CALP Connections: December 2021

Welcome to December, fellow CLN members.  

My name is Cindy Heidecker and I am honoured to be a new Board Member on the 2021-2022 CLN Board of Directors. As the program manager for the Paintearth Community Adult Learning Council I have had the great pleasure of meeting and interacting with amazing learners and instructors in East-Central Alberta communities within the County of Paintearth, including Brownfield, Castor, Coronation & Halkirk, for over 11 years.  When I am not supporting learning opportunities I am a super sports fan and enjoy spending time with family, travelling, quilting and being outdoors.

The CLN is fortunate to have amazing staff members that ensure adult learning organizations have the tools and skills to support lifelong learning in Alberta. I am also thankful for the current and former CLN Board members that have worked so hard to govern professionally and stay ahead of the curve. My first couple of months as board member have provided me with the opportunity to think about adult learning policy and practice from a provincial lens in the company of great leaders from across the province. I look forward to growing with the CLN over the next few years as we navigate the evolving learning climate.

Literacy and learning are at the heart of every community's strength.

Best Wishes for a super holiday season and a great start to 2022!

Cindy Heidecker, CLN Board Director
Program Manager, Paintearth Community Adult Learning Council

“Let’s Roll With It! – Take TWO” – A Gift of Learning for CALP Staff in 2022

If you missed these sessions at Symposium 2021, here’s a chance to learn from some of our top-rated Symposium presenters in 2022, including Leah Coss, Richard Van Camp , Rochelle Galeski, George Couros and more. Keep an eye out for registrations opening in January!

• How to Build Trust and Connection Online with Leah Coss – Wednesday, February 2nd – 10:30 – 11:30 am

• Meet-the-Author – Richard Van Camp, Gather – Thursday, February 3rd – 10:30 – 11:30 am

• Trauma Informed Care and Adult Foundational Learners with Rochelle Galeski - Tuesday, March 1st – 10:00 am – 12:00 pm

• Meet-the-Author – George Couros, The Innovator’s Mindset; Empower Learning, Unleash Talent, and Lead a Culture of Creativity – Wednesday,  March 3rd – 1:30 – 2:30 pm
  
  
• Understanding and Working with your Board of Directors - Keith Seel – Monday, April 4th - 10:30 - 11:30 am

New and Upcoming Training Events and Connections Cafés

Training

Register for the following CLN Trainings that have upcoming registration deadlines and spaces still available! Click on the name of the training to get to the registration page directly. If the training is full please add yourself to the wait list. Please note if a training is not posted below, then the deadline has already passed. 

New Trainings added for February 2022:

February 7th - Bits & Bytes: CALP Portal Updates - This December, the CALP Portal is getting a makeover. This will be the first “refresh” of the site’s look and feel, since first launching in 2015. Don’t worry, you will still have access to all the great features you’ve come to rely on, but things might look a little different in the New Year. Join us for tour of the refreshed site, and check out the upgrades to some of our most popular modules, like the CALP Forum discussion boards and groups.

February 9th - Writing Out Loud - Writing Out Loud (WOL) is an approach to literacy development that uses freewriting and sharing writing as the core. As a result of participating in this training, participants will be able to initiate and support one-on-one or group writing using the principles and practices of the Writing Out Loud approach.

February 10th - Staff Picks – In-Home Family Literacy Units - Come learn about this collection of family literacy program activities that provide explicit instructions and language to demonstrate how facilitators can work with families to intentionally build adult foundational skills.

February 11th - Holding Safer Spaces - Holding Space, as defined by Heather Plett, is “Being willing to walk alongside another person in whatever journey they are on without judging them, making them feel inadequate, trying to fix them, or trying to impact the outcome.” Discover approaches and practices for holding space for your own personal and professional growth.

Upcoming Training Events:

January 13th - New CALP Staff Webinar - If you are new in your role in CALP, and still looking to get the lay of the land, please join us to connect with your colleagues from across the province.

January 18th - Introduction to Adult Foundational Learning - This CALP required training aligns with the Government of Alberta Community Adult Learning Program (CALP) Guidelines and is intended to give CALP-funded practitioners fundamental knowledge for supporting adult foundational learners in communities across Alberta.

• Register for the AM session
• Register for the PM session

January 19th - Tech Talk - This training is for CALP staff to gain the understanding they need to be flexible and adaptable when training others in technology and to enhance existing classes or design new ones that better address the rapid changes occurring in the world of technology. The instructional approach is transferrable across digital devices and applications. 

January 20th - Bits & Bytes: CALP Portal Updates - This December, the CALP Portal is getting a makeover. This will be the first “refresh” of the site’s look and feel, since first launching in 2015. Don’t worry, you will still have access to all the great features you’ve come to rely on, but things might look a little different in the New Year. Join us for tour of the refreshed site, and check out the upgrades to some of our most popular modules, like the CALP Forum discussion boards and groups.

January 21st - Unity of Belonging - The purpose of Unity of Belonging is to bring awareness of oppression and to create opportunities for meaningful change. Societal change begins with individuals, their knowledge, choices, values and attitudes which impact future generations' beliefs. This course will provide participants with the opportunity to be empowered to become a voice for societal change. 

January 27th - Guidelines 101 - This introductory workshop demystifies the CALP Guidelines to give you clear information about CALP programming, operational and financial requirements. For new CALP staff, board members and staff looking for a refresher in the CALP Guidelines. 

January 27th - Creating Learning Partners - In this 4-week series, learn the key steps, activities, and strategies for delivering effective, engaging, and relevant training to staff and volunteers in your CALP using the Creating Learning Partners training guide. For new and experienced contracted instructors, facilitators, and volunteers.

February 16th - Engaging with Indigenous Learners (Maskwacis Cultural College) Learn about local, regional, and national issues of relevance to adult Indigenous learners to help you create a supportive and welcoming learning experience for Indigenous learners in your community. Connect with and build relationships with community members from your local First Nations Colleges/University.

Regional Connections Cafés

Grab a coffee, bring a question, share a success or challenge, stay for five minutes or settle in for all sixty. These monthly Connections Cafés are an opportunity for you to connect with CALP staff in your region.

East Regional Connections Cafés -  December 15

South Regional Connections Cafés -  December 16

North Regional Connections Cafés -  December 16

West Regional Connections Cafés -  December 15

Central Regional Connections Cafés -  December 15

Mentoring

CLN is pleased to let you know that Jane Brenner will continue providing mentoring to CALP staff in 2022! If you want to learn more about how to uncover your community’s learning needs, how to determine which programming would fit best for your community needs, how to find additional funding or write proposals, then book a time to meet with Jane. Find out more here.

New Year, New Look! CALP Portal Updates Coming Soon!

CLN launched the CALP Portal in the fall of 2015, and we wondered... If we build it, will they come?

Well, over the last six years, we have built a base of over 1000 active users, on average! Every CALP-funded organization in the province logs in regularly, and actively contributes to our online community, whether by posting discussions, answering threads, sharing PD events to the provincial calendar, or uploading resources to the library. Thank you all for your contributions to the CALP PD system through your generous sharing and supports.

Your feedback to CLN has also helped us refine features on the Portal, add useful modules, and look at better ways to navigate the site to find what you need. We are excited to let you know that, in the New Year, we will be launching a brand new look and feel for the CALP Portal, with all the same features you love, AND with improved usability!

Here's a sneak peek at the "My Portal" dashboard:

You can also look forward to easier ways to search and filter to find the content you are looking for:

You can also look forward to a new and improved rich text editor, so you have more control over how your posts display, with access to more formatting options!

Be sure to join us for one of our "Bits and Bytes" sessions in the New Year, to see all the changes and learn about the updated and improved features.

Literacy In Action

Welcome to our new monthly feature "Literacy In Action" by CLN Literacy Specialist Rebecca Still.

One of the most exciting days for me as a Literacy Coordinator was when copies of the English Express newspaper arrived at my office. The newspaper was full of colorful photos interesting topics and current events, all written at a lower reading level. Actually, the articles were written at 3 different reading levels symbolized by a stack of books. Three books was the hardest level.

I chose articles of interest for my adult learners or asked them which articles they wanted to read. I think they enjoyed reading the newspaper as much as I enjoyed receiving it!

English Express was developed and produced in Alberta and sent to programs throughout the province. Although they are no longer being produced, you can still access the great articles from the CALP Portal. You can read articles on the computer, print out articles or listen to some of the articles and read along.

Take a look here if you haven’t checked out what English Express has to offer. I think you will be pleasantly surprised at what English Express offers for adult learners.

For more ideas on resources or to learn more about adult literacy, contact Rebecca Still, Literacy Specialist literacy@calp.ca

Human Rights Day - December 10

Human Rights Day is observed every year on 10 December — the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The UDHR is a milestone document, which proclaims the inalienable rights that everyone is entitled to as a human being - regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. 

The theme for 2021 is Equality - Reducing inequalities, advancing human rights. Which is Article 1 of the UDHR  – “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.”

To find more information, resources and events go to the UN page. 

This Month's Spotlight

This month's spotlight is the Stronger Toolkit.

From the team who brought us Gathering to Learn, the "STRONGER" toolkit has been designed to equip, engage and inspire facilitation and learning in four main sections:

• Taking Care of Our Time
• Taking Care of Our Minds
• Taking Care of Our Emotions
• Taking Care of Our Relationships

Within each of the four sections, CALP staff will find many interesting, relevant, and engaging topics that explore different areas within the overall theme. The toolkit provides ready to use, PICK & PULL sessions that can help you support participants on their journey of self-discovery and learning.

You’re invited to browse through the BIG IDEAS and PICK a topic that you think will be of interest to YOUR participants. We believe YOU know your participants best, and will select session plans that will be most relevant and meaningful to them.

Each Session Plan has bullet points to help you decide if the topic and session plan is what you are LOOKING FOR to support your participants.

Check out the TAKEAWAY, where you will find what participants will learn and experience during the session.

Next, PULL the SESSION PLAN! Here you will find everything you need to facilitate a session. Questions, videos, activities, resources and modifications are all included for each session plan. READY, SET, FACILITATE!

The session plans can be used as jumping off points for your own inspiration and creativity. Use whatever works best for you and your participants! Perhaps it is a little of both. Not a relevant video, question or activity for your participants? Change it up! Find one that fits for you.

The toolkit was developed by carya, through an initiative grant from Calgary Learns, with funding from the Government of Alberta.

Season's Greetings from CLN

As another memorable year draws to a close, we wish you and your loved ones a holiday season filled with warmth, peace, health and happiness.

May you find meaningful connection to friends and family, time to reflect, and many moments of beauty. Wishing you all a better 2022!

To help you navigate through the holiday season here is a blog from DePaul University, Wellness Guide to Surviving the Holidays with some great reminders of self-care, practicing kindness and gratitude and how to create an escape plan! 

Please note the CLN office will be closed from Monday, December 27th, 2021 to Monday, January 3rd, 2022.