anyway, this cny i received 3 cny cards in my snail mailbox, 2 from my teachers, 1 from my students :) my tuition teacher 素卿姐 i've known her for 26 years now, my chemistry teacher mr poh mah see 傅妈思师 i've known him for 20 years, and Si Hui 斯惠 6 years now. notice any 'pattern' here? yes, it all revolves around teacher-student relationships, something that has been missing from my life for 5 years now. a tug at my heart on where i should belong. shall work towards it and see if there's any good news to report come cny 2011? (:

last but not least, may i wish all my teachers, students, and friends: 一元复始，万象更新。新年快乐，万事如意！ 恭喜恭喜！ Gong Xi Gong Xi!

• Differences (in learning)


• The brain


• Emotions


• Thinking


• Motivation


• Creativity


• Collaboration


• Digital learning


• Assessment

nice (:

1. Grammar, Punctuation & Co.


2. Common mistakes and problems


3. General Writing Skills


4. Practical Guides To Better Writing Skills


5. Copywriting Blogs


6. (Online) Tools


7. Further Resources

get full details here.

if you would like try it for free, grab the release candidate by end July 09. it's recommended NOT to install on a system that you're using currently using for work/play/study. i've tried installing it on a kohjinsha sh, and it's running OK, except the cpu is not fast enough so you'll need some patience for things to load. but it's installable, runable and usable, quite surprised (:

and btw, the worldwide upgrade option programme is due to begin only on 26 June, which means those pple who bought their computers some two weeks ago at pc show missed their free upgrade chance? hmm ... ...

• More Web Design Trends for 2009 on Smashing Magazine
• More Web Design Trends for 2009 on Smashing Magazine

• Tag Index via Tag Clouds Gallery: Examples and Good Practices

1. Outline a Story Idea
2. Find Some Media
3. Pick a Tool to Build Your Story

change the tool as often as you like and you can plan unlimited ways (use a different story prompt, coupled with different media, and when more and more tools' made available) of getting students to tell/write stories the whole year round (:

if you need an example of how it can be done, take a look at Alan's 50+ Ways to Tell the Dominoe Story.

enjoy (:

We were primarily interested in Second Life as a business/commerce/finance phenomenon, covering it like we would any small but fast-growing economy in the real world. The bureau is now closed. Essentially the story we were there to cover has moved on. -- Adam Pasick, as cited by Thomas

in short, SL didnt make MONEY as originally planned. so it's getting a second life by "pitching itself as an online schoolhouse."

good news for those of us in teaching isn't it? (:

TPCK (read "TPACK"), stands for "Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge", just to quote "(it is a) complex, multifaceted and situated form of knowledge� (Mishra & Koehler, 2006, 1017)".

(source: tpck.org)

very briefly, when we reflect upon the time when we use ICT in our classroom, teachers are applying techonological knowledge of the watever tools u might choose to see how best the affordances can be used to as part of your carrying out of lesson (the pedagogical knowledge) on your intended lesson and its outcomes/objectvies (the content knowledge). and these three types of knowledge are not standalone but overlaps with each other. so for e.g. your pedagogical knowledge will not be wat it used to be as it has now evolved to include ICT; likewise the use of an ICT may not be wat it is originally designed to ("repurposing"). Yes, TPCK is not a new idea, and if you're interested to get a better understanding of this, here's some resources:

1. a MUST WATCH webinar by Mishra & Koehler (i found this very useful link from tucksoon's blog, thank you :)
2. notes taken by Wesley Fryer during the keynote presentation at CITE2007 by Mishra & Koehler
3. TPCK.org maintained by Mishra & Koehler
4. related reading list on TPCK.org

yes, it's been a long time since I last created a cake, and it's a while since i get another post up here. life's mixed with good n bad things lately, just like the good n bad weather lately :) anyway, it's my friend and colleauge Dan Ying ????'s birthday! And she wants to announce to the world that she's officially ...... WAIT! better not put it here. i think 18 is a nice number, u think so too? (: oh yes, before i forget,

Free Technology for Teachers

if you like to use animal photos in your lessons, you can read about it here;
if you like to see more examples of educators' blog (a major reason is you cant find much of it here), you can read about it here;
if you like to find out more about copyrights and possibly teaching your students on the topic, you can read about it here;

... the list's non-exhaustive. i believe you'll find most, if not all, entries useful. enjoy (:

1. Texas Instruments TMC0281 Speech Synthesizer (1978) - used in the featured "Speak and Read" machine. ours was the YELLOW version though.

2. Kodak KAF-1300 Image Sensor (1986) - this is the 'great great .... grandfather/mother' of all future CCD cameras?

3. Intel 8088 Microprocessor (1979) - if you ever used a PC (cf Mac or Apple, but the latest Macs are based on Intel processors anyway), this has to be in your list (:

4. Micronas Semiconductor MAS3507 MP3 Decoder (1997) - i dun own an iPod, but guess any portable mp3 player will require some derivation of this chip?

5. Amati Communications Overture ADSL Chip Set (1994) - if u used Singnet's broadband, u're on ADSL. Singnet lost me as their customer after they chose to force me to take up 24mths contract upon renewal when I can only utilise less than half of it as we're leaving for shanghai.

6. Chips & Technologies AT Chip Set (1985) - our very first computer@home in 1991 is a 80286 and it runs on this C&T AT chipset i recall seeing when i opened up the cpu. fond memory always of that computer.

7. Toshiba NAND Flash Memory (1989) - thumbdrive, usb drive, watever u called it, it's quite impossible this piece of technology is not part of your life today, especially if u're reading this post :P

so my count's only SEVEN, wat's yours? (:

• Capture Active window
• Capture a/an window/object
• Capture a freehand region
• Capture a scrolling window (this is what I find MOST useful)

and save it to six difference destinations. And in the "Options", you can specify the dot-pitch of the screen capture, the destination folder, auto-startup with windows etc.

Since the software license agreement does not disallow redistribution (see below), you may want to download a copy of it for your personal use from the local mirror. If you require some latest features, be sure to check out the latest version at FastStone.org for just an afforable sum.

If you need more info (e.g. how to unpack and use), you can visit The Portable Freeware dot com.

Please read the following terms and conditions carefully before using this software. Use of this software indicates you accept the terms of this license agreement and warranty.

1. Disclaimer of Warranty

FastStone Capture (this software) is provided "as-is" and without warranty of any kind, express, implied or otherwise, including without limitation, any warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

In no event shall the author of this software be held liable for data loss, damages, loss of profits or any other kind of loss while using or misusing this software.

2. License

FastStone Capture is provided as FREEWARE for private (non-commercial) or educational (including non-profit organization) use. In these cases, you are granted the right to use and to make an unlimited number of copies of this software.

For commercial use, it is required to register this software. Registering is an important source of support in the development of future versions.

3. Restrictions on Use

This software must not be decompiled, disassembled, reverse engineered or otherwise modified.

Copyright (C) 2007 by FastStone Soft. All rights reserved.

Btw, Wordpress (in short "WP") is an opensource blog publishing platform/engine (: