HAPPY LIST #5

Only one thing on my happy list this week

Ubud Bali - here I come!!!

HOME DECOR

before . . .

after . . .

This is just a sneak preview of my bedroom. The next thing to do is rip out the carpet and polish the old wooden floorboards, buy a luxe rug, some new curtains and lamps.

Each week I'll try and post something I'm hooked on.

Take a peak at what others are {hooked on} too!

FEEL GOOD STORY

I just had to write about 47 year old Susan Boyle who really wowed the judges with her performance in the auditions for Britains Got Talent, singing "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables. Susan really turned her dream into a reality. What an incredible performance!

I dreamed a dream in time gone by

When hope was high and life worth living

I dreamed that love would never die

I dreamed that God would be forgiving.

Then I was young and unafraid

And dreams were made and used and wasted

There was no ransom to be paid

No song unsung no wine untasted.

But the tigers come at night

With their voices soft as thunder

As they tear your hope apart

As they turn your dream to shame.

And still I dream he'll come to me
That we will live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms we cannot weather...
I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I'm living
So different now from what it seemed

Now life has killed the dream I dreamed.

PHOTOGRAPHY

How cool is this! Check out PhotoFunia. It’s an online photo editing tool where you select an effect you like from over 100 different effects, upload your photo, and voila!

HAPPY LIST #4

This week's happy list has a black and white theme:

1. knowing I'm being looked after by my guardian angel

2. dancing closely with someone I like

3. receiving or finding handwritten notes

4. thinking about long road trips to destinations unknown

5. dreaming about that great Italian tradition of passegiata

HAPPY EASTER

I hope you all had a Happy Easter.

I was lucky to celebrate this most special day on the Christian calendar with my parents, my nephew and his girlfriend. We had a yummy lunch, preceded and followed by lots of chocolate and topped off by a walk to try and settle the stomachs! Dudley was happy with all the leftovers!

look for this post on hooked on fridays

GIRLIE WEEKEND

I've just learnt about tag clouds. Here's one I made about my recent weekend spent with my girlfriend (see happy list #3).

bargain buying cafe catching coffee finding food friends friendship fun girlfriend girlie gossip happy ive-known-you-all-my-life laugh lifelong manicures nails news pedicures photos portrait shopping silly smile sunny tired walks weekend

created at

HAPPY LIST #3

This week's happy list is all about girlfriends!!

Dianne and I spent a very 'happy' weekend together.

1. Girlie weekends with an ‘I’ve-known-you-all-my-life’ friend

2. Shopping, shopping and more shopping

3. Finding a bargain . . . and buying 2!

4. Manicures and pedicures at sexy nails


5. Coffee in a cafe on Sunday mornings

EDUCATION: WIKIS

In my previous blog, I mentioned students in primary and secondary schools using wikis. So, what is a wiki? Basically, it’s a website that allows users to easily add, remove and otherwise edit and change the content of pages. Wikis have become an effective tool to develop private and public knowledge bases through collaborative authoring.

Here is a link to a very simple, very clever explanation:

http://

EDUCATION: CONTEMPORARY LEARNING

Yesterday I went to an eLearning showcase run by CEO Sydney. eLearning combines the use of electronic resources with a contemporary approach to learning. What an inspiration! A number of Sydney primary and secondary schools presented their work in this area.

The development of eLearning is a stated priority of the Sydney Catholic school system. Technology is used to enhance learning outcomes across all stages of the curriculum using the iLE@RN framework. This framework has been developed by Sydney CEO to support eLearning in all Sydney Catholic schools. The elements related to contemporary learning are highlighted with an emphasis on the critical skills needed by 21st century learners – skills which will enable students to operate within a global learning network as collaborators and knowledge constructors. The model draws upon the MCEETYA documents - in particular Contemporary Learning.

Gone are the days when students are solely engaged in pen-and-paper tasks in classrooms. In contemporary classes (often in archaic classrooms!) students are podcasting, creating multimedia presentations, blogging and social networking. They’re using devices such as interactive white boards, mp3 players, robotics, digital cameras and FLIPs – I love this! (Flip Video Ultra Camcorder). They’re using software like powerpoint, voicethread, garageband, moviemaker, audacity, animoto and photostory in applications such as wikis. It really is exciting! How can learning (and teaching!) not be stimulating, engaging, motivating and self-directing with all these resources and ‘new’ ways of doing and thinking???

One thing though, that we as educators must keep at the forefront, is that technology must be used to deepen learning and not just for its own sake. Interactive whiteboards and robotics, for example, may simply be interesting tools rather than a means to enhance and deepen learning for students. We must think in terms of contemporary pedagogy not just contemporary tools.