Tuesday
I know, it’s not a very imaginative title. I’ve been spending some time after school this week getting my computer and blogs up to date with back end stuff. Andy’s Poohduck is getting lots of hits, but the stat’s weren’t working and other things so I thought I’d better finally get round to doing something about that. He’s been taking some wonderful photo’s lately. I also have had more time available to me to potter around with these things. I’ve got my school blogs almost under control lately. See below for the reasons!
I’ve been catching up with heaps of stuff this week with no year 10 classes. The school ground is so empty. I am going visiting starting tomorrow. I was given a list of students to visit and made some calls today to make times to visit them. I am looking forward to it and wish I could visit every student I’ve taught, but that would be most of them, and I don’t have enough hours in the day. Some of them are in Melbourne with newspapers or architects, so I guess it’s not practical to get around that much in a week.
Darin has a new, more time consuming role at work. A couple of people at work have told me how wonderful the food is where is chef. I felt very proud of him, but I certainly already knew how great his food is. He’s working long hours and talking menu’s at home. Last night the conversation made me hungry. I decided I would wait and cook dinner and eat with him tonight. Just steak and veges, nothing as yummy as what he was talking about. Steak and veges will be good though and it’s better than getting stuck into cheese and biscuits at some awfully late hour! My waistline is expanding lately… what with all the chocolate and lemon tarts I’ve been practicing on and just a greater focus on food in general I guess. I do try to give the tarts away and I have done a lot of that, but you always have to eat some, just to make sure it is ok 
.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Can’t Blog
Correcting Exams… writing reports…
Popularity: 1% [?]
New Template and other changes
I have changed the template on the blog in case you are reading this post in a feed. I’ve also been reorganising my categories and tags and things. I have 1010 posts! It has made me realise the things I post about the most. The 7 most popular categories are tabs on this template. I was surprised by some of them to be honest. I still have some more reorganising to do. I deleted a lot of categories that had only one or two posts in them, just so I wouldn’t have to scroll through them all. I have a much better sense of a category and a tag after nearly 5 years of blogging
I’ve been thinking about how much the improved technology at school is making my life easier. There is a suggestion that all students will have laptops instead of text books in the near future. I look forward to that day. It just makes sense to me to be honest. All students have an email address for the first time this year and having students email me their work, is fantastic. It effectively timestamps their work and I can correct it anywhere and email it back to them with a lot more ease. I am never in doubt about when I received it or if I’ve lost a peice of paper in my travels. I love it.
I also hope the increased uptake of technology by teachers will make sharing ideas and resources easier for us all. There is a little resistance I must say. Not all teachers have been fiddling with computers and playing online for so long as I have. Some can’t touch type so I guess it is a steep learning curve for them. I find it difficult to fully appreciate what it must be like. I keep thinking surely they saw it coming. So with them in mind, I try not to look too excited about it all in public. I am though!
Popularity: 1% [?]
Update At Last
I have finally had my blog and Poohduck updated to the latest version of wordpress. I notice my colours and the header have all changed.
I wanted to make some changes to the appearance anyway, so I will have a fiddle with it all over the next weeks. It’s a little different to be working in a different space, but it is similar to the edublogs one we are using at school, so I may as well get used to it.
My year 10 English class are taking to the blogging well. Some of the students in this class have been along the ride with my frustrated attempts at blogging in the classroom since they were in year 7. I don’t know why I am surprised at how well they are taking to it. It’s easy when all the technology works!
Popularity: 1% [?]
Sharing Blogging with Teachers
Tonight went ok I guess. It reminded me of when I was in adult education teaching beginners computer lessons. Some have a reasonable skill level and will dive in and have a go. The people I feel for are those who are completely out of their depth. Every instruction needs to be explained and in some cases to create some momentum, done for them.
I don’t think it is impossible for anyone to learn how to use a computer, or to blog, if they want to. It is a big IF though. My mum has learnt to use facebook to stay in touch with my overseas sister. I heard on the weekend my dad is doing footy tipping online. I have helped them both out on the computer, they have slowly become more competent, yet I imagine this game my dad is playing will have him build skills faster because it’s something he enjoys. I have watched Darin’s mum learn how to use skype, to connect with her grandchildren who live interstate, in a short period of time. She wanted to do it badly enough that she kept at it. She asked lots of questions. She enjoyed some success when it worked and now I reckon she could guide someone else to do it.
The resistance I find when introducing new things to any student, is always the problem. The reluctance to make a mistake leads to them to stick with what they know. I have no idea what it is like because I have gradually expanded my skills over years. I wanted to learn. I made plenty of mistakes and then corrected. I have in no way made all the mistakes yet, there is still bucketloads more I don’t know. I remember this game I played a long time ago called the maze game. It was played in teams and you had to navigate your team through a grid that sometimes changed. People would stand there, with their foot up in the air afraid to put it down, because if it was wrong, you had to start all over again. The lesson was to make the mistakes quickly by just having a go. The quicker you made the mistake, the quicker you would get it right in the end. I wish I could find the instructions to that game and play that with some classes. It is a lesson that could make all learning come easier. So many of us have been taught to avoid making mistakes.
Some are not just learning blogging, they are learning a whole range of skills, even how to use a keyboard. If they are that disinterested in computers, when they have been around them for so long, I feel a bit of personal frustration to think I can share much with them at all. It is going to take time and practise for them to be competent enough to use them in a classroom. I doubt they have the time or the interest to practise. I know I shouldn’t make assumptions about students and I don’t weigh up young people like that as I have tonight with the adult learners.
All in all though, it is a start.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Full Moon in Scorpio – Wednesday 28th April 2010
Everything I’ve been reading about this Scorpio full moon talks about intimacy, transformation and intensity. It’s been a gradual thing also according to what I read and will last for a little while yet. Moonkissd’s post is a good read. Astrogrrl’s post this moon is about the transformative energy.
Tomorrow after work I’m helping the teachers at my school with blogging. I thought this time would never come when teachers at my school would show a genuine interest in using blogging as a tool in the classroom. When I started this blog back in 2005, I thought it would be great to use with students. I’ve had a dabble a couple of times over the years, with varying success. My original evangalistic approach has died down, but I will be interested to see what others do with it. I must admit I don’t put as much time into this blog as I once did. I still like to keep it for an occasional dabble though.
I had a great weekend. I spent Saturday catching up with a mate for a few drinks (I had intended returning the favour of helping her to paint, but we didn’t paint) and then Darin and I went out when he got home from work. We headed to town on Sunday, making our way to my brothers for the evening. Enjoyed a coffee with Wilma and Darryl on the way and checked out quite a few display homes for ideas. I want to get serious about improving things around my home this year, so it was great to check out what’s around in homes. We saw a couple of ideas we liked. What was really good was that we like the same things. I really hate compromise, it’s lovely to have similar taste as Darin.
Popularity: 2% [?]
I Saw an Eagle today
I always associate seeing one with a feeling of freedom. It was huge. I actually thought it was a plane when I first spotted it in the sky. I guess twitter or facebook would be a better place for such a short post. I just don’t find it as retrievable!
Popularity: 6% [?]
Weekly Blogging
On the weekend I attended briefly (well for a 3rd of the prescribed time) our 25th ’10 till 10′. This annual event has been going on since we left school. The committed have reunited at a local pub for a session lasting all day. Even though I have lived in this town for most of my life I have not attended for many of those years. Last year was the one and only time I have ‘gone the distance’ and that included a nap on the couch. Although I had lost touch with most of my school friends, there is something quite reassuring about catching up and seeing how much we are pretty much the same. It’s like another family. I read a series of articles on ‘Parental Relationships‘ on Goop a couple of weeks ago. It reminded me somehow, particularly the part that talked about our friends seeing how much we’ve changed and grown and our family saying we haven’t changed a bit.
Last night we had an Awards night at school. I think I am too tired right now to appreciate such things. I was pleased to see some students that just made it through year 9, had gone on to blossom and achieve excellence at later stages in their education.
I can’t believe I haven’t posted for a week. I have to confess it’s not just a lack of time. There are so many things going on right now that I can’t talk about publicly. This year has been a bit like that. I don’t know if I’ve become a lot more conscious of my audience or what my dilema is. I don’t know what I think about everything and I haven’t had time to find out. It’s all too sensitive to just blurt about.
I have a week until school finishes and it seems very far away when I think of all the activities that will occur in this last week. Today I am going with the year 9s to our new campus for an orientation morning.
Popularity: 10% [?]
Pomegranate and Mosaic
I had a browse through my wordpress stats the other day. I was surprised to find the most common search terms people used to find my blog were ‘pomegranate’ and ‘mosaic’. I used to be constantly looking at my stats. I had a couple of different places to go to measure and weigh up what people were reading, where they were from and all the things you can find out about your blog once you get into it.
These days I can’t find the time or the enthusiasm for it. I still check how many visitors I get regularly, at least as often as I blog.
I guess in the beginning I was learning as much as I could because I was hoping to use it at school. I had a vision of blogs replacing student workbooks. They would never get lost or left at home. They would be able to tag each entry and retrieve information on subjects with ease. They might put a bit more care and thought into their work, since it was to be published. They would be able to have discussions with others through comments. Parents would be able to look up online and see what their young person was doing very clearly. They could check their stats and get real feedback about their work. I thought it was the perfect system. It hasn’t been nearly so simple to achieve in reality for lots of reasons.
Popularity: 8% [?]
New Moon in Aries – Friday 27th March 2009
The new moon falls in Aries, the beginning of the zodiac. It’s an astrological new beginning. Aries is the start of the zodiac, the baby. My sister, Kate, long time friend Glenn and my Auntie Judy are all Aries natives who have taught me plenty about this sign and the youngest children in their families. Aries is a gutsy, go for it, fire sign and they demonstrate the boundless energy and enthusiasm you can expect.
Linda Hills Sabian Symbols talks about the Sabian Symbols for the March New Moon and I can relate to much of what she is speaking about. I feel divided right now. I just want to move house and have everything done, yet school is in it’s last week, which is usually very busy and requires massive energy and attention. I also had a restless nights sleep last night.
This last month has been big for me. I’ve reversed my decision to work in the UK later this year. I’ve recommitted to my position at school. I’ve made the decision to move house and live with Darin. Both these decisions were big. They feel like the right decisions and were easy to make at some level, once I entertained the idea that I didn’t really HAVE to go. I was relieved that my friends, family and colleagues were pleased and didn’t mock me about changing my plan that I was so confident about 
only weeks before!
There are a whole pile of adaptations and changes that go with these decisions. I’m not going to go into them all here cause they are personal and involve others. I think mostly though things are falling into place. My time has been redirected though and I haven’t put much of it into my online life that was once quite a significant part. I am happy to let go of spending so much time online though to be honest, because the life I have is richer in reality and I have learnt enough to invest less time I hope. I really don’t have any kind of routine right now. I haven’t been exercising and feel quite lucky I haven’t put on weight (especially with the great food I’ve been eating!).
In keeping with setting goals for the new moon, I am going to put them on my blog.
* I intend to move into our future home with ease and start a new life adventure.
*I intend to accept that I will blog less regularly. I will let go of thinking I must do it every day and instead, blog when I have something to say. This will translate to doing more with less I hope.
*I want to return to my exercise that gives me more energy. I have neglected this all term. I have noticed I am less fit and I don’t like it.
That is plenty for now. Most of all I am hanging out to brush off this dark moon thing I’m feeling. Mystic Medusa lightened it up for me with her allusion to one of my favourite picture books…Where Your Wild Thing Is.
I
Popularity: 16% [?]
Falling Brick-
- Stumbles
- Seths Blog: Little lies and small promises
- 10 Tips Before Seeking Intuitive Counsel | Evolve - The Human Experience
- the only thing you need to know about soul mate love... & danae sinclair
- Why did the chicken cross the road? | Dancing with Frogs
- Billionaires vow to give away half their fortune
- Life balance still not working
- Food memories | Jill Dupleix, Table Talk Blog
- The Green Bough: Coming Home To Myself
- Saturn in Libra: Committed : Moonkissd by Jessica
- Suspended | poohduck
- My Favourites on Watch and Learn Magnify Channel
Subscribe
Recent Comments
- Michael J Flannery: Queenslander never give the seasons a second thought thereis no human meddling with the clocks...
- Jessica Shepherd: Hi Joh, Thanks for the sweet mention of my site, Moonkissd.com. It warms my heart to know folks...
- Kristy yr 9: i read the book and loved it im now doing a reveiw on it for a school assignment but i have lost my copy...
- PlanningQueen: I have heard goog things about Breaking Bad and it is on my list to check it out.
- Snoskred: I am a huge fan of Breaking Bad awesome show!
