ENMAX » Smart choices start here.

ENMAX » Smart choices start here.

TheSpec - It will take more than hope

TheSpec - It will take more than hope

School - ATEP

I am currently working on one of my Bucket List items ~ getting my Bachelor of Education degree through the University of Alberta. I am in my fourth week & the crunch is starting. Assignments & mid-terms starting next week. We are doing 16 week courses in 8 weeks. You can only imagine the crunch. Do I have a life, well a little but I think some of my extended family are having a harder time getting used to my "unavailability". My spouse & son are fine with it, they support me & don't demand anything of me. So glad they can take care of themselves, hee hee.
I'm in the 3rd year of the four year program and this is a specialized professional degree. Wish me "good studying" not luck because it has nothing to do with it ~ it's a lot of discipline, focus, & determination ~ "keeping you eye on the prize" so to speak.
We are asked to journal our experiences in this program, I'm still trying to decide if I am going to use my blog as one method. Not sure yet, we'll see.
I hope you are living your dream and not just dreaming it.

The Downside of High : The Nature of Things with David Suzuki : CBC-TV

The Downside of High : The Nature of Things with David Suzuki : CBC-TV

Bucket List Item ~ COMPLETED

SKYDIVING

Well this was an experience so worth it, especially accomplishing it with my son & nephew.  It gave me the permission to go after my dreams & keep moving forward.  Just doing that "Leap of Faith" is so FREEING. I just can't explain or destribe it enough, it was a Personal Unique Experience".

The other great appreciation was my mom, spouse, & sister in-law were there to share in the joy! These are sure memories I will share with my grandchildren...but I think this experience released the WILD Side of my son... he's addicted :).  He says he's going to get his skydiving license & I might just do it with him.  Mother & Son DUO (belly laugh).

Here are a few pics to enjoy.......so what R U doing to experience LIFE & test your limits......hmmmmmm.....can't do it sitting in front of this computer :).

Language challenge for Cree Nation - Winnipeg Free Press

Language challenge for Cree Nation - Winnipeg Free Press

The Greatest Day of My Life - Wednesday, May 7, 1986

Can you guess what day this was.....hmmm. This is when the Creator honored me by lending me one of his greatest creations to love, honor, respect, and cherish ~ Germain Ian Houle.  This was the day my son was born at 4:13AM in Edmonton, AB at the Charles Campsell Hospital 24 yrs ago on a warm & sunny day. 

He comes from two very strong families and I believe has many special gifts waiting to be released on the world.  The Creator chose Germain to be my only gift but before I knew this many years later, I still tried my best to raise him & always remember in my heart he is "a gift" & I had to treat him as such.  I never claimed perfection but I did give my best....after all this kid didn't come with instructions, hee hee!

This is my day to honor my son!  I was so happy I got to bring you home on a Sunday on Mother's Day in 1986.

As your mother, I do & will always wish for you to follow your heart and strive to be the best you can be.  Like I always told you, I am not your friend but your mother.  Therefore, my job is raise you to be a strong & productive member of society sharing & caring your heart with you where ever you go.  Your job, as my son, is to exceed me!  You are after all "Geronimo" as your late capan, Ralph Cardinal used to call you.

Last but not least, always be proud of where you come from.  Honor all your relations my son...carry them with you in your heart for they will guide you!

Bucket List

I have a Bucket List & add to it as I go along.  Last year after attending Choices I decided to have a Bucket List because I want to live life to the fullest & follow my hopes & dreams.  Not that I plan to go anywhere soon, not even close, I just wanted to get my list going & add to it as I continue to achieve and accomplish my list.  In the movie, Bucket List, they had an old crumpled list ~ well my list is virtual on this Blog site.  I hope this encourages all of you to create a list ~ if anything, it keeps life interesting, keeps me focused, & gives me something to look forward to...

SHANNON'S BUCKET LIST:

1. Sky Dive - planned for May 9, 2010 (Mother's Day) with my son on his 24th Birthday.  I'm not letting my baby jump alone. 
2. Learn to fly a plane or helicopter
3. Sponsor 10 people to Choices
4. Be a Choices coach
5. Marry for "love" in front of all our loved ones ~ welcome each other into each other's family - debating on deleting this 
6. Travel to Australia for pleasure
7. Travel to Egypt
8. Go on a cruise
9. Own a communications & socializing business - the plans saved in my head for safe keeping!
10. Travel to a Tropical location with history - Completed May 2014 Hawaii Islands during WIPCE (World Indigenous People’s Conference on Education)
11. Swim with Dolphins
12. Complete my second Degree in Education - Completed June 15, 2012 & convocate November 20, 2012
13. See my Technological Invention a reality ~ benefits children & classrooms all over.
14. Have a home totally Environmentally Friendly
15. Influence a life to go after their DREAM
16. Get my Master's degree - In progress from Sept 2016 - June 2019 at UNBQ in Master’s of Arts in Indigenous Languages
17. Cave Exploring
18. Go to every Province in Canada
19. Go to every state in America
20. Teach/be a student in Australia
21. Teach and/or be a student in New Zealand - COMPLETED Nov 13 - 26, 2016 as a student and complete a Master's degree course IYIS 534 in Auckland and Christchurch, NZ 
22. See all the Wonders of the World in person
23. Greece
24. Venice
25. Disneyland
26. Cuba
27. Costa Rica
28. Scuba Dive
29. Climb the Eiffel Tower
30. Do something totally unselfish - many times & will throughout my life
31. Learn to speak Cree fluently - In progress from Sept 2016 - June 2019 at UNBQ in Master's of Arts in Indigenous Languages
32. Attend Tony Robbins Seminar & walk on coals
33. Have one of my grandchildren named after me ~ this one's in my son's court, hee, hee
34. Have my grandchildren born at home, surrounded by friend's & family using a Midwife & Doula ~ again another of my son & his future loves court
35. Travel across the USA with a travel trailer or Winnebago
36. Be well off financially so I can follow my dreams
37. Live until I am 107.5 yrs ~ not dying near my birthday but hope it's a warm & calm day in the summer, can only hope :) 
38. Die knowing "I lived life to the fullest" & honored my Creator by appreciating this gift of life.  Leave this plain of existence accomplished, loved, & with no regrets & carry the love with me.
• Will I live to realize this list...who knows!

Well this is what I have for now.  I believe I want to spend my years seeing the joys & beauty of life.  My first 20+ years of life were hard and at times I didn't know if I would survive this long.  This is why I CHOOSE never to go back to that place again & CHOOSE to only see a Brighter Future!  Life is a Gift people NOT a RIGHT ~ so HONOR YOUR LIFE!

Published APRIL 22, 2010

Apple Announces iPad - Part 1 of 4

Here is my all time favorite invention. You thought the first release of the computer ~ "Apple", the mother of all computers, was life changing for society ~ well here is the next generation...I see this in every classroom.
See it here on YouTube too with this LINK

UBC Master of Educational Technology: MET Home

The Master's Program ~ all online
UBC Master of Educational Technology: MET Home

ELDER TONY CODY - SAVE FIRST NATIONS UNIVERSITY

DR. SHAUNEEN PETE - SAVE FIRST NATIONS UNIVERSITY

FOUR FRIENDS - SAVE THE FIRST NATIONS UNIVERSITY OF CANADA

COMA 200 Continued Praise & Appreciation

I just wanted to take the time to thank my peers and my instructor for the great experience in the COMA 200 course. I will surely miss you all when this course ends April 20th; however I am comforted to know I have met such great people. People who I am confident will be great Teachers. Some of you are entering the Aboriginal Teacher Education Program (U of A granted) at the Lac La Biche Portage College campus this fall too; however, I will be taking my program at the Cold Lake campus. I currently work at the Saddle Lake Education Department in Saddle Lake, AB and drive an hour to my course twice a week, then I drive an hour & a half to Kehewin Cree Nation after my course. I get asked how I can do that, well...I have no complaints ~ I have a dream to fulfill and COMA 200 is helping me achieve it, plus, I'm having the time of my life in this course & look forward to it each week. Therefore, I wish you the best & I know I have made awesome friends for life.

I also took the EDIT 202 @ U of A and I was quite impressed with the COMA 200 set-up, especially the practical on-hands assignments and our constant use of technology, Internet, Smartboard, various media etc. I loved the way Blair Norton, our Instructor had us create an igoogle account & we used this account to access, complete, and submit our assignment work etc. We were also encouraged to do all our notes on the Google notes application so we can bookmark our Internet sites which will be used in the classroom when we are engaging our students and using technology to achieve academic success. A great big thanks to Blair for his Exceptional Work!

As parents and teachers, we need to be in sync with our children’s ability and new style of learning and engagement of academics. Children today are used to accessing information from various locations at the same time. Their brains are like little computers receiving data all the time in various formats. The theory we only utilize 10% of brains has to me a myth with our children today. I’ve watched children watch TV, text on the phone, use a computer, and listen to music at the same time. You ask them what they just heard, saw, did, or wrote & they can tell you. It’s quite amazing!

This is why I highly recommend the COMA 200, if you want to be a effective teacher who is “with it” with technology as the kids are.

COMA 200 Course at Portage College

The end of this course is soon approaching. I really enjoyed the practical on hands course. I have been able to apply this information to my work and the creation of my e-portfolio is a great starting point when I will be applying for a teaching position. No more paper resume ~ e-portfolio is the present and future. At present companies, businesses, and organizations are requesting digital resumes etc. Technology is the way we are going full time in the classroom, especially with the new release of the iPad this April. Watch the way this piece of technology will change our world. Just like the Mac first changed our world forever ~ watch how the iPad will change us forever!
Times are changing people, it's up to us to get with it & catch up to our kids.

True Colors ~ get to know yourself & understand others

Well, I did my True Colors the first time about eight years ago and according to the first assessment eight years ago, I was a Gold-Green-Blue-Orange. That meant my Gold told me I was pretty much very organized, liked lists & making them, I liked lots of structure & rules etc. but my Green meant I was a thinker and liked to analyze and good at planning, strategy, and a great problem solver. My Blue said I was emotional, creative, & intuitive but the Orange was about adventure, risks, adventure, fun, & the freedom. My strongest traits were Gold my strongest & Orange my weakest. We are all of these traits just some are stronger than others.

However, as we change, grow, or are in situations which encourage certain traits we bring that part of us out. They also change over time and mine have certainly changed.

I recently did my personality assessment again and things have certainly changed. I was told that the assessment I did this past weekend was pretty much my True Color combination because I did the assessment in a safe & trusting environment. I am now Green-Orange-Gold-Blue. This assessment defiantly feels right!

It's quite interesting because these personality assessments can improve all types of relationships by helping us understand each other better by improving our professional, personal, and even platonic relationships.

If you would like to learn more check out True Colors website.

Remembering a Remarkably Compassionately Strong Dene Woman

From my last blog, my auntie left us that evening while I was smiling in her eyes, holding her hand, and laughing at hearing mischievous and hilarious stories of my aunt's younger days. I was so honored she chose to let me be present when she took her last breath and went into the spirit world. I will seriously miss the "ol girl"; however, I pray and send my love to her children ,grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. My family are the ones needing the support and continual prayers. Grief has no time limit!
My auntie left a great legacy and many lessons for us to follow and guide us through this life. Her 79 years here left a mark in all our hearts...this is the great reward at the end...to be surrounded by people who love you when you leave us. I'm so grateful the last thing she heard was laughter because that was what she was all about ~ JOY!
See you soon auntie and I love you with all my heart!

Purpose in Life

I have been thinking about my "purpose"... A lady told me that when we were born the Creator, (God, Higher Power, what ever you want to call the one who created us) he/she whispered our purpose in our ear & that's why we have an indent above our upper lip because he/she pressed their finger on it & whispered, "shhhh, now go out & fulfill your purpose"!

I thought this was an interesting concept because that implies none of us are junk or a mistake...we are all here for a reason and we are part of the cycle of life. I like that, I like belonging, and feeling that I am part of a bigger picture, hmmmm...my spirit feels so warm & worthy.

If I want, I could feel overwhelmed at this responsibility but I choose to keep it simple! So for yesterday, I made sure to hug and/or kiss those who I love. I have an auntie who is very sick and it will be her time, any day now, to join our past relatives in the next life. But yesterday, as she lay there so fragile and fighting for breath, I looked into her eyes, the windows of the soul and whispered to her, "I love you". Then I let my soul speak to her soul & I said, "auntie you have suffered & lived a long life, it's okay, we will be okay, you don't need to suffer anymore". She couldn't respond but I know nihkawiyis (lil mother) heard me. This tiny huge hearted woman lasted the night but as I travel to go see her again tonight, there is a chance she might leave us before I get there. All I know, is my last moment with her was ours, two souls speaking a purpose.

Keep it Simple! If your not sure what your purpose is, take a moment and ask your spirit...be still and listen, shhhhhhhhhhh

Tansi All!

Well this is the beginning of my PERSONAL blogging experience. Or should I say, the beginning of my journey to share my experiences with my "purpose in life"!

I am a Free-Spirited Cree "Wo"man empowering spirits to awaken & honor their unique connections with others!

Recently, I attended an amazing workshop focused on teaching me on how I can contribute & get 100% out of life. This workshop has a significant title ~ CHOICES! It's title speaks the truth of it's nature, life is about choices & our choices govern how much we choose to be part of life or not be part of life. Well, I don't know about the rest of you, I choose to give it my all, I challenge you too to be part of the "Journey of Life".