User:Cmcgill

=My Profile= My name is Chris McGill and I live in a most beautiful little town in the world - Akaroa. I can be contacted at cmcgill@akaroa.school.nz
 * Akaroa is a tourist town located in the drowned crater of the Akaroa volcano on the Banks Pennisula, Canterbury, NZ.
 * Akaroa is the Maori name for this town and translated means Long Harbour.

My Country
New Zealand is a very small country made up of 3 major islands in the South Pacific. Indigeous people are the Maori - who came to New Zealand in large canoes called Waka as early as 1400.

The first Europeans to see New Zealand were those sailed the oceans looking for new 'worlds'. Abel Tasman a Dutchman was the first to chart our shores, while was the first to circumnavigate and plot the coast line of New Zealand.

Whalers and sealers from all over the world were the first semi-permanent foriegners to live alongside Maori settlements. By the time this activity was wanning many had married Maori women and were well settled into the new emerging country. In oreer to give some form of law and order to the newly emerging colony representatives of the Crown (Queen Victoria) and Maori chiefs signed a treaty, this document was signed at Waitangi on the 6th February 1840. This is modern New Zealands founding document,. This document has caused contraversy in the time since 1840 due to the Crown not adherring to the principle of the treaty. Even today this is still being redressed. In 2010 a will be flown alongside the National ensign as we celebrate on Waitangi Day with various activities throughout New Zealand.

Professional Background
Secondary School Science teacher
 * specialising in Biology and Horticulture

Education

 * BSc - Otago;
 * PGDiploma of Horticultural Science - Lincoln;
 * Dip Teaching

Professional
having students excited about what they are learning

Personal
My Booklist
 * Travel is a major component of my life - other people and their cultures. I have been lucky enough to have travelled to:
 * The America's,
 * Europe & UK;
 * Sourth East and Central Asia.
 * When at home gardening, handcrafts, tramping and friends are really important to me.

My Projects
My Project is taking the shape of an inquiry project to begin Yr 9 Science taking on board the International Year of Biodiversity, and the precious environment in which we live. This project blends itself to an interdisciplinary project, involving students in Social Studies, English, Mathematics, ICT, Technologies.

=Akaroa, Banks Pennisua, NZ - My Home=


 * Origin
 * Biodiversity
 * International Year of Biodiversity as our theme for the Science aspect
 * The People
 * Economy
 * Issues for Today, Tomorrow and the Future

.

My Sandbox
/My sandbox/

/Publications/

List of publications

/Assignments/

Upcoming Assignments

To do list

My Reflection
Hmm with days rapidly running out before the new academic year and its associated stress's with an extra Yr 13 class - on-line rather than f-2-f - panic. Anyway the goals for taking this course was to know what it's like to be a student on an online course I lost the plot over the weekend as I threw all the balls in the air and caught none on the way down. How was I supposed to know that & would not be recognised as I tried to import my photo!! The project that I contracted to produce - help. Anyway amazing what a good bike ride alongside the harbour can do for ones cranial capacity - a eureka moment I hope. Watch this space.:-D

Its rather late and I am trying to be smart and upload an openoffice pdf of a student activity onto my user page. The upload seems to have gone well but it appears on the way across cyberspace it has closed like a clam and I cannot open it - it has been uploaded. Maybe I will have to do some reversions - but its too late tonight.

Feedback & Notes from my WikiNeighbours
Hi Chris. Your page looks great!!--Marsha Guthrie 14:21, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

--Patricia Schlicht 19:37, 24 January 2010 (UTC)

Howdy Chris (just found your e-mail (sorry) - my computer is all over the place and g-mail is blocked at school... Meltdowns, I know all about them when it comes to web tools but am a real advocate for their benefits! I can only imagine the pressure of an online course but once you are through the next twelve months I can only imagine that you will not look back. I am currently working on paper free homework and feedback feed forward with a younger group of children and they love it because of the tools! In fact, I am getting triple the homework that I was getting with good old homework books being handed in on fridays. It is definitely time for adjustment - hang in there! :-) Clairbee 09:41, 27 January 2010 (UTC)

Congrats to you, also! I am so pleased that I did that stuff when I did... To try to juggle it term time and/or at the end of the year would have been a logistical nightmare! Please do touch base... I am very much into networking and collaborating with the kids. Makes it very meaningful to them... Meanwhile - all the best with moodle and all the online stuff. You will be fantastic! :-)Clairbee 09:11, 1 February 2010 (UTC)