A Bit About Me

Welcome to my blog!  As part of my journey through EC&I 831 I have finally begun my own blog.  I'm not exactly "new" to blogs.  I have promoted the use of them as a classroom communication tool and have helped dozens of teachers (including my wife) set-up and create class blogs.  I have even composed a number of posts for the department blog at work.  What I have never managed to do is to create my own blog.  I have said it is because I am too busy.  Or because blogging takes too much time.  I have even felt that it takes away from more pressing and important tasks in my day.  The real reason may be that I just don't feel that I have anything all that interesting, profound, or important to share with others.  Despite these past excuses, the time has finally come for me to jump headfirst into the world of blogging and social media.

I am currently in my seventeenth year with the Regina Catholic School Division.  I am a high school Physical Education major with a minor in Biology.  Upon my convocation in 1997, I accepted a grade eight homeroom at St. Francis School where I taught for three years.  I spent another nine years as a grade seven and grade eight teacher at St. Josaphat, where I looked for ways to integrate technology with my teaching.  I am currently in my fifth year as Technology Coach for Regina Catholic Schools.  This positions involves providing technology training and professional development opportunities for the students and staff of the school system.

I truly believe I have one of the best positions in the division.  My role involves looking for ways to integrate technology across curricula thorough collaboration and support with all curriculum areas.  This means I get to work with consultants, coordinators, administrators, support staff, teachers, and students across the division in all subject areas and grade levels. 
No two days are ever the same, and the range of projects I am involved in on a daily basis can be extremely varied.   What I enjoy most is the energy I get from the teachers and students while working in a variety of classrooms throughout the year.  I always find myself learning something new, and I enjoy being in a position where I can then pass this knowledge along to others.

Some of the key activities I have been involved in as Technology Coach include:

• training and support for digital progress reporting
• classroom support for Web 2.0 projects
• classroom support for multimedia projects
• the development of the Exploring Careers in Technology Education (Ex.CITE) Camp program
• the development of system-level BYOT policies and support resources for teaching digital citizenship at the primary, middle years, and high school levels
• management and support of the division Learning Management System

Our division saw some exciting advancements in technology for the start of the 2012-2013 school year.  Data projectors were installed in all classrooms throughout the division.  At the same time, Mimio Interactive Whiteboard products were made available to interested teaching staff.  Between September and June of the 2012-2013 nearly 300 teachers were issued a MimioTeach device.  As a Mimio Certified trainer, I was involved directly in the training and professional development for this project which involved conducting close to forty half-day and full-day PD sessions.  This year the list of interested teachers continues to grow, and we anticipate training 50 additional applicants.

Two major initiatives underway as we start the 2013-2014 school year are the introduction of Windows 8 tablets in K-3 classrooms, and the system-wide adoption of the BYOT policy at all elementary and high schools.  I am sure both of these projects will provide me with plenty of opportunity for reflection over the course of this semester.

One class project I am involved in which I anticipate will fit in nicely with my EC&I 831 studies is the Flat Classroom "A Week in the Life" project.  As stated on the Flat Classroom website:
"The aim of the project is to join Elementary School classrooms globally with a view to exploring what life is like in each country through discussion, sharing and collecting multimedia to create final products together."
For this project I will be working with our Social Studies Consultant, Digital Fluency Consultant, and two elementary classrooms to connect and share with students and teachers from around the world.
A major goal I have this year is to further develop my use of social media.  I would especially like to increase the way I interact with my personal learning network.  My current use of social media is mainly limited to retweeting the links and comments of educators I follow on Twitter.  I have begun to see the value in connecting with others in this space, and would like to begin to promote the effective use of social media with others.  I look forward to learning a lot over the next few months, and especially towards sharing this newfound knowledge with others.