Hello! My name is Michelle Furlotte and this is my last MET course before graduation. I live in Thunder Bay, Ontario, which is in Northern Ontario, Canada. When taking this course I hope to gain further insights into incorporating technology in new ways in the science and math areas and I also hope to learn about new technology tools and how these are used to further explore science in our world. I also look forward to the wealth of ideas and experiences that are shared in this course. I have 2 children, Eden, 9 and Ariah 7 and a partner, Peter. I love to challenge myself, have adventures, travel, learn, laugh and I appreciate blunt, to the point people. I find it hard to summarize myself because I have many interests and I’m constantly changing my interests and myself as I move through life! I love walking in nature, skiing, dancing, good music, Barbados and anywhere with a beach, art, books, big smiles and positive vibes. Now I sound corny! Anyways…I’m looking forward to getting to know all of you and learn from you. I do hope that I will get help working through this course as I teach elementary school (and have for many years) and from what I have read it is high school based. That being said, I hope that the ideas explored can be modified to suit my teaching and professional practice. Professionally I am involved in several provincial committees, one of which explores professional development and curriculum and how these are implemented and how they affect educators and students, I teach grade 2 full time, I facilitate educators from across the province as they pursue action research projects, I recently published a research paper re: inquiry learning and I continue to look for opportunities to grow in my profession and help other educators. I am passionate about progressive education and also passionate about making sound choices and not just implementing new initiatives without debate and without sound research and self reflection. If you are interested in my professional pursuits I am on “Linked In”, and this space provides a more detailed summary of my career. I look forward to getting to know you in this space!
Welcome Michelle to the course! I do hope that you can make connections to your teaching practice and there will be plenty of opportunities in the course to facilitate making such connections. It would be great to hear more about your action research projects and your paper on inquiry as the course unfolds. Until then, thank you for your introduction, Samia
Hi Michelle,
It is good to see a familiar name in the course. I am looking forward to hearing more about your action research also, especially as I am presently involved in a math initiative through our Board.
Anne Winch
Hi Michelle,
You must be thrilled to be almost finished. Congratulations. Looking forward to working with you this semester.
Elizabeth
Hi Michelle,
Nice to meet you! My folks just retired from teaching at Lakehead and are now back in Victoria. Having visited them a few times at this time of year, I hope you have your warming systems well established! I must commend you for what you have on your plate right now. I am in a similar position, but without the extra bits regarding your research pursuits. It’s a crazy time, that’s for sure! Thankfully, at least for myself, it is a “good busy”! Embrace the corn…
Cheers,
Dana
Good to see you again Michelle,
I’m in the same boat with the grade level applicability. I’m teaching grade 6 science this year and our school only goes up to grade 8. I’m sure that while many specific media items may be high school specific, the general concepts, pedagogy, etc. should transfer pretty easily. Being primarily an electives/music teacher I’ve had to to a fair bit of lateral thinking through out the program to figure out how concepts/tools can work outside of their usual applications. Hopefully we’ll have a chance to chat about some applications for our own grade levels in the discussions through out the course 🙂
– Dan
Hi Michelle,
Nice to see another primary teacher! And congrats on this being your final course – yay! Looking forward to engaging in discussions with you throughout this course 🙂
Allison