A Good Laugh Makes the Day So Much Brighter.

With the earthquake in Christchurch making quite an impact on our minds, in class we have been exploring the effects of an earthquake on a city. While we are in the North Island we are well aware of what is going on down south and we are learning so much.


Today we were in groups listing what we should have in our emergency earthquake kits. (I don't have one, but starting this weekend that is going to be remedied!) When each group had a list we shared and combined it into one. (I have quite a bit of gathering to do to build one.)







As young 9yr old M... went out the door she giggled and told me in her group they couldn't quite bring the word 'kettle' so they wrote down 'wireless boiling system'. I laugh each time I recall it, it is only today's child that would come up with that. Well yes, I do have a 'wireless boiling system' i.e. kettle. So at least I do have one thing on the list.


Now I need to purchase the item that will provide the heat to boil the water.

Technology

I love technology, but it does take up an amount of my time. In New Zealand we are provided with laptops as classroom teachers by the government and school funding them. These days we couldn't do without them.

A week or so back my computer was changed. So it took some backing up of things I had got lazy about backing up. Then I dumped a whole lot on the school server and vowed I would go through and tidy it up! I have yet to do that. It looks a little like my book shelves in the classroom, badly in need of a sorting through, because I have forgotten what I even have.

As I am a keen reader I bought a Kobo ereader when they first entered New Zealand. Then on Sunday it just died. The screen went black and no amount of trying to reset or recharging worked. So now its sitting in a package to be returned!! They said they would replace it as it's still under warranty. Fortunately when the Kindle3 from Amazon became available for our country I got one and I love it. It is superior to the Kobo, I love its ease of use.

I also recently bought an ipod nano 16gb as my trusty mini ipod was running out of space. Also I have to admit while I didn't totally need one, its capacity was too enticing. I don't listen to music, rather I enjoy listenting to audio books downloaded from audible.com and have done so for a number of years.

Now that many in my class have their own blogs that takes a certain amount of time to monitor. They are doing really well and I am very pleased with the way most of them are creating them and posting on them. At present I need to take the time to set them up with their own accounts on a web site that makes Animoto videos. I have a special code for that and it gives them all access rights. So thats my next job. I wish when I went to school many years ago that I was able to present my work in all these interesting ways. I wonder what it will be like in another fifty years!