*This post has been written as part of my journey as a Ph.D student through University of Regina Manitoba sits at a crossroad in their quest for educational reform. After 3 years of external consultation and widespread planning the current Progressive Conservative party has backtracked on their Better Education Starts Today (BEST) strategy. Interim premier, Kelvin Goertzen, who oversaw this campaign in his role as Minister of Education, announced on September 1, 2021, that he would be pulling the associated Bill 64 legislation from the fall docket (Gowriluk & Bernhardt, 2021). While the future of what public education looks like… Read More
Starting My Ph.D Journey!
In February of this year I hesitantly shared out my personal statement as part of my application to the University of Regina. After graduating with my M.Ed in the spring of 2018 I was sitting on my largest absence from formal education and I knew that I needed a change. Prior to this jump I had explored the idea of pursuing a second M.Ed as the requirement for first year residency for a Ph.D seemed unattainable for me due to the age of my children and our proximity to institutions. However, the Covid-19 pandemic had resulted in online classes which… Read More
Happy New Year!
I don’t care what anyway says, back-to-school season is the new year for teachers! I took a conscious step back from this blog in June of 2021 while I was reporting from home in the spring to align with my mental health needs during the end of Manitoba’s third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. As summer break started I made the decision, for the first time in my teaching career, to NOT participate in any type of education- or technology-related professional development. This was partly in response to the need to recharge after the school year but also in preparation… Read More
Back To School?
The following is my personal statement I am preparing as part of my application to the University of Regina. I welcome all reviews, critiques, and well wishes! Area of Interest In 2012, on the recommendation from a university professor, I started a blog to document my learning journey and connect with other educators. That initial blog post started with, “I will admit that I am not the most tech-savvy person, but it’s a start!” (Thompson, 2012). If there was ever an example of foreshadowing, this introductory sentence would be it. Little did I know that that start would swell to an 800+ post documentation of my journey from, “… not… Read More
Why I Replaced Myself With A Machine
This afternoon I will have an opportunity to chat with the Internet for Educators class (#I4Ed) out of Brandon University. Our discussion today will build off of a shift in mindset that I experienced in 2017 while working on my M. Ed. This is a topic that I’ve been able to share a few times both with previous #I4Ed classes but also at the BYTE and Riding the Wave conferences. As we approach the one-year anniversary of a shift to remote learning; this mindset has never been more relevant for educators. It is my hope that this post will serve… Read More
Covid-19 Podcast Discussions
While the past four months have drastically cut down on my meeting and conference plans (still mourning the loss of ConnectED and Riding the Wave face-to-face events) it did signicantly increase my ability to converse with some amazing educators from across Manitoba and Saskatchewan. I consider myself pretty lucky to have some wonderfully creative educators in my social circle who are using podcasts to share, connect, and educate. As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and resulting suspension of classes, there has been a lot of conversations to be had when it comes to the impact… Read More
Back to BU!
Brandon University will always have a very special place in my heart. I completed my B.A & B.Ed over the course of 6 years while living and working on campus. Following that I returned to complete my M.Ed (by distance this time). Over the years I have welcomed any and all opportunities to return to campus to: – enjoy community presentations/events – take part in Mini-U (as a field trip with my students; highly recommend) – present in the Internet for Ed B.Ed class! (#I4Ed) Today was one such visit! Thank you to Mike Nantais for… Read More
Challenges in Developing Student Digital Literacy Skills
As members of the future workforce and society, today’s students require guidance and education, in order to successfully navigate and utilize the digital world that they were born into. Educators are tasked with introducing students to new literacies that not only focus on skill development but also emphasize social practices in the context of short message service (SMS), multimedia messaging service (MMS), social networking activities, and mobile technologies (Wan, 2012, p. 1066). School-age children have a unique set of experiences awarded to them due to the digital age in which they were born. However, their birth date alone is not… Read More
Summative Annotated Bibliography
The following is an annotated bibliography I created as part of my Graduate Summative Seminar course (I had previously shared my Graduate Portfolio here). This bibliography includes 20 entries that have been especially significant to me throughout my M.Ed journey. *I apologize for some of the formatting glitches that appear below in the embedded version. This issue should be resolved by viewing the document through Google Docs directly here.
Graduate Portfolio!
After 21 years of formal education I am reaching the end of my current learning journey: my Masters degree! While I truly believe that education is a lifelong experience; I am very excited to celebrate this accomplishment! I know that I will begin another degree in the future (distant future; when my babies are in high school maybe) but for the time being I am concluding my journey at B.U. I have officially started my LAST class of my M.Ed, Graduate Summative Seminar, and have begun compiling evidence of my learning through this experience. This has perhaps been… Read More