Friendship and Facebook: A Qualitative Study of Social Networking Sites and the Notion of Friendship

This Powerpoint presentation is a creative way to present research without getting too "wordy" or dragging things out. It's very concise and to the point.  Follow this link to the presentation.

Butterflies in my Tummy: Interview Time

At 4:00 am this morning, I awoke to the shriek of my terribly annoying alarm clock, signalling the beginning of a very important day in my life.  Today is the day that I hop on a plane, fly to Calgary, AB. and be interviewed for my dream job at the Canadian International School in Abu Dhabi, UAE.  I am currently sitting in the hotel lounge of a very posh, downtown hotel, waiting for orientation to begin.  There are  a million things running my mind:  How do I stand out in a positive way?  Will my lack of experience be obvious?  Did I pick the right outfit?  I have decided to ignore my nerves and be confident in my skills and knowledge.  If they think I need more experience then I shall get it and apply again next year.  

I am optimistic.  

About Me:

In A Nutshell…

I am Krystle, Krystle Darla Doreen Valliere.  I grew up in the fresh and fierce Northern Saskatchewan CITY of Meadow Lake.  It is important to note the fact that Meadow Lake is a city, because although it may feel like a quaint and friendly, slow paced lifestyle, come rush hour, the one set of traffic lights can indeed cause a ruckus.  By ruckus, of course I mean a three or four car pile up throwing off people's five minute (maximum) commute to or from their places of work.

Anyways, more about me!  I am Metis, which is awesome, although I do not know much about my Aboriginal roots, I am beginning to dig deeper and find out more about this side of m heritage.  I suppose I should have said that I am a Scottish, Welsh, Metis; however, I do not like to sound pretentious.  I am a very social person.  Boy oh boy can I talk, especially if you get me on the topic of travel, culture or language.  All three topics provide the opportunity for riveting conversation.  In my spare time you will find me coaching or playing volleyball, getting my hair wet and swimming a couple laps at the pool or making new friends at the nearest coffee shop.

As of right now, I have to be honest and say that I really do not like technology.  To me, it hinders conversation, causes constant misunderstandings, and only works on a good day.  To sum it up, technology frustrates me.  Of course I am open minded about it.  I can see the good side of technology as well and how it can be implemented into a classroom.  Living in a country such as Canada, this is not such a hard picture to visualize: rooms full of computers, students using iPads or iPhones to conduct research etc.  However, having travelled and taught in different parts of our world, I feel that people are putting so much emphasis on technology that they are forgetting about the basic ways of passing on knowledge.  It does not all have to be about inquiry, and research.  Storytelling and face to face conversation are tools that we should also be concentrating on improving and hopefully we will experience less technical difficulties.

I have been fortunate enough to travel a fair bit before the dark shadow of student loans began looming over every penny I earn.  Thus far, I have ventured to Mexico, Italy, France, Scotland, and Kenya.  All journeys were amazing in unique ways and taught me lessons that could not be learned from a book, website or online journal.  I am a firm believer in the fact that experience is the greatest educator of all and in saying so, it is my goal to see and do as much as possible before, during and after my teaching career.  Technology helps me to stay in touch with the many people I encountered throughout my travels; however, nothing will ever surpass the first hand experience of actually being there.  Had I taken a cell phone or even a camera, I feel that some or most authenticity would have been lost.  I am not interested in "capturing" a moment.  I am more so interested in the feeling, and realness of amazing experiences.  I feel that by actually living in the moment instead of trying to preserve it, I will be better equipped to pass on the knowledge and experience.

5 Card Flickr - An Officer's Paradise

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Five Card Story: An Officer's Paradise

a Five Card Flickr story created by Krystle

flickr photo by bionicteaching

flickr photo by bionicteaching

flickr photo by bionicteaching

flickr photo by dwtno

flickr photo by bionicteaching
Constable Ditter was sick and tired of his life as a law enforcer. He wanted to be free. Every morning, he stood outside of his downtown station and stared down the street at a beautiful building with architecture that awed. "Why can't that be where I work", he though to himself. One day, while on patrol, Constable Ditter was in the hinterland of his jurisdiction when he saw a large canine relieving himself on a fire hydrant. "Man's best friend" he said out loud, "able to 'go' anywhere he wants". Ditter returned to the station later that day and handed in his badge and gun. With a smile on his face, and driving an unmarked car, he drove into the sunset knowing that a new and exciting life lay ahead.

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Grrr….Sometime Technology Just Sucks.

At times, I want to throw my laptop across the room.  Of course, due to my limited student budget, I think twice before actually physically harming any of my relatively expensive devices.

I have big ideas, but can not always make them a reality due to my limited knowledge of technology.  I want my blog to be amazing, but I can never quite seem to make vision a reality.  You may be wondering if I am a patient person, and my response would be that I chose teaching as my career…enough said?  Yes, I am a patient person.  Also, I am not afraid to ask questions or for help.  However, I have found that teaching someone to be tech savvy is a lot more frustrating than not knowing yourself.  What I mean, is that I have asked numerous people for assistance with areas where I lack knowledge, and they get frustrated at the questions I ask, or, refuse to help at all.  Technology is not an easy thing to learn on your own and yet so many who are well versed in the tech world, are not willing to lend a helping hand.  

Grr...

"Jaws" Theme = SUSPENSE: The Door Scene

A little creative project that can be adapted in many ways to allow students to be creative in achieving suspense and grabbing audience attention.  For an awesome resource in teaching Film Education to students as well as some great graphic organizers, check out this link.

Check out our project:

Education For All…?

As a soon-to-be teacher, I suppose I should promote the importance of a post-secondary education and the value found in attending University or College.  If I preached this to my students, I would be lying to myself and to them.  I strongly believe that just as there are different learning strategies and differentiated instruction in grade school, there are also differences in the ways people pursue occupation and careers.  School is not the only answer.  One can find a tremendous amount of knowledge and skills from elders,  peers, travel, religion, etc. that can provide the foundation of a solid career choice and in turn, a "successful" life.  University and college are not the only options for one to choose if they want to be "successful".  Success is a word that has a different definition to each individual.

The following video eludes to the idea that education is not the only answer, nor is it the "best" answer.  It is simply and option and for some, perhaps there are better ones:

Jitterbugs: It's TIme to Grow Up.

The end of my University experience grows closer each and every day…I don't think that I am ready.  I have been applying for teaching positions both in Saskatchewan and overseas.  Some people have told me it is best just to sub for a bit to get a feel fro where I would like to end up.  Some have told me to go big and experience life and teaching overseas.  I have asked my questions and have gotten answers and STILL, I am feeling totally lost.

I suppose the one person I have yet to have a serious conversation with is MYSELF.  So often, I go to others for advice and suggestions before I think about what it is that I really want.  The butterflies have taken flight in my stomach, but I am confident in my skills as an educator and know that where ever I end up, I will succeed.

"You"Nique

Everyone seems to be on the pursuit of being "authentic" or rather, "unique" but the definition of these terms is being lost due to the overwhelming influence of social media.  How?  Social media allows for the world to provide their approval or disapproval at any hour of the day and without cencorship. Public opinion has become a phenomenon that many value in a way that is influential to their every day lives.  The term "unique" is more often than not associated with personal style or fashion choices.  Due to the accessibility to online shopping and the vast amount of fashion blogs, style icons via Instagram, Facebook, vine, etc., the term "unique" is one that is becoming obsolete.  Nothing is "new".  Nothing is "fresh"because if you go online, the same look and style is a simple two clicks away.

Coding Like a BOSS

In just 30 short minutes, I made my typed name COME ALIVE! You can check out my amazing creation by clicking this:

Check out what I created on @Codecademy #mycode http://t.co/R5NPfG4S47
— Krystle Valliere (@kdv3232) March 2, 2014

OR what would be even more amazing is if you tried one of the super simple lessons yourself by going to the Code Academy website and creating your own account!

In the beginning stages of learning how to code, it can prove to be very frustrating because all (or most) of the terminology is new to you, and perhaps you just do not understand the logistics of it.  DON'T GIVE UP!!  It took me about two lessons to really start getting excited about learning how website are created.  It is quite complex; however, Code Academy does a great job of breaking it down into manageable steps.