Els amics de L'Avenc han publicat un Diari de Natura!. Un diari maquíssim i sense any fixe. El podem usar l'any que vulguem. Conté textes, fotografies i dibuixos sobre la relació entre l'home i la natura, mostrant que pot haver una relació propera i més directa. És un llibre ple de sensibilitat i bon gust. Us l'aconsello!

Filles virtuals

Hola, us presento la Mònica...



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...i la Clara


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Quines filles més virtuoses, oi? O virtuals?

Tardor a la fageda

4 meravellosos dies al bell mig de la fageda d'en Jordà, a Mas Palleu, una magnífica casa rural acabada d'obrir i portada amb molta atenció per la Roser Pararols.



Un cel blau cobalt ens ha acompanyat cada dia tot passejant per la bonica fageda. Colors tardorencs, castanyes, panellets i jocs de taula amb en Jorge, la Mar i família.

Els tons dels verds i els grocs, els iogurts de la cooperativa, i el silenci de la nit ens han prooprcionat uns dies veritablement terapèutics, guaridors de l'estrès que portem sempre dins.

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Els més intel·ligents?

La gent de PETA ha penjat a la seva web petatv un video sobre el comerç de pells d'animals a la Xina. Cal dir que s'ha de tenir molt d'estómac per veure'l. Jo de vosaltres faria un esforç. Cal veure que veritablement hi ha persones que demostren que l'home no és únicament l'animal més intel·ligent. També és el més cruel. Més que fàstic, el video fa posar trist.

Culpa de quí?

La meva germana va passar el passat divendres quatre hores i mitja per desplaçar-se entre casa seva i la feina. Això és molt de temps.
Barcelona, el territori (paraula en vogue) i la vida de molts ciutadans i ciutadanes estan potes amunt. Els despropòsits de tant de temps ens han abocat a una situació que ha portat el caos al dia a dia de molta gent. Un AVE (tren d'alta velocitat) que no arriba mai, unes rodalies obsoletes... dos conflictes que durant molt de temps han anat per separat: l'AVE perquè no es tirava endavant, les rodalies perquè no rebien ni un cèntim. Ara s'han unit en un embut en arribar a Barcelona. Resultat: l'Ave segueix sense arribar i algunes línies de rodalies han deixat de funcionar. Preses en fer les coses? Pegats per tot arreu? Les víctimes són sempre les mateixes. La dreta s'ho està passant pipa. L'esquerra es treu les culpes de sobre. Tot plegat, únicament ens aporta una cosa clara: És una espècie a preservar la dels polítics honestos que posen per sobre de tot l'interès de tots els ciutadans. La gran majoria posen per davant l'interès dels seus partits en preservar-se com a grup, d'assegurar uns vots que els mantinguin en els seus escons, i que cobrin les subvencions en relació a aquells vots. Aquestes subvencions serveixen per llogar un espai a València per 6 milions d'euros per a un congrés del PP, o per publicitat de qualsevol altre partit. Però seguim sense tren.
Potser l'espècie del polític honest o coherent no està en perill, potser ja està extinta!
Què ens quedarà fer quan ja no confiem en ningú? Votar el menys dolent? Quina tristor social!

ELT goes away

Dear friends... dear teachers. From now on, those posts devoted to ELT won't be here anymore. This blog will remain as my personal blog for other affairs (family, world...)
If you want to track new posts on ELT, go to ELT Blog
, you'll find me there.

All the best,

Ricard

Real?

Here's a movie trailer from Robert Zemeckis' new film, Beowulf. Those who had to go through the story in English Literature at the University or at school will soon realize how the darkness that stands from the story is so well depicted.
It stars famous actors and actresses like Anthony Hopkins, Robin Wright Penn, John Malkovich or Angelina Jolie, or their avatars?
Have a look and see how virtual reality has mingled with real life to create perfect replicas of out favorite film stars. What will be next? Awesome!

Lights and Shades

This website is extraordinary! An activity site from the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie in Paris where you can play different activities with light, shades and sound... and in English. It's worth a visit, believe me!

Taga

Edmund Hillary and friends.

Last Saturday we climbed up the Taga, a well-known mountain for low-profile mountaineers like me. We went together with the the Fontanals, the Llopart and the Navarro family from school. And the boys and the girls... wow! They really had a very good time! For me, satisfaction came from reaching the summit and as much as that, fom seeing my daughter and her friends laughing and playing all full of beans. That gives you strength to carry on, indeed (you see, I'm getting sentimental... time to go).
And a couple of extra pics from home... well, from Emma at home!

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Why so fast?

Back to work. It's been a wondeful time. Beach, hills and daughters!
After 10 days in Llançà, where our Clara and Mònica learnt to dance in front of an audience (and I learnt to hide away).



First days on the beach for Emma. No fear! sitting by the waterline and splashing on the rocking waves like a little mermaid.



After a few days at my in laws, we headed for Collsacabra, and we stayed for 9 days at the beautiful house of l'Avenc, run by Belinda and her husband Quim.



It's been an unforgettable experience. 9 quiet days surrounded by nature, good warm people and vultures above us... books and games, nothing else... and nothing else we needed indeed.

Visit l'Avenc if you have the chance. You won't regret it, and I would also recommend you to read Matthew (Belinda's brother) Parris' book "A Castle in Spain", telling the story of how l'Avenc originated and later it was purchased by this friendly and charming family. Belinda and her 81- year-old mother are both English teachers.



Here are some pics from these wonderful summer holidays:

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Summertime... chill out

No time for serious things... holidays!!!
I'll try to post some fresh things along these holidays... I hope the world won't make me talk about something sad!

Here's a fresh start:

Future or present?

This cartoon is just a way to see how we teachers have to change our scope on our job!

The Cost of Life

A very good game to play and learn. Students must make sure they understand how difficult life is in Haiti. Very flexible and at the same time demanding. It comes from the Unicef website. A good chance for students of secondary education to practise negotiation and English vocabulary. They become members of a caribbean family from Haiti. Life is hard, really hard!

Worthwhile

Have a look at this video. It will probably make you think that sometimes, thousands of signatures will make a difference.

New hopes... welcome aboard!

Today, Josep, Pepón and Ricard will start their own company... Triple Mortal. We hope to start a new scenario in our lives, something parallel to what we have been doing so far. Even though your life can be as sweet as a cake, sometimes you need some extra topping. This is the time!



Good journey, mates, and thanks!

Back and kicking

I'm back at work... and I don't know who my boss will be! I hope he can let me work the way I like. I've got so many projects!
Here are some pics from late spring. There's a slide show, but I have posted one on its own... you can see why:



And here's the show!

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And something else... I got this from YouTube: A cut from a fallen creature (they call it "fallen angel"), not 150 kms from home. These things tend to turn up fake stupid videos, but this one gives me the creeps, believe me!

Hard life.... joking!!!

I've been out of the blog for several days. I changed into New Blogger, and:

1. No time to get used to it.
2. I had to find my way through it once I could get rid of difficulty 1

Now, I'm at home, on a fatherhood leave until June the 21st... wow, it feels like heaven, if there's one!
Emma the Third is an easy sweetheart who only complains when she needs some sleep.

I'll try to post interesting things these days, I promise.

Cheers to all

Sometimes I see strange people!

I have always thought I could be taken as an honest, straight and formal person. And here come my friend Virginia with a picture she took of me when we were having a party with our children on a weekend outing in the mountains. The thing is ... I was sober!!

A glass of milk is good for a break!

Here's a very good website from the California Milk Processor Board

Interesting for intermediate/advanced secondary students once they've done their tasks. It contains some facts about milk, but it is basically a fun game. But it's worth a try! Interaction and animations are extremely good, and it is in English!

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New pics of the big-eyed girl!

Here she comes again!
3 months old, and already laughing and giggling!
Joy and bliss for all of us at home.

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Two in One

Short of time as I am, I'm posting two interesting sites for you in one single post.




The first one is held and kept by a New Zealand ELT teacher. Sarah Lilburn posts her videocasts on ELT in a website where students can watch her as she talks about Hamlet, explains the present perfect or teaches you how to greet the Queen!



I think it is a very original way to ensnare students! In just a few years' time we'll see this will not be so unusual. New ideas are welcome! and this one is solid! Congratulations, Sarah!

If what you need is an online dictionary, here's a website with hundreds!
YouDictionary.com offers definitions, thesaurus entries, spelling, pronunciation, and etymology... and many languages!



It's worth having a look. You can even have your name in Egyptian hieroglyphics!

L'Estartit

Rain, rain and rain... but also fun, boardgames, short walks along shopping street and lots of brunyols. Therapeutic stay at Pere and Tere's apartment at L'Estartit: Thanks a lot, my friends!

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What a disaster!

Interesting website from ISDR (International Strategy for Disaster Reduction), a United Nations organisation caring about the natural disasters and its effects on the world's population.

It contains a link to a game about disaster control, where students can deal with different threats in different parts of the world: Tsunamis, fires, earthquakes...

The game gives a lot of information through documents, images and charts about different natural disasters. It is very easy to implement in the classroom, as all is presented in a very easy and clear way.
Once students start playing the game, they must control the risks of an eventual disaster, by means of building defences and developing structures to avoid future dangers. The interface is very catchy, and students have always the feeling of being in the middle of a very interesting computer game. It is very good for practising English, both vocabulary and oral production, as there's a constant need to negotiate about what decisions to take. So... a good cocktail: Fun, group work, projects, and English!

ICT and Videogames: Tim Rylands

For those interested in videogames in education, here's a very interesting site from Tim Rylands, a Primary teacher from the UK who is now using videogames at a cutting edge stage. The use of a game such as Myst in the classroom provides with a wide variety of exploitation possibilities. Don't miss the video about some of his techniques, and visit his site. It will be rewarding, believe me!

Thinkingworlds Training in Barcelona 15/16 march 2007

We made it!
The training's over, and the sensations are great!
Our colleagues saw the potential of the tool, and, even though some trimming or tuning might be needed, I'm sure will come out with a very successful project. We have been able to create simple and solid assets covering different areas. Our goal is to be able to create a set of materials suitable for our schools, and to be able to disseminate the potential of this application so that more teachers can feel engaged to this common project. I want to thank Duncan and Rob for their patience and kindness. Added value was their skill to show the potential of Thinkingworlds.

Here are some pictures for you!

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Guess Who?

It's a pity I can't put the Stevie Wonder song here, because she deserves it!

Whole bunch: First shot

Here's a first picture of the whole family: As you can see, the elder ones were not in the mood for interviews, so we leave it just like that!

Games in education

As you probably know, I'm deeply involved in digging into the possibilities of 3D virtual games (Caspian Learning)...

...and virtual worlds (Second Life) in education.

We are going to hold a training session with catalan teachers and people from Caspian Learning in Barcelona in march. I'm sure we will end up with a highly successful outcome, and that will lead the way to a great number of 3D activities created by our teachers for our schools.

I also find amazing the massive amount of possibilities for education that Second Life contains, although it gives a different approach from Thinkingworlds: Secondlife is an open field of possibilities and variations. Too open I would say if there is not enough control or training for/from the teachers. Caspian Learning's Thinkingworlds is an environment that provides teachers with the possibility to create closed assets with no interference from the www.

Two lawns with different grass to tread... and believe me, both tempt you to walk barefoot!

Here's a video clip about games in education by the Orange County Department of Education's Educational Technology Group. They have given permission to post.

One of the interesting things commented in the video is the fact that educational institutions don't usually have cutting edge technology that allows end users (schools and students) to use cutting edge software. That would imply a drawback from the game designers' point of view, who are not very keen on stepping back in order to create software with a less sophisticated technology than the one used in commercial products. But the actual truth should make them consider the possibility of stepping back a little in order to create these products. Probably the great leap forward would come in no time, once they found out there's a market for that kind of materials.

Vampires and fairies

Clara and Mònica had their Carnival party at school. They chose to represent the two sides of the force: Clara was dressed as a vampire, and Mònica as a fairy.

First bath in the Royal Spa

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Emma had her first bath a few days ago at the Royal Spa (AKA home). Her sisters gaver her the best possible assitastance, and since that day, she enjoys diving into the depths of her little bathtub!

Some are lucky...

Time for carnival! just a tie, but enough to strike a pose in front of an old Mavica and portrait these people that make my job easy. The smiles are not just for the pose... they are there everyday!

Can anyone spot my boss?

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Emma the Third

And here she comes!

Our third daughter Emma arrived on the 2nd of february, at 6:40 am. I apologise for the delay in posting the news, but the week has been pretty busy, as you can imagine. She's a lovely girl with a lot of dark hair, likely to fall in summer, as it happened with Mònica the Second. We all take turns to cuddle her, and we do argue to be first!

Back to work on monday... I'll go back to post ESL links for my colleagues... and I'll miss her!

I'll keep you up to date with her progress, and I will bother you with loads of bubbleshare slideshows. Here's the first:



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Thursday, 1st

On thursday the 1st, we are called to turn our lights off for five minutes, to be cut off from the world of power from 19:55 to 20:00. When I read about it, it shocked me a bit, indeed, but as I reflected on the idea, I saw that it was not meant to change the world, but to help us see how much energy we would save if we were a bit more sensible.

We are going to join the initiative (provided we are not in the middle of our third daughter's birth, due for that very same day), and I encourage you to do the same!

Cheers!

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Cashback

A very witty short film. 17 minutes of intelligence and sensitivity awarded at Sundance festival. Take your time and watch it!

Shivers...

I'm reading a book by Frank Schätzing... The Swarm (El Quinto Dia in Spanish). It is a very good book, indeed. Long as it is, you never find the time to put it down.

It deals with the fight of makind to survive a global threat coming up from the deep, and it covers computer science, ecology, biology andp politics, all perfectly threaded in a thrilling mess all through 881 pages (mind you, I'm right through two thirds of the novel, and how am I enjoying it!).



Yesterday I watched a piece of news on the telly about a creature from the deep that came up to the surface in Japan... a frilled shark... It looked like a monster to me. It is a very old species, and just the look of it made me think of the lurking dangers from Schätzing's book. The truth is that now I'm aware of the fact that the unknown mysteries are not so far... just 10.000 metres below!

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A Good Game

Something I forgot about last Holidays: The Three Wise Men brought me a very good present... a bord game called Carcassonne. It consists on laying tiles which develop into a medieval landscape you must conquer.

A very nice and catchy layout. If there's someone willing to play.. I'd like to find some friends to play with me once in a while (not far from home, of course.. three children make things difficult, you know).

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Performancing

A very interesting tool for us bloggers: A Mozilla add-on that lets you publish posts directly into your blog! You only have to go to the add-on page of Mozilla at https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/extensions/ and search for Performancing:

Once you restart Mozilla Firefox you wil see a small icon on the lower right corner with a small clipboard... just set up your blog there and get started!

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Back after a long while!

Here I am back from holidays... an later! It's been pretty busy at home, with lots of things to do because of Emma's arrival. She's expected by late january, but she'll probably be with us before. Clara and Mònica are really excited, and they keep calling Emma in her mummy's bossom: "C'mon, Emma, time to come!".
Back at work, I'm completely engaged in Caspian's project. It is really rich and motivating, and I hope we will come out with very good results.
Hey, I forgot: 5 in the family... need for more room... need for a bigger car. Those who want to collaborate.. It's a new 7 seater C4 Picasso... we accept donations!

Anyway, back to work. Here's a very interesting website where you can have your students in a chat room where you can recreate different simulated situations in different sceneries. You can even create your private island, which is good if you want to have a controlled chat in a closed environment. Just don't buy any gadget, they are not necessary, and have fun...very catchy, my colleagues, believe me!

Visit the website and have a try... you won't regret it!

http://www.boombang.tv/