By Sandy Ho This past October, I returned to SOCEM for the first time since the pandemic. The drive that morning was smooth, and the crisp autumn air, bathed in golden sunlight, lifted my spirits. Upon arrival, I was greeted by familiar and new faces, and the laughter and chatter felt like a warm embrace, […]
Category: Events
Report of SOCEM Gathering XIX
SOCEM’s annual fall training conference, Gathering XIX, took place on Saturday, October 26, 2024 at Martin Grove Baptist Church in Etobicoke. Close to 50 gathered in-person for a day of equipping, networking and sharing together surrounding matters of ESL ministries. After a brief devotional and worship time at the sanctuary, participants divided into different sub-groups […]
We are excited to collaborate with CESLM once again in this Spring Training Event. Date: Saturday, March 16th Location: online via Zoom, or in person at Fairview Baptist Church, 3311 Centre Street North in Calgary. Please Note: In-person and online attendance starts and ends at different times. All listed times are in Toronto time. *In-person event: 11:00 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. ET […]
By Nancy Kingdon INTRODUCTION On October 28, 2023, fifteen participants shared their collective wisdom, as they discussed their top three student learning needs, plus their top four ESL teaching issues. Participants were surveyed ahead of time by Nancy Kingdon, with survey results noted below. SUMMARY of what you told me were your top STUDENT LEARNING […]
Report for Gathering XVIII
On Saturday October 28, 2023, about 55 eager individuals gathered at Trinity Grace Church, Toronto for SOCEM’s annual fall training conference. Gathering XVIII was the first in-person conference since the pandemic. Those that were present were enthusiastic about learning about ESL ministries and networking with one another. After a brief devotional and worship time just […]
SOCEM Webinar Reports
SOCEM started to offer training webinars online during Covid, from 2020. From January to May 2023, SOCEM offered one webinar per month – our third series. Here is a snapshot of the two most recent webinars: On April 18, Mae Chun from Calgary presented a webinar on “Essential ESL Skills for Aging Well: Program for […]
Modality: Using Modal Verbs like ‘Can’, ‘Should’, ‘Would’, etc.Presented by Lydia Mountney Thursday, Feb 24, 2022 at 7:30 p.m. (EST) This webinar is recognized for 1 PD hour by TESL Ontario.Registration closes February 21, 2022 Description: A: I might bring a mask… B: Yeah, I think you should. I had to wear one when I […]
“Let’s Connect” Event Report
The “Let’s Connect” event was held via Zoom on Saturday January 30 from 11:00am–12:30pm, as a collaborative effort between SOCEM and Cooperative ESL Ministries (CESLM) in Calgary. About 20 from Ontario, Alberta, BC and Manitoba participated. We had a brief opening with some thoughts from the representative from SOCEM and an introduction of all the […]
Gathering XVI Report
On October 26, 2019, SOCEM held its annual conference, Gathering XVI, at Trinity Church Streetsville once again. There were close to 110 attending, and participants came from all over Southern Ontario including Kingston, Oshawa, the Greater Toronto Area, Niagara Falls, Kitchener-Waterloo and more. After a brief opening worship and devotional, participants spread into different rooms […]
Gathering XVI is coming!
Once again we will be gathering in the fall for our annual training conference. SOCEM’s Gathering XVI will be on October 26, 2019 from 8:15am to 2:30pm at Trinity Church Streetsville. There will be a plenary panel discussion on “Building Community in ESL Ministry,” 14 workshops to choose from (see below), a Getting Started in […]