It seems like life is getting crazier and crazier as the summer goes on. I am struggling to find time to blog. So here it is.... delayed but finished. 

When I type in "Noelle Broda" into google most of what comes up is nothing to do with me. Of the search results that come up with that search title, the only one that actually is me is the first one. A WAYN.com profile I created when I was 18 years old living in Lake Louise, AB. WAYN is a Facebook type social media page used for people who travel as a way to connect with other travellers in the areas they are in. It is a really cool site. Check it out by following the link above. Other than that, none of the results that came up when I googled myself were anything related to me. 
So I decided to go about this google search a different way. I decided to search myself, and my home town and see what google could come up with. The search results for "Noelle Broda Prince Albert" were much more accurate. Among those I found results from a 10km race that I ran in last fathers day, as well as my Blog, a link to my Relay for Life page for online donations, and links to news articles, which I had spoken to the press for, about a community initiative project I was involved in within my home community. 
However, two thing thats did not come up in my search results were my Facebook profile or my Twitter page. I was not shocked that my Facebook page was not within the search results because I have changed my name on Facebook to something that no one would be able to search me by. I am not really that disappointed that my Facebook profile does not come up, as my Facebook page is personal and I would intend for it to stay that way. However, I am disappointed that my Twitter page does not come up, because I view Twitter as a great way to communicate with other educational professionals.

All in all I am very happy with the search results when pairing my name with my home town. In the future I would like to see my Twitter page come up under my search results, as well as have my blog up higher on the list of results.
 
After listening to Sue's presentation I thought a lot about making sure that my readers have background information about the people I am talking about. I decided to go back and link Will Richardson's blog and presentation into my Tech Task #3 post, as well as linked Sue's blog into this post. Follow this link to see the revised version of my post about Will Richardson's Presentation

 
Well it has finally arrived, the letter telling me my internship placement. I will be in a Grade 1 classroom at St. Josephat school and could not be more excited. I cannot wait to meet my co-op teacher and see the school I will be spending 16 weeks learning to teach in. 

The school could not be located any further from where I live while still being in the city limits of Regina. Having grown up in a small city, where you can literally get anywhere in 10 min or less, even during rush hour, the daily drive is going to be something I will need to get used to. However, I am very excited to learn about a new part of Regina and see new communities in other parts of the city.

I am so excited to be working in a Grade 1 classroom and cannot wait to use some of the things I learned from my auntie while I spent two weeks in Arkansas working with her in her classroom. I guess the perks of having an auntie who teachers kindergarten when I will be interning in a Grade 1 classroom is that we can share all of our ideas with each other. 

I am hoping that I will encounter different diversities within the classroom I am working in, as there was limited diversity within the classroom I was in for my pre-internship. I am excited, nervous, and anxious all at the same time. I cannot wait for the last year of my journey to becoming a teacher, and the semester where I will hope
 
This post is being written while I am watching the movie Bully for the first time. I thought I would share some of my thoughts and emotions with you all.

For those of you who are not familiar with the movie, follow this link to "The BULLY Project" web page to find out more about the movie, and the initiative it has created.

The first thing in the movie that really caught my attention was when Tyler says that he is afraid to go back to school, and then to see the torment that he receives.

I was also shocked to see the principal of one of the schools reaction to bullying going on within her school. Her response was I don't know what to do. She almost shrugged it off. This made me angry, no principal, or teacher's response to bullying should be I don't know what to do. Even if you as the teacher do not know what to do we have a responsibility to the children within our school and classroom to protect them and make them feel like they belong and that they are safe. You NEED to find a solution.

Hearing Kelby and her family talk about the tormenting that she went through after coming out to her peers and community absolutely breaks my heart. Especially that the community is using the excuse of religion to condone their behaviours. However, her response, when her parents offered her the option to leave and go somewhere else, shocked me. For someone so young to have the inner strength not to let her peers and community win, to stand up and say "if I leave, they win" was amazing to hear.

For Tyler's parents to be willing to share his story, and use the tragedy that their family has been through to bring awareness to bullying is inspiring. You often hear of families coming together when a young family member is lost, and creating something that will allow their loved one to be remembered. I myself have been a part of memorials for loved ones lost within my family and community. As inspiring as the projects I have been a part of were, it is truly inspiring to see the parents and family of Tyler to speak out against bullying, to bring awareness to teen and youth suicide. The message they are sending is an important one - No child or teen should feel like their only option is to take their own life. Although we may not be able to prevent bulling, we can try and reduce it. Create a no tolerance policy within your classroom. I know there will be one in mine.

To hear the story of Ja'meya is heartbreaking. That a child feels like their only option is to take a gun to school because they are being bullied breaks my heart. Where were the adults, the bus driver/teachers/principals to prevent the situation from going this far. 

The saying "kids will be kids" or "boys will be boys" is not an excuse to allow bullying to go on.

Schools cannot turn a blind eye to bullying. There are so many bullying initiatives out there now, bring them to your principals attention, do some research, find out what anti bullying programs your school is already involved in. Educate your students on bullying. 

Well the movie is getting emotional and I don't want to ruin it for those of you who have not seen BULLY. If I can leave you all with one last piece of my thoughts, 
 
After listening to Will Richardson's presentation, and reading the questions that Dean has posted to us, I really got thinking about this one. "If you could change one thing about school, what would it be?". I have always been a believer of interactive learning, rather than having a teacher stand at the front of the classroom leading the learning. Maybe this is because I am an interactive learner, but I also think that it has a lot to do with your philosophy of learning, as a teacher. If I could change one thing, it would be the removal of desks in classrooms, and replace them with tables so that the students would sit in groups with each other (similar to how we sit in most classrooms at the university).

As a pre-service teacher I have had the opportunity to volunteer and observe in many different classrooms. The classrooms I have observed the most student directed learning in, are classrooms that do not have desks, or when the desks are not in the traditional rows. Allowing students to sit grouped with their peers changes the dynamic of the classroom, yes there may be more noise, but they also can engage each other in their learning. 

Along with students being able to interact with each other to aid their learning, having students sit at tables, or in groups, also forces the teacher to look for different ways to deliver teacher directed lesson. Having students get out of their desks and sit at the carpet area, removes the distraction of things on or in the the students desk, and gives them only the lesson to focus on. It allows students to become more engaged in their lessons and participate more interactively than they can from their desk. 

Don't get me wrong, student interactiveness has come a long way from when I was a student. Having worked with the Mimio system during my pre-internship, I was shocked at how far classroom technology has come in the past few years, however, although we as teacher will now have access to this technology it does not give us an excuse to make our students sit in their desks and watch a projector screen.

I believe that with the influx of technology into the classroom, we should be encouraging our students to be interacting with each other, as well as with technology. Kids are still kids, they don't like to sit still. 

Even a kindergarten student may surprise us with their ability to use technology. I watched the 5 year old that I babysit navigate her way through her e-reader, download a book, and read it to me. Just an example of the things young children are capable of doing with technology.
 
For the second part of this tech task I decided to do some exploring of the google app Picasa. Lately I have been really into photos, and using photos to document events in my life. The more I am learning about blogging, the more I am realizing that it is something I would absolutely love to use within my classroom. Having a secure site, assessable to the parents of the students in my classroom where I can post what we are learning about, and document some of the students learning, is a great way to encourage parents to become more involved in their child's education. One of my favourite things about Picasa is that you can create a secure space for the parents to go and view photos of their child. Along with a classroom blog, allowing parents access to a Picasa space, where photos are added of their children in the learning environment they can see how their child is learning. I also love that it has so many different editing tools so you can edit pictures to make them look exactly how you want.

I also think that I would use this site in my personal life, as well as my professional life. I love that you can create secure spaces. I have many girlfriends with kids, who use Facebook and Instagram to keep all of their friends updated with photos and comments of their children growing up, Picasa could also be a great space to do this within, as you can control who can see what you are posting. I also think that I would use it while travelling, to update family and friends of the adventures that I am involved in while travelling the world, as I someday hope to do.

If you haven't already checked out Picasa, it is definately worth looki
 
Form my google form I thought it would be fun to find out who inspired each of us to become a teacher. My auntie has been my biggest inspiration in my journey to becoming a teacher, and my journey has created a bond between us that is so strong. I can't wait to hear your stories of who inspired you to become a teacher and why.
 
Finally I am getting my blog set up. I have just returned back to Canada after being down in Fort Smith, Arkansas for the past two and a half weeks, visiting family, and did not have my computer with me. So now I am playing catch up.

My name is Noelle Broda and Prince Albert is home for me. Growing up I was a competitive swimmer, competing all over the province as a member of the Prince Albert Sharks Swim Club. Swimming is a sport I am very passionate about as once I no longer competed I became a coach so that I could still be involved in the sport. I have a passion for fitness and love to spend my free time outdoors running, biking, and swimming. I recently completed my first half marathon and will be running in the Queen City half marathon in September. I also love baking and cooking. If I am not doing some sort of physical activity or hanging out at the lake I can usually be found in the kitchen baking or cooking. 

I have spent a lot of free time over the past few years doing charity and philanthropy work for various groups close to my heart. I was a member of the Friday Night Lights Committee, which raised money to put up lights at our football field in Prince Albert in memory of my cousin. You can follow the link to read an article written about the project Friday Night Lights Project . I also have done a lot of work with Canadian Blood Services and their bone marrow registry work. This is a cause near and dear to my heart as bone marrow transplants can save lives.

As far as family goes, I am pretty sure I am part of one of the most amazing families you could ask for. My mom is most definitely my best friend, she is there 24/7 for whatever I need, no matter how silly. My dad has worked so hard to give us anything we could have dreamed of having and taught us the value of hard work and that we really can do anything we put our minds to. And as far as siblings go, I have hands down the best brothers imaginable. Although I am the oldest, they are very protective and two of my closest friends. 

My biggest inspiration to become a teacher is my Auntie Cathy. She is my mom's sister and lives in Fort Smith, Arkansas (yes I was just there visiting her). She has to be one of the most amazing teachers I have ever seen. She also has the most stuff I have ever seen crammed into a classroom. I go to visit her every spring and spend 2+ weeks with her in her classroom, learning the ins and outs of being a teacher, watching and learning from her, and also spending one-on-one time with students who need extra support within her classroom.

I am looking forward to expanding my knowledge about using technology in the classroom, as I really enjoy working with technology and integrating it into the classroom.