upcoming event . . .

Oeiras International School will be hosting a summer festival on June 17.

If you are in Portugal, please stop by!!!!

(oh yeah, I made the poster;-)

This sings of the IB Learner Profile

I would like to share this TED Talks with each of you. The speaker is Barry Schwartz-Psychologist. According to the blurb on TED Talks, “Barry Schwartz makes a passionate call for "practical wisdom" as an antidote to a society gone mad with bureaucracy. He argues powerfully that rules often fail us, incentives often backfire, and practical, everyday wisdom will help rebuild our world.”

When I watched this insightful presentation, I thought about the IB Learner Profile and how important it is. I liked his ideas of celebrating moral exemplars and acknowledging people. I agree with him when he says that we should act as moral exemplars to the people we are mentoring.

He’s right when he says that as teachers, we are always teaching; someone is always watching!

I especially liked it when he talked about being virtuous and people wanting to do the right thing, in the right way and for the right reason!

I think this sings the IB Learner Profiles.

Make yourself a cup of tea or pour a glass of wine and sit back and enjoy (video is approx 21 min). Enjoy!

More about videos - oh yeah and important blogs and bloggers;-)

What does joy have to do with learning? Well,just about everything. To read this amazing blog post by Dean Shareski: http://ideasandthoughts.org/2011/02/17/what-does-joy-have-to-do-with-learning/

Oh, Wow! Videos - my new favourite thing!

Videos are becoming increasingly important. . .

http://chronicle.com/img/photos/biz/photo_12116_carousel.jpg

Across More Classes, Videos Make the Grade

In some science and writing courses, final papers are giving way to multimedia

Film students aren't the only ones producing videos for homework these days. Professors teaching courses in writing, geology, forensics, sociology, anthropology, foreign languages, and many other disciplines now assign video projects, pushing students to make arguments formatted for the YouTube age. 


To read more . . .
http://chronicle.com/article/Across-More-Classes-Videos/127422/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

12 Comics

The 12 Comics Learning Support program is an exciting and unique program that makes learning fun through the creation of a custom comic book, video game and short film. The primary focus of the program is designed to provide additional tools for organizations to empower, motivate and encourage students to enhance their knowledge and experience the incredible benefits of creative learning.

http://12comics.com/

May 7

The High Cost of Low Teacher Salaries

Holly Gressley

An interesting op-ed article from the New York Times (By DAVE EGGERS and NÍNIVE CLEMENTS CALEGARI - Published: April 30, 2011)

WHEN we don’t get the results we want in our military endeavors, we don’t blame the soldiers. We don’t say, “It’s these lazy soldiers and their bloated benefits plans! That’s why we haven’t done better in Afghanistan!” No, if the results aren’t there, we blame the planners. We blame the generals, the secretary of defense, theJoint Chiefs of Staff. No one contemplates blaming the men and women fighting every day in the trenches for little pay and scant recognition. . . 

It's worth a look.  To read the rest of the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/01/opinion/01eggers.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha212