John Heffernan

Behold, thou shalt be kicked by an incontinent camel, O ye lying Girgashite! Anyone who was a fan of Guybrush Threepwood of the Curse of Monkey Island series should enjoy this offering from Shipoffools http://www.shipoffools.com/Features/Curses/ You never know where a biblical curse could come in handy Behold, thou shalt be as welcome as a fart in the queen's bedchamber, O ye whose name is but dung!

Words from Herman Wouk, author of "Caine Munity" "The Navy is a master plan designed by geniuses for execution by idiots. If you're not an idiot, but find yourself in the Navy, you can only operate well by pretending to be one. All the shortcuts and economies and common-sense changes that your native intelligence suggests to you are mistakes. Learn to quash them. Constantly ask yourself, 'How would I do this if I were a fool?' Throttle down your mind to a crawl. Then you'll never go wrong." The funny and interesting thing is ; exchange the word Navy with Education system and the meaning does not get diluted.

Note to self: John, if you are you having a bad day at the Chalkface, please remind yourself of what you left behind. Every IT job I worked had some elements of this :-{ This is from the wife of a Electronic games developer http://www.livejournal.com/users/ea_spouse/ (via Joelonsoftware ) Some more on this can be found on slashdot

Schools need a velvet revolution I am already jangling my car keys!!!!! SiliconRepublic Philip J Bond, US under-secretary of Commerce and Technology He believed that there was much more work to be done on how pedagogy and technology could be integrated effectively. To address the challenge, he had established a think tank to explore new ways of teaching with ICT as a tool, drawing on diverse talents ranging from traditional educationalists to the technicians that design the high-tech, multimedia experiences you find at theme parks. He summed up the challenge: “Reform isn’t a strong enough word. We need to rethink content and what teaching means; we even need to rethink the concept of the classroom. We need a revolution in learning and we need to ensure that technology makes it a velvet revolution. In the US we are now taking those first steps."

100 scientifically oriented thing to do before you die Slashdot | Things To Do Before You Die Taken this from Slashdot 100 scientifically oriented thing to do before you die. Some interesting some cool some yuck!!....... Useless blog link of the week

Why Teaching is Important http://www.schoolhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=4321&hl = Interesting reading for newbiw teachers. take time to read it all as the best advice is at the bottom of the page and ignore the petty squabble. For H. Dip teachers should check out http://www.schoolhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?showforum=21

Techlearning > > Top 10 Returns On Investment > November 15, 2004 useful for those who worry about these things

GPS outside of the classroom door One-Trick CyberPony: GPS In & Out of the Classroom Might of interest to Niamh

wmte,IEEE International Workshop on Wireless and Mobile Technologies in Education (WMTE'02) Anita take a look . 163 A Concept Mapping Tool for Pocket PC Computers Tony Chan, Mike Sharples

Interesting maps of the US presidential election http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/

Does the word discipline in schools need to be changed? I bought Patton on Leadership for my brother a couple of Christmas ago and I recently was flicking through it and one or two articles caught my attention. Patton for those who don't know him was regarded of one of the better generals of the WW2, a strict disciplinarian and tactical genius who was noted for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. This book attempts to relate some of the maxims of Patton into a corporate business environment. Topics such as leadership, planning, decision making are covered well in it but the articles on discipline within the army have some interesting notes for education. He was well known for being very strict on little things such as dress code (for example that all his men would wear clean shirt and tie when not on the front line) as he felt that if they did not feel part of a team, they would not succeed as one. Uniform helped to enforce that sense of belonging. More interestin

Ways to use weblogs in education You might like to create a reflective, journal type blog to... Must not forget this link http://anvil.gsu.edu/EduBlogInsights/2004/10/05#a668

Good Teachers + Small Classes = Quality Education My current gripe with the education sector is with the excess teaching capacity at second level and soon to be in primary level and no jobs for these teachers in the short term. Why not put the resources into Education give all new teachers a 5 year contracts to see if they are suited to the profession and to allieviate the large class numbers within some schools as the headline states this could be the way to go. "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." ~Attributed to both Andy McIntyre and Derek Bok http://www.quotegarden.com/education.html http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/26/education/26memo.html?ex=1401508800&en=69b21e2db1d8f847&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND may require free registering

Came across this on the BBC news website. ASTI are you listening......... 'Give new teachers jobs' call Teachers have to complete an induction year Wales' largest teaching union is calling on the assembly's education minister to guarantee all newly-qualified teachers in Wales a job. NUT Cymru says the lack of permanent posts in Wales means many new teachers feel demoralised and even misled into joining the profession rest of the article is here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/3612614.stm

Is Soccer more American than Baseball? http://slate.msn.com/id/2103170/fr/ifr/ some interesting points....

Is Soccer more American than Baseball? http://slate.msn.com/id/2103170/fr/ifr/ some interesting points....

Reading an article in Leask,M "Issues in teaching ICT", one of the contributors, Christine Preston (P190 for those interested) writes that teachers are not guided in the management of change. Papert in one of his books describes a hypothetical situation where a group of surgeons and a group of teachers are transported from the 1900's to the present day. The modern day operating theatre is alien to the surgeons while the modern day classroom more comfortable than a 1900 equivalent is still functionally the same. How would we look at the classroom of today in a 100 years time? Will there be a classroom within a building? Will Children be taught by mechanical nannies? Will they will be called teacher or have a new title knowledge dispensers.? Change always occurs. Maybe teachers need to learn the lesson that to direct the bucking bull of change you need to be on top of it, not to be dragged by it. On a similar vein does anyone remember a story in a sixth class

The return of Roy Guess who is back, back again? Roy Keane is due to make a return to the Irish squad. Should he be allowed to return or should he be banished for good? The Irish soccer civil war is set to occur again. I reckon Kerr is capable of handling Keane. Kerr knows how to deal with players and get the most out of them. Kerr is the professional manager that Keane wants. I wonder has Keane fallen out with Ferguson. I wonder what odds would you get for Keano to be playing with Celtic next season? The SPL is far less demanding than the Premiership so Keane could squeeze another two seasons in Parkhead.

I hate/love Lego.... One of the more interesting assignments on the Mite course is the Lego Mindstorm project. It has also been one of the more infuriating assignments I think I ever had to do. It did not start too good. 5pm Christmas Day- Kitchen table cleared. Box emptied. The three Heffernan boys start... and take a break to watch telly. My mother warned that if she found any Lego pieces on the floor she would hoover them up. This threat harks back to my childhood where the hoover devoured more than its fair share of Lego pieces. We lose Aidan after Stephen's Day to the pub. My brother Patrick and I, soldiered on through the Christmas period to create "an object to think with" (that was the exact title of the assignment I kid you not.) We decide on a page turner (I will link to pictures from my portfolio site later). We discover that there are a few small pieces missing from the Box and in contact with other Miters, some are having the same problem.