Wanna create a computer game at any age?

Scratch is computer programming for all ages, it is object-oriented programming. Pupils can download the software for free, it is explained; by comparing the activity to building applications by connecting smaller components in the same way a child assembles LEGO bricks.

I went to one of the Scratch course and loved it, it woudl be of great benefit in the classroom.  For more info on where to download it and on classes click here to read my blog post.

Before you go saying, "sure my class woudl be too young," then read about the Montessori  kids who use it here.

I was informed by Clare McInerney of an upcomming  Scratch training sessions.

"These courses are funded by the NCTE and are a joint collaboration between Lero and CESI (the Computer Education Society of Ireland http://www.cesi.ie/). The courses will be tutored mainly by teacher practitioners and are open to both primary and post-primary teachers.

 The course will take place over two Saturdays:
October 1st and  October 15th (Cork dates are October 1st and 22nd).  

The first Saturday will be devoted to getting you up and  running; the second will be "show and tell", troubleshooting and a workshop on setting up local support for each other.


Call to register today at your local education centre
:Limerick:   061-585060 Ext 3 (October 1st and Oct 15th)
Tralee: 066-7195000 (October 1st and Oct 15th)
Dublin West:  01-4528000 (October 1st and Oct 15th)
Carrick-on-Shannon: 071-9620383 (October 1st and Oct 15th)
Sligo: 071-9138700 (October 1st and Oct 15th)
Waterford: 051-311000 (October 1st and Oct 15th)
Cork: 021-4255600 (October 1st and Oct 22nd)

All courses start at 9:30am and finish at 3:30pmMore info on the course is available online at  http://www.scratch.ie/content/scratch-courses-teachers"



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Get mad

We live in a passive world, especially my generation. We are the MTV kids, we mainly watch TV and go out. That is pretty much the extent of our lives, oh and moaning. Oh yeah, we moan a lot. It sickens me, I cannot bear negativity, people ranting and banging on endlessly about their problems.

 

If you have a problem, talk about it to get advice, gather yourself, and then do something. Yeah that's right you, do something about it. Not that I know many people with problems, except Margaret Hanrahan, she is 58, a mother of 2 and is trying to save her farm.


Her protest needs to be highlighted. We are living in an age of pathetic passiveness, the bankers and the government tell us "the money is gone....so...ammmm...*burp*....give us more...now." Or "yeah about that loan we gave you....uuuhh...we...like...want it all paid back now....and if ya don't....well....*evil laugh*.....sure we don't care we will just go and take it cause we can."

 

Margaret Hanrahan left Cahir on Saturday (10.09.11) to ride 110 miles to Dublin as she is in a fight for her land with the ACC Bank, who appointed receivers to her land after she could not repay the loan of €1.2m.She hopes to reach the Dail by Wednesday (14.09.11). Margaret owns a riding school plans to drop in on farmers in a similar financial difficulty along the way.



ACC Bank hired workmen to plough her land in preparation for sale, this was a bitter pill for Margaret and she is in a fight for her land and lively-hood. Farmers have promised to feed and water her horses along the route while TDs, including Mattie McGrath, plan to meet her at the Dail.





Margaret alleges that the receivers were aggressive and threatening. “They cut the locks on the gates and warned me not to get in their way. One of my neighbours had a camera with him and was told by the receiver that if he didn’t stop taking photos they would destroy the camera.”





“ACC sent an ‘expert’ out to look over the land I wanted to buy and said that it was good land. I’m not a farmer so I decided to get an independent agri consultant in to have a look around the land and let me know what he thought. Again the report that came back was very positive, so I went ahead with the loan,” Margaret said.





She then discovered that her new land was far from ‘in good condition’. “It was completely flooded, I had to get the land drained and then reseeded. There were no fences or gates so there was a lot of work which had to be done before I could use it for the horses,” now she is left with a huge debt, no help from the "expert" but the one thing she does have...action. She is not sitting in stoaking the hot ash, she is travelling 110 miles, in this weather, to Dublin by horseback.

If you want to help Margaret then please donate to the Anti Evitcion Fund

Twitter Rules

This is a guest post I wrote for the fabulous Irish writer-in-training, Ellen Brickley.

For more on help Twitter help you part one and part two.

There I was, new to Twitter, getting blog hits on my new blog and loving it. Apart from two kinda disturbing facts.
(1). I was getting very strange DMs from men.
(2). Worst of all, people were calling me “nice.”

 Now, if you know me IRL, you will know that I am not “nice”, I don’t do nice. I like to hear interesting stories, be entertained, have a laugh, be quiet when it suits me, spread my little bit of wisdom, listen to my friends when they need it. None of this is being nice but being a good person. Treat others as you would like to be treated, that’s my philosophy. The “nice” thing was ticking me off. I made a decision to be helpful but no longer to add smileys, to give people links to helpful sites and not spoon feed them, I even stopped following new people, especially men! (I am back to following people now!)


But it made me wonder, was I doing something to encourage all of this strange behaviour? Was I encouraging guys to be too familiar, people thinking it was OK to pester me into favours.....was I being too “nice”?

I started to .........................READ MORE HERE

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