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Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, Ms. Waters!

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Happy New Years everyone! It's unfortunate that in 2011, although I had a great year in general, my blogging lapsed. I've had a tremendous amount of fun with this blog but realistically I doubt that I'll be able to post at a constant rate. I simply have so many other things in my life, from SohCahToa (trigonometry anyone?) and all its lovely components, to swimming, to theater, to school in general, that I don't have time for blogging. Or when I do have time, I use it for reading (good!) or dwindle it away on Facebook (bad). Hopefully I'll be able to post sometimes, as infrequent as they might be. Partially, I just don't really have anything to blog about. There's nothing incredible going on in my life in the moment, and nothing in particular about my life that will capture a global audience's attention. So in a way, although I won't be deleting this blog, it has run its course, and this is farewell.

However, feel free to comment on any of my posts. If you aren't spam (which obviously is easy to tell by the nature of the comment), I'll always try to reply on your blog!

I can't believe all the wonderful students and educators that I have connected with when I did maintain my blog. There are so many incredible students and educators out there, and so many who maintain fantastic blogs. In the past few years I won two blogging awards, and as insignificant as as they might seem to some, meant the world to me. I have a Slovakian penpal who I am in regular correspondence with and have been for the past two years because I commented on his teacher's blog one day. I really took some great things out of blogging, I just wish I had all the time in the world to blog.

Of course if something really exciting happens I'll blog about it, but I just wanted to put an official statement of blog lapsing out. Don't expect weekly posts. Maybe annually? (Just kidding.....perhaps.)

Ciao for now.

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Happy New Years everyone! It's unfortunate that in 2011, although I had a great year in general, my blogging lapsed. I've had a tremendous amount of fun with this blog but realistically I doubt that I'll be able to post at a constant rate.

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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Ottawa, Canada. 

www.mrtoft.ca
 

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Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year from Windsor Ontario, Canada. All the best for twenty ten.

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HAPPY NEW YEAR from chriscattaneo in Italy :-)

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Fijne kerstdagen (merry Christmas) from the Netherlands. 

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Feliz Natal to you all, from Portugal!
We celebrate Christmas with Mass and Family gathering around a festive table: roasted cod and turkey.  

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Merry Christimas from Montreal, QC, Canada.  We went to mass last night and had "reveillon" after.  Today will be a turkey dinner.

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How do i get my message to my dear ones ?

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Wishing all the blessings of Christmas from SF and Los Angeles CA We went to Midnight Christmas Mass had Noche Buena-hearty meal w/ family & friends. Thanks Sue

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Merry Xmas from Western Australia - we have visitors from UK who are loving our summer & our pool! For us a very lazy Xmas - food, drink and catching up!

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Animoto turns your photos and video clips into professional video slideshows in minutes. Fast, free and shockingly simple - we make awesome easy.

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Happy and safe holidays from Mel in Taupo New Zealand. Had a great day with my kids and Pete. We played Cranium for adults that was fun. Sunny and hot I love it

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Merry Xmas from Victoria, Australia. Xmas arvos here involve walking off a large Xmas lunch and relaxing!

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Merry Christmas from Oregon!  We will be celebrating with a delicious Christmas dinner and the fellowship of family tomorrow.  Wishing everyone a happy 2010!

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Merry Christmas from Saskatchewan Canada! A safe and happy season to all.

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Explore Alec Couros's 7,505 photos on Flickr!

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Merry Christmas everyone! Have a wonderful new year.
Lee

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Merry Christmas from Kelowna, B.C., Canada. The pic of my golden was taken a week ago - currently it's brilliant sunshine and no snow anywhere. Peace in 2010!

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Merry Christmas to all from Philadelphia. Snow on the ground now, but rain coming tomorrow. Family all around for laughter and stories!

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May your dreams come true! I'm from Argentina. Today is Christmas Eve and families and friends meet to have dinner together. 

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Merry Christmas everyone, from Victoria, Australia! Enjoy the day and have a great new year.
Cheers!!!

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Merry Christmas from Tasmania, Australia where we will be having a seafood lunch with salads then fresh raspberries and traditional pudding for dessert.

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A very happy holiday to all from grey, gloomy, snowy upstate New York. 

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Explore pollyalida's photos on Flickr. pollyalida has uploaded 7499 photos to Flickr.

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Busy days and nights as we celebrate with family and friends.

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Happy Holidays to one and all- enjoy this season of light, hope, and renewal.

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http://animaboutique.fi/, http://www.facebook.com/animaboutique Directed by: Juuso Syrjä & Eliza Jäppinen, Animated by: Mari Tolkkinen, Joonas Utti, Heli Ellis, Produced by: Jesse Fryckman, Jari Lähteinen, Anttu Harlin, Original Art by: Antero Nuutinen & Eliza Jäppinen, Production, Bronson Club, Animation Production: Anima Boutique.

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I have already finished a low key Hannukah this year. Happy Holidays to all from Southern California, USA.

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Celebrate the spirit of giving.  Wishing you happiness and peace.  Lesley

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Wishing you a very Merry Christmas from Texas.

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Merry Christmas from NY,USA Here's to a peaceful, relaxing new year filled with good PLN conversation and collaboration!

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Merry Christmas from our house in PA to yours. Have an enjoyable and safe holiday :)

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Merry Christmas from Kansas!  Many hours of (entire) family time, lots of food, games, horseback riding.  

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Merry Christmas from a snowy icebound Hereford UK. Will go for a run then eat and drink Xmas day! leshaines123. Working hard @being better in 2010!

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 Meery Christmas from Luton Uk. May all your ICT wishes for 2010 be granted.

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Merry Christmas from San Antonio Texas. Beautiful here even without snow. Sending Peace - Love - Happiness for all in 2010.

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Merry Christmas from Albury Australia... one hour until Christmas Day... light rain after two terribly hot days! Family fun and swimming xxx

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Merry Christmas from Preston, UK. I'm going to be having my first ever Christmas Day with just myself and my wife hurray! @primarypete_

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Have a blessed Christmas from the Cassinelli family in Portland, Oregon.

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Christmas 2009. Wishing you a blessed Christmas from the Cassinelli Family

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Merry Christmas from Havant, Hampshire UK. Just wrapping the last presents now then I'm done!
@ianaddison

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I know that BETT finished ages ago (well it seems like it anyway) but it has been a busy few days packing boxes and such like so I haven't had chance to post about my BETT finds. Some of these are obvious and some less so. What I have tried to do is also contact the company to find out more information to help you out. There is nothing in it for me, I just liked what I say and thought some of you might like them too.I must say that this post is aimed at my ICT cluster, but obviously, if you find it useful, that's great!

So in no particular order...

Brainpop - www.brainpop.co.uk/freetrial
(30 day free trial)
Brainpop seemed like a great resource for explaining difficult subjects and ideas. These also include quizzes to test the children's knowledge. The videos inject humour into the range of topics and would be useful for teaching children about a range of different topics.

Class Pet - www.scholastic.co.uk/classpet
(3 month free trial)
I was initially attracted to the Scholastic stand because they were playing a huge part in TeachMeet Takeover (as were BrainPop). I was around presenting and attracting teachers to the stand to listen to the ideas that were being shared by other teachers. After a while, I had a look at their demo of Class Pet and liked what I saw. You can easily assess the children using a number of objectives and activities. Activities can be assigned to specific pupils so that they can assess themselves at their own pace. This looks like a good way of using ICT to assess maths and literacy.

Anithings - http://www.anithings.com/try.html
(15% discount for Hampshire schools - email me)
Anithings was one of the products and companies being showcased on TeachersTV in the run up to BETT. I was immediately drawn to the characters that could be used within the animations. Younger children will love the cartoony creatures, but you can add and adapt the characters too. It is easy to move them around the screen and then the final animation can be embedded as a flash file. Maybe it's just the googly eyes, but it is good fun!

2Simple - 2Create a Super Story - http://www.2simple.com/super/
(30 day free trial)

As always, 2Simple have delivered. There are many blogs already about their incredible new product so I will let you read those below. It easily lets you create stories, information texts and anything you like really. Characters are dragged on to the screen and then manipulated in a number of ways to animate them and move them around the screen. Sound can also be put in very quickly and easily. The finished article can then be saved as a flash file and put into a VLE, blog or website. Great for sharing with parents or for extending learning after the lesson.
Read more from some of the experts:
2Simple Blog
Bev Evans - @bevevans22
Simon Widdowsden - @xannov
Simon Haughton - @simonhaughton
Mark Warner - @markw29

Not really new but...
Espresso - www.espresso.com
(Reduced rate until Feb half-term 2010 for Hampshire Schools)
Espresso is a fantastic resource when it is used well. I used to use it all of the time at school, it made searching for content a nice, simple task. I would often use the resources for assemblies or as part of my input. Espresso have made two major changes recently. Every video can now be embedded into a VLE, making it very simple to share the videos as part of a discussion or a test or maybe even a blog. They have also just launched a home access module allowing the pupils the opportunity to explore the resources themselves at home.

i-board - http://tes.iboard.co.uk/
i-board was my favourite find of Bett 2009. A whole host of inexpensive, fun activities for Key Stage 1 children. This year I was given the fantastic news that these are now completely free. Fantastic news for anyone with KS1 children. They are so good that many Year 3/4 teachers have used them too.

What did you see at BETT? Have I missed something?

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I know that BETT finished ages ago (well it seems like it anyway) but it has been a busy few days packing boxes and such like so I haven't had chance to post about my BETT finds. Some of these are obvious and some less so.

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Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and loving new year to all. Thanks for all the help, support, warmth and general generosity all year!

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Merry Christmas from Athens, Greece. Tonight, Christmas Eve, is a time for going out and celebrating with friends.. Tomorrow a big family lunch and presents!

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Merry Christmas everyone from SW Victoria, Australia. Celebrating with my half my family. One son still in London and one in Sth Africa. Traditional lunch.

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Happy Christmas from snowy Bolton in The UK @DeputyMitchell

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What a pretty scene!!! Must have 7 inches now!!

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What a pretty scene!!! Must have 7 inches now!!

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Merry xmas from @missbrownsword in the UK! Will be spending it with my kids, then off to my parents for lots of turkey!

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Happy Holidaze from Massachusetts, USA. I'll share a favorite song here -- a version of Fairytale of New York (originally by The Pogues)

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Merry Christmas to you all.  I'll be in Oxford with all my family.  Roast turkey mixed with traditional Italian food to look forward to!

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Merry Christmas from West Virginia.  Last minute shopping for stocking stuffers and a bit of cleaning today.  Tomorrow a day with our small family!

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Merry berrys from the cherrys, we're in Sydney, Aus.  Family coming over for casual summery lunch, then maybe a swim at the beach.  Our chrissy card here..

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We couldn't agree on an idea for our card this year so we mashed up everyones ideas into one. We wish you all the best for the season, and a great New Year

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Merry Christmas to all. I will be enjoying Christmas around the pool with my family. I wish everyone a happy and healthy 2010.

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Merry Christmas from Kansas, USA. Wishing good health and family togetherness to all.

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In Nelson, NZ we go with lamb roast followed by jelly, pav and hokey pokey ice-cream.
Cheers from the first country in the world to see Santa.

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Wishing everyone a very happy Christmas.  I'm in the UK and will be spending the hols with my family.  Traditional turkey dinner and lots of TV.

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Happy Christmas one and all - I'm up a mountain in France skiing, heaps of snow, family, food, wine, fun.

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sorry, forgot to say: I'm in England! Happy Christmas, everybody

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Hello everyone,
Merry Christmas from India.
We are enjoying holidays at home with family. 
Best Wishes!

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Merry Christmas to everyone from @suefolley in a very snowy West Yorkshire in the UK. All the best for 2010 - hope it is a good year for you!

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A very merry Christmas from the Isle of Wight. @icttalk

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Merry Christmas from @skorlaki1983 in Queensland, Australia... normally we have a big family lunch at home, starting with prawns, then cooked turkey

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 Merry Christmas from the snowy UK, I will be with my family and all my sisters and their children. Wishing you all a happy holiday!

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Hi New Zealand.  This year I am visiting my daughter in Dunedin.  We'll be having a roast turkey dinner tomorrow evening.  Happy Holidays everyone :-)

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Merry Christmas everyone from Western Australia!

Christmas here is spent catching up with family and friends while enjoying the summer!

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I am celebrating by catching up with reading and writing - and seeing in-laws!
This is a nice idea, Sue.

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Articles on education technology, from writer, trainer and speaker Terry Freedman

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Merry Christmas everyone from @RobinThailand in Bangkok. Cheers to Sue and all.