Back in Carleton Place

I arrived home last night around 6:00 p.m. It was very difficult to leave as I had a blast visiting with old high school friends, neighbours, and family. I really do love this part of Ontario. I know I'll be retiring there. Unfortunately I received some sad news about the death of my friend's sister and headed home for the funeral.
The next two weeks will be crazy as we need to get both of the kids off to university and I need to get my class, the library, and the portable in order for my new students. I also need to complete my research report. I really need to get my act in gear!!

I Love Manitoulin Island!

Hey, I was only supposed to spend one night here on Lake Manitou but now it's been three nights. It's magical! Its beauty is so captivating it is definitely difficult to leave here. Today Jane and I visited the Ojibway Cultural Centre and the KTI Educational Resource Centre. Shelba was very helpful and we enjoyed looking at the beautiful picture books and resources. We headed out for a hike in the late afternoon on the M'Cheeging Trail and ended up on a road so we obviously took a wrong turn somewhere. At six o'clock we went to a theatre presentation at the Cultural Centre in an outdoor amphitheatre. The play was called "The Gift" and we found it quite unusual to say the least. We headed down to visit Jane's sisiter-in-law afterward on Lake Mindemoya and then headed home as we were getting sleepy. I'll be heading back to Beaver Lake tomorrow.

Back in Northern Ontario

I always love the drive back to my childhood home. The usual traffic congestion was prevalent from C.P. to Deep River and then it was clear sailing with the tunes blaring and me singing, passing only an occasional car or camper trailer. There were a few spots of rain and then beautiful sunny weather as I arrived in the Sudbury area. I arrived at Mom and Dad's place in six hours and unpacked and inspected the mouse traps. Only one catch today! All was calm and quiet in Beaver Lake. I need to hit the hay early this evening so I can rise early and head to Rainbow Country tomorrow and meet Jane at the Pow Wow. I love it here! It will be a perfect place to start my research!

Riverside Jam and New Teeth

I started my day at 7:30 this morning with a long slow run of 16 km since I am going to miss my training session at the Running Room this Sunday due to my trip to the Island. I was a bit stiff today but managed to complete the run. I really enjoyed having the ipod for this as it was my first long run alone.
There are massive trailers, trucks, and campers arriving in Carleton Place for the Riverside Jam. It should be good business for all of the local shops this weekend. Hopefully the weather will cooperate.
Matt had a bright big smile today as his new teeth (temporary) were put in. The permanent ones should be ready to go in in a few months. It will definitely help his confidence.
I'm packing for my road trip and should leave by early afternoon. It will be a six hour drive to the Sudbury area where I'll stay at my parent's house and then head to the Island the next day for the Pow Wow.

Ho Hum

I stayed up late until 1:30 a.m. to finish my novel and rose at 8:00 a.m. Read the paper, cleaned the house and read some more. I drove Lindz to work and stayed at the Ale House where the rest of the gang met for lunch. It was great to see the gals and we enjoyed a leisurely lunch. After lunch it was time for errands, groceries , banking etc. cooking supper etc. etc. Not very exciting! Matt survived his surgery and is eating ice cream and mashed potatoes.

What's Happening with the Weather?

Rain again today! I think I'll have to go to the tanning salon to get a tan this summer! Today was another day of not getting too much done other than my hair appointment and catching up on my sleep. I am well rested and enjoyed my hill training workout this evening. I'm looking forward to having lunch with our gang of teachers tomorrow. Matt will be having his oral surgery in the morning (implants and wisdom teeth extraction). Poor kid!!

Summer Days

Today I did not manage to get my research started. It ended up being a day of many interruptions so I gave up. All of the interruptions were necessary as I spent time visiting with T. and her new foster baby who is three weeks old and quite adorable. It was magical to hold an infant so tiny and delicate. It's been awhile!! I also had to drive Matt to his job, get groceries, do my running work out and step workout and answer several phone calls. By the end of the day I was exhausted. Tomorrow is another day. I imagine that I'll have more time to do my research when I head up to the quiet of northern Ontario though internet access could be a problem. I might also be able to get first hand information from some of the people at Wikwemikong which would be ideal.

Reading in the Sun

This morning I headed to Smiths Falls with Lindz so she could take her final "G" driving test. I was surprised to see Jane G. there trying for her bus driver's licence. She will make a great bus driver though. Lindz is now a fully qualified driver.
Today the sun was shining for most of the day so I took advantage of the great weather to do some "fluff" reading in the lounge chair in the backyard. It was a great feeling to soak up the vitamin D since we haven't seen much of the sun so far this summer. Sure enough by the end of the day we were into rain showers again. Tomorrow I need to rise with the birds and get started on my research about aboriginal sacred objects. Overall it was an enjoyable lazy day.
Around town I have seen signs of the preparations for the Riverside Jam this coming weekend. The fifth annual "Jam" (country music festival) will find thousands of visitors arriving in Carleton Place. I might get to take in the "Jam" Friday evening if I have everything in order for my road trip to northern Ontario on Saturday.

The End of Week Two and the End of the M.Ed. Program

Two years later and I am at the end of the life-changing M. Ed. program at Mount St. Vincent University. I am happy to have completed the program but sad that the journey with other students has come to an end. I have made new friends with students and professors and made many contacts along the way. I am sure I will be continuing to follow the work of Vivian Vasquez, Jim Gee, Jerome Harste, Andy Manning, Julia Davies, Guy Merchant, Peggy Albers, Colin Lankshear, Michele Knobel, Connie White, Rita Armitage, Blye Frank and others. I am not sure what my next path will be but I am hoping to continue my work with aboriginal education.
This week I will begin my research on aboriginal sacred objects and begin writing for the teacher manual to be published by the Eastern Ontario Catholic Curriculum Cooperative.
It was great to arrive back home in the valley after spending the last two weeks in Toronto. I had a wonderful walk down in the park along the Mississippi River. I really do love small towns! I am looking forward to having dinner with Jo and Bill in Gananoque on Wed. to discuss aboriginal issues and literacy. Next week I'll be heading to northern Ontario, my first home, and the beautiful Manitoulin Island. I'll be taking in the Wikwemikong Pow Wow and hopefully visiting with Jeff Burnham from Goodminds. Right now it's back to the mundane tasks of doing laundry and making meals, cleaning etc. Tomorrow I begin my research after my 14 km run at the Running Room.
Heidi and I have made it home! Good luck Tracy, our new Maritime friend! Have a safe trip home!

Our Public Service Announcement and Podcast

Today was quite exciting as Heidi and I finished creating our Public Service Announcement and added a critique of it through a Podcast. Vivian V. and Andy B. were our presenters today and the learning activities took up most of the day which went by very quickly. We were surprised that five o'clock came before we knew it. We also had to upload some photos to Flickr using tags to link to our blog and upload our video to YouTube.
After class, the out of towners celebrated by going to the Belfast Lounge. We thought we might be in for a rowdy Irish time. Instead it was the Dixie Road locals and Tom Jones was playing on the CD player. The beer and food were good though. We headed back to the hotel for our last night before heading home tomorrow afternoon.

More Art

Today we learned about valuing "outsider" art, art that lies outside of the mainstream. Some of it may look like children's art. It is self-taught, lacks some conventions but supports a real desire to communicate in the present. Outsider art is hotly contested, at least when considering "beauty", "truth" and "nature." It is simple like folk art. Peggy Albers suggests that we have children emulate outsider art rather than art of the masters in order for children to see themslves as artists. This made me feel a bit more comfortable with my "art." She also suggested that we take photographs of our students' art, study it, talk to the kids about it, look for patterns and celebrate it.
In the afternoon we created collages of a social issue prevalent in our school area and neighbourhood. Our group chose poverty which was a theme mentioned by almost all other groups. Our next task is to create a public service announcement (PSA) using technology on our social issue. We will begin work on that tomorrow.

Visual Literacy

Today's session was okay. We investigated advertisements as texts and examined the messages portrayed by the visual images and the textual information. One way to create critical classrooms in response to these ads is to develop counter ads. Counter ads are paradies of ads which suggest a different truth than that told by the companies.
We later developed a booklet through text and drawings showing someone who was positioned as invisible in our communities. Time was short to work on this but I was gald to see the end of this day. I'm hoping tomorrow will be a bit more inspiring and interesting.

End of Week One

Wow! What an amazing week! We were able to muck about today on Flickr, Voicethread, and Bubbleshare. Dr. Joolz was great. The world now is no longer a world in which written language is dominant (Kress, 1997). This was clearly evident in today's presentation by Julia Davies.
In the panel discussion a question was brought forward about censorship and the darker side of the Internet that students might be exposed to. The answer: Bring it on!! Bring those issues into the classroom and create spaces for those discussions. Michele Knobel's analogy of the swimming pool was brilliant. Swimming pools can be dangerous but we do not ban swimming pools. Teachers need to learn how to swim and then must teach the students how to swim. Students need to be aware of what is out there and be able to look at digital literacy critically.
Colin Lankshear talked about approaching the curriculum as "a way of being" not just as content. We need to embody a world view that is lived in language and action, practicing values and relationships, through kindness, integrity, generosity, and humility as human beings.
It was a very inspiring and moving session which put into perspective who I want to be.
In the spirit of this session the "out of towners" were invited to dinner by a local classmate.

Learning in the Big City

Well here I am in the big city of Toronto five hours away from the valley, writing my first blog. I have wanted to write one of these for some time now! Thank you to Colin and Michele for getting me started. What a journey I've had! It has been a great week for learning about identity, literacy, and place. Lots of theorizing and academic jargon to digest as well as the practical stuff,trying out Flickr, Facebook, Youtube, Virtual Worlds, and making a movie. Who would have thought that I could do this? Not me. The tech Luddite is making gains.
Haven't seen too much of Toronto yet other than getting to the site. I'm missing the radiant sunshine, splashing sounds of the Mississsippi, and calls of the birds back in C.P. as well as family.