International Dance Day - April 29

found pic @ uwishun

International Dance Day was introduced in 1982 by the International Dance Committee of the International Theatre Institute (ITI), a UNESCO partner, and is celebrated on April 29^th every year. The date was suggested by the International Dance Committee of ITI to commemorate the birthday of Jean-George Noverre (1727-1810), the creator of modern Ballet.

Every year, an outstanding choreographer or dancer is invited to deliver a message which is circulated throughout the world. The personality is selected by the founding entity of the International Dance Day.

The goal of this date is to celebrate Dance, to reveal the universality of this art form, to cross all political, cultural and ethnic barriers and bring people together through the common language of Dance. 

The message author of the 30^th anniversary of International Dance Day is the Flemish Moroccan choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, under the motto “Celebrate the never-ending choreography of life”.

So let’s stand up and try some moves today! Meanwhile here goes an inspirational video:

And as I am a flasmob lover, the following video shows one of my favourites ever!



Source: International Dance Day & Wikipedia

Dedicatory: this post goes especially to a colleague of mine who dedicates her life to this amazing art form. Thank you for what you do, Carla Tavares!

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Radiohead - No surprises

A heart that's full up like a landfill
A job that slowly kills you
Bruises that won't heal
You look so tired and unhappy
Bring down the government
They don't, they don't speak for us
I'll take a quiet life
A handshake of carbon monoxide
No alarms and no surprises
No alarms and no surprises
No alarms and no surprises
Silent, silent...

Source: azlyrics

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Cookie's Educational Resources

Cookie is a site offering dozens of excellent educational games for elementary school students. The games have clear graphics that make it easy to start playing immediately. Cookie also offers hundred of worksheets on several topics and short animated video lessons. At the end of each lesson there is a short quiz that students can use for self-regulation. Each game and lesson automatically launches full screen, eliminating potential sidebar distractions.

Games and lessons on Cookie can be shared, so if you have a resource page, Cookie’s resources could be a great addition to it! Here goes an example: 

Source: Free Technology for Teachers

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Earth Day - April 22

On this day people of all nationalities and backgrounds voice their appreciation for the Planet and demand its protection! Earth Day intends to mobilize the Planet simply to say one thing: the Earth won’t wait. It seems that environmental issues have been put behind as we are in the midst of a global recession. It’s time to mobilize the Earth and speak with one voice, one message.

Its founder was US Senator Gaylord Nelson, who after witnessing the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in California, realized that if he could infuse some energy with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution, it would force environmental protection onto the national political agenda. It was a success in 1970 and it still is! Together we will stand united for a sustainable future and call upon individuals, organizations and governments to do their part.
So if you don't have an Earth Day event happening where you live, just take some your time and think about what you're doing to to our Planet, to Mother Nature... Will we have a second chance?

                                                                                                 photo credit: IronRodArt - Royce Bair (NightScapes on  Thursdays)via photo pin cc

Source: Earth Day Network

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e-fabul@tions

"e-f@bulations is a refereed international e-journal of scholarly research in the field of literature for childhood and youth. It is published in English and Portuguese twice a year as part of the Digital Library of FLUP.

Hosted by the Department of Anglo-American Studies (DEAA) of FLUP, the journal aims at providing a space for the publication of studies on a wide spectrum of topics related to literary themes on childhood and youth, in a broad variety of genres, from the most traditional and conventional ones to memories, journals and comics. Comparative approaches between literature, cinema, cartoon animation and the visual arts (e.g. in book illustration or other) are also contemplated.

In its interdisciplinary design the journal therefore welcomes contributions on all subjects within the general literary and cultural field of childhood and youth, from any country, culture or civilization, any historical period, as well as from any individual or collective experience."
Source: e-fabul@tions

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Learn to Read English online

Learn to Read English Online at GCFLearnFree.org is one of the topics of this awesome website full of content and interactivity totally free. You will find Computers, Math and Job Skills resources as well. On the Reading section there are videos and games to help you master the top 1000 most frequently used words in English. The Activities (Letter Explorer, Word Explorer, Text Explorer, Word Videos, and more!) are very attractive to do with sounds and pictures. They are divided into categories like Action, Basic Conversation, Buildings, Food, People or Transport. "The goal of the Reading program is to help adults at all levels become more proficient readers." You can also create an account so that your progress can be registered.

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A very special moment...

Local firefighter David Tree shares his water with an injured Australian koala at Mirboo North after wildfires swept through the region on Monday, February 9, 2009.

found pic @ tribe

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The Landlady by Roald Dahl

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National Geographic Teaching Resources

The new National Geographic site has improved even more its Education section. Now there are tabs for Teachers, Informal Educators, Families, Students and Kids. You will find lots of Teaching Resources about current world events and also News, Media, Mapping, Geo-Literature and a special section on how to bring NG's rich media into your classroom.
They are now paying a special attention to the tragic sinking of the Titanic, which happened 100 years ago, on April 15th, taking the lives of more than 1500 passengers and crew. You can access interactive maps and a precise timeline, watch videos and photo galleries and download posters and documents, for example, this one - 10 Cool Things About Titanic. Go ahead and check the amazing quality of these materials!

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Onestopenglish

Onestopenglish is a great site for teachers of English: full of resources, lessons, articles, tips, audio, video and flashcards. Its totally reliable material is published by Macmillan English Campus, part of the Macmillan Education Group. You can find topics including ESP (English for Specific Purposes), ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages), CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) and others, like grammar, skills, games or business vocabulary. If you become a member, you will have full access to thousands of worksheets.

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Friday 13th - Origin and Superstition

According to folklorists, there is no written evidence for a "Friday the 13th" superstition before the 19th century.The earliest known documented reference in English occurs in Henry Edwards' 1869 biography of Gioachino Rossini.

Consequently, several theories have been proposed about the origin of the Friday the 13th superstition.

One theory states that it is a modern amalgamation of two older superstitions: that thirteen is an unlucky number and that Friday is an unlucky day.

In numerology, the number twelve is considered the number of completeness, as reflected in the twelve months of the year, twelve hours of the clock, twelve Gods of Olympus, twelve tribes of Israel, twelve Apostles of Jesus, the 12 successors of Muhammad in Shia Islam, whereas the number thirteen was considered irregular, transgressing this completeness. There is also a superstition, thought by some to derive from the Last Supper, that having thirteen people seated at a table will result in the death of one of the diners.
Friday has been considered an unlucky day at least since the 14th century's The Canterbury Tales^, and many other professions have regarded Friday as an unlucky day to undertake journeys, begin new projects or deploy releases in production. Black Friday has been associated with stock market crashes and other disasters since the 1800s.

If you are spooked by Friday the 13th, you're in for a whammy of a year. This  unlucky day is the second of three for 2012. Many superstitions stem from the same human trait that causes us to believe in monsters and ghosts: When our brains can't explain something, we make stuff up. In fact, a 2010 study found that superstitions can sometimes work, because believing in something can improve performance on a task.
If you're not scared of Friday the 13th, you should be scared of the word used to describe those who are: friggatriskaidekaphobics. (An alternative, though just as tongue-twisty, word for the fear is "paraskevidekatriaphobia.")
For a superstition, Friday has long been considered an unlucky day - according to Christian tradition, Jesus died on a Friday.
According to the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in the USA, about 17 million people fear Friday the 13th. Many may fall prey to the human mind's desire to associate thoughts and symbols with events.
"If anything bad happens to you on Friday the 13th, the two will be forever associated in your mind," psychologists say. "All those uneventful days in which the 13th fell on a Friday will be ignored."
Found pic @ Google Images
^{Source: Wikipedia & Live Science}

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ELT and UK's National Gallery

Museums are an excellent source of information for educational purposes. The UK's National Gallery has available a very interesting tool for teachers of Arts and English. You just have to click the Learning tab and choose the option Teachers' notes to have full access to a whole set of preious work/assessment done by other teachers. You can get ideas about how to explore a resource or which resources best fit your needs!

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Back to work ;)

It's quite impossible to keep calm, so...

found pic @ Google Images

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Easter wishes

To all my Followers:

found pic @ Google Images

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National Wildlife Resources

The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) has some great resources for educators on their web site. There is a news section, wildlife animal information and resources, environment and global climate change resources, and much more.

They have wildlife cameras that you can view, such as the Eagle Cam, an incredible Wildlife Library with information about different species, and Wild Places where you can virtually visit and explore some great wild parts of America.

There are outdoor activity guides and things to do outside, Wildlife news reports, and Global Climate Change resources.

This is a great resource for teachers and students to use when studying wildlife, nature, and the environment. I'm getting ready to start a unit under the motto "The World Around Us", so it sounds "perfect stuff" to me ;)

Source: Educational Technology Guy

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Still waiting for the rain to come...

found pic @ Google Images

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