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suehellman

Surrey, British Columbia

Canada

Profile Information:

School / Work Affiliation: Small Changes; BIG RETURNS
Blog: http://wilkesinstructionalmedia.blogspot.com/
Website: http://small-changes-big-returns.wikispaces.com/
Skype Account: suehellman
Twitter / Plurk / Other Account: suehatwilkes
About Me: I have been teaching since 1974. 16 months ago I was a near techno-fossil. My idea of great tech skills was knowing which kid in class could hook up the video machine. I did not even know what a PowerPoint was. What a difference a year makes!

Now I am particularly interested in working with other nearly fossilized colleagues who are reluctantly admitting to themselves that, in order to make things better for their students, they have to change but don't know where to start.

I'm pleased to announce that I've just been appointed the grad assistant for the Wilkes/Discovery grad program in Instructional Media. Please contact me if you'd like any information. I maintain their blog at: http://wilkesinstructionalmedia.blogspot.com/

Comment Wall:

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Aaron Ball

Hi Sue

I'm from Edmonton Alberta. Please send me information about how I can join up. I always find it difficult to find Canadian content and having a group would certainly help in cutting the work load and help create lots of discussion.

Yes, my students are supposed to blog daily but we've been distracted lately. It is a great way for them to summarize their day (then parents have lots to talk about!)

Dec 27, 2008
Brad Ovenell-Carter

Hi Sue,

Thanks for the note and the Posterous idea. I've already had a look at P and I'll give it a try in the new year (see my plans http://ovenell-carter.com/blog/?p=136).

I like the idea of a Cdn mashup. Where/how do I join?

BOC

Dec 27, 2008
James Dykstra

Well, Sue, I'm looking forward to see what Canadians sharing ideas can create. Things are definitely different for us than for our cousins south of the border, so an area where we can talk could be a good thing.

BTW, I found it interesting that you grew up in Winnipeg and now live in Surrey. I, by contrast, was born across the river from you in New Westminster and now live in Winnipeg. There's a weird symmetry there.

Dec 27, 2008
Steve Lowe

Acutally I work for SD36 as well. Don Christian to be exact. I have mentored for TLite but I'm currently doing the Masters in Ed Tech at SFU. A very interesting contrast between the two. TLite is infinitely more practical where by the MEd. is very theoretical.

Dec 27, 2008
Dr. Nellie Deutsch

Hi Sue,
What a lovely butterfly.

Dec 27, 2008
Dr. Nellie Deutsch

Chaos Theory book? Can you explain? I am very interested in chaos as a way to creativity.

Dec 27, 2008
Patrick Payne

Hi Susan:
The Can/Mashup sounds like a good idea

Dec 27, 2008
Dr. Nellie Deutsch

Sue,
After connecting with Alan Watts ideas on chaos, nothing can surprise me.
I am interested in using chaos theory for instruction and learning.

Thank you for the info.

Happy New Year,
Nellie

Dec 28, 2008
Bryan SCHOLES

Hi Sue - I am not sure what to expect for the map. I can see a "blank" map and get a message to the effect that it is loading but it never gets to a point where I can see individuals or add my own information. I am using a MacBook with Leopard - is there something I need to know or do? Cheers, Bryan

Dec 28, 2008
Pat Cook

Hi Sue.

I don't know if kids are basically lazy, or non-imaginative. Either way, I love when they stretch themselves mentally to create something original, as offbeat as it is.

Dec 28, 2008
Jeff

I think I'm in. Thanks for the invite Sue. Happy New Year.

Dec 28, 2008
Bryan SCHOLES

Hi Sue:
The Frappr map appears to be okay with my MacBook. I just let it load for about 10 minutes and eventually it came up - I thought that because it hadn't loaded after about 5 minutes that there was a problem.
Thanks for looking into it, though - Bryan

Dec 28, 2008
Bob Cotter

I thought I joined earlier today, but perhaps I had a problem doing that. I know the map wouldn't work for me. I'll give it another go.

Dec 28, 2008
Bob Cotter

Second time a charm... in the group and successfully mapped. As noted by Bryan below, it just needed to load earlier today and I was probably impatient. Loaded very quickly tonight.

Dec 28, 2008
Bob Cotter

Sue, do you teach in Surrey? I'm in the Sunshine Coast School District We are embarking on a 24/7 laptop program for our teaching staff. The startup for the project website is: . Cheers... Bob

Dec 28, 2008
Chris Harbeck

Thanks for inviting me. This sounds like a group with big potential. Looking forward to contributing.

Dec 29, 2008
Frances Long

Hi Sue...

Sometimes yes... we host open weekends to help people learn to use Moodle. These are free and we tend to offer these once a month. Normally we charge for our Moodle courses and we offer beginners through advanced and also some short workshop types that concentrate on Moodle topics like quizzes, gradebooks etc. More information is here: http://knowmoodle.ca/moodle/mod/book/view.php?id=3119 or you can just ask me :-)

Dec 29, 2008
Bob Cotter

The website that overviews the project is http://www.sd46.bc.ca/~247. Bob

Dec 29, 2008
Alec Couros

Hi Sue,
Thanks for pointing me to Angela's post. I've been writing over the holidays and might have missed it. A meme? Basically it's an idea that spreads like wildfire from place to place. It actually comes from the studies of memetics and thought contagion ... basically the study of how ideas spread through society, and more importantly, why certain ones stick. Some of the research around it is fascinating.

I hope all is well with you. Take care, and thanks for connecting.

Dec 29, 2008
Patrick Payne

Thanks for the links.....the Shopfloor is a new one for me. I appreciate it!

Dec 29, 2008
Laura Kelly

Hi Sue, Am currently on holiday in snowy William's Lake and away from my computer so I don't have access to photos. Promise to send links when I return home before school.
Cheers, Laura K

Dec 29, 2008
Anne McKague

Hi Sue,
Thanks for the invite and the initiative in organizing the 'neighbourhood'.I mostly lurk and am always scrambling to stay caught up with my day to day work, but I do believe in the idea of sharing and collaborating. Maybe tomorrow....

Dec 29, 2008
Lesley Edwards

Hi Sue, I'm over in N. Van. and yes, we have snow! A little over 2 feet accumulated before it started to melt. Great exercise shoveling.
I applaud your taking on the tech challenge and I certainly fall into the 'nearly fossiized' category. I started teaching in '69 and yes I was only 6 at the time :-)

Dec 30, 2008
Marsha

Thanks for the invite Sue...even though I'm south of the border, it's great to keep in contact with my northern roots!
I'm in Atlanta GA teaching grades 1-4 in the computer lab! Best job in the school! This is my first year out of the regular classroom and it's going great! I'm looking forward to sharing ideas with anyone who is in a similar teaching position.
To all of my fellow Canadians...I made it home (Ontario) for Christmas and there's nothing better than a white Canadian Christmas!

Jan 2, 2009
Lesley Edwards

Got it now Sue, thanks!

Jan 18, 2009
Riss

Thanks for the comment about my website of the week posters Sue. I have really been racking my brains to think of new ways to get other staff even a tiny bit interested in anything technology related and have been really pleased with the results of these posters :) I have added a new one today.
Cheers.

Jan 18, 2009
Andy Sundahl

Hi Sue,
We all work from three different schools. The idea of teachers working from home continues to be an issue that comes up. Our presence in a school benefits that school because of the way funding works. We haven't tried a peer tutoring course - maybe we should!

Students here use our wiki, blog and elluminate live as our primary community building tools.

Jan 19, 2009
YvonneOsborn

Hello Sue,. I just spoke to your Mum, Alison here in Melbourne, Australia and she has filled me in on your amazing learning journey. I am in the same Rotary Club as Alan and Alison and I'm a Primary Visual Arts teacher .I began teaching in 1975 and have been in the Art Specialist area for 22 years. Congratulations on your wonderful website and blog .I am excited about this Classroom 2.0 network. My passion after Art is ICT.I admire the work you and Debra are doing and think it would be wonderful if you could come out to Australia and pass the word on to Educators here. I'm sure there are ways and means to get here, we just haven't found them yet.Don't forget Rotary though. Most Clubs adopt a school of some kind and you might find they can help you.Hope we'll eventually get to meet.Cheers, Yvonne
.

Jan 19, 2009
Deirdre Bonnycastle

Sorry I have no idea if the talk was archived.

Jan 21, 2009
Diana Reid

Thanks for the offer, Sue. I'd love to join a Canadian forum. I'll ask you to bear with me a bit; besides being a newbie to the site, I'm also swamped in developing resources and lessons for an online course I'm teaching. My logins are thus occasional, as I suddenly life my head and think "Drat! it's been a month!"

Feb 15, 2009
Donelle

Hi Sue,
Just checking in to see how your 23 things are going? It is taking me much longer than I'd thought to get mine done. I was hoping to have it ready sooner but haven't gotten caught up in the design and details. If you have any great tips to share, let me know. :)

Mar 29, 2009
Donelle

Hi! How is the Wilkes/Discovery Grad program coming along? I just received information from them about the IT program today. How many hours per week do you work on it? Do you like the format?

Apr 30, 2009
Karena Zdeb

I've spent the better part of the day networking and scoping out places on the web I've been meaning to check out for Web 2.0 resources and collaboration. So here I am haha. Now I just have to get some stuff on my page....

May 19, 2009
Patti McCurdy

Which 2 links that I provided did not work?

Sep 20, 2009
IG

Great to be a part of the group. Thanks Sue!

Dec 6, 2009
Glenn Hilton

Thanks for the invite Sue. I'll definitely check it out. :)

Dec 6, 2009
Roger Nevin

Hi Sue,

Sure I will join the group. Great idea.

Good to build a Canadian group.

Thanks

Roger

Dec 6, 2009
Kristy Harrison

Hi Sue,
Thanks for finding me. :) I'll check out the Canadian Mashup group.
Kristy

Dec 6, 2009
Andrew Bradshaw

Hi Sue,

Thanks for the invitation.

Andrew

Dec 13, 2009
chris

thanks Sue.

Dec 13, 2009
Chris Hale

Hi Sue,

Thanks for the note about Canadian Mashup. I have not spent much time on this Ning, but I like the idea of connecting with other Canadians online. I am part of the English Companion Ning where ther is a small group of Canadians.

Cheers,
Chris

Dec 14, 2009
aledoux

Thanks for the information Sue, will be right there! Nice to collabarate and share with all educators, at home and abraod! :-)

Dec 14, 2009
Bruce White

The task forces are board initiatives.

Dec 16, 2009
Steve Hargadon

Thanks, Sue. You're a star!

Dec 16, 2009
Mike Nantais

Hello Sue,
Thanks for letting me know about the Canadian Mashup. Like you, I was a public school educator for a long time (30 years) and moved into higher ed. I was fortunate to get work as a sessional instructor for SY Math Methods as I was completing my M.Ed. Eventually a position opened for a full time Assistant Prof in Math Methods & Technology. I was fortunate to get the position. I am now working on a PhD (a change in career at this stage was very invigorating!). So here I am with a new career path and it is lots of fun to teach teacher candidates and do research into topics I am so interested in! Good luck in your quest.

Dec 16, 2009
Nancy Stuewe

Part One:
Philosophical Hermeneutics is a little tricky to explain but I will give it a go... As I know it in this moment of time, it is an extraordinary study of the ordinary from the inside. Which is partly why it is difficult to pin down. It is the study of things and happenings as they appear to us. We live in the world so I believe it is really is impossible to pretend we can remove ourselves from it to study something. I believe it is not really a method of generating knowledge but a way of thinking about knowledge. It is an art and a different way to classify meaning. It is often applied to the interpretation of human actions, utterances, products, and institutions. A hermeneutic interpretation requires the individual to understand and sympathize with another's point of view without ignoring your own.
A couple of key points:

* The world is rich and complex with many causes and effects
* Truth is a personal experience not universal
* Knowledge does not have a subject-object relationship
* Understanding and interpreting are essentially the same thing
* Interpretation is a task
* Language is the medium of all understanding
* Language is not a tool but an activity between the speaker and the listener in order to play with understanding
* Knowledge lives in the learner

More to come

Dec 16, 2009
Nancy Stuewe

Part Two:
So now to the dialogue part...Verification comes from understanding through dialogue not repetition and this sort of dialogue leads to a shared understanding of personal experiences. In dialogue we can open understanding not transmit it.

So... a phenomenological inquiry may give me an opportunity to give voice to that which may not be easily heard over the sometimes overpowering drone of traditional research methods. Have we really listened to what teachers are saying is happening in their classrooms in the 21st Century?
Understanding comes by being in the world together. By creating forums in which people can join one another as co-participants to shape something new. It requires a connection in culture through language.
My experience as a teachers is that we have such busy lives. If we are not careful we will reduce teaching to the "101 things I have to do every day to please all the people I really don’t like so much" kind of job. Teachers do not need someone from outside telling them they have to change their practice, yet I do see a need for a shift. One day they may be trusted enough to be asked what they think and involve them in the process of change. I do not think we have listened enough to teachers. I want to give them a voice.
Sorry that was so long. It would not all fit on one comment field
Nancy

Dec 16, 2009
Sylvia Riessner

Hi Sue,
I don't know Ian Jukes - it's a small place up here but there are still lots of people I don't know.
I'll check out the mashups group on the weekend.
CYA
sylvia

Dec 17, 2009
Ross Thomson

Thanks for the Canadians Mashup welcome; I'm in!

Jan 14, 2010
Phil Taylor

Good afternoon Sue. Love your bio and understanding we need to change. We have a subscription to Discovery Canada at our school. I do not use it too much as I find the technology videos are limited. That said, one of the physics teachers at my school loves it. We just conducted a workshop on the service (a choice teachers could sign up for) on Friday. Those in attendance liked what they saw. We will be reviewing how much it is actually used at my school before we renew.

There was a change to add more Canadian content this year. I talked with a rep at a conference this past fall, and they talk about having big plans.

Hope this helps.

Phil

Jan 24, 2010