lotusinthemud

more four

here are some '4 things' lists from 3 of the people I tagged:

• Tyson
• auspiciouscoincidence
• michaelnobbs

Students learn more from teachers who hand-wave

Apparently -

Math teachers who wave their hands while talking in a
way that illustrates a point differently from their words
impart more information to their students. The UChicago
researchers determined that students whose teachers
hand-wave learn more, and that when the hand-gestures
illustrated a point to one side of the main point, they did
even better.

link

I do hope this translates into teaching other subjects as, in the art of hand waving, I an experienced practitioner. I have tried to moderate but the hands seem to have a mind of their own.

 

4 Things Blog Tag

I've been blog tagged by Mark, a friend of Simon, (my lovely son). I'm possibly around 20 years older, or as much as 40 years older, than most who are taking part in this, but let's not be ageist...

Four Jobs I’ve Had

• Currently - Buddhist Minister with the Amida Order
• Schoolteacher for 20 years - mainly Reception Class but some Secondary Special Needs - London, North East Essex and Lancashire
• I ran a Chandlery on Mersea Island
• Knitwear designer

Tracing an e-mail

Among all the e-mails I do want to receive there are a number that are decidedly unwanted - so this information might be useful...

A EULA-tide Greeting

I'm sure you've seen this before - but it raised a smile again yesterday - thanks to Bethany:

Please accept -- with no obligation, implied or implicit,
on behalf of the wisher or wishee -- my best wishes for
an environmentally-conscious, socially-responsible,
low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration
of the winter solstice, practiced within the traditions
and/or religious or secular belief(s) of your choice and
with respect for the traditions and/or religious or secular
beliefs of others or for their choice to not practice
traditions and/or religious or secular beliefs at all; and
for a fiscally-successful, personally-fulfilling,
medically-uncomplicated recognition of the onset of
what is generally accepted as the new Gregorian calendar
year, but with due respect for calendars of other cultures
whose contributions to society have helped make Britain
great (which is not to imply that Britain is necessarily
greater than any other country, nor that it is the only
'Britain' in the Northern hemisphere), and without regard
to the race, creed, colour, age, physical ability,
sexual orientation, political affiliation, or choice of
computer operating system of the wisher.

Digerati

A new word, as far as I'm concerned! And, perhaps another one - adigerati - to describe me and my ilk?

Word of the Day for Tuesday December 20, 2005

digerati \dij-uh-RAH-tee\, plural noun:
Persons knowledgeable about computers and technology.

If only my iPod wasn't feeling poorly.....

.... here's an idea for these chilly days :-)

My ipod isn't playing - just whizzing through the list of all the music titles that should be installed. Apparently I'm going to have to reinstall iTunes on my Powerbook - and then I'll have lost all the music and will have to upload it all again - groan :-(

Update at 17.02 All up and running - it was iTunes that was the problem. Had to wipe everything off and reset iPod, then load on all the music again. Where would I be without my wonderful personal consultant, my son - Simon? (14 e-mails back and forth - what patience)

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!

From What's In The Bag

Sometimes there's a bit of a challenge, when technology doesn't seem to like you..

Yesterday I talked by phone to Modgala, who's at Amida France. Someone who's living at the Buddhist House was due to go out to join her last week but his plans have changed. So there are a few things she asked me to take out with me when I travel on Wednesday/Thursday. Tea bags and soya beans - I'll pick them up from 'Out of This World' tomorrow. And there are no Chant Books out there.

Word of the day

traduce - to vilify. And there's been plenty of that in the run up to the election.