroom(s), visit their website.
Child-Appropriate Game Design Call for Participants
Know any young(er) children in your life? The Children and Age-Appropriate Game Design project, led by Dr. Sara Grimes at U of T’s Faculty of Information, is seeking children age 6-12 interested in participating in a focus group. The aim is to find out more about children’s perspectives and experiences of issues related to “age-appropriate" digital game design. Parents/guardians can relay their child’s interest by sending an email to Dr. Grimes at sara.grimes@utoronto.ca. Please see their call for participation for more information.
Would you like to conduct your professional inquiry via Cohort 21 in 2023-24?
Any teachers who might be interested in joining the CIS Cohort 21 professional learning community to conduct a year-long action-oriented professional inquiry about trying something new in their practice, are invited to check out the webpage: Cohort 21 Express Your Interest.
As we’ve done in previous years, UTS can cover the registration fee for a small handful of interested and committed teachers (i.e. it wouldn’t come out of your Personal PD allocation). If this is something you’d like to do in 2023-24, please let Cresencia know. It could certainly dovetail with PGDM.
How is the concept of “teaching as a profession” advocated in Japan?
U of T Munk School’s Initiative for Education Policy and Innovation at the Centre for the Study of Global Japan is hosting Prof. Aki Sakuma (Keio University, Japan).
Prof. Sakuma is giving a talk about “Is the Professionalism of Teaching Hurting Teachers in Japan? - A historical analysis of the concept of ‘teaching as a profession.’” The talk will focus on how the Japanese version of the concept was imported from the West and subsequently transformed in a non-Christian setting in the 19th century.
When: Sept. 18, 2023 from 12 to 1:30 p.m.
Where: Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, 1 Devonshire Place - Next door!
For Prof. Sakuma’s bio, an abstract of this talk, and to register for FREE, check this out.
