Take it Home Alberta - Summer 2012 Drop in Program

The summer drop in program is for teachers, parents, grandparents and anyone else who is interested in exploring and developing materials from multiple perspectives related to the Alberta Social Studies Curriculum. See Social Studies Overview.   This summer we have two opportunities as follows:

1.  Clobal Citizenship and Heritage Program 2012 - see link (For Grades 1-12)

2. Passing on a healthy Worldview - These sessions are for teachers, parents and grandparents of students in any grade and students going into grades 7-12. The sessions will be in the evening.    Currently we have sessions from a Christian perspective see Unshakable Truth - Worldview Dialog Summer 2012.  If there is interest we may have one or more sessions from multiple perspectives.

All activities are free and open to anyone.  They will take place in room 108 at Beulah Alliance Church West Campus 178th Street and 98a Avenue.

Registration and Orientation for both programs is at 6:30 on July 4th.  If you are unable to make July 4th, send an email to factsc@gmail.com. 

Email factsc@gmail.com for more info. and how to register.

Community Networking Summer Coordinator: Job Summary

This summer, while working for FACTSnet I learned and accomplished many different things. In the position of summer business manager I learned multiple skills. Here I was in charge of doing the payroll, calculating deductions, giving out pay stubs, organizing and updating spreadsheet and helping fulfill all the financial requirements for Canada Summer Jobs. These were all things I had never done before but with guidance I have learned many valuable skills in this role.

My main goal for the summer was to develop francophone connections and networks for FACTSnet. I began translating the most relevant information from the blogs so they could be used by francophone schools, teachers, students and parents. This included information from the Parents as Coaches Network, the Alberta/Japan Network and the Social Studies Network. I made efforts to establish ties with the francophone schools in the constituencies of all the summer students. This was done by a letter outlining and inviting them to participate in our programs and to ask for their input. There was also follow up done by phone. I spent some time working with the Institut Guy-Lacombe which is a support foundation but in place by the Alberta Francophone Parents Association.

A major project done this summer was done in working with Centralata Tourism. Myself along with another FACTSnet summer student produced fictional stories based on historical facts on the Grey Nuns that will be used in schools as a teaching tool. We did extensive research and writing about the impact of the Nuns in establishing Alberta, concentrating on the St. Albert/Edmonton area. The book included curriculum ties and chapter questions for teachers. I also translated the entire book so that a French version will be available. The book will be brought to the publishers by the end of August and sold through Amazon as well as through Centralta Tourism.

In the development of the Newcomers and Visitors to Canada Network I have contributed a section highlighting the organizations and services that francophone community offers for people recently moving to Edmonton.

With the Parents as Coaches blog I made contacts with the Minister of Education office to request information about how FACTSnet participate in new initiatives that the Minister is planning.

The final major project I worked on was the Unshakable Truth study. I attended and contributed to the weekly sessions discussing the book. I also helped find ties between the book and the catholic curriculum so that teachers may be able to use the book as well as the blog as a resource.

Along with all these projects I learnt and developed many valuable skills such as how to contribute to a blog network, working as a team, communication at meetings and through email, business letter writing, networking, dialoguing and time management. Overall my summer working for FACTSnet was very successful and productive.  

Summer Education coordinator: Job Summary

My name is Lindsay Spence, and I was the Summer Education Coordinator for 2012. This summer, we as a group accomplished many things. However, with being the education coordinator comes a lot of responsibilities and goals to be met. From the beginning of the summer term, you need to be well aware of these goals. The beginning of the summer began with a comprehensive look at the social studies curriculum guidelines for grades 7-10. We looked at these grades because of their connections with the Value Based Medium of FACTSnet. Focusing on ‘responsible and global citizenship’, FACTSnet offers an open conversation to analyze and deconstruct the social studies network so it is accessible for not only students, but parents as well. I did student guides for grades 7-10, as well as student transition guides for parents grades 7-10. This was a large job. There are two more grades for both the parents and the students to be completed that could not be done this summer. On top of the student and parent guides, a lesson plan was created for teaching about homelessness was created to be taught at a conference or in a classroom at a later time. The goal is spreading knowledge about responsible citizenship, as laid out in the Alberta education curriculum. See Parents As Coaches Alberta and the Alberta Social Studies Network for views of my work completed.

            In connection with the Parents as Coaches as well as the Alberta Social Studies Network input, I, as the education coordinator, talked to parents about what their child should be expecting entering each new grade, as well as what they could do as parents to facilitate the learning process. This was an incredibly important role to play during the summer. As FACTSnet strives to connect with the community and multiple resource bases, it is important to reach out to the parents as well as the students in order to facilitate learning and what can be accomplished through schooling.

            Another main goal of FACTSnet in relation to the Summer Education coordinator is getting involvement of surrounding schools in each constituency. Teaching responsible citizenship, as well as an intricate look at the Japanese culture (as grade 8 curriculum required) is important to this organization and what we are trying to accomplish. Because of this, a letter was written up with the initiatives for the schools in relation with our organization and sent to all of the schools within each constituency. Next year, we will need to make a greater impact in the schools and actually have participation to accomplish this. However, the issue with this is that we start so late in the year, when regular schools only have 2 months left of classes.

            Another way I attempted to integrate our resources into the classroom was participating in the creation of a book of Alberta History. By writing 9 stories for “The Adventures of the Grey Nuns”, myself and another member of the team were able to get the entire book ready for publishing  with added curriculum ties for classroom use, as well as chapter summary questions. This was a large part of the summer, but it was well worth it, since we will have integrated resources connected to Alberta Education curriculums. It was a large accomplishment for myself to aid in the publishing of a book. It was something I will look back on fondly.

            After these summaries were completed, a lot of blog reconstruction and fixing needed to happen. With so many posts on this website, it is necessary to do upkeep on the website. Being a future teacher, I see simple indexing and smart use necessary to use the website efficiently. David agrees and for next summer, some editing and changes to the website will need to happen in order to create the most efficient and easily accessible resources.

            This summer was fast paced and included a high learning curve. Working with FACTSnet not only helped me learn more about what it would take to be an incredibly informed and resourceful teacher. I look forward to hearing what you have learned through your experience with this organization, and I hope you get as much out of it as I did. 

Lindsay Spence