Hi everyone,
My name is Kristin Garratt and I am math and science online teacher in Kimberley, B.C. This is my 7th/8th MET course, and this semester I am taking it along with ETEC 540. I have been enjoying this program for so many different reasons, but most of all, the collaboration and support by the awesome students and faculty throughout all of the courses. I am excited to explore mobile and open learning as I think it is so relevant to our current world we have found ourselves in.
When I am not teaching or working on MET, I can be found on my farm in Fort Steele (just outside of Cranbrook). It is currently lambing season, we have 8 new cuties on our farm. At the moment, my husband and I look after 22 lambs, 15 pigs, 25 chickens, 10 head of cattle, and 3 horses, 2 dogs and a couple bar cats. It is a great balance to be able to sign off and get outside.
Congratulations to the number of people who are in their final semester and I look forward to working with you.
Hi Kristin,
I have to say that I am beyond envious of your assortment of animals on your farm. Should we collaborate on a project and require videoconferencing, I would not be at all upset if there were to be ovine intrusions. When my grandparents retired, they moved to a small town on Vancouver Island and had a farm with sheep, and I am planning on convincing my wife to do the same one day (though I know for a fact it’s never going to happen…)
Anyways, nice to meet you, and excited to learn from each other.
Hey James, If you are ever in the Fort Steele area, stop on by. You and your wife and play with the lambs and the piglets! This time of year, they are so freak’n cute. I am excited to explore more mobile learning in hopes of convincing my school district that I can be as or more productive from my home with the animals. Anyways, looking forward to working with you. Next week our group is up for the Moveable Feast. We’ll see you there.
Nice to meet you, Kristin, and wow! Congrats on the new lambs! Do you grow any crops on the farm? I’m an avid home gardener with a Greenhouse Technician diploma so plants are my jam, but in my recent past I lived in Austin, then Toronto, now live in Niagara surrounded by farms and vineyards. It is such a nice change. Look forward to working with you this semester.
Hi Mel,
We do grow crops. We have a 2 acre enclosed garden. Last year we swung for the fences and produced a crop that lasted from May until well past Thanksgiving. With our animals and produce, we didn’t go grocery shopping for 5 months!
Wow, Niagara is such a beautiful place. I grew up in Waterloo and lived in Toronto for a bit. We always took trips to vineyards around the bench. Do you have a garden now? What do you grow?
Oh wow, that’s a lot of animals! Do any (all?) of them have names?
Ha! Some of them have names, some of them have the same names… But most of the time it is me that feels more like Old MacDonald. It is crazy to think that just 6 years ago I was teaching in a downtown Toronto high school. It is crazy how everything changes. 🙂
Hi Kristin,
I am also a Math and Science teacher, would love to connect and exchange ideas in the use of technology for these subjects. I also have to say that I admire you taking care of so many animals! My son loves farm animals, we used to go to a farm close by, missing those days. Looking forward to learning with you in this course.
Hi Adriana!
I am always up for a chat. I would love to toss some ideas around with you regarding technology in Math and Science classrooms. Let me know if you have time, probably in July all of us will probably be less hectic. I hope you are enjoying the course so far.
I am looking forward geeking out over Math and Science!
Yes, I love the country life and the peace and quiet and outdoors. It is a good life!
Nothing could be better. It is so nice to be away from screens at the end of the workday. Well, before we go back to our MET courses at night that is. 🙂
Hi Kristin,
My wife is from Cranbrook, actually, I got my degree through COTR, through the UVIC program there. My wife’s grandparents used to have a farm at Fort Steele as well. It is an awesome area, we try and go back once a year, her parents have a place at Moyie.
Wow, Michael. Now that is what I can say is a small world. I love this area and I absolutely don’t expect anyone to have heard about it. Moyie is paradise around the lake. It is so peaceful there. There isn’t many farms around the Fort, I am wondering if we could have been neighbours with them at some point.
Looking forward to working with you this semester. You probably won’t have a chance to visit this area this summer however.
Yeah, they haven’t farmed there for quite a while, so I am not too sure where they were. Yeah, I think our visit is off for this year, probably a stay close to home summer.