John Heffernan

Long time no post Have not bothered to write as often as I like to. Like most things it is a habit that you have to get into and keep going. I have got a job since the last time that I posted. I am saving a post on the new job at a later stage. I have been reading far more blogs recently and a video blog that I have come across www.rocketboom.com is a good laugh at times. I hope that it keeps going in the same vein for a few more months. I afraid that it's success will probably kill it. The more bandwidth it consumes the more expensive it becomes the need for sponsorship then the need for ads and then it is TV. Keep safe until the next time you fall into my part off the web.

 Today I attended two soccer matches and it done me good. The first game was my own club versus the best team in Mayo and current FAI Junior Cup champions Westport United. We lost the game 1-0 but we gave as good as we got although Westport created better chances it was a bit heart breaking to concede the goal in the last 5 minutes. If we can play like that week in week out the Super League will contain a Crossmolina team for few years. The second game was different. The MWFL Cup final between Ballina Town & Ballinrobe Town. I arrived late, arriving for the last few minutes of normal time. As the score was 2-2, it went to extra time where two goals by Emma M and a wonder half way line strike swung the game in Robes favour. It finished 5-3 It was fitting that Katie accepted the cup. Her mother Mary was a power house in soccer in Mayo where much of her work was done behind the scenes. She died a few weeks ago. Katie acceptance speech referred to her mother watching and prob...

First team sport 2nd Year history teachers might find this fun teaching AZtec culture http://www.ballgame.org/main.asp Flash Game is quite good. I would have a crack at really playing the game if I was teaching in an all boys school.

New education related blog I have created a new education related blog on edublogs. Intially I was just testing a new blog but I decided to hive the education posts to this blog and keep this for more personal related stuff. http://educationalskunkworks.edublogs.org plan to go live with it in a few days

Passing note or Pissing note http://www.blogforamerica.com/archives/006896.html He should raise his hand and cross his legs.

Hero for a day Once I was asked in primary school which historical figure would you most like to have been. At the time, you would pick the greatest general or the most recent historial figure that you would have been in contact with. Probably now twenty years later and with a history degree, my historical hero's have changed. Gone are the warrior hero's types, the Davy crocketts and the Gengsis Khans, more the Raoul Wallenburgs and Martin Luther King. Yet Ben Franklins life and attitude to life is one to examine in greater detail. Currently reading a biography of this great man and recently walked in his footsteps in Boston, so far I have read 89 pages and already you could easily have annotate enough from that would allow you to create your own "moral perfection project", a way to live your life. Yes a day in the life of Ben Franklin would have been a day worth living.

Words of advice from Douglas Adams "I love deadlines - I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by" 5 things From THHGTTG that applies to MITE 1. You cant get a decent cup of tea in the Hamilton. 2. You might not be happy with the answers you get (no the meaning of life is not 42) 3. Over reliance on Computers to get you where you want to go 4. Ideas are like slaps on the head!! 5. After weeks of staring at a PC screen you get eyes like Humma Kavula Final thing... D'ont Panic

If I had a vote in the UK election, The Internet tells me I should vote see below I got the same result here Who should I vote for? v2 Your expected outcome: Liberal Democrat Your actual outcome: Labour 25 Conservative -23 Liberal Democrat 63 UKIP -19 Green 43 You should vote: Liberal Democrat The LibDems take a strong stand against tax cuts and a strong one in favour of public services: they would make long-term residential care for the elderly free across the UK, and scrap university tuition fees. They are in favour of a ban on smoking in public places, but would relax laws on cannabis. They propose to change vehicle taxation to be based on usage rather than ownership. Take the test at Who Should You Vote For

How to advertise for a job and save everyones time. My former Boss in Proyplon (on his blog) has put up an interesting job specification ad. How often have you applied for the job based on the ad, thinking that this is going to be your dream job and it does not turn out to be it. A different way could be this.. Propylon are looking for a couple of highly experienced, XML/Publishing/Workflow/CMS Technical Architects. Must be capable of leading from the front on projects and bringing them in on time and within budget. * If you don't know what a dochead is, you don't want the job. * If you are not a dochead, you don't want the job. * If you think kerning is a winter sport, you don't want the job. * If you think W3C XML Schema solves all the worlds problems, you don't want the job. * If you think GUIs should be the first thing designed on a project, you don't want the job. * If you think "The Complete works of Shakespeare" is a lot...

Lloyd Building we have a problem..... Working on my Lit review trying to ensure my chapter is under 2500, it reminds me so much of the scene in Apollo 13 where Gary Sinse is going through all the check lists to ensure that the sequence does not trip the voltage (or amps). Same sort of thing when you add a sentence, check it for length , too long it gets dumped. Probably just me....

Future TY History projects 1. Use a wiki for the creation of a digital textbook see here 2. Try and get student using Quandary software from Halfbaked software to create historical "Quandarys" to help their learning (e.g Outbreak of war in 1939 etc.) 3. Try and get a postgrads/lecturersin history dept in a third level college to assume historical roles and use IM to "converse" with students asking intelligent questions. More to follow Amazing the things you think of when you should be thinking of stuff for your thesis.

I want this for Christmas http://web.media.mit.edu/~nanda/projects/clocky.html Due to my tendency to be tired due to school and this B"££$%$% thesis my sleeping patterns are banjaxed and I wake most mornings more tired than when I went to bed. Normally I am a night person but I am in bed before 11 each night and try an get 8 hours. Maybe clocky is what I need to get up in the morning

Rate my teacher The TUI have come out on two radio shows that I have listened to in the past 24 hours Newsbeat & the Last word condeming the new www.ratemyteacher.ie . I have to laugh really when you think about what it is. The TUI believe that this is a serious attempt to quantify the teaching capability of teachers. All it is really is a way of students letting steam off about their teachers. Read the forums and you will see what I am talking about. I would rather have a student slating me on line rather than slashing my tires. I would seriously question the intelligence of any parent that would regard the data from this site in what school their child went to. I remember the hullaboo about am i hot or not Most people realised that should only be seen as a joke, some humorous messing to past time online. As a teacher, the best feedback you will get about your teaching is from your students. Embrace their feedback... it will make you a better teacher. Actually the one I ...

A link for all business teachers http://www.disney.go.com/hotshot/hsb2/index.html?

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