Who Am I?

An alternative educator who enjoys 

• developing relevant curriculum and training situations that enhance understanding;
• the challenge of sharing information with reluctant learners;
• continuous learning of techniques to add to my tool box; and
• establishing new relationships with learners and peers. 

Currently, I am working as an Adult Learning and Development specialist for the Centre for Education and Work.

In this role, I perform a variety of interestig tasks, such as

• research, compile, and analyze information for projects;
• develop paper-based and e-learning resources;
• maintain and write the company blog;
• present and pilot resources to instructors, stakeholders, and interested parties; and
• design and teach curriculum to adult learners.

Me at the Adult Secondary Education Council's 2011 Fall Conference 
promoting our project/website, Learn the Workplace, to fellow educators.

Me at the same conference showing another educator our interactive website.

As part of my final assignment for an online course, Digital Literacy,  we were asked to create an E-Portfolio that acts as a learning tool for a specific audience and a career development tool for personal growth.

In my opinion, educators need to accept that the world of learning is in constant flux. Armed with this knowledge, it is integral that we develop our skills continuously so that we are better equipped to assist learners with new challenges.

As a learning tool, I would like to target upcoming or newly graduated teachers, in hopes that sharing my varied employment and volunteer experiences will provide examples of how we can 'teach' outside of the box.

In the realm of career development, this Eportfolio will allow me to showcase my experiences working with and assiting learners, especially adults, as we venture towards developing 21st Century Skills.

Please join me and learn how to become an Alternative Educator.

Coordination--Keeping Everyone Happy!!

Trying to make sure that everyone is happy is a challenging task at the best of times!

When I first starting working for the University of Winnipeg, I had an amazing job as a Socio - Cultural Assistant (2000 - 2001) in the EAL programs being offered.

Basically, I ensured that everyone was having fun during meals and activities. It was an ideal job for me because I met a lot of interesting people along the way.  (I still can't believe I was paid for that job!)  

Bottom Row: Me giving 'peace sign' beside the smiling Socio-Cultural Coordinator
Back Row: My fellow assistants

By the second year, I was asked to be the Socio- Cultural Coordinator (2001 - 2004) of three adult summer programs. What a fantastic opportunity for me!
 

Lower Fort Garry:
Me with Japanese students from Toyo Women's College, 2002.

In my new role, I developed many new skills:

• Designed and implemented socio - cultural programming for five week programs;
• Attended weekly staff meetings;
• Managed program budgets ranging from $3000 to $2500; and 
• Organized nine closing ceremonies for an average of 50 people per program.

Examples of the activities I organized with the program budgets:

• Meals at restaurants and university cafeteria;
• Trips to Imax theatre for educational programming:
• Gym or park space for sports;
• Venues for meetings, performances, and gatherings;
• Chartered buses for BBQ at the beach, Lower Fort Garry, plus horseback riding,and  farm visit;
• Unique experiences: horseback riding, farm visit with hayride, fencing, laser tag; and
• Other activities: line dancing, bowling, and movie night

Recommendation: 

• Explore your post-secondary institution to see if you can find similar employment opportunities! 
• Just take a look at some of pictures below, if I haven't convinced you already :)

Intensive English Language Program--BBQ outside Winnipeg, 2002

Fencing with Québécois students, 2003

Lunch at Sorrento's Pizza with Québécois students, 2004

Additional Coordinator positions I held at the University of Winnipeg:

Part-Time/Mature Students' Centre
April 2003 - August 2004; April 2008 - August 2009

Floor Supervisor/CSR at Beyond Words Bookstore
April - December 2008 (Term)

Acting Coordinator of Career Resource Centre
April - August 2007 (Term)
Even though I held these coordinator positions before becoming a Certified Teacher with the Province, I was able to interact and engage adult language learners.

Being with these students reinforced the idea of adults as continuous learners to me. Thus, in the Spring of 2004 and the Summer of 2009, it was my turn to participate in the Five Week Explore Program. 

Looking back, I really enjoyed my time in Chicoutimi, Qc improving my French and meeting people from across North America (US citizens included) and around the world!

Again, I would definitely recommend this experience to new educators, who are interested in teaching languages!

Supporting Teachers with New Technology

If you want to be an effective alternative educator, you must develop 21st Century Skills in order to create unique, yet beneficial ways to reach your learners and your peers!

In my former workplace, we had a Smartboard but no formal training past the basics. Even though we explored the NoteBook software, we did not know its full potential for our lesson planning.

As result, I ended up taking a 1.5 hour workshop on the Tips and Tricks of Smartboard via a workshop at an ASEC conference.

Being an educator who believes in supporting teachers with new technology, I asked my Team Leader for some time with the other instructors. Even though I only had four hours with 10 instructors, their smiles and thanks were enough for me.

In the summer of 2012, I took a course called, Introduction to Instructional Design. Our main goal was to develop a course following ADDIE like models.

My course was called Smartbook Tools and Features.

The difference with my assignment versus the real life training was that I altered it to include:

• Audience: New Instructors
• 5 days of training
• 3 hours per day; 1.5 hours for hands-on practice & 1.5 hours for theory
• 3 hours per day is spent with a classroom instructor/ mentor
• Variety of Online Learning Resources
• Assessment features, such as multiple choice, fill-in the blanks, peer/self/teacher evaluations

View my PDF Unit Plan: Part I and II-- Don't forget to credit me!!







If you are interested in other tips or information about technology for educators, scan this QR Code to visit my first blog (or click on the blog title, Welcome to My Learning Curve, for those who do not have Smartphones yet!)

QR Code for my blog, welcometomylearningcurve.blogspot.ca


When you visit my blog, you will notice that I have divided it into six sections:

• Creating My Blog--Purpose for creating the blog;
• Digital Storytelling--Blog series of my final assignment for Mobile Learning course;
• E-Tools--Discussion of my experience using digital tools;
• PLEs (Personal Learning Environments)--Exploration of my PLE;
• Reflections--My thoughts on topics covered in Emerging Technology for Learning Certificate; and
• Reviews--My interpretation of articles covered in my courses thus far.

Again, I encourage you to learn more about 21st Century Skills in my blog, then continue on your own learning adventure!

Sharing Ideas--Conference Presentations/Publications

If there's one thing that professors of English and Psychology prepare their undergraduates for, it's WRITING!

Last summer, I spent a month sifting through boxes full of my assignments and research papers that varied in size from the concise 5 pager with 15 sources to the 15 plus paper with double the amount of related sources!

The plus side to all of this writing experience was that I began to hone my  skills in a way that enabled me communicate my ideas and thoughts clearly, along with academic sources to back it up.

As a result, this newly developed talent caught the eye of one of my professors. It was his belief in my work that allowed me to share my perceptions on a topic with other academics, both learners and professors.

Until this day, I feel honoured and even humbled by the experience. In addition, I was able to learn from like minded people and have them appreciate and understand my research interests.

Recommendations:

• Connect with your professeers to learn about student conferences in your field of study, especially if you received an amazing grade of one of your papers;
• Check within your department or other departments for upcoming conferences that you can attend; and
• Don't forget to network with others to find out the potential career and research opportunities available for 'alternative' educators.

MY CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS 

Martin, Peggy, Ogungbemi-Jackson, La Donna, et al.  Nissitotamaawin-Understanding cognitive processes of Aboriginal children learning Cree and English. Aboriginal Education Research Forum: “Shawane Dagosiwin”. Victoria Inn.  (Winnipeg, Manitoba, June 1, 2, 3 2005).

Dumas, William and Ogungbemi-Jackson, La Donna.  Toward Language Mastery: Report on Research in Progress.  Diverse Northern Reflection focusing on Language, Literature, Music and Art: Inter-Universities of the North.  (Thompson, Manitoba, February 1-2^nd, 2005).

Ogungbemi-Jackson, La Donna. Kitohewimaacik pineshiishak: <<He’s calling birds>>. The 5^th Annual Student Linguistic Colloquium: University of Winnipeg.  (Winnipeg, Manitoba, April 16^th, 2004).

Ogungbemi-Jackson, La Donna. Masu Komi- Mass Communication [of Loanwords in Japanese] . The 3^rd Annual Student Linguistic Colloquium: University of Winnipeg. (Winnipeg, Manitoba, April 22, 2002).

Ogungbemi-Jackson, La Donna. Malagasy Linguistics: Ho aizi iano izany?-Where are you going? The 2^nd Annual University of Manitoba: Anthropology Undergraduate Student Association (UMAUSA). (Winnipeg, March 2, 2002).

MY PUBLICATIONS

Dumas, William, Margaret Dumas, Loretta Dykun, George Fulford, Peter Geller, Barbara Hart Daniels, Peggy Martin, La Donna Ogungbemi-Jackson, Michael Reid. 2005. E kakwe nisitōtamāk nisitōtamāwin ‘Making the Connection:Learning and Understanding through Language’. Final Report of the Language Mastery Project. Thompson MB: School District of Mystery Lake. Copies may be obtained from SDML.

Ogungbemi-Jackson, La Donna.  2003.  “The Linguistic Breakdown of Proverbs Dealing with Success”.  The 13^th Annual Anthropology, Physical, Anthropology Linguistic, Archaeology Conference (APALA). pp 154-161.  January 31-February 2, 2003.

Giving Back through Volunteerism

During my undergrad years, I was fortunate enough to develop a wealth of volunteer experience that increased my desire to create a supportive environment for a community of learners.

Contributing to the greater society is important to me and even though it may test my patience at times, I always strive to create a positive impact for those around me.

Personally, I believe that my interest in communication, along with my interpersonal skills, guided me towards a community of literacy, EAL, and education.

Recommendations:

• Those with similar beliefs should seek out volunteer opportunities in their communities;
• Giving back to others a few hours a week can turn your passion into a memorable contribution to society; and
• Volunteering can expand your interests and help you provide alternative opportunities to others.

Below are examples of how I gave back.

Frontier College: Students for Literacy 
Literacy Promoter (120 hours; 20 hours) 
June 2001 - August 2002; Summer 2008

Health Sciences Centre: Pediatrics--Communication Disorders
Volunteer (50 hours)
September 2003 - March 2004

The St. Boniface Hospital Geriatrics-- The Aphasia Group
Volunteer (20 hours)      
August 2003 - February 2004

The University of Winnipeg: Division of Continuing Education
Language Partner (245 hours)
January 2000 - August - 2003

EAL Classroom Monitor (250 hours)
January 2000 - December 2001

Winnipeg School Division Centre: Adult EAL 
EAL Classroom Assistant (25 hours)
January - March 2002
 
The University of Winnipeg Students' Association
Peer Supporter (100 hours)    
February 2000 - May 2001

Take a moment to share some of your community related experiences below :)