The Journey:

1. The Journey: There and back again

2. My Support Network

3. If I were a vehicle, I’d be... January 7, 2009 • If I were a vehicle, I would be a Ford Taurus (early 1990’s model), aka. A Giant Gas Guzzling Lemon. I can get myself to where I need to be, but along the way, I will need assistance and maintenance. I am in need of constant fixing-up of new and old problems, as I can never seem to remember how to fix current or previous problems. I can sometimes help others out with their technological problems, but I am unreliable as I will break-down unexpectedly and need servicing. I can be high-maintenance and temperamental when it comes to technology and I require a lot of attention and patience . It is definitely helpful to have a tow-truck nearby for when I breakdown. However, when I am not having any difficulties, I am happy and content with my basic skills that help me get on with my professional and personal life. • One of my goals that I desire to accomplish at the end of this program is to no longer be a gassy lemon of a car, but to become one more efficient and reliable...perhaps like a hybrid car. After Before

4. I did it...all by myself! January 21, 2009 • Recently, I bought a new alarm clock/speaker system for my I-Pod touch. Being technologically reliant on others, I immediately went to my sister’s room and asked for her help to set up this system for me. Unfortunately, or, as I found out later, fortunately, she was very busy and could not help me. As it was getting late and I wanted to use my new alarm clock for the next day, I decided to brave the task myself. Emptying the contents out of the box and attempting to translate the instructions into a language I understood, I began my grand adventure. As a rather impatient person, I first attempted to put the pieces together by the way I figured they should. However, that only got me so far as there were things I needed the instruction manual for. As the system began to come together, I felt my confidence begin to rise and I felt confident to play around with all the various functions of the system. At the end, although there is still one small piece that I still have not attached (it hasn’t seemed to hinder the functionality of my alarm clock/stereo system), I felt a huge sense of accomplishment and , although it was not a huge task, it was one that I completed utilizing my own abilities (which I didn’t know I had) and through consulting and translating the instruction manual.

5. Assumptions February 4, 2009 • An assumption that I have about teaching and learning is that all students are at different levels and they have varying strengths and weaknesses. • Because I assume this to be true, when I create a learning environment, I pay attention to ensuring that the needs of all my students will be attended to. This may be demonstrated in the way I seat the students so they can provide peer-tutoring or engage in collaborative learning or the way I plan my lessons. I ensure that adaptations are provided where they are needed and I also ensure that my students are aware that everybody has different strengths and weaknesses within the class and it is our job, as a class, to support each other. As each student has varying needs or strengths depending on what they are learning, there is movement around the classroom as students may choose to work independently, work with someone they are academically compatible with or find someone who can provide assistance to them. • Because I assume this to be true, when I create a learning environment, I am not as concerned that everybody provides the exact outcome as I am to seeing that my students are showing growth and a sense of understanding of the lessons being taught. I believe that it is my job as a teacher to ensure that my students are learning and understanding the curriculum goals, but I must understand that some students will demonstrate a better understanding than other who my struggle, but are working hard to demonstrate some of the curriculum goals. In order to achieve this, I provide work for my students according to their level and focus on their achievement within their level at the time, while encouraging further development in their understanding.

6. My Number One Teacher March 4, 2009 • As I look back and reflect upon my years as a student and at the way school changed and shaped my life, I realized that it wasn’t the curriculum we were taught or even the activities that we were involved with that molded me or my memory as a student. Instead, most, if not all, of my memories are based around the people that were involved in my life as student. These people mainly involved friends and peers, but one person who affected and influenced me greatly, both as a student then and as a teacher now, was my 4th and 7th grade teacher, Miss Visser (now Mrs. Freestone). As a grade four teacher in a smaller private school, she had to deal daily with the ongoing dramas that most of her female students were involved with, which was definitely not an easy task. I clearly remember her sending a group of us girls (about 5-6 girls) out to the field during class time to talk about the latest drama we were going through. She realized that no matter how silly our latest fight was, that before she could teach us or have us ready to listen to a lesson, we had to be not only mentally, but emotionally ready to be taught. She realized that for a fourth grader, their social life/their friends was the most important part of their lives and it is what they care about the most. Therefore, until their social life was once again well and happy, learning was not going to happen. This experience made me realize that Miss Visser cared not only about my academic life, but my social...my LIFE, as well. This made me respect and trust her as a teacher. • As I trudged through grade 4, I came to realize that math was definitely not one of my strengths. I really struggled with the concept of ‘long division’. Instead of being frustrated with my lack of understanding, despite how hard she tried, she stayed after school and spent one-on-one time with me until everything just clicked. I remember the amazing feeling of accomplishment and I know that my accomplishment was due largely to the care and patience that Miss Visser showed me. I accomplished because she believed in me and believed that I was worth the time and effort she spent on me.

7. Learning Power March 25, 2009 • No problem...how different can teaching fractions using the new textbook be from using the old one? VERY DIFFERENT...as I soon found out very quickly. Not being used to the new textbook format or its content, I soon became as lost and confused as my students looked. After an hour and a half of frustration and, yes, even tears from one student, I realized that if I had been more prepared with the lesson from the new textbook rather than assume that it would be the same as what I was used to teaching, things would have gone a lot easier and a lot better. • Five and a half hours later. I am now sitting in my LTT class. We are writing about learning. Ironic. Today was a day that I learned that I have to be learner first before I can be a teacher. If I had learned the lesson from the new textbook, things would have gone a lot smoother. There would have been no tears. There wouldn’t have been a line up a mile long of confused students waiting for their questions to be answered. This made me realized that my frustrations with my lack of technological skills were quite similar to the frustration that both my students and I faced today. Although I desired to be able to do all the wonderful things I was being shown by others in the class, I could not expect to be where others were without taking the time and effort to learn the preliminaries first. • Learning takes a desire to pursue new knowledge and the patience and perseverance to stick with it until it is mastered. As a teacher, I am a believer of the practice of life-long learning. I believe that personal growth goes hand in hand with personal learning. As a person should be continuously growing and developing their character and knowledge, so they should also be continuously finding new things to learn and new tasks to master. This learning can range from taking on a new hobby to learning about another culture to learning another language. When it comes to learning, there is no limit. • My desire is to be a life-long learner of things that help me in my profession, as a citizen of society, and for my own personal growth. I am constantly surrounded by opportunities to learn and, sometimes, I have to seek out those opportunities on my own. I must choose to take advantage of those opportunities...which is why I am sitting here in a technology class.

8. Digital Kids in a Digital World April 9, 2009 • In my class, I believe that all my students , to varying degrees, are digital kids. As I hear them talk and write about their computers, cameras, i-pods and all the game systems they use on a daily basis, I realize that they are all active users and participants of the digital world. It is wonderful to see how comfortable my kids are with technology and how willing they are to learn new things. I am always amazed at how easily they seem to learn new programs and different technologies, whereas I seem to struggle so much more. • As a teacher, I have much to learn from my students. From their openness and eagerness to learn new technologies to their willingness to ask for help and for clarification, I admire the strength of their curiousity and desire to learn new things. Through them, I learn about new technologies that are out there and that are the ‘latest rage’. Through them, I learn that technology is constantly changing and improving...and so must I to keep up with my students and with the next generation. If I desire to connect with my students and to help them succeed in this current day and age, I must be updated in my knowledge as well.

9. Webquests: My Big Fat Inquiry ProjectTerm 1 (Spring 2009) • After watching and participating in a wonderful and fascinating presentation on Webquests during one of our classes, I decided to do my mini-inquiry project on Webquests. This was perfect for me as I was looking for a project to wrap up my Social Studies Explorers Unit. As we are nearing the end of the school year and I still have more units to teach in Social Studies, I wanted something that the students could do fairly independently and on their own time, so we could use class time to complete other curriculum goals. • In the past, I had given the students an Explorers project that required a lot of class time, a lot of space, and a lot of paper and supplies. All instructions were given verbally and on paper, so the students were responsible for keeping track of all their papers and for remembering the verbal instructions given to them. Their task was to choose an explorer from a list they were given (there were many on the list and I tried to have each student sign up for a different explorer), create a poster with information about their explorer (picture, maps, biography, exploration, etc.), and present it to the class. This project was good project as it included many important curriculum goals, including public speaking. However, this project came after spending time learning about exploring and various explorers, as well as after a written test was done. This project took up much class time as it incorporated so many elements into it. Also, as one entire wall in my classroom is entirely metal, I am unable to staple anything into it and I found that magnets were not strong enough to hold up all the students’ posters, it was very frustrating as I could not put up all the hard work my students had done. • When I was introduced to Webquests, I was quite excited at the idea of having a project where all instructions and materials could be found on-line. My students could easily access their assignment details from home or wherever they were at, without having to lug around (and potentially losing) all the papers I had handed out to them. As I am still just beginning to learn about technology, I decided to see if I could find Webquest that would be fitting for my unit, instead of having to right of the bat having to create my own. • Cont’d...

10. Webquests Cont’d... • After searching through various Explorers Webquests, I found one that suited my class the best. As we were pretty much finished with our unit (we could have ended it there, but I had promised the students a project, so I had to keep my promise), I was looking for something simple and straightforward. The one I choose required my students to work in pairs and to pick 4 explorers from a short list (2 explorers each). They were given a list of questions to research and answer as well as websites that would be helpful. In addition, I suggested they also use our school on-line library websites that are very helpful and kid-friendly. After doing their research, they were to turn their information into trading cards with a picture of their explorer on one side and their information on the other. Upon completion, they would share their cards with others in the class, explaining the importance of each their explorers. The Webquest that I chose can be found at http://www.jjn.gsacrd.ab.ca/studentpub/projects/webquest/NEWEXP~1.HTM Me assisting students who had difficulty locating the website for the Webquest after the initial introduction of the project.

11. Webquests Cont’d... • As we have very limited access time to the computer lab at our school, the computer teacher agreed to allow the students to use their computer time to research their explorers. I spent 2 blocks of their computer time with them and, alongside with the computer teacher, we were able to help and watch the kids help each other explore their project on Webquest. It was interesting to see how many students would ask us questions that were right on the Webquest, but after sending them back to their computers to read over the different sections, they soon realized that all their questions were answered on the Webquest and they didn’t have to ask us for help. • Seeing the excitement of the students and watching them help each other with computer skills, as well as learning to become independent learners was a bonus to a wonderful activity.

12. Photos of Students on their Webquest Project.

13. My Learning Statements April 29, 2009 • Something that I am learning about technology is that there is a LOT of it out there. For every one idea, there are hundreds of options and varieties to choose from. I have learned that I can not learn or master every technology out there, but that I need to ask colleagues and others who have more experience to share their experiences with various technology so that I can choose from some that have been tested out already. I have also learned that technology is not as scary as it may come across as there are many avenues to find support. • Something I am learning about learning is that learning takes time and patience. Not everybody learns the same way or at the same speed. People seem to learn quicker when they are interested in what they are learning as their motivation for learning is heightened. • Something I am learning about teaching is that I first have to feel confident in what I am teaching in order to be effective and motivating. As I am teaching, I am also constantly learning new things and new ways to teach. • Something I am learning about myself is that I really have to be interested in something in order to feel motivated. I am also learning that when I feel like I am falling behind, that others are ‘getting it’ quicker than I am or are more advanced than I am, I feel discouraged and need lots of encouragement to continue on. Therefore, I also find that when I accomplish a task, not only is my confidence boosted, but also my level of interest for technology. I am also learning that I prefer to be given more guidelines than not. I feel more confident and prepared when I know exactly what I am expected to do and what I am expected to achieve.

14. Caution...Red Flags! April 16, 2009 • Technology is and has been a growing and important part of every aspect of our lives. Focusing in on technology in the classroom, there are many fantastic ways to utilize technology in our teaching and to support student learning. However, there are also many challenges and problems that we may face by using technology in our classrooms. • Inaccessibility of technology in the school or classroom...we may have wonderful ideas that we would love to try out in and with our classes, but we may not be able to get access to the technology that we would need to try out our ideas. Also, we may have planned out the ‘perfect’ lesson on line to show our students, but if internet access happens to be down, your whole lesson is, no matter how ‘perfect’ it is, is useless that day. • Monitoring student accessibility...with the easy access to the internet via many different forms of technology (i-pod touches, cell phones, laptops, etc), teachers and administrators need to find a way to monitor what kind of information students are getting off the internet during school time, as well as monitoring what students are doing with their access to the internet. With cases such as ‘sexting’ and internet bullying, we need to ensure that our students are safe with all the ‘power’ they have around them. There is a fine line between between ‘policing’ our students and keeping them safe. • Knowledge with technology...not all teachers are at the same level with their knowledge of technology nor are they all at the same comfort level. Teachers who are at a lower level may feel pressured or left out due to their lack of technological skills compared to their co-workers. • Taking over with technology...there are many wonderful resources that are technologically based. They should not be thrown out just because they are not as ‘hip’ as technological resources. Also, it is important to ensure that technology is used as a tool and that we are not relying solely on it. We as educators are the ones educating our students, not the technology. However, technology may be a tool that we use to educate our students. • Glitches galore...with technology inevitably comes glitches. You may end up spending more time attempting to fix problems with the technology you are using (ie. Projector not working, computers not responding to program etc.). You are often at the mercy of the technology and take time away from teaching itself to fixing up problems.