Hello everyone,
My name is Ana, and this is my second MET course. Life has been quite busy with teaching Math online as well as developing Math courses for a First Nation Internet high school here in Ontario.
Three months ago, a little baby Matteo came into my life and made it that much richer… and busier, as I resumed with teaching three days after his arrival.
My academic background is in applied Math and I have taught this subject in Ontario, the UK, and briefly in South Africa. My interest in integration of technology in Math instruction has led me to earn a Specialist in Integration of ICT in the classroom. Of course, BEd. came before this designation and well after my BSc.
This summer I will be instructing international students at the University of Toronto for the seventh “summer off” in a row. These summer experiences are quite fun as I get to go back to a more “traditional” classroom and be reminded of what it’s like to have a classroom with actual physical space.
I am looking forward to working with all of you and learning about technology ventures in education so I can better my professional practice. Who knows, maybe we come up with something better than GeoGebra 🙂 (jk) Good luck to all and see you in class!
(…For serious climbers only!)
Great pic, and welkom Ana. Congrats on the new baby! I’d be interested to hear of your experiences teaching in South Africa. Where abouts in South Africa?
Thanks, Bobbi. I was in Athlone (a suburb of Cape Town). This part of South Africa is really fascinating from every angle. I was exposed to best private schools where, at the time, I have seen technology in the classroom I haven’t seen in the UK or here. However, the other side of the coin is that I’ve also seen classrooms in townships where forty or more kids were crammed into with barely any resources. Although education is officially no longer a vehicle of promoting apartheid, it seems to be that mandatory school fees still keep inequality going in one form or another. However, things are getting better. Again, these are my limited impressions as I didn’t spend enough time there. The region I was in was stunning and people were extremely warm and welcoming. I would love to return. What kind of places do you find fascinating?
You’re welcome Ana and thanks for sharing! That sounds like a really interesting experience. My other half was from Cape Town but I’ve yet to go, so I have to live vicariously through other people’s adventures there. I had been wondering about access and opportunity in schools and it sounds like there are still many issues which is too bad. It’s good to hear though that things are getting better (even if it’s slow going still). Myself, I’m relatively untraveled (I’ve only been across Canada and to a few places in the US) but would love to visit the Netherlands, as I have quite a bit of family there that I’ve yet to meet. I’m from a small town in BC and the first in my immediate family to go to university, so I’m looking forward to finishing and traveling while I work. 🙂
Hi Ana,
Out of curiosity, what is Geogebra? I’d love to hear more about your teaching experience in the UK. Do you have a favourite, Africa, UK or Canada?
Cheers,
Leah
Hey Leah,
GeoGebra is a dynamic math and science software that is free, open source and comes with tones of material. I put a link a for it in my original post.
No favourites so far as they are all very different. I loved living in London, UK for its rich cultural events. Teaching up north in an fly-only community holds a special place in my heart because of its uniqueness and challenges. South Africa was fun! What is the experience that is special to you?
Cheers,
Ana
Hey Bobbi,
Congrats on being the first in the family to go uni. I am sure your family members are all happy for you. Please do share your across Canada travels as all my travels, sadly enough, have been more international than domestic. These days with the little one, I only travel in my imagination but then again I guess I can see other experiences as “travel” too. I guess I am trying to console myself here. 🙂 I like the idea of traveling and working. So neat! Netherlands is fun, I almost got run over in Amsterdam by a car as I thought their roads were bicycle paths. 🙂