Parisian Love

After a few days of waiting to see what all the fuss was about, I finally saw Google’s Superbowl commercial. I had read Ira’s account of the narrative based in a series of Google searches, and was intrigued by the charm of the commercial is in its brisk, simple rendering of narrative through the universal […]

Cultural Geography Public Service Announcements

As a means to delve creatively into the cultural geography in Western Canada, our socials ten students will be undertaking the creation of public service announcements on issues relating to the present states of plants and animals across several different biomes. Having practiced digital storytelling skills in writing, performing and editing a brief time-line of […]

Field Trip: Urban Geography & the Canadian Identity

Our students are faced with planning cultural outings over the course of the year that occasionally turn into full-fledged field trips. While other events are attended by handfuls of students – it is expected that each TALONS class member attends three cultural events – others take on such a pertinent range of learning opportunities, as […]

Wordle as Discussion Synthesis

Edit: Wesley Fryer has a great post this week with a variety of digital means of delving into President Obama’s recent speech at West Point (among them Wordle). This past week our socials class made use of its Wikispace’s discussion boards to conduct ranging conversations around major themes in their respective chapters. For the grade […]

Eminent Person Wrap Up & Student Examples

As the final week of our class’ Eminent Person Study draws to a close, my RSS feed from our blogs has filled with reports on interviews, summaries of learning centers, reflections on the Night of the Notables itself, and the students’ work continues to astound. Though the grade tens in the class are busy at […]

A letter to my students, on a night they were alive

Dear Jordan, Justin, Louise, Kiko, Ariana, Julie, Saskia, Katie, Clare, Nick, Andrea, Steven and Darren, Tonight you were fifteen and yet brimming with a wisdom so beyond your years. You were the inhabitants of characters written into history, and yet discovered newly in these last weeks, lit aflame under the power of your sheer determination. […]

To find your own way…

“To find your own way is to follow your bliss.” Joseph Campbell This past week I have had the supreme pleasure of witnessing a parade of grade nine eminent person speeches, each of which utilized a unique perspective and inspiration of creation that is the mark of a supportive cohort of learners and has set […]

If a student asks a question in a classroom, how many people hear it?

After a busy weekend I finally have a minute to share an experience with the sheer logistical aid offered by social networks – chiefly blogs and Twitter – during one student’s journey in writing her eminent person speech on Margret Rey, author of the Curious George books. During our conference last week concerning her plans […]

Grade Nine Eminent Person Speeches: Day I

Today our class began presentations of the grade nines’ Eminent Person speeches. We were treated to diverse and captivating presentations by Liam, Meghan and Nick on Niccolo Machiavelli, Florence Nightingale and Winston Churchill respectively. As the nines are challenged to deliver 8 – 10 minute addresses from the perspective of someone who would have known […]

The Interviews Take Flight

With my ears still ringing from one of our program’s cultural outings, this one a benefit concert put on by local bands – including TALONS ’09 alumni Jeff Huggins’ band the Knots – at Centennial Secondary, organized by grade ten student, Kiko, I am compelled to report on a few highlights in the class’ interview […]