Welcome

TechToys:

Wikis

Blogs

Audio & VLE:

Elluminate
Alado
SitePal
Handybits
Yack Pack

Wrap Up

INTRODUCTION

WELCOME TO WEEK 4

Somewhere in the world it's Monday already.
Dear Webheads and Webheads-to-be,
First, of course, we'd like to thank all those who have come before us.
Without the dedication and hard work of these ladies, who were in turn
building on the dedication and hard work of those before them, we would not
be here today.  And thank you for your active participation.  "We are
teachers and learners of one another."
We are over the hump.  This means that soon you will be able to have meals
with your family and go to bed at a reasonable hour.
Because you've been working hard, this week is a little easier but just as
much fun.
You've had experience at World Bridges and Alado.  Now, our week four begins
with a delightful meeting with Mr. Learning Times, himself, Jonathan
Finkelstein < http://dafnegonzalez.com/baw-06/content/chatsessions.html >  at
Learning Times on Monday, Feb. 6, at 1700 GMT
The Suggested readings
< http://dafnegonzalez.com/baw-06/content/readings.html >   support our
synchronous participation and give you, among other things, ways you can use
these tools more effectively with your students.
The  rest of the week we will experiment with voice mail.  So if you've been
lurking, or working odd hours, you can still practice voice contact with
other Webheads.  In fact, to get you started you will find a message at the
Yahoo Group site under Files.  Chrissan has created a special folder for us
(sixth item). .  6. Week 4, voicemails
< http://groups.yahoo.com/group/baw-06/files/6.%20Week%204%2C%20voicemails/ >
So find some new buddies and try out HandyBits < http://www.handybits.com >
and HorizonWimba < http://www.horizonwimba.com/demos/index.php > .  You have
to send your voice mails directly or upload them to the "Week 4, voicemails"
folder in "Files".  Remember, the list does not accept attachments. 
SitePal < http://www.oddcast.com/sitepal2/ >  offers a way to experiment with
a virtual person who might represent you with your students in your online
courses.
We'll finish our week with at the Alado.net "Webheads Room
< http://www.alado.net/webheads > " on Saturday, February 11 at 14:30 GMT, to
explore the Alado virtual classroom and its potential for language learning.
Chrissan and Barb are in the same time zone, so maybe the answers won't come
as soon as you ask them. But we are there for you.  Just have patience with
us.
And remember:  no one is the "expert" here. " We are teachers and learners
of one another."
Let's have more fun,   Chrissan and Barb
PS  I've tried to put in links to all the items mentioned.  It will be very
interesting to see if that really happens when I send this mail.

Chrissan and Barb

THANKS TO THE INTERNET WE ARE HERE BECOMING WEBHEADS

Viva the Internet !!(who is the father of the Internet,by the way?I taught a lesson one day with this piece of information ..,forgot now)

Hala

Viva the Web! The father of WWW is Tim Berners-Lee, who wrote _Weaving the Web_, a book I really enjoyed. I think he still works for CERN in Switzerland .

The Internet comes form the States and results from the ARPANet.

Teresa

"In many ways the creation of the Internet arose from the fortuitous combination and fusion of a number of remarkable intellects and in most respects was spawned by their collaborative effort. On the other hand, if one individual can be singled out as 'Father of the Internet' then perhaps the accolade should go to Paul Baran, whose innovative Distributive networks and packet switching, lie at the heart of the present day Internet"
taken from:
http://www.learnedcounsel.com/father.htm

You might also like to visit these sites:
http://www.livinginternet.com/
http://www.zakon.org/robert/internet/timeline/

Daf

THE WEBHEAD MODEL ROLE

The model role is given to us by our moderators, Daf and Teresa, together with all the co-moderators

I just wanted to say that the way Daf and Tere have been running BaW06 is a perfect example of what Allison et al.recommend.  They have followed all the tips (just a few examples:
encouraging participation through questions and probing; building confidence while not expecting too much at first; modelling online intellectual discourse and appropriate online behavior; using humor; setting clear objectives;  valuing participation; creating a friendly,
social environment; thanking students publicly--the list goes on and on.  My only question is, did Tere and Daf use the article as a guide, or was the article written to reflect their style?  Congratulations, Tere and Daf, on your fabulous job as facilitators of BaW06!

Nina

Thanks for the very nice words. Great sense of humor on your part re: "did Tere and Daf use the article as a guide, or was the article written to reflect their style?"

I believe we planned BaW based on our online experience, common sense and our own feelings as to how we thought things would work and be pleasant for the participants. However, maybe Allison et al were inspired by the Webheads in Action!  ;-)

This year the nice words also apply greatly to our co-mods who have done a fantastic job. I'm very proud of them all and very thankful, since the past two weeks have been especially complicated for me, with little time to devote to BaW, even to read and reply to a few messages.

Daf

Since Jan. 2002 my personal and professional life has also been divided in two, before and after WiA (Webheads in Action), when Daf and I were "becoming" a Webhead.
WiA was very special to both of us, because that's when these two soul mates met. We're always "in synch", so working together is very easy. We hardly ever disagree, and when we do, we quickly compromise. We have a very special friendship that was strengthened when we met the first time f2f in June2004. And now we can say that we planted the "BaW tree" together. I also see it as having bred a child together, only possible in the virtual world.  ;-)
If WiA has played a major role in our lives, what can I say about BaW? Only that it's extra special, because we created it, it's our son (?!) or it's our daughter (?!). [Here we go again with genders.  ;-)] In Portuguese "community" is feminine, so I guess I'd say that it's our daughter.
To avoid long, but fun discussions, let's say that BaW is our child, a child we've nurtured with great love and care, and through which we have reached peers all over the world. With the contribution of three great groups so far (2004-2006) and a group of nine "very special" co-mods this year, we continue to make this a warm, lively, fun and F.U.N. community where learning takes place at the speed of light. A community that we just can't part with at the end of the 6 weeks. What more can we ask for? Thank you all for your contributions in making BaW the success it has been and in spreading the "ICT-in-the-classroom" word!

Love,
Teresa

THE WEBHEAD GLOBE

Daphne you have made my day!!! Congratulations for all you have done
to make possible what this attractive map represents.

I keep a world map taped near my laptop for my own inspiration and
information, but have just made your image my screensaver (hope that's
ok).

Janet

What a great idea to have this map as a screensaver :-)

I showed the map to my son last night and he could not believe that I
was in contact with people from so many countries :-) Then I showed him
the participants page, and the Frappr map. He was is so proud of having
a cyber-mom ;-)

If you would like to see how the map changes daily, go to this link:

http://clustrmaps.com/counter/maps.php?url=http://dafnegonzalez.com/baw-
06/

Daf

I guess "Hello, world!" can become the BAW's greeting.
However, there is still untrodden land.

Vanya

Very elegant, Vanja. Untrodden is indeed a word and fits this
situation well.

Barb

With New Arrivals and a Temporary Departure

What a wonderful session! It's the beginning of Week 4 and bravehearts are still coming on board. Cyber news has spread, so welcome :

1. Ester La Torre
   b. towerelephant
   c. Liceo Scientifico G. Galilei
   d. teacher
   e. I like new technologies, I'd like to use Internet in my teaching
   experience, I hope the group will help me with new ideas and expertise

And sadly Natasha left us as her son was ill. We hope he recovers quickly.

I'm sorry to tell you but I have to leave the group and the on-line course of weheads due to family problems. My one year old son got sick and needs my attention so I am taking some time off work.
Thank you all for everything. I will remember the first 2 weeks forever. I've learned so much in such a short time and I was really looking foreward to learning more but at the moment that is impossible.
Thank you.
Natasha from Macedonia

TECH TOYS

WIKIS, BLOGS, PODCASTS, VOICEMAIL, and MORE

This week was indeed, as MTC said, the chance to play and we all enjoyed it so much that we tried even more toys!

WRITEBOARD

Another colleague shared this with me www.writeboard.com which is a collaborative editing board and free.  I have made myself one but haven't tried out anything with someone yet.  Here http://www.writeboard.com/examples/ is a list of examples as to how it can
be used and this seems to imply that it can replace a wiki, .... so another toy to test!  Does anyone use this already?

Moira

The students in one of my classes use both of Writeboard and Writely effectively in their project-based class.

These are business English students where we conduct the classes in a replication of a business environment.

Writeboard is used for post the agenda for each class.  The students are reponsible for developing the agenda and posting it.

Writely is where they are working collaboratively on a new project plan for the remainder of the semester.

Everyone seems "to be on board" with the software and I am pleased with the results so far.

Sharon

Can anyone find my documents by searching for them on Google or Yahoo?  Nope. Your Writeboards are password protected so they're safe from the search engine.
 
Eve

WORDWEB

I have been using WordWeb for years, and I love to have it at hand whenever I am writing. You only need to double click on a word and a popup window comes with all the meanings of the words, its synonyms, nearest meanings, types, etc. Another helpful tool :-)

Daf

WIKIS

Hi,
What is exactly a wiki? What's the difference between a wiki and a blog?

Isabel

Try this link for a list of the main characteristics of both wikis and blogs: http://ferret.bemidjistate.edu/~morgan/cgi-bin/blogsandwiki.pl?WikiAndBlog
Then go to the BaW wiki ( http://baw-06.pbwiki.com/) . Below the picture you have the instructions to get your own page. Enjoy!

Claudia

Both wikis and blogs are collaborative spaces but in different
degrees. Each entry on a blog is individual and comments can be added
by others, but these contributors cannot edit the content of the
entry. You can invite contributors to write main entries on a blog.
Blogs are HTML based.

Wikis are not html based (see the wiki style on our BaW-06 wiki), and
what you write on a wiki can be edited by those you invite to your
wiki. If you go to wikipedia, you can contribute with the content
they have there. You can also do so on our wiki. I you visit our wiki
( http://baw-06.pbwiki.com/ - password: baw06), you will see the pages
created by other participants, and you can add your own, too.
However, you cannot edit any of the entries on our blog, you can only
add separate comments.

Apart from pbwiki, I also use wikispaces (take a look at this one:
http://ictaward.wikispaces.com ), and I have just received this
information from them:

1. Wikis in Education
---------------------

January at Wikispaces has been about teachers. As we mentioned on our
blog ( http://blog.wikispaces.com ) we've been seeing more and more teachers use Wikispaces to do great things in the classroom. So we decided to help.

We are offering free, and advertising free, public and private Wikispaces to K-12 teachers. There's nothing better for us than to hear education success stories from our users so please help us spread the word. Point any teachers you know to the announcement on our blog
( http://blog.wikispaces.com/2006/01/free-wikispaces-for-
teachers.html )
or let us know who you think we should tell about this offer
(help@wikispaces.com).

Of course we've also continued to improve Wikispaces and to work with our members to learn more about how to make the site simpler and more useful. Read on for more news and some hints on how to get the most out of Wikispaces.

Daf

I am in love with wikis!!! I saw the html code and the wiki style. Easy,
piece of chocolate cake!!!!

Carla

Recently I started a wiki with "Tips & hints for my PC", basically because I had no idea of what to put on it, and now it's turning more and more
interesting.. http://tipsandhintsformycomputer.wikispaces.com/

Gladys

JOT

I've just been tipped on a new wiki: http://www.jot.com/ . I've just peeped into it, and it looks GREAT, nothing like I've seen before. It really accepts WYSIWYG, and has incredible applications built in... For free, you can have up to 5 users and 20 pages... Sounds like something I'd like to explore when I have the time... They have tutorials and videos available for help... Has anyone here ever tried it?

Gladys

It's not possible to automatically give you access to it at http://chrissan.jot.com   because it is password protected. I can only give you a personal e-mail invitation.... for security reasons I suppose.

Chrissan

I was interested in this and found that the pricing works as follows:
  
 Personal    Unlimited users  Unlimited users  25 users  10 users  5 users    Unlimited pages  1000 pages  300 pages  100 pages  20 pages    $19995 per month  $6995 per month  $2495 per month  $995 per month  Free forever! Unlimited pages. Enough for an entire company.  Unlimited users. Limitless possibilities.  Added security and detailed access control for larger teams.  More users, more pages.  No credit card required. Upgrade to a paid plan later.
 
So it seems that it is free - but there are limitations.
  
According to JotSpot, they have a free (forever) PERSONAL plan that has some limitations:  5 users, and 20 pages.
  
There are other plans as well.
  
Ramona

TIPS AND TRICKS

1. the picture she tried to upload is huge. It is better to use medium or small size pictures if you are going to upload them to the wiki (we have limited storage space). To easily resize photos, you can use Easy Thumbnails: http://www.fookes.com/ezthumbs/

2. In order to display photos you need to use, as Carla said, wiki style:

               [here goes the url]

Some extra advice:

1.When saving files to your computer (especially if you want to upload them to the Web:

-do not leave spaces between words in your filenames, or use a slash to join them, or underscore.
-use lowercase for your filenames

2. Photos for the web should be a maximum of 100 k.



Daf

BLOGS

Dear Claudia,
I'm glad I've found an expert on blogging who lives nearby and I can easily keep in touch with because we share time zones ;-) Get ready, I'll be bothering you once and again for coaching, now that you're helping me see the potential!

Gladys

I was quite taken by Tuesday's post in Will Richardson's edublog "Weblogg-ed" http://www.weblogg-ed.com/2006/02/07#a4638 to read that he has decided to quit his public school teaching job to make a full-time career out of blogging. At last year's EVO on weblogging Will gave an excellent presentation in Learning Times/Elluminate on RSS readers 
( http://home.learningtimes.net/learningtimes?go=67449) .
  
In his post he writes: "Despite the butterflies, I feel incredibly lucky that I have been given this chance. I've made the point here many times that in large measure, blogging has changed my life."
  
Fascinating to see the impact blogging has had on so many of our lives, in one way or another.
  
Jane

I spent some time this morning creating my first serious blog, on Yahoo's 360. I think I invited you all, but in case you didn't get anything, take a look at http://360.yahoo.com/vidaypaz. I think you you have to sign in and then you can see my "page." This is mostly incomplete, but you can click on "my blog" in the title bar to see and comment on my attempt at creativity.


James

TIPS AND TRICKS

Last week, we were introduced to blogging, but this week, we had various difficulties with the wonderful blogs produced, and Claudia came to the rescue!

Some of you are having difficulty posting comments on blogs. Blogger users should check the settings. In the Comments tab, you've got 3 choices as to who can comment:
1. only registered users
2. anyone
3. only members of this blog
You should choose Anyone
Hope this helps,

Claudia

...uploading a picture to your profile. If this is what you want to do, you first create a new post. At the top of the text box, you'll see an image icon in the toolbar.
"When you click this icon, you'll get a window that allows you to select an image (or multiple images) from your computer. Just click the "Browse" button to locate the one/s you want. Once you've done that, switch the post editor into Edit HTML mode if it isn't there already. Now copy the photo's URL (by choosing the Copy command from the Edit menu or the right-click menu).

Finally, paste this URL into the "Photo URL" field in your Profile.

Then click Save at the bottom of the page, and republish your blog. If you don't want to keep the picture as a post on your blog, you can delete it." (Blogger Help)

Now if you want to add a picture to one of your standard posts, you click the same picture icon and then select layout and size.

Claudia

To Claudia and others who tried to help me upload a picture to my blog (ninas1stblog@blogspot.com):

The problem turned out to be my browser.  I use Netscape 7.2.  When I clicked on the picture icon, nothing happened (no browse window appeared)!  Blogger's helpdesk sent me some links to troubleshooting sites and I figured out I should try it in Explorer or Firefox.
Bingo!  It worked.  I wasn't crazy after all!  Thanks for your support.

Nina

Thanks for your comment on my blog (it's very flattering). I can't help you with sound yet. But I can give you a few tips for clocks and links.
If you want to add a clock to your blog, go to http://www.clocklink.com/ , click on "Want a clock on your blog?" link and choose the clock you like from the clock gallery, set you time zone and then copy the corresponding html tag. These are the instructions for pasting a clock onto a blogger blog:
a.. Template
From "Template" -> "Edit current", you can place your ClockLink wherever you like in your blog. Please paste ClockLink HTML tag between "<XBODY>"
< and>
It took me some time to get the clock into a decent place. All trial and error. Remember to enclose the html tag between "<XBODY>" "< and this:
<XBODY>YOUR
and start trying different places in your html template.Use the Preview feature for this until you get the clock in the place you want.
Then if you want to link something in your text box to a website, you must highlight the text and click the link icon in the tool bar at the top. In the emergent (is it called like this in English?) window, just paste the website link. Also preview.
When you finish, save the changes and see if it works (it should).
If you want me to help you online, make me one of your YM contacts (mcbellusci). I'll be glad to work it out with you.

Claudia

Try this link
http://www.clocklink.com/ to add a clock. I have seen others using it but haven't tried it out myself .....yet ;-)

Chrissan

I remember reading somewhere at Edublogs that blogs there cannot be deleted, it seems this would involve too expensive a process for them at the moment...

Gladys

VLE and AUDIO

ELLUMINATE WITH LEARNING TIMES

CREATING ENGAGING LIVE ONLINE LEARNING EXPERIENCES

Everyone throughly enjoyed this tour of Elluminate and its features with Jonathan Finkelstein of Learning Times. Tere has provided an integrated page on this presentation in the Chat Sessions.

Here is the link to the recording I did last week for the Becoming a Webhead workshop:

http://home.learningtimes.net/learningtimes?go=1120517  

Hope you had a great weekend!

:)
Jonathan

Unfortunately, for some of us, the technology ghost was hard at work ...

This was fun!  But I have to say it would have been better if I could have talked!

I guess the moderator shouldn't be asking the question, but I had a frustrating time getting to Learning Times.  When it came to the connection to the server or something like that, it kept timing out. Then, it messed up my whole internet connection.  I had to log off and
back on again.  I tried three times

I tried with explorer rather than mozilla.  That had the same results.

I finally got in on my husband's clunker computer (where I can't find the hookups for the mike and phones.  Interesting.  But I was glad to get there, but that's why I was late.

Anyone have any ideas?  I hate being late!  I'm sorry.

Now my hair is coming out, but I'm only pulling the gray ones, Barb

Please send us your reactions.

Barb

  
I too hate being late but was nevertheless late :-(
  
One question:  why could we not have been given the link direct to the Meeting Room page where we then click Enter?  This happens for other meetings/conferences in communities in  Learning Times, why not here?   .....  I couldn't find you (didn't have my specs on) and Hala came and saved me (thanks my new-found friend) but then I too had problems getting in - it was very sloooow.  Again, normally it's not,  ...

Moira

I'll have to defer to an LT expert on the direct link, but I will try to find out for you.  I don't have any other experience with LT but to log in and then go to the classroom.  It's all sort of automatic.
What bothers me is the long download of files, etc.  That's everytime I log on.  Maybe if I saved to my computer, but I'm not going to LT with my little laptop until I have time to play with it.  That will be on Thursday.

Meanwhile, I welcome other input here.

Barb

I wasn't able to find the meeting room,either when I tried to read the tutorial. Then I couldn't make my loudspeakers work. i am eagewr to take part on a live session but it seems everything is arranged for me to read chatlogs!!!

Hope I can make it next time.

Silvana

Dear Barb, and all,

I was so proud that I could get to LT on my new job new computer :-), sound was working great, and it was like that until 17:40, when I lost my Internet
connection and could not get it back until several hours later :-(  That's why I vanished and never came back :-(

What a frustration :-(

Daf (now at home)

The technology ghost is hard at work today, Daf.  I wondered where you went.  It was only minutes after I finally arrived!  I kept getting thrown out of the internet from Elluminate, so I went to my husband's computer.  No problem, but I couldn't find the right plugs for the
mike and earphones.  We just have to laugh about these things.

Great that your new computer works.  It should, it's new!

So you can try it out again at Alado.  It better get used to all the hard work you'll give it.

Thanks for letting us know what happend to you.  

Barb

ALADO

Good, sound instructions were given well in advance for the informal hands-on session in Alado which was enjoyed by all participants!

When you click on the Alado link: http://www.alado.net/webheads, you get to their main page. Here you need to click on "login" (top navigation bar). On the next page, scroll down to the middle of the page where you will see a box to write your name. You DON´T need any password, just write your name and click on "enter".

If this is your first time, you will be asked to download an application (very fast process), then you might be asked to login again, after that you will enter the room. You will not have to
download the application in your next visits.
hugs,

Daf
PS: if you would like to record the session, make sure you have Windows Media Player 10 installed on your computer.

SITEPAL

I have been using SitePal with my students. These are some of the things I have used the text-to-speech feature for:
-Students write words they would like to hear pronounced.
-Students write sentences for which they would like to hear the intonation. They select if they want to hear a man or woman. They also select if they want to hear an american or a british.

- I have also used it to record pieces that I then add to quizzes in Quia or Hot Potatoes. They love this because apart from completing the tasks I create for them, they try to guess which of the characters is the one speaking. I record the pieces using Audacity since I use the
free demo ;-)

Daf

I wasn't able to use the HandyBits, it was Windows only. So, I went to SitePal, those talking
heads just freak me out. Although I do think I could get use to them. I believe it would be
great and engaging for learning to pronounce words and the talking heads have such
pleasant voices. I wasn't able to record in the demo, but I could import an mp3 I had already
made in Garageband. Then in Horizon Wimba I was able to record a message. I really like
podomatic so I am sending on my message. Wow, just one day in this week and I already
have practiced with recording voices, made a new blog on podomatic and read messages.
Just another day as a Webhead!

Cheryl

HANDYBITS AND HORIZONWIMBA

I've tried sending voice mails as attachments with Handy Bits, and that works great too! I esp like it because my friends are not really techies, yet they can listen to messages offline, without downloading any problem, and the compression makes files travel fast!

Gladys

My HandyBits has become temperamental. I sent a message to Gladys and it was OK. Ever since I've been trying to record a message for you all. I've gone through the same process over and over again.I record the message, play it, and there's nothing but NOISE. I've installed and uninstalled it several times already. I'm BALD, no hair left. The cheek, who does he believe he is!

Any suggestions?
Thanks a ton!

Analía

I am not able to listen to the recording. It seems my computer does not like anything related to HorizonWimba, because every time I try to listen, my computer crashes and restarts on its
own :-( This is not the first time, some months ago I could not participate in a live event prepared by Sus and Anne in Denmark because they were using the HorizonW virtual classroom, and my computer crashed whenever I tried to get into the room :-(

frustrated Daf

TIPS AND TRICKS

With HandyBits and HorizonWimba, you can send it straight as an attachment to an email. I tested that with Horizon and it works fine. They will give the option to send the file together with the mail.

Carla

Here's a tip I learned from some tutorial on the Web (never took down the URL, I'm afraid).

Problems to see attachments with Outlook Express?
By default, this programme blocks access to attachments with certain extensions (e.g. .html or .pdf). If you still want to open those attachments, just click "Resend", as if you were about to fwd the message, and then open the attached files by right clicking on them.

As regards whether it's possible to "add a "handy bits message" to  my online yahoo e-mail", we tried it yesterday with Analía Doboletta (also a BAWer) and it failed, but I wouldn't sear it won't work...
Send me an email if you want to give it a try!

Actually, you can indeed send attachments to Yahoo groups in principle, but in our case the group settings prevent it (I think you can see this info for each group, same as whether messages are moderated or not) from the group page.

As regards your "beautified" format, Angeles, it's my belief that people who read messages offline (though not in digests) must have appreciated it, but it seems rich-text format is not stored online or preserved in digested messages, at least that's my experience (same
happens to me when I fwd a message with images to a Yahoo list like this one).

Oh, technology! Always a headache!
(don't get discouraged, it's so great to have you all here with us!)

Gladys

YACK PACK

BTW, anyone interested in getting an invitation to try Yack Pack! (also voice email, but works only online, like webmail).

Gladys

Hi Daf!
I got your invitation and listened to your message then, and to the new one today, thought you were notified in those cases...

Today I started my first YackPack, there's only one thing I'm confused about: are all the people in a pack linked to each other, just by the fact that they've been "packed together" by the Pack owner? Are messages to somebody in the pack accessible to everyone
else on that pack?I guess we just need to explore this in more depth!
LOL,

Gladys

VIDEO MESSAGING

Last year I recorded a video message at home for one of my 6 th grader's CALL lesson to explain what they'd be doing. I used my laptop, Windows Media Player and a webcam.
http://64.71.48.37/teresadeca/school/fwe5-jun05.htm#14Jun

They were very excited, asked me how I did it and I explained. But they were in for another surprise. That same lesson, they wrote a class message to thank all the teachers who had interacted with them during the two years and, as a treat, one of them video recorded it. Rodrigo, my international star-student, volunteered. Here's the result:
http://64.71.48.37/teresadeca/school/fwe5-jun05.htm#permission

In the afternoon of our last lesson, I was in for a fabulous surprise: Rodrigo sent me a video mail. It's very cute! http://64.71.48.37/teresadeca/school/fwe5-jun05.htm#21Jun

Please allow time for the messages to load. It's not instant.

These three messages show three possible uses:
-- to give instructions about classwork,
-- to have students thank a group of teachers who worked with them over a period of time,

-- to have students interact with their teachers and vice-versa.

It's perfectly possible to record a message in a minute in class,
as long as we have all the equipment ready.

Enjoy!

Teresa

I think everything you do with your students is beautiful. They must adore you, I would.
You have put images to my ideas about videocast blogging. This opens the door to a huge possibility of class-to-class interaction, and the encouragement of students to do better in oral communication.

Wow, last and not least, I would like to ask the techies if somebody knows about the possibility to record a video on a mobile phone and to transfer it onto a blog. This would make life easier without plugs and wires and we could record outside too.

Ángeles

Que Gracinha!!! I loved it...Your students must love you, and it is certainly easier for them to learn English when they have fun and try out different tools to communicate. A question for a non-techie Brazilian. How did you embed the video in your page? I mean, did you use any kind of software to reduce the size, etc...

Re: video messages
Here's the code you need to embed, with the necessary changes: URL, size of
the screen...

<td width="45%" align="left" valign="top">&nbsp;
                            <XOBJECT
classid="CLSID:22d6f312-b0f6-11d0-94ab-0080c74c7e95" width="184"
height="191" id="mediaplayer1">
         <param name="filename"
value=" http://64.71.48.37/teresadeca/school/videos/21jun05-rodrigo2.wmv ">
         <param name="autostart" value="false">
         <param name="showcontrols" value="true">
         <param name="showstatusbar" value="false">
         <param name="showdisplay" value="false">
         <param name="autorewind" value="true">
                       <XEMBED
src=" http://64.71.48.37/teresadeca/school/videos/21jun05-rodrigo2.wmv "
     width="184" height="191"
     autostart="false"
      filename="21jun05-rodrigo2.wmv"
      showcontrols="true"
     showdisplay="false"
     autorewind="true"
    </embed>
    type="application/x-mplayer2"
    pluginspage=" http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/Downloads/Contents/MediaPl
ayer/"</object>
            <p>&nbsp;</td>


Try pasting this code onto an html editor and see if it works. I tried it
out in a new FPage and it's working.


Re: voice mail (beijinhos)
I recorded the voice message with HandyBits (HB).
-- Open HB
-- View > Options > General > Enable GSM compression (select) > Compress
message after recording (select)

I also select Play beep before recording.

Hope everything helps.

Teresa

“TheWeblogProject - TheWeblogProject is the first open source, FREE,
grassroots movie to promote and evangelize bloggers, the blogosphere, and
their potential”.


I'd like to share a colleague's project with you all.  It's called The Weblog Project http://www.theweblogproject.com/    Have a look, it's really interesting for everyone new to this means of communication and to those more experienced and you can participate in the project if you wish.

IMHO, it is also interesting for language learners.  I was introducing
an online learner to podcasting and blogging today using a virtual
classroom. We co-browsed Cris's Dreamteam site first, and then I took him
here.  Why?  Because the vodcasting (I think that's the term) is great for
authentic listening and the learner can read the transcript in a separate
window, if needed, and of course, comments can be left.  Learners can also
participate in the project.

Robin was really happy about our discovery of its use today too and
welcomes all comments and participation.

Moira

The WeblogProject is wonderful, Moira :-) I will use
it in my courses, too!

hugs,

Daf

The WeblogProject is fantastic!!!

I loved it and plan to share with my friends.

Carla

FAVOURITES

THE WINNERS!!! OUR VOICES!!!

Podcasting and Voicemail

As the week has progessed, these two tools have kept everybody extremely active in this hands-on learning week! And the kisses and hugs are now audible!!

“when you add audio/voices and the photos I feellike you are with me in my living room/office.”

Cheryl

Interacting with texts and writing is interesting, but hearing everybody's voice is exciting. This is what I felt when I spoke to Isabel in Brasil the other day. She was so far away and I heard her so clearly! I regret not having these toys when I was a child. Then my
English, French or Portuguese would be much better today. Who knows...

Ángeles

I couldn't agree more with you about how much voice and video enhancecommunication and make it so "virtually real". In our WiA workshop in 2002,when we started trying all these tools, seeing faces and hearing voices forthe first time, I used to get goosebumps. I still do at times, because it'sso real. As you say, it's absolutely like having all our friends next to us.

Tere

I listend to all your messages.  I noticed that they are all from women.  No deep voices.  Where are you, guys?

Erika, lobster/leather.  It was a good idea to tell a little story.  Isee you now have these two totally different things straight.  Isn't it funny when one is learning another language, there are some words that one always seems to get mixed up.

Moira, I'm sure you know by now that the quality was excellent as was the mail from Janet.  I wonder what accounts for the difference.  This would be good to know if one wanted to give a particularly professional impression.

Nina,  I've done this teaching without a voice.  One thing I learned with my adult students is I need to do less talking.  I hope you weren't feeling bad with your laryngitis.  But, you're right, our voices are important tools.  We really don't realize how much until we lose them.  And I think I need to "have" laryngitis more often.

Janet, your recording was great.  I'm glad the quality was so good. And I do like Gershwin.  I know you're not doing as much English teaching as you have.  What I wondered is how or if you combined your singing talent with teaching English.  I remember one of my colleagues
played the trumpet or something and his class wrote a song together.

I think tomorrow I'll have to leave a voice mail.

Thank you, all of you, for uploading the messages.  I like being able to put a voice to your list postings and your photos.

Barb

Dear Janet, Carla, Nina, Erika, Chrissam, Susan, Moira and Cheryl

thank you for sharing your voices with the group. It's nice to hear people's voices after having been in contact just by writing . You messages are nice and warm. I liked the kisses, the hugs, the singing and just to hear you speaking.

Maria Teresa Ciaffaroni

How can this summary possibly due justice to all the work everybody has put in to developing the variety of podcasts and voicemails this week?

Please go and listen and read these treasures in the Files and Data.

Here are two examples of wonderful podcasts!

http://dyg.podomatic.com/entry/2006-02-06T18_22_38-08_00

Daf

http://dreamteam.podomatic.com/

Cris

SPRINGDOO

This little gem took us all by surprise by its sheer simplicity and potential!

Hello everybody,

What do you think of this?

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=FD58F20EFA817C7C

Moira

I'd like to thank Moira for providing me with so much fun today recording at springdoo. Great tip, Moira. It's simple, user-friendly, and the best thing is that you don't have to download it to your computer. Everything is online.

Carla

Springdoo couldn't be easier! I'm amazed at the simplicity of this toy and the magic of the CTRL + V keyboards immediately showing the paragraph below!

Teresa

This is a very potent tool, user-friendly and no installations needed, perfect for school!

Chrissan

Springdoo is 100% user-friendly software. Just follow the instructions and... bingo! A voice message! The instant paste of the URL is what really got me!!!

I was used to Wimba turned HorizonWimba, but this one is very, very cool and radical, to use my students' language!!!

Teresa

What wonderful toys you find.

Dennis

Springdoo is, indeed, very user friendly. I am going to use it in my classes, no doubt ;-)

Daf

VLC

VIRTUAL LEARNING COMMUNITY

In "Educational MUVES: Virtual Learning Communities" by Jeff Cooper, we learnt about virtual learning communities and despite pc gremlins or the "cyber-glitch ghost" to quote Daf, balding BaWers and the desperate need for wigs, email overload and other problems, there has been support throughout for aspiring webheads.

"SUPERTEACHING WOMEN OF THE 21st CENTURY" AND MEN!!

The trials and tribulations of being an aspiring webhead are so aired here:

Do you think I would ever become a webhead?
  
When I joined this seminar I thought it would be a piece of cheese. I had gone through three extremely stressful years with my loved ones, the same as Dafne is going through now. All the best for you Daf!
  
 Then I decided to take it easy, and start a new life by working only part time since January 1st . I thought I deserved a little break after 21 years of hard work.
  
 After three hard weeks I've realised there are still a lot of people at the staff room who work even harder than me! It is impossible to catch up with you, I must be getting old!
  
I expected week 3 to be my week. Websites at last! I thought I would be on time  with my assignments! But wikis and blogs had crossed my way, my husband and children turned up and started to complain that I spent too long on the computer.
  
 To make things worse I decided that at least I Would be present at all live  events but I made a mistake with time conversion and turned up at the LT meeting room right at the end of the session (still on time to exchange a few words with cheerful Carla)
  
Have you tried following this seminar, preparing your own classes, correcting school exams, caring for your children (9 and 14), sorting out you adolescent daughter's crisis and adding up a bit of grumbling husband around? Well I'm sure some of you already understand me and some of you will. Welcome to the world of "superteaching women of 21st century".
  
Not that I am giving up! I still want to become a webhead! Have you thought of going on with the current syllabus and making the seminar last  a few weeks longer? I  expect I will finish this session safe and sound, but then I'll need at least three months to have a feeling of complation. Meeting so many people with a real interest in  communication is encouraging and rewarding but some days I think I will faint in front of the screen.
  

I hope you don't mind if I give in my work after due time.

Angeles

1. ((((((((a million hugs ))))))))
2. My apologies for being present yet unseen/unheard for much of this session. I finished my masters in TESOL a few weeks ago (all the credit goes to God who sustained me for these past grueling years - F/T student with a family of five). Now I am trying to find a job - mid-year - when there are no jobs available; playing chauffeur to my three pre-K and elementary
children (as well as a neighbor); etc, etc, etc (words of the king in movie The King and I).
3. I find it quite difficult to keep up with over 100 messages daily. So, like others on this list (both this year and last year), my involvement is limited to the catch-up mode, interspersing a few responses here and there.

James

The support

Natasha and Ángeles - and anyone else feeling overwhelmed...
Hang on in there! This is how I felt last year with BAW05 - but it's been
great looking back over things and trying things out over the year since
Feb05 - I still haven't managed to get thru everything and am trying some
things for the first time now in BAW06 - the webpages for example...
...time for REAL life, school work (exams and marking last & this week!), a
syllabus to follow, family - including lovely wife and, now 2 year old,
baby! But it's chaotic and FUN - and VERY motivating! Webheads won't let you
go that easily! I've been in touch with people on BAW05 even in the last few
weeks - we are very much alive and kicking!
Stay with us.

Paddy

baw-06 Reflections on BAW so far


I don't want to add unecessarily to traffic, but I think Berta's comment needs highlighting:

We are very lucky to have experienced e-colleagues who share TONS of
information with us in this six-week crash course on web tools (that
stays online much longer than that), but most importantly, they
provide us with a safe environment of cyberaffection, understanding
and patience, always present with speedy fingers to save us from
going insane."

There's a quote for the organisers of BAW 2007!

I find myself wanting to note and explore everything of interest - but that is impossible and
does lead to madness! My take on this is to try to focus on my own present and forthcoming
TEFL tasks and projects and through that filter note what I want to look at again. But it is a
hard exercise and I'm always chasing up diverting seductive avenues that my filter has
excluded.

I began this posting mentioning traffic. I can't help noting that a not insignificant number of
messages could be addressed to individuals and not to the whole list. And subject lines
could be changed to reflect the contents of a message, too. Both of these practices, I think,
would cut down the number of messages posted to the whole list - but I can see that any
heavy-handedness about such matters might put people off writing - and that is the last thing wanted.

Thank you, team and participants, for a fascinating, stimulating and informative experience
so far.

Dennis

Of course the best of BAW is the group and the relationships one is able to build. I don't know why but it is really hard to get away from BAW. Someone called it an addiction, I would call it a bond to a communal, extremely rewarding experience.

Maria Teresa Ciaffaroni

Since I am a webhead, I have joined many non-EVO lists (around 8 or 9) and sometimes I get very useful information, but what I have never gotten is friendship. I feel webheads are my friends, and they have demonstrated this friendship in many ways. I don't have that feeling
with any of the members of the other lists. This frienship is built through this chaotic mixture of knowledge sharing, hugs, frustation, successes, synchronous and asynchronous chit-chat, etc. This is what makes Webheads unique.

I can never forget how Teresa ( Portugal ), Maria ( Cordoba , Spain ) and Arnold ( Holland ) travelled to be with me in Valencia , Spain , for the oral defense of my doctoral dissertation. My real family could not be there, but there I was surrounded by my dear webheads friends, while the others who could not be f2f with me, were attentive to their incoming e-mails to learn how everything had gone. I will never be grateful enough to them.

In another occasion, Maria ( Cali , Colombia ) travelled 12 hours by bus (all night), to get to know me f2f in Medellín where she could only stay for a couple of hours.

This is what webheads are like :-)

hugs,
Daf

THE RESULT OF THIS VLC ARE:

Singing BaWers !

Janet

I've just uploaded a voicemail created yesterday.  Being a singer and performer I guess it shouldn't surprise me that I became so perfectionist and a little paranoid about how the tone quality would be, but just had to then let it go!  Your feedback is greatly
appreciated :-)

I was very pleasantly surprised with your
fabulous singing and message. What a voice! I also love Gershwin. Great
choice!   :-)

Daf, isn't Janet our first BaW singer participant?

Teresa

Oh Janet, Michael Coughlan is going to meet some fierce competition.....what a voice!!!!! I love Gershwin .... almost as much as I love my computer....well, sometimes!

Chrissan

Thanks for sharing your Gershwin voicemail -- beautiful singing!

Daniele

Poets !

The first of our "superteaching men of the 21st century" to recite poetry!

Ibrahim

Dear friends,
Here is my voice recording. I had to read so fast due to short
recording time in HorizonWimba

The Arrow and The Song by Henry Longfellow
You can also copy paste the following URL in your browser:
http://demo2.horizonwimba.com:80/demo/player?action=display&rid=0-1100023220563&mid=3-1139580462900

Ibrahim

I love reading poetry and hearing your voice reading
the verse made me feel good.

Vanya

Your voice sounds great. :)
Cora

This is a poem by Henry Wordsworth Longfellow.  How scholarly of you
to use that for your voice message. 

Barb

I loved to hear your voice reciting a poem!

Carla

Dennis

Dennis caused "cyber eruption" .....

http://enus.springdoo.com/public/play/?id=FC6A47EFF8C7210C

A very warm hug for the lovely, poetic tribute you have paid all the BaW06
ladies.

Teresa

Oh Dennis... you can always woe a lady with a sonnet!
Snow's smelting,

Chrissan

You've made my Sunday :-) What a special gift for us BaW-06 ladies :-)

It deserves to be kept, so I posted it to our voice message folders
in the Files section of our group :-)

(((hugs)))

Daf

Oh! Dear Dennis,
  you got me! Shakespeare! How beautiful.
  ((((hugs)))))
  cris

You recite Shakespeare beautifully. Thank you for the breath of fresh air.

Kindly,

Sharon

I enjoy your message very much. :)

Cora

OH DENNIS ....... can you hear us swooning through cyberspace???
  
This is soooooooo lovely :-))))

Moira

The cause of this cyber eruption:

William Shakespeare Sonnet 18



Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Paddy

And the Englishman in Portugal made us laugh!

Here's one to bring the tone down a bit after Dennis' elegant words...
(only a wee bit!!)
Paddy

http://enus.springdoo.com/public/play/?id=FBC4790DFBC8988C

BTW the poem I read from was 'Seasonal Request' at http://www.
funnypoets.com/poems/

The Dreamteam St Valentin's Day Vote !

Cris, one of the "superteaching women of the 21st century" shared Dreamteam with us.

http://dreamteam.podomatic.com/ was admired by all for its creativity and 'fun' as the votes were cast by BaWers for the best Valentine message!

I have a question - can you see if we cheat and vote ten times for the same love message? ;-)
    
Moira

as far as I know that poll only allows one vote per computer. I think  it "captures" the computer IP number and doesn't allow multiple votes  from the same machine, assuming that it is the same person!
 
Thank you all for voting. For the ones who still haven't voted there's still time. It will be open till the 14th. http://dreamteam.podomatic.com/
thanks
beijinhos

Cris

You are right - one can't vote twice. I tried (though
for different people) and the computer rejected my
second vote.

Vanya

If you delete the cookies on your computer, you can vote again. I voted yesterday, and tried deleting my cookies and voting again, and I was successful ;-)

hugs,

Daf (sharing secrets)

Well, there is always the laptop, the PC at work, the one upstairs in the kids' room, not to mention the library.  That's if Moira really wants Number 5 to win!   However, IMHO Number 8 is the dreamiest! :-))

Amanda

Have voted - what a fun idea! Thank you!!
Is it OK if I steal your idea and use it with my YLs? We'll come and vote on yours too:

Paddy
in Portugal

The Beijinhos !

The kissing and hugging continues ...........

As I know everybody was curious about the "beijinhos", mainly the nh sound,which is a very specific Portuguese sound. What would be interesting is tohave Teresa and Cristina record the "beijinhos", for Brazilians andPortuguese have their own touch to its pronunciation! I think the Portuguese"beijinhos" are extremely cute!

Beijos,
Carla

While the 'nh' sound is certainly very Portuguese I think it's quite similar to the spanish 'ñ'.

Paddy
An Englishman in Portugal !

You are totally right! The nh in Portuguese is the same as the ñ sound. I wonder if any spanish-speaking baWer would record his/her beijinhos! Then,we can have a podcast with beijinhos all around the world in their diverse pronunciation modes to see the "little kisses" in all their plurality!!!!

Beijos,
Carla

Teresa is the First !

Dear Carla,

I've just uploaded a recording of "beijinhos" with HandyBits, especially for you.

I'm extremely tired, so my voice isn't as lively as usual.

  File        : /6. Week 4, voicemails/beijinhosvm-9feb06.wav
  Uploaded by : teca2002pt <tmvaz@mail.telepac.pt>
  Description : "Beijinhos" Portuguese style

You can access this file at the URL:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/baw-06/files/6.%20Week%204%2C%20voicemails/beijinhosvm-9feb06.wav

Hugs all,   Teresa

As I have been doing the thread  this week, trying to keep up with the masses of emails, iblogs, podcasts, wikis, etc. etc. it's been like a running commentary as to when and who will start the famous "beijinhos" podcasts ... and you've won, you're first!  
  
How about an Englishman in Portugal now :-)
  
Please Paddy, .... I need more references to "superteaching men in the 21st century" for the weekly thread :-)
  
Beijinhos
 Moira ;-)

Dear Moira,

How very sweet of you! It's an honor for me to open that thread!! I just
wish my voice would sound less tired.

I agree that Paddy should vounteer. And I love the thread!!! :-)

Hugs,    Teresa

Thanks a million for your super sweet message! I loved it! And Carla was right, the pronunciation is slightly different. I guess you don't pronounce the first "i", or we, Brazilians, stress the "i" a little bit more.
 

Really cute!
 

Erika

And he did volunteer !

Paddy is the runner-up !

Description : Paddy's beijinhos and besos

You can access this file at the URL:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/baw-06/files/6.%20Week%204%2C%20voicemails/bjs.wav

The Gender of a Computer !

Are gremlins lovers of men or women? Daf initiated a linguistic discussion regarding the gender of the word 'computer', the thing without which we would not all be in communication, learning and enjoying this session to the full!

Funny thing about gender, in Venezuela computers are female (la computadora), in Spain they are male (el ordenador), in other Spanish speaking countries they are male, too (el computador).It all downed on me when I read "....and all I want is to hit him on the head!"

Daf

Daniele posted this:

I smiled at your remark to Chrissan concerning the gender of a
computer.  I am guessing you must have seen this before, but just in
case:

The Gender of a Computer:

A French teacher was explaining to her class that in French, unlike
English, nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine.
"House" for instance, is feminine -- "la maison." "Pencil",
however, is masculine -- "le crayon."

A student asked, "What gender is 'computer'?"

Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class into
two groups, male and female, and asked them to decide for themselves
whether "computer" should be a masculine or a feminine noun.

Each group was asked to give four reasons for their recommendation.

The men's group decided that "computer" should definitely be of the
feminine gender ("la computer"), because:
1. no one but their creator understands their internal logic;
2. the native language they use to communicate with other computers
is
incomprehensible to everyone else;
3. even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory
for possible later retrieval; and
4. as soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself
spending
half your paycheck on accessories for it.


The women's group, however, concluded that computers should be
Masculine (`le computer"), because:
1. in order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on;
2. they have a lot of data but still can't think for themselves;
3. they are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time
they
ARE the problem; and
4. as soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited
a
little longer, you could have gotten a better model.

Daniele

CSL (can't stop laughing) Both arguments are quite reasonable ;-)

hugs,

Daf

Admiration !

Dear non-native English speakers,

After answering Vanya's question about "trodden", I thought WOW!  There
are natives that don't know how to use that word.

Congratulations to all of you and my highest admiration that you are
able to communicate so well in our not-so-easy language.

I've been speaking German about  10 years, but I have very little
opportunity to use it, odd as that may seem.  I teach English, my
friends are mostly English speaking natives.  Although my husband is
German, we speak English at home, and I speak English with his children. 

I could never begin to handle the volume of Webhead information in
German that you do so well in English.

Super!  

Barb

  
I have been thinking this since the beginning of this session, and in fact wanted to 'slip' it in the threads for Week 4 ;-) but you beat me to it.
  
I am in total admiration of everyone in this group whose native language is not English.  I speak other languages, but I would certainly find it very tough-going to do this intense course with all this new input in another language.
  
In admiration,
  
Moira

I subscribe to everything that Barbara says in her message, I was
only going to mention when I read it this morning. For non-native
speakers who haven't much possibilty to come back to the country this
is a meaningful way to update. It is attractive enough to come back
to the session every year. Thank you also to Barb for her kind
offer. It's amazing to see how many generous people around.

Angeles

Dear Barb and Moira,
I'm a non-native speaker of English myself and my environment and
working conditions (always beginner students, reluctant to use
English in class) do not offer many chances to interact in English. I
feel I've been losing fluency and vocabulary all these years.

But I can assure you that I'm getting a twofold benefit from these
sessions. Not only am I learning about the use of new tools in
teaching and learning, but I'm also getting a lot of practice in
listening and writing. What is more, I'm learning new words and
expressions from your messages. Just today, for example, I came
across the verb "sub" in one of James' posts ("while I was subbing
for an adult ed class"). It was new to me, so I looked it up in
Wordweb (a handy online and offline dictionary I've got in my task
bar) and learned it meant to be a substitute. I'd need and Spanish-
English translation dictionary too, because sometimes I lack the
right words to say what I want. Anyway, I feel that communication in
this group goes beyond words.
Thanks for your considerate regard,

ClaudiaSS

WRAP UP

LAST DAY OF A VERY BUSY WEEK !

Dear Webheads,

The end of week 4 is here.  We would like to thank you for all your
participation and all the fun we've had.

You've done a wonderful job supporting one another and feeding one another
new information.  (Looks like Springdoo is the hit of the week.  Thanks,
Moira.)  In other words, behaving like normal, experienced Webheads.  And
we've seen that the glitches are always with us.  Barb wishes she could hear
how she sounds underwater, as she did at Alado.

Week 5 is co-moderated by three very knowledgeable and very capable women:
Gladys Baya
< http://dafnegonzalez.com/baw-06/content/co-moderators.html#gladys > , Sharon
Holdners < http://dafnegonzalez.com/baw-06/content/co-moderators.html#sharon >
and Cristina Costa
< http://dafnegonzalez.com/baw-06/content/co-moderators.html#cristina > . They
will guide you through developing class materials: online surveys,
worksheets, and interactive exercise creators.  You'll have a lot of fun
and, of course, learn a lot, too.

And another big thanks to Moira for doing the threads.  As Michael Coghlan
said in his Springdoo voice message:  you've generated a lost of posts.

With lots of hugs,

Chrissan and Barb

Dear Barb and Chrissan,

Another week has gone by for BaW and for all of us. This means that we're all a week older and a week wiser. Wiser, no doubt! Older?! I doubt it!

With so much going on, such fun tools, such poetry, such great poetry readers - Kudos, Dennis, on two great poems! - and photo story makers - Way to go, Cristina! Beautiful! - , and with such great and humorous moderation from you two dear friends, we can only be younger at heart!

Thank you for a job well done! And thank you for having accepted this challenge! I hope that this week has enriched you both at the personal and professional levels. It certainly has filled us all with fun, F.U.N, laughter, new toys - sorry, I meant new tools!  ;-)  - and added value.

((( Warm hugs )))

Teresa

Another week has passed and just like in the previous weeks I have mixed feelings. Our co-mods have done such a fabulous job, that it is sad to see them leave the leading role, but on the other hand, we have a trio of excellent ladies taking over in week 5.

Million of thanks to Chrissan and Barb who have inspired both men and women in the group to let their voices heard across the oceans. The flow of voice messages has exceeded the ones in any of our previous sessions :-)

Gladys, Sharon and Cristina, the floor is yours! I am eager to see what these 3 ladies have in store for us ;-)

To add to the welcome message sent by week 5 our co-moderators, I would like to share with you all that the 11 of us (moderatos and co-mods) have been in touch everyday through a mailing list and a wiki, where we have been discussing about BaW, about life, and  having
fun :-)

Let's enjoy! We are only 2 weeks away of our graduation ceremony :-)

((((Daf hugs all)))