Tag: School’s out Friday

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School’s out Friday

This is the poet, Rives, speculating on the mysterious hour of four in the morning. It’s worth hanging in there for the entire 8 minutes of his performance, just to appreciate the effort that’s gone into sourcing the material for this clever and very amusing TED Talk. Wouldn’t this make a great investigative activity for a group of students, who just might find that they could immerse themselves in the hunt for appropriate examples. It’s a task I’d find fun. It could even be a really useful team building exercise for staff on a Professional Development day. Imagine groups coming back to deliver their findings on the mysteries of different hours of the morning!

Long weekend ahead for Australians as we commemorate ANZAC Day. I hope your weekend treats you well.

Enjoy. : )

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School’s out Friday

Funny, but informative too. (Thanks Nina for posting this in your instructional rounds ning.) I used Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy at the start of a presentation about Virtual Learning Communities using Ning, at the ACEC Digital Diversity Conference that’s been held here in Melbourne these last three days. I think there are lessons here that can be applied to the formation of learning communities and the importance of followers to make these communities work.

It’s interesting when you start a presentation with  a video running as participants enter. It establishes the climate and draws their attention; plenty of teachers could apply this kind of thing to their classroom practice to shape a lesson. Why not try it next week everyone?

This week has been HUGE for me. Three presentations in three days at the ACEC Conference, and an interview with the 7.30 Report about Cybersafety. I’ll post about these over the weekend. Pretty tuckered out right now.

A sleep in is in order for me tomorrow. Then I better get stuck into cleaning this house because it’s back to work next Monday for teachers in Victoria.

Have a great weekend. Make the most of it. : )

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School’s out Friday

Yesterday was April Fool’s Day. And yes, I fell prey to Paul Bogush’s tweet about Twitter accounts being charged for from August, and my clever daughter who had the foresight to purchase fake scratchies, that when scratched, said we’d won $10,000. My son ran around the house in a state of frenzied excitement anticipating all manner of things he could buy, until faced with the realisation that it was all an April Fool’s Day joke.

It made me think of one of the first uses of mass media to pull off a great April Fool’s Day prank. Above is the original video of the Panorama program’s Spaghetti tree segment, that led to thousands of British viewers phoning the BBC asking how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. Their reply, ‘Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best’. (You’ll have to visit the link to the video on YouTube – they’ve disabled embedding. Thanks Darcy Moore for alerting me to this. : ) )

It’s Good Friday today. Enjoy a Hot Cross Bun or two and spend some quality time with family and friends. The weekend ahead will see me working on presentations for the ACEC Conference, adding my thoughts to Students 2.0 and hosting family for Easter celebrations on Sunday. Sounds a tad busy really!

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School’s out Friday

I think we need a good Flash Mob to end our week on a high. Beach goers at Bondi Beach in November 2009 were treated to this dance extravaganza while sunning themselves on what looks like a perfect Spring day.It was organised by DJ Dan Murphy and stars one of Australia’s most famous drag queens – Joyce Maynge. I love it, just like I love all flash mob events where people let their guard down and have fun entertaining the unsuspecting public.

School holidays are finally here for those of us teaching in Australia. Two weeks of Autumnal bliss. I just hope the perfect weather we’ve been having will hold out and we can enjoy the sun (and the odd Coffee shop or two). The ACEC Conference is fast approaching so I’ll be a tad busy putting together three presentations I am delivering there.

Enjoy your weekend. Make the most of whatever comes your way. : )

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School’s out Friday

OK. This is seriously quirky. It’s Marcus Brown’s reading of Hugh McLeod’s tweets. And he’s doing this while sitting on a toilet. There are a whole series of these on Vimeo, and I could see how you could become strangely addicted to them. Another person out there making a name for themselves, in an albeit interesting fashion!

Very happy to see the weekend appearing. The weather in Melbourne this week has been wonderful, and I kept thinking of lazy days sitting at coffee shops, soaking up the sun and just chillin’. Instead, I was spending every spare minute helping Year 9 students with their first big essay! Hopefully I’ll be able to hit a coffee shop sometime in the next 48 hrs. Think I deserve it!
Enjoy whatever comes your way. : )

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School’s out Friday

Two students from my school presented at a conference held at my school yesterday. Both were students who participated in Sleepout for Schools last year. They were explaining to the participants how you go about using the tools of social media to communicate with others and perhaps get others to join you. They used ‘The Girl Effect‘ to finish their presentation. I was really pleased that they’d found this themselves, and knew that it was going to be something that really helps to illustrate how social media can convey a strong message.

And because this is School’s out Friday, I just had to include ‘The Boy Effect‘, a parody of ‘The Girl Effect’ made by Alex Fropple for a Geo project. Another example of someone using social media in an interesting way! Alex is quick to note in the description on YouTube that he doesn’t want to belittle the message of the original video, and nor do I. But it is funny, and worthy of School’s out Friday.

It’s been a full on week, even with a public holiday on Monday. My dog went missing on Wednesday and that didn’t help matters. Thankfully she’s home now, and we’re $130.00 the poorer for it!

Have a great weekend. Sunshine all round here in Melbourne. Lovely Autumnal weather. Warm days and cool nights. Just right!

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School’s out Friday

Yes, it’s late. Really late. So late, that a good friend rang me to see if I was alright. She commented that if I could get a School’s out Friday post up while I was in New York, but couldn’t get one up when I was home, then something must be wrong!

It’s been a frantic week. Both of my children’s birthdays, heaps happening at school, SLAV’s 50th Anniversary cocktail party at the State Library, trying to get presentations organised, and then being in the city yesterday with the Year 9 students. Yesterday was my daughter’s birthday, so we stayed in the city for dinner and went to the movies. She comes before School’s out Friday I’m pleased to say!

This is worth watching. The improveverywhere crew’s latest mission; Ted’s birthday. An unsuspecting guy at a bar has a night he never saw coming! Just wish they had have done it a little while back when I was in New York!!

Long weekend here in Melbourne. I’ll be watching the streaming from the TEDxNY event and hopefully catch up on some much needed sleep. Hope you have a good one!

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School’s out Friday

*Having trouble embedding the video for some unknown reason. Follow the links in the post.

Tony Hollingsworth sent me the link to this video and I just had to share it with you for School’s out Friday this week. I loved Avatar, but this is a whole new level of enjoyment.I’d say the Na’vi People of Hometree Wisconsin are having a bit of fun with all of us!!

Enjoy your weekend. Kid’s birthdays are headed my way. Movies, pizza, sleepovers – think of me!!

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School’s out Friday

I’m sure quite a few of you who live with a dog can relate to the above video. And if you’re like me, and share your home with a Labrador Cross, then you’re bound to be able to relate.

Bella brings much joy to our life. She’s loving and loyal, but she’s never not hungry. If there’s food in the vicinity, then Bella’s eagle eyes are tuned in that direction, and we’re faced with a steady stream of saliva that seemingly emanates from a well secretly hidden within. We must love her to put up with that!

Hot weekend for Melbourne coming up. Pool weather. Looking forward to relaxing on the deck with a good friends and a glass or two of wine. Hope you enjoy whatever comes your way. : )

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School’s out Friday

Did I tell you I’m now a Mac user? Not only have I become a devotee of the iPhone, but I’m also loving the MacBook Pro my school have provided me with. We’ve gone dual platform, largely because we see the need to respond to the changing conditions of the world our students will be entering when they leave school. Take a look around when you’re next at an airport terminal. I took note of the large numbers of Mac users I saw recently when spending layover time at Sydney and Tokyo.

How have Apple gained such a stronghold in the market? They certainly have the aesthetics right, and the students I teach who don’t have Macs enviously covet what’s in my possession. No doubt the clever advertising campaigns they ran over the last four years have helped go someway towards their popularity. You can now view all 66 ‘Get a Mac’ ads in the one place at Adfreak.com. Handy for an afternoon of mirth!

Been a busy week so I’m looking forward to a relaxing weekend. Enjoy whatever comes your way. : )