What do hackers do on a boat?…

Phishing…

I hope that was enough to break the tension :/

Hi Everyone!

My name is Mike Silvius, and I am a teacher and learning leader with Regina Public Schools, at Balfour Collegiate. Go Bears. I am just starting a new role as half-time “Following Their Voices” Facilitator and half-time Teacher-Librarian. Please comment with funny librarian jokes to make me laugh, K? Thanks. I am fresh to blogging, so I am thrilled to learn a new set of skills when it comes to tech!

I would say I am quite comfortable with technology (8.7/10), specifically in the Google and Microsoft realm. As an educator, I specifically use Google Classroom daily to post all activities, assignments, etc. This was especially useful during the pandemic eLearning days, as I found myself supporting many colleagues via Google Meet to best support their students during those unprecedented times. Our school division added a new platform (Edsby) last school year, which has led to a constant juggle of learning new programming, while causing many roadblocks to produce meaningful data in my role of leadership. I have done my best to support colleagues in finding ways to best use the program. Of course there are always challenges; however, everything is fine (Dog in Burning House Meme).

Meeting via Zoom, Microsoft Teams, etc. became an ordinary part of our daily teaching lives, whether it be a learning leader meeting from division office or even a staff meeting within our own schools. It has been nice to get back to “in-person” meetings, as I really did miss over the past few school years. Currently, I connect with other FTV provincial and school-based facilitators from across the province via Zoom or Microsoft Teams. This has become a very useful tool in having teachers collaborate from all around the world.

I live the Android lifestyle (Go Google!), which has led to extensive ridicule from friends and colleagues. For this reason, I have several WhatsApp group chats because my Apple friends cannot send me fun things (or are worried that green messages don’t send?). sigh…

I do not use social media for work purposes, but am intrigued about how this could be beneficial for me. Outside of school, I spend time on instagram, but have not jumped into the TikTok world… gulp! I use facebook to connect with some family that are in their boomer years, but I rarely check my feed anymore.

I am looking forward to learning so much about Ed Tech this semester, as it is going to have a major impact on our teaching careers moving forward. Thanks for all the help from everyone in advance!