The 5 W's About "Creating Connections."

Introductions:

Hello to our partner Grade 6 class taught by Ms. Rebecca Miglio in Roseville, Michigan for the Reading Around the Planet project which will occur on February 26, 2009.

My name is Cheryl Morin. I teach the Gr. 7.1 students who attend Wapawikoscikan School in Pelican Narrows, Saskatchewan, Canada. Wa pa wi kos ci kan is a Woodland Cree word which means "Narrows of Fear". There is a whole legend behind the naming of our community school.
There are approximately 600 students in our school which houses Grade 4-12.
There are multiple classes of every grade in our school.
We have 24 students in our class who speak both English and Woodland Cree which is an Indigenous language.

Project Overview

The purpose of this blog called "Creating Connections", also known as an online journal, is to introduce the use of Information Communication Technologies to you in order to engage ourselves in our school projects and assignments through the use of these tools. ICT consists of tools from the Internet also known as "Web 2.o tools" -"record keeping like DVD/CD, Flash Memory; Broadcasting like radio, television, podcasting; Voice and image communication like cellphones, cameras; Computer hardware like personal computers; Personal hardware like MP3, Ipod; and Software Applications" to students as we participate in a reading project with our partners from Roseville,Michigan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_technology

As many of you already know, the world is a click away when you use the Internet. My goal in this project is to learn right along with you in order to become more aware and more knowledgable about the benefits of the Internet and how to use the Internet tools in a safe and interesting way. For example, you always keep your personal contact information to yourself-do not share home phone numbers, addresses,birth year, parent's last names or work places.

We are in the 21st Century- nine years into the 2000's and the Internet is quickly changing the way that people around the globe work, learn, communicate and grow as individuals, societies, and nations. We want to be part of this forward movement , to keep up with the changes, and use it to become productive solution seeking team players in making our home community and the world a better place for everyone.

This blog is a tool that will be used to connect,communicate and engage with each other in a different way than we are use to. We will try to enhance our learning of the novel "Julie of the Wolves" by creating digital artifacts (assignments)using video, images, audio and other tools like VoiceThread, SlideShare, Voki, Powerpoint, and other tools as we discover them. The students will be able to add their ideas and questions by participating in activities in class and on this blog. The teachers will be posting samples of student work here on the blog.



This clip art was borrowed from this website
http://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/clipart/download.aspx


The blog is part of the Internet and our URL or address on the internet is
http://rosepelican.blogspot.com

You and anyone in the world can read and comment on our blog "Creating Connections" anytime and from anywhere you happen to be as long as you have access to a computer.You are able to make comments on any part of the blog just by clicking onto the pencil at the bottom of the post. You will have to give your email address at this point and key in the special word that is noted. When you check the blog regularly , you become known as a 'Follower.'

Many students around the world have their own blogs and are members of their class's blog. It is a great way to work with others, to do homework on, make your ideas grow by using various Internet tools and to publish your work for a huge audience to see and make comments on. When you create a blog of your own , you are known as a 'blogger.'


The challenge in this project is to experiment with the various tools you are introduced to in order to increase your understanding of our shared novel "Julie of the Wolves", share what you know about technology, have fun, and especially by interacting with your own classmates and your new working partners. We are connecting with each other through technology and making our learning environment much larger, hopefully as fun as your regular four walled classroom, and creating a new and interesting learning experience for everyone.

Each student in 'Wapaw 7.1' will be adding a short bit about themselves in our next computer class.

We would like to learn about you, your class, school and also your community right here on this blog.
Thank-you in advance for your effort and participation. :o)