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KNOW YOUR RIGHTS!

*The assignment you accept through SFE is the assignment that you are given upon arrival at the school. If the job is changed, you may refuse it and contact SFE for another one.

*There should be an Occasional Teacher's Handbook/Information Package available. Come to the DOTL Office for a laminated card with a detailed list of what should be in the OT Handbook; it will clip to your lanyard for quick reference.

IF ANY OF THESE ITEMS ARE AT ISSUE AT A SCHOOL, CALL US AT 905 404 0411, OR EMAIL info@etfodotl.com

Thursday, November 19 @ 4:30pm – 6:30pm

Supporting Students who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Durham OT Local, Meeting Room

Please join your PL committee in welcoming ETFO presenters Maureen Wen and Elizabeth Ogiltree as well as Special Needs PL coordinator for ETFO provincial, Tara Zwolinski as they bring us this fantastic workshop. This is one of four special needs workshops ETFO has created to provide resources and strategies for teachers teaching students with multiple exceptionalities. Check your email for more details.

Tuesday, November 17 @ 4:30pm – 6:00pm

Teaching Learning Skills

Durham District School Board

The session will focus on strategies and resources to explicitly teach and assess student Learning Skills in an inclusive classroom setting through the use of mentor texts. We will explore ways to gather information and to set goals based on observations. We’ll also review Growing Success and how Learning Skills are evaluated for the elementary report card.

Know Your Collective Agreement

L16.01 (i) The timetable of the Occasional Teacher shall be the same as the timetable of the teacher being replaced. 
            (ii) (b) On a day when a school does not receive a sufficient allotment of Occasional Teachers to cover teacher absences, an OT may be required to assist in the coverage of classes in the same manner as Regular Teachers, as determined by the school principal;

L16.09   An Occasional Teacher who accepts and reports for an assignment shall be placed in that assignment unless otherwise mutually agreed, subject to L11.02 (rules around call-out errors and cancellation) and L16.01 (above).

Monday, November 9 @ 7:00pm – 8:30pm

Town Hall Registration for Strike Vote Information

virtual

Virtual Town Hall also November 10, 7:00-8:30 PM Check your email for the link to register.

Monday, November 9 @ 8:30pm – Wednesday, November 18 @ 4:00pm

Save the Date! On-Line Strike Vote

Virtual

Detailed Instructions to follow. Check your email regularly.

PA Day

November 13 @ 9:00 am

View Event

Voting Party

November 13 @ 1:00 pm

View Event

Teaching Learning Skills

November 17 @ 4:00 pm

View Event

April 20, 2026 •

Ann Webb

Election 2026 Nominations

President: George Taylor
First VP: Ann Webb
Second VP: Tom Wall
Treasurer: Connie Zoet
Secretary: Edina Toth
Members-At-Large: Heather Gillette
                                Candice Holt
                                Harriet Hunt
                                Sirajunnisa (Ruby) Salim
                                Pav Vigneswarran

Since no position was contested, there is no need for an election. This slate is your acclaimed 2026-2028 Executive!

Congratulations to All!  Sue Whyte, Election Committee Chair

April 11, 2026 •

Site Admin

Google Gemini Notebook LM

Join Ryan as he teaches the Google Gemini Notebook LM. It’s perfect for researching and Ryan will share how it can be used to learn new curriculum expectations, teach new units, and how it fits well for teachers new to the profession or to a grade. We’ll also explore Gemini Live.
Come and join our resident tech presenter Ryan Tindale as he guides you through new technology from Google Gemini. Learn how it can be a powerful tool to make the lives of teachers easier.

When: Monday April 20, 2026

Where: Durham Occasional Teachers’ Local- 1077 Boundary Rd Oshawa, Unit 107

Time: 4:30- 6:30pm

There will be refreshments and a door prize as always. This workshop also counts towards the $100 gift card. Looking forward to this one.

March 25, 2026 •

Ann Webb

MLL with the DDSB

This session will introduce Occasional Teachers to practical ways of supporting Multilingual Language Learners (MLLs) using AI and a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) approach.

 This workshop is only 1 hour and is a REPEAT of the one held on November 12, 2025.

The workshop will still count towards the $100 gift card for attending 10 or more workshops.

Wednesday April 8, 2026

Time: 4:30 – 5:30pm

DDSB office meeting room 1D

February 18, 2026 •

Ann Webb

Supporting Students with Behaviour Needs

Wondering how to recognize and support your students’ with behaviour needs? This workshop explores stress, behaviour, and trauma informed practices through both an anti-oppressive framework and health and safety legislation. Educators will leave with strategies and resources to support students with the exceptionality of behaviour in the regular classroom.

Register and join us on Mar 04, 2026 from 5:00pm – 6:30 pm at the Durham Local OT meeting room. 

February 13, 2026 •

Ann Webb

Living and Teaching with Energy, Ease and Flow

Learn to enhance well being from the wisdom of yogic science.
Are you feeling depleted at the end of the day? Stress, worry, fear, overwhelm, overwork taking your time and energy? Losing your sense of purpose and job satisfaction?
In this workshop we will explore strategies from the ancient tradition of yoga, current research and our collective experience in the classroom. This is an introductory session to powerful tools for enhancing physical, emotional and mental well being for occasional teachers.

February 5, 2026 •

Ann Webb

DOTL General Meeting and Dinner

Durham Occasional Teachers’ Local

General Meeting and Dinner: Come for the business, stay for dinner and fun!

Feb 26, 2026 4:00pm – 9:00pm

Jubilee Pavilion,
55 Lakeview Park Ave, Oshawa, ON L1J 7Z2

February 5, 2026 •

Ann Webb

UFLI Foundations, part of the science of reading

The DDSB has implemented the science of reading as the foundation of literacy programming. UFLI is an integral part of structured literacy in the classroom.

Please join your ETFO Durham OT local Professional Learning Committee in welcoming presenter, DDSB teacher Allison Theis for this super important workshop.

Feb 17, 2026 4:30pm –  6:30pm

DOTL Meeting Room, 1077 Boundary Rd., Oshawa

January 28, 2026 •

Site Admin

AI in Education – Part 2

Join Ryan as he shares part 2 of his original fall AI workshop. He will continue opening up ways to integrate the DDSB supported Gemini platform into your classroom. Bring a device and prepare to be excited!
Imagine being able to speak on a DDSB approved resource in an interview! Come to this workshop and leave with the knowledge to do exactly that. AI is the way of the future, come and learn how it can help make your professional life easier.

When: Tuesday February 10, 2026

Time: 4:30 to 6:30pm

Where: DOTL office- 1077 Boundary Rd, Unit 107, Oshawa

January 23, 2026 •

Ann Webb

Constitutional Amendments

Constitutional Amendments are read in, discussed and voted on at the February General Meeting.

The DOTL Constitution is available on this website under Member Info.

Any amendments must be entered, duly seconded, and submitted on the appropriate form (found under Forms on this website), and submitted no later than February 6th, 2026.

If you need help wording your amendment, please reach out to us at info@stg-etfodotl-stage.kinsta.cloud.

January 23, 2026 •

Ann Webb

Collective Bargaining Survey

Don’t forget to complete the survey sent to you at your personal email address.  This round of bargaining promises to be extremely important and your voice needs to be heard.