About Me

My photo
I have been an elementary and secondary school teacher and administrator. Currently, I am a faculty member in the Faculty of Education at Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. My M.Ed. and Ph.D. had a focus on the educational and linguistic experiences of children who moved from other countries to Canada.

Monday, August 29, 2011

Glocal @ Laurier

Last year, we initiated a number of glocal projects at Laurier.  One of the teacher candidates had worked in Ghana and was interested in supporting an orphanage there.  She, and a number of classmates, encouraged other Laurier students (and students in local schools) to contribute milk bags which were then shredded and woven to be used as sleeping mats in Ghana.  We also had a number of activities for Haiti including a "change for change" fund-raiser where students contributed small amounts of change to support a project involving a young man's efforts to be re-trained after having a leg amputated from the Jan '10 earthquake.

This year, I am hoping to provide more structure to Glocal.  We will have a September launch activity which will have a focus on aboriginal understandings.  There will also be opportunities for teacher candidates to be involved in:
1. Ride for Refuge - bike-a-than to raise funds to support local and global efforts for the displaced and vulnerable Ride for Refuge Waterloo
2. Road to Hope - running event to raise funds to support project in Haiti and in inner-city Hamilton Road to Hope
3. Suitcase for Haiti - I'll take an extra suitcase to Haiti in October, filled with materials for school children there

Digital Mentoring Update

I continue to work on the grant application for the CIDA Partners for Development project in Haiti.  The key aspects of the grant application are:  developing teaching/leadership modules which will be delivered to people's cell-phones, establishing digital hubs where these modules can be developed and delivered, and establishing a model school which can serve as a base for training and resource development.  Two partners in Haiti who are working with me on the project are Baptist Haiti Mission and Project Teach/Konbit Pwof.  The grant due date is October 13, just before I leave for a block of training in Fermathe, Haiti.  If you have suggestions, ideas, or connections that you think would be valuable for me as I develop the proposal, please email me: ssider@wlu.ca