Exploring the MOOC experience

Here we go, creating a blog.  I must admit, I have only ever done this for online courses that I have taken in the past and I have never made it a habit or part of my daily life.  I hope that by taking the LTMOOC, I will write on a regular basis and not let the blog fall down on the priority list.

Coming from Saskatchewan, Canada, I was not surrounded by many other languages besides English.  It wasn't until I applied to do an exchange in with a student from Quebec that I really fell in love with language and learning a language.  Moving to Quebec really opened my eyes.  I thought I was a strong French student because I received good grades.  Getting off the plane and not understanding my host mother quickly taught me that I had a lot of work to do.  My head hurt for many weeks but by the end, I was speaking French and there was a purpose: so I could make friends and be a normal high school student in a francophone setting.

After my exchange, I sought out learning experiences that would take me back to Quebec.  I did several summer programs and finally decided that I wanted to help people learn the language so I became a French Immersion teacher.  Post-university I took a backpacking trip.  At one point I found myself in a train car with an elderly Spanish couple who didn't speak French or English but were extremely friendly.  8 hours later, I had decided that I would put Spanish on my list of languages to learn.  I started learning Spanish in my summers when I wasn't teaching French Immersion.  Eventually, I was able to start teaching beginner Spanish at the school where I was working in Saskatchewan.

Learning languages always took me to the places where the language was spoken so you could say that my sense of adventure came from learning the languages or perhaps it was the sense of adventure that made me want to be in a place where I couldn't really understand anything.  I eventually moved to Kuwait to teach Spanish, French and English at an American International School.  I was so excited that I would be moving to a country where I would have to struggle to learn a new language.  Unfortunately, I was disappointed to learn that English is widely spoken making it very difficult to learn Arabic.  As I approach the end of year 8 in the Middle East, my Arabic is still in a deplorable state but I try my best when I am able to find someone who will entertain me or try to teach me.  Teaching at AIS in Kuwait introduced me to the International Baccalaureate program where I fell in love with their educational philosophy and approaches to teaching and learning.  Teaching the IB language programs really helped change me as a language educator.  I am now in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.  My husband teaches Physics at an international school here and I am teaching online Spanish for Pamoja Education and I am also working as an independent World Languages consultant with some schools in the area.

I love learning and I am always trying to see where I can learn something new.  Teaching online has opened my eyes to just how much is out there and it sure helps when you are an international teacher because f2f PLCs are often hard to come by as are professional development opportunities that won't cost you an arm and a leg in travel expenses!  I would like to learn more about social networking for professional development purposes; blended learning and how to be a better educator and keep up with the fast-paced changing times that we live in.

I enjoy spending time with my small children (1 and 3 year olds) who keep me quite busy and entertained.  I like to read, bake and spend time outdoors.