Holidays?

Here we are, half way through the second week of the Easter Holidays and what have I done? I've spent most of my time sitting right here, typing into this computer! I'm less than a couple of weeks away from the hand in date for my Chartered Teacher Submission. I thought it was going to be so difficult to write enough, but no! I'm nearly two thousand words over the limit! Get out the red pen! (Who said 'Typical!'??)
Even though I still have lots to do, I now feel that I can see the Finish Line away in the distance! It'sprobably just as weell that I don't know exactly how much I still need to do! It's those fiddly admin bits that always take more time that you think!
I've also managed to do this on my PC after weeks of not being able to get on! Youpi! as my French friend Isabelle says!

And another thing!

We've just got some lovely new MacBooks in school. Our Programme for teaching ICT skills is based on the Appleworks program, so I was so disappointed to find Macs no longer come with Appleworks as standard. We'll have to fork out for licences until we have managed to change our package to suit Microsoft software.

Mac also have stopped supplying the wee connector to link to a data projector - these now have to be purchased separately. Just as more people are using them on a more regular basis too - or is that the point? We have to have them! Or am I just being cynical?

The badge is back!

Well I've got my clock and Flickr badge back on my new template. I've had quite a few problems though. I can't get on to Blogger in school - another job for the technicians to get that unblocked! I can't get on to it on my PC either! What am I doing wrong? I know it gets harder to remember things as you get older and I've got too many login names and passwords, but how can I help other people to use blogs when I can't get things to work myself?

At Last!

Ever since I changed to the new login, I have been unable to get into post a new blog! I was using my PC rather than my trusty Mac and for some reason, couldn't get past a message to "click here to continue"!

Having spent the weekend in Brussels at an eTwinning Conference, I consulted with the expert - Ewan McIntosh - and here I am, on my Mac of course! The Conference was really good! I met up with a lot of old friends as well as making many new ones. Two of my eTwinning partners were there, Isabelle form Nancy, France and Maria, from Hamrun in Malta, so we had plenty to talk about! We made some plans for future developments to our projects as well as general socialising!

Brussels is a lovely city and we managed to get into the Grande Place a couple of times and buy the obligatory Belgian chocolates. I sampled the raspberry beer and the cherry beer which are more to my taste than the other Belgian beers - much sweeter!

The journey home was not so good though! Instead of flying to Glasgow from Birmingham, we were taken to Edinburgh and then put on a coach to Glasgow. Right up till the plane landed, we were told we would be flying on to Glasgow. However, the ground staff said that was never happening. Why didn't British Airways just tell us the truth from the start?

The pace of change

Well a few weeks have passed and I haven't managed to add anything to my blog. Everyone seems to be under so much pressure and there are limits to how many new things you can try in a week! I know I've had a chance to 'try out' more than most, but then I don't get the same chance to put them into daily practice as I'm not in my own class all the time! But if I was in my own class all the time, I wouldn't have had all the opportunities to see all these new things!

I just keep throwing comments in when people are discussing ideas and hoping that someone will take me up on my offers to come and experiment with their classes! I know many teachers are put off by the fact they don't know enough about the technology, but the children can manage by themselves if they get the chance to start blogging or playing virtual games.

Be adventurous!

Amazing!

Now I have got the hang of this, who knows what I'll be able to add! A successful day's work!

Success!

Well after many attempts, and a few e-mails to Ewan McIntosh for advice, I managed to get that badge! Now I just have to figure out how to get the clock.....

Learning to use Flickr

Having spent two days at SETT last week, I'm now experimenting with some of the things I saw there, or have heard about before and haven't had time to try! I go as far as uploading my pictures to Flickr and downloading the Flickr Uploader -made my pictures take up much less space! Now I just need to figure out how to get my lovely Flickr badge on the Blog and I'll feel I have done a good day's work!

The question is, should I be doing this or should I be developing my Portfolio for my Chartered Teacher File? Is this Personal Development? I think so, but how can I show how much time I have spent? Young people could no doubt pick this up in a fraction of the time!

Any advice??