As we left the Pink House, we noticed a rather large crowd across the street, behind the barricades of Plaza de Mayo, accompanied by colourful signage. We decided to go investigate, and found ourselves smack-dab in the middle GAY PRIDE!!! ;-P
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We have a friend from Toronto visiting, so finally did the “touristy thing” and went downtown for a tour of Casa Rosada, the Argentinean Gov’t House. Somewhat like the White House in the US, Casa Rosada is pink because originally -- due to a shortage of pigment -- cow’s blood was mixed with the white paint to give the building some colour. Either that, or it was an political symbol intentionally undertaken by Sarmiento, intended to diffuse tension by mixing the white of the liberal party and the red of the radicals. In any case, this historical building is perhaps best known for the balcony from which Eva Peron addressed the people, as celebrated in a new exhibition and gallery in the house dedicated exclusively to her and other women who define Argentinean history and culture. Casa Rosada’s location (Plaza de Mayo) also provides the backdrop for some of the city’s many political protests. Tours are free of charge, and we were lucky enough to get a bilingual one! Any teacher or parent who has ever use seen a Time Timer in action knows that "I GOTTA have one!" (or, in my case, three!) feeling. And once you've had a chance to use this handy little tool yourself, you can never go back. Whether for classroom management or child chores and homework organization, parents and teachers everywhere have experienced the value of this simple yet effective time management tool. I've even used it personally, when doing another task while waiting for a load of laundry to finish or a batch of something to bake in the oven, so that I have a visual reminder and don't forget my original task! Now, this brilliant device is available as an app for both iPhone/iPad and Android. The virtual Time Timer has the same simple user interface as the real thing... with a few added advantages: First and perhaps most obviously, it can be taken anywhere you already have your phone or tablet. Rather than hauling around an extra piece of equipment when I go to deliver workshops or attend a supply teaching gig, I can now simply set up the timer on my iPad, which I would have had with me anyway. Additionally, multiple timers can be set up simultaneously (and in different colours) to co-manage different events. My favourite feature of the virtual co-timer is its ability to set and save timers (including repeating timers!) for specific tasks: We have one called "Homework/Math practice - Reading - Free time" which runs for 26 minutes, 3 times over. My boys use it every afternoon after "school" (I am home schooling this year). At the end of teach 26-minute run, a beeper goes of signalling the transition to the next independent activity for the kids, and then the time automatically resets itself. The process repeats itself 26 minutes later. This allows me about an hour and a half of uninterrupted personal time each afternoon, while the kids are successful at managing their time in a responsible fashion! Time Timer, the App -- Gotta have it! Pretty neat, huh? And best of all, it's FREE! I am hoping to have the boys use Tellagami next week to describe a photo they take at the animal park which we are planning to visit outside of the city. Attended my first OTF Connect PD Session tonight, on “Supporting Student Learning with iPads”, with Jaclyn Calder, a secondary teacher from Georgian Bay, Ontario.
Once everyone arrived in the “room” (we used Blackboard Connect) and introduced ourselves and fiddled with the various tools, we began by brainstorming strengths and weaknesses of iPads in the classroom, on this wikispace, using something called a “padlet” (no flash required, works on ipads!! It’s like a virtual bulletin board.) Jaclyn spent some time discussing the use of iPad as student tool vs iPad as a teaching device (resources and links are posted in the afore-mentioned wiki), then we moved on to Socractive in order to respond to some survey questions - it didn’t work so well (happens with tech!), so we just moved back to the wiki, and began going through a wealth of apps students could use. Apps for Different Purposes The apps were clustered into various categories like Explaining Thinking (with apps like explain everything , or tellagami) and Collaborative Writing (including the usual blogging apps and google docs, but also primary pad and a variety of collaborative comic tools like Bitstrips, which is apparently now available as an app). Sorting the apps into different purposes like this helped me to envision what each might be used for, rather than walk away with "ooooh, what a bunch of cool new apps"! Collaborative Learning Online (for Teachers!) I really enjoyed the collaborative spirit of the PD session; after a brief overview of each section, Jaclyn gave us time to explore and then discuss (using the mic or chat tools) how each app could be used with students in different contexts. She also responded to questions as they arose. I especially loved how she incorporated music into the students’ work examples (garage band was discussed, as used in “non-music” subjects). Hurrah! Arts! Ongoing tech support as various people faced a different tech issues was also available to participants. The pace of the session was simultaneously fast and slow. It was in some ways very different than other PD I’ve attended, and yet, it was also similar in that some excellent ideas were shared, space for dialogue was made available, and both large and small group interactions took place, while opportunity for individual exploration was also made available. Time Difference Makes a Difference Because I am now 2 hours ahead of Toronto time here in Argentina, I did log off a little early, but more because I was generally exhausted than because I was bored. I am so excited to have found this Professional Learning portal through OTF, and am looking forward to my next online session, about Literacy, next week! Thanks, OTF!!!
This particular book is about a young immigrant boy and his non-English-speaking Grandfather, who tries to find work in his new country. Due to a misunderstanding in language, and the boy's dishonesty, a mistake is made, and the employer is very angry. But Abuelo teaches his grandson a valuable life lesson as he rebuilds trust with his employer, necessitating difficult consequences for the boy's weekend plans! We began by looking at a mess of vocabulary I had pulled out of the book (immigrant, chickweed, replanted, lied, extra food, parking lot, etc.), and made predictions about the story by using as many of the words as possible in a paragraph. Then we did a first read-through, pausing occasionally to do a think aloud, and also noticing when "our words" appeared in the text.
Later this week, we'll revisit the book, and discuss the main ideas and author's message in more detail. Then I'll have Alex and Simon respond to one or more of the following in a blog post:
If you're looking for a great book to teach honest and integrity in a current, relevant setting, I highly reccommend "A Day's Work" for your home or classroom! Finally, the must-check-off visit to the iconic "La Boca" neighbourhood, home of colourful, dilapidated, old buildings, spontaneous street tango, and overpriced tourist crafts and empanadas on every street corner!
"It reminds me of PEI", one of the boys observed when we first stepped off the Collectivo 152 that had hauled us all across town before landing us at the port, and we finally inhaled that unmistakably fishy smell. But a short walk through the colourful streets reveals a far more vibrant version of "Charlottetown", with a completely different historical and cultural flavour. Although we did not buy any souvenirs, we took away lots of memories, including watching a mouth painter at his craft, and observing several tango artists and actors. Alex even spent a few minutes sketching the view across the water. Click the photos below to enlarge.... Every morning before school, the boys and I begin our day with a short prayer, and a look at a specific Scripture passage. (We look at one passage per week, and complete different learning activities each day to help us memorize the passage and understand its meaning.) First we light a candle, then we look at the passage, and finally we pull a small stone out of a bag to lay next to the candle, before we say our prayer for the day. Sometimes, instead of a spoken prayer, we listen to and/or sing a worship song. There are four rocks in our prayer bag: "believe", "hope", "love" and "faith". This morning, Alex spontaneously created a new one, by taping a piece of paper to a rock. His paper read "Awesome God"! It's pretty embarassing when your new ex-pat friends in Buenos Aires share some news from home, and the article they send you is about our idiot mayor, Rob Ford, and the latest episode in his ongoing drug trafficking saga in Toronto! How ironic that the man was photographed for this article with a large Shoppers Drug Mart sign in the background... One of the drugstore chain's more popular slogans over the years has been "take care of yourself" -- Ford sure seems to know how to do that! Had the opportunity to spend a few hours at a public hospital this afternoon... click on the first photo below for self guided, annotated tour...
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About Vera...Canadian, vegetarian, PPL, certified teacher and mother of twins, home schooling for the year, in Argentina!
Visit me online at www.verateschow.ca Archives
May 2014
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