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Intercom is published regularly and serves to inform Vanier staff and teachers of notices and special events. It is posted on the Vanier College Website and distributed electronically. Submissions should be sent to intercom@vaniercollege.qc.ca. Submissions should be in WORD, and sent as an attachment. No formatting or bullets. Photos are welcome. Deadline: 4:00 p.m. on the Wednesday preceding the week of publication.

Vanier’s Virtual Information Evening Vanier’s Virtual Information Evening is scheduled for February 2, 2021 at 6pm. Please refer to this link for more details:

https://www.vaniercollege.qc.ca/information-evening/

Lora Terlizzese, Vanier Communications and Corporate Affairs

Vanier Graduate Front Line Healthcare Workers in the News It’s always good to see how Vanier graduates have an impact on society and make valuable contributions to our collective well-being. So in

case you missed it two recent Gazette article featured Vanier grads. On December 18, 2020, The Gazette ran an article on health care

workers featuring Vanier Respiratory graduate and teacher Jennifer Hostetter. https://montrealgazette.com/news/as-covid-19-fills-

hospitals-health-care-workers-face-exhaustion-fear

Then on December 29, 2020, The Gazette ran an article by Susan Schwartz on Vanier Nursing graduate Naveed Hussein.

https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/montreal-nurse-naveed-hussain-loves-his-work-his-hospital-and-his-city

We salute their dedication and thank them heartily for helping save lives.

Marguerite Corriveau, Vanier Communications and Corporate Affairs

Volume M25, Issue No. 1, January 18, 2021

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In Her Name Writing Competition 2021

To celebrate International Women’s Week this year, The Writing Centre, in conjunction with Women's and Gender Studies, is once again holding the writing competition In Her Name. We are asking students to write about any woman they have found inspirational. Winners will be announced during International Women’s Week. Guidelines

Entries must be a maximum of 300 words

Any genre (a short story, song, personal narrative, poetry, etc.)

Submissions may be in English or French

The deadline is Friday, February 19th, 2021

Prizes

1st place: $150

2nd place: $75

3rd place: $50

Most Creative: $25

To submit entries, students can visit: https://www.vaniercollege.qc.ca/learning-commons/in-her-name/

Kim Muncey, TASC, Writing Centre

ONLINE AND IN-CLASS PEDAGOGICAL INTERVENTIONS AND WORKSHOPS The Tutoring and Academic Success Centre (TASC) has developed pedagogical workshops on a variety of topics relating to the development of soft skills. It is possible to custom-tailor elements of any workshop to better suit your specific class or assignment(s). It is also possible to combine workshops or elements from several workshops. If there is something you see your class struggling with, and it’s not on this list, I am happy to design something specific for your class’s needs. These workshops can be offered synchronously online to any of your classes! Please note that these workshops are also available for Continuing Education classes. Workshop topics include:

Avoiding Plagiarism / MLA and APA Referencing

Time Management and Avoiding Procrastination

Study Skills

Essay Writing

Oral Presentations

Note-Taking

Reading

Brainstorming

Setting S.M.A.R.T. Goals

Writing Better Sentences For a list with the workshop descriptions, please visit: https://www.vaniercollege.qc.ca/learning-commons/request-workshop/ If you would like to book a workshop, please visit: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSec89DZBQz9sG96LZIqD2A2OIhZgldakNvvftH6mUh9n2dHTA/viewform

Kim Muncey, TASC, Writing Centre

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The 29th Annual Symposium on the Holocaust and Genocide

Wishing everyone the best in 2021! The 29th Annual Symposium on the Holocaust and Genocide will be taking place April 12-16, 2021 and the

Chair of this year’s symposium is Holocaust survivor Eva Kuper. The theme will be “Voices of the Past in Today’s Context”. Please keep this in

mind as you prepare for the winter semester.

Marlene Grossman, Psychology Department

Taking Action on Systemic Racism in College Education in Quebec: An Indigenous Focus

Intercollegiate Decolonization Network Statement on Joyce’s Principle and Viens Commission Calls to Action We are asking the Quebec Ministry of Education, the Fédération des Cégeps, Quebec Colleges and related unions for action, accountability

and a commitment to working with Indigenous Peoples to fulfill Section 4 of Joyce’s Principle (related to education), and the relevant calls to

action of the Viens Commission (“Commission on relations between Indigenous Peoples and certain public services in Québec”).

Monday, January 18th at 12:00pm - 1:30PM ET. Link: http://us02web.zoom.us/j/81563051037 The Intercollegiate Decolonizing Network (IDN) invites you to join our call for action on systemic racism in college education in Quebec by

signing this statement: HERE

The Statement is a result of direct consultation and collaboration with Indigenous stakeholders including students, faculty, staff and

education professionals as well as consultants. Please sign in the name of your organization or as an individual and circulate widely. The

statement will be released to the media on Tuesday December 15. Your signature makes a difference!

Then on the first day back to classes for most Quebec Cegeps - Monday, January 18 at noon – join us for a Webinar to further our actions

together. Indigenous students, representatives of Indigenous Education Organizations/Networks and members of the IDN will share

experiences and speak to our proposed measures for change in response to Joyce’s Principle and the Viens Commission Calls to Action.

#decolonizecegeps

#décolonisonslecégep

The Intercollegiate Decolonization Network (IDN) is an informal grassroots collective that is composed of Indigenous and non-Indigenous

College staff, professionals, teachers, and students primarily from English-language Colleges in the Tioh’tia:ke (Montreal) area, as well as

Indigenous partners from local communities.

For more information please contact: intercollegiatedecolonization@gmail.com

Marya Grant, Student Services, on behalf of I.D.N.

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Invitation to Vanier e-book Launch, February 17, 2021

You are invited to our e-book Launch on February 17th at 1:30 pm during the Universal Break. Between August 2019 and December 2020, 220 students from French classes, 19 students from Communications, Media and Studio Arts, and 3 teachers gathered their talent and their enthusiasm in order to creatively celebrate Vanier's 50th Birthday. The result of these months of collaboration and effort is the ebook Vanier: Histoire(s) et fiction(s), a collection of short stories entirely written and illustrated by students, inspired from the history and the architecture of our campus. Please join us online to celebrate the work of our authors, artists and contributors. This labour of love is a true testament to the power of collaboration among departments. The link will be send few days before the event.

Laura Niculae (French), Isabelle Der Aprahamian (French) and Owen Wood (Communications, Media and Studio Arts)

Teacher Community of Support

We are pleased to present our Teacher Community of Support for the Winter ’21 semester:

Stefan Bracher, Jessica Braul, Kevin Casey, Karl Laroche, Laura Ionela Niculae, and Bruce Norton.

These teachers will be working with PSI team members Patti Kingsmill and Neerusha Baurhoo to offer support to faculty with online

teaching and implementation of pedagogical strategies, aimed at increasing student engagement in the virtual classroom.

To reach any of the teachers in the Community of Support, please send an email to psisupport@vaniercollege.qc.ca

Brought to you by the Pedagogical Support and Innovation Team 'Nourishing pedagogy through collaboration and innovation'

Antoinette Cocciolo, on behalf of Pedagogical Support and Innovation

Stefan Bracher has been a physics teacher at Vanier since 2012. He was interested in technology to complement live in-person interaction long before COVID forced everyone to work remotely. To support student engagement, he has flipped his classrooms, created videos and online resources, and experimented with various platforms. In addition to helping you with the basics of online teaching tools, Stefan can help you with individualized tests (randomized questions) in WebWorks, feedback automation with Excel-VBA, and video creation.

Jessica Braul has been a Physical Education teacher at Vanier since 2017, which has allowed her to combine both of

her passions: teaching and improving one’s physical and mental health. She is presently deepening her pedagogical

knowledge by taking MTP courses through the University of Sherbrooke. In preparation for 2020-2021, she successfully

completed the Blended Learning course this past summer. Jessica is looking forward to support you with Teams, Zoom,

Moodle, Lea, and Office 365. If you are paired with her, be prepared to do some dynamic stretches, salsa moves and/or

yoga!

Kevin Casey has been a member of the Psychology department at Vanier since 2013. He hates grading and loves convincing computers to do his work for him. When the pandemic hit, he started a love affair with Moodle. He is ready to help you move your assignments over to Moodle, and show you how to give students automated feedback on their efforts. He is also focused on helping teachers cut down on cheating. He can support you to use Moodle to give students multiple versions of your questions, or for quantitative questions, generate individualized random

datasets for each student to work on. He can also help you out with Zoom, Omnivox, and Office 365.

Karl Laroche has been a member of the Biology department since 2007 and is currently the Science Program

Coordinator. He has been an avid Moodle user since 2012, gaining experience both with core (e.g. quizzes,

assignments) and more recent (e.g. active quizzes, workshops, H5P) modules, and has had some Moodle

administrator privileges at the college for the past several years. Recently he has explored pedagogical

applications in Turnitin, Teams, O365, Zoom, Omnivox, and more, and is always keen on exploring the benefits of

new pedagogical tools.

Laura Ionela Niculae joined the Vanier French department in 2012, after teaching and working at the high

school, college, and university levels. She explored different pedagogical avenues and is currently a member of a

community of practice that was developed around the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Laura started

using Teams in 2018 and is comfortable with all of its functions. She can also support you with Omnivox and Office 365;

she can help you to use these tools to adapt the material you already have and transform it into a dynamic class. Laura is

looking forward to helping you remove the technical barriers that hinder student success and create an environment

where students are engaged in their learning and working toward their personal success.

For a good time call Bruce Norton. Ok, well… maybe just call if you want help with approaches to teaching online,

creating videos or all things web. Bruce teaches in Micromedia, a graphic design and web development program. He can

help with flipping your classroom, creating videos, web development, content management systems like Wordpress,

Ghost and Bolt. He has experience in cloud computing including AWS, Azure and Digital Ocean. Want to Zoom, Teams,

O365, or share ideas about online teaching, contact … Bruce is here to help.

To contact any one of the teachers in the Community of Support, please send an email to psisupport@vanier.college

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Code of Conduct Policy Teachers and Staff The Code of Conduct Policy sets forth principles, guidelines and norms of behavior expected from all members of the Vanier College

community. Its purpose is to ensure a respectful, favourable and safe environment that promotes learning activities and integrates the

development, well-being and safety of persons, while ensuring the protection of college property.

If you have not read the College’s Code of Conduct Policy, we invite you to do so here: https://www.vaniercollege.qc.ca/bylaws-policies-

procedures/files/2017/10/CODE-OF-CONDUCT-APPROVED-BY-BOARD-OCTOBER-10-2017docx.pdf

The Office of the Conduct has begun the process of revising the Code of Conduct Policy, and intends to put out an updated version later this

year.

Currently on Omnivox, there is a survey available for all members of the Vanier community to provide their input regarding the current Code

of Conduct Policy.

As teachers and employees of Vanier College, we are very interested in knowing your thoughts about the current Code of Conduct Policy and

how it can be improved. Your input will help us make adjustments in areas that have not been adequately addressed, as well as reflect the

specific needs and concerns of different groups of people within the Vanier Community.

We look forward to reading your responses and ideas.

Thank you for helping us to shape the new draft of this policy to ensure the safety and wellbeing of everyone at Vanier.

Office of the Code of Conduct

Department of Student Services (C-203C)

conduct@vaniercollege.qc.ca Matt Shaw, Student Services

She:kon / Ai / Kwe / Wachiya / Aanii! This semester, we will be hosting a variety of online activities on topics related to Indigenous Education. We will have a stronger focus on

pedagogical strategies and philosophies for those who have been with us for a while. However, we will still provide learning opportunities

for those who are brand new to the world of Indigenous education! Whether you have participated in our activities before or not, you are

welcome to attend as many of our events as you like.

To give potential participants an idea of what happens in our sessions, and to provide some basic information that will help you in future

sessions, we will host Q&A’s on the following dates:

Wednesday, January 20th from 2:00 – 3:30PM

Thursday, January 21st from 4:00 – 5:30PM

To indicate your interest in this semester’s activities, and to register for one of the Q&A sessions, please fill out this form. Have a great semester!

Jacky Vallée, Social Science, Anthropology Department, Indigenizing the Curriculum Project

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“Fire Alarm” Renewal project The Facilities Department started a project to renew the “fire alarm” in all the college blocs. The below is a preliminary schedule of work per bloc.

Start Finish

Bloc A 25-Jan 05-Mar

Bloc B 01-Feb 05-Mar

Bloc C 01-Feb 05-Mar

Bloc D 01-Feb 26-Mar

Bloc E 01-Feb 08-Mar

Bloc F 01-Feb 18-Jun

Bloc I 01-Feb 08-Mar

Bloc J 01-Feb 08-Mar

Bloc K 01-Feb 08-Mar

Bloc G 18-Jan 26-Mar

Bloc H 12-Apr 21-May

Bloc N 01-Feb 26-Feb

The workers will be working in the ceiling (pull old cables and replace it with new ones). No drilling or noise producing activities are expected.

Thank you.

Hani Abed El Hadi, Physical Plant and Facilities

10th Annual Humanities Symposium –

“Reconnections” February 1-5, 2021

To mark the occasion of our 10th Humanities Symposium, we have re-invited several

outstanding speakers from past events. Over the past year we have all been exploring new

ways of connecting with one another, and we look forward to the symposium as a great

opportunity to reconnect and explore the theme of reconnections. This time around, our

guests will be in conversation with teachers from the Humanities department.

To attend the event, just click on the link in the event description. The link will bring you right

into the session. It’s not possible to bring your students to the event through Omnivox.

Students must access the event individually by clicking on the link.

Please contact me jorgensl@vaniercollege.qc.ca if you would like more information.

Lisa Jorgensen

Humanities Symposium Coordinator

Here is our line-up:

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Monday, February 1st 8:30-10am

Simon Blackburn

Simon Blackburn is one of the most influential philosophers today. He is well-known for his efforts to make philosophy accessible to

a wider public. He is a retired professor of Philosophy at Cambridge University and is a Distinguished Research Professor of Philosophy

at the University of Chapel Hill, is a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and is a member of the professoriate of the New College of

the Humanities. His philosophical interests cover a wide area including ethics, philosophy of language, and the philosophy of mind.

Simon Blackburn will be interviewed by Lili Petrovic. They will discuss the erosion of public trust.

Zoom link to event

Meeting ID: 980 6941 6043

Passcode: 040394

Monday, February 1st 10-11:30am

Simon Critchley

Simon Critchley is Hans Jonas Professor at the New School for Social Research in New York City. As the moderator of the philosophy

column, "The Stone" for the New York Times, Critchley invites thinkers to reflect on issues in art, literature, politics, and popular

culture. His writings engage several modes of discourse, including both Anglo-American (analytic) and continental philosophy,

philosophy and literature, psychology, psychoanalysis, religion, ethics, and political theory.

Simon Critchley will be interviewed by Jeff Sims, examining issues in philosophy, politics, religion, and science, exemplified by

Critchley’s writings.

Zoom link to event

Meeting ID: 955 6093 8873

Passcode: 684459

Monday, February 1st 2:30-4pm

Rebecca Thomas

Rebecca Thomas is an award-winning Mi’kmaw poet. She was the Poet Laureate for Halifax from 2016-2018. She is the daughter of

a residential school survivor and unrelenting advocate for her community. Her poetry collection I Place You Into the Fire explores

what it means to be a second-generation residential school survivor and is a call for Indigenous justice and empathy. The CBC just

included this collection on their list of the best Canadian Poetry of 2020.

Rebecca Thomas will be interviewed by Nirmala Bains. They will discuss Rebecca Thomas’ experience as the poet Laureate of Halifax,

as well as topics including power and systemic racism.

Zoom link to event

Meeting ID: 998 0688 5119

Passcode: 065305

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Monday, February 1st 4-5:30pm

Rawi Hage

Rawi Hage is an award-winning writer. He was born in Beirut, Lebanon, and lived through nine years of the Lebanese civil war during

the 1970s and 1980s. He immigrated to Canada in 1992 and now lives in Montreal. Hs first novel, De Niro's Game, won the IMPAC

Dublin Literary Award for the best English-language book published anywhere in the world and has either won or been shortlisted

for seven other major awards and prizes, including the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Governor General's Literary

Award. Cockroach was the winner of the Paragraphe Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction and a finalist for the Governor General's

Award. His work has been translated into 30 languages.

Rawi Hage will be interviewed by Lalai Manjikian. They will discuss Hage’s writing process, writing about war, as well as the impact of

war and subsequent immigration.

Zoom link to event

Meeting ID: 916 1268 7026

Passcode: 425894

Tuesday, February 2nd 8:30-10am

Charmaine Nelson

Charmaine Nelson is an Art History Professor at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and founder of the Institute for the Study

of Canadian Slavery. Her work investigates the how slavery in Canada was incorporated into Atlantic slavery. She has taught courses

in Canadian art and the visual culture of transatlantic slavery. Her recent research has focused on Canadian fugitive slave

advertisements, which are meticulous physical descriptions of enslaved people written by their owners that were used during

auctions, sales or as notices of runaway slaves.

Charmaine Nelson will be interviewed by Brian Aboud. The topics of discussion will include the trans-Atlantic slave trade, slavery in

Montreal and Quebec (especially the enslavement of Africans during the 18thand early 19thcenturies), slavery in colonial art and

imagery and the relevance and importance of the slave period to our understanding of present-day struggles against racism.

Zoom link to event

Meeting ID: 988 0274 6102

Passcode: 631217

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Wednesday, February 3rd 10:30- 12:00

Heba Mostafa

Heba Mostafa is an Assistant Professor of Art History at the University of Toronto. Mostafa specializes in the history of sacred space,

embodiment and ritual practice in Medieval Islam with a particular interest in the cultural and intellectual history of the central Islamic

lands during the first century of the Islamic empire. She is also working on two side projects, the first focused on Nile veneration

practices in Medieval Cairo and the second focused on the Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem during the period of the Crusades, the latter

funded in part by the Getty Foundation Connecting Art Histories Program.

Heba Mostafa will be interviewed by Sevak Manjikian. The interview will uncover some interesting facts about architectural sites and

features that appeared in early Islamic history.

Zoom link to event

Meeting ID: 921 5477 7886

Passcode: 367819

Thursday, February 4th 8:30-10am

Payam Akhavan

Payam Akhavan is a Professor of Law at McGill University. He teaches and researches on public International law, international dispute

settlement, international criminal law, human rights and cultural pluralism. He was a UN prosecutor at The Hague and in 2016 was

appointed a Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. In 2017, he delivered the CBC Massey Lectures, In Search

of a Better World: A Human Rights Odyssey. His companion book was the number one best-seller (non-fiction) in Canada.

Payam Akhavan will be interviewed by Sheila Das. They will discuss how we may hope to diminish the radical evil of genocide and

human atrocities by understanding the dynamics of hate, the role of law, and by deepening the connection that we share with all of

humanity to spur real engagement to build a better world.

Zoom link to event

Meeting ID: 945 0263 7081

Passcode: 152392

With sincere thanks to the Faculty of General Education, the MEES, the VCTA, and Vanier Communications for their instrumental and valued

contributions.

Lisa Jorgensen, Humanities Symposium Coordinator

RE CONNECTIONS

10th ANNUAL HUMANITIES SYMPOSIUM - 2021

In Conversation (Zoom Webinar – click on the name to access the event)

Monday, February 1st

Simon Blackburn and Lili Petrovic (8:30 – 10)

Simon Critchley and Jeff Sims (10 – 11:30)

Rebecca Thomas and Nirmala Bains (2:30 – 4)

Rawi Hage and Lalai Manjikian (4 – 5:30)

Tuesday, February 2nd

Charmaine Nelson and Brian Aboud (8:30 – 10)

Wednesday, February 3rd

Heba Mostafa and Sevak Manjikian (10:30 -12)

Thursday, February 4th

Payam Akhavan and Sheila Das (8:30 – 10)

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Call for Applications: Meg Sircom Memorial Scholarship

Please encourage students who like to write fiction, poetry, personal essays or other creative work, and who have good grades in English, to

apply for the Meg Sircom Memorial Scholarship.

Meg Sircom was an English teacher at our college from 2001-2011. She was a fiction writer, and valued both academic and creative writing.

Deadline for applications: Jan. 25, 2021

Scholarship amount: $500

Special 10th Anniversary Mini-scholarship: $150: For the portfolio including the best single work on the topic of HOPE

Requirements:

The applicant must be a student at Vanier College during the A20-H21 academic year.

The student has received final grades of 80%+ in at least two English classes (101, 102, 103, HS-)

The student will submit a portfolio of 5-15 double-spaced pages of creative literary work (poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction,

graphic storytelling, or other)

For information on applying, students should contact

their English teachers, or

Dana Bath (through MIO)

For more information and examples of winning works, please consult the celebratory booklet from last year at

https://www.vaniercollege.qc.ca/english/files/2020/08/MSMS-Celebration-2020.pdf

Dana Bath, English Department

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Your health is worth the investment so this Winter, the following Activity sessions will be

FREE FOR ALL ! All Vanier Employees are invited to participate - simply join the class with this zoom link

https://zoom.us/j/99271476900 / Meeting ID: 992 7147 6900.

Let us help you, take care of you.

If you cannot attend in person – recordings of the sessions will be made available.

For more info contact Shawna Lambert: lamberts@vaniercollege.qc.ca

If you will participate, please send me a quick email so that I can create an email list. Thanks

https://www.google.ca/search?q=wellness+dimensions+of+mental+health+and+physical+activity&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjH2_n74LTtAhWLn-AKHWw_DoIQ2-

cCegQIABAA&oq=wellness+dimensions+of+mental+health+and+physical+activity&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQA1C45gRY-

AEYOzyBGgAcAB4AIABWogBvAWSAQE5mAEAoAEBqgELZ3dzLXdpei1pbWfAAQE&sclient=img&ei=QGXKX8e7Kou_ggfs_riQCA&bih=764&biw=1536#imgrc=fZfZTqdlGas

bFM&imgdii=dakR8F6taJJTZM

Winter Session will start on January 25th and end on April 30th. A March Break and Spring schedule will be provided later.

Zoom link for all classes:

https://zoom.us/j/99271476900 / Meeting ID: 992 7147 6900

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday See class descriptions below.

Circuit Workout Cardio + Muscle

12:05-12:55 Shawna

Hatha Yoga 12:05-12:55

Pamela

Full Body Muscular Workout

12:05-12:55 Shawna

Yoga Flow 12:05-12:55

Jessica

Tabata Workout

12:00-1:00 Penny

Walking Club 5:30-6:00 Jessica

Pilates Posture + Mobility

5:00-5:30 Libby

Wellness Workshop 5:30-6:00 Pamela

Class Descriptions (Noon Hour Classes):

Circuit Workout: (Monday 12:05-12:55) A complete workout that can be adapted to meet your personal fitness level.

The class will include a 5 minute warm-up followed by a 40 minute circuit. You will move through a

circuit which includes 10-12 different exercises (cardio, upper body, lower body and core) and

complete the workout with a 5 min stretch.

Equipment: Space to move around, light weights (5-15 pounds), shoes and a towel or exercise mat.

Yoga with Pamela: (Tuesday 12:05-12:55)

This balanced Hatha Yoga class is based on traditional Yoga which includes postures in a flow of movements as well as slower paced sequences, an introduction to breathing techniques and a final relaxation. Holding the classical postures for several breaths stretches and strengthens the body. As the breath slows down and deepens, the mind calms down and a sense of serene presence to the practice arises.

Full Body Muscular Workout: (Wednesday 12:05-12:55) The workout will focus on exercises for the major muscle groups of the lower body, upper body and

core. Emphasis will be placed on compound and functional movements to help you develop overall

muscular strength and endurance. 5 minute warm-up + 40 minute workout + 5 minute stretch

Equipment: Space to move around, light weights (5-15 pounds), shoes and a towel or exercise mat.

Yoga with Jessica: (Thursday 12:05-12:55) Yoga Flow is a class which involves a variety of Yoga movement sequences designed to improve strength, posture, flexibility and stamina. Participants will learn a variety of yoga poses, proper body alignment, breathing and relaxation techniques. Stretch your mind and body.

Tabata: (Friday 12:05-12:55) This workout designed to improve cardio and muscular endurance and strength will keep you on your

toes as you watch the clock. Each exercises will be done for 20 seconds with a 10 seconds rest

period repeated by a pre-determined # of sets. A great way to challenge and boost your fitness level

in a short period of time.

Equipment: Space to move around, light weights (5-15 pounds), shoes and a towel or exercise mat.

Class Descriptions (Evening Classes):

Walking Club: (Monday 5:30-6:00) Take advantage of the many physical and psychological benefits of walking and the opportunity to

connect and share those experiences with the Vanier Walking Club.

Every Monday at 5:30 Jessica will have a short meeting to help you with your individual walking and

or jogging program as well as provide helpful tips on warm-ups, stretching, motivation tips and

exercise advice. If you cannot attend a Monday meeting no problem. Contact Jessica directly at

braulj@vaniercollege.qc.ca to get the information on how to get started and updated on the monthly

challenges. Those who join the walking club will be asked to sign up on Strava (free version) and join

the Vanier College group. On Strava you will be able to keep track and share your weekly walks,

distances, photos and successes with the group.

Each month there will be a new Challenge to help keep you motivated and moving!

Monthly Goals and Challenges:

January Setting up Strava

February Team Distance Goal

March Individual Distance Goal

April Tour de Montreal Goal (130km)

May (Spring Session) Visit the most parks goal

Equipment: Download the free Strava APP. Jessica will provide instructions at the Monday meetings

or contact her directly at braulj@vaniercollege.qc.ca.

Pilates Posture & Mobility: (Wednesday 5:00-5:30) Sitting at a desk for too long often leaves us with pain in our hips, lower back, upper back and neck.

In this gentle mobility activity session, Libby will provide guidance on how to open up the chest,

strengthen the core and increase mobility in the hips, back and neck to get you standing up straight!

Wellness Workshop: (Friday 5:30-6:00) Join Pamela to learn and practice various wellness strategies designed to help you de-stress, reboot and take a moment to stop, breathe and calm your mind during these turbulent times. Over the course of the session, she will introduce meditation, several mindfulness practices and breathing techniques.

NOTES:

The Activity sessions are free for all Vanier Employees so please keep the zoom link for yourself.

If you will take advantage and participate in any of the sessions, please send me a quick email

letting me know which classes that you will take so that I can create a participant email group.

During classes we ask that you keep your microphone off.

It is difficult to provide individual feedback during the sessions do to the online platform but

instructors are always able to offer you intensity modifications to suit your needs and abilities so

please do not be shy to ask.

If you have any questions or comments please contact Shawna Lambert:

lamberts@vaniercollege.qc.ca

Happy Fitness

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PSI News

Coffee and Questions with the PSI Team

As we kick off a new year and a new semester, PSI is happy to offer sessions this week to answer your questions:

Do you have questions about the new IPESA and/or LIAs?

Do you have questions about a digital tool you are currently using or would like to use?

Do you need support on O365, Léa, Zoom, or Moodle? No sign-up needed; just drop by the General Channel in the Coffee & Questions Team.

Next Sessions: Tuesday, January 19th, 10am to 11:30am

Thursday January 21st, 2:30pm to 4pm

News from the Research Office: Development and Support Opportunities (DSOs) Applications for 2021-2022 academic year DSOs offer support for teachers with a daytime load who want to engage in Research, Pedagogical Innovation, or Co-curricular projects. Important dates to mark in your calendars:

• Wed. Jan. 27, 2021 from 12-1:30 pm (UB): Workshop for those applying for a DSO o RSVP here before 4 pm on Tuesday, January 26 o Zoom info: https://zoom.us/j/9405217913?pwd=dWVQWm41OVZIeUdzd2g4dnVzYXF1QT09

Meeting ID: 940 521 7913 Passcode: 3qDJrA

• Mon. Feb. 8, 2021 Deadline to submit your application • Decision letters to all applicants will go out in March 2021 • Final reports will be due June 8, 2022

For the DSO application forms and more information, please visit: https://www.vaniercollege.qc.ca/psi/development-and-support-opportunities/

Do not hesitate to reach out to Rebecca Achtman (achtmanr@vaniercollege.qc.ca) with questions.

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News from PSI

Creating Class Teams for Winter 2021: A Tale of Two Choices

At Vanier, there are two ways that you can create a team in O365 Teams:

1. College-generated Teams: As of January 18th a Team will be automatically generated for each course by ITSS. These teams will

be pre-populated with all the students registered in the course up to that point. All registrations that occur after the team’s

creation must be added manually by the teacher or by providing students with a team code:

Adding and Deleting Individual Members in a Team

Adding Students to a Team using a Team Code

Please note, previously created teams cannot be imported into College-generated class teams.

While all teachers will have teams generated for them, teachers must activate the teams before students can enter or see

them. If you do not wish to use a College-generated team, you are free to delete it.

2. Teacher-generated Teams: These teams can be created at any time by a teacher. When creating a team, the teacher will be asked whether they wish to use a previously existing team as a template or create a new one. (For details on what is imported, please visit PSI’s Working in Microsoft Teams page).

For more details on the advantages and disadvantages of each, check out PSI’s Creating Class Teams page. For more details on how to use Teams, please visit the Working in Microsoft Teams page. Our decision tree below can also guide you on which type of team generation to choose.

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Creating a Course in Moodle

There are two ways to create a course in Moodle: with the CEGEP admin block (which pre-populates a course with students registered in Clara) and with the Course Creator role. The latter is useful if you wish to create a course before the admin block is available (usually about two weeks before the start of the semester). Previously created courses can be imported into courses created with the CEGEP Admin block. For details on how to create either type of course, please visit PSI’s Moodle page.

If you wish to create your own courses without the CEGEP Admin block, and do not have a course creator role, please contact Patti Kingsmill or Karl Laroche.

Organizing Course with Multiple Sections If you wish to have multiple sections in one course, so that you only need to share content once for all sections, but wish to give assignments and assessments to each section at a different time or date, you will need to work with Groups in Moodle. Students enrolled with the CEGEP Admin block are automatically organized into groups according to their section. By going into Participants, clicking the settings wheel, and then choosing “Groups” you can edit the name of the groups (since the section numbers in Moodle do not reflect actual section numbers). In course settings, indicate whether the groups will be separate or visible to each other. Use the Group override feature to distribute assignments and assessments to the groups on different dates and different times.

An instructional video on managing groups in courses created in the admin block is available here.

You can also create groups in courses created with the course creator role. In both cases, you will find these videos instructive:

Adding Groups to Courses

Demonstrates how to create groups in Moodle courses. Covers instructions for Moodle administrators and for teachers. The instructions

for teachers begin at 2:19)

Uses of Groups in a Moodle Course

A brief breakdown of ways groups can be used in a Moodle course.

Student Access to Assignment Feedback in Teams Assignments:

Default settings in Teams allows students to see their grades (and, in some cases, those of fellow

students) in the Files section of a Team. Please click here to see how to control what students see and

prevent the sharing of feedback from a quiz, until you are ready to return the assignment.

N.B. This “feature” that allows students to see their feedback immediately, was created by Microsoft in

order to support elementary school learning. College teachers have complained to Microsoft and they are aware of the need to modify

the feature, but we have not been given dates on when those modifications will be made.

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Forms: Not suggested for Summative Assessments

Forms is great for polling, learning activities, and formative assessments. However, Forms does not save the data

students input until they press ‘submit’. If a user’s device were to die (loss of battery power, power outage,

computer crash, etc.), depending on their browser cache settings, their work could be lost. Some teachers using

Forms for summative assessments have recently reported that Forms has allowed students to begin an exam before the time specified

in the settings and has blocked others, who should be able to access the quiz from doing so. Others have reported timing issues so that

it looks as though a student has completed a quiz in seconds. Finally, some have observed that the grading is not accurate and must be

verified.

In addition, Forms cannot indicate to a teacher whether students have accessed a quiz but not written it. Students could conceivably

read through a test and then inform the teacher that they were sick and could not write the test. There would be no way of knowing

whether the student saw the questions, thus requiring the teacher to create a new make-up quiz.

For these reasons, we do not recommend using Forms for summative evaluations, especially not for midterms or finals. Moodle is much

better suited to such exams.

For a comparison of creating, administering, and grading quizzes in Moodle vs. Quizzes, please click here.

Posting Quiz Scores in Forms

If your quiz has an end date, students may tell you that they cannot view the posted scores. This seems to be a glitch in Microsoft. End

dates must be removed before students can see posted scores. PSI has created this brief video tutorial demonstrating how to review

quizzes in Forms, provide feedback, and post scores.

Timing Issues in Forms Some teachers have reported that students have seemingly completed a quiz in Forms in seconds or that students were prevented

from completing their quiz because their time was up, when it was not. Please note that these issues may arise if students do not have

the correct time zone on their device or if, for whatever reason, the time zone does not appear to be correct in Teams. Ask students to

check whether the time stamp on messages sent in Teams or chat is correct. If it is not, students will have to reach out to ITSS.

Recordings of Workshops

An Introduction to Moodle

Animators: Neerusha Baurhoo, Patti Kingsmill, and Karl Laroche

This hands-on workshop introduced participants to Moodle basics:

How to login

How to create a course using the Course Creator Role

How to create a course with the Admin CEGEP Block

How to organize a course

How to add activities to a course

Click here to view the recording.

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Creating Assessments with Moodle

Animators: Neerusha Baurhoo, Patti Kingsmill, Karl Laroche

This workshop demonstrated how to create a written assignment and a quiz in Moodle, how to grade a quiz, and how to create a

question bank.

Click here to view the recording.

Video Series: Teacher Testimonies

PSI is pleased to announce a new video series entitled Teacher Testimonies. In these

short videos, teachers share their experiences with adapting to online learning.

In our first video in the series, Karen White shares how she flipped her classroom to

encourage more engagement in the class and promote the development of

competency-based skills.

You can view the video here. We’d love to hear from you, so please comment in the

comment section on Stream.

Turnitin Now Integrated with Moodle

Vanier’s Moodle has now integrated Turnitin. To use the platform within Moodle, choose Turnitin as an activity in the activity chooser.

The settings allow you to choose whether you wish to use a rubric, the E-grader feature, the similarity report (for plagiarism detection),

and the GradeMark features. You can also determine whether students can see the similarity report and whether they can upload

multiple times, in order to allow them to correct their work based on a preliminary report. More details on how to use Turnitin can be

found on our PSI Turnitin page. For details on using the Turnitin plugin in Moodle, check out the PSI Using Turnitin in Moodle page.

Winter ’21 Ped Days: Last week was a busy week of pedagogical activities for Vanier teachers and the first-ever intercollegiate ped days event. Our own Ped

Day was a great success with an encouraging welcome address from our Academic Dean, Annie Claude Banville. Next on the program

was an inspiring and thought-provoking keynote presentation by Usha James, chock full of practical tips for developing engaging and

meaningful course plans and assessments. A video of the two-hour session will be made available shortly; if you missed the session we

strongly recommend making some time to view it at your convenience. In addition, more information on how to access the TC2 website

resources will be coming your way soon!

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The keynote was followed by a light-hearted teacher exchange session called Mistakes Made, Lessons Learned. Thank you to all of the

teachers who attended our Ped Day sessions; we hope you gained new insights that you will take forth with you into the winter

semester.

The intercollegiate ped days program, All in This Together: Making the Most of a Remote Situation, drew participation from teachers

and staff from eight colleges throughout the Anglophone network. We have received positive feedback about the program and look

forward to receiving more feedback in your evaluation surveys, which were sent out on Friday, January 15th.

These events were made possible by many members of the Vanier community. A sincere thank you goes out to the following contributors

and supporters:

Annie Claude Banville, Elana Cooperberg, Antoinette Cocciolo, and all members of the PSI team, for their continuous support

and facilitation of events.

The Vanier teachers who volunteered to be presenters in the intercollegiate discipline-specific exchange sessions: Neerusha

Baurhoo, Andrew Kerr, Fannie Couzaris, Kathrin Spiller, Julie Gagné, Marlene Eberhart, Megan Pepe, Franca Dinolfo, and Tassia

Camoes-Araujo

Intercollegiate session presenters: Krista Riley, David Hoida and Anuska Martins.

Members of the Ped Animation Committee, Marianne Lynch, Toby Moneit and Heather Roffey, for inspiring us and helping us

develop relevant learning opporutnities.

Bruce Norton, Olga Mardas, Janelle Villanueva, Shawna Lambert and our student tech assistant Meiji Estrada, for their

invaluable support.

Finally, special thanks to the group of pedagogical counsellors from the participating colleges for organizing this intercollegiate

event, including our own ped counsellors Juila Hall and Tannia Ditchburn. We look forward working together to future

intercollegiate events!

Antoinette Cocciolo, on behalf of the Pedagogical Support and Innovation Team 'Nourishing pedagogy through collaboration and innovation'

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RAPPEL :

Invitation - Colloque : comment aborder les sujets sensibles en classe ?

21 et 22 janvier 2021

Inscription gratuite, mais obligatoire avant le 19 janvier 2021

L’hyperlien pour assister à l’événement sera envoyé le mercredi 20 janvier à toutes les personnes inscrites.

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