Canadian Teacher - January 2016

With the Canadian government’s commitment to accepting Syrian refugees, and the willingness of Canadian people to welcome them into our communities, will come children who will need your love and support at school. No doubt there will be problems to overcome, but this is a situation that will present many learning opportunities not only for your new students, but for your existing students and for your school staff as well. This is a good time to come together to coordinate your school’s response to refugee children who arrive at your door so that the work is shared, you are able to support one another, and resources are allocated as efficiently as possible. And hopefully it will prove to be an enriching and satisfying personal experience for you. On page 10 of this issue is an uplifting story of one woman’s experience with teaching young refugees to speak English. The rewards from helping her students in this most difficult transition were both joyful and humbling, despite a lot of work and times of frustration. Here are a few resources that might make your job a little easier.