Meme: Passion Quilt

Linda and mrstucke have tagged me for the quilt meme. The whole idea of this meme is to post a picture that is especially meaningful to you or says something about your passions as a teacher. I was hoping I’d stay under the radar for this one as I’m not a real picture person. However, there is a picture that I took a few years ago while on a tour of England that isn’t flashy but is kind of cool.

I’ve actually had this as my desktop for awhile and had a large print made. People ask me why? My response is that it’s an image that you see all over the tubes of London reminding people that to be safe, you have to “Mind the Gap”. For me, it speaks about life in our modern age. How we must be reminded to stay safe even though it should be something everyone knows.  As an educator, it also reminds me that there is always a gap in what we do and, if we don’t mind that gap, someone will fall through. My passions - students, all students, doing the best they can to the best of their ability. Being able to increase their knowledge and show others what they know. Not letting ANY student slip the gap and become a statistic.

The meme works as follows:  The rules are simple.
1. Think about what you are passionate about teaching your students.
2. Post a picture from a source like FlickrCC or Flickr Creative Commons or make/take your own that captures what YOU are most passionate about for kids to learn about…and give your picture a short title.
3. Title your blog post “Meme: Passion Quilt” and link back to this blog entry.
4. Include links to 5 folks in your professional learning network or whom you follow on Twitter/Pownce.

Okay, now I get to link to 5 people. Hmmmm well, here’s a few new bloggers that it would be nice to introduce to the world: lgatzke,  mathman33, georgygrrl,  cgseibel,  speters. Looking forward to their pictures!

What was I thinking?

This past week I received a tweet from RashKath telling me she had rewared this blog with the Thinking Blogger Award. Rashmi Kathuria has been a mathematiques teacher since 1994. She created Passionate Teacher’s Ning and has been doing some great work connecting and sharing with teachers all over the world. She has a great site for anyone teaching math.

I am very honoured that someone like Rashmi would think that highly of what I am doing here on my blog. Rashmi says

  Kelly Christopherson, a principal in a K - 12 school in Saskatchewan. He is a great administrator , educator helping and guiding teachers to use techology in classrooms . His posts are inspiring and very close to our daily life routine realities. He is guiding many teachers all across this globe on Passionate teachers ning also. Read his discussions, you will surely experience a new thing.

I am very honoured that Rashmi would pass this on to me.

About the award
The participation rules are simple:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote. (I couldn’t get the badges or the link to work!)
In addition there is a note: “Please, remember to tag blogs with real merits, i.e. relative content, and above all - blogs that really get you thinking! “

Five bloggers

This was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do in a while. To pick only 5 bloggers that make me think was not an easy task since all the bloggers on my RSS Feed do that. In no particular order:

 Dean Shareski - I ran into Dean’s blog when I first began blogging. Since that time, I’ve had the pleasure of attending a few of his workshops, participating in a few online connections and learning from his vast experience with technology. Dean writes about a wide variety of things, has a great sense of humour and great knowledge about technology tools. He is one of my “must read” bloggers (he has some great dessert recipes and pictures of beautiful golf courses!)

Alec Courosa - Alec is a professor at the University of Regina. Through the various networks that Alec and I inhabit, I’ve found Alec’s technological expertise and his willingness to try new technologies to be a great help. Because Alec teaches a Master’s class that one of my colleagues is taking, I’ve been able to have a sneak peak into his classes and his teaching and he is one that walks the talk.

Susan Funk - Susan is a classroom teacher in Saskatoon. I met Susan through her blog and then f2f at a conference. Susan has just returned to the classroom after taking time off to do graduate work and it is great to have her perspective on school life as someone who is working daily with students in a setting that isn’t really condusive to technology use. The great thing about Susan’s writing is that it doesn’t just focus on technology but on many other aspects of teaching, particularly reading. It is great to travel along with her as she struggles with the different issues that she has in her class.

Principal’s Page - micsmith is listed in his biography for those who have nothing to do. All I can say is that if it every happens that micsmith becomes unemployed, he could write comedy. (Gaging from his one entry, this is not a far off possiblity - being unemployed)  I visit his page regularly because of his humour, wit and uncanny ability to make me feel like a small kid again (I only wet my pants once!) For me, he captures the administrator’s life with comedic accuracy. Laughter is good for the soul - this site does my soul good!

Glenn Moses - Glenn is a vice-principal in a charter school and is responsible for the e-learning of the school. I really don’t remember when or where we crossed paths but it sure has been great for me. Glenn discusses a variety of things on his blog with some of the topics focusing on technology while others examine a variety of educational issues.  As Glenn states in his short bio

 Glenn Moses is an assistant principal and teacher. He is trying to turn high school into something meaningful, figure out the best ways to teach students online, and make sure that all students have access to online content. It’s a takeover, not a makeover.

I appreciate Glenn’s honesty and his desire to do what is best for students. Great reading.

Each of these educators has had an effect on me as an educational administrator and are important people in my network. Give them a read!