Happy Easter!

Another greeting card by Smilebox

Maths I See

I'm no Mathematician at all, as you very well know. Even so, I am able to see patterns, logical similarities, reason and geometry around. A certain code. Nothing to do with the video you uploaded but I feel this one can be an example of the way I find out Maths in my walks. Hope you like it. I liked the video in your post.

Numbers around

Pythagoras said that the things were imitations of numbers. Maybe it's a bit too much too say, but look at this nice video, an then take a look around. Numbers, Geometry, Fibonacci's sequence, the golden ratio... Can you see any Maths around you?
One way or another, I hope you like the video.

In Bucharest

The lights were off in Bucharest, too, in all the official buildings. Near the Parliament building unplugged concerts an astronomical observations were organized.
I stayed at home because Sorin would not go out an my son would not take me with him. This photo is his.
Thanks for sharing the video, it looks nice and warm.

I switched it off, and you?

After a long walk in Zorita and without no time to have a shower and get ready to go out, I decided to stay at home and celebrate with a glass of wine the Earth Hour. I hope this small gesture means something. Cheers to the Earth!

Protect

I had taken this just for myself, it's not a very decorative photo, but I'll post it as an homage for the Earth hour. It's a sign placed by our Primary School kids, in the school park, saying: "The tulips are out! Protect them!". It gave me a warm feeling and a need to protect both tulips and the kids who wrote this. If only we could.

Tomorrow and for the planet...

I will switch it off tomorrow for the Earth Hour. If it is not very cold I'll go out and see what other people do.

Knock-knock

I don't know why this guy was so noisy, but he seemed to have very important and urgent matters to attend, don't you think so?

Technology

By coincidence, I was looking at this just now. Sorin found it as he was loking for some old documents in his mother's house, together with a few more old things such as his father's war decorations.
I guess its use is obvious. It only does additions and subtractions, but it's not very easy to use- at least, not for me. And it's anything but a pocket thing- rather big and heavy.
I cannot stop smiling thinking of my students using one of these instead of their mobile phones or tiny calculators.

early xxth century

I was looking for some old material and I found this photo of me. I've been looking at it for some minutes. This uniform I was wearing was awful but I looked quite professional.
Was I about to call a student's family to report bad behaviour?
Was I about to call the Minister of Education to let him know I disagreed with their laws?
Was I about to ask for more coal for the central heating at school?
Not at all, it was the gesture we were told to have for this photo.
Nevertheless, I'm happy I kept it.

Saffrons

Saffrons (brînduşe) and catkins (mâţişori) for you. The last word literally means "little kittens", maybe because they are furry.
I love both, for the hope and vulnerability in them.

and more

There are always views difficult to be taken into categories. Even so, they belong to the same days, the same people, the same places. They are pieces of intuition captured without no particular reason. This is it.

Pi Day (2)

This is just a slideshow for here, to give you an idea. There were more

things : videos, songs etc.

I will make a common video with ours and the Italian activity, next week

if I can. It was a joint event.

I'll show you when it's ready.

Melting Sun

Sorin brought me this photo as a small gift as he came home today.
I think you might like the melting sun on the road too.

Fregatten Jylland

Coming from an interior area in the country, I'm not used to ships and I may have not understood the importance of the Jylland. The old harbour in Ebeltoft was important long ago. Nowadays, since ships are bigger they cannot enter it. But there is the museum and the Jylland to remind us of the sailing tradition in the area.
The Jylland is said to be the world's longest wooden ship and it is. They keep on a constant care. On the other side, schools and tourists visits are held as a way to show and teach about history, whcih I found very interesting. Not only battles, but sailors' daily life, royal guests and their rooms. Imagination can be triggered by what you see and what you smell.
We went in the morning for a tourist visit and in the evening for the farewell dinner. It was lovely. A warm atmosphere, music, songs, good food and good wine. I had not mentioned I was vegetarian and I couldn't eat much. Deer and kangaroo were offered. Thankfully there was a great variety of vegetables and mushrooms. Lorenzo with his "dulzaina" would have matched there. But I sang together with the other Spanish teacher a short song.
I think, more or less, I have already given you a visual report of the visit. Questions are welcome!
Hope the Kangaroo you had today was good enough!

artistic moments

Something that is highly encouraged in Danish schools is art, any kind of representation. Exhibiting our students' artistic skills can also be a way to help them get self-esteem. I have always been in favour of this kind of activities. Of course, there is the other art, the consacrated one. Ancient funeral sites, paintings, collage...............

Pi Day coming

A Probable Failure

I've been trying to make a video on Moebius' stripe, for the Alice project, but I guess it's far out of my league. After planning, documenting, choosing roles and preparations, the actual shooting was a total chaos, the footage is bad, the sound is awful and I have no idea what to do with it and no desire whatsoever to start again. Of course, I jumped into something that exceeded my expertise, on my own, as usual. I doubt I can make anything of it.

nature there

Our relationship with nature shows, somehow, our intelligence. Wonders from above, by the water, under our feet in every season. Danish nature surrounding these frozen bays is silent, mysterious. It invites to listen to your inner voice, your inner thoughts, your inner fears and wishes.

eyes and legs

Eyes and legs to watch, see and walk. This is one of the most exciting activities I like. Will I keep everything in my brain when my eyes don't see any longer?

A boarding school, a home

Societies are obliged to protect and shelter the youngest citizens in risk. Dangers may even come form their own families. In these cases, authorities have to provide kids with a decent home with expert loving carers where they can become citizens.
The boarding schools and institutions we visited made part of the schools. Here there's a small video to illustrate my words.
The boarding house at Tostrup and the institution at Blaesborg belong to Ryomgaard Realskole. And Helle is an only institution in itself.
At Tostrup we met Benny, the manager, who talked aobut the main characteristics of the home. It is for disadvantages kids who have been removed from their parents. They need not only specialised learning tools, but social inclusion work. They go to Realskole and then come back in hte afternoon. Special workers took them to other evening activities such as ballet, sport and so on. Like any kid in a normal family. They have, of course, rules to be followed: no alcohol, no smoking, no drugs, no sex. The cabinet with the fire is a special place Benny decided to build in order to allow smoking to the oldest and to teahcers, himself included. There is also a cinema room, a lounge, a place to play billiards. we sopke for a little bit with kids when they were having their snack. They were happy to be there, although I felt a kind of sadness in all of the, They have to leave the home once a fortnight and travel to their own homes. This weekend can be devastating fro them because they come again to an unsafe world.
At Blaesenborg there is a home where a real couple with their own children live with 7 kidsfrom the boarding school. These boys and girls are already studying at colleges and they come and go everyday by themselves. They have to shop for their breakfast and lunch, but the family provides dinner. They get a kind of salary from the municipality so that they can learn how to manage money. There is a cleaning team and a kitchen team to make the housework. Their rroms are big, well equiped and clean. It was pleasant to be there. They keep the contact when they stop studying in a formal way at least for half a year in order to solve their problems.
Helle is a continuation school for special needs kids, mainly for students with very few expectations to get any more knowledge. Tehy study in workshops where there is a combination of theoretical and practical activities.
I think taking care of these kids is preventing criminality in the future. Once again, it's a good investment.
Too long for a post, but there are many issues to be talked about.

Skole

Different types of schools for different students and different necessities. Investing in formation is the best way to save money in the future. social and economical advantages will come out from this. I'm sure.

Ebeltoft

An old town with a great variety of colours. Enjoy this walk.

Spring might be by us.....

Look carefully at the pencil case. I knew from the very beginning that I wanted your martisore to be there. Wishes are always to be fulfilled where they are more necessary. I felt travelling to Denmark was a challenge for me because it was not only travelling but taking with me general teaching problems to be shared and talked about. It was worth.
Spring might be getting closer here by now. A sunny cool morning invites you to go out and enjoy everything that moves around. I hope it is more or less the same your side.

Still Waiting for Spring

Lunar Nautics

The "mission" we were sent home with from Space Academy for Educators was to awake in our students, regardless their gender, the interest for Maths, Science and technology, by means and with the aim of space exploration. We were given a lot of nice ideas and materials, but only now could I find the time to value a tiny bit of that.
We had a cross-curricular activity called Lunar Nautics, centered on the exploration of the Moon. My Physics colleague ( also a Space Camp graduate) and I targeted 13 years old kids, in the 7th grade, as it's the most likely time they would seriously think of their future, a year before having to graduate.
The activity had 3 parts: one on multimedia exploration of the Moon (resources, Geography, phases, a game on selecting a landing site etc.) and presentation of the NASA missions, vehicles, goals and every-day benefits of the space studies. The second was aimed on team spirit and communication: the Apollo missions and their mission patches, designing our own mission patch, roles in the team, a game on "Digital Imagery Communication". The third was motivational and relaxing: the future vehicles, movies on the first landing on the Moon and on the long-term plans, including the exploration of Mars. Of course, all this is just a part of what we did.
We prepared a lot and had a lot of help. In fact, it's the first time I can remember the team work was perfect. Many people offered to do something, from the ICT teacher who took care of the logistics to the Literature teacher who promised to take care of follow-ups: essays and questionnairs. One of my Maths colleagues made wonderful leaflets and badges for the kids, we had worksheets and written directions for some of the games etc.
I'm REALLY happy with the result- the kids had great fun and learned a lot, although some already knew some basic things on space history, for example they told us the name of the man who first stepped on the Moon: Louis Armstrong! :)
Next week- International Pi Day. It's actually tomorrow ( March 14th: 3.14; besides, it's Einstein's birthday), but we cannot do all at once. I'll keep you posted.

Ebeltoft 2

The frozen beach the hotel is on.

Benny, a very strong character who is charge of the boarding house. He has quite good ideas and a great commitment. He runs the boarding house like a home, although walking around it's very difficult to understand his concept. the place is nice, watched, cared and the 27 studetns who lived there were really nice when we had the short chat with them.



The ruins at Kalo. We couldn't walk til there, it was freezing.

Ebeltoft

A view of the school we are working in. It is more than a normal school and more than a boarding school. It's a new concept, a combination that may be good in the long term.

An old house in Ebeltoft, a small village of 6,000 inhabitants.

the Town Hall.

Another typical construction. Even old buildings have lots of windows to allow light and sun in.

A pub. Rather cosy inside, although coffee is not exactly what we understand as coffee. It's much more lighter.

If Math is musc to your ears...:)

The podcasting Learninglab seems to have been more useful than I had thought.
Since iPods are in every student's pocket, why not have some "Maths to Take Away"? My partner had a very nice idea on how to use the loudblog installation. My kids were very enthusiastic, although some of them are very shy and some have a funny accent. But I think it's a good start.
You can hear them here, if you have nothing better to do. It's always an honour for me to have people interested enough to take a look at what we're doing.

From the media

Two pieces of news that made me think.
The first was about the stork nests. Storks are very frequent in Transylvania, many villages have big populations of birds and they are looked upon with affection. Their nests are very often on the electricity poles and it's common to drive though villages and see nests one almost every pole. This spring, many of the nests were torn down by the workers at the electricity company, and the villagers protested. But they calmed down as they were told that the nests, that were endangering the wires, would be replaced at once with man-made nests, made in such a way not to have any bad effect. The storks can come back to their homes. Hopefully, they accept the new dwellings. We'll know very soon.

Second one is about a concert in an unusual place: a salt mine. We have a few big salt mines, not used any more and turned into places for tourists and for asthma treatment. One of them, near Timisoara, was transformed for a night, for a baroque music concert. Apparently, the idea was great, because the acoustics and the scenery were very good, as the place was turned into a very nice, confortable and sparkling concert hall.

My question is: should nature be transformed and adapted like this, in order to make our common existence easier, or just left alone?