Adventures in Web 2.0 with students

My latest adventure in Web 2.0 has been getting my grade 6/7 class involved in a google group to practice reading and writing French. I'm hoping they'll add pictures and try linking to some translation activities so that they can build their confidence using basic phrases. We'll still do oral and with luck add that to the group files. Wish us luck!

Boxes, boxes everywhere and many germs in sight

Everyone is home sick with a cold and today has been an exercise in task priorities. Articles written for magazine - check. Questions chosen for Battle of the Books - check. Agenda for meeting tonight - check. Daycare arrangements for tomorrow - check. Boxes packed and laundry done - fat chance!
With 5 days until we move most of our belongings to the new house, my husband gently tells me that it isn't important to get boxes packed - we'll mostly be moving furniture. Riiiiiiight. It'll only take a couple of days to pack up most of this stuff (and now you hear the sound of me laughing maniacally). Breathe, breathe slowly and remember not to sweat the small stuff. At least we don't have to move the appliances. I won't have appliances for a while, but that's OK - I can go with the flow. OK, breathe into the bag now - slowly.

Is the house sold yet?

Selling a house is always a stressful process, but to have a house on the market for 5 months is something akin to psychological torture - self-induced torture. I'm not a neat freak, but I keep a fairly tidy house. Ok, I keep neat piles of stuff. It's sorted - mostly. I can find things when I need them. Now imagine having to keep surfaces completely clear (with 2 small children regularly leaving things about) and you can see where insanity is lurking for me. We've come close to closing deals a couple of times, but nothing came of it. Each time I was soooo ready to pack and move to the new house, so we could begin renovating there. (Again with the self-induced torture!) I am trying to live in the present, but it's very challenging when you've got visions of radiant-heated, hardwood floors dancing in your head. Fortunately, we don't have to start worrying about the yards of either house because winter isn't quite over. As long as we don't have to mow or plant, the workload is manageable. Unlike the groundhog, I think we'll have 3 more weeks and then we're hooped. There better be a buyer, soon!

Adventures in web 2.0

So, as part of an on-line course, I'm exploring the use of web 2.0 tools for creating e-portfolios. Nothing new for lots of people but really new for me - as is blogging. While I have always considered myself a pretty good writer, I start reading other blogs and begin to think that I'm not funny, original, witty or (and I know this sounds juvenile) cool. I know this is for a course, but at the same time, it's also the beginning of a journey in exploring the connected world.
My world tends to be pretty grounded in the here and now outside of cyberspace. Two year olds and seven year olds tend to have limited patience with parents sitting typing away on the computer. I also have a strongly ingrained prejudice in believing that pretty much everything on the web is B.S. No one is who they say they are (except me) and it (at its worst) is a tool for exploitation. I guess this bias tends to come from media reports and I should know better than to believe anything mainstream media tries to sell me anyways. My big concern for myself and society is that what is presented on the screen in front of me might become more real and present than the fun in my backyard building snowmen and that cyberspace connections will somehow spoil my ability to interact with people face to face. I know it's up to me to ensure that I find that balance somehow. Guess it's time to take the two year old to play group and get some real world time. Later!