About Miles MacFarlane

I have always known I would be a teacher, though I wasn't always on that path, particularly in my own junior high and high school years. I do remember times as far back as grade 3 when I thought, "If I were the teacher, I'd do that differently."

TEACHING
After several years at the University of Manitoba for a BA (English / Religion) and Memorial University of Newfoundland for the BEd (Secondary English), I turned down jobs in southern Manitoba to teach in the remote North, an isolated fly-in First Nations reserve. I lived there for 5 years and was vice principal prior to taking a three-year secondment as Coordinator of Education Technology for 35 remote schools. During that period, I was working on a Master of Arts in Education and Human Development with a Concentration in Education Technology Leadership from George Washington University.

TECHNOLOGY
As a child, I was fortunate to have a friend very involved with computers so my technology exposure began around 1977-8 with the Commodore PET and an opportunity to visit the University of Manitoba to use the punch card mainframe to do my grade 5 math homework. In the '80s our television was connected to the Odyssey II and VIC 20; the late 80s Mac computers at University freed me from typewriter ribbons and correction fluid. Finally I purchased my own Mac LCII in 1991 when I took my first teaching job.

TEACHING AND TECHNOLOGY

I enjoy analyzing emerging technology and anticipating how education may change with access to these new tools. With my students, we have ridden the technology wave from learning office suite software, participating in e-mail exchanges, and coding personal web pages in the 90s, to blogging, podcasting, and digital video production in the 2000s, to today where we have gamified our physical learning space, create and explore in virtual worlds, and stay connected and organized using online learning spaces.

I connect daily with my professional learning network using social media. Reading and writing blogs regularly inspire and motivate through sharing, and dialogue.

THIS BLOG
Now, twenty years into the game and still loving it, still seeking ways of innovating in education, still learning, I feel the need to start putting the pieces of my career in some perspective. This Blog is the thinking space in which I articulate and record experiences, ideas, successes, challenges, plans...

As for the name of the blog, I'm increasingly less in love with it as time passes. In my mind, at the time it was a clever play on words blending three things: milestones, my first name, and large books. Now, I don't love it so much and I think it sounds more like I'm talking about some sort of foot disorder, and real milestones look like grave markers. Oh well... It's registered for another couple years. Maybe it will grow on me.

Posted by milesmac on December 13th, 2011

2 Comments

Gil Cass says:

March 27, 2013 at 11:14 AM

Miles: I am just now finding your work and it looks great. I am working to develop a modified advisory program at our middle school in Westchester County (NY). I am building a series of activities that have students goal-setting, looking at learning styles, and self-assessing.

Reply
- milesmac says:
  
  March 28, 2013 at 8:46 AM
  
  Gil - thanks for the note. Any of your work online? Would love to see your approach. Happy to talk with you about your project and the strategies we employed at my school.
  
  Reply