Hi Everyone,
It is nice to see some familiar faces here. My name is James and this is my 5th course in the MET program. I currently work in Sparwood BC: a small mining town on the BC/Alberta border. I teach middle school English and Social Studies and high school Woodwork.
My professional interests are in constructivist learning theory and problem based learning. A colleague and I worked together to get a grant for a problem based learning project that incorporated Teck Coal. We used part of the money to buy a class set of tablets and I am looking forward to learning how to use them more effectively.
I love old motorcycles because I get great satisfaction from working through problems and sorting out what is wrong. Old motorcycles are also interesting to ride. They have character that modern bikes do not. You have a closer relationship with the road and your machine when you ride an antique bike. There is something special about older technology. I like to think of ed tech in the same light as a motorcycle. A new machine is smooth sleek and more versatile, but sometimes the same job can be done with an older model.
James.
Hi James.
I am very interested to hear about the grant that allowed you to buy tablets for your class.
Could you share which one you applied for and how you went about this?
Thanks
Colleen
Hi James,
I’m happy to hear that there are other small community teachers in this course. Finding grant money and getting approval in a small budget environment is a pretty big road block to progress in my district.
Brendan
Great to see you again James. My dad has been a mechanic for 40 years and also loves tinkering with old bikes (although he no longer has one). As a result I spent a lot of time with him in the shop so I can sort of relate to your love of them. Anyway, it’ll be great to work with you this semester, looking forward to it!
Here is the link to the website. You should find all of the information that you need for the applications here. If you want, I will email you a copy of our application so you get an idea about how to apply.
My project is number 25 on the site.
http://www.ruralteachers.com/growing-innovation-2011
I am looking forward to working with some familiar people and getting to know some new ones as well.
Hello James,
It was good to know that you teach middle school English. Here in India, learning English has caught up everybody’s imagination. It is a compulsory subject in the schools, however, most teachers are clueless about the pedagogy to be used to teach English apart from being incompetent themselves. The problem is worse in rural areas.
I was wondering if you could share any resources regarding the pedagogy that you follow ?
Sayali
Hi James,
Nice to see a familiar face on here. Exciting for you to have tablets for your students, they are very fortunate! Do you still ride? Look forward to reading and learning from your posts.
Cheers!
Leah
Hi Sayali,
I really like anything that Leyton Schnellert uses for English and Social Studies. I also use a lot of Adrienne Gear’s strategies. Here are links to their sites.
http://education.ok.ubc.ca/about/faculty/LSchnellert.html
http://www.readingpowergear.com/
Adrienne Gear’s Reading Powers books are really easy to use and they can be adapted for any grade.
I hope that this helps,
James.
Nice to hear from you Leah,
I still ride, but not as much since my daughter was born. I look forward to working with you.
James.