50 years

Take a close look at the '50 Years Together in Diversity competition' official website. Deadline is 31 December.

You'n'me

iEARN International Conference 2007 / II

It was fantastic, you can read more about it in the latest Klasje magazine.

Falafel

Many wise men have said it was better not to eat at all in Egypt than catch a nasty food poisoning. Nevertheless, I do not think I will be able to resist falafel. I mean, I will definitely not miss a single breakfast.

Congratulations!

Congratrulations Immacullata for winning 3rd prize in your eTwinning competition. One year - two prizes, this is more than we had expected. We look forward to continuing next year.

Links

iEARN International Conference 2007

... will be held in Cairo, Egypt in two months. Guess who will be attending! :)

I have much more to write about this spectacular event, but this piece on dress code in really great.

As a tradition in iEARN, the conference and summit participants enjoy informal, simple, and comfortable clothes. However, please note that on the opening and closing events, conference participants are expected to be in formal clothing as a way of showing respect to the invited VIPs who will attend the events. If you decide to use your national dress instead of the formal wear then that is fine too. Kindly consider your general dress code during the conference/summit events according to the moderate iternational and Middle Eastern standards (e.g. kindly NO hot shorts!!). We appreciate your understanding.

Close-up round up

Thank you for participating in Close up this year. It has been a great new experience and we shall continue in September. Meanwhile, take a few minutes every now and then to check what your colleagues are up to and to keep your blog updated: here.



I wish you the best of holidays.

Happy birthday, dear ladybugs and ladybirds!

Close-up Easter bunny

I wish you all keep your Easter bunny happy, including our partners from Belgium, who have 2 weeks off.

Golden Cable

Thank you, Bart Verswijvel, Tone Brčan, Gregor Koščak and the rest of 2.f. Our Close-up project has won an award for best pedagogycal innovations in secondary school.

Happy Nowruz!

Happy Nowruz, Iranian New Year. May this spring begin!

Moodle-doodle-doo

When your moodle doesn't work all you can feel is... utterly helpless.

Close-up pukeko

Pukeko uses its huge foot to bring food to its mouth rather than eat it on the ground.

Golden Cable

Our Close-up is one of this year's many eTwinning running projects, nominated for the Golden Cable 2007 Award. Let's wait and see the competition.

Sweet

Another very nice blog from 2.f Close-up pupils here. We will be presenting our eTwinning project again this Friday, you can find us in classroom 33.

Good job, Tjaša, Lea and Ingrit.

Heroes

Our 2.b hero research for this year is complete. We have been working on the project since September, and finalized it today with oral presentations. We now see how important it is to be able to recognise heroes in our life and to appreciate them. You can read what Jolanda, Neja, Martina, Tjaša, Erika, David, Žiga, Gašper and Andrej have shared here.

SirIKT 2007

The SIRIKT international conference, which is taking place in Kranjska Gora, from 19th to 21th April this year, is an opportunity for an interchange of experience amongst all pedagogical workers who use ICT in their work, as well as for other users of the ARNES network in all fields of education and research.

The primary topics of the conference are the innovative employment of ICT in the pedagogical process and in running a school, the review of the trends and the development in the field of network services in educational and research networks, international cooperation and projects, which are based on the employment of ICT.

The title of my paper, which I will be proud to present, is IEARN web-based projects in ESL classes and it focuses on a practical presentation of My name project, with the emphasis on choosing a project, preparation needed, activities and its advantages.

My name project is very popular with pupils. 1.e are taking part in the project this year and I would like to thank 2.b again for their lovely booklet, which you can read here.

Housewarming

There comes a moment in your life when you just have to let your parents have some privacy and start living on your own. And the flat... it has to be love at first sight.

Happy Shrove Tuesday & Pancake Day

Whichever you like more.

Yikes!

I've been stopped by the police today, yikes! Just as I noticed them, my phone rang and I answered it to say I couldn't talk. The policeman was furious for my seeing him and still answering the phone. He told me to pull over, said I was totally irresponsible and added that he'd write a ticket.

The truth is I NEVER use the phone while driving, so it totally slipped my mind that that was an actual offence.

But I didn't say that. I only said I was really really sorry (which I was) and that I should have known better as I am a teacher and I know how important it is to obey rules. (And I had perfect hair, just coming from the hairdresser's.)

Amazingly, I got off with only a warning. I asked him: "Can I call my mother back now?" And he said I could call anyone I liked. But I was in such a shock that I didn't even know how to use the phone.

Anyway, the moral of the story: If you know you've made a mistake, why not just admit it and say you're sorry. There's a big chance you will be forgiven.

Black Villains

Our 2.f blogs are finally getting the expected form. Gregor, Tilen and Jernej claim theirs is the best. I agree. Take a look here.

Signed, sealed, delivered!

A special surprise landed on my desk yesterday. (Snail mail still holds its charm, now more than ever!)

A full envelope of lovely hand-made personalized Valentine cards arrived from our Belgian partner school. This made our 2.f Close-up pupils really happy, plus the English lesson ended sooner, yupee...

So thank you, Christel and Sabine - you're the best! We promise you'll recieve a surprise when you least expect it...

Pukeko

My favourite bird.

Finally it's all over. The book is read, the tests are corrected. You did very well. And I'm sure you enjoyed the book. Now back to good old Headway.

My special Valentine

Only one, but priceless.

The passion fruit

For everyone who loves a good read. It's about a man called Armin, who has just found out he is infertile. The problem is he has a 13-year old son, and his wife, Monika, has been dead for years. Armin sets off for a painful journey to find the truth about Monika's affair. His determination turns into an obsession, and threatens to destroy more than just one relationship.

It's one of those books you want to consume slowly, because you don't want them to end soon. Go slow.

Slovene translation: Sad strasti

Some people spend all their life trying to be special...

Two words: Christopher Boone.

You can watch a "super good" advertisement on autism on http://www.genspot.com/ShowVideo.aspx?video_id=1412

I can't get enough of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

Information Day

Photo, from left: Duška Marjetič (CMEPIUS), Jerica Glavan, Bart Verswijvel (Immaculata Instituut), Sabina Zalokar (OŠ Šmarjeta), Selma (Denmark)

Information Day will take place at our school this Friday and Saturday. Gregor Koščak and other pupils from 2. f class will prepare a short presentation on our Close-up eTwinning project we are working on with Immaculata Instituut.

9.45-10.30, classroom 33

Jurčič's goat and its beaten shadow

Write an essay in English on: "Jurčič's goat and its beaten shadow."

More information here.

Nada has become youth representative

I am proud to announce that Nada Bregar, one of my dearest pupils, has been officially appointed 2007 iEARN Youth Representative of Slovenia.
www.iearn.org

Nada has been active in iTHINK for a year, exchanging views on what really matters in the world today and respecting cultural diversity. From now on, she will also help spread the ideas of iEARN.

I wish her all the best.

You wanted to know more about me...

What can I say?
I respect cake as well.

Respecting cultures

I immensly enjoy exploring new countries, cultures, and people. This is how much...

New Year's Resolutions

Our pupils' first task in Close-up this year will be to present their photos and their New Year's Resolutions. I would be willing to do the first one but I must admit I decided not to make a list of resolutions this year.
As far as I remember I had done that every year, but never managed to live up to my own expectations, so why bother?
I don't mind changes. I think they are necessary in every aspect of a person's life. I made a lot of changes in the past year, wrong or right, most of which weren't on the list. And if I look back on it now, I wouldn't want 2006 to be any different. My only plan is to make the following year as pleasant as possible.