funny voice from the past

Today i got a message from a former student saying she knew one of the people in this year's class - she asked if that person had given me much trouble. that made me laugh. funnily enough it was someone who caused a few unsavoury issues ... but nothing too bad. sadly there was some nastiness from their parent but we expect that in our job [- and don't assume you know who it is please, but the person wrote a nasty letter to the principal about me]. there is always someone who has their own problems and tries to cause trouble at school. naturally this makes teaching a harder profession for people to stick with. fortunately the overwhelming majority of parents find me a decent teacher/person who genuinely cares for and tries to foster creativity and thinking skills in students. i reeeeeally appreciated the heartfelt messages from kids and parents alike at the end of this year. i could finish teaching now and look back fondly with pride having heard truly lovely words from the likes of Mojo and Roo's mums who came to see me in the last week. it was also cool to receive thanks and farewells from former students and their parents. Also the sincere affection and gratitude from the likes of DreamHuntress and Roo. It warmed the cockles of my heart to be invited to become a family friend of awesomo4000. How could i forget the battle with logon for the hand of my wife. and of course, i treasure the gift of tears when shed in parting. I will remember the love many of you shared for gardening. the way you discussed such big concepts like globalisation. the incredible projects produced by the likes of Gaboose, NeinaMarie and Mudpies. The awesome determination and successes of Kittymilo. your class connections with Mr TEehan's class in New Jersey. Hamiltron's fantastic general knoweldge about world events. your world fame via this blog. the partnership with the HCC and the youth council. mechboy's encoragemtn to read the Bill Bryson book [i have it by me now, Mechboy] your work with Microsoft Partners in Learning. Savvy's personal assistance. Snowy's undying commtiment to our class. Hilzy's fame in public. Ellabella's potatohead and forgetfulness. being called mum and mr woodcock sir and mr woodcock ma'am. your awesome cheerful greetings. hugs. playfights. french cricket. asian dub foundation [even though they left]! and so much more!
I find it reassuring that you kids avoided nastiness this year. in fact all of you were really good considering how things normally end up with people fighting in term four.
i did think it was pretty stink to have someone trying to record me in class with their cell phone with the idea of getting me in trouble. i suspect the aforementioned parent at home didn't help that situation. sadly it's behaviour like that that spoils trust and openness and risk taking in education. it also makes prinicipals ban cell phones from school. if everyone used technology responsibly it would be much easier to promote its uninhibited use in schools. students must remember that most teachers are less techno savvy than them and are afraid of what they don't understand. so, to allow teachers to step outside their comfort zone everything needs to be SAFE for everyone. to make it riskier for schools by doing silly things holds us all back. thankfully your exceptional use of this blog has been exemplary and allowed us to continue in an open way. one or two people posted some naughty things this year but i got rid of them quickly before others saw them. i know who did it and i am not surprised. [remember, everything you put on the internet is traceable and there forever...]
anyhow, Room5ians definitely RULE! there will never be another bunch like you guys. well done and arohanui!

Why can't we put out fires?

How come, if we can blow up whole cities, fly around the planet, go to Mars, unravel our genetic code, make machines smaller than pin heads, construct space stations and chat to classrooms in NZ from them, we can't put out bush fires???
Where do these terrible fires usually rage out of control each year?

The MechBoy Initiative

Mech Boy has inspired me to post an assignment for you:

List here in the comments a person you think has been the most influential in terms of advancing human knowledge and technology. Please also say what they are noteworthy for and why you think it is so important. Justify your opinion.

More tasks later - let's see who we come up with first...

Here's a little help from a person on the net...
http://www.dlmark.net/hundred.htm

The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History
Revised and Updated for the Nineties
by Michael H. Hart

Mr. Hart's very interesting book contains biographies of all the following people, ranked in order from most influential to less influential, along with the author's reasons for so ranking them. The book is available at most bookstores and libraries.

The links will take you to a site on the Web about the person named
(not to a chapter in the book).

• Muhammad • Isaac Newton • Jesus Christ • Buddha • Confucius • St. Paul • Ts'ai Lun • Johann Gutenberg • Christopher Columbus • Albert Einstein • Louis Pasteur • Galileo Galilei • Aristotle • Euclid • Moses • Charles Darwin • Shih Huang Ti • Augustus Caesar • Nicolaus Copernicus • Antoine Laurent Lavoisier • Constantine the Great • James Watt • Michael Faraday • James Clerk Maxwell • Martin Luther • George Washington • Karl Marx • Orville and Wilbur Wright • Genghis Kahn • Adam Smith • Edward de Vere • John Dalton • Alexander the Great • Napoleon Bonaparte • Thomas Edison • Antony van Leeuwenhoek • William T.G. Morton • Guglielmo Marconi • Adolf Hitler • Plato • Oliver Cromwell • Alexander Graham Bell • Alexander Fleming • John Locke • Ludwig van Beethoven • Werner Heisenberg • Louis Daguerre • Simon Bolivar • Rene Descartes • Michelangelo • Pope Urban II • 'Umar ibn al-Khattab • Asoka • St. Augustine • William Harvey • Ernest Rutherford • John Calvin • Gregor Mendel • Max Planck • Joseph Lister • Nikolaus August Otto • Francisco Pizarro • Hernando Cortes • Thomas Jefferson • Queen Isabella I • Joseph Stalin • Julius Caesar • William the Conqueror • Sigmund Freud • Edward Jenner • Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen • Johann Sebastian Bach • Lao Tzu • Voltaire • Johannes Kepler • Enrico Fermi • Leonhard Euler • Jean-Jacques Rousseau • Nicoli Machiavelli • Thomas Malthus • John F. Kennedy • Gregory Pincus • Mani • Lenin • Sui Wen Ti • Vasco da Gama • Cyrus the Great • Peter the Great • Mao Zedong • Francis Bacon • Henry Ford • Mencius • Zoroaster • Queen Elizabeth I • Mikhail Gorbachev • Menes • Charlemagne • Homer • Justinian I • Mahavira •

Runner-ups:

• St. Thomas Aquinas • Archimedes • Charles Babbage • Cheops • Marie Curie • Benjamin Franklin • Mohandas Gandhi • Abraham Lincoln • Ferdinand Magellan • Leonardo da Vinci •

Biographies and other information about many of these people and their works may be found at Access Foundation's Encyclopedia Britannica's Great Books site.

wireless network

does anyone have a parent who works with wireless technology or can advise us about what is the best way to set up a wireless network at peachgrove? i am currently posting using one...
:-)
p.s. today's professional development on the Marvin software was really cool!