Technology is increasing pervasive in all aspects of teaching and learning, whether it is the kindergarden student using the gesture based systems like the ipad to enhance their learning and to create objects and engage  or the senior student researching, collaborating, communicating and socialising. No matter what the opinion of the teacher as to the its worth, its positive or negative effect or its importance, information and communication technologies are increasingly ubiquitous. The futility of trying to avoid and ignore the potential for learning and teaching is being overcome by grassroots action by the students, example and modeling by the adopters and vision from school leadership. With the huge potential that Information and communication technology has to offer for teaching and learning also comes a matching potential for distraction, illicit and inappropriate activity and poor judgement.  Guidance is often missing in the home environment as the parents lack the depth of knowledge and understanding to provide sound subjective advice, effective monitoring and appropriate modeling. This is not through lack of interest, in most cases, but rather from their limited exposure and experience with this rapidly evolving and changing environment. The graduate of this enabled and connected world should be a Global Digital Citizen. They are respectful and protective of themselves and other people as well as intellectual property. They are pro active and intolerant of abuse, standing up for the rights of freedom of expression and communication, while condemning excesses and bullying. They communicate fluently in different mediums and operate in a world without borders or censors. They understand and celebrate the cultural differences and subtleties that flavour the diverse world they live. It is a world potentially without restrictions except for the moral and ethical values that underpin their immersion, shape their interactions and guide their decisions. The teacher holds a cornerstone role in the development of understanding, the appreciation of culture and diversity and the formation of the moral and ethical basis that, like the cornerstone of a building, provides a strong and stable foundation for life in both the real and virtual world they co-inhabit. The teacher is guide, role model, monitor and often mediator or arbitrator. The mentor. As the teacher stands at the front of the room directing and facilitating learning they model ethical practice. Through their actions or their inactions they shape the moral and ethical framework of their young charges. If they fail to acknowledge information sources, to respect copyright and intellectual property, or act inappropriately in their online interactions, they write on the ethical blackboard of their students that such behaviour is acceptable. The inverse is also patently true. The mentoring teacher who nurtures respect, who through their actions protects themselves and others helps to shape and form appropriately the moral fibre of the emerging adult. The mentoring teacher insists on behaviour that is appropriate. They value tolerance and considered deliberate action exemplifying both in their classroom practice. The monitor It is not enough to just model the behaviour that we wish to develop and expect that the students will adopted it. The time spent in educational institutions are formative, our young people are discovering themselves, challenging authority and pushing boundaries. It is a time of exploration, of risk taking and experimentation. So it is not enough to expect that just by our mentoring we will form the ethical basis of the global digital citizen. There must be a degree of monitoring and supervision and with this recognition of action, accountability for behaviour and consequences that match the crime but also the developmental age of the student. The most salient lessons are not learnt by avoidance but by facing you action, its impact and the consequences. While we as educators understand that exploration and experimentation are inherent in shaping and forming the person, this is not an excuse for actions or behaviours that are inappropriate. There needs to be recognition of action and its impacts, of the wider consequences of the behaviour and its significance. As teachers how we deal with these situations is critical, we can not be blinded by emotion   nor can we be divorced from our relationship with the youth. Rather we must be fair, even handed and understanding, seeking growth and understanding rather than vengeance, fairness and justice rather than prescriptive consequences laid out in a structured pattern of offenses and punishments. The mediator  Underpinning all aspects of global digital citizenship are relationships. As different personalities, cultures, expectations and beliefs collide their will be conflict, this is inevitable. Here the role of the teach is that of the mediator. They provide strategies, resolve conflict, arbitrate disputes but even more critically they model tolerance where appropriate and action when required. They support freedom of expression within the boundaries of the appropriate. The teacher shifts, over time, responsibility for mediation from themselves to their students. Their young people become the moderators of their environment, tolerant of difference but brave enough to stand up and defend their stance, their rights and the rights of others to be be free of persecution and bullying. They apply the mediation techniques and skills ably modeled by their teacher to their day to day interactions be they real or virtual. More than teaching a subject All teachers are teachers of citizenship. In the previous sections there was little mention of technology, because Global Digital Citizenship is applicable to more than the digital medium. Global Digital Citizenship pervades every aspect of education, its core virtues of respect and protect and themes of tolerance, understanding, accountability, responsibility, fairness, justice, action and consequence are critical to all we do as educators. It is therefore vital that all members of the teaching fraternity model, mentor, monitor and mediate espousing the same virtues. While it is perhaps a bold statement to make, if a teacher can not support these ideals through their actions, then perhaps they have chosen the wrong profession to be a member of. Teaching is no longer about the just subject and just imparting knowledge, it is developing the whole person, it is holistic, encompassing and immensely fulfilling. The skillful practitioner. The educator who engages and models global digital citizenship is a skillful practitioner able not only in their curriculum competencies but in the core competencies and virtues they uphold. They are:   tolerant and considerate   risk takers   accountable and responsible   visionary   experienced in a variety of mediums and adopters of technology   adaptive and creative   life long learners accepting the challenges presented to them   passionate, enthusiastic and optimistic   ethical and appropriate The teacher is no longer just the master of their subject. They are much much more. Their classroom is no longer defined by four walls and a blackboard, but stretches far beyond the physical boundaries of their school. We are global teachers, ethicists and moralist, masters of our subject and students of the world.    

On Thursday we Skyped with our friends in B4. It was the last day of the school year in New Zealand and we were so glad that Mrs. McKenzie and her class could squeeze in a Skype call. Mrs. McKenzie and B4 were a part of the Our World, Our Stories project. We also have connections with B4 going back to when we first started blogging. Last year the grade threes even wrote partner Storybirds with B4. Chatting today was like talking to good friends. During our call we had a chance to talk about Our World, Our Stories, sing our traditional songs for each other (and a Christmas carol or two), compare wildlife, and share how we spend Christmas. We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and holiday break! We can’t wait to blog with you again in the new year!

We had a wonderful break and are happy to be back at school. During our two week holidays we did a lot of exciting stuff. Here are some of our favourite things about our Christmas holidays: Karin-My favourite part of the holiday was when we went down island to see our friends. Sophie-My favourite part of the holidays was when my uncle bit me. Sharon-My favourite part of the holidays was getting my fish. It is a Siamese Fighting fish. Jacob-My favourite thing was getting my big giant Nerf gun. Bradley-I liked when I got the Lego. It is a ship. Kennedy-My favourite part of the holidays was seeing my little sister’s face when she got a jack-in-the-box. It was terrifying, but it was nice to see that she was happy. Gwen-My favourite part was when I went to my Daddy’s and got to sit in the hot tub. Trista-My favourite part was when I got an iPod from my mom. Solomon-My favourite part was when I went skiing. Ana-I went to Mt. Cain. Krystyna got to babysit me and we had a party. We’re looking forward to the new year and all the exciting things we will learn! What was your favourite part of the holidays?

Our latest art project was inspired by the book Dream Snow, written by Eric Carle.  The book has beautiful illustrations and uses plastic overlays to add snow to many of the pictures. We started by creating our backgrounds with shades of blue and purple and then painted our snowmen.  We added details to our snowmen using the painted paper we created at the beginning of the year.  Finally, we painted snow on overhead transparencies that we attached on top of our paintings. We love how they turned out and we hope that we will get some real snow soon!  

After dreaming about snow for weeks and weeks, we finally got some this weekend! Monday was an In-Service day and so the students had an extra day to enjoy the snow.  Here’s what they did: Gwen-Trista and I were playing out in the snow with our sleds. We went down a big hill and crashed into the bush. Trista-I liked it when Silkence, Gwen, Spencer, and I went down the little hill and we kept crashing into each other. Ana-At Mt. Cain we went for a big snowshoe. It was only my family and my dog. We walked for about 3 hours! Quang-I liked when Micheal gave me a turn on the sled. I slid down the hill very fast into the bushes! Brooklynn-Sierra and I built a snowman and we put a real carrot on for the nose. The nose is frozen into his head. Sharon-Bessy, Molly, and I built a little snowman and then we made it bigger and bigger and bigger! Karin-Sahara and I went sledding on the back roads with my GT Racer (a type of sled) and her garbage can lid sled. We crashed on the GT Racer and we thought that it was awesome. Mia-At my house there was 3 inches of snow! Sophie-I jumped off my tree fort into the snow. Solomon-I went up to Mt. Cain and I went skiing. There was a lot of snow and I had to dig my sleds out. Kennedy-My favourite part was when my little sister and I were hiding. When our Auntie Aleasha pulled in the driveway and got out of the car we attacked her with snowballs. Bradley-I made a big snowball. It was too heavy for me! Jacob-I made a snow boy. I couldn’t make his head because it was too hard. So I broke him down and stopped. Lily-I enjoyed the snow through the window. We also got to enjoy the snow at recess today.  It is snowing right now, but very lightly.  It is also MUCH colder than usual for Sointula.  It is currently -8° C and we are expecting lows down to -19°C with the windchill.  

We started this art project last Friday and finished this week. The funny thing was, that the very next day the snow started and it actually stayed around for a whole week. We may need to do winter themed art more often! The first week we painted the sky and the ice. We added salt to the sky to make it look like snow and we used Saran Wrap to make the blue look like ice. The students were all amazed when they lifted up the plastic wrap and saw the interesting texture it left behind. This Friday, we made our polar bears. We used recycled meat trays to create our polar bears for printing. We didn’t have any brayers and so we had to brush the paint on with brushes. We think they turned out great and we hope you like them too! You can find the directions for this art lesson at another great art blog Mrs. Watson follows, that artist woman.

The students did a wonderful job blogging about our visit from Tracey and the delivery of the salmon eggs we raise each year, and so it seemed only fitting that one of them had their post published on our class blog. You can read all the other wonderful posts about the salmon by following the links to our students blogs in the right sidebar. Today my school made 100 new fish friends. Here are some facts I want you to know: 1. They first start in an Egg but they start to grow and turn into an Eyed Egg, then an Alevin, then Fry, and then finally an adult and the last thing they turn into is a Spawner and that is when they head back to where they started, lay eggs, and die 2. Their eggs are pinkish orange not red 3. A lot of things like salmon like birds, bears, and bigger fish 4. The mom fish likes to find a safe place to lay her eggs 5. The fish have something in their head that tells them where to go to find home 6. The Alevin have a lunch box called an yolk sack 7. The place we let the salmon go is in a creek 8. When the ocean and the creek meet it is called a estuary 9. When a bear eats a salmon it rips it apart and the left over salmon feeds trees 10. When the fish are fry they start to look like a proper fish   A few minutes ago I put my 2 eggs in and named them Mage and Japana. I love salmon! Learn how to draw cartoons, comics, and anime at Sketchfu!

Today we celebrated Literacy Day with the whole school. We were divided into four different groups and each group focused on a different country. Students in kindergarten to grade seven worked together to learn more about India, Egypt, Kenya, and Vietnam. In our groups we used books from the library and information from the internet to research ideas for the books we would create about our countries. Our books were modeled after the example Mrs. Walker, our librarian, read us. It was titled, We’re Sailing to Galapagos written by Laurie Krebs. We brainstormed ideas and worked together to create the cut paper illustrations and the text for each page. After lunch we all got together and each group shared their book with the rest of the students. All of the students did an amazing job! The students in Mrs. Watson’s group also added their pages to a VoiceThread so that they could embed their book on their blogs. To finish the day everyone buddied up and found a spot to read the great books Mrs. Walker had for us to take home. It was the perfect ending to a great day. A huge thank you to Mrs. Walker for organizing such a wonderful day for all of us!

Today was a day to experiment with a new tool and to try out a new app. This morning we used our Livescribe pens for the first time. We have two pens and special paper that lets you record what you are writing and also what you are saying if you like. Several students had a chance to try the pens during our Daily 5 rounds. We are trying to think of other ways that the pens will be able to help us with our learning too. Do you have Livescribe pens in your classroom?  If you do, what do you use them for? In the afternoon we started a new topic in Health and Careers and used an app called ScreenChomp to brainstorm in groups what we know about healthy eating. We were able to write our ideas on the screen and record audio to go with them. You can see the ScreenChomp that one of the groups created at this link http://www.screenchomp.com/t/vDS7U5mMwS We would love to hear about your favourite healthy foods!  Please add your favourites to our AnswerGarden below. What is your favourite healthy food?… at AnswerGarden.ch.

Yesterday we only had 7 students in our class! Several of our classmates got to go to a special First Nations performance in Fort Rupert and so we decided to do something special too. In the morning we did a round of Daily 5 and then we went to the computer lab to create ToonDoo comics and SketchFus for our blogs. ToonDoo and Sketchfu are both free and we love that your finished product can be embeded on your blog. After recess we had a special visit from the intermediate class who came to share their social studies projects with us. Then we worked on DreamBox and Xtra Math until lunch. DreamBox is a lot of fun and Xtra Math is a great way to master basic math facts. The best part of the day happened after lunch. We dedicated the whole afternoon to claymation. Some of the grade 3s had tried claymation in Tech Club last year and so they were able to help the others out. We found out that it takes a lot of time and patience to make even a very short claymation video. Here are three short videos that are ready to share: Have you ever tried creating a stop motion animation?