Posts by tim kong
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Signed yesterday.
And like others wanted to give a hat-tip to Nat and those at publicACTA, for the work they put into crafting the Wellington Declaration.
I am still not sure on all of the details of the ACTA - but am wary of the implications.
As a non-expert, it was a pleasure to read something so clear, concise and lucid.
Thanks.
ps. could you do the same for national standards please. ;-)
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Anyone got any advice - I can never get the TVNZ website to load the ondemand bits when i'm using firefox. Can only use Safari.
Running OS X10.6, Firefox, with adblocker and noscript- but all the scripts on tvnz website are allowed. Youtube runs fine. The adobe player initialises - then just sits there loading. Forever.
No great drama - as I can fire up Safari to watch. But it is a tad frustrating.
I've yet to watch the episode in full - but can't get Colbert out of my head, as I watch the intro.... :-)
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Can I just mention the other bit of Russell's post, and say it was a privilege to be at the ONYA's - and to help put together the finishing piece with darkroom and module.
Lots of creative people doing cool stuff in the online space - deserve to be honoured, and it was nice to take a break from the day job to help do that, with some mega sized, 3d-mapped visuals. The old organ has never looked so good imho. :)
back to the regular programming ...
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Anecdata, I know. But that's a large part of the problem for many parents. We can get information about how our child is doing compared to what they should be doing for their age, but it's bloody difficult to get information about whether our children are reaching their potential.
With respect - how does one go about identifying or evaluating "potential"?
As a teacher - I work hard at spelling, reading, writing and maths, using group-work, one-one, and a variety of methods to enthuse and engage. We test and use as much formative data as we can.
I encourage students to put their best effort in, reward and praise work that I see as a high standard for them, try to provide extension opportunities and avenues for students do individual work they are really passionate about - but I've yet to be able to identify and rate "potential".
Do I say, "You have the potential to do better? You could be a great writer?"
Maybe I'm misreading the statement though.
It's also worth remembering that schools are sites for reproducing conformity. Be an introvert who loathes group work, a child who asks quirky questions, a child who is doing work she "shouldn't be doing yet", a kid who really doesn't give a damn about sport, and there are problems.
Hmmm.... Yes. They can be. But they don't have be.
Everyone remembers the piss poor teachers. That's a constant battle we as an education sector have to be honest about. And it's a separate debate IMO from this one of national standards - regardless of how Key wants to frame it.
Let's be clear - the national standards, as they currently stand will not make good teachers better, or bad teachers any worse.
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You can always go to the web.
Firefox plugin and instructions to get around geo-blocking of sites like dailyshow.com, nbc.com and others.
http://www.reddit.com/r/canada/comments/8zjv7/instructions_on_how_to_watch_thedailyshowcom/
superb streaming quality for me.
ymmv.
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Totally off thread - but I found this today, and needed to share.
http://www.reddit.com/r/canada/comments/8zjv7/instructions_on_how_to_watch_thedailyshowcom/
Firefox plugin and instructions to get around geo-blocking of sites like dailyshow.com, nbc.com and others.
superb streaming quality for me. ymmv.
apologies if it's been shared earlier
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I'm loving being back in the classroom after the summer break - despite all of this hoo-hah, we're getting on with it. Darel Hall's entry is well written and many in the thread have posted some great points. Some thoughts then...
Like Tony, I despair somewhat at how this debate has changed from being one about improving student achievement, to one of teacher performance and school-wide success.
IMO - the standards as they currently exist are a populist stance from a populist government that has to be seen to be "doing something". But credit where it's due - this government is only doing what it said it would.
And for me - there's nothing innately wrong with standards per se. But there's so much looseness about what these particular standards are measuring, I'm struggling to see the point - beyond them being a political PR piece. There's definitely nothing revolutionary or extraordinary about them from an educational point of view.
The policy appeals to the subconscious dislike of teachers - everyone has that "bad" teacher in their past. Key's comment about the NZEI protecting its own - is about taking on the liberal elite, the academics. The talk of confusion from parents about reporting using words like "stanine" and "numeracy" - are all about the perception of educators as arrogant folk who get uppity with their big words. Thus - "plain English reporting" is required - just to prove that us ordinary folk are as good as you teacher types.
I don't deny that there are those types of teachers - who are disrespectful, arrogant and who abuse the privilege of their position. Parents and boards and communities should be applying pressure to them. But there are many hard-working, worthy individuals who are doing the best they can, with the resources they have to ensure the best for students all across the country.
The standards policy and National's play on it appeals to the "gut" - it speaks truthiness to all of those who the Herald surveys and who call talkback, who truly believe the whole country has gone to hell in a handbasket.
To my mind the argument about league tables is largely irrelevant. They already exist, they exist with our current decile system, and they exist in the prejudices that people already hold.
The policy ignores the fact that 80% of our students ARE achieving and are leaving our education system with a base level of knowledge, empathy and ability to learn and re-learn.
It ignores the reality of societal pressures and the expectations of what a school actually is meant to do and mean to the community that surrounds it.
It ignores the simple fact that learning is a life-long, ongoing and pleasurable experience that is not purely measured in numbers or statistics.
Education is political - what we stand in front of our young people and tell them, by its very nature has a political aspect to some degree. National is making their political statement with this policy.
IMO, the NZEI must not take on the policy toe-to-toe. Taking strike action or stop-work meetings will only add fire the argument that teachers don't work enough and the "those who can't - teach" perspective. The standards are a blunt force weapon from a government that says it's "doing things" - but that is their privilege.
The education sector must be more nuanced and more deliberate in its response. It matters not one bit if the sector wins a battle with Tolley - and loses the very children and young people we are charged with caring for.
We (teachers, NZEI, PPTA, BOTs, communities, parents) need to directly address the issues that cause 20% of our students to fail within our system. It is being done, and we must not be distracted by a bus tour, or the leaflets from the National party. We need to be honest about where we're failing and continue to work hard to address the needs of each individual as best we can.
We need to keep giving feedback to our students, sharing our knowledge, praising them as they strive to do better. We need to listen to them, be there for them, laugh with them, give them time and space to make mistakes. We need to respect and honour them and who they are. We need to believe in them and in our actions and how we interact with them - show them that belief. Each day. In short, we need to do all of that non-standard stuff that makes a young person, you know, a human.
There is much this policy of national standards does not address. Instead of fighting what it is - we need to get on with being better than it.
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@ Jack Elder
Fuck me, yes it was. Small world, eh? I'm afraid I missed your star turn, as we turned up a bit late for it. Good gig, though; we were the ones up the front of the stage waving rubber ducks. Actually, that means there's a chance you were the bloke who I couldn't talk into letting us backstage to get the ducks signed (to be fair, I was rather drunk at the time).
Were you the one with a mallard on a broom handle?
That was the one that kept annoying me - as the owner of the broom kept waving it in the middle of my projections. I seem to recall he turned up to every gig on the tour as well! Brighton was a tiny venue and his flipping mallard was seemingly everywhere. :-)
Can't say I remember stopping anyone from getting backstage - but I would have been out front, so I doubt you'd have been harrassing me.. Nick and Fred were lovely blokes, probably would have signed your ducks if they'd been there - but band/gig protocols do have to be followed.
I do have some lovely photos from that tour - it was a really enjoyable one. The bingo routine sort of summed it all up really. Just silly fun, but a good night out - very British in that gently quirky way.
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@ Jack Elder
Re: Lemon Jelly @ the Junction
Was that in early 2003?
If so, I was the bingo caller.
Was actually responsible for the video projections - but LJ didn't have a support act, so they set up the bingo routine at the start of the tour. Did seem odd loading a small cardboard box with bingo kit into the truck with the PA, lighting rig, video boxes and merch.
Out of the 5 man crew - I got the short straw and was given the bingo caller gig. Which I performed, with bingo cheat sheet hidden next to me up on stage. I'd draw the numbers - pretend I knew the calls : "Two Fat Ladies" etc... then Nick would hand out prizes as various punters came forward with winning tickets.
In London - Kentish Town Forum I think - Fred was generous enough to get me a gold lame jacket, while Nick wore a death costume, with scythe included.
Good times.
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via the EFF -
http://www.copyright-watch.org/home
apologies if it's been posted already.
I like how Afghanistan has no known copyright law, but "in October 2007, the US Department of Commerce and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry agreed to establish a forum whose work would include establishing intellectual property rights protection and enforcement in the country."
god bless democracy.