These are a few of my favourite things...

As I expected I would, I love the Byward Market here in Ottawa. I love farmers markets. While the one at home has been winding down for the season, I was surprised at how much fresh produce was still available locally here in Southern Ontario. It has been wonderful enjoying the last few bites of Canadian grown raspberries and strawberries. Yum! 

It's not something that often comes up in conversation, but most people don't know that I like seeing and taking photos of multiples of the same things, like fruits and vegetables in farmers markets. Grocery stores don't have quite the same effect. Yarn is another of my favourite "multiples". I've been taking pictures of lots of different things at the market so I thought I'd actually share some with you. 

I've also purchased a rather large amount of produce that I will never be able to consume before I leave. I hope the apples and pears in my suitcase survive their flight home. And the cheese curds. Maple syrup. Bagels. I don't think my kids will be as impressed with my souvenirs as I am.

Greetings from Canada's Capital

I'm in Ottawa for the NAAEE (North American Association of Environmental Education) conference. I've never been here before so I'm so excited to explore our beautiful capital in between sessions. I spent some time walking along the Rideau Canal this morning and now I'm off to Parliament Hill. Stay tuned!

A Day at Fort Whyte

   

I am fortunate today to be spending some time at Fort Whyte with other teachers from the division. We have been putting our iPads to good use today while we explore the area. Walking around the buildings here I found a few reminders about our water resources, and a good one about bottled water. This is exactly what we are talking about in Geography. And guess what? No bottled water for sale in the vending machines. It is possible. 

If you're not from the prairie

On Sunday, I went out with my family to enjoy Open Farm Day at various locations around the province. On our way home, we stopped for a few moments to enjoy these views near La Barrière Park. It reminded me of the book "If you're not from the prairie" by David Bouchard. Out of curiosity, I googled the book and came across this video. I think I will share it today with my Geography classes. It is a great example of geographic identity.

Happy Autumnal Equinox  everyone!

Our Geographic Identity

This semester I have two Geography classes in the afternoon. It is the most diverse group of students I have ever taught. We always talk briefly about Canadian identity in the opening unit of the course, and I wanted everyone in the class to be able to share their personal identities. They're not a talkative bunch, and most are reluctant to share in the class (hopefully this will change...maybe it's just too early in the school year), but by having them write down their "identities" anonymously and share in this way, everyone participated. We just finished discussing human and physical Geography so there were lots of ideas surrounding the idea of Geography (it's not just maps) that we used to share our "geographic identities."  

Just a regular day in "la salle de classe"...

Stay tuned...we've been up to something and hopefully we will be able to share the final product with you soon.

Daylight Savings Time

Just last week I discussed time zones with my Geography classes. Many questions were asked about the extra half hour in Newfoundland, the lack of daylight savings time in Saskatchewan and the reasons why we move the clocks in an effort to "save daylight". This article from National Geographic is worth a read to better understand these reasons.

Anyone watching 24 Reasons for Hope today?