Tag: School’s out Friday

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School’s out Friday

Friday again. Today was a wonderful day at our school. It was House Drama and Variety day, a day that is steeped in tradition and gives our students an opportunity to display their creative talents through drama and dance. It’s a highlight in the school calendar as far as I am concerned. Houses compete against one another and the students create a production that melds dance, comedy,  some lip syncing,  some hammy acting and most importantly, loads of fun. It does interrupt our curriculum, but it provides the connective experience that I think is vital for schools – it is a day they will all remember, long after they leave the place.

Wouldn’t it have been great if we had uploaded some of this wonderful creaative work to YouTube so the world could see how great they are and they could help to foster a positive digital footprint of themselves. Maybe next year….

So, because we can’t see Tripp house’s brilliant retelling of Peter Pan, we’re watching Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld. This was broadcast on US television last night and is the first of a series of commercials to try and get the public to see Vista in a new light. It’s a bit obscure at the moment – as the series unfolds I’m sure the story will gel. I can see they are taking principles that Garr Reynolds would no doubt find interesting. They are relying on story and the connectedness that forms through this to imprint their message. Will be interesting to see how the story unfolds. (Just as an aside, apparantly Jerry was paid 10 million dollars to appear in the ads . Nice little earner!)

Enjoy your weekend. Spring is here in Melbourne and the air feels warmer. Ain’t life grand!

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School’s out Friday

Friday again! Rolls around fast doesn’t it?

Had to revisit Hamish and Andy who took on the Olympic city of Beijing to take the sport of Ghosting to a new level – Forbidden Ghosting in the Forbidden City! Funny guys, and game ones at that, without a doubt.

For those of you wondering how Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach’s visit to my school went yesterday, it was great. I’ll write about it tomorrow when it’s not one o’clock in the morning and I’m not sitting at my laptop with a glazed expression that reeks of too much to do, too little time and too little sleep!

Nearly spring! (Or Autumn/Fall for all you Northern Hemisphere folk) Enjoy the weekend.  

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School’s out Friday

Friday again already! Hope your week has been a good one. Time to revist the improveverywhere team and see what Charlie Todd has been up to. This is their latest effort. Using the subway system (a favourite location of theirs) they managed to get 15 sets of identical twins to form a human mirror on a train. Watch the quizzical expressions from the unsuspecting passengers as they look from one side of the train of the other and try and fathom what is going on.  

Charlie Todd, in my book, you are a superstar. I so look forward to seeing what you will come up with next. You and your team of voluntary improvisors lift my spirits. A real tonic for the weekend. Enjoy.

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School’s out Friday

How quickly does the weekend come around huh? (And how quickly does it go!!!) This is a recommendation from a student of mine for this week’s School’s out Friday. It’s the Discovery Channel’s ad called Boom de  ah dah. It’s a lot of fun. I love the fact that my students want to share their good finds with me. Saves me a lot of time looking and I really appreciate it. On YouTube the Discovery Channel are looking for people to create their own video response to this ad. Here’s one of the efforts that have been made by the public. It’s a couple of inventive kids with a trebuchet – they could cause a lot of damage if let loose with this!  

Have a great weekend.

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School’s out Friday

Is it Friday again! Of course it is, and what’s more it’s that special date 08/08/08. Olympic opening ceremony day. I’m sitting here watching and marvelling at the wonder that is China. I’m returning with my school to do an 18 day trip in late October/November. I did the same trip last year and my perception of China and the Chinese people was transformed by the experience. Such wonderful people and such an interesting country full of many contrasts. Before I make this trip I will be visiting a part of China I haven’t experienced before – Shanghai. I’m going to the Learning 2.008 conference in September. What a great learning experience this will be. A chance to meet many of the people I have formed connections with throughout the course of this year and an opportunity to attend sessions run by people of note in the Web 2.0 world. I feel very fortunate.

Couldn’t resist searching YouTube to find what people had uploaded from the opening ceremony already. With the accents I’m gathering it’s from Greek TV – it may not last long on YouTube. I noticed a couple had been taken down from YouTube already for copyright reasons.

Hope you enjoy the weekend and immerse yourself in some of the connective spirit that feeds out from the Olympic games. I love watching and feeling that sense of world unity. Let’s hope it’s a peaceful time.

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School’s out Friday

So hard to choose this week because I’ve had two suggestions from my students for this week’s dose of School’s out Friday. I love it that the kids I teach want to be involved in the process. They love the School’s out Friday post and often ask if they can watch them in class. I have them during last lesson on a Friday so as a treat they sometimes get to watch the previous week’s post just before leaving school for the weekend.

Can’t disappoint them so there are two funny vids this week. The first is a quickie – a mother panda who gets a shock from her newborn’s sneeze – guaranteed to put a smile on you face. The second is two Australian comics, Lano and Woodley, who did a farewell tour when they decided to part company. This is Frank Woodley and his song explaining the origins of everything including their meeting, career togehter and decision to part. And all in one and a half minutes!

Hope you have a great weekend.    

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School’s out Friday

Yes, it’s time for School’s out Friday. Thought I’d check out what ImprovEverywhere have been up to. This is them making the day of a little league baseball team, by turning their game into a major league event. The players, coaches and parents were in the dark about what had been planned for the day. I love it when the Goodyear blimp comes into view.  What a great day for those kids! Like one of the coaches says, the rest of the season was going to be a letdown after this. Love it.    

Enjoy your weekend.

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School’s out Friday

A couple of weeks ago I featured Hamish and Andy and their Team Ghosting effort in the streets of Melbourne. Quite a lot of people commented on it both on and off the blog. I love Hamish and Andy. They have a radio program from 4.00pm -6.00pm on 101.9 Fox FM here in Melbourne, Australia. They’re great listening. I cringe when they play their blast from the past segment. What they do is select a random phone number and ring that person. The task is to convince the person on the end of the phone that they’re a friend from the past and then they have to get them to agree to something, be it looking after their children, lending them money or giving them a psychic reading amongst others. Cringable stuff but very funny nonetheless.

This is them seeing what they can get when they use crying as a method. Funny stuff.

Enjoy your weekend.

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School’s out Friday

Time for another School’s out Friday post. It’s back to work next Monday for me and many other Victorian teachers. School’s been out for a little while for me now so I’ll have to try and get my groove back!

This is Lucas Cruickshank  acting as Fred, his 6 yr old anger management issues character. He’s made about 17 videos for YouTube featuring Fred and had over 45 million views. 45 MILLION! Mind boggling stuff. This video alone has had 4,096,153 views. He sounds like Spongebob Squarepants to me and is equally annoying, but he obviously holds appeal for an audience of what I assume must be a teen or younger audience. If this is what holds their attention then no wonder some of them aren’t interested in the academic content offered in our schools today!  

Have a great weekend. (Enjoy Monday!)

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School’s out Friday

Yes, I am aware it is Thusday and not yet Friday. Tomorrow I’m flying to Sydney to see Garr Reynold’s, of Presentation Zen fame, present about effective presentations. I’m so excited, particularly so because I’ve extended my stay until over the weekend and am going with one of my closest friends. I am taking my laptop, but I’m not intending to post (much). I’m looking forward to the no doubt exhilarating presentation and a relaxing break in the wonderful city that is Sydney.

Thought you’d enjoy this presentation from Mark Gungor about the differences between men’s and women’s brains. If only I’d known this years ago; could have quelled many a marital dispute along the way! 

Hope you have a great weekend (when it finally arrives!)