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This DT Smith comic by Ian Sargent is the latest in the NSW Teacher Federation’s Education newspaper.

It actually reminded me of a comic by Adrian Bruce.

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This video below is the medieval equivalent of today’s IT/Computer Help Desk service. The poor user is stuck with a problem on how to use the book….

Source: YouTube – Introducing the Book.

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It’s getting to that time of the year when a lot of schools are trying to find a suitable graduation song to play or for the kids to sing. Here are some that have been suggested on a listserve I belong to:

1. Good Riddance (Time of Your Life), by Greenday
2. Light Surrounding Me, by Evermore
3. We Are Family, by ??
4. Opportunity, by Pete Murray
5. Lean on Me, by ??
6. We’re all in this together, from High School Musical
7. Graduation Song, by Vitamin C
8. Morning has Broken, by Cat Stephens
9. Rise Up, by ??
10. You Raise Me Up, by Westlife
11. Shine, by Shannon Noll
12. Waiting on the world to change, by John Mayer
13. Together we are one, by Delta Goodrem
14. I’m on my way, by The Proclaimers
15. Don’t Worry, Be Happy. by Bobby McFerrin
16. We All Stand Together, by Paul McCartney and the Frog Chorus
17. Hero, by Mariah Carey
18. Shine, by ??
19. We Are The Champions, by Queen

If you know who the performers are for any of these songs, please let me know so I can fill in the blanks.

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Adrian Bruce has kindly made up these little positive reinforcements for teachers to use with their students’ blogs. These would have been great to use with my class last year when I was doing this!!!

Tip: If you can’t see the Blogging Award above, click the Get Adobe Flash Player button to install Flash.

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Maybe we could replace them with the ones found at LegoLand?

(See some more LegoLand photos in this Flickr Set)

Photo Source: Flickr

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I do enjoy reading The Joy of Tech comic, with one of the latest ones highlighting exactly how I feel sometimes.

Credit: Joy of Tech

Here are two others which have also given me a chuckle lately. Why not check them out yourself?

Credit: Joy of Tech

Credit: Joy of Tech

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I was reading the Top ten gadgets every designer SHOULD live without, and thought I hope I don’t ever end up teaching in the type of community that needs these Backpack Shields in their bag:

As this report says:

Designed for “college students, high school students, concerned parents, and commuters”, I’d seriously consider moving to a better neighbourhood if buying this kevlar re-inforced backpack, capable of stopping a .44 Magnum bullet, seems like a sound investment.

The manufacturer reminds us that “It’s a major survival advantage versus not having any protection at all and being shot with a couple of 9 mm/44 Magnum rounds.” – Somehow that’s never been particularly high on my list of criteria when I go backpack shopping – until now.

From backpackshield.com

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I’m not yet sure how they do it, but this Mind Reader actually works. Very clever!!!

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Circus Arts has been a fairly major initiative within the Western NSW Region of the NSW DET, originally starting out at Dubbo West Public School as early as 1991. Since then it has grown with many other schools becoming involved. I just came across this video demonstrating how to juggle, over at Sclipo.com. Further information can also be found at JugglingIsASnap.org.

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Arr, me hearty, today (September 19) be Talk Like a Pirate Day – the only day of the year when you can talk like a pirate and not be entirely insane!

How To Be Speakin’ Pirate-Like

Startin’ Rules

• Double up on all your adjectives and you’ll be bountifully bombastic with your phrasing. Pirates never speak of “a big ship”, they call it a “great, grand ship!” They never say never, they say “No nay ne’er!”
• Drop all your “g”‘s when you speak and you’ll get words like “rowin’”, “sailin’” and “fightin’”. Dropping all of your “v”‘s will get you words like “ne’er”, “e’er” and “o’er”.
• Instead of saying “I am”, sailors say, “I be”. Instead of saying “You are”, sailors say, “You be”. Instead of saying, “They are”, sailors say, “They be”. Ne’er speak in anythin’ but the present tense!

Hints an’ Tips
If it be helpin’, start yer sentence wi’ a “Arr, me hearty,” in a deep, throaty voice — ye’ll find that the rest be comin’ much easier.

Vocabulary
In which ye’ll find words submitted by many pirates o’er the years, an’ which comprise a loose piratical dictionary.

• Ahoy: Hey!
• Avast: Stop!
• Aye: Yes
• Black spot: to be ‘placin’ the black spot’ be markin’ someone for death.
• Booty: treasure
• Buccanneer: a pirate who be answerin’ to no man or blasted government.
• By the Powers!: an exclamation, uttered by Long John Silver in Treasure Island!
• Cat o’ nine tails: whip for floggin’ mutineers
• Corsair: a pirate who be makin’ his berth in the Med-…Medi-…that sea ‘tween Spain and Africa, aye!
• Davy Jones’ Locker: the bottom o’ the sea, where the souls of dead men lie
• Doubloons: pieces of gold…
• Fiddlers Green: the private heaven where pirates be goin’ when they die.
• Furner: a ship which be yer own, not one ye steal an’ plunder.
• Gentlemen o’ fortune: a slightly more positive term fer pirates!
• Go on the account: to embark on a piratical cruise
• Grog: A pirate’s favorite drink.
• Jack: a flag or a sailor
• Jolly Roger: the skull and crossbones, the pirate flag!
• Keelhaul: a truly vicious punishment where a scurvy dog be tied to a rope and dragged along the barnacle-encrusted bottom of a ship. They not be survivin’ this.
• Landlubber: “Land-lover,” someone not used to life onboard a ship.
• Lass: A woman.
• Lily-livered: faint o’ heart
• Loaded to the Gunwales (pron. gunnels): drunk
• Matey: A shipmate or a friend.
• Me hearty: a friend or shipmate.
• Me: My.
• Pieces o’ eight: pieces o’ silver which can be cut into eights to be givin’ small change.
• Privateer: a pirate officially sanctioned by a national power
• Scallywag: A bad person. A scoundrel.
• Scurvy dog!: a fine insult!
• Shiver me timbers!: an exclamation of surprise, to be shouted most loud.
• Sprogs: raw, untrained recruits
• Squadron: a group of ten or less warships
• Squiffy: a buffoon
• Swaggy: a scurvy cur’s ship what ye be intendin’ to loot!
• Swashbucklin’: fightin’ and carousin’ on the high seas!
• Sweet trade: the career of piracy
• Thar: The opposite of “here.”
• Walk the plank: this one be bloody obvious.
• Wench: a lady, although ye gents not be wantin’ to use this around a lady who be stronger than ye.
• Wi’ a wannion: wi’ a curse, or wi’ a vengeance. Boldly, loudly!
• Yo-ho-ho: Pirate laughter

Some other links

1. Talk Like A Pirate Day Poster
2. Pirate BLM’s
3. Pirate talk fer the younger set
4. Captain Pugwash and the Sea Monster (Interactive Story Book)
5. How to Build a Cardboard Pirate Ship
6. Pirate Clipart
7. Pirates in the classroom
8. Pirate Links