Untranslatable

As a confident speaker of three languages, I must confirm that there are some untranslatable words in different languages. Sometimes when I speak without paying my full attention to the process of speaking, I notice that I utter some crazy mix of foreign words with my native tongue. I hope to learn more languages in the nearest future, so my speach will become richer (and even crazier) with some new untranslatable words, and my mind will get wider by acquiring new foreign concepts.

I would like to share with you a great article: 11 Untranslatable Words From Other Cultures

For my French students (if any of you read this blog), there is a word "Dépaysement" that we studied last week.

Comet ISON

I guess something special happend to me: I took some photos of the comet ISON during sunrise, November, 20, 2013. I was SO surprised to observe such a bright object in the sky! I'm not an astronomer, not even an amateur, so I can't tell. I already asked an astronomer's opinion whether it's ISON or not... waiting for the reply, but I'm pretty sure it is ISON!

It was pure luck, I didn’t have any intention to take photos of ISON. I was just taking photos of a beautiful sunrise. Apparently, “Comet Hunting” is a hobby for lots of people who like to observe celestial events. I am not one of them, I have another passion – I’m a “sky observer”! I prefer sunrise / sunset periods, but I also enjoy looking at the sky at any time of the day, or cloudless night. I have a blog dedicated to my sky-observing obsession: it’s called “Sky From My Window”. If you want to see my ISON photos visit my blog here.

While I’m waiting to know if it is ISON on not on my pictures, I will just keep taking pictures of the sky, as I always do.

Speaking of art...

I just came across a nice article. It's an interview with an illustrator / visual artist Brooke Weeber.
I would like to cite a little peice that I liked :

"Do you think people need to understand the artist's intention to appreciate the art?
Absolutely not. I think what's most important in art is when people are allowed to develop their own relationship with a piece and to see it's beauty in their own eyes. Perhaps eventually they'll be able to understand the artist's intention, or perhaps they'll create their own narrative and discover meaning based on personal life experience. That's what I find most paramount."

You can find the original article by following this link.

Loving Freezing Cold

I alsolutely LOVE winter, cold, snow, ice, frost, etc. 

I love the beauty of winter and the feeling of cold. 

Sounds weird? Apparently, I'm not alone in my admiration of winter.

My today's discovery: a book called "Cold: Adventures in the World’s Frozen Places" by Bill Streever. Here is a nice review of this book.  

Short stories from the 2013 Nobel Prize Winner

Well, Haruki Murakami didn't get the Nobel Prize in Literature this year. The winner was announced today. The Nobel Prize in Literature 2013 was awarded to Alice Munro "master of the contemporary short story". I've never read her short stories before, but now I will. Here is the link to read her short stories for free.

Etsy Art Inspiration

I'm a huge fan of handmade art! Etsy (http://www.etsy.com/) is great website for artists and for people who like unique peices of art. Personally, I've been visiting Etsy for several years already, and I always find something inspiring there.

Today I accidentally came across this short video about Etsy.

Etsy blog might be useful too. In this article they give some advice for creative people starting to sell their work.

How to be creative

"Cognitive Psychology is interesting" - I understood this in the process of writing my first Master thesis in 2009-2011. Since then I haven't been doing any special research in Psychology, but mind science still fascinates me. The notion of creativity is well explained in this great video by PBSoffbook. If you're interested you might want to subscribe to their YouTube channel. I already did! :-)

Polyglot Dream

I dream of speaking more than 7 languages. This is a really inspiring article from The Guardian about being a polyglot. I hope one day I will be as multilingual as those wonderful people in the article.

To read the article follow the link.

What to Blog About

It is absolutely normal that in the beginning of your blogging you don't know what to write about. If you don't feel inspired try to find something interesting in your life or learning, and share this with other students. 

It's great to share your experience. Maybe your example will inspire someone else.Anyway, blogging has a lot of personal benefits, like improving your writing skills and critical thinking, along with learning to organise your ideas and expressing your own opinion on various subjects.

Here are some suggestions what you might write in your blog posts:

• an interesting article that you read

• a great resource that you found

• an inspiring video that you watched

• a fun and exciting activity that you did in your class

• an idea that you have that you would like to share

• a reflection of your own lesson or experience, 
• or someone else's experience that inspires you

• or anything else that you would like to share...

The Benefits of Edmodo

My first entry in my new blog is about Edmodo. 

As I told you, it's a popular tool for educational purposes. It is used by teachers all over the world. 

I was looking for something about teacher blogging, and found this another teacher's blog where he writes about benefits of Edmodo. 

I think this corresponds completely to our current situation. I know that not all of you understand why we use Edmodo, maybe this short list will make it clear for you. 

(I use a fragment of the original blog entry. You can find the full version by following this link).

Why are we doing this?

1. It is a really easy to learn, effective way to share ideas, links and files quickly in a classroom situation. You can poll students and they can even submit video files to you. The students work it out in about 5 seconds.

2. Students like the interface (many have said to me it is similar to Facebook) and engage in a wide-range of different styles of lesson using the tool.

3. The teacher creates the class space, only people with the code can join. The code can be changed and the teacher is able to manage their ‘online classroom’ effectively in the most appropriate way for that group.

4. It is a practical way to teach students about good digital citizenship. You can insist upon a code of conduct that focuses on everything from good spelling and punctuation to netiquette.

5. You can communicate with the whole class, make small groups or send individual direct message DMs. Students cannot DM other students with this tool. It is a great way to extend students and allow them freedom to develop their own ideas and interests while you are busy with other students.

6. A simple game I play with students where they have to produce a short, perfect piece of writing, edited by their peers, is one of the best writing strategies I know.

7. There are many DEC and educators from around the world using Edmodo. They are very collaborative and willing to share. Classes can communicate online if you share the code.

8. It is free and has an iPhone app. It is not blocked by the filter.

9. Why do you think it is a great tool?