Vienna, austria

Had a nice day in Vienna yesterday. We spent the morning on a scheduled excursion and saw much oF the historic areas in Vienna. We ended up in the center of the historic area in front of st. Stephens cathedral . It is incredibly big and beautiful, but crowded. The have tours throughout the church and you have to pay for each one. Entry to the church was free, but to go see the catacombs, 5 euro; to go up to the top of the tower and view Vienna , 4euro; have a guided tour through the sacristy, 5,50 euro; listen to a recording describing the art in the church 1,50 euro; light a candle, 0,80 euro! We wandered through, and Pete did light a candle but that's about it.  Now, within Vienna the streets are lined with shops. The buildings are all old and architecturally beautiful, so it seems odd to see a McDonald's sign or H&M hanging outside the old structures. And so many people walking along the cobble-stone streets. You have to look out for cars and other vehicles driving on what appear to be walkways until around 10:00 am. They were making deliveries to the shops and restaurants and just drove down the cobblestones to the doorways! I really enjoyed hearing the stories of the past rulers and why the statues were constructed.  After strolling around all day and having sacher torte and strudel with Viennese coffee, we rode the subway back to the ship. The weather was beautiful ( about 82 degrees) but the humidity made us hot and sweaty . We were glad to have time to shower before dinner.  At 10:30 the group who attended the mozart concert returned and everyone was treated to the cooks specialty, Goulash soup. FYI: It is said to be a hangover cure! Although I was really only mildly tipsy from the wine at dinner.  We left Vienna at 1:00 a.m. But the ship is very quiet so I heard nothing.  In the morning, on the way to Melk, our cruise director Andrew has been giving short snippets of information about the scenery. There is much to see! Now we are in the valley area and are cruising past vineyards and very old castles on hillsides . Andrew has told some of the folklore about kings in castles throwing the non-taxpayers down the hillsides, and Catholics overtaking the Protestants castle and locking the kings and priests up. 

Budapest

Alyssa Joy

Packing is becoming overwhelming cause I'm not sure what I want to wear. Ugh! Usually when I go on trips I figure whatever I forgot to pack, I can buy another one at Walmart. But I'm pretty sure there are no Walmarts in Europe (I have checked the internet). Anyway, it is not like I'm going to the moon; if I forget something I can go to the nearest market whose name I cannot pronounce and get it paying with monopoly-like money. 

Magic Mike

Waiting on the dryer to finish the last of my shirts and clean sheets on the bed for the caregivers (a.k.a. Libbie and Shannon and Adam). Alyssa knows something is going on and we are sure she will be unhappy for a few days. She has been pretty clingy, too. But her sisters have some plans like going to PDCanyon and the lake and the movies. They want to see Magic Mike; hope they buy some popcorn cause Alyssa probably won't be interested in the show. 

Ute Lake, NM

Ok, the dryer is finished. Back to packing and I still have to get some cash at the bank and memory cards. 

We left Budapest last night and headed down the Danube river toward Bratislava. Was fun to watch the city disappear into the night with an incredible view from the middle of the river. We just arrived in Bratislava and will only dock here until 10:30 p.m. Bratislava seems like a newer, more modern city compared to Budapest, but we have not left for the excursion yet. Met some teachers from Kansas today on the upper deck. I know there are many people on board but apparently the sun was too much fo most and they stayed inside. The country-side was intriguing to see; every little town has a church with a tall steeple (usually the highest point in the village).

50 Coolest Online Tools for Word Nerds

50 Coolest Online Tools for Word Nerds

font

If ignorance is bliss, why aren't more people happy? - From Things to Ponder

Wordle Ideas

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Wordle Ideas

View more OpenOffice presentations from JenniferW.

Another cool twitter app

Students and GMAIL

Well, this has been a challenge--trying to get students to set up a gmail account so I can teach them about using interactive calendars online. Apparently, the IP address for the school is causing google to think we are trying to spam. I'm going to have to find another way. Any suggestions?

twitter

Just finished the last video for an inservice day tomorrow. I am teaching Moodle. Hope it goes ok. I'm am getting distracted setting up my phone for text alerts in Twitter.

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wordle

Ok, I love the stuff teachers find on the internet. This cool design was created using WORDLE. Search it on the internet and embed it on a web page.

Desktop Publishing Projects

So, my students are really enjoying the desktop publishing projects. We have learned the elements of design, print type, and print graphics--which is boring book work to them. But, as we learn new terms like captions, drop caps, white balance, rule-of-thirds, etc. we are creating a family calendar that includes all those elements. To simplify the concepts (and to get some grades in the gradebook), they have a rubric for two months at a time. Each Friday they turn in just two months for a daily grade. The grades were not so great on Jan. and Feb. but now that they are referring more often to the rubric, the grades are improving exponentially.
This week, they are creating a one-page recipe to add to our class cookbook, again including all the design elements. They get (have to) bring the final product (food) to the classroom for pictures. I mentioned that once the photo is taken, they can share the food with the class, or take it back home. I assume they will want to share their creations.
The purpose of this post is to help teachers excite the complacent student. If your classroom is similar to mine, you know of the constant struggle to get kids to come to class consistently and be willing to learn. I often tell my students that I do not have a degree in Entertainment, and the fact that they may be enjoying the class is just a foturnate circumstance.

My Life Travels

Check this map out. It works like a wiki, meaning you can add things to it. Show me some places you have been.

Finally finished the 6 weeks test.

blending audacity, moviemaker and gimp

The students have created a new media package about what they have learned so far this year. We have already used audacity extensively, plus wikispaces, moodle, ning, a bit of GIMP, using flip video cameras and moviemaker. We were fortunate to receive some memory upgrades before we began the video which means no more freezing computers.
Most of my classes have been eager to try all the programs, and it is now a challenge to find interesting things that are new to them, and useful in education. I can't wait to use gabcast, google calendars, and jott. Now, the students are beginning to blend all these tools together to enhance their learning in other classes.

Apple "brick" looks cool http://ping.fm/BB042

First grading period

Ok, so I have just about ended the first grading period at school. Some really neat students with some great assignments completed already. I am surprised with the number of students who say they have used Audacity and now GIMP. Hopefully, some will be inspired to create some contest pieces for TCEA and Texas media Awards.

It is so disappointing to have several students who are not motivated to even show up for school, much less produce quality work.I would love to uncover the magic secret that inspires kids to do more than "good enough".

The end of the six weeks is Friday, and so I now have to finish the last of the animations grading, post to the gradebook, and try to get the absent work.

GIMP Two

Gimp Beginnings

Here is a good beginning video for GIMP. Watch it, then try it.

Untitled

Embedded Video

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wikis in plain english

Embedded Video

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