A Month in Review

I cannot believe that a month has passed since I started in the Teacher Education program. I knew this year was going to be a lot of work but no one told me how much.  I feel like I have 8 million things to do everyday and there really are not enough hours in the day to do it all.  Despite complaining about my work load, I feel like I have learned so much and have had great experiences with some amazing people in this short time.

Of course, my favourite class so far is my technology class where I am learning how to integrate the latest technology into the classroom.  The class is amazingly interactive and I have learned things that I never knew existed.  Two weeks ago we had a presentation by Lisa Neale who is a 21'st century system principal helping to make sure that technology is used, and used appropriately in the classroom.  But whats crazy is that she's a grandmother.  It takes my father about an hour to send me one email!  Anyways, Lisa's presentation was amazing and incredibly useful.  Zoe, our instructor setup an Elluminate Live chat, which, allowed us to be interactive during Lisa's presentation. We could chat with each other and post things we liked and to my surprise I was able to both listen and follow along with the message board.  If someone missed something, someone else posted it so we could all have the notes from the session.

At the end of the presentation, I got to meet Lisa, which, for me was really special as she is also my Virtual Associate Teacher and my partner in learning about 21'st century technologies for the classroom.  I asked Lisa about Web 2.0, something she mentioned during her presentation and she told me to research it and report back to her.  Luckily, Zoe went over this in the next class and I figured out that Web 2.0 is a name given to the type of interaction one has with a website.  In Web 1.0, a user creates a website that gives information but cannot be commented on or responded to.  On the other hand, Web 2.0 allows a website viewer to respond to information on a website such as blogs or comments on a newspaper site.  

We also learned how to create google sites (Dean's Site), docs and calendars, and learned how they can be useful in the classroom.  I wish that this stuff had existed when I was in school.  The interactive classroom to me, is so important and I hope that I will be able to use technology successfully alongside my students.   

Why should I travel, I get the History Channel?

Great Pyramid at Giza, Egypt

Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Jordan

As you can tell from my first post, I love to travel. For me there is nothing better than taking a backpack and going off on an adventure that is mostly unplanned. Showing up in a country not knowing where you are going to sleep may sound like a terrible idea to most but for me it makes the trip that much more exciting. Though trip planning is of course incredibly important if you have time constraints, a spontaneous adventure is what I dream about. If you are like me and you love history then travelling is important but the truth is that if you don't love history then travelling is even more important. Seeing a site where an epic battle took place or visiting the remnants of what is left of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World, will surely inspire even the biggest critics of learning history. When you stand in front of the Pyramids at Giza or the Temple of Artemis in Turkey, you feel like you have been transported back in time.And if you have a good guide or friend to enlighten you with the truths and myths that surround historical sites, the experience really comes to life. For me, there is no better way to learn any subject that truly experiencing it. For those who love politics and law you can visit the birthplace of democracy in Greece. For those scientists and lovers of medicine you can visit the ruins from the temples dedicated to Ascelpius, the god of healing and medicine. For those engineers, all the incredible building projects of the ancient and modern worlds collide like in Egypt where you can see the bustling city of 12 million in Cairo and within a few kilometres stand in front of the Great Pyramid, in my opinion the most amazing building ever erected.My point is that there really is something for everyone, even if you don't really know it. I cannot imagine teaching students about anthropology, archaeology, religion (Judeo-Christian and Islam) without taking them to Israel to walk in the footsteps of the stories they have grown up on. Not to mention learning a new language or a skill like how papyrus is made. Teaching was not always my passion but after giving tours of the Old City of Jerusalem to friends and family and seeing their reaction and awe to my knowledge and love for history, I cannot think of a better profession for me to be part of. I truly believe that to truly learn something, especially history, you have to see it and experience it, otherwise it is just something someone else told you about, not something you have learned for yourself.

Perito Moreno Glacier, Argentina

The Treasury at Petra, Jordan

Cities I've Visited!!!


View My Travel Map in a larger map

About Me

Hey Everyone,So this is the first blog post I have ever made and I guess I will use it to share a little bit about myself with you. My name is Dean and I am a candidate teacher at BrockU. I moved to Canada in 1989 with my family from South Africa and now I reside in Hamilton with my wife Michelle. I recently returned from living in Israel where I learned to speak Hebrew and Arabic and travelled to many countries all over the Middle East, Africa and Europe. I love travelling and I hope that this blog can be a forum for discussing some of my amazing trips and hearing about some of yours. I am also a DJ and I currently work for Magen Boys Entertainment where I DJ and Emcee weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs and any other event from birthdays to corporate events. I just finished my first week of teacher education and I am already inundated with mounds of work. Who knew being a teacher was so hard??? So far its been great and the people, both teachers and my peers are fun and interesting and have a lot to offer. Again, I hope this blog will be a place where anything can be discussed. I love talking about history and politics but anything from travelling to music is welcome. I have posted a video that was shot at my wedding back in February. It is a song I sang to my wife instead of making a speech. My then fiancee planned the entire wedding while I was away and I felt that I needed to do something. So about two months before the wedding I started thinking of something to do and eventually with the help of some of my amazing friends Scott and Daniella from Flasharilla and my amazing groomsmen, we came up with "Meet My Bride." My very own rendition of "Be Our Guest." I hope you enjoy it but please note there is some inappropriate language. Thanks and looking forward to your posts.