Key West

<span style="font-size: large;">We holiday in Key West, Florida every year.  You may have heard of Key West, it is the last of a chain of islands off the coast of the USA.  The island is the most southernmost point in the States but it is actually closer to Cuba then to the mainland of America.  It is 90 miles from Cuba (by boat) and 150 miles drive from Miami - the chain of the Florida Keys are joined by bridges from island to island (or key to key).</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">For such a small island (4 miles by 2 miles) it is surprisingly historic.  Ernest Hemingway lived in Key West for awhile along with Tennessee Williams and Robert Frost.  You can visit the <a href="http://www.hemingwayhome.com/">house</a> that Hemingway lived in with his wife Pauline.  It is a really interesting tour and the polydactyl cats living on the grounds are quite a sight!</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">President Truman managed to base himself in Key West for much of his presidential term.  The <a href="http://www.trumanlittlewhitehouse.com/">house</a> that he lived in is now a museum and I thoroughly recommend a visit.  I think I have been to see it 4 times and each time I learnt something new!</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">There are lots of other sights to see in Key West including the Southernmost Point, The Key West Lighthouse, The Butterfly Conservatory along with numerous art galleries.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Nightlife in Key West is mainly based on Duval Street and also along the bight.  There are so many different different bars that there is something for just about everyone.  I went to the Green Parrot Bar with my parents to watch a Blue Grass band which was a lot of fun. Sloppy Joes where Hemingway hung out also plays a mix of music with performers coming from all over the country to play here.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">While on the island, we love to bike around checking out the sights and also getting out on the water and doing some fishing.  Nothing beats coming home and throwing your freshly caught fish on the bbq and having a cocktail while cooking dinner!</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Probably my favourite thing about Key West is the choice of restaurants.  I love the fact that there are very few chain restaurants in Key West and an amazing selection of fresh seafood restaurants, little small quaint charming restaurants and also rough and ready casual eateries.  All serving up great food and wine!  My two favourite restaurants are <a href="http://www.7fish.com/">7 Fish</a> and <a href="http://www.santiagosbodega.com/">Santiago's Bodega</a>.  We also (surprisingly!) love the <a href="http://www.keywesttravelguide.com/vegetarian-cafe-menu.html">vegetarian cafe</a> in KW - great healthy food in a very chilled out venue with very friendly staff.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">If you do ever get to Key West my recommendation on where to stay is either in one of the cute B&B's in old town or to rent a cute conchy cottage such as <a href="http://rentals.historichideaways.com/rns/search/bahama-breeze.aspx?tab=rates">Bahama Breeze</a> through <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5-bUsRLUwE">Historic Hideaways</a>.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">All in all I think Key West is a place unlike any other and I think you need to visit to see what it is like to vacation in Paradise!!!</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Here's <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-renzi/the-best-of-key-west_b_1887091.html">something further to read </a>about Key West.</span><br /><br /><br />

Key West

We holiday in Key West, Florida every year.  You may have heard of Key West, it is the last of a chain of islands off the coast of the USA.  The island is the most southernmost point in the States but it is actually closer to Cuba then to the mainlan…

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Teach This! Teaching with lesson plans and ideas that rock 09/16/2012

<ul class="diigo-linkroll"> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.salon.com/2012/09/15/teaching_ate_me_alive/">Teaching ate me alive - Salon.com</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">Heartwrenching, heartaching, upsetting, but all too true. For those who want to see inside the life of many US public school teachers, Peter Hirzel has a gutsy, edgy post on salon and says many of the things that are often whispered and said in email. But there is a part that I want EVERY teacher to hear because it reflects something I say a lot to teachers: "When we have each others’ backs, we are invincible. So I hope all the teachers continue to be kind to one another, because one kind word was very, very often the only thing that got me through the day." BE KIND TO EACH OTHER. Encourage each other. Smile. Say hello. You are fellow journeyman and deserve each other's respect and kindness. Please hear this. Don't be discouraged, but if you're in edreform and don't read this post, you shouldn't be in edreform because you don't get the conflicting emotions plaguing the psyche of so many teachers today. </p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/edreform">edreform</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.sharemylesson.com/ResourceCalendar.aspx?evcode=59&nbday=3&nbmth=9&nbyr=2012&PageNo=2&SortOrder=STARTDATE&PageSize=10&SortDirection=">Labor and Unions - some lessons and simulations</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">With the recent Chicago teacher's strike, now the NHL strike, this is an opportune time to help students understand the history of labor unions. In this set of lesson plans focused around Labor Day, there is a union negotiation simulation and a union election simulation. Wherever you stand on the issue of unions, this is part of US history and something students should understand. I think this is a very balanced set of lesson plans appropriate for many ages, particularly older social studies students. </p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.sharemylesson.com/ResourceCalendar.aspx?nbday=0&nbmth=9&nbyear=2012&evcode=134">Yom Kippur Lesson Plans (Setp 25-26)</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">For those of you who use the holidays throughout the year, Yom Kippur is a Jewish holiday and is called the "high holy days." Sept 25-26 this year. Here are a few lesson plans on this topic.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/september">september</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/lessonplans">lessonplans</a></p> </li> </ul><p class="diigo-ps">Posted from <a href='http://www.diigo.com'>Diigo</a>. The rest of my favorite links are <a href='http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher'>here</a>.</p>

Teach This! Teaching with lesson plans and ideas that rock 09/16/2012

Teaching ate me alive - Salon.com Heartwrenching, heartaching, upsetting, but all too true. For those who want to see inside the life of many US public school teachers, Peter Hirzel has a gutsy, edgy post on sal…

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O'Stillman Cup

<span style="font-size: large;">This weekend the <a href="http://www.ostillmancup.com/">O'Stillman Cup</a> was played in Dublin.  Team Ireland played against Team USA.  Happily the cup was won by Ireland!  The American players were fantastic, great squash players and a lot of fun.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Here are a few pics from the weekend -</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKIeA4UTTwIOgDubkXIJhIOKtc5f0bu9_bFRj5fVb0lmGzpq8FHGJNaYAP_k1IwcGsWlGYlEij09b_1MzJvodGsfvAprnD-AQjmCDly5A8oBvQO7JEuA2xvQsEZImvLMkkwMOq4jono_95/s1600/IMG_1864%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKIeA4UTTwIOgDubkXIJhIOKtc5f0bu9_bFRj5fVb0lmGzpq8FHGJNaYAP_k1IwcGsWlGYlEij09b_1MzJvodGsfvAprnD-AQjmCDly5A8oBvQO7JEuA2xvQsEZImvLMkkwMOq4jono_95/s320/IMG_1864%5B1%5D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheVnsT4pJ1yhfcOvSx54btOas4aRbyZ8iWtzPUIAMrP8mdUBAnIgo_goWpBLeNWvErz9X-FNP_3LmCVFrLvx8ci2AQMNQLsc7WFVPRw4UywF_lSyBS9cgF_tH7aJJvGHEPlNyWvnBDQPUJ/s1600/IMG_1866%5B2%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheVnsT4pJ1yhfcOvSx54btOas4aRbyZ8iWtzPUIAMrP8mdUBAnIgo_goWpBLeNWvErz9X-FNP_3LmCVFrLvx8ci2AQMNQLsc7WFVPRw4UywF_lSyBS9cgF_tH7aJJvGHEPlNyWvnBDQPUJ/s320/IMG_1866%5B2%5D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi3HnFUeAK8QWbVs_w2IdWKatsUdP5IQ_2lzxBnlmBQVnuSM27YLIwm-DCn6u541N4QYdMRSHSbCNk9JQIIZbHmNTaFUn-0d2WmrJDQknjiBUrnxYyJo5S3qVMLK2EuLVYobE3mIG0dt3h/s1600/IMG_1890%5B2%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi3HnFUeAK8QWbVs_w2IdWKatsUdP5IQ_2lzxBnlmBQVnuSM27YLIwm-DCn6u541N4QYdMRSHSbCNk9JQIIZbHmNTaFUn-0d2WmrJDQknjiBUrnxYyJo5S3qVMLK2EuLVYobE3mIG0dt3h/s320/IMG_1890%5B2%5D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOe4FYtC4QXq-As2DFMT5zk9wKw0fbGTWnr4MGD14FuNgqCQ3WvSBn8cKS1f5-_ABWhuD8O3Jy6hF9MjQS-Da2HpokDHxAkd4BiYjWNG9Ev8GeeiZetaleJjqQXcz_XlEO-iHUrfRKlxGO/s1600/IMG_1886%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOe4FYtC4QXq-As2DFMT5zk9wKw0fbGTWnr4MGD14FuNgqCQ3WvSBn8cKS1f5-_ABWhuD8O3Jy6hF9MjQS-Da2HpokDHxAkd4BiYjWNG9Ev8GeeiZetaleJjqQXcz_XlEO-iHUrfRKlxGO/s320/IMG_1886%5B1%5D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibTJvOEqHLPNKxao7yHyeBcUOTGJ7SkNfS2yiiWvNLDZKzBCtOykAFhwr7_aWm9q90tgZGyVTxvsyf926BHcVBdNPscOi4gBp4i5N6IyQ_p69uFOMSa5UgvM56Z9BD3UkhbUkQL6V2Rqoq/s1600/IMG_1895%5B2%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibTJvOEqHLPNKxao7yHyeBcUOTGJ7SkNfS2yiiWvNLDZKzBCtOykAFhwr7_aWm9q90tgZGyVTxvsyf926BHcVBdNPscOi4gBp4i5N6IyQ_p69uFOMSa5UgvM56Z9BD3UkhbUkQL6V2Rqoq/s320/IMG_1895%5B2%5D.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><br />

O'Stillman Cup

This weekend the O'Stillman Cup was played in Dublin.  Team Ireland played against Team USA.  Happily the cup was won by Ireland!  The American players were fantastic, great squash players and a lot of fun.Here are a few pics from the weekend -…

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Paws up little monsters!

<span style="font-size: large;">Wow! Wow! Wow! </span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">We went to see Lady Gaga last night. She was just amazing.  We had a (monsters) ball at the concert! It was just great - check out this <a href="http://www.independent.ie/national-news/40000-lady-gaga-fans-turn-aviva-into-kingdom-for-pop-princess-of-moment-3230138.html">review</a></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">I still can't decide which song she did best. I'm torn between Judas and Alejandro but Just Dance was awesome too!  In fact the whole show was amazing.  A real spectacle, an over the top show everything you would expect from a popstar of Gaga's calibre!  </span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">I took some photos but they did not come out very well as we were very far back :-(</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Here's a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtO5T5kQ0ws&feature=plcp">video</a> that I put up on Youtube.  Apols for the poor quality. </span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Can't believe the concert has been and done, I was looking forward to it for the whole Summer.  I wonder when she will be back again?!</span>

Paws up little monsters!

Wow! Wow! Wow! We went to see Lady Gaga last night. She was just amazing.  We had a (monsters) ball at the concert! It was just great - check out this reviewI still can't decide which song she did best. I'm torn between Judas and Alejandro but Just D…

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Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 09/16/2012

<ul class="diigo-linkroll"> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://worldsavvy.org/about/why-need/world-savvy-global-competency-research-results">World Savvy: 2012 Global Competency Survey - Why Global Education? - About - World Savvy</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">Many students are not globally competent. This includes geography, current issues, and how to connect globally and is all what flattening the classroom is about. It is essential that your students connect with the world. This infographic is one to share with your school board and parents, both of whom are often reticent to connect students because of fear. They are asking the wrong questions. Not, "what are we keeping out" but "who are we bringing in?" Where are we connecting? It is time to flatten the classroom. (See flatclassroombook.com for more info.)</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/globalcompetency">globalcompetency</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flatclass">flatclass</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/tumblr">tumblr</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://alfredtwo.blogspot.com/2012/09/to-app-or-not-to-app.html">Computer Science Teacher: To App Or Not To App</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">Alfred Thompson, my go-to computer science expert says about programming apps: "I think there is extra value in app programming. I think that the constraints  placed by the smaller form factor makes students think about their user interface in valuable ways. And makes them appreciate what goes into the professional apps they think should be free. The amount and types of storage forces them to think about efficiency of storage and look into cloud storage (and processing) which are keys to the future of computing.  I also think that the sooner students start developing using new user interfaces (touch, voice, motion, etc.) the sooner we get really creative ways to use our devices. The question in my mind is not should students write apps but for what devices and using what tools." I have students who want to do this and I must learn how to guide them.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/computerscience">computerscience</a></p> </li> </ul><p class="diigo-ps">Posted from <a href='http://www.diigo.com'>Diigo</a>. The rest of my favorite links are <a href='http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher'>here</a>.</p>

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 09/16/2012

World Savvy: 2012 Global Competency Survey - Why Global Education? - About - World Savvy Many students are not globally competent. This includes geography, current issues, and how to connect globally and is all …

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