Another day of PD, which constituted a visit to the Big City (now that we are country dwellers, we refer to our former home city as the Big City – I know, small jollies). The food was good. Very FD friendly, with no seeds in the bread. There was air conditioning too (no air conditioning in the school library – ran short of funds)! Apart from that the day was long and tedious.
Why would they insist on showing us an online web site and then reading straight from the screen to us? More than once, too! We could have been sent the link and read it back at home base. They did take us through using Twitter for professional learning networks, which was pleasant as I have never bothered with Twitter. Sorry folks, no convinced of Twitter’s real worth as yet. Will the gods of technology and capitalism strike me down now? And why are all these words, like Twitter and Google written with a capital letter as if they deserve respect, like a person? It’s a technological tool, not a living thing – dog and cat aren’t spelt with a capital letter and they are living things!
When the presenter showed us that she follows over 300 people, and has to have a Tweetdeck to handle the information flow, I had to wonder, well I wondered many things, but mainly how much of this was information she really uses, or just shifts around from place to place, a little like me when I am pretending to tidy my house?
The best part of the day where my companions at the table I randomly chose! New to the school system I don’t know anyone as yet, and some of the ladies on the table did know each other (there were about 4 males and maybe 80 females, teaching and librarianship is a very feminised profession) so that meant a little less time being formal. One woman has been a TL for over 30 years and so has seen and heard it all before. Armed with rapier wit and a healthy dose of sarcasm she had us in fits of giggles for most of the day, so that was a joy. A second table companion was a volunteer with the Irwin’s Wildlife Animal Hospital, and she shared stories of wounded koalas, and possums. She often takes baby possums who have been orphaned home to feed from a bottle on a 4 hourly schedule – 24 hours a day. That is dedication!
And how did we find this out? One of the ladies commented that she had great upper arm tone (wearing a sleeveless dress) and she replied that it was from holding extended tree clippers to cut leaves to feed possums – they eat a bucket and a half every day! So table conversation helped the day to pass a little faster.
I still needed a lie down from being nice though, when I got home. Going to the Big City really takes it out of us country folk!
I think Google and Twitter get capital letters because they are proper nouns. At what stage proper nouns lose their capitals I’m not sure, except for the generalisation that modern usage prefers a “down” style (just look at how many capitals are used in text from the 19th century). A Beagle would have a capital as it is a specific breed of dog, but dog is a generic term all Canis familiaris.
We feel the same way after having visited the Big Smoke – actually just about anywhere in the lowlands east from Toowoomba to the coast – hotter, more humid and much less fit for habitation than here in our eyrie (what passes for one in Australia, which, being an old landscape, has had its rough edges worn away eons ago). Only twits tweet, but I expect one day to be forced to adopt this technology. Mind you, having seen the tweets from the average twat, I can’t see the point or why anyone bothers. So much of our limited internet space taken up with trash from twits – most of it is s–t. Ratty.
Oh I am lolling about you being read to. That used to drive me nuts at TAFE. The teacher would give us a ten page handout and then sit down and read it to us, I felt like I was five years old. Such a waste of time.
I’m a twitter-er ..er. and love the nosiness of reading what celebs think we should know about their days. It’s also great for keeping up with local news and a few organisations that I’ve graced with my presence. I really don’t see the sense in following bzillions of people though as the stream just whooshes past. I used tweetdeck for a bit and found it all a bit arsey. I have an app (aren’t I technofunky?) for tweet on my tablet so it pings when I receive one (not often) and I can read the thing in the corner of the screen immediately rather than clicking to see it
I blog and Facebook, but I, too, have yet to be convinced of Twitter’s appeal.
Oh that drives me nuts… when a webpage is shown and then read out line by line. Happens every year at our school information night. The Principle must think the parents can’t bloody read, not having been educated at her place!
Whilst I would love a firm upper arm I don’t think that development could come to me from such a botanical exercise……
I have twitter but rarely tweet. I often read recommendations from people who are on my wavelength but there is a lot of time consuming tosh there too so you’re not missing out