The Chalk Dust

We're done here, move over rover.

2009-05-12T14:28:00.004-05:00

I'm off to teach in China in T-minus 3 months. I've made a website to keep friends and family informed -- as well as chat and muse about all things (un)educational.

I don't think I'll be updating this blog anymore, so check out my new travel/education blog at Canadian Chalk.

Get it in ya!

Last week of school, practicum, elections, oh my!

2008-11-04T20:03:00.004-06:00

Schools out for... 2008! Last day of school is this Friday until we get back in January for the last leg of my B.Ed. degree. To that end, it's very busy right now. Some how, and I'm not sure exactly how I've done it -- things are manageable. No all-nighters or terrible sleeping/eating habits. Guess I'm starting to learn a thing or two: don't leave the library until everything is finished for the day. K.I.S.S.

This will be my last post before I start my 3rd practicum block as a part of my teacher certification education at the University of Manitoba. I'm quite excited about it now that I have a feeling that I know what I'm doing and have some confidence knowing I did a good job last year. On the flip, I'm teaching middle years -- something that is completely new to me. Yesterday I had my first visit since September to meet with my collaborating teacher and determine my teaching obligations for this block. I'll be teaching two sections of grade 8 math, and one section of grade 8 science. It will be a unique and rewarding challenge I hope, and at first glance I'll definately be using some forms of behavior management that I haven't had to worry about teaching senior years students.

In other news, the U.S. presidential election is going on as we speak. I only have one thing to say about that: ROCK ON OBAMA!

Thoughts, Reflections, Stomach Grumblings Regarding EAL Technology/Online Resources

2008-10-30T00:31:00.002-05:00

This post has one purpose: to fulfill my CS Professional Development. Well, that's not quite true. I can honestly say I found it quite a worthwhile endeavor to see what resources are currently available to EAL/ESL teachers. You don't want to reinvent the wheel when someone has already gone through all the trouble. From my limited experience already, I know one thing for sure: good lessons can take a lot of time to make.

The EAL Teaching/Student Learning Resources list that I've compiled for the past month showcases a lot of great resources currently available to teachers and students to promote English as an Additional Language -- both in and out of the classroom. The more and more I dug around the Internet, the more I realized that there is A LOT of stuff out there, and A LOT of useful things too. In fact, just today I stumbled upon The English Blog which is literally bursting with useful websites, multimedia, web 2.0 applications and other resources that are all related to EAL instruction. It was one first time in recent memory that I was a bit overwhelmed with the amount of information was out there regarding technology for EAL instruction.

It is apparent that many people are taking a focus at the issue I based my presentation on: Integrating Technology into EAL Instruction. It makes me excited, hopeful perhaps, that there are many creative people out there trying to create meaningful applications and online experiences to help facilitate the need of engaging EAL/ESL instruction. Babbel, which I've discussed in my last post, is a great example of this.

Hmmm, I'm not too sure what else to add for a summary or conclusion. I'm definatley not going to explain everything I've found and listed on my EAL Resources Page, as it's quite self-explanatory and many pages have a lot of overlap as to what they provide. Take a look and let me know what you (genuinely) think about them. Leave a comment. I dare you.

Welcome to Babbel-on.

2008-10-22T21:06:00.004-05:00

So this post is directed to my Professional Development Project I'm currently working on the topic of resources for integrating technology with EAL learners. It's more difficult that you think. Just like there can be a lot of great things on the Internet, there is also a LOT of mediocre and subpar resources that teachers could fall prey to.

My job, and my rationale for this PD is to do all the hard work and provide to you - my faithful viewer/blogger - the fruits of my labour. And by fruits, I mean on-line EAL resources.

One such resource that I've found is Babbel. Babbel is a Web 2.0 invention, innovation, something-ation that is a step in the right direction towards on-line interactivity and language acquisition. With a combination of interactivity, text, audio, and visuals it makes the whole experience engaging and ... fun! I've been using the website off and on for the past couple weeks to help study for my French class, and it's been very useful (and ... fun!). I reccommend you check it out.

Also, the fine folks at Babbel also contribute to The Babbel Blog, which contrary to almost all other online service blogs: it actually has useful information beyond self-promotion and being an overglorified FAQ website. There is a lot of great information on education, technology, languages, and language acquisition - all wrapped up into a digestable relevant package. For instance, the new post is about at what grade levels did both of the USA vice-president runners speak at during their lastest national debate. Cool stuff... though disturbing/scary that Sarah Palin apparently scored higher.

The Disjointed Blog Update

2008-10-18T11:01:00.003-05:00

Hello!

Purchased one of the new 13" Macbooks that were premiered this past Tuesday.

I'm excited.

Saw the one and only Niel Young at the MTS Centre on Thursday.

I'm surprised I still have a voice after that concert.

Handed in our groups WestCAST proposal and ENREB submission forms.

I'm crossing my fingers.

Currently working on a educational/legal/social issue paper for School & Society.

It's on Metis Education.

I'm Metis.

So it's relevant.

Three weeks left of classes until our practicum block starts.

They'll be some more updates soon about my professional development plan.

It's on EAL resources available online/software/websites.

I should probably start that soon.

Whoopeee.

STOP. Hammerti-- Reflection Time.

2008-10-11T17:23:00.006-05:00

Reflection. The 1-million dollar word in Education. The ideology is that the only way to grow as a professional is to continually review, critically think, and reflect on your progress as a teacher. Learn from your mistakes, take the best parts of your success, make new goals, and keep going.

So now that I've presented, the WestCAST proposal is in it's editing/revision stages, and I'm starting to get ramped up for the next wave of assignments... lets reflect.

Presentation had an overwhelmingly positive reception, which I'm very happy about. Never really know how a topic such as EAL will be received in a Computer Science class. Looks like soon-to-be new teachers will be more conscious to the needs/demands of EAL students in the classroom - something I'm very excited about.

Since the presentation though, and because WestCAST and my CS Professional Development Plan are following the same EAL/Technology theme I've found a few more resources to share and some links to things I wasn't able to share during the presentation. Here we go:

LOTS of EAL Resources from Manitoba Immigration
First website of many I've found for my Professional Development Plan. Lots of things to look at invloving EAL instruction.

Manitoba Labour and Immigration & Manitoba Labour and Immigration: Immigration and Multiculturalism Division
Provincial government websites discussing all the fun gritty details of immigration law, statistics, and other information. Actually, that's a bad summary. There is some worthwhile information on here, if you can avoid the black-and-white legal documents. Take a look if you're curious.

Manitoba Immigration Facts: 2007 Statistical Report (PDF)
This document was used during my CS Presentation. Provides all the immigration statistics for Manitoba in 2007. Really great facts/figures to see how MB immigration influx has increased over the past 10 years.

Over the next few weeks I'll be posting all the links to websites and products I'll be reviewing/demoing for my CS Professional Development Plan. The plan is to find and critically review EAL resources for teachers to integrate technology in the classroom. As well as make connections between the resources and the concepts I've discussed in my presentation last week. Should be fun.

In other news, been keeping busy with the Manitoba Affiliated Schools program. By "keeping busy," I mean gathering letters of reference and other documents so I can teach overseas next year. If your interested in having your first teaching position outside of Canada, I recommend you to check it out. There is no hidden tricks, no hidden fees, and no "the sink is also the bathtub and toilet" horror scenarios you've heard about. It's exciting.

CS Methods Presentation is Ready To Go!

2008-10-08T17:55:00.001-05:00

Since my laptop hit the ol' dirt, I've had to get creative. I decided to create my presentation using Google Docs. Even though it's a bit bland, I'm happily surprise with the finished product. And you can do cool things like embed the presentations into your website/blog like this:

Enjoy a sneak peek and I'll see you all tomorrow.

WestCAST 2009, EAL, and Computer Science

2008-10-05T17:05:00.004-05:00

"...One of these things is not like the other, one of these things doesn't belong..."

So you might ask yourself what WestCAST (Western Canadian Association for Student Teaching), EAL (English as an Additional Language) and Computer Science have in common. For myself, it's what I've been doing a lot of work on the past two weeks as I prepare a WestCAST proposal for the upcoming WestCAST 2009 conference in Victoria, BC -- as well as putting together a presentation for Teaching Computer Science in the Senior Years.

The 2-cent version of my presentation is this: What benefits can be made to SLA (Second Language Acquisition) by including technology (i.e. computers, the Internet) in an EAL classroom? How can teacher's plan effective lessons that involve technology for EAL classrooms? What are the strengths and limitations of using this approach to teaching EAL students?

My own presentation is only a small portion of my groups WestCAST proposal -- where we hope to outline a more holistic approach to EAL instruction that involves educating the whole child through technology and the arts. The deadline for our proposal is October 14th, but we feel confident in our research thus far that we'll be accepted. Here's to good luck!

Anyways, the reason I have an invested interest in EAL education is through my involvement with the CTESL (Certificate in Teaching English as a Second Langauge) program at the University of Manitoba. During my first year in the Faculty of Education I enrolled in the introductory EAL course as my elective -- and I loved it. Over this past summer I've taken a few more courses on EAL Grammar Instruction and EAL Content-based Instruction. I have one more course to go (and my 10-hour practicum), then I'll be eligible to teach (and get PAID!) EAL to adults and children.

Right now I'm volunteering at the International Center in downtown Winnipeg, where I teach EAL to immigrant and refugee adults on the weekends. It's a great experience, and I think I'm learning more doing this than in a lot of courses I've taken in the faculty. Nothing beats real-life experience. I hope my enthusiasm for EAL teaching shows in my presentation and proposal.

...In other news, my 5-year-old laptop died this weekend. Not the best thing to have happen when your enrolled in a Teaching Computer Science class. Looks like I'll need to get out the cheque book (or loan... book).

Small Code Cloze Excercises for Computer Science

2008-09-28T22:25:00.010-05:00

1. Visual Basic (Random Number Generator):
The user inputs a range of two numbers: lowNum, highNum. From this input, the sub routine will change the lblNumbers.Caption value to a random number between the user-defined range (inclusive). If the code is ran again, we want the program to always supply a random number that is different from the first.

Bolded code would be deleted to assess student comprehension.

lowNum = txtLow.Text
highNum = txtHigh.Text

prevNum = lblNumber.Caption

Do
randomNum = Int(Rnd * ( highNum - lowNum + 1)) + lowNum
Loop Until randomNum <> prevNum

lblNumber.Caption = randomNum

2. Java (Determine the Sum of Each Digit from a 7-Digit Number):
Reviews division, modulus, and Math() functions in Java. Students have to try and determine a brute-force and a more elegant solution (using For-Loops) to solve the problem. While a bit "mathy," I think it gives students a chance to make connections as to why elegant solutions save programmers time and energy (e.g. How much code would you have to write to get the sum of a 20-digit number? Which version would be easier to modify?).

Bolded code would be deleted to assess student comprehension.

String inputString;
int digitString, digitSumLong, digitSumQuick;

inputString = JOptionPane.showInputDialog ("Input a 7-digit integer: ");
digitString = Integer.parseInt(inputString);

// sum the individual digits the LONG way...
digitSumLong = digitString%10 + (digitString/10)%10 + (digitString/100)%10 + (digitString/1000)%10 + (digitString/10000)%10 + (digitString/100000)%10 + digitString/1000000;

// sum the individual digits the QUICK way!
for (int i = 0 ; i <= 6 ; i++)
{
if (i == 6)
digitSumQuick += digitString/Math.pow(10,i);
else
digitSumQuick += (digitString / Math.pow(10,i)) % 10;
}

That's all for now!

The Wiki has Landed!

2008-09-24T23:11:00.003-05:00

The time has come!

The final touch is complete for my Web 2.0 assignment... The Wiki. You can click on this blog post's title, or go straight to Mike's Wiki Pages. But don't fret, I'll still be updating all the websites throughout the week (and weeks) ahead. That's the catch to this assignment.

Oddly enough though, now that all the pages are setup, I don't think it will be that difficult to set aside a few minutes week to add some C.S.-related links and keep everyone informed on my C&I assignment progress. I supposed I should mention what is on the Wiki that is different from the content on this blog.

Well for one, a blog is different than a Wiki. A blog is more an "on-line" journal that an individual can share is boring nonsense and drivel to the masses, or (hopefully) share some quality information about his/her field of work. A Wiki is more of a collaborative piece of software (kind of similiar discussion as my Google Docs post below) where many users - such as all the classmates in my C.S. C&I course - can share, edit, and collaborate creating content. And apparently "Wiki" means quick in Hawaiian, too.

Now that the technicalities are out of the way, lets talk about what my Wiki is all about:

I would consider it an extension to this blog. All of my reflections and any thoughts I have during my school experience or about my C.S. C&I course will be shared here and on Wiki I'll have shorter summaries of the information discussed here, as well as time lines, schedules and other plans to keep you informed as to what I'm working on. That is, if you really want to know what I'm working on. Really.

Using Google Docs to Learn French

2008-09-24T22:36:00.005-05:00

I'm excited to talk about something I'm fooling around with right now as I take an intro French course at the University of Manitoba. Let me summarize my idea:

+ = Parlez-vous francais?

My question I'm asking in doing this "experiment" is this:

Can I use Google Docs sharing capability, to create a class-sharing community of fellow classmates who will help update a spreadsheet of vocabulary, and other important terms for our class?

So far, the results are hopeful:

The above is a screen-capture of the current "Vocabulaire" for my French class. I've only added about a dozen terms to the list. The rest, have been added by other classmates who I've "shared" this document with using Google Docs. It's very exciting seeing such an early implementation work so well. At the moment there are four of us adding new terms to help each other out with homework, quizzes, and tests.

The best part about this implementation, in my opinion, is the power to organize vocabulary by Chapter, Type (noun, adjective, verb), French, and English. Overall it's quite powerful and helpful to know about all the vocabulary we have covered so far -- instead of resorting to a huge dictionary that has way too many words than we need right now.

Actually, this could turn into a great P.D. idea if I can expand on this concept. Hmm...

And with that, bon nuit!

The First and Last Installment of The Chalk Dust Podcast

2008-09-23T15:59:00.008-05:00

Just click on the link above or here (or even that big picture below) to listen whether or not you're one of 10 types of people on this world - and what this site is all about.
P.S. WebCT doesn't work if you want to share your podcast on Blogger. If you're still trying to upload your podcast go to Google Pages and use the file upload feature there. You get 100MB of storage with your Google account.

Educational Treasures from the Internet

2008-09-23T08:29:00.003-05:00

We're just going to get right into this: I'm going to share with you some of my favorite websites and findings that you should know more about. Can't go wrong with that kind of deal. We'll start with some links to places that go beyond just discussions on computer science and education:

Science Blogs
A collection of science/education/technology blogs that are maintained by professionals, professors, and university graduate students. Every blog has a unique focus on a particular topic and is a great way to stay on top of the current literature and ideas in terms that are abit easier to swallow than journal abstracts.

TED Talks: Ideas worth spreading
TED Talks are presentations by leaders in their chosen fields. Think YouTube if it went to college. Has a variety of topics and presenters to take a look at. If you've never heard of TED Talks before, you owe it to yourself to watch Sir Ken Robinson on how we're failing to educate the whole child.

Shift Happens
Not so much a website than an educational/informational movement, "Shift Happens" is the title of a video montage that explores how our world has changed how we communicate and view one another in a technologically advancing world. It's a great "shift" from thinking computer science to global issues such as multicultural tolerance and equity.

And to end at some type of high-water mark, here is a YouTube video from the rock star of the astronomy world: Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot.

System.out.println("Hello World!");

2008-09-22T19:03:00.004-05:00

If you're here, I assume you're a part of my Computer Science Curriculum and Instruction (C&I) class at the University of Manitoba. If not, then congratulations for finding this hopeful, tiny, dirty gem on the vastness of the Internet.

This blog - I hope - will be something I can use practically to update my own progress as I understand the complex beast that is the teaching profession. As well, this is a place I can keep students, peers, and you updated about what is going on right now as I go down the road towards becoming a professional educator.

So lets start with that: what I'm doing right now, related to education.

This year is my final year of university. It's kind of fun saying that. But don't let that fool you. At the moment of writing this myself and my classmates are already knee-deep in assignments, essays, and presentations to keep us quite busy, where the possibility of graduation is the last thing in our minds. But we love it.

Here at the University of Manitoba, we organize senior years education undergraduates (soon-to-be high school teachers) into groups called "Cohorts". It just so happens, last year, I was thrown into Cohort D (the D stands for... whatever you want it to stand for). Luckily for us, we all get along like family: a weird, dysfunctional, lovable family. It's makes the stress that comes along with this profession pretty manageable.

So at the moment we're all taking theoretical courses on literacy and the administration of education, along with our C&I courses (i.e. teaching computer science). It's the former why I created this blog in the first place. The Chalk Dust is a part of my Computer Science C&I assignment to get us all acquainted with "Web 2.0" technology.

Doesn't "Web 2.0" sound fancy? It really isn't though. If you check your Facebook (and you do), then your a part of the "Web 2.0" movement. Basically any website that allows you to interact with it, and exchange information in real-time (i.e. AJAX) is considered "Web 2.0". Pretty cool, isn't it?

Well look at me, rambling on my first blog post. Sure doesn't make the future bright for The Chalk Dust... or does it? Expect a few more posts this week, including a podcast if I can get some equipment together. Don't expect video though: T.V. killed the radio star.