So Much to Learn...So Little Time

New Delicious links in reader

Help.
Not often I have to ask for help but I can't work out how to get my new delicious links to appear as a post in a reader so that others can see them and maybe find thm of interest.

Christmas in Huntly

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The switching on of the christmas lights in huntly

Students 2.0

Well if the posts to come on this excellent blog project are as eloquent and thought provoking as those on the first day of its existence Students 2.0 could become an influential and important read.
I have rarely read such insightful and reflective posts, particularly from ones so young.
If you've not read it yet or haven't heard of the blog yet get over there and read what these students have to say about education...it might just challenge your perceptions.

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My kids are podcasters too

The last couple of weeks my son Yanick has started to learn his 2x table in his P3 class. I was thinking about what I could do to help him learn, so I thought why not have him make a podcast that his mates could listen to too.
So this afternoon he wrote down his 2x table off the top of his head, we then practised reading it through and recorded it. It sounded fine when we put a beat to it but I wondered if he couldn't say it using the beat to help. Of course he could. Here's the result.

It was amazing to hear his voice gain in confidence as we did it. And you should have seen the moves he wanted to put down when he listened back to it. I'm sure he will be pleased as punch when he gives the cd to his teacher tomorrow.

...and I can now see a whole series of podcasts coming up. Not just x tables but maybe letters, phonics and any old stuff.

Now whilst we were working on the mix Aïcha came into the room and started blethering into the mic. So I had to record her. She's 3 and did a jolly good job I think.

Aicha Speaks

So there you are a family of podcasters...just need to get my wife in on the act now.

The state of welfare

How ill does someone have to be to find out exactly what is wrong and how bad it is?

I apologise for this post but I need it to be some kind of catharsis. I am puzzled, dissappointed and quite despairing of what has become of the NHS and how it functions (not the people who work in it because they are as put upon as educators but the system)
Background.
At the beginning of October I had 2 weeks off work, I was diagnosed with a ruptured lumbar disc (slipped disc). In November I went back to work still sore but capable of doing the job. After 2 weeks I caught a bad cold and coughing fits put my back out again even worse than before. As a consequence I have had another 3 weeks off and will not be back until 2008.
All this while both my GP and physio both explained that although I had a cut an dried case the hospital would not accept a referral until I had been ill for at least 6 weeks. So GP finally referred me 2 weeks ago. YESTERDAY I got a letter from Neurological outpatients kindly telling me that yes they had received my GP's letter and that they would write to me 6 weeks before they had a date available in the clinic. Not even the vaguest idea of when this might be.
In the mean time with all this waiting, I am still not physically capable of standing (or sitting) in my class to deliver lessons. Mentally no problem but I can't stand for much more than 30 mins without starting to feel pain. This means that my employers are paying me full salary whilst being off work (not complaining obviously), but they also have to pay a supply teacher to be in my stead at around £200 a day (you do the sums 5 weeks, £200 a day.) My colleagues are having to set my classes up, so taking time out from their own classes and my own students are not benefitting from having a trained MFL teacher in front of them. The costs to my employers and my students are big.
BUT I will still have no idea about where exactly I have this problem and what needs to be one to sort it out (surgery / rest etc.)
Why can a GP referral not be seen asap? Why are waiting lists so long?  How much is all this costing. On a personal level I am hoping that I  will improve on my own and be able to return to work before I start to pay (i.e. when my entitlement to full pay stops and goes down to half pay.)

I will leave you with this thought. When I caught malaria in Cameroon i went to the hospital. Within an hour I had a blood test and was told to get the results  3 hours later.  My results showed a high level of infection, I was prescribed the right drugs had 2 weeks off work and went back fine. This is in a supposed developing nation. Ok so I had to pay up front whereas we have free at the point of delivery.
But I am just so annoyed at being left so long in limbo.

As an aside: I've been trying to think of ways to still invilve myself in my classes via the web and stuff. I've posted useful listenings to my int 2 class blog (thus far non of 'em have bothered themselves to download them.) I was also due to give a presentation to all S4's about the LAFTAS ( we are challenging them to produce films to promote the study of languages.) I did the presentation in keynote, then imported to quicktime. Unfortunately a couple of short films I had embeded in the presentation didn't work so I then imported the quicktime movie to iMovie cut out the offending films and reimpoted the originals in their place. I then sent it to iDVD, made the DVD and sent it to school (3 hours work in total). They are going to use it this week I think.
So I am still capable of doing some things.

Click To Play

Students 2.0

I'm really quite excited by this new arrival on the web 2.0 scene.
As an avid reader of my feeds I am really rather pleased that students are now getting on board. Enough of us teachers guffing on about the potentials of web 2.0. Now students will let us know their thoughts.

Early retirement...

NO CHANCE

Not if the "How much is your Blog worth?" generator to be believed. It works off your Technorati rating.
Judge for yourself, but I don't think I can give up the teaching to work as a professional blogger as yet...

Este blog vale

€ 278.66

(US$ 196.24)

               

Ranking: 1391575

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and Cubo Rojo

Asterpix - Interactive video

Learned about this new video hosting web site last night from Vicki Davis' blog.
This is Asterpix and you can create interactive hotspots within the video, so interested parties can find out more about what is contained in the film. It sounded exciting so I just had to have a go.
At the moment you have to upload from another video hosting site such as YouTube (can't use blip.tv at the moment but I'm sure it will be added at some point). From there it is really easy to add notes and url's to a hotspot.
Check out my first shot: A slimmed down trip around Huntly purveyors of fine food and drink.