Video: Toronto Tempo

A good friend of mine sent me a link to this wonderful time lapse photography video below by Ryan Emond (shot with a Nikon D700). There are days when we miss the big city!



I especially love the opening and closing sequences as they remind me of our own TO experiences of riding the subway. I miss being able to take pics like the one below.

iPost

Encouraged by SMARTboard success this week in the classroom, I finally took my school iPad out of its box, charged it, turned it on and fell in love with the thing. In fact, this post is being hesitantly typed on the iPad. Hesitantly, as in, "How the heck do people type like this all the time!?". I need to undo some of my muscle memory, I suppose, to avoid making so many errors (which have been painstakingly corrected for your reading pleasure). Tomorrow teachers will be heading to Ktown for some PD, which includes some welcome iPad and SMARTboard training. I am looking forward to it very much. My Luddite post aside, I enjoy the benefits of technology, especially when it enhances my personal and professional life. While an iPad will not be on my Christmas list just yet (new camera first), it's definitely on my "want" list.

SMART

Ok, so I'm not a Luddite after all.  Phew!  The expensive piece of nonfunctioning electronic art (aka the SMARTboard) that was hanging off to the side in my classroom was moved this week to a more central location, hooked up properly and is now fully operational.  It's kind of like a giant iPad.  Kind of.  I had a quick tutorial by the tech guy and experimented with the board after school.   The next day:

• students took their own attendance by writing a checkmark by their name
• math drill scores were taken up and averaged and the math lesson utilized the board
• reading connections were written on screen and made online at a touch of, well, the screen
• a graphic organizer was filled in on the SMARTboard and the resulting paragraph written beside it on the chalkboard (great use of space!)
• online multiplication and other math games were played during a rainy indoor recess

Only two days in we have barely begun utilizing the SMARTboard to its fullest potential.  Yet the neat thing is that the SMARTboard in my classroom is already generating out of the box thinking.  Just hours into the first day of using it, a student suggested/asked, "Wouldn't it be cool if when we do our attendance on the board we just email it to the office?"  Yep, it would be.

Book Quote

"Like the need for air, the greatest psychological need of a human being is to be understood and valued."

~The 3rd Alternative:Solving Life's Most Difficult Problems, Stephen R. Covey

Wordless Wednesday

Monthly Photo Challenge: Decay

Yes, I know, my photo challenge pictures have been lacklustre of late (or non-existent). This Thanksgiving weekend I carved out some time (sorry for the pun) to take pictures. The theme of this month's challenge, suggested by SR, was "Decay".  My early entries to the challenge can be found here, slideshow here.  I wanted to get ahead for once (I still have to finish up last month's challenge: "Nourish").

Wordle: Gratitude

Over morning coffee I generated a wordle listing some things for which I'm grateful.

Randomography: Younger Sprout

Randomography: Clean Up Crew

Randomography: The 'Peg

Among other things, our family is nourished by exploration and discovery, rest, relaxation, laughter and play. A recent trip to the 'Peg provided a much needed respite from a hectic school schedule and refreshed the family's spirit and well-being. The full set of randomography can be found here.

For a slideshow of the pictures, click here.

Places we visited:
The Forks
Manitoba Children's Museum
Fort Whyte Alive