Upon arriving in Bogota we went directly to Jean Pierre's apartment ( Jean Pierre is the commissioner of foreign trade at the Embassy [please excuse the error in title- this is not his actual title but it is what he does at the embassy]). We were greated with wine and h'orderves. We chatted and shared experiences with all the teachers, executives from SMARTechnologies and embassy staff. It was a lovely night of sharing and congratulations of a program well done.
I would like to thank SMARTechnologies for hosting our team during the last two weeks. They were fabulous hosts providing everything we could have ever imagined. I am very thankful for all the effort to show us the best of Colombia- from food to Fifa world cup games.
Thank you to Claudia Ledezma and her team for coordinating such a well run tour and thinking of all of our needs before we had even realized them.
Thank you to Luis Morales for providing coaching and support for the SMARTuser conference. I was quite nervous presenting at my first conference, however Luis made the experience as stressless as possible.
Thank you to the Canadian Embassy for meeting with us at the beginning and at the end of our trip.
Thank you to Sheila McLeod for providing such great leadership from the CBE end of the agreement. You lead us well and provided a lot of support in the process to make sure our experience was the best it could be.
Thank you to the teacher team from the CBE- Susan, Gary, Kelly, Lina, Linda, Maria Teresa, and Marlene, Colleen and Sheila. You were all great travel partners.
I know there are others that I should be thanking, there were so many people involved with this project. So thank you to you all. I look forward to meeting with the teachers from Colombia when they come to Canada. I also look forward to the projects that will go forth after making such wonderful connections with so many different teachers.
Thank you!
Tuesday, 16 August 2011
Leaving Barranquilla
Friday started out with quite the shock. I never realized how incredible a little bit of rain could be. In Barranquilla before the streets were paved the rain would just soak up into the dirt and it would be muddy for a while. However, now that they have paved the roads the water has no where to go. Therefore it runs down one street and into another joining together to flood the streets. They used the word Arroyo to describe what happens. (the spanish word for creek). After visiting classrooms at Escuela Maria Poussin we were directed to leave the school as quickly as possible for danger of flash floods. Even with the warning we didn't leave right away. It turned out that we were just fine- Thankfully.
Susan and I hosted 25 students from grade two for the morning. We showed them a Powerpoint presentation on Canada and another one on the projects we did last year at Canyon Meadows. We shared with them an ABC book about Canada, and played Heads up 7-up. One thing I appreciate about travelling is that games can be the same all over the world. All of the grade twos and the grade tens that were with them loved playing.
We were fortunate after our visit to have lunch with the Secretary of Education in an Arab restaurant. The Arab influence is strong on the coast due to Barranquilla being a trade port. Going to a restaurant in a foreign language is always an adventure. I ordered something that I had no idea what it was. I'm pretty sure it was called Casta de Kafta. I thought I was getting shishkababs with meat and vegetables. It was definately not. It was long meatball type tubes with meat and parsley type spices mixed together. Either way it was absolutely delicious. Sometimes not knowing what you are eatting is an exciting experience in itself.
From lunch we headed back to the hotel to get ready and on to the airport to return to Bogota- all prettied up for our fairwell coctail party with the embassy staff.
Susan and I hosted 25 students from grade two for the morning. We showed them a Powerpoint presentation on Canada and another one on the projects we did last year at Canyon Meadows. We shared with them an ABC book about Canada, and played Heads up 7-up. One thing I appreciate about travelling is that games can be the same all over the world. All of the grade twos and the grade tens that were with them loved playing.
We were fortunate after our visit to have lunch with the Secretary of Education in an Arab restaurant. The Arab influence is strong on the coast due to Barranquilla being a trade port. Going to a restaurant in a foreign language is always an adventure. I ordered something that I had no idea what it was. I'm pretty sure it was called Casta de Kafta. I thought I was getting shishkababs with meat and vegetables. It was definately not. It was long meatball type tubes with meat and parsley type spices mixed together. Either way it was absolutely delicious. Sometimes not knowing what you are eatting is an exciting experience in itself.
From lunch we headed back to the hotel to get ready and on to the airport to return to Bogota- all prettied up for our fairwell coctail party with the embassy staff.
Thursday, 11 August 2011
SMART user conference- Barranquilla
After a late night preparing and an early morning we were up and ready to share our experiences as teachers in Canada with 75 different teachers- one from each school in the Barranquilla district. Three different classrooms were set up with SMARTboards (one delivered especially to the school by pick-up truck) at Escuela Marie Poussepin who hosted the event. Teachers rotated between the three sessions while 1200 students attended classes in the same building. We were all very impressed with how elegantly the whole conference flowed while classes continued as though we weren’t even there.
The three sessions were hosted by:
Luis Morales in room one where he did technical skills using SMARTboard and a SMARTslate (something that the Canadian teachers had never seen before!) Teachers got a chance to try out skills and techniques to make the use of SMARTboards in their classroom flow smoother and be more technically advanced than what they were previously doing.
Linda Vargas and Marleen Martin in room two where they shared lesson plans based around the idea of change. They compared and contrasted their experience with the Wayuu in Riohacha with that of Indigenous communities in Canada. They were especially pleased to find a Wayuu man in one of their sessions which added an authentic aspect to the activities that they did with their group.
Susan Marinucci and Danielle Mackinnon in room three with inquiry based learning using technology. They shared their experiences with inquiry based learning and problem based learning using technology and proposed possible ideas for global partnerships with Colombian and Canadian teachers through a common problem of interested. Some of the ideas proposed were sharing and comparing the problem that Alberta is having with Honey bees dying and their effects with that of Termites in Colombia(an insect that none of the teachers had seen before) and the environmental effects that are seen through them.
All of the Colombian teachers seemed quite eager to share their experiences and ideas for future projects. It was a successful conference with lots of excitement buzzing in the air over possible ideas.
We were amazed that after each session many of the teachers came up to get their picture taken with us. We didn't even have a moment to regroup from session one to session two because we took so many pictures. It is an odd experience being the object of attention.
The day was wonderful and I definately ggot a lot of experience presenting in front of a group (3-1.5 hour presentations will do that to you).
The three sessions were hosted by:
Luis Morales in room one where he did technical skills using SMARTboard and a SMARTslate (something that the Canadian teachers had never seen before!) Teachers got a chance to try out skills and techniques to make the use of SMARTboards in their classroom flow smoother and be more technically advanced than what they were previously doing.
Linda Vargas and Marleen Martin in room two where they shared lesson plans based around the idea of change. They compared and contrasted their experience with the Wayuu in Riohacha with that of Indigenous communities in Canada. They were especially pleased to find a Wayuu man in one of their sessions which added an authentic aspect to the activities that they did with their group.
Susan Marinucci and Danielle Mackinnon in room three with inquiry based learning using technology. They shared their experiences with inquiry based learning and problem based learning using technology and proposed possible ideas for global partnerships with Colombian and Canadian teachers through a common problem of interested. Some of the ideas proposed were sharing and comparing the problem that Alberta is having with Honey bees dying and their effects with that of Termites in Colombia(an insect that none of the teachers had seen before) and the environmental effects that are seen through them.
All of the Colombian teachers seemed quite eager to share their experiences and ideas for future projects. It was a successful conference with lots of excitement buzzing in the air over possible ideas.
We were amazed that after each session many of the teachers came up to get their picture taken with us. We didn't even have a moment to regroup from session one to session two because we took so many pictures. It is an odd experience being the object of attention.
The day was wonderful and I definately ggot a lot of experience presenting in front of a group (3-1.5 hour presentations will do that to you).
Tuesday, 9 August 2011
Cartagena Pictures
Picture 1: Colleen and I went for a walk around Old Cartagena- the walled city. She stubbed her toe on a tree trunk hidden in some grass and her toe started bleeding like mad. Quite sad really- she's okay.
Picture 2: Me standing on top of the fort looking over the bay.
Picture 3: Gary being bitten by the toucan. Beautiful bird but arrogant. I swear it was posing for pictures!
Picture 4: A boy holding his kite. August is known as kite month in Colombia. It is windier than other months which makes it perfect for flying kites. The area where this boy is standing turns into an open air bar in the evening. Interesting concept!
Cartagena
On Friday we took a trip from Riohacha into Cartagena. The trip was excruciatingly long! I was expecting a 5 hour bus ride but it was all day. Mind you we stopped for lunch in Santa Marta- incredible by the way! The view was spectacular.
Cartagena consisted of lots of shopping, eatting and the best of which SNORKLING! I have never been snorkling before because I don't really like fish and generally I'm too cheap to do anything like that. However we all went together and had an amazing time. I was nervous at first jumping out of the boat, but once I was in the water it was like I turned into a fish. The coral was blue in some places and in others I almost scraped myself on pillars. Kelly actually did.
There were so many incredible fish. My favourite was a black fish with lines of white polkadots on it, it also had a red belly and red fins. I can see my mother wearing a hat designed the same way as this fish. There was also black fish with blue sparkles on them, and teal ones with a shimmer of a rainbow on it's side, and two yellow stripes along its tail. I was absolutely stunned.
Marlene said that she thought she saw a lion fish. She couldn't really describe it at first but on our way back into Cartagena we saw an alert message saying they were an invasive species and highly dangerous because of their poison. They had been spotted in the area and the authorities had closed down sections of the beach because of them. Interesting- it was way at the bottom so no one got hurt.
I also went to a mangrove lagoon where I saw oysters growing on the roots and a blowfish under the dock. It was amazing to see all the variety of living things in such a small area.
I would definately go snorkling again.
In the old city we visited the gold museum, and San Pedro- a very fancy restaurant. I tried a new beverage: Coconut and lime juice. Limonada de coco. It was heavenly. The hotel Santa Clara had the best one served in a glass that was a circle at the rim but an oval at the base. A beautiful glass.
I would like to say thank you too Colleen for hanging out with me all of Sunday- I had a blast exploring with you!
Thank you to Gary as well for attracting the toucan so we could get some pictures.
All in all- a lovely weekend.
Cartagena consisted of lots of shopping, eatting and the best of which SNORKLING! I have never been snorkling before because I don't really like fish and generally I'm too cheap to do anything like that. However we all went together and had an amazing time. I was nervous at first jumping out of the boat, but once I was in the water it was like I turned into a fish. The coral was blue in some places and in others I almost scraped myself on pillars. Kelly actually did.
There were so many incredible fish. My favourite was a black fish with lines of white polkadots on it, it also had a red belly and red fins. I can see my mother wearing a hat designed the same way as this fish. There was also black fish with blue sparkles on them, and teal ones with a shimmer of a rainbow on it's side, and two yellow stripes along its tail. I was absolutely stunned.
Marlene said that she thought she saw a lion fish. She couldn't really describe it at first but on our way back into Cartagena we saw an alert message saying they were an invasive species and highly dangerous because of their poison. They had been spotted in the area and the authorities had closed down sections of the beach because of them. Interesting- it was way at the bottom so no one got hurt.
I also went to a mangrove lagoon where I saw oysters growing on the roots and a blowfish under the dock. It was amazing to see all the variety of living things in such a small area.
I would definately go snorkling again.
In the old city we visited the gold museum, and San Pedro- a very fancy restaurant. I tried a new beverage: Coconut and lime juice. Limonada de coco. It was heavenly. The hotel Santa Clara had the best one served in a glass that was a circle at the rim but an oval at the base. A beautiful glass.
I would like to say thank you too Colleen for hanging out with me all of Sunday- I had a blast exploring with you!
Thank you to Gary as well for attracting the toucan so we could get some pictures.
All in all- a lovely weekend.
Monday, 8 August 2011
Pictures from the Wayuu visit
Picture 2: Luis Morales from SMART technologies in Texas- he is in charge of Southern Texas and Latin America. He is organizing our SMART user workshop which we will all be presenting at. Two students from the Wayuu school and a teacher (I don't know her name) who teaches traditional Wayuu beliefs at the school.
Picture 3: One of the boys from the school using his Laptop to take pictures and videos during the presentations. He took quite a few pictures of me because I was the most accessible in the front row on the corner.
Picture 4: Maria Teresa and I showing off our SMART/ CBE exchange t-shirts.
Sunday, 7 August 2011
Wayuu
We headed out on Thursday to the Peninsula where we met many Wayuu people. They are an indigenous group in the area. We attended a school opening there. The governor was there presenting the school to the people. I could hardly believe the press that was there! Everyone was snapping pictures, even of us! As a tourist I take pictures of lots of people all over the place, posing and not posing. However, this time the locals were taking pictures of us. It was quite the odd sensation.
There was a ceremony where many people spoke and honoured education and the traditions of the local people. The chief, the governor, the principal of the school, the mayor, Luis from SMART, and Sheila McLeood from the CBE all spoke among others. It was very humbling to be part of such an important celebration of education.
After all the speeches, we were able to tour some of the classrooms and see what kinds of things were already happening. Each student is assigned a MAC laptop and there are SMARTboards in each classroom. As well as IPAD's and all sorts of other technology. This school was designed to be decked out with technology.
The money for this school was paid by a joint venture between the governor's office and the mayor's office through royalties from the coal mine and the oil rigs that are in that region. I was quite glad to hear a young boy speak of his passion for his community and the desire to use technology to show the rest of the world his culture. It seems like a combination of traditional values with the modern values that technology brings.
We also were able to see tradional dances and stories from the Wayuu. My favourite was the story of how their weaving began. An ugly girl was found in the jungle by a young man while eatting ants, he felt pity for her and took her back with him to his home. There he gave her to his three sisters for them to take care of her, but instead they mistreated her and made her do all the work. However at night she would transform into a beautiful woman and weave beautiful bags. The sisters did not know what to do with this and thought she was a witch, they summoned the help of an evil spirit to help them get rid of her, but instead it turned them into a bat. The young man came back and was in love with her so they lived happily ever after.
This is a much longer story than I have told but this is what I got from the explaination between bites of goat meat and a plantain type side dish.
It was a wonderful night with lots of sharing in educational values and experiences. I really enjoyed it.
You can visit the school's website at: akuaipa.blogspot.com
There was a ceremony where many people spoke and honoured education and the traditions of the local people. The chief, the governor, the principal of the school, the mayor, Luis from SMART, and Sheila McLeood from the CBE all spoke among others. It was very humbling to be part of such an important celebration of education.
After all the speeches, we were able to tour some of the classrooms and see what kinds of things were already happening. Each student is assigned a MAC laptop and there are SMARTboards in each classroom. As well as IPAD's and all sorts of other technology. This school was designed to be decked out with technology.
The money for this school was paid by a joint venture between the governor's office and the mayor's office through royalties from the coal mine and the oil rigs that are in that region. I was quite glad to hear a young boy speak of his passion for his community and the desire to use technology to show the rest of the world his culture. It seems like a combination of traditional values with the modern values that technology brings.
We also were able to see tradional dances and stories from the Wayuu. My favourite was the story of how their weaving began. An ugly girl was found in the jungle by a young man while eatting ants, he felt pity for her and took her back with him to his home. There he gave her to his three sisters for them to take care of her, but instead they mistreated her and made her do all the work. However at night she would transform into a beautiful woman and weave beautiful bags. The sisters did not know what to do with this and thought she was a witch, they summoned the help of an evil spirit to help them get rid of her, but instead it turned them into a bat. The young man came back and was in love with her so they lived happily ever after.
This is a much longer story than I have told but this is what I got from the explaination between bites of goat meat and a plantain type side dish.
It was a wonderful night with lots of sharing in educational values and experiences. I really enjoyed it.
You can visit the school's website at: akuaipa.blogspot.com
Picture number two is a view from where I sat at the table of "La Tierra" (the earth).
Picture three is a table name, not ours but one of them. These were hanging from the roof all over the place.
Picture four is Mr. Gary Rabb being surrounded by a group of spies. They were an acting group that walked- rather stalked- through the whole building. They were amazing to watch and they never broke character.
It was a fantastic night!
Thursday was quite amazing. We went to a high school where we were able to look into the lives of grade six and seven students. We were able to see their science fair. I was more than happy to speak with a variety of students about what they learned. One girl showed me her motor boat that she designed and created, and another was able to describe the hydroponic system that she had built in order to water her strawberry plants. I am hoping that I can connect with their teachers in order for them to teach our grade two's this year how to do these tasks. For science we learn about boats and buoyancy and as well about liquids- especially water and how it grows. We will be planting tomato plants with the TOMATOSPHERE project through NASA so building a hydroponic system for the plants would be quite useful.
The government provides funding for schools that are involved in projects that have to do with recycling and hydroponics so many schools are taking up this theme.
In the evening we went to a restaurant called Andres Carne de Res. It was the most unbelievable restaurant that I have ever been to. It was a whole building with four floors designed as Hell, the earth, purgatory and heaven. Each floor had it's own kitchen and a small dance floor. There were decorations everywhere including glass bottles that we painted that lined the wall and an enormous statue of Jesus with the Sacred Heart. Each table had a name of a literary character. We sat at two tables put together that were named D'Artangon (from the Three Muskateers) and Juliet( from Romeo and Juliet). The food was incredible and we danced the night away!
In the evening we went to a restaurant called Andres Carne de Res. It was the most unbelievable restaurant that I have ever been to. It was a whole building with four floors designed as Hell, the earth, purgatory and heaven. Each floor had it's own kitchen and a small dance floor. There were decorations everywhere including glass bottles that we painted that lined the wall and an enormous statue of Jesus with the Sacred Heart. Each table had a name of a literary character. We sat at two tables put together that were named D'Artangon (from the Three Muskateers) and Juliet( from Romeo and Juliet). The food was incredible and we danced the night away!
Wednesday, 3 August 2011
GOOOOLLLLLLL!!!!
What an amazing evening I had yesterday! I don't know how they did it but SMARTechnologies was able to land us tickets to the FIFA U-20 world cup game Colombia vs. Mali. There was a group of 7 of us sitting all together in the fifth row from the field. With horns blowing in our ears we cheered as Colombia scored two goals and Mali of course scored none. There was such excitement in the air and to my amazement the Wave actually worked it went around the whole stadium multiple times before it stopped each time.
My colleague Kelly was able to get a picture with one of the members of Choquibtown- I took the picture. Check out their videos on Youtube. This is one called "Somos Pacificos"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reB4YLs-49U
I was impressed with the Colombians. They were really great with their security and organization. Even the fans were reasonable. There was no rioting or bad behaviour at all. Everyone was excited and celebrating as they came out of the stadium but no one rushed the field or lit anything on fire (unlike in a certain city we know). I was quite pleased.
As soon as I have pictures I will put them up. I didn't take my camera with me- just because I didn't want it stolen and there were enough people with cameras. Look forward to a large amount of photos soon.
My colleague Kelly was able to get a picture with one of the members of Choquibtown- I took the picture. Check out their videos on Youtube. This is one called "Somos Pacificos"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reB4YLs-49U
I was impressed with the Colombians. They were really great with their security and organization. Even the fans were reasonable. There was no rioting or bad behaviour at all. Everyone was excited and celebrating as they came out of the stadium but no one rushed the field or lit anything on fire (unlike in a certain city we know). I was quite pleased.
As soon as I have pictures I will put them up. I didn't take my camera with me- just because I didn't want it stolen and there were enough people with cameras. Look forward to a large amount of photos soon.
Recipies
Thanks Laverna for the great idea! When I get back we will have to somehow make Sancocho (a type of soup), and Arepas... I will continue to look for delicious foods. Sandra will most likely be able to make these foods blindfolded! Perhaps a recipe making night is in store? Anyone interested?
Monday, 1 August 2011
My other blog?
I have two blogs running at once- this one and our official CBE blog. There you can see all the blogs of my colleagues. Canyon Meadows students: you can see Sra. Marinucci's blog there too.
The web site is:
http://colombia2011.cbegloballearning.ca/
I will be posting mostly the same things here as on that blog but there is the common blog for us all and the others there too.
Happy reading!
The web site is:
http://colombia2011.cbegloballearning.ca/
I will be posting mostly the same things here as on that blog but there is the common blog for us all and the others there too.
Happy reading!
Monday August 1, 2011
Today was a less active day. We started out by visiting an old hacienda that was turned into a shopping mall, the white washed walls and the cobblestone floors were quite astonishing. After that we walked across the street into the Canadian Embassy. I have never been into an embassy before so I was quite excited about the experience. I think if I were not a teacher I would work in an embassy. Who knows one day I might have a career change and do that. We met with three representatives- Jean Pierre a diplomat in charge of foreign trade, Claudia a representative from the education department, and Joshua who is the representative of CIDA in the country. There were introductions and plans made for how we as members of the CBE could partner with Colombian schools and teachers and how businesses in Calgary could partner with us and with the Colombians as well. It was quite interesting. See our main page for some good photos of us all with the diplomats.
Lunch was at Carmen de Bolivar- a restaurant that specializes in Coastal dishes. Claudia our tour guide is a foodie and knows everywhere that is good to eat. It is wonderful because we eat good food all the time. I had pulled beef with red peppers, coconut rice and fried plantaine with a fruit juice made from the Corozo fruit. It was all so delicious. I think I will be talking a lot about food on this blog- I love food.
In the afternoon we went to the offices of the Government of Cundinamarca- the state which Bogota is in. We met with the Secretary of Education and the Secretary of ICT. They were both quite interested in the projects that we are doing here and how they could be involved. The Secretary of Education got all excited in the middle and called the principal of one of the schools in- she just happened to be in the building at the time. Lots of ideas were shared for our trip and for future endeavors.
For dinner we went to a wonderful place- with Claudia of course!- called “La Plaza de Andres” it was a market style restaurant with different specialties being served at different counters. We have a similar place in Calgary just off of Fairmont Drive and Center Street south, east of Chinook. Amazing food there too. I had an arepa de choclo (a corn type of pancake?) filled with cheese. I am so glad that we walked there and back- about 20 blocks because with all this delicious food that we are eatting I sure need to do something to work it off.
Oh and tomorrow they have tickets for us to go to a FIFA game. Colombia vs. Mali. Do you think I should go? Look forward to tomorrow’s post.
Ciao!
Lunch was at Carmen de Bolivar- a restaurant that specializes in Coastal dishes. Claudia our tour guide is a foodie and knows everywhere that is good to eat. It is wonderful because we eat good food all the time. I had pulled beef with red peppers, coconut rice and fried plantaine with a fruit juice made from the Corozo fruit. It was all so delicious. I think I will be talking a lot about food on this blog- I love food.
In the afternoon we went to the offices of the Government of Cundinamarca- the state which Bogota is in. We met with the Secretary of Education and the Secretary of ICT. They were both quite interested in the projects that we are doing here and how they could be involved. The Secretary of Education got all excited in the middle and called the principal of one of the schools in- she just happened to be in the building at the time. Lots of ideas were shared for our trip and for future endeavors.
For dinner we went to a wonderful place- with Claudia of course!- called “La Plaza de Andres” it was a market style restaurant with different specialties being served at different counters. We have a similar place in Calgary just off of Fairmont Drive and Center Street south, east of Chinook. Amazing food there too. I had an arepa de choclo (a corn type of pancake?) filled with cheese. I am so glad that we walked there and back- about 20 blocks because with all this delicious food that we are eatting I sure need to do something to work it off.
Oh and tomorrow they have tickets for us to go to a FIFA game. Colombia vs. Mali. Do you think I should go? Look forward to tomorrow’s post.
Ciao!
Sunday July 31st
Today we had a fun filled cultural day. We started out by visiting a market where I tried a food I had never heard of before. It is called Mangostina. The skin is a purple colour and will turn everything red if you don’t be careful. The flesh is white and looks something like cheese curds and garlic, but it definately doesn’t taste like either of them. It was sour but definately delicious. They also have a pink potato that we are going to eat later on this week and things that looke like a wrinkly carrot. I think they are like parsnips. It was quite an adventure and it definatly got me excited about the rest of our trip. I love going to food markets.
Mangostino- SO DELICIOUS!
We then took our tour to Zipaquita where we toured a salt cathedral. Miners wanted a church in the mine because they would work for long periods of time underground. They first created another church but when it became unstable they had to close it and build another one. They hired an architect who used natural elements and did not use human figures in his design. There are all the traditional symbols and elements that any catholic church would have, the twelve stations of the cross (in this case 14 stations), and the three naves representing the birth, life and death of Jesus. On our way into the mine- we visited the stations of the cross which were originally mine shafts that had been emptied of the rock. It was absolutely beautiful. My favorite part of the tour was tasting the walls- who knew a wall could be so salty!
THe ceiling of the left nave of the cathedral
Me getting ready to lick the salt off the wall
Ajiaco- a traditional colombian soup
The last place we visited was a dairy farm with all it’s own locally produced products. I had a traditional dessert called Casamiento (the Marriage). It consisted of a berry sauce, Arequipa (a carmelized sugar and condensed milk sauce- similar to Manjar) on top of a white cheese. It sounds disgusting but it was so delicious!
Arrival
The living room in my hotel apartment
We have arrived! Five of our group arrived on our flight late Saturday night to rain! It hadn’t rained in months yet it poured the day we arrived. It was a relief because it was nice and cool. Our experience getting through customs was wonderful, no one was held up and our luggage all arrived. We were at our hotel two hours after our arrival which was excellent. They weren’t expecting us until midnight which would have been super late! Our hotel rooms are excellent with a living room and a kitchenette. They are very clean and the bed is super comfortable. I slept like a baby!
Thursday, 7 July 2011
SMARTboards
Hello!
Today was an exciting day down at the new Education Center in Calgary. Your Colombia team met to get debriefed on all the cool things that we can do with SMARTboards.
Be prepared for lots of SMARTboard activities including SMARTresponse, Bridgit, and general activities using the smartboard.
We will be chatting with others using the Bridgit tool- kind of like Skype. You can take control of someone else's computer! How crazy. I will show you when we start school together.
I can't wait to show you all the cool things that we are doing.
Three weeks before I'm off!
Srta. Mackinnon
Today was an exciting day down at the new Education Center in Calgary. Your Colombia team met to get debriefed on all the cool things that we can do with SMARTboards.
Be prepared for lots of SMARTboard activities including SMARTresponse, Bridgit, and general activities using the smartboard.
We will be chatting with others using the Bridgit tool- kind of like Skype. You can take control of someone else's computer! How crazy. I will show you when we start school together.
I can't wait to show you all the cool things that we are doing.
Three weeks before I'm off!
Srta. Mackinnon
Tuesday, 28 June 2011
Welcome
Welcome students!
This will be a spot where you can follow Sra. Marinucci and I during our trip to Colombia. Our Itinerary is this:
July 30th- Leave Calgary for Bogota!
August 1st- Our program starts in Bogota: we get to meet the Governor of Education, and have a party at the Canadian Embassy during our first week. We will also visit the Wayuu Penninsula where we will go to an indigenous reservation and see what their schools are like there.
The Weekend: To Cartagena where we will get to tour around and see a colonial city.
2nd Week: To Barranquilla to work with teachers in different public schools. Keep a look out for this week- you may see some friends that you will be talking with next year!
August 13th: Fly back to the land of the north.
I look forward to hearing from you by replies to this post. Keep checking back and I will have pictures and cool stuff that we have done and perhaps what we will do next year.
Happy Summer Travelling!
Srta. Mackinnon
This will be a spot where you can follow Sra. Marinucci and I during our trip to Colombia. Our Itinerary is this:
July 30th- Leave Calgary for Bogota!
August 1st- Our program starts in Bogota: we get to meet the Governor of Education, and have a party at the Canadian Embassy during our first week. We will also visit the Wayuu Penninsula where we will go to an indigenous reservation and see what their schools are like there.
The Weekend: To Cartagena where we will get to tour around and see a colonial city.
2nd Week: To Barranquilla to work with teachers in different public schools. Keep a look out for this week- you may see some friends that you will be talking with next year!
August 13th: Fly back to the land of the north.
I look forward to hearing from you by replies to this post. Keep checking back and I will have pictures and cool stuff that we have done and perhaps what we will do next year.
Happy Summer Travelling!
Srta. Mackinnon
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