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Hey, you guys are talking about destruction and chaos and you didn't invite me? tsk tsk... don't worry pee, I'll hijack the #42 tram and side-on Diablo's #86 tram so that you can have a clear run to AWHQ!!
Thanks Diablo for sneaking me into the news page this morning, you are a champion! Oh and now that the proverbial feline is out of the fabric-lined storage device, I can finally say that there was at least one good thing that came from the whole stupid Vegas thing: It made you come and talk to me and we haven't stopped chatting since, I for one think that's a good great thing Speak soon Diab...
Nice to meet ya. I'm a fellow coder. Mostly VB6 and ASP with some Javascript and HTML, but we're gradually moving to VB.net and ASP.net. Anyhow, I thought this clip might make ya laugh. It makes me laugh. Oh, and I play World of Warcraft, so it really hits home for me.
Catch ya later,
Aha! So that's what you coders get up to is it? Just sitting back drinking down 6 packs of VB! ... haha! Just kidding boys...
Luv Melinda
Hmmm, it appears I'm at a disadvantage, sweet Lady M. And what would this "VB" be that you refer too? I won't bore you with what I meant, as only us "coders" would care, if anyone would.
Diablo, so, is this "VB" some kind of Microsoft beer??? hehe.
Haha, VB is Victoria Bitter Zonman.... You can't much more aussie than a VB... "A hard earned thirst needs a big, cold beer... and the best beer is Vic.. Victoria Bitter"
Haha, VB is Victoria Bitter Zonman.... You can't much more aussie than a VB... "A hard earned thirst needs a big, cold beer... and the best beer is Vic.. Victoria Bitter"
So now you get my joke Z?
Luv Melinda
VB is known in various parts of Oz as Very Bad, Victorian Bogwater or, my favourite, Vagina Broth. Coopers Pale Ale is a lovely drop and if you're up for a heavy, try Boags Strongarm. Yum, Hic.
Haha, VB is Victoria Bitter Zonman.... You can't much more aussie than a VB... "A hard earned thirst needs a big, cold beer... and the best beer is Vic.. Victoria Bitter"
So now you get my joke Z?
Yes, thank you much, sweet Lady M. Now, tis a pity that the zonman does not partake of any yeast/malt/hops beverages, so that he might truly understand the difference from, say Fosters vs VB. Vile, nasty stuff is beer! (And, yes, I know that Fosters is not, shall we say, Aussies finest stout, according to my beer aficionado friends here in the US. I will inquire as to the thirst quenching quality of this VB, straight away.)
VB is known in various parts of Oz as Very Bad, Victorian Bogwater or, my favourite, Vagina Broth. Coopers Pale Ale is a lovely drop and if you're up for a heavy, try Boags Strongarm. Yum, Hic.
Hehe, leave it to me to A) not read the thread before building my replies, and B) then leave in everything. Heck, to bring it full circle, in my original comment, VB meant Visual Basic, a programming language by Microsoft. Somehow, based on pee's comments, Visual Basic could, in theory, be an apt discription for the beer as well, in a very weird, twisted sorta way.
Nice to meet ya. I'm a fellow coder. Mostly VB6 and ASP with some Javascript and HTML, but we're gradually moving to VB.net and ASP.net. Anyhow, I thought this clip might make ya laugh. It makes me laugh. Oh, and I play World of Warcraft, so it really hits home for me.
Hey Zonman1, sorry I didn't reply sooner. Nice of you to introduce yourself - you'll probably get to know me well if you search these boards long enough
Well, I've got quite a number of things under my belt - namely C, C++ (prefer C though), Java, PHP, Pascal, Javascript, Bourne shell (and other standard UNIX tools), and finally 80x86/MC68xx assembler - I was meant to be a Software Engineer actually, but my uni stuides are on hold for the moment. Have tried a bit of VBA (Excel) in my last job - didn't really gel with it too well, but I'm sure it's got its good uses. Most of my development is done under Linux, which I've been using 99% of the time for the last 7 1/2 years...
Saw that video clip - heh, kinda amusing, I used to know fellow undergrads from my uni days who would completely fit that stereotype!
Not really into online gaming like WoW, sorry (though these aforementioned code monkeys in my last sentence were totally into it) - I just wasn't willing to spend the time investment. I usually prefer games where I can sit down for half-an-hour, play away, then switch off and walk away. Mostly I spent my time in racing games (gradually working my way through Gran Turismo 4 on my PS2 - I bought a driving wheel for it, but don't have a decent chair for it yet). I also like to go down to the arcade whenever I go to the cinemas - my favourite games are usually Daytona USA (and sequel), Scud Race, Point Blank and Time Crisis... man I must have spent a grand playing those in my youth I also have a soft spot for classic IBM PC (DOS-era) games - I name my home machines after characters in Apogee games (Mylo Steamwitz, Duke Nukem, Cosmo, Billy Blaze, etc... if I get another Windows machine I'm naming it Dopefish!)
Any other geek-style stuff you're into? Slashdot or Digg? Penny Arcade or XKCD? Linux, Mac or Windows? Emacs, vi or something else?
Anyways, nice meeting you, and thanks for posting in my thread! Looking forward to hearing from you again...
, and finally 80x86/MC68xx assembler - I was meant to be a Software Engineer actually, but my uni stuides are on hold for the moment. ..
*bowing before the master* If I understand correctly that (assembler) is getting as down and dirty as one can get. Literally, talking to the computer in its own language! Am I right?
Hey Zonman1, sorry I didn't reply sooner. Nice of you to introduce yourself - you'll probably get to know me well if you search these boards long enough
Well, I've got quite a number of things under my belt - namely C, C++ (prefer C though), Java, PHP, Pascal, Javascript, Bourne shell (and other standard UNIX tools), and finally 80x86/MC68xx assembler - I was meant to be a Software Engineer actually, but my uni stuides are on hold for the moment. Have tried a bit of VBA (Excel) in my last job - didn't really gel with it too well, but I'm sure it's got its good uses. Most of my development is done under Linux, which I've been using 99% of the time for the last 7 1/2 years...
Saw that video clip - heh, kinda amusing, I used to know fellow undergrads from my uni days who would completely fit that stereotype!
Not really into online gaming like WoW, sorry (though these aforementioned code monkeys in my last sentence were totally into it) - I just wasn't willing to spend the time investment. I usually prefer games where I can sit down for half-an-hour, play away, then switch off and walk away. Mostly I spent my time in racing games (gradually working my way through Gran Turismo 4 on my PS2 - I bought a driving wheel for it, but don't have a decent chair for it yet). I also like to go down to the arcade whenever I go to the cinemas - my favourite games are usually Daytona USA (and sequel), Scud Race, Point Blank and Time Crisis... man I must have spent a grand playing those in my youth I also have a soft spot for classic IBM PC (DOS-era) games - I name my home machines after characters in Apogee games (Mylo Steamwitz, Duke Nukem, Cosmo, Billy Blaze, etc... if I get another Windows machine I'm naming it Dopefish!)
Any other geek-style stuff you're into? Slashdot or Digg? Penny Arcade or XKCD? Linux, Mac or Windows? Emacs, vi or something else?
Anyways, nice meeting you, and thanks for posting in my thread! Looking forward to hearing from you again...
Yikes dude!!!! Yeah, you sound like you'd fit in perfectly with most of my development colleagues. A lot of them are Linux guys. And, I totally hear you on the time investment for WOW. TO be honest, AW seems to have supplanted a lot of my WOW time. hehe... For me, I'm not much of a gamer, but love the strategy type stuff or the world builder games (Civ, etx.). I tend to name things after Lord of the Rings
I just discovered XKCD. The last few are hilarious and I posted a few, as links, in the jokes thread here. Figured you and LXM would appreciate them. Ever hear of Myextralife? Its a webcomic like Penny Arcade, kinda. Even has a weekly podcast. Those guys are funny as hell. Unfortunately, I use Windows cuz of work, but I cut my teeth on Macs. I'm contemplating a new Mac for home in the near future.
Sorry to mash this all together, it's late, I'm tired... LOL
Laterz, Z
P.S. I was originally a Computer Science major in college, but ended up with a History degree. (long story, that). I took assembler and all that good stuff WAY before C or C++, Linux, etc. was even around. I started Uni (as y'all say) in 1982.
*bowing before the master* If I understand correctly that (assembler) is getting as down and dirty as one can get. Literally, talking to the computer in its own language! Am I right?
Yes, that's pretty right - it also teaches you exactly how computers work, and how to optimise code and write building-block tools like compilers, debuggers etc. It's a shame that most computer-science courses nowadays are starting to minimalise, if not eliminate the teaching of assembler, and related concepts, and instead just focus entirely on high-level languages, leaving a layer of "black magic" beneath.
My first computer was an IBM XT (10Mhz 8086, EGA, 640kB RAM, 20MB hard disk and 5.25" DD floppy, running MS-DOS - remember all those?) - got it when I was 7. Over the course of a few years, I started teaching myself assembler (to tie in with QBASIC), since it was the only way to make the computer do things much quicker. Most of the time it was stepping through other programs and watching what they did to the registers and hardware. Wish I actually had a C compiler back then (this was long before I finally got net access) - would have had far less limitations to deal with. Several computers later, some changes of operating systems, and some formal education, here I am, with a lot more under my belt...
Too bad memory is so cheap. My first Computer was a VIC 20. Everything had to be tight. Had to learn unix/c later for work. Ive forgotten most of what i learned, but long for tight, documented progs. Still have a set of sys5 copied, yes I said copied, circa 1980s sys5 books. What a chore that was. Assembly darn near made me go blind! Was fortunate enough to start my son on the VIC 20 and now he is in the computer industry.
Okay Melinda, now it's your turn to confuse me as much as possible with your field of knowledge, while providing Wikipedia links so I have a slim chance of understanding... do your worst!
Okay Melinda, now it's your turn to confuse me as much as possible with your field of knowledge, while providing Wikipedia links so I have a slim chance of understanding... do your worst!
Hehe, I got 99% of them. Ever read MyExtraLife on the web by Scott Johnson? He's another webcomic. Does a couple awesome gamer/geek type podcasts too. He has interviewed the Penny Arcade guys a couple times. Graphic arts guy during the day.
Man, that XKCD is great stuff! I love this one and this one. Great stuff!
BTW, is Diablo a take on the Blizzard RPG of similar name?
Okay Melinda, now it's your turn to confuse me as much as possible with your field of knowledge, while providing Wikipedia links so I have a slim chance of understanding... do your worst!
Ok, I didn't a lot of the ones, but I these had me confused at first. I thought Melinda had some weird fetishes as I saw "Between-class Ability GROPING" and "Within-class Ability GROPING" and I thought to myself, "Now THAT is just wrong!" Luckily, it was just a smudge on my glasses and I realized what she had meant. WHEW! I still don't understand the terms, but I know they're not pervy.
And, I have to admit, when I see pics of Melinda at her computer, I get a Zone of Proximal Development.
Wow Melinda - congratulations, you've finally managed to overwhelm me! Not to be defeated, my determination for knowledge is still pushing for me to read all those articles and summarise them, but you can be satisfied that I only ever knew what the first item was before having to click on the link!
Teaching is obviously way more complex than I first expected...
From what I can gather, the education process seems to be divided up into domains (basically subject matters) and levels (teaching and assessment strategies that are graduated throughout the student's school lifetime as they grow and develop).
The first few years lay down the fundamentals (and also help them adapt to class life, and develop reading, writing, thinking and collaborating skills).
The later primary years/early high-school years are supposed to establish more breadth and depth in the domains (and also help them develop research skills, problem solving abilities, teamwork, etc).
The later high-school years (up until leaving age) are designed to help the students decide what career path they want to set themselves up on, establish independence and confidence (and focus on more specialised subject areas and more complex, abstract ways of learning things)...
I presume "blocks" are just another name for domains, right? (or the group of learning pathways that each student can take?) Those descriptions on literacy and numeracy blocks take me back - I was always the high-flyer in maths, and road-scraper in english...
From what I'm reading - this is a set of things that the students need to learn in general (regardless of domain), to help them with problem solving and future learning. Basically it covers:
Communication skills: listening, viewing, responding and also presenting of information - these often differ for each domain
Design, Creativity & Technology domain: encourages students to use existing design methodologies and real-world tools to explore new ideas, create and innovate - and also develop critical thinking. In other words - let them tap their creative energies to come up with new ideas, realise what works and what doesn't.
Information and Communication Technology - using computers for solving problems, sharing knowledge and expressing ideas.
Thinking Processes: Basicallly this seems to be the development of cognitive thinking processes that the students should devlop, in terms of solving problems and answering questions...
YCDI looks to me like a mission group that seeks to reform education standards to ensure that children are instilled with the right attitudes and values that allow them to succeed at academic achievement, develop relationships with peers/colleagues etc, ensure healthy psychological livelihood and generally ease the transition to work, future education and adulthood. The page you linked above makes mention of the programs available that involve both teachers and parents...
Ah yes... I did study sound waves in my uni course - but more of the physics side of things. You know - amplitude, power levels, frequency harmonics, Fourier series/transform, yadayadayada. Here it seems to be a reference to teaching young children how to read, write and pronounce new words using phonemes (or sounding components of each words - I didn't realise that the English language only had 44 of them!) as the building blocks, rather than written letters. They learn to translate between phonemes and graphemes (the written counterpart of a phoneme), which helps them easily tackle the English language and all its nuances with pronunciation, silent letters, etc...
This seems to be a book about observing early literacy progress in children, and being able to determine when they need help and/or supplementary learning - I can't read much of the book (Amazon.com will only let me read the first few pages), but it looks to me like the author is wanting to propose techniques where the teacher actually systematically observes the student's progress over time (understanding why they give certain responses when the teacher challenges their knowledge, and offering immediate feedback), rather than waiting to analyse the outcome of tests and exams.
Ah, never got to use these when I was in high school (mid-to-late nineties), not everyone was guaranteed to have net access back then. I suppose it tightens the learning-testing feedback cycle a bit, and gives the kids faster ways of verifying what they've learned. Only ever used a few of these in uni (and the systems they had were really clunky and played up a lot), but the concept is always neat.
Ah, gifted education, I remember it well. I was a lucky little angel; my year 5 teacher put me up for a few courses, despite the fact that I initially fouled up the testing procedure in the previous year. I got bullied pretty harshly in lower high-school for being smart though Seems that there's a huge amount of research and resources on how to just identify and test gifted children. Failing to recognise them can be pretty destructive for the child as well, by the looks of things - I can remember how bored I was in primary school/lower high-school, and only later realising it was actually a good sign. I like the "cheetahs in lion country" analogy, that sums it up really well...
So, by the looks of it, these are various strategies for dividing students into groups according to ability - the former breaks students into small groups within the one class (so they can be given varying levels of material/assistance for learning), while the latter goes further in dividing up students into different classes or courses, based on academic performance. There seems to be arguments both for and against - high & low-acheiving students might learn more effectively (and be less overwhelmed or languished) when grouped with peers, but on the other hand the grouping criterion is often inaccurate, being based on perceived characteristics, and the effects of having a homogeneous peer group can also lead to inferior education, missed opportunities and lack of motivation for less well-off students.
Hmm, this is interesting - ZPD seems to be a nifty metric for measuring the improvement potential of students (comparing how well they do when solving problems by themselves, to when they do so with assistance from peers/teachers) - the underlying idea suggesting that there is a link between human development and learning.
Lots more reading there... nice to know that the system has strategies and measures for caring for the ones that shouldn't be forgotten or left behind.
Ah, this is probably where I'd totally fall flat on my face. Given my atheist and somewhat anti-capitalistic background, I'd most likely instead be inclined to lecture the kids on a rant on how rampant commercialism has corrupted these events, and how they should be questioning their religious dogma and only believing in what they want to believe. A class of confused and distressed young children would probably ensue I admire your creativity and spirit...
Originally posted by Melinda
Then formalities like:
Report Writing
Parent-Teacher Interviews
Ongoing Assessment
Ah, report time. Given my engineering background, I'd probably be inclined to include all sorts of graphs and metrics, and detailed logical explanations when reporting little Johnny's performance - because an engineer is obliged to give accurate, precise information, with references to back up all assertions. Little Johnny's parents would probably be freaked out by all this, and have me shipped away to a lunatic asylum. I suppose you'll probably come across good and bad parents as well (ones who believe little Johnny is perfect and accuse you of being a bad teacher) - so your communication skills are obviously really important here.
Anyways, how'd I go with all my explanations? How'd I rank? Relief teacher? Teacher's pet? Dunce? Education minister? (isn't it a wonder why they always seem to know more about mismanagement than education - see the recent OBE debacle in Western Australia for an example!)
I suppose what I've experienced from following up on your links is that teaching is way more complex and in-depth then most people think - and it is also a crucial part of our society - helping our new young children develop into productive members of our society. It's also something that you can't afford to foul up on either - once a child's opportunity for learning certain things is missed, it becomes harder to make up for it. I'd have to say, thanks Melinda for posting all those links, you've shed some new insight on what you can do for our little planet...
So, this probably leads me to one more question - how long ago, and what, if anything, inspired you to become a teacher?
..now look what you've done Melinda.. kept the poor man up till after 3am..
Hi Diablo, pleased to meet you also.. I'm sorry about Melinda, she's had a big couple of days as you're aware, I'd best get her back to her thread and make sure she comes back and leaves things the way she found them..
Last edited by frontfoot; 7 November 2007, 08:39 AM.
Wow Melinda - congratulations, you've finally managed to overwhelm me! Not to be defeated, my determination for knowledge is still pushing for me to read all those articles and summarise them, but you can be satisfied that I only ever knew what the first item was before having to click on the link!
Teaching is obviously way more complex than I first expected...
So, this probably leads me to one more question - how long ago, and what, if anything, inspired you to become a teacher?
I had a feeling you were underestimating the profession of primary teaching Diablo, but not to worry, so did I!! Until I actually started my Uni course I never realised how complex the job actually is and how much work is involved... sooooo much planning and precise detailing, but luckily for me, I'm a planner by nature... So it's no wonder some education minister or something was saying that our teachers should and could be getting paid double, they work hard and for such an important reason: to educate our youth of the future! Anyway, you did a pretty good job explaining all those thing back to me, I'm impressed
Anyway, that list was just the surface, basically all I could think of off the top of my head... definitely the hardest part is the part you mentioned, the creative stuff! Virtually every single day you need to think of new and creative activities and things to teach...
As for your question: I have just always wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember, I think partly because I just love planning and organising things and I knew the job involved a lot of that... when I was little I used to "play teacher" and would have a class full of barbies and teddies and get up there and teach them maths and read books to them, lol! I guess I was just born wanting to teach....
I have to confess, I didn't read any of your links you posted... I checked out the first link, read a couple of lines and examples and though "o-kay, that's enough of that then" and quickly closed the page before my head exploded.... I just managed to click it in time
From my childhood my feelings are that a good teacher K-6 is a combination of a Mother and a strict 1 st level manager. A damned hard part to play. My condolences to you.
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