Welcome to week 6 :-)

From Daf and Teresa, 20 Feb

Dear friends,

We are starting Week 6, the last week of what has been a fantastic journey. How has it gone by so fast? Well, the wonderful empathy, warmth, openness, experience and knowledge sharing... has been so intense that it seems like we started last week.

Week 6: Blended learning. Wrap-up: Conclusions and evaluation. Graduating as a Webhead in Action

In Week 6 we will focus on "blended learning". Let's join Aiden Yeh, Buthaina Al-Othman and Rita Zeinstejer on Saturday 25, at Alado (We will announce the time) for a panel discussion on "blended learning": combining online activities and projects with face-to-face learning

Please add your name in the Database to tell us that you are attending this session.

The suggested readings for this week are related to our topic, and can be discussed in our forum at: http://pub41.bravenet.com/forum/3490181847 
 
Since this is the last week of our e-workshop, we would appreciate your reflections  on  your overall impressions of this 6-week workshop, what you've achieved, and what you plan to do with your newly-acquired know-how. Please, post your reflections to our BaW-06 wiki: http://baw-06.pbwiki.com/MyReflections  

During the week we will be announcing the graduation ceremony to take place at Tapped In on our regular Webheads in Action Sunday session (noon GMT). Don't miss it!!!

Kat will be creating the threads page for this week. Thanks for volunteering, Kat :-)

This is all for now.

Have a great week!

Daf & Teresa

Graduation                                                               UP

Closing Ceremony

From Daf, 21 Feb

Dear all,

The EVO sessions will have a grand finale at Worldbridges on Sunday from 18:00 to 19:30 GMT (after our graduation ceremony).

You are all cordially invited to attend :-)

http://www.worldbridges.com/

Come and share your experiences with EVO. Although we can fit only 5 people in the voice chat at one time, there is an active text chat going on also. (A listening help guide is available at this site.)

Participants may Skype in, but should join the text chat first and request that WorldBridges call them in. I use a cell phone and it works just fine, too.

This will be your first live session as newly-graduated Webheads ;-)

Hope to see you there!

(((hugs)))

Daf

From: Teresa Almeida d'Eca, 23 Feb

Re: the BaW06 Graduation ceremony, we're planning on meeting at Tapped In at 12:00 GMT, as usual, and then move on to Worldbridges, if available and possible. We'll let you know asap.

Virtual drinks and food from your countries are welcome! If you send me the links to pages you may create, I will insert them in our Graduation page.

We will confirm these two events asap.

 EVO Survey

From Elizabeth Hanson-Smith, Feb 24

We hope you have enjoyed your 2006 EVO session. Please take a minute to recognize the valuable time your moderators and guest speakers have contributed by taking a short (5-10 min.) survey that will help us plan for next year.

Although you will receive a link in each session you registered for, PLEASE take the survey from the link in ONLY ONE SESSION you have attended--you will be asked questions about all of the sessions.

Thanks very much for joining EVO, and we hope to see you Sunday, February 26, at 18:00 GMT for our Closing Ceremonies, webcast live from WorldBridges http://www.worldbridges.com.

--Elizabeth Hanson-Smith
For the Coordination Team of EVO

Becoming a Webhead: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=541711816610

End of course feedback

From Daf,  21 Feb

What have you learned? Your feedback is crucial!

Dear BaWers,

Remember the diagnostic survey you completed in week 1?

Well, in order to help you reflect on what you have learned during these 6 weeks, I have compiled your answers on a Web page:

http://dafnegonzalez.com/baw-06/content/baw-06surveyresults.htm

Your feedback is very important for us in order to improve our next BaW sessions -yes, we already have people interested in BaW-07 ;-) -

Instead of creating a survey for your feedback, I have added a page to our BaW-06 wiki where you can post your reflections on this session:

http://baw-06.pbwiki.com/MyReflections

We are looking forward to reading your comments :-)

TIA,

From: daniele allard, 22 Feb

I will be happy to provide feedback for BaW 06 -- can you give us a deadline?  Must it be this week?

From: Daf, 22 Feb

You can provide your feedback when you are ready to do so. Some participants have already started writing their reflections on our BaW-06 wiki, take a look:

http://baw-06.pbwiki.com/MyReflections

Graduation Page

From: cristina costa, 21 Feb

I'll be in the Algarve, at my mum's place that evening. She is not a  cybernautic but I have just located a cybercafe in the neighborhood! I  am sure going to trr to attend this specail event!

I really enjoyed this workshop. Nothing else would be expected from  such an extraordinary, clever, enthusiatic, fun and friendly group.  You're the best and you have chnaged my life FOR THE BETTER since the  first day I joined you.
 
Thank you for making my life more pleasant and interesting.

What can I say? I love to be a Webheader and you are all to blame for it! :)
 

From: hala fawzi, 21 Feb

Dear New BaWers:

If I am not running out of time to submit a final project for an online course I am taking,I would have told you about how difficult to leave the workshop,not the people,that you have been part of for 6 weeks.The people will always be here for you to help,to chat with,to cry with and to laugh with and at ! Last year at baw2005,I raised up "shed of tears"discussion.It was "If you can't live  without baw,raise your hands.No hands were left behind,I think!
  
This time,though more of a lurker after week 2, I know I will shed tears at the graduation ceremony.Good luck and way to go in the  Long webheads path of success and contribution to ELT all over the world.

Welcome on board.

I love you.(tight hugs with white wings)

From: Paddy Greenleaf, 21 Feb

Dear BAWers

Almost happy graduation and congratulations. I'm afraid I won't be around next w/e for the grand closing ceremony, buit I wish you all luck and have a great time - I'm going to be back home in England at my baby nephew's christening on Sunday! (We have a few days holiday her in Portugal for carnaval!)

Shall definitely see you all around as this is a closing ceremony, but believe you me it is only really the beginning!... See you for ever on the yahoo group!

From: Vanya Katsarska, 23 Feb

Could somebody remind me please when and where the graduation ceremony is. What should we "bring"? Recipes?

From: nina_liakos, 24 Feb

I don't understand what is wanted in the way of recipes for Sunday. Actually recipes (links to web recipes? our own recipes?)? pictures of Whatever floats our boats?

From: Berta, 24 Feb

Here is a farewell message to you all as I cannot make it on Sunday
either, even if I am speechless after Vanya´s wonderful message and
Paddy and MT´s. You have said it all!!! You have read quite a number
of minds and summarized our ideas and feelings in an amazing way.
Kudos to you all.

http://ennz.springdoo.com//Public/Play/?id=FFC72611FF07268D

Con mucho cariño a través del tiempo y el espacio.
Cyberfriendly yours,

From: Isabel Teixeira, 25 Feb

The link  for the page I created for the graduation is http://isabel73.bravehost.com

From: Maria Teresa Ciaffaroni, 24 Feb
Dear friends

Unfortunately I won't be able to be with you on Sunday for your graduation. I recorded a short message for you on Springdoo.

Click on the link below (or copy the link and paste it into your Internet browser address), to listen to my message: http://enus.springdoo.com/public/play/?id=FFC7E517FBFBAFAF

Enjoy yourselves and have a toast with some sparkling Italian wine
http://www.berlucchi.it/pages/spumanti_7.php
or , if you prefer, some good red wine
http://www.sassicaia.com/gb/wine/winehistory.html#top

and some nice appetisers
http://www.berlucchi.it/pages/spumanti_7.php
http://www.cortonaweb.net/ricette/crostinineri.php
http://www.italianfoodforever.com/iff/news.asp?id=524

Please enjoy!

A big ((((((((((((((((Hug))))))))))))))))))))) to you all and a special one to Daf and Tere and my co.mods, Hala, Leanne, Cora, Barb, Chrissan, Sharon, Galdys and Cristina.

From: Janet O'Donovan, 25 Feb

here is a link to a podcast where I've uploaded some music for the partying at graduation!

http://jcbrava.podomatic.com/

The most recent podcast is Mozart and maybe too high-brow for our festivities, but the two others should be fun.

Besides that, I'll be bringing flan with a wicked balsamic vinegar sauce ;-))

From: Luísa, 26 Feb

Dear Bawers
I've just read, seen and listened to "our" Graduation Cerimony and I'm speechless. It's so nice and interesting! And what a great idea some of you had to show that you've really learnt new things: yes, there we could see webpages and blogs and  podcasts and audio messages and... and...and...all the rest you learnt these 6 weeks long! Congratulations to all the participants and my special thanks to all the co-moderators and the two GREAT LADIES responsible for this success, DAF and my dear friend TERESA.

From: christina ljunggren, 28 Feb

Dear all, I'm so sorry I couldn't make it for the graduation. My ups and downs were down, too much snow and darkness I think.

I'm now looking forward to mingling, talking and exchanging ideas as post-graduates.

Let's go for it!

 Blogging                                                                   UP

 Deleting contents

'

From: Susana Canelo, 21 Feb

I was playing with these new tools. I was trying to search my own blog. Technoraty can't find me if I'm not registered. Google blog search is OK, because it shows you links to the entrances, and those I had deleted don't let you see them. OK

BUT...Yahoo!blog search sends you to BLOGLINES and there you can see in a different Layout all the entrances. EVEN those I had deleted.!!!

The trouble is I uploaded a picture my daughter hates. She asked me to delet it and I did it.But if you enter by Yahoo !!! She's going to kill me...Buah.

Help me please.

From: liana devine, 22 Feb

I looked for your blog and all I see is the one you've included in our links, the "Del Valle - My hometown" blog.  I didn't see any potentially embarrassing photos...

Sorry you've hit a brick wall with this, but it seems that nothing is impossible in cyberspace, so I'm sure there must be a way to fix it. But I am not a blog expert.  Are there fellow BaWers out there who can help?

From: Janet O'Donovan, 22 Feb

I also had a panic with experimental blogs I couldn't manage to delete and Chrissan helped me via a YM chat a couple weeks ago. (Thanks again, Chrissan!) She calmly just chatted me through steps (I thought) I'd already taken. The solution was "simple":  I hadn't scrolled completely down the page in Change Settings so hadn't seen the option to Delete Blog.

Has someone helped you figure it out? Sometimes just walking through the steps you have already taken with someone else allows a brilliant idea to occur or a missed-step to be noticed.

Deep breath...

Wikis                                                                       UP

Marianela's Wiki

From:  Marianela, 22 Feb

I finally posted my first Wiki last night and everything seemed to work out very well. I put four pictures for you to enjoy, but after I went through my page again, I could only see two of the four pictures, and two "X" appeared instead. I don´t know what seems to be the problem. Probably the size of the photos? Anyhow, I'm glad I was able to create my wiki.

From: sharon holdner, 22 Feb

Can you send us the address of your Wiki so that we can enjoy it also?

From: Maria Teresa Ciaffaroni, 22 Feb

Marianela's wiki is at our baw06 wiki http://baw-06.pbwiki.com/MarianelaNajul.

From: sharon holdner, 22 Feb

Ah...ha...see what happens when I don't pay attention and surface after a few days hiatus ;-)

I thought that Marianela had created an independent Wiki aside from BaW- 06.

Thanks, MT.  I promise to pay attention to "what's happening now" from this point on.

From: liana devine, 20 Feb

I liked your baby wiki - just a newborn, really - but was shy about adding any contribution of my own.

Is there opportunity to make comments on the poetry posted?  Is that a separate page you could add, or am I thinking more like a blog?

From: James, 21 Feb

Leanne: you're probably right --> a blog might be more appropriate for sharing and commenting on poetry contributions. It was simply an inspiration to begin my first wiki page. I don't actually have a well-defined group of students at present (I'm only substitute teaching), so I had to imagine a group of participants. Blogs can certainly still be learner-centered, and putting some controls on editing is useful for "class" management, privacy, and security of original content. I think a blog also allows the moderator to preview posts before they go public. Can you do this with a wiki? I know you can track and view any additions/changes, but they are already public at that point.

As far as being able to comment, yes you can - that is one of the purposes of the wiki format, as I understand it. You simply edit the page.

From: liana devine, 21 Feb

I am pretty new to the world of wiki, but it is my understanding that it is a collaborative tool, and as such, all members' contributions are permissible.  By that I mean, there is no "moderator" as such (perhaps only the wiki's originator), and everyone who has a password to enter the wiki can add his/her two cents' worth, with no censoring, per se.  In a class setting, I would imagine you would allow all students to post, and yes, once posted would be public.

Can anyone else clarify this?

From: James, 24 Feb

James has left a few verses of farewell (but not goodbye) on his BaW-06 wiki addition. Check it out at
 http://baw-06.pbwiki.com/JamesBakker

Opinion                                                                    UP

Politicians continued... 

 

From: Gladys Baya, 22 Feb

Nina's Reflections

From: nina liakos, 23 Feb

After promising myself to steer clear of wikis for now, I just managed to get to the BaW06 wiki, sign in, post my reflections and save them, and get out unscathed. Whew! I don't really trust it though, so I will repost here:

It has been an incredible experience.  Before BaW, I was something of a technophobe, overwhelmed by the myriad possibilities and the rapidly changing technology.  Now, I feel less intimidated, more able to strike out and explore.  Making online friends has been fun, and as I become more familiar with the technology, I am beginning to think of ways to incorporate it into my teaching.  I hope to build on the foundation I have laid with your help and to share what I have learned with my colleagues at the University of Maryland and potentially, with members of our local TESOL affiliate, WATESOL.  I am excited about joining the Webheads and hope to stay connected for a long time to come!

This is the short version of my reflections (for the long version, see http://www.ninas1stblog.blogspot.com).

From: Teresa Almeida d'Eca, 23 Feb

It's my second "You've made my day!" today. The first time today came from
Barb in a private message about my students' blog last year.

Nina, fantastic reflections about BaW! You made me go straight to your blog and read the full version. I love the way you write. It keeps us glued to the text. I'm very happy that there is a "before and after BaW" in your life. It's very meaningful for Daf and me, and our co-mods, who've done a superb job.

This is just the beginning. The best is yet to come: after BaW!!!

BTW, we will keep BaW open in spite of you joining WiA (Webheads in Action).

With the BaW word spreading around, can you imagine how many participants we may have in BaW07??!!  ;-)

From: Maria Teresa, 23 Feb

I enjoyed Nina's final reflections too. Of course, as soon as I finished reading her message I went straight to her blog to read the whole story. And I found out that it was a real webhead story. Nina was very skeptical at the beginning and she felt intimidated by technology - as I felt miself when I first started to mess about with online tools. I remember I was outright scared when I tried voice mail for the first time - then little by little she realised, as many others did before her, that it was not so scary after all. And she produced some really good stuff. I'm sure she will be able to do much more, now she has get started.

So way to go Nina and Kudos to you.
Thank you for your feedback

From: Cheryl Oakes, 23 Feb

I posted to your blog, but wanted to publicly say, your blog is excellent, I enjoyed all your reflections too.

From: Cora Chen, 23 Feb

Congratulations on your blog--it looks great! I left some comments there.

From: nina liakos, 24 Feb

Thanks to those of you who have said such nice things about my reflections on BaW06 (short and/or long v