Rosalie Valente

About Me

It’s been my pleasure to work with English Language Learners, from pre-schoolers to seniors in their 80s, both in Canada and abroad.

My Interests

• travel
• photography
• languages
• yoga

My journey in language teaching and learning started when I lived in Rome for a year. I taught EFL (English as a Foreign Language) classes at a local elementary school. Having to settle into a new country and communicate in a new language helped me truly appreciate the challenges faced by many of our newcomer families. Even though I'm fluent in Italian, tasks that are so simple at home, like taking the bus, going shopping, asking for directions, were so intimidating! It took a while to adjust, but in the end, it was a great adventure and learning opportunity.

Like many ESL teachers, I'm passionate about social justice and fostering an appreciation of the richness of our diverse Canadian society, so I keep busy organizing cultural events, welcoming our newcomer families to our school, and running a variety of after-school clubs. Also, I truly believe in collaborative teaching and building bridges of support for teachers and I've published an article, "Mentoring Mainstream Teachers of ESL Students" for the Internet ITESL journal.

I love travelling and learning about new cultures, and I've been blessed to visit many countries around the world, both as a tourist and as a student. I've studied languages in Germany, Austria and Russia. Being a student again was truly humbling. I experienced first-hand how important it is for teachers to create a trusting classroom environment where students feel safe to take risks and make mistakes.

I was also fortunate to teach in St. Lucia a few years ago as part of the Canadian Teachers Federation "Project Overseas", where I worked with a wonderful group of teachers - both Canadian and Lucian - to deliver Summer Institute workshops.

This summer, I visited the beautiful country of Iceland, an amazing land of fire and ice and extreme weather! The culture is rich. The people are welcoming and warm and the language is .. well .. complicated ;) I learned a wonderful motto from the Icelanders: “þetta reddast,” which means “everything will be ok in the end.” A great motto to live by, wouldn't you say?