..was watch a cute little panda video, I just neglected to turn off my VPN from home–and then I discovered that the OLSS that I work for is now, apparently, blocking all Youtube videos. So the score to date: OLSS-1 Web 2.0-0 but, in the end, aren’t the big losers our students?
At least that’s what I call it. I am now officially 1 year post-chemo and have just gotten another 3-month extension on being a normal person. I can’t wait until my ticket is good for 6 months at a time.
I’ve really tried out using an interactive white board the past few weeks. Here’s what I’ve observed:
So…what’s changed?  The students can now see better–it tends to slow me down as I demo things–which is good for students.
Would I miss it if it were gone? Probably.
Would I be just as happy if I only had a projector? Probably not.
But has it changed the way I teach adults? Nope….but that may be because I am training applications right now.
The only thing I can do now that I couldn’t do before is annotate video–the rest of the interactivity that comes with the board’s software I can mimic in numerous other applications so
I guess my personal jury is still out on whether this is a “teaching transformational” tool or not.
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Magnificent MomOriginally uploaded by techmuse.
Tigers! I’d love to spend an entire day with them—what an improvement over a day at work right now. My attitude badly needs readjusting; I’m hoping that my “3-month ticket” will get punched this week by the doc and I can go back to not thinking about stuff.
I NEED some time off—if nothing else, to take a look at this blog (and, not to mention my web site–which has been “under construction” for more than a year now, and see where it’s going.
(and , just to note, this photo was taken by my son)
My office at home is clean–so I can play with my pictures….here are my favorites from the zoo trip on Saturday (at least as far as Tai Shan is concerned). To see all the “zoo shots” including some Asters, go to my flickr site.
 
Spent part of the day Friday working with our new Interactive White Board—and folks would stick their head in the lab. As usual, I asked about what they perceived the value of it to be and, almost routinely, the responses and examples were basically taking worksheets and making them electronic. I FINALLY heard someone, however, articulate a reason they are not just a “cool toy”—-SB said (paraphrasing) “The thing is, a teacher can create these activites “on the fly” to react more to student needs. Even if it’s just a worksheet–it’s instantly customizable, right in front of the students” So, in the mantra of technology for cheaper, faster or better—the arguement was “faster”–but at least it’s the begininning of a rationale that moves beyond “but kids think it’s cool”
We took off on Saturday to take a look at the tiger cubs. They are amazing—and are beginning to act more like tigers and less like kittens. Their feet have grown–and are now even bigger, and they stalk their mom just as if she was prey and they were adults.
It was so pleasant listening to the rain underneath the tent at the panda cafe—and then the rain stopped, Tai came down out of the tree, and we went down….and started answering questions about pandas–even though we weren’t “on duty”. Met a very nice couple from Minnesota–she is “panda crazy” and it was nice to converse with them and see how much they supported each other in their passions.
The most fun of the day was watching Tai try to get past the metal collars around 2 of the trees….actually is wasn’t watching Tai, is was listening to the visitors as they cheered him on; the “bad boy” working to overcome the “mean ‘ol keepers” who put the collars around the trees. They cheered and encouraged him, and the “roar of the crowd” was truly exhilarating as he got both of his claws above the collar and managed to go all the way up.Â
I’ve promised myself that I won’t look at the pictures I took until I’ve gotten some work done—and now I’m writing here instead of working (sigh).Â
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