Month: January 2006
Burnination
Went out and picked up a DVD burner (+/- R, +/- RW, dual layer, for those to whom these hieroglyphics mean something ;)) this afternoon and fitted it to this machine. We’d been saying for some time that we’ll need two DVD players in this computer when we take it back to Australia. As you…
Salvation Army Fraud
Sue and I just had lunch together at a local pub, which was very nice – a chance to hang out with her during the work day is a bonus, and she’s working close enough at the moment to make it possible. There were TVs on in the bar with the sound down (and some…
Terrorism in Perspective
Glenn Greenwald writes: The total number of Americans killed by Islamic terrorists in the last 5 years — or 10 years — or 20 years — or ever — is roughly 3,500, the same number of deaths by suicide which occur in this country every month. This is the overarching threat around which we are…
Ideal Vehicle
We went to the Edmonton Motor Show last night – Sue, Alex and I went with Lorne and his son Traftan. It was a nice application of yesterday’s blog post: looking at all the cool cars and all the options, and imagining what we’d do if we won Lotto and money was no object, it…
The Ideal and the Real
Looking at ways to review our current Teacher Education program at the University of Alberta today. One of the questions that we propose to ask our faculty members is “What would your ideal teacher education program look like?” Some members of the group felt this wasn’t a useful question – we can never have that…
I’m Officially Acclimatised
So, just stood outside waiting for a bus for 20 minutes, at 4o C, in just pants and a shirt. Hands felt a bit chilly, but generally I was completely comfortable. I remember needing a heavy wool overcoat for 14o C when we first moved to Melbourne, so Canada has clearly left its mark on…
A Conservative Minority Government for Canada
Lorne has the election result covered – join in the discussion there if you like.
Ah, here it is!
Over 13 months ago I asked ‘Where’s my flying car?’ Apparently, it was in Perth all along.
iPod Cotton Wool
I’d never really used a personal audio player for any length of time before: I’m not a runner, and on bicycle or motorcycle I think it’s too dangerous not to be able to hear, and it just never seemed to make sense. I got one for Christmas, though, and have been enjoying using it on…
Better Make A Start
http://money.cnn.com/2006/01/17/news/economy/climate_fortune/index.htm The task at hand according to Lord Browne of BP: “Build 700 nuclear stations to replace fossil-fuel-burning power plants, or increasing the use of solar power by a factor of 700, or stopping all deforestation and doubling present efforts at reforestation. Achieve all three of these, and pull off four more equally large-scale reallocations…
Accommodation of Life
I talked about Jean Piaget’s ideas of assimilation and accommodation here, in relation to learning. But I think it might also be possible to apply them metaphorically to our lives. You’ll remember that ‘assimilation’ is ‘putting more stuff into the existing category system’ – stuffing the pigeonholes1 at the mail sorting office. ‘Accommodation’ is ‘creating…
/me = crispy critter
That is to say, I’m fried. Just watche 15 of my students present a 20 minute lesson each. Don’t get me wrong, they were interesting, engaging and amazing. I’m continually amazed and humbled by the creativity and knowledge of the students I teach. But I was also up late last night transfering the video from…
A Click Too Far
You know I’m all in favour of conserving energy and the environment. So, as one small part of that, I’m happy about the little sign beside the light switch in the mens room near my office that reminds people to turn off the lights when the facilities are not in use, and I regularly do…
Now Get The T-shirt!
For a complicated set of reasons, only some of which can usefully be discussed here, some lunatic made the ‘I am Bravus’ t-shirt. Basically, every time someone posted a poll on the William Gibson Board, I would find some category or option that they’d failed to include, and that I fit in. Not trying to…
The Election And The Dollar
Interesting result: http://www.discount-currency-exchange.com/foreign-exchange-updates/news-us.cfm/FOREX_news/01-12-2006 At this stage, at least, the Canadian dollar seems to drop (relative to the American) when it looks as if there might be a ‘too close to call’ result, and to rise when there’s more certainty about who might win. The market seems not to really care who wins, suggesting that it…
Party Platforms 5: The NDP
Well, we’re in the lead-up to the election now (in fact, Lorne has already voted – hey, he mighta gone NDP on the strength of the following! … Nah!) Here’s the fifth and final instalment in my series on the platforms of the Canadian political parties, focussed on the New Democratic Party. They’re basically always…
The Slow Learning Movement
A colleague here in the Carnegie group, Mark Cladis is talking about his approach to teaching as ‘The Slow Learning Movement’. That doesn’t mean he’s teaching students with intellectual disabilities – quite the reverse. But it means he thinks we assign too much reading, too many assignments, too much ‘work’ in our teaching. Combined with…
How Important Is The Label?
The current controversy around James Frey’s book ‘A Million Little Pieces‘ – it was marketed as a ‘memoir’ and made an Oprah’s Book Club selection – got me thinking about labels. This book was heralded as Oprah’s first ‘non-fiction’ selection… but then it turned out that Frey had ‘fictionalised’ some elements of his personal story…
Toiletries For The Homeless
A bit of a moral dilemma. We’re staying at the Sheraton while we’re here, which is very nice – one of those things I can’t afford and wouldn’t choose if I was paying for it, but that I know how to enjoy when someone else is. A colleague at the workshops distributed a note (she…
Some Photos Of Us In Action
http://www.cfkeep.org/html/snapshot.php?id=55705410480225