Introductions

[Raman Job]

Please tell us a little about yourself - what you do, where you're from, your interests.

[Paul Olson]

I've been a teacher since 1990 and have taught students from grades 4 through 9. It's been a true pleasure to work with the planning committee for this conference, and I look forward to meeting as many conference registrants as I can over the 2 days we'll be together. I hope everyone feels free to take full advantage of the conference Ning to share teaching ideas and resources, and otherwise make the most of what we're sure will be a superb PD offering.

[Ronald Boudreau]

Je suis avant tout un enseignant. Originaire de l'Acadie, toute la question de l'identité francophone m'a vivement intéressé dès les débuts de ma carrière. J'aime offrir des ateliers pour en discuter car j'apprends beaucoup des personnes qui y participent et qui partagent un peu de leur vécu. J'ai une affection particulière pour le Manitoba puisque j'ai été pendant cinq ans membre d'un conseil d'administration qui s'y réunissait plusieurs fois par année. Je me suis fait de bons amis là-bas et j'aime toujours y retourner. Les gens du Manitoba sont chaleureux, je m'y sens chez moi!

[Francine Filion]

Bonjour - Hi!
I am the Director of Communications with the Canadian Teachers' Federation (CTF) which is located in Ottawa. I look forward to the workshops that I will be co-leading with my colleagues at CTF and at the Media Awareness Network.

Je suis la directrice des communications au sein de la Fédération canadienne des enseignantes et des enseignants qui est située à Ottawa.J'ai bien hâte de vous rencontrer dans le cadre de nos ateliers menés conjointement avec mes collègues de la FCE et du Réseau Éducation Médias.

Au plaisir!

[Stacey Snyder]

I have been teaching since 2001. I have taught abroad but currently am at a junior high school in Winnipeg teaching grade 7, 8 and 9 math and science. I absolutely love my career as an educator and especially love working with adolescents, they certainly give so much energy in all they do. I am currently completing my Masters programme focusing on Mathematics Education. I have many interests, but my professional interests are in Literacy with ICT and assessment philosophies and practices. I am currently experimenting with applications like Twitter, Delicious, Webspiration and wikis/blogs for use professionally with colleagues and with my students in the classroom.

[Raman Job]

Hey, Stacey. Great to have someone with all that experience on board. This Ning should be a very good fit!

[myles ellis]

Hi. I am a Director with the Canadian Teachers' Federation. Prior to taking this position in 2007 I taught for about twenty years on PEI before becoming a School Board Director, then General Secretary of the PEI Teachers' Federation. I am looking forward to presenting at this conference on the topic of cyberbullying.
For the last year and a bit the CTF has made the issue of Cyberbullying a priority, and we have worked to raise the profile of this topic as an issue across the nation. At the conference I will be sharing research and resources that teachers can use to assist them in addressing this issue in their classrooms. As well, I hope to learn from attendees what their needs are so that we can continue to search out the best resources and act as advocates for necessary legislative/policy changes to better protect classroom environments.

[Sharon Moolchan]

I guess I am what you would call a senior teacher and have taught my whole career in Lord Selkirk School Division. I began my career as a K-6 music teacher, moved into the Grade 4-5 area and then to Grade 2 and finally Grade 3. My husband and I did a year teacher exchange in South Australia in 2000. For the last four years I have been the Social Studies Lead teacher in LSSD and divide my time between the new Social Studies Curriculum K-12, Heritage Fairs, assesment, Historical Thinking, Aboriginal Perspectives and LwICT. It is an awesome job with no dull moments and a constant learning curve.
I am really looking forward to connecting with even more Manitoba teachers and am excited by the Ning and its potential .

[Marianna Kiva]

Hello John,
I, like you, believe in the combining power of teachers, students, and technology to increase students' learning potential. As one of the first IMYM pilot teachers, I have experiences first hand the educational transformation of students, when their interests are aroused and attention is focused on learning.
Marianna Kiva

[Giselle Kerwin]

He all, My name is Giselle I am teaching grade one this school year,;last year I taught grade 3 and the year before I taught grade 5/6. So I guess that makes my teaching experience 3 years in Evergreen School Division, which is a great division to work for. I am currently deciding what to do for next year, what grade and what school division as I have recently relocated from Gimli to St.Andrews and am not enjoying the drive every dayI really love teaching, but I am not sure what grade I want to teach. I am interested in this ning as I think it is a neat way to meet people. I am thinking I would like to go back to school soon and take a post bac or my masters. I love to learn new things and listening to peoples stories. Right now I am most enjoying my students in our grade 3 environment club and I enjoy extracurricular learning. I am trying to use a lot of inquiry in my classroom, but it can be draining to prepare materials! In regards to this conference I need to read the info. I am mostly interested in hearing about other peoples teaching experiences and personal learning expereinces! I hope everyone enjoys this ning! Thanks to Raman Job for inviting me!! Enjoy the conference everyone!!

[Rob Fisher]

Hi I began my teaching career here in Manitoba on the Niskichawayasihk Cree Nation (Nelson House) for 19 years. Since then I have worked at RD Parker in Thompson as a high school teacher, and as curriculum consultant also in Thompson. Most recently I have been seconded to Mb Education as Manager of the Learning support and technology group. Wow! 25 years...... I didn't realize.
I'm originally from Kingston, Ontario and here's an interesting fact... my mom used to change Don Cherry's diapers! Not relevant but still interesting to hockey fans everywhere.
Looking forward to seeing everyone in a couple of weeks at the conference.
until later
rob.

[John Evans]

Greetings Everyone! I've been an educator for over 28 years working in the K-8 area. I've taught in multigraded classrooms, in the Middle Years and also spent 8 years in administration before joining Manitoba Education Citizenship and Youth on a secondment. I work now as a consultant responsible for Professional Learning and Curriculum Navigator. I'm passionate about the infusion of technology in all curricular areas and have been an advocate for Literacy with ICT Across the Curriculum since its beginning. I'm a huge advocate for social networking tools such as Twitter (joevans) and Diigo ( Literacy with ICT Group) to help teachers develop their Professional Learning Networks. I've also created the Literacy with ICT: IMYM Tutorials wiki as a means of sharing technology resources on a variety of Web 2.0 applications that teachers can utilize in their classrooms. I also blog sporadically here. I look forward to sharing ideas and resources with others via this NING group.

[Laurie G]

Greetings to my new friends in the cyber world. I am a 1/2 time vice principal in a school in Regina, Saskatchewan. I have been teaching about 25 years....a long time. I have worked in elementary schools since we used PETS way back in my university career.
I currently team teach with two other teachers. My responsibilities are in the literacy and math realm. It has been an interesting role. My former role was at the district level where I did all the training and mentoring for the First Steps literacy resource. My interest in meaningful use of technology peaked last year when I took a graduate course with Alec Couros. This is where I became interested in all of these web 2.0 tools. Since then I have worked with blogging and wikis with my students. Here are links to a couple of the wikis that I have created. Feel free to use any of the resources and add to them.
http://activemindsactivebodies.wikispaces.com/ ( created as a resource for teachers to integrate technology, active living, reading and writing)
http://writeanexposition.wikispaces.com/ (created for teachers and students as online support for writing persuasively)
http://math8geometry.wikispaces.com/ (created by my students in a jig saw to cover geometry objectives in grade 8 math)