It has been a long time since I last blogged and when I checked my blog I realized that that last time I wrote on this page was in 2010! Where did the time go and what happened???? At the time I was busy in my classroom of grade fives and sixes, had many collaborative projects running and was actively using technology in my classroom. I think I got wrapped up in my little world and started to forget about the world around me.
Since my last blog post I have changed schools and changed roles within the school. Last year I moved to George Lee School and started working as a Learning Resource Teacher. My school environment is quite different. My previous school had about 100 students and was a community school with a high First Nations population. My current school has just under 400 students and has a high EAL population. I am fortunate to hear a multitude of languages and accents along with learning about many cultures. This year I have taken on the role as acting vice-principal along with continuing to work as a Learning Resource Teacher.
I have also traveled to Kenya and Tanzania the last three summers to work with Education Beyond Borders.
I was fortunate to work with many wonderful teachers as we shared ideas about project based and inquiry learning, differentiation, collaboration and working with professional learning clusters. During my first summer I worked in the GIlgil area about 100 kilometers northwest of Nairobi, the second year I worked in the Mount Kilimanjaro area of Tanzania along with the GIlgil area while the third year I concentrated my work with EBB in Tanzania. All of my experiences were extremely rewarding and taught me so many things about myself as a teacher, person and world citizen.
http://www.educationbeyondborders.org/photo/albums/naivasha-gilgil-2011
I am starting to feel the need to re-connect to my professional colleagues that I have worked with around the world through blogging and twitter. As well, I am considering planning some collaborative learning projects for students this year. With the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi it might be time to start planning on project for that.
It’s good to be back and I’m looking forward to reading blog posts, tweets and articles from my many colleagues around the world.
May 6, 2008
Connected Learning: Continuing the Comment Challenge
Posted by kibrown under audience, blogging, classroom, collaborative, comments, education, students, technology, writing | Tags: blogs, classroom, comment08, education, global citizens |[3] Comments
I’m a middle years teacher in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. I was told about the Comment Challenge by Kim Cofino on Twitter. As soon as I heard about the challenge I wanted to be part of it and I wanted my class to be involved. My quest this year has been to connect my students and myself to the world. I want all of us to become global citizens and be aware of the world around us. Because I’m connected as an educator I’m able to provide my students with the ability to connect with other students around the globe.
As I checked the list of participants there were many names I recognized. The following names are people that I’ve communicated with through classblogmeister. I’ve exchanged emails with Jane Loweand Kathy Rice. I’ve participated in many on-line discussions with Lisa Parisi. and worked on collaborative projects with Barbara Bashour. I’m also involved in a global collaborative writing project called MS1001 Tales with Ann Oro along with Jo McLeay and Anne Mirtschin.
Sharon Peters was a presenter for my last grad class and Cindy Seibel was another student in the class. Many of the same people are part of my Twitter network.
Through these many connections I’m able to provide opportunities for my students to communicate with other students around the globe. My students are becoming active participants in the student comment challenge which I hope will encourage them to spend as much time writing comments as they write blog posts. I also hope that they, like me, find new blogs to read, enjoy and question in our ongoing challenge to become global citizens.