Posts by tim kong
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
Is it just me or is the final sentence in that TVNZ link disgustingly patronising?
"The Tibetan supporters say they won't be laying complaints with the police, choosing instead to go home and have a cup of tea and some Chinese takeaways. "
That's the kind of media reporting I find offensive.
I still don't really see the point of these protests. The irony is thick on the dancefloor and no-one really seems to be saying much about it. I totally agree with their right to protest/party it up/pronounce the glory of the homeland, that is one of the values we have here - and yet it does seem all very party-line and somewhat revolutionary guardish.
Methinks if the flags were the Stars & Stripes and the chants were "USA, USA" - vocal responses in the blog world and the other media would be slightly less muted.
-
Re: right to smack.
http://www.righttosmack.co.nz/smackathon.html
You'd think they at least do some spell checking...
Simon Burnette?
Christine Rantin?
The current record of 455 children was set in 1987 at Disneyland, California during a church group visit, when the park was closed early due to a sewerage leak.
Can we arrange for some sewage to be leaked at parliament when this lot arrive?
-
Disclosure #1: I am a third year teacher.
Disclosure #2: I am knackered.
Literally hanging out for the last day of school. Like most teachers I'm assuming, whether it be the 14th or the 20th of December.
I have not read the PISA reports, so I can't speak to them. I do worry about the long length of the underachievers though.
I struggle to make sense of my students, and I'm sure they struggle to make sense of me some days. The trick is trying to make sense of it all together. That's where the learning is.
I demand high standards, real effort, reflection and honesty. I expect the same from my students. I struggle with parents who don't like that I demand these things and then demand that their students be treated with respect regardless of their behaviour.
IMHO the new curriculum is a powerful document. Despite the concern of Mr Minto it is to me a groundbreaking shift on what the purpose of education is - that will require passion, care, concern and a desire to make our place a better one. All those need to come from parents, teachers, students, communities - anyone who's interested in the future of the place.
Max - welcome to the most noble pursuit on the planet. I use noble in the sense that teaching is a pursuit that is decent, unselfish, righteous and worthy. You will be frustrated, challenged and despairing at times. See through the paperwork, the politics, the constant planning.
Be there for your students.
Be the one positive, passionate, purposeful person in their lives.Give them hope.
Give them dignity.
Believe in them.
Believe in the possibilities that they are.
Every day.That might be in teaching them how to balance algebraic equations, how to make sense of a piece of text, or just be greeting them with a smile each day.
All that might sound like pablum and hokey to some. But we adults seem to have forgotten to believe in our young people. We reduce them to statistics or put them into boxes.
I showed Apple's 'Think Different' TVC to my students today and we had a discussion about the vocabulary and what it meant. I didn't think the challenge would come from explaining 'round peg in a square hole' - but then how do you argue with a student who states: "You could do that if the peg was smaller than the hole."
My 12 year olds only recognized Muhammed Ali and Mahatma Gandhi, but when I asked which individual did they think was the most important, several considered, then answered carefully: "The little girl at the end ... because that's us."
The kids are alright.
-
god. that's annoying.
Lost my entire post.
-
On the second page of the Herald's report about the state of the silver jersey - there's this wee gem from Mr. Hansen, that makes me think someone's been watching FOTC!
"We believe there's rugby time and relaxation time," Hansen said. "I don't think you can ask people to be robots."
Two days off for the team - with partners....
It's business time!!
:-)
-
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306486
If your computer uses New Zealand time, you can make sure your Mac OS X clock displays the correct time during the intervening week (from 30-September-2007 to 07-October-2007) with these steps.
Note: Do not follow these steps until September 30, 2007. Follow them only if you use New Zealand time.
1. From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences.
2. From the View menu, choose Date & Time.
3. Deselect (uncheck) "Set Date & Time automatically" if it's enabled.
4. Manually set the correct time.
5. Click Save.
6. On 07-October-2007, reselect "Set Date & Time automatically" or manually set the correct time again.======
Not elegant - but official - fwiw.
-
"But while we're on the subject of you, you say you choose to work in the Hutt - but from your description it sounds more as though you had the Hutt workplace wished upon you, and you choose to live in Miramar."
Will try to explain better.
We bought a property in Miramar, while I was still training to be a teacher - my wife has a job in Miramar, so that made sense. Tried to find teaching work in local area, but wasn't able too.
Job offer was made at a school in Lower Hutt. Wanted/needed a job - so took it. Have reconsidered job at times, because of practicalities, impact and time factors of commute. Used public transport and alternated single car use with partner for two years - and only bought a second car in the last 3 months.
As said, I still use public transport at times - but like any choice it's weighing up benefits and disadvantages. Sometimes public transport works better for me, and sometimes taking the car works better.
And yes - I might be able to now - with some experience as a teacher, get work in a local school. But I really enjoy my current job, despite the stresses and strains, and I work with good people, doing imho, good things. And that counts for a quite a bit, in how I choose to live.
I am aware of the environmental impact of driving my car, I do my best to minimize journeys, and I also recognize that if I had to ride a horse to work, I'd still have an environmental impact on my surroundings. And neighbours. ;)
-
daleaway,
Not sure if it's aimed at me - story about the teachers. But I do choose to teach in Lower Hutt, because I believe in what I'm able to do there - and I believe I can make a small measure of a difference in my role as a teacher there.
There are several schools in walking distance of my house - and yes I applied to several schools in my area, when I came out of teachers college. None of them got back to me.
I use public transport sometimes - and I use the car sometimes.
-
There's an element of the ideal here - in that it would be great if we could all work, eat, commune, shop, exercise, play, learn, in our local area.
"Local shop... for local people!"
I teach in the Hutt, but live in Miramar. Wife works in Miramar. I love my job, but do wonder if my daily commute, thankfully against the majority of the traffic, is causing carbon destruction and the loss of any specific species in the Amazon.
We've just bought a second car, and looked seriously at the Prius, from Clean Car Co that RB mentioned. Also looked at some of the diesel models. In the end though, went for the reliability of a 2004 Toyota Avensis - it matched our budget - and had a fuel use computer.
Being able to actually monitor your fuel use, doesn't salve the concious - as much as make you aware of how you're driving - and check why you need too.
As the summer term rolls in I'll go back to using the bus/train combo more - but it is more expensive - and adds another 90 minutes of travel to my day. (Assuming all elements are running on time) Benefits - a 20 minute snooze on the train each way, and a reason not to carry any books home to mark. :-)
-
I should add that I really did like the utilitarian look of the bag - just couldn't for the life of me figure out what I'd do with that many nuts! :-)