My name is Kenneth Kim. I have been a teacher
for 25 years. I have a background in Physical Education and Education graduating in 1995 with a degree in Bachelor of Human Kinetics and Education from UBC. I also hold a Masters degree in Education with a specialization in Educational Technology from the University of Calgary (2004).
My continuing goals are to introduce new emerging
technologies into the school at every subject level to improve
learning and continue to support the athletics. As a Applied Skills teacher, my continued challenge is to illuminate the importance of electives and perhaps bring to light that employers these days are not only looking for people who are intelligent, but are emotionally intelligent. Daniel Pink says that, "The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind. The era of "left brain" dominance, and the Information Age that it engendered, are giving way to a new world in which "right brain" qualities-inventiveness, empathy, meaning-predominate. His insights highlight the importance of educating the whole person.
The importance of 21st century skills was the talk in the early 2000's. This has led to many changes in education. The new BC curriculum stresses big ideas (what students will understand), curricular competency learning standards (what students will be able to do - learning objectives), and content learning standards (what students will know). This shift in the educational paradigm will allow learners to spend more time on fewer concepts gaining more depth and breadth as a result. There is also a focus on the learner acquiring core competencies such as thinking, communicating, and social responsibility skills.
The AP Computer Science Principles 12 course is the newest AP course from the College Board. It is designed to be rigorous, engaging, and relevant to all students. The course introduces students to the foundational concepts of computing and explores the impact that technology has on our society. "The overarching theme of the course is data: the nature and variety of data on the Internet; algorithmic methods for processing nad managing data; ways in which data can be analyzed, visualized, and interpreted to increase human understanding and solving challenging real world problems."
As for a little about myself, I transferred from Sentinel to Rockridge in 2001. At Sentinel, I had a mish mash of subjects from grade 8 PE to Applied Skills to CAPP. I coached junior football and basketball and saw what it was like to work side by side with professionals who had endured what I had in their early careers. As a teacher teaching
in the district for the first time, it was nice to be in a school
that was safe and the students motivated to achieve. Coming to Rockridge, I was given more responsibility as the Information and Communications Technology teacher. I took on the challlenge and tried to improve things little baby steps at a time. I redesigned the ICT curriculum adding in more 3D design elements and programming, while at the same time trying to encourage more girls continue with ICT. Rockridge is a great school and has great support from the community. I am privilege to be part of all of this.
In my earlier days of teaching, I was at a private school in China called New Century School. This was
a parallel program in its first year of development with the
University of Victoria, Canada. I taught grades 7, 8, and 9
students Information Technology. This private Chinese
school was situated in a tiny village called Yan Tian on the outskirts
of Dongguan City. The students here started school at seven
in the morning and didn't finish until nine at night. Every
minute was accounted for, which meant that the students were
engaged in some sort of activity from dusk to dawn. There was
never a moment of free play. Because this was a boarding school,
the students came to school for ten days and then went home
for four days. This was set up so that the students who lived
far away could leave.
During this year, my wife and I traveled to Beijing,
Macau, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok,
Pattaya, Phuket Island, and Phi Phi Island.
We took airplanes, buses, tuk tuks, cyclos, taxies, ferries,
catamarans, jet foils, cars, motorbikes, and even bicycles when
traveling to all these destinations. Needless to say, we love
to travel and even named our first child our little "Flying Dragon" in Chinese. Previous to this, I have also been to Tokyo, Osaka,
Hiroshima, Bali, Jakarta, Taipei, Pangkor Island, Kuala Lumpur,
and Singapore. Even though I love traveling in S.E. Asia, I
have also done some missionary work in Mexico as well. The funny thing
is that the farthest I have traveled in Canada is Toronto, heh! Here I got to pass through Pearson Airport (YYZ)
My other overseas experience was a three year stint in Japan, I taught English as well as Physical
Education at a private preparatory school in Tokyo. This school
catered to students who wanted to get a high school diploma
overseas. Many of my students went on to study overseas in the
U.S., UK, Australia, Canada, and Switzerland. Even though I
worked and lived in Japan for three years, I have only basic
oral Japanese skills. However, I can speak Cantonese as my parents were originally from China.
For the most part, I enjoy traveling, playing all kinds of sports, reading, web and
e-commerce technologies, going out for walks with my wife and my kids, Youtube handyman, and concocting new business ventures. I am looking forward to working with my colleagues and all of my students to make this another productive and successful year.
