links for 2007-05-15
-
Games & Puzzles ? Map and geographical games and puzzles.
-
This wiki is about the great novel Holes by Louis Sachar
I am honored that Bill Bishop took the time to explore Langwitches. He even was so kind to create a photo of this great witch on top for me. Thank you!! In his blog he mentioned that
The “langwitches” bit kept throwing me off. I didn’t associate the “lang” with language.The Forest Gump, adage Stupid is as stupid does seems quite fitting for my failure to make the connection with lang and language. I’m sorry Silvia!
There is no need to apologize Bill, since I know you are not the only one. But maybe a little explanation is due about the whole “witches thing”.
In Germany (where I lived until I was fourteen), there is quiet a culture surrounding “witches”. Witches in literature that is. From mean fairy tale witches of the Brother Grimm to the classic “Die Kleine Hexe” (The little witch) from Ottfried Preussler and then on to modern day famous “Bibi Blocksberg”, who has turned from an animated cartoon to a movie star. Most of the witches in German children’s literature (that I used to read) are good in nature and are giving a positive message. There was no evil associated with them, nor black magic, etc. I did not even hear about these kind of associations until I came to the US.
My father used to call me his little witch when I was small. We even had a German Shepard in Argentina who was named “Hexe”, almost impossible to pronounce for the poor Argentineans. Once I arrived in the USA, I did notice the little bit different attitude associated with “witches”.
When in 1999, I created the website “Sprachhexen“, which was dedicated to helping out Germans living abroad raising bilingual children, I did get some odd looks from neighbors and acquaintances that I chose to use a witch logo. I also collected witch marionettes that were displayed from my home office’s ceiling. Now you have to understand that we live in the Southern US and are even considered to be part of the so called “Bible Belt” It went so far that a neighbor approached me to let me know they did not feel it was very appropriate for her child to see those witches when coming over to play, since they associated something evil with them. This was about the same time when Harry Potter books and movies came out and many churches and parents were very outspoken against that kind of material. One again, I was confronted with a major CULTURE shock. My efforts in Sprachhexen has shifted over the years towards Langwitches: The Magic of Learning with Technology. 
I continue to enjoy Harry Potter type literature and collecting witches. When (or if) I get dressed up for Halloween, it will most likely be a witch. I get excited when I see “witches” around, such as the one in the photo on the right, a friend took last Spring Break in the Tigre Delta in northern Buenos Aires. Receiving the witch in the photo from Bill was a special treat. Bill, In which city was the picture taken? Gracias- Thank you- Danke.
Wouldn’t it be a great project to create a Flickr Group collecting “Witches around the World”. Compare perceptions and associations?
Contact
Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano for customized workshops, coaching and presentations.
Video Conference sessions available.
For a list of sample sessions visit Globally Connected Learning .
I invite few guest bloggers to share posts on Langwitches. This makes it especially rewarding to be able to present to my readers an incredible young lady. Zoe is growing by leaps and bounds as a blog writer and commenter. She is a fourth grader at the Martin J. Gottlieb …
(3 Comments)
The following is a collaborative guest post by Michael Fisher and Jeanne Tribuzzi , of the Curriculum 21 Faculty. The companion LIVEBINDER OF INTERACTIVE TOOLS IS HERE. Expecting students to read deeply and draw meaningful conclusions is at the heart of the Common Core ELA standards. Students are asked to …
(No Comments)
I am honored to be able to cross-post Stephen Wilmarth’s blog post below on Langwitches. If you are interested to read more about Steve’s International Experimental program at the Number One Middle School in Wuhan, China take a look at: Take a Peek into China’s First 1:1 iPad Class Learning…Young …
(No Comments)
I am slowly coming down from an incredible high this past week. I was part of a team (Andrea Hernandez, Jon Mitzmacher and myself), that envisioned, organized and ran an education LEARNING conference. This was a first for me, since I have only been a participant an/or a presenter at such …
(No Comments)
If you are interested in following the blogs of the International Action Research teams on “Quality Writing through Blogging”, take a look at the following trailer and visit the classroom and student blogs to see for yourself the progress they are making, draw your own conclusions about blogging with students. …
(2 Comments)
Perspective is defined as a mental view or outlook. Your perspective is influenced by so much and luckily is not set in stone. Your life experiences, your learning journey, the people you meet, culture, geographic location and the language you speak contribute to your current perspective. My own perspective was …
(5 Comments)
Here are the participating classrooms with links to student blogs.
International School of Prague (3rd Grade)- Team Czech Republic
International School of Zug and Luzern- Team Switzerland ( 4th Grade)
Martin J. Gottlieb Day School- Team USA (4th Grade)
International School of Bangkok- Team Thailand (5th Grade)
Thank you to Andrea Hernandez for the image of the classroom schedule that inspired me to put the following visual of the Evolution of the Classroom Schedule together. No Pencil Class> Computer Class> 21st Century Learning > Learning It will take classroom teachers, who understand that “21st Century Learning” cannot …
(No Comments)
The following is a collaborative guest post by Michael Fisher and Jeanne Tribuzzi , of the Curriculum 21 Faculty. The companion LIVEBINDER OF INTERACTIVE TOOLS IS HERE. Expecting students to read deeply and draw meaningful conclusions is at the heart of the Common Core ELA standards. Students are asked to …
(No Comments)
I previously published a chart of Bloom’s Taxonomy and iPad Apps, which I use regularly when planning projects or look to reinforce certain skills and literacies. Since I also rely heavily on The Digital Learning Farm concept (based on Alan November’s work), I felt it was time to create a …
(23 Comments)
I previously published a chart of Bloom’s Taxonomy and iPad Apps, which I use regularly when planning projects or look to reinforce certain skills and literacies. Since I also rely heavily on The Digital Learning Farm concept (based on Alan November’s work), I felt it was time to create a …
(23 Comments)
Teaching ourselves, our students and other educators how to use screenshooting (images) and screencasting (video) tools is a relevant skill to have that integrates in so many areas. Think Tutorial Designers (A role from the Digital Learning Farm) or the Flipped Classroom model. Being able to create, share and take …
(7 Comments)
Should Teachers Be More Like Conductors? This bog post from 2009 took me to the following TED talk by Itay Talgam. Although I am not a musician, nor listen to much classical music, I was mesmerized. This TED talk was geared towards organization leaders, but I so agree with Tania …
(4 Comments)
Perspective is defined as a mental view or outlook. Your perspective is influenced by so much and luckily is not set in stone. Your life experiences, your learning journey, the people you meet, culture, geographic location and the language you speak contribute to your current perspective. My own perspective was …
(5 Comments)
I have been blogging for 6 years now… I have written extensively about blogging (131 posts categorized “blogging” on Langwitches) I have shared two guides for teachers to start blogging with their students “Stepping it Up: Learning About Blogs FOR your Students” Part I: Reading Part II A: Writing Part …
(4 Comments)
I had the opportunity to speak to Vicki Davis and Julie Lindsay. Two educators who are making a difference in their students’ lives as well as thousands of other students and teachers from around the world. Vicki is a teacher from Camila Georgia. She blogs on the Coolcatteacher blog and …
(1 Comment)
This is the follow up post to the theoretical Wondering About Hyperlinked Writing. The post ended with Now…on from the wondering, theory and resources…to the practice in the classroom. I am ready to bring hyperlinked writing (and reading) as an important genre into the classroom! Can one just start “throwing” …
(6 Comments)
Almost 4 years ago, I wrote a post on Langwitches titled Teaching Hyperlinked Writing and Reading. 4 years later, many (most?) teachers have not heard, let alone are teaching and coaching their students in the use of hyperlinked writing. The word “hyperlinked” is still being underlined in red as I …
(6 Comments)
I invite few guest bloggers to share posts on Langwitches. This makes it especially rewarding to be able to present to my readers an incredible young lady. Zoe is growing by leaps and bounds as a blog writer and commenter. She is a fourth grader at the Martin J. Gottlieb …
(3 Comments)
I felt it was worthwhile to update the Top Post (over 25,000 views) on Langwitches: Bloom’s Taxonomy for iPads I have added links to each app represented on the visual. Remember: Exhibit memory of previously-learned materials by recalling facts, terms, basic concepts and answers. describe name find name list …
(6 Comments)
It is no secret, that I enjoy my iPad tremendously. I even proclaimed, now and then, that I love it! From the beginning, I approached the iPad with one goal in mind: I wanted to become fluent in using it. There is a distinct difference, in my opinion, between being …
(4 Comments)
I previously published a chart of Bloom’s Taxonomy and iPad Apps, which I use regularly when planning projects or look to reinforce certain skills and literacies. Since I also rely heavily on The Digital Learning Farm concept (based on Alan November’s work), I felt it was time to create a …
(23 Comments)
Transliteracy is defined on Wikipedia as The ability to read, write and interact across a range of platforms, tools and media from signing and orality through handwriting, print, TV, radio and film, to digital social networks. The modern meaning of the term combines literacy with the prefix trans-, which means …
(11 Comments)
I posted a few weeks ago about the ongoing Teddy Bears Around the World (now in its fourth year) project. The project blog and hub can be be found at http://www.langwitches.org/blog/travel/teddybearsaroundtheworld/ I have created a How-to-Guide in order to articulate how and why to join such a project, to make …
(3 Comments)
I am honored to be able to cross-post Stephen Wilmarth’s blog post below on Langwitches. If you are interested to read more about Steve’s International Experimental program at the Number One Middle School in Wuhan, China take a look at: Take a Peek into China’s First 1:1 iPad Class Learning…Young …
(No Comments)
Social Profiles