Up here with some Geordie lads

I'm here in Newcastle upon Tyne at Caspian Learning in a two-day training session. we are setting up a project together. They have produced some fantastic stuff for education: 3D educational assets which can be used in different subjects. They are very motivating and catchy. I'm here to learn how to deal with some of the assets, how to deal with the authoring tool, and also to to talk about the joint project. I'm leaving tomorrow, but I've got the feeling that I could have stayed for some more days: there is so much to learn... and I feel like getting into it straight away. We are going to have some training sessions in Barcelona with people from Caspian together with a group of teachers who are eager to learn how to exploit the possibilities of thinkingworlds.

Thanks to you, Chris, Duncan, David, Rob, and to all of you up here at Caspian, mates. I hope we can come up with a rewarding and long-lasting experience.

Engaging tools

Here's a group of interesting tools for you:

Heromachine. Draw your own hero: http://www.ugo.com/channels/comics/heroMachine/classic.asp



Decorate your Room. Practise vocabulary and have fun: http://www.studio2b.org/lounge/games/decorate_room/default_popup.html



Create films in a very catchy interface at DFilm Moviemaker: http://www.dfilm.com/index_movie_start.html

Slide: A tool for pictures

Check this free tool available on line at SLIDE.

Slightly different from Bubbleshare, navigation is not so easy, but the outcome can also be of your interest.

Bork

Collaborative environments

I've come across a couple of very interesting online tools: They offer a free and common space where people can communicate in real time. In the first one, THINKATURE, we can draw, insert links and images as our colleagues are watching our performance in another computer. They can also add their observations, pictures and texts. It's like a digital board shared by a group.


The second website offers a more graphic interface. It is called IMAGINATION CUBED, and it is a sponsored website by General Electric. You can add a background, stamp drawings and write down with a pen. It does not support links or image uploading. It is much more suitable for primary schools.


Two very good ways to get in touch with colleagues and share our ideas. They are worth a try, believe me.

Free Mindmaps

A nice website providing an on-line mindmapping tool.

http://interactives.mped.org/view_interactive.aspx?id=127&title=

A Link to BBC

This link takes you to a game called "State of Debate". It is an interactive game where students have to act in a made-up world of the future. It fosters communicative expression. And it is very catchy!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/games/

For those who teach!

Don't miss this. It's good to have a laugh when it comes to ELT!



The sad thing is that some peole still think that teaching English is not so far from these methods!

If it's true!

Watch this video and think... If the audience votes out of good will, trying to help the participant... that is a serious matter. We should think there's a cultural problem in our society. If they voted trying to tease him... bloody hell!... I don't know what is worse.

QUI VEUT PERDRE DES MILLIONS
Uploaded by ledruide

Interesting Slang

This is a good website for those who want to keep up to date with English and learn about slang. It can be syndicated and the number of words is massive!

http://www.urbandictionary.com/

13

13 years of bliss, laughter, love, arguments, tears... two presents from paradise, one more on her way... Our wedding anniversary!!
Anna took me out for the weekend, and we went to Olot, and had an unforgettable lunch at Les Cols (don't miss it, at least for once).

Then we spent the night at a cozy hotel in Girona and then we spent a quiet and relaxed sunday in that wonderful city. We read the newspaper from beginning to end, strolled along its alleys and had a nice lunch too! Here are some pics and my deepest thanks to my wife!

Bork

Bork

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BfB

BfB!!
Back from break! We've just landed in El Prat Airport from Fiumicino in Rome. What a wonderful experience!! (Not the flight). I had never been to Rome before, and I must confess that it has snared me with its combination of light, water and decadence.. The children had a lot of fun together ...and so had we! Good atmosphere, lots of pizza and pasta (the cheapest way to eat there) This city breathes out history. Have a look at the pictures if you like. They are just a pick. Thanks to my fellow travellers (Berenguer, Mora and Ortiz families) for the wonderful time we have shared!

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The Pope and his fellow comrades

After these glorious words in his speech in Regensburg , the Pope has aroused the wildest and most vicious protests in the world of islam. The faces of the people filled with rage protesting all over the world leave me a deep feeling of fear. They could do anything to quench this rage, and that gives me the creeps... but they could do no more than what christian fanatics used to do in past as well, and that's where the Pope's mistake comes from, apart from his lack of respect towards other religious sensitivities. He shouldn't forget that christianity also used the sword and other weapons to disseminate God's word. That doesn't keep me away from the feeling of repulse towards such signs of fanatism shown by people who still think in such a primitive way... I repeat, and quote my words: "primitive way". The world of the Crusades and Saladdin is long gone, but, even though I have shown my criticism against such mediaeval or even prehistoric behaviour, I can't help to express my rejection for the words of a man such as Benedict XVI, who has had the opportunity to be raised in western schools, not in Koranic schools, and can be theoretically considered an educated person with an open view of the world. He should know what can be said and what cannot. Those protesters in Islamabad or Kandahar didn't probably have the chance to see the world in any other way than the one of the Koran.

Pictures from BBC news

Good links

Here are two good links for my colleagues: The BBC site for education offers us a couple of extremely interesting interactive activities on the web: one related to Shakespeare and a mysterious story and another related to the world of detectives. Fun and learning in ELT together, believe me. Be sure to check up these two sites!

Back again... and some news

After a long while... I'm back. I'll try to fill you with my thoughts and feelings again, and also with some tips and links for my fellow teachers.
These up here are my daughters... my two eldest ones, considering the next one will be another GIRL!!! Coming in february, and all of us eager to see her among us (well, in fact, she's already "among" my wife Anna).

Voice and guitar...

Back to our dreamworld after some reality bits... here's a video of Katie Melua, that girl I said that sang like angels. Just voice and guitar... enough to make you shiver.
Enjoy it!

I can't avoid it!

In spite all the bliss and happiness of our holidays, there are things that make my guts flip over. I mentioned something like this before, probably about Irak. But it comes over again. The war in Lebanon does not make out between soldiers and civilians, and innocent children are right in the eye of the hurricane.

How can a single father (I'm sure some of those who shot the rockets have their own children) think this cannot stop? Victims in Qana or in the other towns in Lebanon are dying like insects because Israel claims its right to defend from the threat of Hezbolla. That does NOT justify its cruel actions. We parents should stand and shout against these murders, but how can we?

So far, only tears of rage show our disapproval. I humbly think the state of Israel is digging its own grave; a grave in the land they had a right to claim.

Photographs taken from 11alive, truthdig and decaturdaily

Stage1: Segovia

Back from stage 1!!
Lots of children. Good temperature (thin coat at night, sleeping under your sheets). Lots of places to see: castles, palaces, gardens... and very nice people we've met. Best regards to M. Carmen, Carlos, Alberto, Jesús, Carmen, Bárbara, Joan Carles, Loli, Lara, Hugo, Javier, Luisa, Celia, Jorge and Javier Jr. We've had a very good time up there. It's been good to relax and to drowse through the afternoon, and read a good book (hard as it is during the year). Now it's a week's work at the office and then off to La Cerdanya. Anna seems to feel better about her pregnancy. Our third offspring seems to start behaving properly.
Here's a bubbleshare for you if you want to have a look. The swimming pool shower was freezing!


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Bye for now!

Steep climb, indeed!

We did it!
A nice bunch of people (a big hug for Albert, Amàlia, Antonio, Glòria, Jorge & Lluís) got together last weekend to climb the Canigó, one of the sacred mountains of the catalans. The first stages were really pleasant, flowing streams and meadows, birds singing, and Antonio making fun. As we got to the "Tartera" (scree in English)... oh, that was tough!! Stepping on rocks and sliding pebbles makes the climb really exhausting. There was Glòria going up the slope like a goat (very good, Glòria). Right at the end of the tartera we sat for a snack to gain some strength, and there was the final climb. A steep path of rock where you had to hold on big boulders and rocks with both hands in order to get some control and go up to the top.
When I finally got to the sumit, Antonio, Glòria, Jorge and Lluís were already there... with another pack of 15 more people barbecueing some sausages together with their 6-7-year old children!! That was depressing: The children were wearing rubber sandals,and I was there with my boots and half fainted! It turned out that they had climbed from the other side, on a much gentler slope.
After Amàlia and Albert got to the top (that was a very brave climb... congratulations, Amàlia), we had something to eat and took some pictures (aren't we cute?).

Bork

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We began the descent, much harder than we expected. The view of the empty fall in front of you made you think carefully where to put your hands and feet, but it was fun, believe me.
We got to the starting point completely exhausted, but very happy after having achieved our goal.
The stakes were high, the aim was tough, but the company paid for everything. It has been a real pleasure to meet such nice people as Albert, Glòria and Lluís (the others were old acquaintances). I want to thank Jorge for putting us together on this wonderful excursion.
Today is monday... my legs are a bit stiff, but my memories are splendid!
It's worth having a look at the pics, they are nice!

Briefing...

Hi there... sorry about the delay. We've been pretty hectic at home... but results have been very fruitful. Anna (wife) has passed her competition to become a state teacher for vocational education. That is good news, isn't it? But wait, still more coming up... she's pregnant!!!! Third one coming! The family will be enlarged with another crawling creature ready to suck our stamina. That makes me RRRReally happy, believe me. I'll keep you up to date with that.
Maybe these oncoming days I'm going to spend sometime trying to refurbish the blogsite (colours, links...) I'll come back with more posts ASAP.
Take care all of you, will you?

Referendum on Sunday

The weather forecasts are very promising: Gloomy skies slightly overcast with chances of rain... that means no beach = high participation in the referendum. The estimations say the Yes is going to win. Spain-biased conservatives and Independentists are for the No. Too much for the former, too little for the latter. None of them will ever be happy with any negotiated outcome, I guess.
So, let us see what will come out. What I always like to hear is the comments of the politicians after the results are given... All of them win!!

Local heroes

We always tend to see our heroes as strong, famous people... remarkable actors or actresses, singers, sportspeople, or even politicians!( I don't believe people see us teachers as heroes, do they?).
Real heroes live around the corner... in our neighbourhood, in our school, or next to our office table.
This is my first local hero in the series: Àlex, my neighbour. he plays football, and at the end of the season he's been appointed best colleague in the team. Congratulations, Àlex! Fairplay is as important as championships.

So... there I was

Yesterday, it was the time for Emmylou's concert in Barcelona. She was together with an english guy... I think his name was Knopfler, or something like that. He was fantastic as well, but that's not the point here. She played and sang like an angel, and at 59, she moves like she did years ago.
I was there together with my lifetime friend Jorge (the guy with the specs in the pictures), he was the one who introduced me to Emmylou's music. Thanks, Jorge!
Her music and her songs sound like heaven, and I felt like heaven! by the end of the concert, she sang "From Boulder to Bimingham", that made me feel younger, about twenty years, more or less.
I don't know if I will ever see her again, but yesterday's concert will be permanently fresh in my memory... a part of the soundtrack of my life.
I've pasted a BubbleShare presentation in large size, I hope the guys at blogger won't go mad at it, but she deserves it!!
I love you girl!!

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TAFL

This stands for Teaching of Andaluz as a Foreign Language. Watch this "Folou mí" course and you'll be able to speak andalú in a few days. I advise you all language teachers to watch carefully and take notes. It's a bit long, but it pays, indeed.

By the way...

By the way, Current TV seems to be a different way to make television. Interesting documentaries and interviews about everyday life and hot issues, from the watchers' point of view (for a change).

Immigrants!!

After all the hassle produced by the immigration issue, both in Europe and in the States, I think it is worth having a look at this video from Current TV. They gives a comic approach of the problem, and make us see that we are all immigrants some time!

Here's the second!

2 hours of nerve-wrecking wait. No voice at all in the end. Eyes wide open, mouth gaping, sweat. We finally got to the end of the match one goal ahead, which was scored just 10 minutes before the end. The game was tight and difficult. Arsenal scored in the first half after having their goallie sent out. That left a 10 aginst 11 match which wasn't easy at all. When many of us thought that the cup would be lost, Eto'o and Belleti moved the balance for Barça in just 4 minutes. Unbelievable!!
Second European Champions Cup, and the feeling that the team has a promising future ahead. How far will they get?

Just feelings

No pictures, no links... just feelings. Tonight Barça are playing their Champions League Final in Paris against Arsenal. I'll be watching it at a friend's together with a bunch of people and Clara, my eldest daughter (she does like football, indeed!). If they win, the blog will have a colourful post tomorrow. If they lose, never mind, there much more important things in life than a simple football match... but this isn't a simple one, by no means! Funny how we tend to be mesmerized by such vacuous things.

Goosepimples

Yesterday I happened to listen to a song... goosepimples!! It was a cry of sensitivity, of tenderness and lyricism. Katie Melua, a young singer of georgian roots sings a beautiful song called "I Cried for You"... amazing how I was moved by her voice! I think I will definitely have a look at her other songs... and so should you; but first visit her website and watch the video of this song. My colleagues might even find the video interesting as an activity in the classroom. Her voice is crystal clear, the tempo is good, ans the movie can be very helpful to practise parts of the human face. Don't miss it!

President of my country... tough job, indeed!

Pasqual Maragall, my president, must be really having a bad time. His colleagues at power fom ERC (independentists), say they will foster their voters' "NO" at the referendum for our new "Estatut" (something like an autonoumous set of laws and rules to govern Catalonia). They claim the Estatut is short of power for Catalonia and still depends too much on Madrid. That leaves Maragall in a very uncomfortable position. Part of his ministers (those from ERC) will probably say NO in the referendum whereas he and his sidekicks (PSC, the socialists and IC, the ecosocialists) will ask for the voters' support with a YES. The spanish nationalist conservatives (PP) also stand for a NO, but for the opposite reasons of ERC. PP claims that too much autonomy will finally break Spain into pieces, trying to cause fear in the more moderate voters. This tug of war will probably benefit Convergència i Unió, the catalan conservative nationalist party who was in the government for 23 years. Wrapped in a patriotic flag, they ruled the country with a full right-wing bias. This present catalan government, made up of the three left-wing catalan parties, raised many people's hopes for a more equalitarian country. This conflict may cause the government's downfall and subsequently new elections will be held. That would mena that many projects would be held at a standstill or, depending on the next government, probably put off.

May the 17th.... mmmmm!

Barça made it! They defeated Milan in the two-match semifinal with a total score of 1-0. Poor as it may look. Not many teams can really boast to have beaten the italians.
And now the final! Arsenal are waiting for us in Paris... Henry, Fàbregas, Reyes... It's going to be a beatiful tug of war, I'm sure. I won't be there, but I'll be on my sofa watching it. Next champs... us... I'm sure.

Sowing the seeds of love... green love

Last tuesday we were having dinner at home and Mònica (5) took a green bean seed from the plate and asked my wife Anna if she would have a baby if dad put one of those in her belly... so... vegetarians beware!!

Good news... fears away

A brief note: I've just been through a couple of bothering things... I had to undergo a gastroscopy and an endoscopy because of different reasons. My family has a history of intestine polyps (my mother and my grandmother Petra). Some were good, some were bad. After 40, you must get a check up in order to prevent polyp development. No polyps in the end!
I also had a gastroscopy because of some swallowing problems... that gave me the creeps! I didn't know what could be wrong with my swallowing. In the end, it has turned up that I have a moderate hiatal hernia... NOTHING SERIOUS!!!! These days I have thought about my daughters and my wife, about many things... I was afraid, but finally I can look at the future again with the same strength and optimism!

An oasis for teachers... and speakers

I've been told a new café has opened up in Barcelona: The English Oasis Café. There you can have a drink and speak English. There are activities and even learning modules of spoken English for low-stage learners, and different topics for everyone to choose. Magazines, boardgames... anything that might help you feel in comfortable in an English speaking atmosphere.

Back from the hills!

So we are back. We had a great time there, in spite of the dangers you'll see later on this post. The house was cute and tidy, and there wasn't many people around, we met a family next to our place, but we didn't see much of each other.

On our arrival, we had the opportunity to celebrate Clara's birthday, and we took advantage of the present she got... a Monopoly!! We played and played, and she got used to winning pretty quickly.

The weather was fine, we had some fog (really thick), and sunshine, but scarcely any rain, so we managed to do some walks in the area.
We went into a vegetarian diet of barbecued ribs and spiced pork meat... together with boiled vegetables to compensate.
We met a very interesting man and his family. Mr Valentí Garrigasait, the owner of the place where we were staying. He is a very trustworthy man, always ready to help you and give any assistance you need. A man with a solid background and sympathy that make of him an outstanding character. He was the one who restored Hotel Sant Roc in Solsona, a beautiful art noveau building of 1929, and turned it into a fashionable hotel worth visiting run by his efficient daughter Dolors. On our way back, we stopped by and had lunch there, and were welcome by the staff with such kindness that my daughters behaved like sheep (easy joke... they usually do). Dolors showed us the newly decorated rooms, some of them painted by Tate, another one of Valentí's daughters. Really astounding!! I really encourage you to pay a visit to this nice hotel in Solsona.

Here's a little show of the things we had to endure up there in the wilderness!!

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...and the prince will come

...and there will come a time when the prince will come, and he will take away my two princesses. Oh, god, how hard it must to be the king in your palace and see your beautiful daughters part!
Fathers and mothers rule in their palaces of bliss... but their kindred goes away when the time comes. That is something I will have to endure. But as I look at them now, I see how strong I will have to be... to see my daughters flee!

Up to the hills!!

Saturday... two days and we are out on holiday!!!
The four of us (my two little carrion-eating sparrows, Anna and I) are going to a nice country house in Canalda, a nice little village in the Pyrenees, or pre-Pyrenees. We have booked a little cozy place probably surrounded by cow dung and swarms of insects. We'll probably hear the bleeting mountain goats, and taste the delicious ingredients of catalan cuisine.

My daughter Clara doesn't know, bus she's getting a Monopoly game for her birthday on the 8th -yes, the very same day we are setting out-. That means that evening activities will be probably based on playing board games and eating sunflower seeds. I'll be peeling off Mònica's, probably; my wife can manage an Clara too.

I'm looking forward to some days of relax, good reading, good walking, good eating and... ey, you dirty reader don't think any further... and good sleeping.
You'll have a proper report in due course.

Two very outstanding people. If you ever met them, it would be difficult to find two adjectives to describe them out of: sympathetic, friendly, helpful, humble, honest, hard-working, cultivated, resourceful, sociable... and others. Here's a little homage to them, Toni and Mercè.

Got it!!

Row 19, seat 6.... I'll be there, Emmylou!

She's coming... and it's for real!!

I was in my teens. I loved music (I still do), and I loved her. I was crazy for Emmylou Harris. Together with my friend Jorge, we used to listen to her warm sweet songs. Her songs were the soundtracks of my love affairs. We wrote a letter to her fan club in the States... and we received a hand written reply!! I still remember, she said: "For Richard, all the best". And she signed it!

I have never forgotten her songs. In fact, I've never stopped listening to them. One of my biggest disappointments in life was when, years ago, one day I got a call from Jorge saying that she was giving a concert in Barcelona. But, just my luck! I was flying to England that very same day with some students from my school... no escape! I felt down in the lumps, but there was nothing I could do... and now she's coming back! I just read it in the newspaper this morning. She will be at Palau Sant Jordi on the 13th of june, together with Mark Knopfler. I've just learned they are about to publish a new record of duets. And they'll be on a tour... and in Barcelona. I'll run for a ticket. And I'll see her on stage. I'm not a teen anymore, but she still makes me tremble like a leave when she sings.

BETT Prizes

The 2006 BETT prizes put their stress on the use of ICT in Education. Here's a link to the winners list. It is worth a visit, believe me.
Click on http://www.becta.org.uk/corporate/display.cfm?section=21&id=4978 and go!

Grief... or rage?

I was going to edit a post about my daughters skiing in the Pyrenees, but I don't have the guts. I've just read the paper and I've come across a piece of news about an american attack. American troops were trying to capture an Al Qaeda member in a town north of Bagdad. All they got was 11 people killed, 5 children amongst them.
Just look at the picture and tell me if all this is worth. Innocent children dead because of political interests.. who is the criminal?
I can only think of my daughters... and the picture. And you?

The photograph belongs to REUTERS Agency

Beware!!

I've just sent an invitation to visit this blog. Don't be afraid to leave your imprint! The only thing that could happen was that I could set Mònica loose... she's wild!!

On to the next!!

I was there... not a hairpin could fit into the stadium. And it was worth! Barça played a serious and intelligent game against a team who wasn't able to carry out his role: Chelsea didn't know how to take up their task; they had to create and attack... but there was no siege in Valdez's area, no missed chances. They show the way they can only play... hidden behind the midfield line, waiting for a mistake. But theirs was the mistake. Football must be something else, and the red and blue in front tried to show that... and Ronaldinho took over Messi and succeeded. Football at its best. So... now on to the next match!