About Me
My name is Claire Thompson and I teach at a Distributed Learning (DL) school in Penticton, BC, Canada. My subjects are Science (8-10), Math (8-10), and Biology (11 & 12). I’ve been teaching since ’98, but this is just my third year at a DL school. Teaching in a DL school is very different than teaching in a bricks-and-mortar school; I’ve been on a really steep learning curve! This year my focus is to explore how to use technology to;
- improve communication between my students and me
- foster collaboration among students
- make the curriculum more relevant to students
- make the curriculum more interesting to students
I am using this blog as a way to clarify my thinking on technology and education. Please feel free to share your thoughts on what I’ve posted; I love getting comments, and I always respond. If you’ve time, watch the quick hello (12 secs) from me below. If you are using Internet Explorer, the video below may not show up, in that case go here (and consider switching to Firefox 
)
By: twmfchcc on November 30, 2008 at 1:32 pm
Hi, I have no idea who you are, but I have a question. I want to post things on my page called “Hi” but I don’t know how. Other people could do it but I can’t. Even when I’m logged off or when I’m logged on. Please help. And also, please visit m blog. twmfchcc.edublogs.org
By: twmfchcc on November 30, 2008 at 1:35 pm
OMG! Your from Canada! I live in Florida. It’s really rainy and hot. Before I used to live in Connecitcut. Before that, I used to live in California. And before that, I used to live in Japan. In social stdies, we just learned about Canada. You must live in British Columbia, right?
By: Claire Thompson on November 30, 2008 at 6:06 pm
Hi Mai (twmfchcc), yes I live in British Columbia. It’s a great place, perhaps you can add it to the extensive list of places that you have visited / lived
With respect to your ‘Hi’ page, are you wanting to allow comments, or put up more posts? If you want to allow comments, then you’ll have to go into the setting for that page and select comments. If you are wanting to add more posts you may be out of luck. My understanding with Word Press blogs is that a page is a place where you have a single post. I’m no expert in this so you may want to do a bit more digging.
By: Alom Shaha on March 15, 2009 at 10:21 am
Hi,
I’m a science teacher at an inner city school in London, England.
I have been running a “collaborative blog” and film project at http://www.whyscience.co.uk which seeks to find a satisfying answer to the question “why is science important?”. Please take a look and forward the link to anyone else who might be interested.
Thanks,
Alom Shaha
By: Claire Thompson on March 16, 2009 at 9:20 am
@Alom Shaha, thanks for sharing your site. I’m always keen to see how others are promoting science
By: Karen Barnstable on December 5, 2009 at 11:57 am
Hi Claire,
It is great to meet you via Twiitter and blogs.
I am just down the road… in Kelowna. I used to teach at Greater Vancouver Distance Ed in Vancouver (now called VLN).
I commend you on your goal of trying to improve communication with your online students. That is an ongoing challenge and one that I was researching for a while. Now I am focusing on ePortfolios and reflective learning.
I have been trying to get back into online teaching ever since I move to Kelowna in 2006; I loved it. Hope you are enjoying it as well.
Karen
http://www.epsilen.com/kbarn
By: Claire Thompson on December 23, 2009 at 3:16 pm
Hi Karen,
My apologies for not replying sooner–somehow the comment alert ended up in my spam folder.
I checked out the link you sent me; did you write the Planning 10 course that is offered by the BC Learning Network? (It’s a COOL course that has been adapted to use in Moodle)? On-line course design is something that I am trying to learn more about.
Thanks for visiting my blog, and I look forward to seeing you on-line!
By: Laura on July 21, 2010 at 7:04 am
Hi Claire,
Laura from barcelona participating also in the course http://facilitatingonlinecommunities.blogspot.com/
Wow, I see you are a blogger !! Very interesting the way U are starting – as U mentioned in the video – with U readers. For me blogging is difficult kind of Karey’s thought http://kareys-online-learning.blogspot.com
but, once U start and see how much it’s talked well, is something to try…
CU around!!
By: Claire Thompson on July 21, 2010 at 7:31 am
Hi Laura,
Thanks for leaving a comment–I look forward to learning with you in the Facilitating Online Course! Thanks also for leaving the link to Karey’s blog. Blogging can be very rewarding–making connections with others and getting feedback on what you are thinking about are very powerful motivators