CALP Connections: May 2017

Hello Month of May!

After a rather longish and cool’ish start to spring, I am ever so hopeful that this month will bring colourful flowers, fresh air and green grass so we can step outside and enjoy the sights and sounds!  Speaking of getting outside – I have been enjoying our Regional Meetings over the past month and send my thanks to all of you for attending and sharing. We’ve had great participation and engagement so far and look forward to our last two events coming up this week in Big Valley and St. Paul.

This spring also brings back a crowd favourite – year-end evaluation and membership renewal!  While some may not share my enthusiasm for the collection of feedback and information, it is very important for CLN to collect this data and use it to guide our plans for the year to come.  Who needs what, when, where and how?!  We also share system trends and data with the CLN’s Board of Directors, Advanced Education and the Professional Development Advisory Committee (PDAC) to continuously shape the professional development system to meet your needs. 

We need your voice!  As you reflect on the past year, please share your thoughts, learnings and recommendations so we may continue to bring colour and fresh air to our system planning!

Lisa Dickner,
Executive Director

CLN Membership Renewal and Annual Survey

It's that time of year again! Community Learning Network is conducting our annual membership renewal and member survey.

CLN Member Services Survey

Every year, CLN surveys our membership to find out what you think about the supports, resources, training and networking opportunities that we bring to the CALP system. We also collect data that aligns to the CALP PD Logic Model and Evaluation Framework so we can try to evaluate the impact of the services we provide, and continually improve on them. That's right - we have to collect Outcomes-based Measurement and Evaluation data too!

The 2016-17 CLN Member Survey is open to any CALP staff, board member or volunteer who has accessed CLN's services over the past year. This includes attending regional training, participating in regional meetings and networking, accessing your Regional Support Staff for coaching, mentoring or a site visit to your CALP, etc.

The survey only takes about 5 - 15 minutes to complete. Your feedback is greatly valued and appreciated. The survey will be available online until Friday, June 30th. However, as many programs prepare to wind down for the year, we encourage you to fill the survey out at your earliest opportunity.

You can have your say online at https://www.calp.ca/?lid=TNJ5B-ATKFF-WRAGS&pkClient=1&pkForm=91

CLN Membership Renewal

• If your organization receives a CALP grant from Advanced Education, you are automatically a member of the Community Learning Network.
• There are NO membership fees or dues to pay.
• Our membership year is aligned to the CALP grant cycle, from July 1st to June 30th

To keep your membership in good standing, all we ask is that you confirm a few details about your CALP and provide information about the key contact people and your CALP's staff. This helps us ensure our records are current, so we can continue to keep you up to date about training and networking opportunities, new resources and supports, and other CALP news from across the province.

We will also use this information to ensure your CALP's listing in our online directory at https://www.calp.ca/english/main/find-a-calp-near-you.html is accurate, so learners anywhere in the province can easily find a CALP close to home.

New this year! OPTIONAL Survey on CALP Wages

When you complete your CLN Membership Renewal, the Senior Staff person at each CALP will also have the opportunity to participate in an anonymous survey about CALP wages and benefits. In 2015, CLN completed a similar survey, and compiled the data by region to share with other CALPs. We still receive frequent requests for this kind of information. As in our previous survey, the data we collect will be collected voluntarily, anonymously, and will only be shared in aggregate on the CALP Portal (with member login required).

The membership renewal form will be sent out by direct email to the Senior Staff person for each CALP this week.

The deadline to complete your membership renewal will be June 16th, 2017. Once we have received your renewal, we will mail out your certificate of Membership in Good Standing for 2017-2018.

Insurance 101: What Every CALP Needs to Know - Free Webinar

Do you know what’s included in your CALP’s insurance policy?

Do you know what kinds of questions you should be thinking about, and asking your Board, Staff, Contractors, Volunteers – and your Broker?

Join Doug Tweddle from Foster Park Brokers Inc. for this high level look at what is commonly included in insurance policies for nonprofits in Alberta, what is usually covered and what is not. Doug will get you thinking about your OWN insurance, and help you start thinking about questions to ask when you renew your policy.

Date: Wednesday, May 24th

Time: 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm

To register: Go to the CALP Portal Training and Events calendar and click on the “I am attending” button. (CALP Portal login required)

A link to join the online session will be emailed to all registered participants on Friday, May 19th.

This webinar is offered at no charge, in partnership between the Community Learning Network and Foster Park Brokers Inc.

Pearls of Wisdom: Make it Fun!

CLN continues to celebrate our 30th year - the Pearl Anniversary - by celebrating YOUR pearls of wisdom. This month, we hear from Tracy Pound, Program Coordinator at Mountain View Communities Adult Learning Society in Didsbury:

Make it fun!

When promoting programs, always keep in mind that we are in the business of literacy, but no one gets excited about "literacy". When promoting programs, be mindful that participants may have lower literacy levels and no one with low literacy wants to admit that they do!

The Pearl: Use plain, yet fun language. Describe your programs as you would to a friend. Lose the literacy world verbiage.

If we are to reach and serve a low literacy audience, we need to foremost be relatable.

Tracy Pound
Program Coordinator
Mountain View Communities Adult Learning Society

If you would like to share your Pearl of Wisdom, email Odette at news@calp.ca with the word "Pearl" in the subject line. We want to hear, in your own words, the wisdom you have to share with others, or the things you have learned from your CALP practitioner peers.

If your submission is featured, we will send you a special token of appreciation. That's right - there are prizes to be won!

Free Microsoft Office Software for CALPs

The Government of Alberta has renewed its' educational software licensing agreement with Microsoft for another year.

Community Adult Learning Programs are eligible to access Microsoft Office software at no cost through the Provincial Microsoft License Agreement for approved educational providers.

Acrodex is the organization that manages the Microsoft Office licensing for Community Adult Learning Programs. To obtain Microsoft Office for CALP use, please send an email to Acrodex Inc. (Software Licensing Services).

Provide the full name of your Community Adult Learning Program, your complete contact information, and the version of Office requested (Office Pro Plus or Office for Mac).

For questions about receiving the Microsoft Office software, please contact Acrodex Inc at:

Email: software@acrodex.com
Tel: 780-426-4444 (ask for Software Licensing)
Toll Free: 1-800-456-2667

Professional CALP Name Tags, Swag and Marketing Materials

Did you know CLN sells high quality, custom name tags with the CALP logo for your organization?

You can choose to have up to three lines of text, if you want to include your name, title and your organization. Each name tag has a slick metallic finish available in gold or silver, with a strong magnetic backing. Your personalized nametags are available for only $13.00 each!

We also have some other marketing materials available for sale. These make great thank you gifts to your volunteers at the end of the year, or can help you spread the word about adult literacy and learning in your community!

2 GB Flash Drive - $7.50 each	Gator Clips - 3 for $5.00
Sticky Notes - $4.00	Water Bottle - $7.00

 If you would like to place an order, just download the CALP Marketing Order Form and send it to us at office@calp.ca.

New Resource from Shift Management - Multilingual Video Stack

Shift Management is featuring a new resource called Multilingual Video Stack, a library of video resources for English language teachers, employment counsellors, and agencies working with newcomers, schools and employers.

These videos help newcomers understand the Canadian workplace and find inroads into a career in Canada.

There are four sections:

a) 60 short videos: 30 seconds to 3 minutes long with incidents, interviews, explanations and tips for finding and keeping work as well as dealing with intercultural workplace misunderstandings. They have subtitled versions in French, Spanish, Arabic, Hindi and Ukrainian. Videos have context explanations and discussion questions.

b) 10 chaptered webinars: 1-hour webinars on job find topics for newcomers with chapters on the top so viewers can easily jump to pertinent sections.

c) 8 topical videos: 15 minute videos on hot topics for immigrants like; how do I get my confidence in a new country?, why doesn’t anyone answer my online applications?, dealing with accent prejudice, changing careers, using twitter to find work and many more. Every week we create new videos for this section.

d) Monthly featured video sessions that explain how to use a featured video at a staff meeting, with clients, at a workshop and many more contexts. We are featuring creative applications of our customers as well as our own staff suggestions in this section.

This new resource will be available as a subscription service at a cost of $150.00 per year, or $12.50 per month.

Shift Management has invited CALP practitioners who would like to learn more to attend one of their free demo webinars in May and June.

More information about the resource and registration for the demos can be found at:

May 4th - 11:00 am https://zoom.us/webinar/register/9654b51f77dfc6d5cde7dc3c8da9331e

May 4th - 3:00 pm https://zoom.us/webinar/register/724a67764dcdec137510d14dfea9e911

May 30 - 11:00 am https://zoom.us/webinar/register/0cccae554997cdcad746f627e8486654

May 30 - 3:00 pm https://zoom.us/webinar/register/d0a7f6450fac5dc066858a512be5123a

June 14 - 11:00 am https://zoom.us/webinar/register/1a24cf32d6905bccdc2040ba88984b7b

June 14 - 3:00 pm https://zoom.us/webinar/register/09924425f0200a7fcde7dc3c8da9331e

Quote of the Day

“Don't be afraid to be confused. Try to remain permanently confused. Anything is possible.
Stay open, forever, so open it hurts, and then open up some more, until the day you die, world without end, amen.”

― George Saunders,
The Braindead Megaphone