Winter has certainly arrived! Every day is an adventure making the trek to and from Wyoming. I am finding myself paying close attention to the weather during the day and making sure we have workable plans for any eventuality.
We had a well attended Holy Rosary family outing at the SSEC on Saturday. There was skating on the main ice rink and then the Junior A game between Sarnia and Ottawa. Although Sarnia lost for the seventh time in a row, everyone seemed to have a good time. Several people asked me why I didn't skate prior to the game. The answer is that I learned my lesson last time, at our school skating trip to Petrolia before Christmas. :) Those who saw my sorry state after that did not need to ask this time.
We have worked ourselves into a position where we can begin to execute our technology initiatives in the school. Wireless access points have arrived and will be installed tomorrow. Thanks to our parent fundraisers, Holy Rosary will be a wireless school. This gives us great flexibility as we mobilize computers and other devices in the interest of student learning.
We have bought 8-port switches for the classrooms. Several computers will be placed in each of them, and students will be able to access them as a regular part of their day. As we are able to purchase wireless computers, these ones will begin moving out of the school.
While the technology is a necessary condition to achieving our educational objectives, it is not sufficient. You could have the best hardware and software available and not get anywhere with it. The additional piece is teacher professional development. With limited funds we have already done a lot in this area. But this week events are scheduled that will contribute to our effort to build capacity in the school.
Tuesday we will show a webcast from the Literacy Secretariat. The topic is: Kindergarten Matters. This will run from 4-5:30 PM. From 7-8:30 PM we are bringing in an eLearning opportunity produced by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. The topic is: Teaching the Algebra Strand in k-2. Our ability to deliver Professional Development is a consequence of having a fast Internet connection in the school. This along with wireless access and modern computers constitutes the necessary infrastructure to be able to think about 21st century learning.
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