text:
Fixture module

The NX Fixture Module (NXFM) is designed to replace everything from stand-alone controls to wired and wireless networks in indoor and outdoor applications.

Hubbell Control Solutions NX Fixture ModuleThe NX Fixture Module (NXFM) is designed to replace everything from stand-alone controls to wired and wireless networks in indoor and outdoor applications. It provides on/off switching, full-range (0 to 10 V) dimming control, and a built-in astronomical time clock. The NXFM can function as a simple occupancy sensor, but it also includes a passive infrared occupancy and daylight sensor. It also features IntelliDAPT self-adaptive technology, which gives the NXFM the ability to learn its environment and adjust automatically. The sensor head includes a Bluetooth radio, enabling "from-the-ground" commissioning and control with a smartphone or tablet.

Hubbell Control Solutions,

This product is a Finalist in the Consulting-Specifying Engineer 2017 Product of the Year program. View more Finalists and cast your vote at (voting closes June 30, 2017).

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Scottish Third Sector Reacts to the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement

Third Force News (26/11/2016) - Third sector organisations have been reacting to yesterday’s Autumn Statement.

Chancellor George Osborne’s u-turn on tax credits has boosted the sector as has his announcement that lottery money will be protected from any government raid for the time being.

It was feared that as well as crippling cuts to tax credits, Osborne would also announce that the Big Lottery Fund would have up to 40% of its cash re-distributed to arts and sports.

This however didn’t materialise and the relief was palpable.

The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) said the Autumn Statement represented a huge boost for the sector.

John Downie, director of public affairs, said: “The third sector in Scotland can claim two huge wins from the Chancellor’s autumn statement.

“First is the decision not to raid the Big Lottery Fund to pay for cuts to culture and sport. Had this gone ahead, as had been widely expected in recent weeks, Scotland’s charities could have lost out on £30-£70m. This would have been devastating.

“Osborne’s U-turn on his plans to scrap tax credits is to be welcomed but it should never have been on the table in the first place. Thousands of families have been put under huge strain in coming to terms with how they would cope when the cuts hit.

But Downie warned: “Scotland’s third sector has won two important battles, but the chancellor’s war on charities rages on. We need to be prepared to continue the fight in April 2016 when his £12 billion of welfare cuts come into effect.”

John Dickie, director of the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) in Scotland, said the chancellor has only “half-solved” the problem his summer budget created for low paid working families.

The chancellor’s war on charities rages on. We need to be prepared to continue the fight - John Downie

“His decision to drop the latest tax credit cuts is very welcome and will be a huge relief to struggling parents but, as the Treasury’s own costings reveal, significant cuts to universal credit mean that in reality this a stay of execution rather than a full reprieve,” he said.

“It was always wrong to cut support for working families in tax credits and it’s still wrong to cut help for these same families in the new universal credit that is replacing tax credits. Wider benefit and wider tax credits cuts are still going to slash family incomes and drive up child poverty.

“We need to tackle the long term drivers of benefit spending – such as low pay and high housing costs – rather than rationing decency by cutting benefits.”

Children in Scotland chief executive Jackie Brock said 360,000 families rely on tax credits to boost their income in Scotland and that removing this lifeline would have been a devastating blow.

She added: “We welcome the reversal of the proposed cuts, and are glad that the UK Government has seen sense on this issue.

“However, this is not an end to the cuts – simply a postponement. Thousands of low income and vulnerable families who will qualify for Universal Credit stand to lose out when the new system is applied across the UK in 2018.”

Commenting on the Chancellor’s claim that child poverty has reduced Brock said: “Child poverty across the country has marginally reduced, but figures consistently tell us that one child in five in Scotland is living in poverty. This is one too many.”

The chancellor also announced that £25m of banking fines pledged to military charities and good causes from the Libor rate fixing scandal will be allocated over the next three years.

Source: Third Force News

Centre for Scottish Public Policy
c/o Digby Brown LLP
160 Causewayside
Causewayside House
Edinburgh EH9 1PR
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Opinion: Family Court System Expensive, Inefficient And Abusive

, The Connecticut Law Tribune

On Feb. 26, there was a historic vote at the state Capitol in which family court Judge Leslie Olear was only narrowly reappointed by the legislature. This vote came after public protests which gained media attention and after legislators were called into action to address the serious problems in our state's family courts.

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What's being said

  • not available

    I appreciate the Chief Justice Rogers chimed in (years ago, we worked together at the same law firm.) I also appreciate her suggestions in regards to GAL Reform. However "more family relations people" and "more money" are not going to solve the inherent problems which have caused and allowed so many families to be abused by the court system. Its not going to solve the problem where over 11,557 cases are returned to the court post-ruling. That points to a far deeper problem and the one I wrote about - operational problems within the court system itself and judges making ineffective rulings. Reform must come from the top down, not the bottom up. With due respect, family relations people, have no authority to effect the kinds of changes now required. And the court system receives more than enough money - the issue is how they spend what they are given. As with an other institution, the court system needs to show improvement - and results.

  • not available

    Peter-Thank you for your tireless efforts in representing change in a very broken system. My humor this morning is from the person who googled you to find out your background. Perhaps if they scrolled down a bit further and read your testimony http://www.cga.ct.gov/2009/JUDdata/Tmy/2009HB-06629-R000309-Peter Szymonik-TMY.PDF they would see the open and honest person you are. You represent hundreds of victims of the broken court system and I thank you. Peace

  • not available

    This author, Peter Szymonik‘s, written opinion as put forth above, represents a Coalition of parents that make up 100s of Connecticut citizens that are currently in, or have been through, this state‘s family court system. He is not writing only his opinion here, as he represents 100s of us. He has been communicating with us parents on a regular basis for years gaining 650 supporters through his Web site Galreform.org. He has been hearing out our family court grief, hearing about our bankruptcies, our raids of our assets by GALs and others. He has heard about our children that have been heartbreakingly separated from us due to no just cause. He has heard us confide in him about the collusion that we witness between some Judges and their favored attorneys and GAL. He has heard 100s of us say we feel exploited. He is one of Connecticut‘s best supporters of families in Connecticut family court crisis and he not only advocates for all of us, he writes his opinion here representing us too. He advocates most especially for our children, far better than many of these overly paid family court GALs. There is more than a little room for improvement in Connecticut family courts. There is a need for TOTAL REFORM. This state‘s family court is in a crisis mode and finding itself in a downward spiral because too many people in positions to do something about it - have chosen to remain complacent and look the other way as their peers‘ profit margins grow from money that was court-ordered to be paid to them when it shouldn‘t have been. Not acknowledging and not giving credit to Mr. Syzmonik when he reports on the truth of what the consensus of our family court litigants believe to be true, is perpetuating the crisis and making it worse. If you are not going to be part of the solution by promoting progressive reform than you are part of the problem of complacency and are amongst those turning a blind eye to the devastation that these families are ROUTINELY facing from our CT family courts. I have found through my own research that most of the CT Family Court Reform advocates‘ harshest critiques come from those making the most money of it, and whom are currently profiting from our dysfunctional family court system operating its status quo way. No wonder they want to try to discredit those that are putting themselves out there promoting change. They protect their own profits by discrediting those that speak about the need for change. The families in CT family court pay dearly for that profit margin and the price is way too high. Change must happen. Therefore, change will happen no matter what the critiques try to smoke and mirror us all with. The truth of what is really going on here will prevail. Change WILL happen.

  • not available

    Additionally, my personal and professional references, are readily available on my LinkedIn profile - again, the power of social media.

  • not available

    With due respect to whoever raised the concern, an employment related litigation from 2005, has no bearing on my work or views in the area of family court reform. I welcome and would gladly answer questions presented if asked. I have nothing to be ashamed of, or hide. - P. Szymonik

  • not available

    I mean no disrespect but this is a subject that interests me a great deal and so I took the opportunity to research the author on Google. It appears that there are numerous lawsuits in which he is involved as a party, let me just say, more than one would expect of the ordinary parent or worker. Reading decisions and assessments of evidence, I find a shadow cast over the author‘s opinion here. There is always room for improvement, and there need always be periodic review and a willingness to reform the law to accommodate new knowledge and cultural change. That said,this opinion should be read with caution and in context.

  • not available

    In a recent meeting of the Law Revue Committee formed from Bill 6688 (a committee which did not include any divorced citizens), one committee member called the recent Massachusetts reform law a "disaster" (even though we have evidence to the contrary) and prevented what we consider a perfect opportunity to study a viable working system that addresses some of our concerns in the current law in Connecticut governing family court.

  • not available

    Thank you Peter for representing the 100s of parents that have come forward to express that they feel like justice has evaded them in our Connecticut family courts. We are not just a few parents who are speaking out, dozens of us are on the phone with our legislators and 90 parents came out to give testimony in person, or in written documentation, during the January 9th hearing and the subsequent one a week later for parents that couldn‘t get away on Jan 9th due to work and child care issues o,r because they felt too intimidated by the videotaped format going on during the January 9th hearing. Those 90 parents that spoke out in person, by written testimony, or by phone, represent only a small sample of the whole that feel disenfranchised and exploited by our Connecticut family courts. These families in Connecticut are lucky to have Peter Syzmonik out here writing about the core issue to help identify the problems and help to promote positive change. Change is much needed.

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BRIDGEPORT -- Housatonic Community College's enrollment is at an all-time high, but it needs to do a better job to prepare incoming students and communicate with the public, according to staff and community members helping to design a new three-year strategic plan for the college.

Housatonic's enrollment is 6,097 students. The college has opened its doors to qualified city high school students and has a new manufacturing program designed to fill skilled factory jobs in the state.

At a recent forum, about 100 staff and community members came armed with answers designed to help the college develop the strategic plan. Suggestions included improving a student's ability to transfer easily from a community college to a four-year college or university, improving communication between the college and the community and educating students about for-profit colleges that often cost three times or more what it costs to go to Housatonic.

"It is our responsibility to let students know there are more affordable programs with better outcomes," said state Sen. Beth Bye, co-chair of the legislature's higher education committee.

Housatonic President Anita Gliniecki said nothing she heard surprised her. She said the input will be used to help the college come up with a plan by November.

At 47-years-old, Housatonic has evolved into the state's fifth largest community college serving an 11-town region that stretches into the Naugatuck Valley. Just under half of Housatonic students live in Bridgeport. The average age of students as of this fall is 27. Minority students make up two thirds of the student population. Housatonic's enrollment took off when the campus moved to its location downtown in 1997. It doubled its physical plant three years ago with the construction of Beacon Hall, making it a two-building campus. Gliniecki said at 6,097 students, Housatonic is almost at capacity and is on the state Bond Commission agenda to expand again.

But as many as 80 percent of Housatonic students enter needing a remedial class before they can start college level work.

Bye defended a decision to phase out remedial education classes that eat up finite financial aid dollars. She said the school must change the way remediation is delivered so that students get help quicker and more effectively.

State Rep. Andres Ayala, D-Bridgeport, who teaches adult education in the city schools, cautioned against getting rid of remedial classes. "That is when it clicks for some students," he said.

Margaret Hiller, president of the Bridgeport Public Education Foundation, said cost remains the biggest issues for many students wanting to continue their education after HCC.

Robert Klancko, a member of the New Haven Manufacturers Association, challenged the notion that the "end game" of a community college education should be a degree or diploma. What many need, he said, are the employable skills necessary to be licensed or trained.

"They need experiential learning," he said.; 203-330-6218;


text:
cuba > cuba destinations > cienfuegos province
Cuba Junky home page Cienfuegos province Tailor made Cuba trip
Cienfuegos city To do in Cienfuegos Beaches in Cienfuegos Cienfuegos restaurants Cienfuegos nightlife
Scuba diving in Cienfuegos Nature in Cienfuegos Hotels in Cienfuegos Casas in Cienfuegos

Cienfuegos Province

Cienfuegos Province Cuba's smallest province with some sugar industries and some coffee. The province has of everything a bit, or as Cubans say un tin, some flat land, some mountains (Sierra Escambray) shared with other provinces, but this province has his capital city Cienfuegos, a beautiful city where lots of tourists love to come back to each year. As it could be for it's beautiful beaches or scuba diving or eco tourism.

Capital: Cienfuegos City

Junky Dot Com: Cienfuegos &emdash; Cienfuegos Cuba

Cienfuegos (founded by a group of French settlers in 1819), is one of the most beautiful cities in Cuba. It has an enveloping sense of tranquility, a large number of mansions with cupolas, several public squares and -the legacy of its French founders- perfectly drawn streets and well-preserved neoclassical architecture. In addition, there are interesting frame structures on Gorda Point (Punta Gorda).

The Bay of Cienfuegos, which is one of the most magnificent bays in the country, is nearly 35 square miles (90 square km) in size and is dotted with picturesque cays. We recommend a boat ride around the bay, where you can sometimes see dolphins leaping from the water.

It is the venue for annual motorboat races and regattas, and cruise ships put in here, as well. There is a marina (at 22 18'N latitude, 80 28'W longitude-for radio communication, turn to HF 7462 or VHF 16) with a modern recreation room; aqua bikes; yachts; catamarans; and equipment for snorkeling, scuba diving and water skiing.

Founded in 1901, Cienfuegos's Botanical garden is one of the oldest in the Americas. Its 90 hectares contain over 2000 species of plants, most of them exotic, including a collection of palm trees which is considered one of the ten best in the world.

Valle Palace, near Jagua Hotel, at the very end of Punta Gorda (which gives you a fabulous view), is a mixture of the Mudejar, Gotic-Roman, Arabian and Indian styles. It has a fancy restaurant.

Junky Dot Com: Cienfuegos &emdash; Cienfuegos CubaThe city has two cemeteries: reina (founded in 1839), the only one in Cuba that has vertical burial vaults (it also has some beautiful statues), and Tomas Acea, the first garden cemetery in Cuba, which is also noted for its beautiful decorations and sculpture.

At a mile and a quarter (almost 2 km) long, Prado Avenue is the longest street in Cuba; it is flanked by beautiful buildings. Cienfuegos also has several museums (including one on a naval history and the Nuestra Senora de los Angeles de Jagua Polyvalent Museum, which is housed in a fortress dating from the 18th century); the Terry Theater, which is one of the three oldest theaters in Cuba that are still being used; and Villuendas and Marti Parks (the only arch of triumph in Cuba is in the latter).

The city has several good hotels and restaurants offering all kind of food (with the accent on seafood), bars, cabarets, discotheques and other places providing evening entertainment.

Attractions near the city include the Ciego Montero Spa (with excellent medicinal mineral water and accommodations); Martin Infierno Cave (which contains the largest stalagmite in the Americas, around 220 feet, or 67 meters high) and Cuba-Magyar Cave (which is 1542 feet, or 470 meters deep), both of them in the Escambray Mountains; and El Nicho area of the Escambray, which has several waterfalls between 65 and 115 feet (between 20 and 35 meters) high. When visiting any of these waterfalls, treat yourself to a dip in their crystal-clear pools.

Junky Dot Com: Cienfuegos &emdash; Cienfuegos Rancho Luna BeachCienfuegos 's coast is famous for its seabed. There are two scuba-diving centers in addition to the one at Rancho Luna Beach: the Faro Luna Scuba-Diving Center, next to the 3-star hotel of the same name, on the road to Rancho Luna, and the Guajimo Scuba Diving Center, at the 3-star villa of the same name, on the road to Trinidad. The offshore area has over 50 diving sites, many species of coral and fish, caves impressive underwater walls, sunken ships and coral formations such as "Notre Dame", which looks like the towers of that Parisian cathedral and is nearly 11 feet (6 meters) high. Stick around, and you'll see turtles, Barracudas (Spyreana barracuda), enormous Jewfish (Epinephelus itajara), Spotted Eagle Rays (Aetobatus narinari) and impressive but harmless Whale Sharks (Rhincodon typus).

Along the road to Trinidad, between the mountains and the sea, in addition to several ecotourism offers, you'll find a number of beaches, some of which have excellent accommodations.

Marina Puertosol Cienfuegos
Marinas Puertosol
Calle 35 s/n, e/. 6 y 8, Reparto de Punta Gorda, Cienfuegos
Tel: +53 432 551241 Fax: +53 432 551275
Situación: 22°18’ N, 80°28’ W
Comunicación por radio: VHF 16 y HF

Cuba destinations Cuba casas particulares Cuba car rental Cuba flights

Cuba-Junky Facebook Cuba-Junky Twitter Cuba-Junky Pinterest

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Cuba Casa Directory app
Cuba Casa Directory for Android Cuba Casa Directory for IOS

About Cuba Junky Write a review Havana Journal Underground Cuba Travel Guide

  Add a casa particular


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Office Hours

Monday 10:00 AM6:00 PM
Tuesday 9:00 AM4:00 PM
Wednesday Closed - Except Emergencies
Thursday 9:00 AM4:00 PM
Friday 10:00 AM6:00 PM
Saturday 9:00 AM3:00 PM
Sunday Closed - Except Emergencies

Contact Us

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Treatment & Prevention of Gum Disease

We welcome you to our dental website and look forward to building a lifelong relationship with you as your family's dental care provider. When you visit Dr. Bertha Alarcon's Dental Office, you'll be treated with the respect, friendliness, care and skill you expect and deserve from your dental care provider.

Our objective as dental professionals is only to serve you and to make your every visit to our dental office a positive experience right from our first telephone conversation.

Our philosophy is focused on your comfortable care, provided through our hi-tech, skilled service with a friendly, courteous touch.

Our warm and highly skilled dental team members are committed to making your visit to our dental office as comfortable and relaxing as possible. From your first phone call to scheduling a dental appointment that accommodates your personal needs; our business staff is there to help you. Experienced in addressing dental insurance questions, our staff will prepare any necessary dental insurance forms on your behalf and are available to assist you with maximizing dental insurance benefits.

Our Address

Dr. Bertha O. Alarcon
4566 East Florence Avenue, Ste. # 7,
Cudahy, California 90201

Get Directions To Our Practice


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curbell in the community

Curbell is committed to giving back to the communities that we serve. One way we do so is by partnering with students at local colleges and universities on a variety of business initiatives. These initiatives support our business goals while providing students with hands on learning experiences. Throughout the years, Curbell Medical has worked with engineering students at the University of Buffalo on a number of core projects. Two of these projects are featured in the article published on UB’s Campus News Site. We are proud to have a strong partnership with UB and we look forward to continued collaboration in the years to come.

UB Photo - updated


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Global Medium 1000 Grit Ceramic Whetstone
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Ceramic whetstone
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This Global ceramic whetstone, grit #1000 is used for main sharpening. When sharpening knives, scissors, planes, engraving tools, etc, it's most important to remember to maintain the same angle (degree). This applies whenever one is using either a ceramic whetstone, a sharpening steel or instant sharpening tool. Apply a small amount of water to the surface. Hold the knife so that the blade meets the face of the whetstone at an angle of 10°-15°. Ceramic whetstone measures 8 1/4 X 2 3/4 X 1/4-inch. Made in Japan

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text:
Swagger staggered as hacker drops dapper code execution cracker
June 24, 2016
Shah Sheikh (1172 articles)

Swagger staggered as hacker drops dapper code execution cracker

An unpatched remote code execution hole has been publicly disclosed in the popular Swagger API framework, putting users at risk.

The client and server hole (CVE-2016-5641) exists in code generators within the REST programming tool, also know as the OpenAPI Specification.

A module for the popular Metasploit hacking suite has been crafted making exploitation of the flaw easier.

Application security researcher Scott Davis says an injectable parameters in Swagger JSON or YAML files allow remote code execution across NodeJS, PHP, Ruby, and Java.

“By leveraging this vulnerability, an attacker can inject arbitrary execution code embedded with a client or server generated automatically to interact with the definition of service,” Davis says.

“This is considered an abuse of trust in definition of service, and could be an interesting space for further research.”

Swagger maintainers have been quiet, despite the disclosure made last month through US CERT, which was coupled with a patch proffered by Rapid 7.

Other code generation tools may be open to parameter injection, Davis warns.

The Swagger generators are a “powerful” means for organisations to offer developers easy access to their APIs, but many fail to account for malicious Swagger definition documents.

These documents would lead to classic parameter injection.

Maliciously crafted Swagger documents can be used to dynamically create HTTP API clients and servers with embedded arbitrary code execution in the underlying operating system. This is achieved by the fact that some parsers/generators trust insufficiently sanitized parameters within a Swagger document to generate a client code base.

  • On the client side, a vulnerability exists in trusting a malicious Swagger document to create any generated code base locally, most often in the form of a dynamically generated API client.
  • On the server side, a vulnerability exists in a service that consumes

Swagger to dynamically generate and serve API clients, server mocks and testing specs.

Users can do little but “carefully inspect Swagger documents” for language-specific escape sequences, until the affected code generators are patched by maintainers. ®

Source | TheRegister


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text:
Prolific Ocean Plant-Life During Last Ice Age Impacted Climate Change
Craters of the Moon -Huge Reservoirs of Water Discovered

Milky Way Reveals a Massive Hidden Explosion of X-Rays in the Constellation Centuarus

Srvr Astronomers in Japan, using an X-ray detector on the International Space Station, and at Penn State University, using NASA's Swift space observatory, are announcing the discovery of an object newly emitting X-rays, which previously had been hidden inside our Milky Way galaxy in the constellation Centaurus.

The object -- a binary system -- was revealed recently when an instrument on the International Space Station named MAXI (Monitor of All-Sky X-ray Image) on the Exposed Facility of the Japanese Experiment Module "Kibo" caught it in the act of erupting with a massive blast of X-rays known as an X-ray nova.

The MAXI mission team quickly alerted astronomers worldwide to the discovery of the new X-ray source at 2:00 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, 20 October, and NASA's Swift Observatory quickly conducted an urgent "target-of-opportunity" observation nine hours later, which allowed for the location of the X-ray nova to be measured accurately.

"The collaboration between the MAXI and Swift teams allowed us to quickly and accurately identify this new object," said Jamie Kennea, the Swift X-ray Telescope instrument scientist at Penn State University who is leading the Swift analysis. "MAXI and Swift's abilities are uniquely complementary, and in this case have provided a discovery that would not have been possible without combining the knowledge obtained from both."

The Swift detection confirmed the presence of the previously unknown bright X-ray source, which was named MAXI J1409-619. "The Swift observation suggests that this source is probably a neutron star or a black hole with a massive companion star located at a distance of a few tens of thousands of light years from Earth in the Milky Way," said David Burrows, professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State and the lead scientist for Swift's X-ray Telescope. "The contribution of Swift's X-ray Telescope to this discovery is that it can swing into position rapidly to focus on a particular point in the sky and it can image the sky with high sensitivity and high spatial resolution."

"MAXI has demonstrated its capability to discover X-ray novae at great distances," said Kazutaka Yamaoka, assistant professor at Aoyama Gakuin University and a member of the MAXI team. "The MAXI team is planning further coordinated observations with NASA satellites to reveal the identity of this source."

Casey Kazan via

Is this the most local one found? Ummm... Whats the visible spectra look like, and ...

Spell-check, please.

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posted: 1/7/2013 3:59 PM

Faith in Action receives $7,700 grant

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Submitted by Faith in Action of McHenry County

The board of directors of Faith in Action of McHenry County recently announced that the program received a grant in the amount of $7,700 from the Alfred Bersted Foundation, Bank of America, N.A., trustee on Jan. 2.

The funds will be used to ensure that trained staff can meet the increased demands for the services provided to local seniors in need.

Faith in Action is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that utilizes volunteers to provide numerous services to seniors throughout the entire county so they can maintain their independence, dignity and quality of life by remaining in their own home or the home of a loved one for as long as possible. They do not charge for services.

You can provide transportation, visits, yard work, minor home repairs or short-term respite care. While you must be 25 or older to drive a senior, volunteers of all ages are welcome.

If you or anyone you know is interested in becoming a volunteer with Faith in Action, call the office at (815) 455-3120 or visit

    Winner - 2015 Best Website
    Illinois Press Association
    Illinois Press Association


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    Shahrukh Speaks About His 172 Awards And Award Shows Being Rigged Or Not

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    The Badshah and King Khan of Bollywood,SRK spaoke candidly about his 172 awards which he has received till date and if award shows are rigged or not.Ajay Devgn and Aamir Khan generally don't attend Award Shows as they are rigged according to them.


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    CGR Trailers - MARVEL SUPER HERO SQUAD Comic Con Trailer

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    Marvel Super Hero Squad trailer.
    Shop CGR t-shirts and mugs!

    Classic Game Room’s CGR Trailers presents a Comic Con trailer for MARVEL SUPER HERO SQUAD from Blue Tongue Entertainment, Mass Media, Halfbrick and THQ. Marvel Super Hero Squad was released in 2009 for the Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation Portable (PSP) and PlayStation 2 (PS2). Enjoy this look into the past!


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    CGR Trailers - DARK SOULS II Cursed Trailer

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    Classic Game Room’s CGR Trailers presents a “Cursed” trailer for DARK SOULS II from FromSoftware and Namco Bandai Games. Dark Souls II is going to be released for the PlayStation 3 (PS3) and Xbox 360 consoles on March 11, 2014. This is the PEGI version of the trailer. Enjoy!


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"Most upcoming Ubisoft PC games" to use new system requiring permanent internet connection, even for single-player

DRM involving online product activation is certainly not new to the PC gaming world, and has been met with what can best be described as "universal disdain" from most ardent tech buffs upon discovery of its presence. Some forms have proven more palatable than others over time -- Valve's STEAM software has become accepted by most as unobtrusive, Sony's five-system limit has spawned networks of strangers trading their account details, and Microsoft's license-transfer kit cues up an extra ounce of annoyance for anyone unfortunate enough to experience a console breakdown -- but Ubisoft's newly introduced online service platform seems to be destined for a rough reception.

Ubisoft is quick to boast the added value of tying games and the account together, such as unlimited installations, saved games being backed up online as well as locally, and the removal of the once-ubiquitous CD check (this time through legitimate means, as opposed to Rainbow Six Vegas 2) but these new freedoms come at a high cost -- the requirement for a permanent Internet connection, even for single-player. Many gamers have faced the annoyance of a downed internet connection cutting off their multiplayer titles; with the new system, any titles tied in to their account will be unplayable in single player as well.

According to Ubisoft's FAQ page, "most upcoming Ubisoft PC games" will make use of this new system. It is currently being trialed with the beta of Settlers 7. What makes this different from the activation systems common in other PC games is that it requires a constant connection to the Ubisoft servers -- a heartbeat signal telling the game to keep working. And unlike STEAM, which can run in an offline mode for single-player games, and even keep multiplayer games like Team Fortress 2 going, losing your internet connection in the middle of an Ubisoft game equipped with this new "feature" will pause the game while it attempts to reconnect. The FAQ provides a rather ambiguous answer to what happens if you can't get back online, in that "you can continue the game from where you left off or from the last saved game." Hopefully that "last saved game" wasn't too long ago.

But for those of you loyal Ubisoft customers worried about being forced to sign up for an online account and provide private data, don't worry. Ubisoft's FAQ has an "answer" for that question as well:

Why is Ubisoft forcing their loyal customers to sign up for a Ubisoft account when they don't want to give their private data and only play single player games?
We hope that customers will feel as we do, that signing up for an account will offer them exceptional gameplay and services that are not available otherwise.

"There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance." -- Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer
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Category: Building Community

Nobody Said It Was Going To Be Easy

It’s the start of October, which means that last month was the hardest month of the teaching year. In September, is when I lay out the expectations, the groundwork and the flow for the learning in our classroom. With this comes the hardest and most frustrating aspect; getting the students acquainted with technology as a learning tool.

I have heard the gripes from fellow teachers and I myself used to say it too ” They don’t know how to log in! They won’t ever remember log-ins! How can I manage 25+ kids with different devices and access?” etc. The key I finally discovered was that it wasn’t hard for the kids….it was hard for ME. I switched my mindset around and started to focus on how to make it a smoother transition for all of us because I have seen first hand the powerful learning that can happen when a student is using a device as a tool to empower, create and explain their learning. It becomes second-hand nature to have that device ready to go when it’s needed.

I have been asked many times how I manage to get the kids ready to go so quickly and my advice is “Roll up your sleeves, and dive in.” It’s messy, it can be frustrating, it can drive you to insanity, but at the heart of it all you know that it is what is best for them and their future.

Here are a few tips I have experienced first hand that may help:

Use the expertise in the room

You are not the only expert in the room, and I am willing to bet that there are a few students in your class who have done this before or are quick and savvy learners. Put them to work helping their peers. I always tell my students “I am only but one Miss Ariss”, however there are some of you in here who can help me and your friends so we can learn this quickly. If you stand and deliver and expect every student to follow your exact move as you click on your computer… will be in for a world of mental anguish. I liken this to going to a PD session and the presenter hasn’t gaged the level of expertise in the room and treats us as if we are all beginners. I’ll be honest, if its something I know already, then I’ve started to tune them out. Our students are no different. You will have kids who know how to log in, who know how to make the @ symbol, and who know how to troubleshoot. Honour their expertise and build a collaborative, caring classroom community at the same time.

Set High Expectations

I know some teachers will print out their student’s emails or login info and passwords and give to them. I find that level of scaffolding to be great as a start….but at some point they will have to rely on themselves. With the exception of the students who I know need this scaffold, I post their log in info on the board and give them the responsibility of logging themselves in. At some point, after numerous trials and errors (with support by me,) they get it. Is it easy for them to memorize and copy their log in info, password and websites? Not a single bit, but they are learning perseverance, problem solving and building their confidence in doing this hard thing on their own. There will be tears, there will be stress, there will be anxiety…but there will also be triumph and pride.

Keep Everything In One Place

Let’s be honest…as an adult I can barely keep track of all of the websites, passwords, logins etc and I don’t expect my students to do so either. I start off small with logging into the computer system with their information and we practice going to our classroom blog. This in itself is a feat because learning that the Google search bar is not the same as the url bar when typing in a website address is just one big lesson. I keep all of the important links that they will need – Google Drive, Classroom, Creative Commons, School website, Government tests, et.- all on the blog for quick and easy access until we are at a stage where they are comfortable and strong enough in their technology use to type in other sites.

So yes, it might be easier to just hit print on the photocopier and hand each student a neat little packet without the hassle of the above, but is it what is best for them or for us? Are we living in a neat printed packet world or is our world digital, messy and requires us to push buttons and try new things?

Integrating technology in the classroom is not easy and it’s not meant for all tasks, but no one ever said anything about teaching being easy. We all just know that it’s worth it.

Little Reminders

c6142c3de003c97b7820b790ccbd3be6Today was one of those days when I hit the ground running and while its 8:30pm, I’ve yet to stop. As educators, you know this type of day well:

  • Running late as you drop off dog/children
  • Forgetting your lunch at home
  • Schedule changes
  • Forgetting things and having to walk back and forth
  • Drinking 5-times the re-heated coffee
  • Lessons not the way you’d envision
  • Losing your keys
  • Worrying you aren’t doing your absolute best
  • No bathroom break until you reach a point where your body just understands…it’s not going to happen….and you lose the urge….
  • You hold all of this in as you go through the day and have an awesome time with the kids.

Today was one of those days and as a coach I had students depending on me to be at our first cross country meet after school. So starving from the lack of lunch, mind hyper-focused on making sure I have everything for our meet….I pushed through.

These are the things we do as Educators. We put our all in for our students without question. We do it out of love for them and for their futures.

I got home at 8pm exhausted and with a fast food order because cooking wasn’t happening either, and as I flopped on the couch, my cell phone buzzed.

It was a text message from the parent of one of my runners:

“Hi Miss Ariss,

Thanks for taking the time to train with the kids for running. ***** had a great time at the meet today.”

Attached was a beautiful picture of one of my little runners, ever so proud, holding her ribbon.

I burst into tears! Yes, we all have these days, but when we receive notes like this, it puts everything into perspective.

These little reminders that our hard work is making a difference, that our care and love for our students is noticed and appreciated, and that no matter how exhausted physically I am, my heart has never been more full.

What I Have Learned To Be True

If someone were to ask me what I thought my greatest strength as an educator was, they may be surprised when I say it’s not technology as that is what I am most vocal about. While I love technology and use it purposefully in every way I can, it’s not what I would identify as my greatest strength or contribution.

In my five years as an educator and my varied experiences ranging from teaching Grade 2- Grade 6, I have discovered that my strength lies in my strong connections with students. When reflecting on this, it occurred to me that my passion for working with children has always been innate and it took removing myself from the comfort zone of corporate life and embracing what I truly love to understand that education is my calling and purpose.

It’s summer break and those connections have become evident to me from the amount of emails and messages I have already received from parents and students. I also recently read this article “13 Reasons Students Hate Teachers” which made me wonder what it is that I know to be true about kids and what I have learned from teaching that I hope makes a positive difference on the life of a child.

I’m five years in with so much more to learn, experience and grow. These five years however have taught me the following about kids:

1. They are free-spirits.

They say what they feel and notice, do what they want and enjoy the small things in life that most of us adults gloss over. They can mix and match outfits without care or worry about judgement because they love the colour. They dance, play, laugh and can talk up a storm when comfortable because it’s fun. They will pick flowers (weeds) for you because they were pretty and draw you pictures because they look up to you without concern. They live life to the fullest which is something that can cause unease with adults who are unable to go with the flow or appreciate their whimsy.

2. They are funny.

When was the last time you sat down with a group of kids and really and truly listened to them? When did you spend quality time at recess or lunch and just chit-chatted? I will guarantee you that some of the jokes and life experiences they have will have you in stitches. We often overlook that “free” time during school to catch up on emails, photocopy papers, run errands, but if we slowed down and took that time to hear and be a part of their stories, our own lives would be made so much brighter.

3. They are human.

This point is the one that I hold closest to my heart. They are not robots or machines churning out worksheets, booklets and dioramas. We do not get them fully charged every morning nor do we get to plug them in upon arrival to school in order to do “work”. They have full and complete lives that do not centre around school and we must honour this. There will be days where they are tired, hungry, upset, anxious, worried, scared and those are the moments we must stop what we are doing or have planned and talk to them, work it through and support.

4. They are honest.

Yes, you read that correctly, they are honest. If a child trusts you and knows you have the best of intentions for them, they will tell you the truth whether they are in the wrong or not. Without a solid relationship built on trust, honesty cannot be forged. The reason most people lie is because of fear and if they knew that the person they are being honest with cares about them and is not out for punishment but is there looking out for them and wanting to help them be better, they will tell the truth.

5. They are not looking for a boss.

I am a leader, confidante, guide and a trusted adult who is there to support them in learning about the world around them. I am not their boss nor do I ever want to be. This is not to be confused with being their friend either because that too is not my role. A student once told me ” Everyone always nags, nags, nags. Thank you for getting us and giving me a chance to do things on my own.” As an educator, I guide them in the right direction and in making the better choices. I teach them the tools they will need to succeed in life and I will be there for support in the areas they are struggling in both academically and socially.

6. They all have special needs.

Every single one of us is unique and all of us have areas of strength and areas of growth. There hasn’t been a single individual I have ever encountered in my life that didn’t require assistance in some way and this is the same for all students. We provide varying accommodations for all students depending on their needs at certain times which takes a strong educator to identify and apply. Every child deserves an education that allows them to be pushed to the barriers of their understandings. This requires dedication and hard work on our part as educators to ensure we are providing varied activities, assessments and content which target every child with what they require to learn.

7. They possess emotional strength greater than most adults.

When I hear the life stories of some students, my first thought is usually “how are you still able to bring yourself to our classroom everyday and engage in the learning because I know I couldn’t do it.” School is the safety zone away from whatever else is going on in life for a large majority of students that enter our schools. Some stories we know about while there are many others we may never know about however despite the turmoil, they show up everyday. I applaud and honour their strength and every day in our classroom is a celebration of life and learning because school is the one place in the world we have the power to make that possible.

8. They are curious.

They want to know what, how, why, where and who over and over and over. If they don’t, then their natural curiosity has been stopped at some point or they have learned that the schooling system doesn’t give much time for curiosity so why bother. It is our responsibility to ensure they retain that curiosity because it is the foundation for deep learning. They are curious because they care, are interested and looking for a way to understand. If we honour and harness this by not only allowing but encouraging it, they will engage in meaningful and relevant learning.

9. They want to love school.

Note that I didn’t say they all love school but that they all want to love school. Every year they walk into the unknown with a new class and a new teacher which could make or break their entire year. They start the year hopeful and excited because they truly want to learn, want to have friends and want to be a part of the community. We, as educators, have the ability to ensure this excitement remains all year-long for all students. Some start the year with self-imposed labels from previous years: “I’m always in trouble”, “I can’t do math and I am not smart” or “I have no friends, so I don’t want to be here”. We need to see these as cries for help and work with students to ensure they get past them. We need to find out the reasons and causes and together come up with the solutions to help them because deep down, they want to love school.

10. They are longing for connection and meaning.

They want to know that this place they have to go to every day where they spend the majority of their time is for a purpose. School has to connect to their life which means it must integrate the same tools and ideals they use outside of the building, build on their understandings and curiosities as well as be relevant for their future. No longer do we live in isolation and there is no reason why our classroom doors should be closed. Kids are connecting via social media, Minecraft and YouTube videos,to name a few, and yet school remains this isolated entity. They want to know how others around the world live, work and learn. They want to know that what they are learning has a deep purpose and is not just repetitive busy work. If there is a disconnect, they will disengage. The best way I found to do this is by explaining the “why” and having those full classroom discussions about the relevancy and purpose of the learning happening but most importantly by being flexible enough to change everything if need be to ensure it truly is meaningful to them.

The education of our youth goes far beyond just delivering curriculum and providing assessment after assessment. They are children and we are so lucky to have them in our lives each and every day. I cherish the learning I receive from each of them and I am so honoured to work with every child that enters my life. The above is my own personal roadmap and while I know not everyone will agree, it is what I follow in my heart and what I have learned to be true.

Finding Strength Through Change

changeThe word “easy” has never been in my vocabulary as I continually seek those opportunities which lead me to be challenged and pushed to reach my highest potential. If those opportunities are not to be found, I often create them for myself.

This school year has given me those types of experiences, the ones which are challenging enough to grow me not only as an educator but also as an individual. I am not only learning about who I am as a teacher, but who I am as myself and how this influences everyone that I have the honour of working with and for.

I began this school year in a new city, in a new district, in a new school with colleagues I had never met and in a new grade with new students coming in from various other schools. To say that I embraced change would be an understatement, however I didn’t realize that when you leave yourself vulnerable and open to so much change, that it becomes about overcoming and learning from the challenges that come your way in order to truly grow.

The following excerpt was from my blog post entitled 2014 – My Year Of Change & Growth, I decided to include it here because it was the catalyst for me to finish off this school year strong.

“September 2014 – December 2014

When I first started this reflection I didn’t fully grasp or realize the amount of learning accomplished during the final half of 2014 until I started looking at the photos I had taken. I have grown immensely both personally and professionally in these past few months by being active in my new community and surroundings, by embracing the uncomfortable, by being honest and open about my strengths, strong passions and areas of growth but most of all in my own self-confidence as an educator.

I found myself surrounded by communities of support, expertise and varied experiences in an environment prime for growth. This is what I had hoped for and I knew it wouldn’t be an easy journey, but I have never been one for easy. I have come from close to 5 years of independent teaching in small rural schools. I have always planned, coordinated and constructed all of my own materials, units, and assessments based on my own student needs and most recently, students with whom I had looped with for three years and knew like family. I now was in a team of six grade five educators collaborating together on the learning for our students, in a school almost seven times the size of my previous.

Reflecting on the start of the school year, I see now that underestimated the transition into this. It has been years since I needed to share who I was, my true self, with other educators, as when working within a small district everyone knows everyone. My other collaborations have been with educators who follow me on Twitter or read my blog and have a strong sense of who I am. The individuals within my comfort zone, who are my rocks, all know my deep passion for learning, know how excited I get at the thought of planning a unit with my students and finding those connections for them, know that I am honest, genuine and will ask a lot of questions because I have a need to know the why behind everything I bring into my classroom, but that mostly I care…about everything and everyone all the time.

I learned that when working within a large group, fostering a relationship beyond work is essential for the dynamics because once everyone truly knows one another a foundation of trust and an environment where vulnerability is welcomed can be built, however that this also takes time. Effective collaboration doesn’t happen overnight, it needs to be built step by step by each individual party. My sheer optimism and strong will to ensuring meaningful things happen despite obstacles, is who I am however this is something that is shown over time through sincerity and action. I am learning how to communicate my passions, thoughts and ideas outside of my comfort zone and am pushing myself to hear (not just listen) and understand more and more.

These few months also taught me about the power of student connection and relationships. I had worried whether I would be able to connect with a brand new group, but as the weeks went on I started receiving hugs, drawings, jokes, stories from home, open discussions about their lives and genuine interest in mine, shared laughter and that feeling of knowing these are the amazing kids I am so lucky to know and work with every day. I love the community we have built and will continue to grow.”

The first half of this school year was a blur of learning and adjusting to everything that was around me. I felt lost and at times overwhelmed by the needs and expectations I had placed on myself to ensure that students were receiving the best learning, that my administration was proud of the learning happening in my community, that I was building strong relationships and that I was doing everything to the best of my abilities at all times. This type of pressure can be healthy if its pushing you to grow, but it can also become unhealthy if it becomes so much that you feel like you are barely keeping your head above water. My previous teaching experiences truly helped as I was able to find my balance and learned to create boundaries for myself. I began to make time for myself, to be ever mindful of my presence, to prioritize tasks based on student need, to delve deeply into one or two areas and alleviate the pressure  from others. Taking on a positive learning attitude without fear, worry or doubt (which can creep in when faced with a significant amount of change); to one with self-confidence and a focus on student learning will shift your perspective around.

The amount of learning the students and I had this year has been indescribable. Together we faced the challenges of being surrounded by “new” and grew wholeheartedly as a mini family. Any concern, issue, problem that came up whether in the world, at home or in class we discussed together as a group to solve. A level of mutual trust and respect was established between us and I am so proud of the work they accomplished this year. Their growth, happiness and well-being is what fuels me to keep pushing myself because in facing my own challenges I was helping them to face theirs.

As I had stated in my last post Forging The Path, I have grown a considerable amount this year and my focus has been on learning for students and for myself. I needed to take the time to be hands-on getting messy and experiencing everything that life was bringing my way in order to be authentic in my sharing and in my teaching.

So what new learning did we accomplish together you ask? Here is a brief list of everything we dived into this year all of which were new to my students and many new to me as well:

1. Chromebook use & integration as main resource and access to modes of learning for all students

2. Utilizing the Edublog system for blogging and creating individual student portfolios

3. Accessing Google Drive and creating individual student subject folders

4. Students learning how to blog, connect, use google apps for education, embed items into blogs, create links, group chats and copyright usage

5. Google Classroom facilitation for both students and myself

6. Book Clubs with audio recorded reflections which were then embedded into blogs

7. iMovie Book Trailers and summary videos

8. Multiple feedback loops across all subjects and projects

9. Use of in-depth authentic mathematics projects

10. Inquiry-based Problem of the Week projects for mathematics with detailed reflections and criteria

11. Socratic Circles in Social Studies on which region of Canada is best to live in

12. Full inquiry in classroom chemistry with the use of outside experts

13. Story writing in google docs and publishing to iBooks using Book Creator

14. Global Citizenship through Drama where we teamed up with Trickster Theatre on student research of child soldiers

15. Conducting deep research using media literacy skills and citing digital and print sources accurately

16. Paper Slideshows detailing impacts of Immigration

17. Experiencing the power of innovation and freedom to dream through Innovation Weeks and our trip to the Innovation Lab at our local library

18. Students utilizing metacognitive skills to purposefully reflect on learning

19. GoodReads for reading goals, reviews and connecting reading communities

I’m certain I’m missing more and when I look back at it now, I am in awe of what we accomplished this year. We took risks, we had many technical difficulties, we persevered when projects were taking long to finish, we asked for help when we couldn’t find the answers, we took breaks when our brains and bodies needed them, we cried from frustration at times but looked to the support from others around us but most importantly we faced these challenges and grew with and from them. They changed us for the better and we wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

Classroom Learning – Feb. 9 – 13, 2015

This month has been flying by as its been full of short weeks filled with a lot of activity! My students have been hard at work but we also made some time for celebrating the work and learning we have been doing.

Language Arts

We are well into our read aloud Wendell The World’s Worst Wizard. We have learned about the differences between gnomes, elves and trolls as well as wizards and witches. The students have been reflecting on their connections, inferences and predictions as well as other criteria as we move forward into this story. They have each chosen either a specific character from this book or a type of character and started brainstorming their profiles so that they can create depth for their character when we begin their narrative writing pieces next week.

This week we discussed juicy adjectives and descriptive words. Students researched a variety of words and then applied those to their peers in our Friendship Adjectives Hearts:

Each student left a descriptive adjective about themselves and their peers on their heart.
Each student left a descriptive adjective about themselves and their peers on their heart.

Students have also started their book clubs! I have never seen more excitement and enthusiasm for reading in all of my years of teaching so watching them jump for joy when books where distributed was wonderful! I credit this in part to the fact that they all chose their own books based on interest and abilities. They all decided within their groups as to how much they will read before providing reflections. Each group also created a collaborative Google Doc which they will record their questions, comments and information to share with me and the classroom.

Here are some photos from their meetings:

We use a variety of tools and resources. We read, converse and record our learning.
We use a variety of tools and resources. We read, converse and record our learning.

We are nearing the second loop of feedback for the student’s Resort Reports. I have asked that they each work on them this weekend whenever possible so I can provide them with additional audio feedback. They will be given more time next week to listen to feedback and apply to complete their work. I have loved using the add on Kaizena for the audio feedback!

We completed a brief experiment together on growing crystals and students were able to observe their findings from last week’s  solutions.

Verifying our hypothesis and updating our observations.
Verifying our hypothesis and updating our observations.

Social Studies

The student’s jot notes and research skills are moving forward as they continue to research the two regions of the Arctic and the Great Lakes LowLands. I assigned each student a google doc for jot notes and one for a bibliography. They are loving using the add on Easybib to create their works cited. They are using both text and online resources and have learned how to cite each resource. They then also created two separate Google Presentations focused on each region of Canada and will compile their research into a personal presentation with a focus on guiding questions.

Starting our region research, creating our jot notes and answering our guiding questions!
Starting our region research, creating our jot notes and answering our guiding questions!
Students are required to use a variety of text and online resources for region research.
Students are required to use a variety of text and online resources for region research.

Our Falling Backwards pieces have turned out amazingly! Some students are still finishing up and we will begin Dragons next week!

Some of our self portraits falling backwards...can you guess who we are?
Some of our self portraits falling backwards…can you guess who we are?

Valentine Buddies

This week we also gathered with our Grade 7B buddies to work on our collaborative art. We decided that this would be an awesome time for us to make our buddies some Valentines and they created some for us in return. We also set-up all of the treats brought in from both classes and shared while working on art together. It was so heart-warming to see them so excited in making, distributing and receiving Valentines. I truly believe one is never too old to celebrate love, kindness and friendship.

Distributing our Valentines and reading them!
Distributing our Valentines and reading them!
Our collaborative murals are coming along quite nicely!
Our collaborative murals are coming along quite nicely!
Cheers to lemonade, good friends, goodies and school!
Cheers to lemonade, good friends, goodies and school!

We received some high praise from the ski instructors at Rabbit Hill Ski Resort on Friday. Two instructors approached myself and Mrs. Krefting at the end of the day with huge smiles on their faces and asked us if we were with the students from Greystone. We said yes, and they began to say how absolutely wonderful our students were. They said they have never had such an incredible group of kids who listened and were so respectful. They were so happy with them that they wanted to give them something and so they opened up another area for them that they normally never do. They wanted us to let our kids know just how much they were thankful to have worked with them today and they also said please bring them back anytime!

To say I am proud would be an understatement!

I tried to capture some photos of everyone skiing, however most were so far up on the hills that I was only able to capture a few in action.

Skiing at Rabbit Hill!
Skiing at Rabbit Hill!
Exhausted from a day of skiing but so very happy!
Exhausted from a day of skiing but so very happy!

We have had a great week! I can’t wait for the next!


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Our “Who Do You Think You Are?” Presentations

Students today had the opportunity to connect, collaborate and share their family’s history with their peers from Mrs. Krefting and Mr. Kolody’s class. They each had presented their findings to one another in our classroom and received both peer and teacher feedback but this afternoon they connected with peers outside of our homeroom for a different perspective.

Each student paired up with one or two other students to present and learn about one another’s ancestors and family origins. Thier discussions were centered around our three guiding questions for Social Studies:

  • Why did your ancestors come to Canada?
  • Where did they settle?
  • Why did they choose to settle there?

Each student-chosen group was provided with a venn diagram document on which they took jot notes of their partner’s family history, their own family history and the differences and similarities between. Students were quickly able to pick out the most important of details and make those connections about their own families.

It was an incredible afternoon of connection and learning and I have never been more proud of LC5B!  Here are a few pictures of our learning this afternoon:

Our next step was for students to blog a reflection to share their learning with a focus on:

  • What they learned about themselves and their family
  • What they would do differently and what surprised them
  • What they felt was the most valuable part of the process

If you’d like to read their reflections, they are posted on their blogs at www.psdblogs.ca/dariss, however these are a few highlights:

Who Do You Think You Are Reflections

1. Ashley

2. Ian

3. Cassie

Classroom Learning – Term Two Update

Hi everyone,

I hope you all have had a wonderful holiday break and a great first week back to school! We eased back into our routine last week and have begun some new projects. Below is a brief overview of the learning focus for in our room for this term:

Language Arts

We are finishing the book Out Of My Mind for our read aloud and students will continue making predictions, connections, inferences and asking questions for our reading strategies. They will post their reflections on their blogs and this term we will have a deeper focus on conventions in their writing. Emphasis and assessment will be placed on capitals and punctuation use in all writing.

We will also be focusing on the Organization trait in writing and students will be learning how to gather their thoughts and compose them in a fluent way. We will start a group read aloud on the book Wendell The World’s Worst Wizard and students will have the opportunity to write their own stories with detailed beginning, middle and end while also connecting predictions, inferences and questions with other classes also reading this book.

Students will also start their own book clubs and literature circles this term. Books will be chosen by student groups so as to focus on their interest but also their instructional levels. This may involve some at home reading if a student is not able to read in time allotted in class time. They will meet daily with groups and discuss the book, its contents, their reflections and predictions. Individual at home reading is still to continue whenever possible and is to be recorded on Good Reads or in their reading duotang  – whichever they have been assigned. Students are encouraged to continue to review their books, provide recommendations and search for additional books they want to read on Good Reads as well as set their 2015 Reading Challenge goals.

Our Reading Tree!
Our Reading Tree!

We had a beautiful Reading Tree drawn and painted by the incredibly talented artist Aiden. which we cut out and placed in our room. Students have begun to fill it up with all of the books they have read and rated. Our goal is to have it overflowing by June with all of the books we have read!

We are working on our multiplication strategies with integrated division strategies so students can make the deeper connections between the two with a focus on fact families and deep meaning and understanding of multiplication and division. Students are also working in groups on Tuesdays and Wednesday with Mrs. Krefting‘s class to strengthen their mathematical understandings. We also are continuing with our Problem Of The Week every Fridays and students will reflect on their processes on their blogs.

This term we have also started participating in the Math Photo A Day Challenge with other classrooms around the world. Students are provided with mathematical prompts daily and they are to find and represent their understandings through a photo. We have begun to tweet our photos on Twitter using the hashtag #MathPhotoADay and I will curate all of their photos monthly and post them to this blog for you!

We are also learning how to use charts and graphs by integrating our understandings with an upcoming Science unit of Weather. Students will be graphing weather trends globally.

We began our Classroom Chemistry unit and students have started learning about the States of Matter : Solid, Liquid and Gas. We have watched a Bill Nye video and they have implemented their jot note skills on the states of matter. Students will begin experiments this week with key learning features: mixtures, crystallization, properties of matter and chemical reactions.

Social Studies
Students have worked so incredibly hard on their family history presentations and we are all so honoured to learn about one another’s ancestries and family backgrounds. They began their presentations to our class this week while at the same time received feedback from both myself and two peers. They have been using an assessment tool and interactive feedback document in their Google Docs which allows them to leave and receive peer and teacher feedback. As a student presented, two peers were leaving them feedback and everyone else was practicing their jot note taking and picking out the most important features of their peer’s presentation. I have never been more proud of the hard work and dedication they are demonstrating!

Presenting, providing feedback and taking jot notes!
Working hard on our presentations and our feedback/assessment documents.
Working hard on our presentations and our feedback/assessment documents.
Providing feedback and taking jot notes, working on our 1000 piece Map of Canada puzzle and presenting!
Providing feedback and taking jot notes, working on our 1000 piece Map of Canada puzzle and presenting!

We will be meeting with Mr. Kolody and Mrs. Krefting’s class this week and re-presenting our family histories in small groups and making connections between the histories of one another.

This term we will also be focusing heavily on the Regions of Canada. There are six regions:  Atlantic, Arctic,  Plains, Canadian Shield, Great Lakes St. Lawrence and The Cordillera. We will be diving deep into the Arctic and the Great Lakes St. Lawrence regions and then collaborating with our peers in  Mr. Kolody and Mrs. Krefting’s class to make the connections between the other four regions. Students will research and participate in a variety of activities to deepen their understanding of each region. They will then write a persuasive argument for one of the regions and present to the LC 5 groups in a Socratic Circle.

Students who are participating in the Minecraft region creation can continue and share their building as they go.

I will continue to update you on our learning adventures as we continue!

Miss D. Ariss

2014 – My Year Of Change & Growth

The start of a new adventure!
The start of a new adventure!

This reflection will be framed in a different format than my usual posts. This is just how I feel I can accurately reflect on the year that has passed as it contained such force and fundamental change that I have compartmentalized most of it by time frames.

January – February 2014

I felt it…that feeling in the pit of your stomach that digs away at you. It whispers quietly at first, but it quickly becomes so loud that you have to listen: “Dana, you need a change.” I loved my school, my co-workers, my district and most of all my incredible group of students who had been my little family for three consecutive years. I remember first meeting them in January of 2012 as they were told they would have a new teacher and a brand new classroom. They had been in a combined grade one-two and extra funding had come up enough to hire a full time teacher for them. There I stood in their old room and watched as each one came up to me, introduced themselves by name and told me their favourite colour. I still remember their anxious faces and their half-smiles as I walked with them down the hall to what would become our new room. “THIS IS OURS??” they exclaimed with joy and squeals as the doors to their new home opened. I nodded yes and in that exhilarating moment, I knew in my heart that I also had found my home.

So when that whispering feeling of change started coming around, I panicked. Ignorance is bliss as they say and so I ignored it.

March – April 2014

I knew that no matter what was to come in the future, my students and I were to be separated at the end of this school year as they moved on up to grade five. I went into full “make the most of every moment” mode and these months brought us so much innovation, creativity, inquiry and excitement in learning. I did my absolute best to ignore that feeling to the point where I wasn’t doing much beyond working. I planned, I connected, I shared, I communicated, I read, I tweeted, I moderated, I presented, I travelled to conferences, I blogged and I taught and learned with my all of my heart for and with my students. These were the most exhilarating moments of teaching I have experienced (all of which have been documented in my blog and our Twitter account Miss Ariss’ Class). I poured my entire being into teaching and making every minute count. However, that feeling of change didn’t go away and it was wearing me down as the days went on. I learned that no matter how hard you want to run from the feelings that scare you, it is often those that need to be felt and addressed. I finally stopped and really evaluated what I wanted and needed:  Leadership mentors, group collaborations, constructive feedback loops for growth, opportunities for larger impacts on educational change, learning PD for my own growth and a more permanent home-base both professionally and personally

Change was happening and that feeling became so loud within that I finally started listening. Sometimes in life, things happen for reasons beyond our control but when we look back upon them, we often see the real meaning and the learning that can occur from them if we have the right attitude. As much as I loved everything about my career, I knew in my heart that my time in my little community, where I felt the safest and happiest I have ever felt, was ending. I could continue to ignore my personal and professional needs for growth and stay in my comfort zone or embrace that feeling and move forward into uncharted change. Those who know me well….know how this story will end.

May – July 2014

I can only describe these months as an absolute blur. Somewhere between full-time teaching, numerous educational conferences, presentations and travelling….I found the courage to listen to my heart. I took a huge leap of faith and accepted a new position at an incredible middle school a few hours away. Many would call me crazy for leaving a permanent teaching position, but they would not know who I am and what teaching truly means to me. Its not about positions, status, rank or authority; for me, teaching is about continuous growth and learning. To truly be an effective educator, I needed to continually embrace the difficult situations and decisions in my life and learn from them in order to grow and develop into who I am as a person which has a direct affect on my teaching, because I teach from my heart. I cannot remain in my zones of comfort and expect my levels of teaching to grow. I needed to widen my experiences in order to become the educator I need to be for every student that I have the privilege of working with.

I make this sound as if it was easy when in reality, this truly was the single most difficult decision of my life. I had built a safety net and it was never harder to accept the truth that nothing in life ever stays the same. I became almost paralyzed with fear; I was so afraid of losing the only family I had come to known, so afraid of moving away from everything that I had built and created, so afraid of what was to come, that I completely became focused on the impact failure could have on me by making this decision. I forgot how much I would champion making mistakes and learning from them to my students, but the difference was that we had built a safe environment for failing. I didn’t feel so safe as my entire life depended on succeeding with this decision I had made. I turned to the safety of my closest friends and family, who rallied alongside me and supported me in every way imaginable. By July 1st, I was living in a new home, in a new city and preparing for a new school, new colleagues and my first group of “new” students in three years. That is a lot of NEW and it happened within a span of barely two months. This was that feeling in the pit of my stomach realized: Change.

August 2014

Questions, questions, questions swirling in my mind all the time!

Where is our room?

Who do I contact for this?

Where can I find?

Will I connect with a new group of students?

Will I make an impact on their lives?

Will my colleagues accept and welcome me?

Can I really do this? Oh wait… I AM DOING THIS!

September 2014 – December 2014

When I first started this reflection I didn’t fully grasp or realize the amount of learning accomplished during the final half of 2014 until I started looking at the photos I had taken. I have grown immensely both personally and professionally in these past few months by being active in my new community and surroundings, by embracing the uncomfortable, by being honest and open about my strengths, strong passions and areas of growth but most of all in my own self-confidence as an educator.

I found myself surrounded by communities of support, expertise and varied experiences in an environment prime for growth. This is what I had hoped for and I knew it wouldn’t be an easy journey, but I have never been one for easy. I have come from close to 5 years of independent teaching in small rural schools. I have always planned, coordinated and constructed all of my own materials, units, and assessments based on my own student needs and most recently, students with whom I had looped with for three years and knew like family. I now was in a team of six grade five educators collaborating together on the learning for our students, in a school almost seven times the size of my previous.

A few of my fun-loving colleauges!
A few of my fun-loving colleauges!

Reflecting on the start of the school year, I see now that underestimated the transition into this. It has been years since I needed to share who I was, my true self, with other educators, as when working within a small district everyone knows everyone. My other collaborations have been with educators who follow me on Twitter or read my blog and have a strong sense of who I am. The individuals within my comfort zone, who are my rocks, all know my deep passion for learning, know how excited I get at the thought of planning a unit with my students and finding those connections for them, know that I am honest, genuine and will ask a lot of questions because I have a need to know the why behind everything I bring into my classroom, but that mostly I care…about everything and everyone all the time.

I learned that when working within a large group, fostering a relationship beyond work is essential for the dynamics because once everyone truly knows one another a foundation of trust and an environment where vulnerability is welcomed can be built, however that this also takes time. Effective collaboration doesn’t happen overnight, it needs to be built step by step by each individual party. My sheer optimism and strong will to ensuring meaningful things happen despite obstacles, is who I am however this is something that is shown over time through sincerity and action. I am learning how to communicate my passions, thoughts and ideas outside of my comfort zone and am pushing myself to hear (not just listen) and understand more and more.

Our LC5B!
Our LC5B!

These few months also taught me about the power of student connection and relationships. I had worried whether I would be able to connect with a brand new group, but as the weeks went on I started receiving hugs, drawings, jokes, stories from home, open discussions about their lives and genuine interest in mine, shared laughter and that feeling of knowing these are the amazing kids I am so lucky to know and work with every day. I love the community we have built and will continue to grow.

We are a family and their words mean so much to me!
We are a family and their words mean so much to me!

Just a few weeks ago, I decided to surprise my previous students by attending their Christmas Concert at my old school. I snuck into the dark auditorium hoping to grab a seat when one of them noticed me from behind the stage. Within a few seconds, they all popped out from behind the stage and began furiously waving to me. I can’t begin to describe that moment, but a lot of tears were involved. The kids I am honoured to meet and work with throughout my career are what make being an educator the most  meaningful to me.

Learning and sharing...always!
Learning and sharing…always!

This term also brought forth a lot of Professional Development and new projects which I am so honoured to have been a part of. Collaborating with other PSD70 educators on the first ever #EdCampPSD70 and co-keynoting the opening with Kelli Holden in the presence of so many incredible colleagues was truly humbling. Kelli and I reconnected again in November to present at ATLE on the use of SKYPE in the classroom.

I was also honoured to be asked to present an IGNITE session by Dean Shareski, who ever so kindly arranged the presentations to start alphabetically which in turn had me presenting first. This required me to dig deep into who I truly am as an educator and helped build my confidence in sharing that with the larger community of educators. Despite the nerves, it was an absolutely thrilling experience where in five minutes I shared my passion for education and spent the evening learning about the passions of others.

I was introduced this term to many new forms of PD focused on #MakerSpaces and #MakerEd, which I had implemented in my previous teachings but never had the opportunity to dig deeper into. From a Saturday road trip to Calgary with my AP and three other teaching colleagues to attend a one day MakerFaire to an ERLC hosted MakerSpace session where I connected with local librarians on the new creation of Innovation Labs in our city. I am so excited to share these experiences with the kids as they completed their first Innovation Week projects in December and will be visiting the labs in January. Not to mention continued collaborations and discussions surrounding Alberta’s Curriculum Redesign which I am currently a part of the committee for my new district in working on the competencies in learning.

In remaining true to myself and constantly having a need to learn and absorb, I along with my #Cdnedchat team continued our weekly collaborations continued and our chat is livelier than ever on Monday evenings! I also jumped in to three separate book clubs with Google Hangout reflections with various educators within my school and across the world to expand my learning and push my mind further. One of the book clubs focused on Leadership through being a part of my district’s Exploring Leadership committee.

Present – 2015 and beyond

My biggest take aways from 2014 have been to always listen to your heart, no matter how scared you are, and that how change is viewed depends solely on how you approach it. Is it an adventure filled with learning opportunities or will you view it as something horrible and choose comfort?

I learned how to truly be vulnerable and to rely on others when I need to. To not be afraid to say I need help or I don’t understand this can you show me. Reach out to others and in doing so, you open the lines of communication and make your connections just that much stronger.

I was reminded by my own inner fear and worries that we all face insecurities, hardships and stress. Our job isn’t to add to that, but to lift it off of one another. Be kind to all, especially the ones who may seem to have a hard exterior because somewhere down their path of life their experiences helped to shape that. Our students may come to school with brave faces, but they are looking to us to create the safety of an environment conducive to learning, just as we need in our own professional lives.

So what does 2015 have in store for me? I won’t even venture a guess, but I certainly hope my years continue to provide me with continued learning opportunities, strong supportive networks and a deeper understanding of my purpose as an educator.

Classroom Learning – December 2014 Recap

December was an absolute blur as we finalized projects and dove into our very first Innovation Week. I have a few additional photos to post for you as during Innovation Week teachers are separated from their classes and are spread out amongst students from all grades and so I was not able to capture every moment.

There are a few photos to add as well from other happenings in our classroom last month!

Innovation Week engagement!
Innovation Week engagement!
They built their gingerbread houses and then wired them using circuits for Innovation Week!
They built their gingerbread houses and then wired them using circuits for Innovation Week!

We also had the opportunity to connect with three other classrooms and program developer Gretchen Noelle from the app Kodable to learn about computer programming and coding. Students had the opportunity to learn about how computer coding their own apps and games feature math, language arts and science. Some were so fascinated, they made their Innovation Week projects centred around coding.

Skyping to learn about Code.
Skyping to learn about Code.


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Hillside Neighborhood

Hillside Neighborhood Revitalization

The revitalization of the Hillside neighborhood has been DASH for LaGrange’s premier project.  DASH began its efforts in 2003 by purchasing substandard properties owned by absentee landlords.   The neighborhood, approximately 275 acres in size, consisted of 400 households; 330 single-family homes and 70 apartment units.  With the City of LaGrange granting Redevelopment Authority status and working alongside us to improve infrastructure, DASH started rebuilding aging houses and selling them, often to first-time homeowners.

Through revitalization, DASH strives for environmental sustainability.  The goal is to eliminate blight while utilizing the existing street and utility infrastructure and maximizing existing amenities such as sidewalks and mature trees.  Sensitive to the historic craftsmen architecture of the neighborhood, DASH carefully considers the design and materials used for new construction and the rehabilitation of homes.  Focused on sustainability, DASH uses building components and construction techniques to minimize future maintenance and reduce utility costs.   All DASH homes comply with EnergyStar® standards and incorporate green building techniques.  DASH completed its first EarthCraft Certified house in 2012.

Creating a vibrant commercial district is critical to the long-term success of Hillside’s revitalization.  DASH works to retain and attract businesses that are complementary to residents needs and those that draw patrons from the larger community into the neighborhood. Existing business owners have been assisted with low-interest loans to make streetscape improvements enhance the appeal of the area.  DASH has successfully renovated two commercial spaces that attract new businesses and people to the neighborhood: Doc Spier’s Gathering Place, an open air venue for community events, and Hillside Station an indoor venue for community activities.  Development options are being explored for other DASH-owned property within the commercial district.

“Neighborhood revitalization” generally conjures up visions of physical improvements – bricks and mortar, landscaping.  The sustainability of these improvements over time, however, is largely dependent on the people who live in the community and who are invested in its future.  DASH works closely with residents to understand their needs and their vision for their community.   Active community leadership is encouraged through involving residents in the development and implementation of programs, services and events that are important to them.  After-school programs, summer day camps, teen mentoring, softball and soccer leagues, holiday events and social gatherings have been coordinated and largely staffed by neighborhood volunteers.

Since beginning work in 2003, DASH has:

  • Rebuilt or constructed 81 single-family homes in Hillside
  • Developed 154 quality, affordable rental units in Hillside
  • Reduced crime in Hillside by 44 percent
  • Increased the Hillside tax base by $6 million
  • Invested more than $20 million in capital in Hillside

While it’s easy to place numeric and monetary values on DASH efforts, the intrinsic value created is more difficult to quantify, but immensely important:

  • Long-time residents feel safe again in their neighborhood.
  • Children are proud of the home they live in.
  • Neighbors care for one another and take pride in their community.
  • Vacant buildings have been renovated and businesses have moved in.
  • Renovations and new construction have retained the neighborhood’s historic charm.

Click here to see more photos of our Hillside neighborhood. (http://www NULL.flickr NULL.com/photos/67333123 null@null N06/sets/72157629422509657/)