Adventures in Education

I've been a teacher for the past 16 years.  My first teaching assignment was working with adults, who were either upgrading to obtain their High School diploma, or were new to Canada and trying to get into the work force.  For many of these immigrants they were professionals from where they had come from.  They were doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc.  What an eye opener to see people who were professionals in their home country and had to start all over again.

I then spent 11 years teaching junior high, teaching all subjects and numerous options.  I love hands on learning and worked to get school to be more than a place of purely education.  After 11 years in junior high I switched over to elementary teaching grade 6.  At the little school I worked at my transformation into the teacher I am began. 

It started with reading Dave Burgess' book - Teach Like A Pirate.  The title alone had me (actually I still pick most books today by the titles and pictures on the cover), and what a game changer. Quickly I was down the "Pirate rabbit hole" I read all the Pirate series books.  The two that stuck with me the most are: Play Like A Pirate and Explore Like A Pirate.  I also began to wonder new ways to teach students, which led me discover a teacher not too far from the city I work in.  The man's name is Scott Hebert.

Scott's way of engaged learning and interacting with students is game changing.  He uses some of the most innovative ways to help students.  If you haven't you should really follow him, check out his YouTube channel, buy his books, and he's more than willing to help if you need it.

In my 16 year journey - Gamification/Game based learning has been the most fun way for me to teach, for my students to learn, and has helped to open my eyes to so many ways to engage learners and help them learn.

This blog and hopefully Podcast will be about things I'm using in my classroom, ideas of tried, professionals I follow, or books that I've read.  I believe that as educators we are not the keepers of the knowledge, we are the Sherpa on their journey.  This is why - Adventures in Education will be a place to learn and share.