On behalf of the Continuing Education Department at the Toronto District School Board, we are excited to announce that the recipient of Learn4Life's 2024 Jack Henshaw Award goes to Connie Green, French instructor!
The award is in recognition of a Learn4Life instructor who has shown a commitment to lifelong learning and has made a significant, sustained contribution to the ongoing success of the general interest and seniors' daytime programs.
From the submissions that were received, here are just a few sentiments from Connie’s students:
- One of Connie’s outstanding teaching qualities is that she listens intently to her learners and is extremely supportive of everyone’s efforts. What seems to be important to Connie is the “process” of speaking French, not only the end result, in and of itself. By offering praise for participation, the learner gains confidence to speak French and feels empowered to challenge oneself.
- Connie instills one’s motivation to learn, a critical component to ensure success.
- Connie Green is an exceptional teacher. She creates a very welcoming environment, making it enjoyable to learn. She is very enthusiastic in every learner’s efforts to speak French, no matter how minimal.
- She has an introductory email explaining the structure of the course and suggests what the learner needs to prepare for the class. Also, she emails a variety of worksheets several days ahead so that we are informed about what she will be teaching in the upcoming class.
- Connie demonstrates such enthusiasm throughout the class, it makes it so enjoyable to be there and learn.
- Connie has designed her program with a variety of components: casual conversation, reading dialogue, grammar, written answers based on the week’s grammar, spontaneous learner’s writing (in Chat Box) to be read and/or shared the following week, as well as conversational videos. She interjects with common idioms/expressions so that the learner becomes familiar with them, in the context to what is being discussed.
- Her personality, coupled with her dedication and ability to make learning French both interesting and fun, makes her a perfect candidate for the Jack Henshaw Award.
