I just recently came across a youth radio station in Chicago that put together a little 2 minute clip about what teachers do over their summer months.  I thought it was kind of cute and was curious to hear what you like to do over the summer holidays.  Write to me about your perfect summer getaway or a special all time tradition you do every summer.

As for me, I will be heading to Vegas for one of my very close friends wedding.  We are going to be staying at Treasure Island hotel and I am really looking forward to it.  If you have been there already and have any good suggestions on what to see and do, drop me a message, but remember I only want the best for my $$$ as I am still a student. 

I am also possibly going to be helping out with a Ministry called On Eagles Wings.  You can read all about it at this link.  They do a lot of ministry work in very northern communities of Canada, some of which are only fly in fly out communities.  I will not be able to make it far North this summer but I have been asked to join them in Ocean Man which is about an hour and a half South of Regina.  I am really looking forward to this experience, as I know it will be an experience of a lifetime.

Here are a few great links on some top 10 things to do this summer:

For Students

For Anybody

Top Ten Beaches in Sask

For Teachers

I hope you enjoy your summer! Keep me posted as I know I will.

I thought this quote was kind of funny:

“A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken. ” James Dent

Last summer I had a friend who travelled overseas for the summer and I remember him mentioning before he left that he would be blogging everyday so that he would be able to share with us his backpacking adventures.  I remember not having a lot of time to read up on his blog, but when I did it was incredible to read about his experiences and really neat in knowing exactly where he was and what he got to see and do that day of his travels.  As I continued to read his blog that summer I realized his blog had become a wonderful keepsake for him.  I knew that when he returned home his blog would be there to help him reminisce. Although those reading his blog were not there with them, they to would be able to reminisce with him in ways they would not have been able to do had it not been for his blog. During my travels I often sent emails to friends and family while I was travelling, however today I don’t have any of those emails saved and I couldn’t tell you exactly where I was and what I experienced.  Had I been aware of the benefits to having a blog I think I would have started one a long time ago.  I understand now why wikipedia mentions that there are more than 112 millions blogs and I realize just how valuable one can be.

Six weeks ago I began my own personalized blog.   I was little nervous at first about the entire process, however I found it easy to navigate through edublogs and I soon found myself extremely excited and proud of my blog space.  The first step I took as a digital immigrant was introducing myself to a whole new world.  Not having any idea who would be scoping out my blog from time to time was a little strange, but knowing how many others do the same and how interesting it is to read about another one’s life made it all worth while.  So there I was inducted into the world of blogging.  Soon afterwards I was adding widgets, videos, posts and began to read and comment on many other blogs.  I’ve learned many new things from reading other blogs and I am fascinated at just how fast one can be connected with all sorts of people from anywhere and everywhere.  Its as though I’ve found thousand of great pen pals willing to express and share with me things that can help me to grow as a person and as a professional.

 Personally for me, my blog space has become part of my professional development.  Since I have began my blog I have recognized the infinite amount of growth opportunity that is now only a mouse click away.  I am grateful that I am able to post and comment on other blogs and extremely appreciative that there are other teachers, students and professionals willing to comment, share and help me grow towards becoming an effective technological teacher.  My blog has helped me learn to use new tools and my computer more effectively, and for that I am thankful.  The one thing however that I have found to be most difficult about blogging is thinking of, creating and writing worth while posts.  Lately my minds has been flooded with countless creative ideas but I have found these ideas hard to put down in words and I am still a bit intimidated about sharing my thoughts and ideas through my blog.  I think through time, more frequent use of my blogging and the reading of blogs, I will eventually become more confident in my blogging style.

In conclusion I have found blogging to be a worth while adventure and I am looking forward to continuing in this adventure.  I have started to compile an online portfolio and I am very thrilled about the idea of it being easily accessible to future employers and a terrific way for me to be able to reflect on my professional progress.

I got home from class this evening and I was just itching to post.  It was amazing watching the presentations in class this evening and I couldn’t get over how far some of us have really come.  I know that I myself am pretty proud of what I have accomplished and learned while trying to edit and complete our ning site and our imovie.  I thought  all the presentations this evening were very well done and the ideas were well thought of.  I’m not sure how others are feelings but I can’t remember the last time I had so many ideas running through my head about what I can do next.  I keep thinking about the photo stories I want to create, the wikispaces I want to start, the imovies I want to produce and the connections I want to have with teachers from all over the world!  I have learned a tremendous amount of information over these last few weeks and I am definitely going to recommend this class to other education students.  I am proud of what we have done and I am excited to browse through the many well thought of wikispaces.  I really enjoyed viewing the presentation on technology and keeping active. I thought it was wonderful how she provided a page for those with special needs.  Technology can be a great tool in helping to establish inclusion in our classrooms and schools and this page will be helpful!

Thank you so much for sharing your ideas and presenting such wonderful final projects! Way to go everybody!  I actually started a wikispace tonight called, Health in Your Hands, still a work in progress but I’m excited for it and I can’t wait to feel organized..hahaha.

From Bonjour House preschool to grade 12 graduation at Vanier Collegiate I studied and learned in Canada’s both official languages. My parents, having had no background or understanding of the French language were approached by a lady when I was just about to enter preschool that preached to them the amazing opportunities and benefits parents can give their children by enrolling them in French Immersion. Having had no really good reason why not to send me to Bonjour House my parents decided it would be a good thing for me.

Looking back now I only recall a few nights in which I became frustrated because my dad was unable to help me with my homework. I think for many parents who only speak one of Canada’s official languages, the fear of not being able to help their children with their homework is a deciding factor that turns them away from deciding on whether or not French Immersion School would be a good idea. For me learning French was just another thing I had to learn. To be quiet honest it wasn’t until about grade five that I realized other children on my block were not learning French like me. I don’t recall every complaining about doing my subject areas in French, although my father might say different, I remember being quite proud of my French Immersion class in high school because we were a tight group and known as really nice kids. We had a bond that other students didn’t and we were often quite proud.

In the summer leading into to grade 11 I decided to do a six week summer work exchange to Quebec. When I arrived to Quebec to realize that my host family new no word of English, not even yes, you can image how terrified I was. I was not very confident in my French at this point in my life. Although we were a proud bunch of French Immersion students, we were often caught speaking English among ourselves in class, not very beneficial to our French communicating skills. I was nervous, but the summer turned into an experience of a life time. Being fully immersed for six whole weeks in the French language turned out to be the most beneficial educational experiences I have ever had. When I returned from Quebec however, it didn’t take long before my French language speaking skills had lost the improvement. Just like anything else, practise makes perfect, and this was something I didn’t do often enough.

After graduation I found that I did not use my French very often. Although I do recall a time when I was working at the Chateau Lake Louise and I was approached by non English speaking individuals seeking directions. It was amazing to be how fast and right in that instance my French came back to me. I was thankful that day for having had the opportunity to be able to communicate with this couple from France, and I could tell they were appreciative.

To this day I still encounter many times where I am grateful to be able to understand and communicate in both official languages. Although I am not currently pursuing my studies in French I often mention to my fellow teachers in training how beneficial and grateful I am that my parents enrolled me in the French Immersion system. I do believe that having graduated with a French Immersion Diploma I have received a very well rounded education and I have gained a deep understanding and appreciation of our countries bilingualism.

I would like to know your thoughts about French Immersion Education. Do you think it is important for us as Canadians to be able to speak and communicate in both official languages? What are your thoughts? Do you ever wish you could understand or communicate in another language? If you could learn a second language would it be French or another language? Why or Why not?

“The tie of language is perhaps the strongest and the most durable that can unite mankind.”
Alexis de Tocqueville

Yes it is true…we are only one click away on our mouse from experience our world. Thanks to the use of the web it no longer takes hours to research about another country and or culture. We can view millions of beautiful sites from around the world in just one hour, or even in 60 seconds. We can find out about what is good to eat, what countries are great to visit and what to expect if we were to go visit there. No more big heavy lonely planet books to carry around! It’s amazing how much we can learn about another culture just from taking the time to browse the net and read about life in another culture.

Although the experience of learning about another culture over the net might not be as dramatic or as impacting as being there in person to experience the smells, the nature, the people, the food and the atmosphere, it can be just as exciting when it is all so unfamiliar to us. However, thanks to events like Mosaic, which takes place in Regina this weekend, we who are unable to travel around the world to experience these things are able to do so right here in our own backyard. If you have never experienced something like Mosaic in our own city or community I suggest you check it out or start something up like it in your own community! Events like Mosaic give us the opportunity to connect with our community and experience the diversity of cultures and peoples who live right next door to us! This type of event builds respect and an appreciation for anothers background and culture. I remember when I was younger we did an ice show called, around the world in 60 seconds. Now you have to understand I did several ice shows when I was younger, maybe close to 7, but the one that always sticks out in my mind was this particular ice show. I think the reason for this is because I was given the opportunity to learn more about India and the types of dance in India. We were taught off ice how to do East Indian dances and then did it on ice. It was a great experience and I still have my beautiful green saree.

I think experiences such as these and Mosaic are important for us teachers to take part in. They help us gain a better understanding of the culture and backgrounds of our students. These types of experiences can also help us gain insight into what it may be like for our immigrant students who come from a whole different world than ours. It can also assist in creating and planning engaging activities centered on diversity and the cultures in and around our city and our world!

Please share with me some unique events or experiences you have had in regards to experiencing another culture, whether it be from traveling or just taking part in a great cultural experience! I would love to hear all about it!

“As the soil, however rich it may be, cannot be productive without cultivation, so the mind without culture can never produce good fruit.”

Roman philosopher, mid-1st century AD

During our last ed computer class we covered a variety of topics regarding web media literacy, web awareness resources, web safety and media representation on the web. It just so happened that the night before this class took place I finally had some down time and was watching a tv drama series. I’m not sure what the tv series was called but the boyfriend of this young girl on this shown had convinced this young girl to take her shirt off so he could have a picture of her on his cell phone. The next day at school this young boy was showing everyone in the school pictures of her on his cell phone. It was difficult to watch how this young girl took the news about her picture being shown to everyone at the school. The mother of this young girl was not impressed when she found out and was quick to make sure that the young boy would be expelled from school.

This episode brought to my attention the many difficult issues we as teachers will soon have to experience. It doesn’t take long for word to travel these days let alone pictures or videos that may not even be originals of you, your loved ones or your students. It is important for us as teachers in training to be aware of what is out there on the net and how some things can have a very negative impact on our students, children, friends, families and our careers. Now that I am becoming more aware myself of media literacy and what this entails, I encourage all of you who may be reading this and any prospective teachers to really understand the positive contributions of media literacy education.

My professor Alec Couros made us more aware of how the internet can be very misleading in portraying societal groups and culture if we and our students are not informed properly or critically thinking about what is educational, talent or just plain noise or nonsense. This makes me think about how George Siemens mentioned in his presentation that there is a, ‘risk of people being satisfied with false knowns because it serves them well.’ After hearing George mention this I started to think about how much truth is on the internet and how much of it is false and misleading. It is scary to think that digital immigrants and or digital natives could soon be misguided into thinking that what is not real is real and what is real is not. How are we to know for sure what is truth and what is not when there are a million different sites telling us a million different things? How will this impact our future? How can we be satisfied with no truth? Is it not truth that allows us to continue our journey? Imagine a world that was always satisfied with false knowns , would we be happy beings?

Our professor also uncovered to us some “dark side” internet sites that are important for us as prospective teachers to be aware of. When I decided to browse a little on these sites I found hatebook.com to be a very incongruous site (if that is even the correct word to use). This sites, just as easy to sign up for as facebook.com, allows you to upload lies, join hate-clans, publish secrets and start a hate profile. How many of us would like our children or our students to sign up for this? This distasteful site even has a little button on the left had side that reads, “Meet Dr.Evil Here.” If we are unaware of this site existing image the numerous amount of other inappropriate sites are students could be browsing. Unaware of their impact on our souls, these “dark side” sites along with cyber bullying and the many other internet sites that depict misconceptions of societal groups and culture, can and are slowly creating a world where hate and evil are accepted and seen almost as satisfying? Is this the type of world we want our children and or students to live in?

Don’t get me wrong, I think the use of technology in our world today is helping to establish good communication and connect people from all walks of life. However, we must remain aware of this darker side of the internet, a side that if not taken seriously, could lead to demoralizing our world.

“Our teachers are responsible for our children’s welfare for the six or eight hours they are at school and we need to know without question that their safety will be paramount on the minds of teachers, faculty and volunteers.“
Mike Fitzpatrick

I know it has been a while since Leanne has posted anything on her blog, but I just wanted to point out that I have added a few things on the right here – under pages. There is a great you tube video I found on the Special Olympics that I think everyone should view. Let me know what you think of it. You can find under inclusive education under my pages.

I think I found out about 25 new websites tonight in my ed computer class. Had I not been enrolled in the class, I don’t think I would have ever found out about all these unique sites and useful links for educators. I even found out about lulu.com wish I am looking forward to sharing with my sister who happens to be a great writer. I never really thought before about how useful youtube could even be for our classrooms. If anyone happens to come across great videos for thought and discussion, be sure to let me know, I would really appreciate it. I think the youtube video I found on the Special Olympics could even be a good video for discussion in class. I can’t wait to surf the net some more so that when I do begin to intern I’ll have some great things to bring to the classroom….I’m getting excited!! Definitely finding this class very useful!

I would also like to bring your attention to a new project that I myself along with another young lady in my ed class are beginning to work on. We have just recently created a ning social network called selfesteemproject101. The site is called Pure Beauty 101. Our vision for this network is to bring young high school girls, teachers and mothers from around the world together in hopes of connecting thoughts and perspectives on what real beauty entails. There is a tremendous amount of issues around this topic in our world today and although there are several ways to deal and or seek advice, we feel that perhaps by creating this site we can help create a world of acceptance and respect for our bodies, our self-image and each other. This site is still in the making but if you are interested in becoming a member we would love to hear from you. Feel free to post your thoughts on this ning page about self-image and self-esteem in our world today. If you are as passionate about it as we are and have some other great ideas for this network email us at selfesteemproject@gmail.com.

The title for this post - “A post in the making,” is what I had to title this post today because I have been wanting to post and have been trying to be creative about what I would like to write about. I did start writing earlier today on something and hopefully I can share it with you all soon. Till next time, don’t forget:

“The best way out is always through.”
Robert Frost

I think I am going to try to add great inspirational quotes to my posts! Who doesn’t love to read a good quote?

I found George Siemens presentation last night on ustream fascinating.  It was interesting enough having had the opportunity to see something happening live over the net let alone hearing about an information revolution, “an age of resonance.”  Our world today is changing fast and I too admit that there is a desire in me to understand and connect with the technological world.   George mentioned the difference between complicated and complex.  Complicated we know - complex we don’t know, we just sense.  Our world is no longer complicated but complex.  Technology is continually being upgraded while new things are being invented.  Keeping up with all of this is very overwhelming yet if we think about our future classrooms it is also very exciting!

I don’t recall ever having the opportunity to connect with someone from the other side of the world when I was in grade school.  It was hard enough connecting with my friend from across the street at times.  Today our students can engage in conversation with students from around the world, they can even learn about another culture almost first hand through the net.  I often worry that the technological world is going to increase barriers between people because there is this fear that people are going to stop communicating among themselves and just live in this so called cyber world.  Siemens presentation however allowed me to see the role of technology in a different light.  The use of technology in our classrooms can help us to teach our students to be creative thinkers.  It can also help to break down barriers among peoples if we are informed and aware of the many possibilities and uses of net. 

 It may be true that we as teachers may someday become, as George Siemens said, network administrators.  Our schools do often teach in a single direction manner, meaning we often only teach what needs to be taught and in a way that maybe only suits one type of learner.  As future teachers we need to be open to change, big change.  Our schools have not changed much over the years and it seems fitting with the times that teachers and schools today take on a challenge.  A challenge to face this fast paced technological world and challenge our students to become more aware of their world and their future.

I started mentioning to my parents, my coworkers and others about the use of cell phones in the classroom and how their are teachers right here in our very own province using text messaging as a teaching tool. I was curious to know where abouts this was happening. The digital learning in Prairie South 2008 you tube video mentions the town of Craik using this teaching strategy. I found it so hard to believe, yet after viewing this little you tube video I think I recognize the need for us young teachers in training to begin connecting with these so called digital natives that just so happen to be only about 5 years younger than most of us! Being a teacher really is all about connecting..building relationships and relating our worlds, our views and our lives. If we wish to engage our students in our subject areas we are going to need to explore this foreign cyber world!! If there are any young students or student teachers out there who would love to help me embark on this high speed journey of technology, I would love to hear from you!!!