#always innovating in your style and I always loving it. thank you for sharing tremendous portion of art 💖

[fairycastlesintheair]

Pluie/Noir Studiocast 01 "Erik Sature"

Sound Mixed and Performed by Vadim Svoboda Visual Interpretation by Max Binski

Soundcloud Link: soon

Pluie/Noir teams up with Make Sense's Vadim Svoboda for a new series featuring artists exploring their favourite musical gear through improvisation.

Vadim's session is particularly educational. As a true connoisseur of Elektron's Machinedrum and a lover of classical music, Vadim decided to focus on the ROM feature of Elektron's infamous first drum machine and deconstruct Erik Satie's music on the fly. 

Used in the video: 

Elektron Machinedrum SPS1UW+ mkII 

Strymon Deco 

Zoom H6 

YouTube (sampling source)

Cleymoore interviews Vadim Svoboda:

Hi Vadim, such a pleasure to have you at P/N finally, especially having you bring a new format to the series. How are you, all things considered, amidst this global chaos?

Hello Bruno! Thank you, the pleasure is mutual! Been a long time we met each other and I’m glad to participate in Pluie/Noir's very subtly sharp universe. Regarding my physical being, I’m safe and sound. Thankfully, isolated in the countryside of France with people I love, so I feel lucky! I guess music producers are somehow trained for social distancing, but this is a serious threat to humanity, so it has to be taken very seriously. I wish we will learn lessons from it.

We’ve met a while ago, back when I was living in Paris. Makesense was on its 3rd release and you were still resident at the Sundae parties in Paris. How did the scene change after all these years?

I guess Paris became a bigger target for booking agents and famous DJs, but those « headliner » performances in big events didn’t necessarily help build our scene further. On the other hand, the reaction it provoked was good, and I see more and more promoters having the guts to do something special, and focusing more on the local talent, with 100% original music. This is, in my opinion, the best way to build a strong french scene. Booking one big name from the ’90s won’t really push our scene further, whereas booking 100 locals actually might.

After a long hiatus period, Makesense returned in 2018 with your own album 'Hasard Ordinaire'. A total shift in style for the label, it presented a side of you a lot of people didn’t know: bold, experimental and tremendously deep. Is this the direction you want to explore?

Yes, I’ve planned to explore different musical styles with Makesense from the start. Makesense has always placed a focus on emerging talents and promoting forward-thinking music. That’s what we pride on, and that’s what drives us. This year will feature at least two new releases. The first one from a very close friend of mine, someone I consider to be one of the most innovative french producers around, and the second one will be the first release of a Japanese Machinedrum master; glitchy, breaky and yet, so romantic. I have goosebumps while typing this, and I can't wait to show it all to you. We are back and for good. 

There’s a lot of sound manipulation of Pianos in Hasard Ordinaire. Is Piano is a big part of your creative life? 

I’ve been playing the piano since a very young age, so it plays an enormous part in my creative life. Throughout my life, I've used it mainly for advertisements and soundtracks. When I was about 18yo I’ve fallen in love with step sequencers, which lead me to the discovery of Elektron's Machinedrum. Because it's so simple to play, sequence and perform, almost like a piano, I've decided to perform live with it. I’m now trying to mix both of these worlds, and both creation processes: acoustic, grid-free, and synthetic pattern sequences. 'Hasard Ordinaire' is a gathering of several tracks I composed between 2009 and 2018: a compilation of musical drafts, or test tracks, that for some reason I’ve always hesitated to share.

When we met, you already had a deep love for the Elektron machines. I remember seeing you perform live with 2 Machinedrum, and carefully observing you flow with them in a very peculiar way. Is the Machinedrum currently your drum machine of choice? 

Yes, even though I've tried to take my distance from it many times. But it became an expansion of my soul, and most certainly a big part of my trademark sound. After 3 years of abstinence, I’m very excited to be back to this machine. I’m now separating outputs, applying external audio processing, reverbs, and compression, in order to improve it's sound while facing new challenges at the same time.

Do you record your samples always through the same mediums? 

The samples I use in my regular productions are always transferred to the ROM machine of the Machinedrum, and those can come from anywhere, including internet samples banks, vinyl records, youtube, iPhone recordings, etc. Those sources are converted by the Machinedrum into a 12-bit lo-fi sound that I like and are never left untouched. I like to create the groove from A to Z, so I use the timber of the sample to create texture, and sequence it upside down. I like to put a sample in the centre of special projects, like in "Erik Sature".

This session seems like an educational experiment. What did you intend to reach? 

Every couple of days someone asks me something about this machine. I love it. I’ve never met anyone at Elektron but I feel like I'm probably one of their earliest Machinedrum owners. I bought my first SPS1-UW in 2005, and I've spent a minimum of 4 hours per day, every day, for more than a decade, on this machine. It just took me a long time to find the best way I could share my knowledge. I wanted it to be fun to do (hence the improvisation), fun to listen to (like a normal live performance/mix) and yet, still educative (like a tutorial). I’m ultra-passionate about the Machinedrum, and I feel a special connection with the people that feel the same about it.

Why Erik Satie? 

In my opinion, the best sample is the one you can't recognize. Satie brings a lot of emotion with very few notes, so it’s somehow easy to grab the texture of a certain piece, or its central mood while transforming it and creating a whole new melody on the fly, with very little effort. I think minimalist piano players are fun and easy to sample. You can quickly appropriate yourself of their sound. Chopin or Rachmaninov, on the other hand, would need more slicing precision, and I guess the podcast wouldn’t have this « easy-listening » touch. I wanted the first one to be simple, and clear. 

What can we expect from you in the near (or not so near) future?

I almost finished a piano album that took me 2 years of practice and re-organising of my entire studio. I hope to be able to perform this album in small intimate venues (if we survive this virus!). Playing keys in a concert has nothing to do with playing keys in a recording studio. Then I'll get back to clubs, which I’ve missed very much.

Links:

http://www.makesenserecords.com http://vadimsvoboda.bandcamp.com http://www.maxbinski.com http://pluienoir.tumblr.com https://www.elektron.se/legacy-products/

Web: http://www.ringsofneptune.com / info (at) pluienoir (dot) com

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #448

Top Ten Moments in The Secret of Monkey Island

This week was one of those weeks where I had a list all ready to go, and then I discovered something that made me throw the whole lot in the bin and write something new in a hurry. And the thing that I discovered is that it is, approximately, the 30th birthday of my favourite videogame of all time, The Secret of Monkey Island.

When I was a kid, I’d go round my cousins’ house and play on their Spectrum or their C64. I played the usual 8-bit hits of the era; Dizzy, Ghostbusters, Skool Daze, that really weird and probably insanely offensive Spitting Image beat-em-up… then I got my Amiga around Christmas 1990, and I figured games would be more-or-less the same but with more colours. I was wrong.

I got two games in short succession that utterly changed my appreciation for the medium: Lemmings and Monkey Island. The first was funny, inventive, colourful and characterful; a fiendishly difficult puzzler that nevertheless made you want to come back for more, because you just fell in love with the Lemmings themselves. It was like nothing I’d seen before, and felt impossible. Monkey Island, on the other hand, was not only better, not only more my cup of tea gameplay wise, but just blew the doors of my perception of what games were and what they could do. It was like an interactive movie before that was even a term; a living cartoon where you were the main character. A funny, wordy, witty adventure story, full of gags and references that I didn’t quite get but that I knew were smart and humorous (and there was lots of daft humour in there that I did get, too). It wasn’t just a case of being able to talk to people – I’d done that in stuff like Skool Daze – but the ability to solve problems, to divine solutions; to work out that you can drug dogs by smearing meat with dubious petals. And even when do did something like that, the game was irreverent enough to put a disclaimer on screen assuring you that the dogs were only sleeping. It broke the fourth wall, and I was only just old enough to understand what that meant in narrative terms; this was a game about gaming, about stories and adventures. It was filled with movie references (George Lucas even makes a cameo!). It inspired me to write into Amiga Power for help with a particular puzzle, and they printed my letter, but by the time it came out about three months had passed and I’d solved the puzzle on my own.

Monkey Island was the first game that I loved as much as the cartoons I watched or the comics I read; Guybrush and Elaine and LeChuck and the rest were the first gaming characters that I took to my heart in the same way as Bumblebee, Garfield, or Peter Venkman. I’ve said it before, but I’m not sure I’d love games the same way if I’d never played Monkey Island. It certainly changed the types of games I wanted to play; even though I’ve enjoyed my fair share of platformers, racing games, and shooters, it’s always the slower-paced narrative games that I come back to, the Fables and Mass Effects and Deus Exes of this world (even faster-paced games like Halo, Gears and Half-Life still grab me with their stories, as daft as they may sometimes be). Basically, Monkey Island made me a sucker for a dialogue tree.

Monkey Island was my gateway to a whole host of other LucasArts adventure games; Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Sam & Max Hit the Road, Day of the Tentacle, Grim Fandango… Ron Gilbert and Tim Schafer were among the first names of games creators that I ever knew (probably the very first, in all honesty, was Peter Molyneux – I am British after all). It was a window into a much larger world, one filled with choice, consequence, non-sequiturs, and rubber chickens with pullies in the middle.

Anyway, to celebrate Monkey Island, here are my Top Ten moments from the game. See you next year for the Monkey Island 2 list.

How to Get Ahead in Navigating: I’ve gone about it before, but this simple, daft joke – swapping a guide book for an actual navigator’s head – blew my mind as a kid. It forced me to think differently about puzzles and comedy and how to approach the game. For little old me, it was a revelation, and just desperately funny.

How Appropriate, You Fight Like a Cow: a discussion of Monkey can’t be had without talking about the innovative swordfights; a wholly successful attempt to replicate the verbal parrying of a classic Hollywood swordfight, the insult-riposte dynamic also reinforced the puzzle mechanics of the game. Sublime.

Order Hint Book: Monkey Island was the first adventure game I played, so I didn’t realise at the time how innovative its gameplay was, because you could never get hopelessly, game-ruiningly stuck, and nor could you die. Except at one point, when you drown, but even that is a hilarious gag that is easily avoidable. The control verbs changing from things like “Pick Up” to “Decompose” is just tremendous.

Use Staple Remover on Tremendous, Dangerous-Looking Yak: Monkey plays fast and loose with game conventions, sending itself up in the process; the moment when Guybrush enters a room and is hidden from view, undergoing a series of preposterous and expensive-sounding adventures, which you only know about because you can read his actions in the sentence line as if you were still controlling him (“use… gopher repellent… on another gopher…”), is a phenomenal piece of comedy stagecraft, a game parodying games parodying itself, using its own architecture to tell a joke (as well as being a play on the whole “noises off” style of gag in the first place).

Ask Me About Loom: like I say, I’d never played an adventure game before; I’d never heard of any LucasArts (sorry, Lucasfilm Games) titles, apart from maybe Maniac Mansion. So the bloke in the SCUMM Bar with his “Ask me about LOOM” badge, who launches into an intense sales spiel when you speak to him, didn’t make sense at first. But when it clicked, the very idea of a pirate in this game directly referencing another game was fourth-wall-breaking hilarious genius; happening right near the start of the game lets you know what you’re in for.

The Rock: when you get to Monkey Island, there’s a puzzle where you need to use a makeshift seesaw to catapult a boulder onto a tree (or something). If you line it up wrong, you can sink your own ship (and presumably drown your mutinous crew). The first time I played the game, this is what I did; there’s another great gag where castaway Herman Toothrot turns out to have a ship of his own. But the second time I played through, I didn’t sink my ship, and sailed back with my original crew. This blew my mind; whilst obviously not at Warren Spector levels of emergent game design, the fact that you could actually change what happened, to have a different experience to another player, was phenomenal, and another one of those watershed gaming moments for me.

Men of Low Moral Fibre (Pirates): the trio of loitering pirates are funny in and of themselves, with their breath mints and Pieces o’ Eight and minutes from a PTA meeting. But what I always found really funny was that they are literally called “Men of Low Moral Fibre (Pirates)”; that’s what it says in the sentence line when you hover your cursor over them (an aside: Monkey Island and Lemmings probably taught me how to use a mouse). Again it was the game using the structure of a game to tell a joke.

Rescuing Otis: this is what promoted me to write into Amiga Power back in the day: how the heck do you rescue Otis from the jail?! There are delightful red herrings regarding files and whatnot, but the eventual solution – juggling acidic grog from mug to mug as you make your way through the town to eventually pour it on his lock – was a rare moment of fast-paced tension in a relatively slow game. Solving it on my own made me feel so clever at a tender age. And it’s funny! So great!

A Rubber Chicken with a Pulley in the Middle: ah, my beloved rubber chicken. Found early on in the game and used in a couple of puzzles, I don’t think I quite grasped the silly brilliance of it; as a kid you’re just more accepting of the surreal. Why does a rubber chicken have a pulley? It’s basically just so you can zip-line across a chasm; it’s a wholly functional, boring plot device. But it’s also a rubber chicken. It’s sublime comic genius. And then you cook it! Madness!

The Voodoo Root: I’ve not even mentioned The Ghost Pirate LeChuck yet (if I’m honest his best “moments” are in the sequel) but the finale of the game, when you’ve distilled your Voodoo Root and you’re dispatching ghosts left right and centre, brilliantly marries an epic adventure action sequence with the point-and-click structure of the game itself. But then you fight LeChuck and he boots you around the island, until finally you crash land on a soft drinks dispenser, and finally defeat him with… a can of root beer. Cue fireworks and a strangely romantic ending. Is it as good as the ending of Monkey 2? No, but nothing is. Literally nothing, in the history of the universe.

Wow, there we are. I never had room for the dance steps, the recipe, finding the treasure, defeating the Sword Master, or Stan. Stan! I didn’t have room for Stan! See, that’s how good the game is; I barely mentioned one of the greatest gaming villains of all time, and I didn’t even get round to one of the medium’s funniest supporting characters. Blimey.

Man, I love The Secret of Monkey Island. Ron and the rest of you guys: you done good. Thanks for the memories.

[eviestrol]

Synastry Ship - squishihyunsung

Hello! It’s me again haha. I was wondering if i could get a Synastry ship for Jisung (Stray Kids)? Thank you and stay safe! <3

@squishihyunsung Thanks for requesting!

Pros

Sextile Sun - Saturn: Great aspect for long term relationships. There is a sense of mutual dedication that keeps you two together even in difficult times. He will be very loyal and willing to make sacrifices for your relationship to last. You will work well together with practical tasks.

Trine Venus - Venus: You and Jisung have compatible desires, ideas, and expectations of romantic love, relationships, and domestic harmony. You feel naturally cooperative and comfortable together and truly enjoy each other’s company.

Trine Venus - Neptune: Very dreamy and romantic connection. You’re willing to overlook his faults, showing him love he’s been longing for. You are naturally in tune with each other’s feelings. You daydream of each other often and this relationship is very soothing.

Conjunction Venus - Jupiter: You genuinely care for each other and this relationship is filled with happiness and laughter. Often this aspect brings the same view on politics and religious issues. Mutual admiration of each other binds you in a loving relationship as you grow and prosper together.

Conjunction Venus - Uranus:  Instant, powerful attraction. Often a sign that it was love at first sight. However, the attraction may be erratic and it may subside as suddenly as it started. It is vital that you give each other freedom for this to work. He may be less willing to be constant than you want. Attempts to give this relationship too much structure may drive a wedge between you two.

Conjunction Saturn - Lunar node: He helps you achieve your ambitions.

Trine Jupiter - Uranus: Your relationship is based upon openness, freedom, and a desire for innovation and change. You always know that you can trust and count on each other, because of this aspect’s emphasis on honesty. There is a lot of inventiveness and mental stimulation in this relationship. You identify closely with each other intellectually. Your ideas about the future and the directions you each want to move in your lives work together very well. You encourage each other to follow your dreams. You both grow tremendously through your involvement with each other.

Cons

Square Sun - Moon: Jisung may find you too aggressive and pushy while you may find him too emotional and sensitive. Disagreements on how to spend shared finances, how to raise children, and how to spend leisure time are all strong possibilities. Even if you work towards the same goals, the method by which you go about getting there clashes with each other’s “style”. Bickering, nagging, and general discontent can plague this relationship. You will have to consciously work on avoiding putting each other in the position where you feel the need to defend their habits, opinions, and individual identities.

Opposition Sun - Mars: Very stimulating and dynamic relationship. But what starts as an overwhelming sexual and physical attraction quickly changes into petty arguments and annoyances. You challenge each other and there is a very fine line of this being stimulating or completely draining

Square Mercury - Mars: This aspect indicates difficulty in communicating; debate and arguments are a frequent result. If this relationship is going to work, there needs to be a lot of room for compromise. You both may have different ideas or ways of communicating. You both can learn from each other’s perspective, there is no need to always be right. Avoid trying to force opinions onto each other, or attempting to one-up each other on a mental level. Different points of view can turn into full-fledged arguments all too easily with this combination.

Square Mercury - Saturn: It can be a real challenge to simply get your point across. There can be a serious tone to your conversations that impedes a natural flow of communication. Your conversations may be dominated by negativity and criticism at times. You may feel belittled or childish in his presence, finding him too practical and overly critical.

Overall: You’re attracted to each other instantly. But this relationship can quickly turn frustrating and argumentative. You challenge each other’s opinions and way of doing things. It’s hard to communicate and get your point across at times. You’re likely to be very honest with each other, but your differences make it easy to drift apart. Avoid trying to force your opinions on each other and try to see things from their perspective.

I hope you like it! Feel free to request again at any time!

[pluienoir]

Pluie/Noir Studiocast 01 “Erik Sature”

Sound Mixed and Performed by Vadim Svoboda Visual Interpretation by Max Binski Video by Vadim Svoboda

Soundcloud Link: soon

Pluie/Noir teams up with Make Sense’s Vadim Svoboda for a new series featuring artists exploring their favourite musical gear through improvisation.

Vadim’s session is particularly educational. As a true connoisseur of Elektron’s Machinedrum and a lover of classical music, Vadim decided to focus on the ROM feature of Elektron’s infamous first drum machine and deconstruct Erik Satie’s music on the fly.

Used in the video:

Elektron Machinedrum SPS1UW+ mkII

Strymon Deco

Zoom H6

YouTube (sampling source)

—

Cleymoore interviews Vadim Svoboda:

Hi Vadim, such a pleasure to have you at P/N finally, especially having you bring a new format to the series. How are you, all things considered, amidst this global chaos?

Hello Bruno! Thank you, the pleasure is mutual! Been a long time we met each other and I’m glad to participate in Pluie/Noir’s very subtly sharp universe. Regarding my physical being, I’m safe and sound. Thankfully, isolated in the countryside of France with people I love, so I feel lucky! I guess music producers are somehow trained for social distancing, but this is a serious threat to humanity, so it has to be taken very seriously. I wish we will learn lessons from it.

We’ve met a while ago, back when I was living in Paris. Makesense was on its 3rd release and you were still resident at the Sundae parties in Paris. How did the scene change after all these years?

I guess Paris became a bigger target for booking agents and famous DJs, but those « headliner » performances in big events didn’t necessarily help build our scene further. On the other hand, the reaction it provoked was good, and I see more and more promoters having the guts to do something special, and focusing more on the local talent, with 100% original music. This is, in my opinion, the best way to build a strong french scene. Booking one big name from the ’90s won’t really push our scene further, whereas booking 100 locals actually might.

After a long hiatus period, Makesense returned in 2018 with your own album ‘Hasard Ordinaire’. A total shift in style for the label, it presented a side of you a lot of people didn’t know: bold, experimental and tremendously deep. Is this the direction you want to explore?

Yes, I’ve planned to explore different musical styles with Makesense from the start. Makesense has always placed a focus on emerging talents and promoting forward-thinking music. That’s what we pride on, and that’s what drives us. This year will feature at least two new releases. The first one from a very close friend of mine, someone I consider to be one of the most innovative french producers around, and the second one will be the first release of a Japanese Machinedrum master; glitchy, breaky and yet, so romantic. I have goosebumps while typing this, and I can’t wait to show it all to you. We are back and for good.

There’s a lot of sound manipulation of Pianos in Hasard Ordinaire. Is Piano is a big part of your creative life?

I’ve been playing the piano since a very young age, so it plays an enormous part in my creative life. Throughout my life, I’ve used it mainly for advertisements and soundtracks. When I was about 18yo I’ve fallen in love with step sequencers, which lead me to the discovery of Elektron’s Machinedrum. Because it’s so simple to play, sequence and perform, almost like a piano, I’ve decided to perform live with it. I’m now trying to mix both of these worlds, and both creation processes: acoustic, grid-free, and synthetic pattern sequences. 'Hasard Ordinaire’ is a gathering of several tracks I composed between 2009 and 2018: a compilation of musical drafts, or test tracks, that for some reason I’ve always hesitated to share.

When we met, you already had a deep love for the Elektron machines. I remember seeing you perform live with 2 Machinedrum, and carefully observing you flow with them in a very peculiar way. Is the Machinedrum currently your drum machine of choice?

Yes, even though I’ve tried to take my distance from it many times. But it became an expansion of my soul, and most certainly a big part of my trademark sound. After 3 years of abstinence, I’m very excited to be back to this machine. I’m now separating outputs, applying external audio processing, reverbs, and compression, in order to improve it’s sound while facing new challenges at the same time.

Do you record your samples always through the same mediums?

The samples I use in my regular productions are always transferred to the ROM machine of the Machinedrum, and those can come from anywhere, including internet samples banks, vinyl records, youtube, iPhone recordings, etc. Those sources are converted by the Machinedrum into a 12-bit lo-fi sound that I like and are never left untouched. I like to create the groove from A to Z, so I use the timber of the sample to create texture, and sequence it upside down. I like to put a sample in the centre of special projects, like in “Erik Sature”.

This session seems like an educational experiment. What did you intend to reach?

Every couple of days someone asks me something about this machine. I love it. I’ve never met anyone at Elektron but I feel like I’m probably one of their earliest Machinedrum owners. I bought my first SPS1-UW in 2005, and I’ve spent a minimum of 4 hours per day, every day, for more than a decade, on this machine. It just took me a long time to find the best way I could share my knowledge. I wanted it to be fun to do (hence the improvisation), fun to listen to (like a normal live performance/mix) and yet, still educative (like a tutorial). I’m ultra-passionate about the Machinedrum, and I feel a special connection with the people that feel the same about it.

Why Erik Satie?

In my opinion, the best sample is the one you can’t recognize. Satie brings a lot of emotion with very few notes, so it’s somehow easy to grab the texture of a certain piece, or its central mood while transforming it and creating a whole new melody on the fly, with very little effort. I think minimalist piano players are fun and easy to sample. You can quickly appropriate yourself of their sound. Chopin or Rachmaninov, on the other hand, would need more slicing precision, and I guess the podcast wouldn’t have this « easy-listening » touch. I wanted the first one to be simple, and clear.

What can we expect from you in the near (or not so near) future?

I almost finished a piano album that took me 2 years of practice and re-organising of my entire studio. I hope to be able to perform this album in small intimate venues (if we survive this virus!). Playing keys in a concert has nothing to do with playing keys in a recording studio. Then I’ll get back to clubs, which I’ve missed very much.

—

Links:

http://www.makesenserecords.com http://vadimsvoboda.bandcamp.com http://www.maxbinski.com http://pluienoir.tumblr.com https://www.elektron.se/legacy-products/

[salmenzo]

Weekly Update - Monday, February 22, 2021

Commitment - Conviction - Consideration

“Spring is nature’s way of saying, ‘Let’s Party!’”

— Robin Williams

Good Morning,

Hopefully, this week will be one filled with less winter weather. I am confident that we will be moving into the spring sooner rather than later.  With spring training upon us, baseball and the smell of the best season of the year will raise our spirits in anticipation of all being vaccinated.

We are still anticipating starting all staff vaccinations in the middle of March.  It is dependent on the Governor’s further opening group 1B.  From the latest reports, it appears that educational staff will be included as essential workers.  Again, we have begun to vaccinate staff who are 65 years old or older.  We will get to everyone else once we are allowed to do so.  Another vaccination center is slated to open at Toyota Presents the Oakdale Theater.  That may be another option for staff.  More information will be provided as the time draws closer.  We appreciate your patience.  

Last week, I shared the case update on Friday.  This will be the practice moving forward unless we see a significant uptick in numbers.  For the last three weeks, we have been seeing less than 2 cases a day on average over a seven day period.  This remains low compared to what we were seeing in late December and early January.  We ask that all staff continue to follow all mitigation strategies.  We have had some reports from staff that some members of our district have become a little laxed over the last few weeks.  I implore you to not become complacent.  Now more than ever, we need to keep our attention focused.  We are too close to being vaccinated to let our guards down.  Thank you for your continued efforts.

Tonight, the Board of Education will officially approve its budget to be sent to the Mayor for his review.  The meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m.  You can watch by logging in to the site below.

https://www.youtube.com/wpsconnections/live

Commitment - Conviction - Consideration

Here are this week’s staff shout outs!

I wanted to give you Robin Beecher's name as a teacher who deserves a shout out during these difficult times.  Robin is a special education teacher at Cook Hill who can always be relied upon to go the extra mile for her students and for being a true team player.   I spoke today with a substitute virtual special education teacher who shared with me what a great support Robin has been to her while she worked with some virtual students from Cook Hill.  When I shared this compliment with Robin, she simply said, "of course!  Even though I'm not seeing virtual students right now, they're still my students!'   When I shared with her that home school special education teachers would be servicing both in-person and virtual students after the holidays, she said, "that's fine!  I'll make it work."  In all the time that I've known Robin, this has been her attitude.  She is always there when you need her and always seems genuinely happy and eager to help. 

She has been a teacher who I've had on my evaluation list a number of times and her care and love for her students always shines through when she is teaching.  She is truly an asset to her students, colleagues, and administrators.  I am thankful she's a member of the special education team!  

Since the beginning of this year Laurie Moreno has been working tirelessly to perfect her craft when it comes to instructional strategies used both in the physical and virtual classroom settings.  She has been one of the biggest resources for all staff when it comes to troubleshooting virtual learning struggles and trying out new programs or platforms with her students.  She is an ever present source of positivity and has been willing to offer her help and knowledge to everyone who has asked.  She is a perfect example of someone who is willing to take a risk and try something totally new, with the reasoning always being for the benefit of her students.

Kristen Balsamo - When you walk into Kristen's grade two classroom, you can feel the happiness and joy. Kristen helps her students to become their best selves. She has embraced the current chapter and conducted outdoor morning meetings throughout the fall. Kristen has worked to bring the entire school community together by creating a Monthly Morning Show. Her students took the lead on this film project by reporting on different school-based activities, interviewing staff for a book review, and leading the school in this new style of town meeting. This year, Kristen led her students to spread gratitude and kindness around the building by painting kindness rocks that line the entranceway of E.C.Stevens and by sending notes of gratitude to staff around the building. Kristen's hard work and dedication not only benefit her students but the entire school community. 

Sue Pallotta - As E.C. Stevens School Nurse, Sue has been an extraordinary asset to E.C. Stevens School. Sue has embraced the current chapter and puts in a tremendous amount of effort when communicating with students, staff, and families every single day. Members of the school community know when they consult with Sue, they will always get a thorough response with the next steps that need to be taken. This has been comforting to families and to staff during this time of uncertainty where lots of questions and situations have arisen. Sue's patient and caring demeanor provide those around her with a sense of calmness no matter what medical situation arises. The connections she has made with students, families, and staff have allowed her to engage in difficult conversations, always resulting in positive outcomes. In addition, Sue is a true partner to the office staff and school administrator.

My grandson is in Mr. Stone’s 5th grade class at POND HILL SCHOOL.  He has made an extremely challenging year seem very normal.  He is thriving!  He and his sister live with me (grandmother).  My granddaughter had Mr. Stone as well and she thrived.  I sent a letter requesting that her brother be placed with a male teacher due to the fact that since they’ve been in my care the only male influence that he has is his uncle as a role model.  I’m a widow so it’s just me and the kids.  I’m very happy that my request was granted because Mr. Stone is an incredible role model for him and it shows in his joy and eagerness to go to school every day.  Mr. Stone rewards the kids when deserved with Certificates and my grandson has brought home several!  He just beams with pride when he shows me.  He is learning a ton, and never talks about or is sad about any of the new restrictions from COVID-19.  I sincerely believe this is due to the great work of the Pond Hill staff and especially Mr. Stone.   He is always kind and upbeat and it truly shows he enjoys teaching the students.  He follows all safety protocols, while still meeting with smaller groups during class.  My grandson had to do distance learning and he was very well prepared for the 2 weeks he was home.  This is due to Mr.  Stone making sure the kids are prepared.  I’m grateful that elementary school is still in session, since his sister is at DAG her first year and they have been distance learning for most of the year.  The kids in school are thriving!  Thank you for all the work the District, School, and Mr. Stone has put into keeping this year as safe and normal as possible.    

I wanted to reach out to you to express my sincere appreciation for the laborious task of keeping kiddos in school this year, and the undeterred dedication I have seen from the Wallingford Public School District. I am so impressed by the planning that has been conducted in order to ensure that our children are learning in the safest environment possible.

In light of your recent request of acknowledging educators, I can't say enough about my son's kindergarten teacher at Moses Y, Mrs. Stoessel. Her dedication to the children and positive energy has given us hope during scary times. The education he is receiving, despite the pandemic, is bar none, the best. He comes home every day excited about school, sharing everything he has learned; the growth has been tremendous.

I also have to mention my son's experience last year. He was enrolled in Moses Y pre-k, and just like this year, I was literally brought to happy tears on a frequent basis at how much he was learning with Ms. Graminski (and having so much fun while doing it!) She built a very strong foundation.

These two educators have certainly set the bar high, but I have no doubts Wallingford Schools can live up to rigorous expectations.  

Thank you again for all your hard work and dedication, and for the amazing staff you have put in place at Moses Y. 

Make it a great week!

Sal

Dr. Salvatore F. Menzo

Superintendent

Email - smenzo@wallingfordschools.org

Twitter - @SalMenzo

Wallingford Public School District

 Wallingford Public School System Mission

To inspire through innovative and engaging experiences that lead all learners to pursue and discover their personal best.

 THE INFORMATION IN THIS TRANSMISSION IS PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL AND INTENDED ONLY FOR THE RECIPIENT LISTED ABOVE.  If you have received this transmission in error, please NOTIFY ME IMMEDIATELY BY E-MAIL AND DELETE THE ORIGINAL MESSAGE. Responses provided by this E-Mail are SIMILAR to ordinary telephone or face-to-face conversations.

[wishessharda-blog]

Funny Happy Birthday Wishes

Having a sister is a standout amongst the best endowments on earth.

Birthday is a mind blowing chance to tell your sister that she will constantly be your most eminent person.

We have orchestrated more than 200 inspirational Happy Birthday Sister wishes which will help you with saying Happy Birthday to your sister.

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People express that it is possible to pick have associates from many, yet unmistakably you can't pick you're the people from your family. I'm without vulnerability the most lucky. Happy Birthday.

Happy Birthday Sister Wishes List

The sisters don't should be around for always, anyway it genuinely transforms into an unprecedented thing when they are around you. Have a Happy Birthday.

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A sister takes after a substitute bloom from a comparative nursery – that is the reason the sun was shimmering so carefully on your side. Happy Birthday.

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Happy Birthday to Sister in Law

60 Sister Birthday Quotes to inspire

Birthday Wishes for Cousin Sister

More than 100 Birthday wishes for you.

Sisters reliably help you in understanding the world better and moreover recognizes it more than some other person. Happy Birthday.

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State Happy Birthday with our magnificent explanations

A sister's definition: a person who knows all of you around. Really, it sounds like you. I'm grateful that you are my sister. Happy Birthday.

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Some express that wishes are for the stars, yet I can wish you too, since I understand you've recently transformed into a star in my life. Happy Birthday sister.

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The person who has always managed me, for my character and loved me the most. Happy Birthday sister.

You were everlastingly my assistant in infringement we made, anyway I'm going to miss those engaging events as you are getting increasingly prepared. Happy Birthday.

Wish someone happy birthday using these magnificent 100 Happy Birthday Quotes

May be you are growing up increasingly prepared every year, anyway to me you'll by and large remain as my little loving sister. Have a Happy Birthday.

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The principle individual in this entire world who can change my assaults a noteworthy smile. All I have to state is – I treasure you sister. Wishing a Happy Birthday.

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I could never find an unrivaled sister than you in this whole world. Wishing you a Happy Birthday.

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HappyBirthdaySister

I'm so thankful in light of the way that I was respected with a sister like you. Laud your birthday with most outrageous fulfillment! You for the most part merit the best, sister.

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HappyBirthdaySister

Thankful my dear sister, for being the perfect soundtrack of my fundamental life's music show up. Have a Happy Birthday.

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Happy birthday to my sister

Happy Birthday, sister. OK have the option to review that how we used to smile in our past occasions? In spite of all that you have that superb style of smiling and that is the reason I venerate you sister.

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HappyBirthdaySister

I never yearned for being the single posterity of our people since I always required you to be my sister. Happy Birthday.

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We've shared various incredible events and did all things considered various things. An obligation of appreciation is all together for everything. Happy Birthday.

Sister, you are living in my warm heart. I love you tons and it will stay until the finish of time. Happy Birthday.

HappyBirthdaySister

Disregarding the way that we fight about various things and abrade each other. Regardless, I value you and consider you constantly as my nearest partner. Happy Birthday.

Wishing a Happy Birthday to my bewildering sister. I trust all that you would ever seek after will work out.

It's so mind blowing to have you as my sister. I should need to grant my every single moment to you. Happy Birthday sister!

Happy Birthday sister. You are the veritable present for all of us and plainly the packaging is astonishing also. Keep giving the stuffs inside you to us by and large.

I wonder that if everyone in this world could have an extraordinary sister like you figure it would have been the best thing anytime happened! Happy Birthday.

The habits wherein you contact my heart must be done by a sister. Wish you a Happy Birthday!

My wonderful sister, you are only one in this entire world and I couldn't find another unprecedented sister like you wherever. Happy Birthday.

Happy Birthday sister. You are so uncommon in my life, for being my faultless sister, yet also for being a champion among my nearest partners. Without you I would have not made this far.

HappyBirthdaySister

Sisters are someone who can make anything engaging and brilliant. It is constantly a brilliant thing to have a sister. Happy Birthday my dazzling sister!

A loving sister like you can present to me the certainty that I'm never alone, in light of the way that you ar

[moonlike-u]

Fashion Returns To The 70s For 2011

Wearing denim pants will never ever go out of style, new name brand name jeans will certainly can be found in design annually. Various other girly 90s design layouts can be seen at Meadham Kirchoff, with pastel clad Courtney Love look-a-likes as well as too-cute animation prints in rich textures. Searching successfully for classic clothing is reaching be even more of an uphill job these days, as a result, if you're a fashion and also style lover, with an interest for classic garments, you might grasp specifically just what i suggest. There are thousands of magazines, sites, tv networks concerning it. CallosAngeles is one amongst the several for fashion inquisitors. From the very early to mid 1980s, new and post-punk wave music teams affected mainstream male as well as women style. Certainly, similar to any other style pattern, there were generic knockoffs to be had. One could never ever be let down with a couple of Adidas superstar shoes in their footwear rack. The 80s saw females totally entering the company work-force, and also 80s style showed that tremendous cultural shift. I have actually scoured via images of outfits galore and have actually not found one respectable dress from that period. Absolutely nothing stands for the fashion and also vibe of the years much better compared to 90s grunge clothing. Welcome to one more installment in this collection of Kid of the 90s guest blog sites! The club was the location to be for all alternative people, a fashion statement in the sound of post-punk as well as the start of just what we call trad goth. Although straight hair was the norm at the beginning of the decade, as several late-1970s designs were still pertinent, the perm had actually entered fashion by 1980. Nevertheless, no matter exactly how old these patterns are the will certainly always be needed in fashion trend. Fingerless handwear covers are definitely 80s design, as well as it doesn't. issue exactly how you get them by doing this. The rising British fashion industry brought a new series of road fashion focusing mainly on the young customers. Her closet contained stylish ensembles from slip dresses and also mini skirts to plaid co-ords that rightfully offer her the title of a style symbol. But today 80lere go back to the field herren sonnenbrille of fashion in an intense method the presence of hissettirince of this article occasional guncellestigine determined, and right here to share with you. The 80s females style is thought about to be truly a really colorful, vibrant, and in some cases horrendous. The grunge and alternate sensation in the 90s brought about the decrease of glam steel bands and hair steel bands. Exactly what is 90larin since the end of all periods, as in the' 80s fashion is also the moment when the return is experiencing. I am no longer close friends with either, thanks to the fickleness of 90s pal obligation. Kickstarter is one of the few project websites that enables designer to get a campaign began to money their brand-new fashion industry. Children nowadays do not associate with toys as high as we performed in the 90s and also Barbie is inarguably a preferred for most of us. So, for a 90s fancy dress, Barbie's design declaration seems sort of amazing to me. Bell bases, plunging curls, crop tops, hair bands and also system heels. For this reason, when we see a specific in trendy style we in some way link it with course. The much shorter lengths were fashion option for young adults, yet women of every ages started exposing their knees. You might intend to do some research study on 80s style trends before assembling your set even if you fancy yourself an 80s style specialist. Purses have always been a significant staple in the fashion globe yet it appears their appeal and also dimension has actually increased in the extra recent years. A retro product is a product that is made during the modern-day year with a combination of contemporary as well as old fashion style. While in the 60s the miniskirts that only had 30 cm in size showed up and also both boys and also girls were ecstatic about them in the 70s fashion was all about sporting activities. With male's garments trimming narrow, the body weight of the Oxford footwear additionally began to end up being lighter. A number of grunge bands accomplished amazing success with their albums in the 90s. There were essentially smileys and screenshots printed on outfits and tights, complimented by a 90s interpretation of 70s glam. Since that minute, every little information added to a piece of apparel, every creation, every shot, has been taken into consideration style. It was throughout this style age that the ultimate girlie appearance developed as well as clothes styles were qualified by slim cuts as well as easy lines. That sounds interesting, I do not know if I remember the wrapped pigtails ... my memory lapses are a lot more frequent these days ... lol ... I just know that I'm excited for the 80s style, I truly am. China saw its very first American fashion program in 1980, when Halston presented his large collection. In the very early 1980s, fashion had relocated far from the unkempt hippie look and also overdressed nightclub style of the late 1970s. The background of style contains innovative designs, a mix of practicality and technology.

[cool-angela-me-blog1]

Vanshika Ahuja

“My mother has always been my Inspiration and she is the one who motivated me “unintentionally” to become an independent strong woman just like her.”

Le Amusant believes in recognizing young and budding talent from different parts of the country, needless to say that we love sharing the experiences of women entrepreneurs who have dared to step out of their comfort zone and create an identity for themselves. I came across  one such daring and successful entrepreneur who has dedicated her life for fashion designing.  Vanshika and myself happen to have shared two years of high school life together but little did I know that she would turn out to be a business woman later on. Le Amusant was lucky enough to get in touch with her and find out her secret to becoming an entrepreneur.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I am a Pearl Academy Graduate, I started my own venture when I was in 3rd Year i.e. 2014.

I graduated in 2015 when I completed my Graduation Project and also celebrated 1st Year Anniversary of my Label. My college taught me basically everything from working on different materials with different people, with an 6 months experience of Industry Internships and a lot more.

Although my specialization is into clothing but we are taught design almost anything and everything from the Foundation Year.

 What motivated you to start your own business?

 Since I was in 8th Standard I knew I wanted to be a Fashion Designer and always aspired to be one entrepreneur as well. I have always been a creative person and all thanks to my Mom who is also a Fashion Designer and had a boutique for 10 years or so I remember.

I saw my mom juggling between her married and professional life, She managed a household with 3 Daughters and also her work with such ease and passion. She has always been my Inspiration and she is the one who motivated me “unintentionally” to become an independent strong woman just like her.

I initially started designing for myself as I felt the things that I was looking for were not available in the market. Since everyone appreciated what I designed (friends and Family) They wanted me to designs the same things for them too.

Even though I wanted to start my own venture dint know I would start this early, All thanks to the tremendous support and response I got from the people around me which also motivated me to start my own business at the age of 20.

Company Logo for the website

Tell me how did you go about it and what kept you going to become a successful business woman?

( Could see her eyes blooming with excitement to share her story)

So me and my best friend who is a jewelry designer, We started together as partners in our 3rd year. Initially started with market study, literally going to every possible market to see what all has already been designed , at what price also to understand customer behavior towards products , Held surveys in our college as the age group matched our target audience as well.

We started all the work by our selves from fabric sourcing , screen printing , stitching , packaging, photo shoots etc with no labor appointed as we not take any monetary help from our families and we had to save every penny to invest further in our venture.

 Tell us a little bit about your organisation.

We are an online setup based in Delhi, besides having our own website we also have a collaboration with 28 other websites and a few multi-designer stores. We are a Team of 9 People and some of us work 7 days a week.

 Who or what motivates you every morning?

 The Support from my Team is mainly what keeps me going.Also making people happy and seeing them delighted wearing something I created gives me immense happiness.

I just had the opportunity to quickly run through your website and I should tell you that I ended up spending an hour browsing through the amazing collection you have.

Well , Thank you so much ( with a modest laugh)

Collections get tempting as you browse through

Why would you choose women accessories and shoes?

Have you seen a guy fuss over shoes with every outfit? Probably not. And girls? Hell yes!

They need different footwear with different outfits and I don’t blame them.The color,mood, occasion , style etc of the footwear must got with outfit. So,there was more scope in girl’s accessories.

  Those shimmery clutches and funky colors are tempting for my soul. How do you come up with such beautiful designs? Does it involve brainstorming sessions and caffeine overdose?

Thank you.

It surely involves a lot of brainstorming sessions since people are constantly looking for something new and fresh. Thanks to my Design Team for their passion towards work and the effort they put in.

Since Punk and metal is are niche, we like to play around that, creating something innovative and interesting and not loosing the essence of the brand at the same time. Not only that but also keeping ourselves updated about what is being designed around us and at what price that’s how we are always able to give our customers something different at an affordable price.

What is your personal favorite from the entire collection?

My personal favorite from the entire collection has to be the Metallico collection which has mostly black base juttis and clutches with metal embellishments which are fierce, sassy, edgy, bold and beautiful at the same time.

I see that you have a separate section of kids collection which looks amazing. Do you plan to venture into men’s accessories anytime soon?

Designing for Men? A lot of my friends have been pushing me for it, but I am not too sure about it now. I want to take things slow just so I can handle it well.

For now the number of categories that we have keeps us working almost 24*7 , Until we master women’s and kid’s fashion we won’t be getting our hands into Men’s accessories anytime soon.

  The collection seems never ending….

What are the challenges you faced during the start-up in your business?

There are people who still don’t take girls seriously. They think they can take us for a ride. There were people who thought I am doing this just to pass time. And because it required a lot of field work-like going to be by-lanes of Chandni chowk, Karol Bagh, I was told to drop it since it wasn’t worth the effort many people said.

My father wanted me home before 8PM.

Initially I had started working with my best friend but that dint last for very long, we ended our partnership in 3 months along with our friendship. Our working methods did not match, our way of doing things were totally different. That’s when I learnt never to mix relationships into business. Since the brand was constantly growing I had to find the right people for my organization which is the biggest issue I think, who can help you progress.

Then as a startup you are expected to keep highly nominal prices to establish your footing in the market and let yourself be known to people. On top of all the hassles of establishing a brand, we always tried to give our customers the best experience shopping with us.

  Where do you see yourself and your organization in 10 years?

My dream & our aim is to become a large company and a recognized brand with hundreds of employees and perhaps thousands of orders in a day.  To do so, we have to invest in acquiring customers and giving them a great experience of premium, high quality & affordable products. I want to reach out to as many customers as we can and want my brand to be a Global one with stores all around the world.

Would you tell our readers about any new collection that they can look forward to.

We have recently launched a new collection of quirky ,floral prints. Perfect for the Summer!

There are many women out there who have the talent and the qualities of a successful entrepreneur but not many succeed. Would you like to give them any advise or tips?

Designing sounds very fancy and glamorous but it isn’t. Its is like any other business.

You design only 10% of the time and the remaining 90% goes in managing karigars/staff/maintainance/rent/electricity bills and GST haha It took us quite some time to understand that one. It just added on to the trouble now we file GST returns every month and the list is endless.

 So figure out what you want right at the outset,if you love to design, then work with a designer/firm and become irreplaceable there, aim big and if you want to own a business and take on all the paraphernalia that comes with it then do that, but get ready to hit rock bottom before you rise.

College , internships is the best time to figure out your strengths and who you are.Sometimes it is important to be on your own because it teaches you a lot—so travel ,study abroad to step out of your comfort zone if possible.

Any other message you would like to give to our readers.

Take your time to set up your own business even if you think you are talented and have sufficient funds,work under someone for a year or two,learn at their expense not your own.

Keep in touch with your faculty and friends and don’t be impatient. One needs to realize that they need to make the maximum of their time in college because that’s where you are laying down the foundation for your future career.

Le Amusant thanks Vanshika to agree to be a part of this enlightening interview and wishes that she continues to following her passion and inspire many other girls who wish to do the same.

If you have any story to tell or wish to be featured on our blog~azine, please leave a comment on the comment box below or mail us your story at fairyqueenbz@gmail.com.

In Conversation with Fashion Entrepreneur ~ Vanshika Ahuja "My mother has always been my Inspiration and she is the one who motivated me “unintentionally” to become an independent strong woman just like her."

[thesecondshiftblog]

Meet Michelle Reeves-- our March Featured Member!

Michelle Reeves is a perfect example of the saying, 'if you want to get something done give it to a busy person," she owns and runs two businesses and takes marketing projects through The Second Shift for clients such like Microsoft. Michelle is also part of our ecosystem-- she hires our members to do work for her businesses because she personally knows the quality of our talent pool! 

1. How many jobs do you have right now? I can't keep track of the businesses, side hustles, cities....

I've always described myself as a business addict and historically I'd find myself working on 3 or 4 businesses or consulting projects simultaneously. I'm the owner of David Family Wines and a co-founder of The Accessory Junkie. For the past year, I've been wholeheartedly consumed by building The Accessory Junkie. Growing fast and innovating our model coupled with nonstop travel around the world I've transitioned away from working on several businesses and now focus just on that one. However, I love to connect with other founders and help them with their businesses from time to time. I see it as an important part of the business ecosystem. 

We all end up helping each other. There's plenty of room for us all to thrive, we're better together.

2. Do you have more hours in the day than most people? Is that your superpower?

The Accessory Junkie is almost 18months old and over the past year, it's expanded quickly demanding more energy and time. While I can't make more hours in the day, I try to find ways to multi-task and cram more into each minute. I find the most productive hours for me are 4am - 6:30am. In the quiet of those dark hours, I can focus with great clarity and assurance knowing there won't be any interruptions from the kids or other calls coming in. I use that time to work on company strategy, build creative campaigns and look at the financials of the business. By 6:30am when my family starts waking up, I feel like I'm ahead of the day. Then, I can take the time I need to help my 3yr old and 5 yr old get ready for school and not feel like every minute I'm with them is a minute I'm falling behind in work. As a mother, I've also noticed how waking up on my own schedule (even though it's 4am) feels good. I try to go to bed early, around 9pm, and psychologically it helps to wake up at a time I decide, not when an alarm or little people come jumping into bed :)

3. You have successfully won two jobs through The Second Shift -- what is your unfair advantage?

The first half of my career was spent in the agency world. Advertising and marketing agencies are an intense training ground where you're constantly changing hats for each client. Creating new campaigns, new messages, adjusting your communication style for different client personalities, and looking into the different ways each brand operates. There's a rapid pace of learning that never ends. I think that experience helps tremendously in understanding what's most important for a client and being able to pitch it and deliver it quickly for them.

4. Why did you choose to hire using The Second Shift for your own business?

Having met other members of TSS I saw first hand the caliber of talent in the network. I like how efficient the process is to post a job and how fast it is to get the word out. I've tried other platforms for job postings before and it becomes quite time-consuming to go through every application. The majority are not qualified and as The Accessory Junkie is a fast growing business we don't have the luxury of time to interview and vet candidates who aren't a great fit. We love the vetting process of TSS where candidates can only apply for jobs they're pre-qualified for.

4.I would love your thoughts on how you look at pitching for projects and selling/branding yourself

Be specific. While there are many things you can do well, identify the one thing you can do the best that the client is looking for and be specific about how well you can do it.

5. Here is one of your winning pitches-- why do you think it stands out?

I try not to overthink it and keep it brief. Giving a toppling example of the direct impact your work has had is important. Adding in a few numbers that show the depth of your experience or specific results is crucial. Don't be afraid to sound confident. Give enough info to excite and intrigue but leave them wanting more so the natural conclusion is they want a phone call with you.

michelle@davidfamily.com - Hi, I have 18 years of international marketing experience and the am owner/co-founder of several consumer brand businesses and also own the trademark for leather label packaging in wine. I understand the unique challenges during an early raise and have worked with companies across all stages to write their investor decks. These companies have all successfully raised $200K - $1.5M in early stage funding using the materials I produced. I would be happy to share examples of my work. I have specific experience in beauty, I helped craft the investor deck and refine their in-person presentation skills to raise $1.2M (with angels and VC). Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to the opportunity to work with you. Best Michelle

You can hire Michelle, or other expert women go-getters like her by posting a job on The Second Shift. Michelle is currently looking to hire a PR pro in the LA area for her company Accessories Junkie-- log in to pitch or refer a candidate by emailing members@thesecondshift.com

[connorrenwick]

This Venice Shop Is Bringing the Best of Brazilian Design to the West Coast

Brazil has a thriving design scene (there’s pages and pages of evidence here) and now for Los Angeles residents, you don’t have to book a ticket down south to see it for yourself. Sao Paulo native Ana Kozak is determined to bring the best of Brazilian design to the West Coast at her newly opened store, Le Magazyn, in Venice, California.

Le Magazyn is the exclusive representative of the prestigious Brazilian furniture Espasso on the West Coast.

Interior designers have been moving away from creating cookie-cutter replicas of catalogue pages these days, mixing vintage with mid-century, contemporary, handmade, local and high-end design. For those looking to add unique, one-of-a-kind pieces to their homes, this one stop shop carries a curated selection of original handcrafted home goods, fashion, table-top accessories, jewelry, furniture and art that are all handcrafted by global and Brazilian artisans. Today we chat with Ana about some of the best selling Brazilian designs in her shop and how the name Le Magazyn came about.

Why did you pick this city?

I chose Venice Beach because I identify with this neighborhood. It’s a vibrant, eclectic and inclusive community where you can see and engage with people from all walks of life – anyone can be part of it. Also, as many major cities experience, this area on the Westside is going through a gentrification process which I relate to being from Sao Paulo and having a multicultural background. This diversity feels like home.

Regarding the building, it’s an original construction from 1904 and it was love at first sight! I remodeled, however I was careful to preserve its original structure. It has high ceilings and an incredible natural light.

Where did you get the name for the store? 

The Portuguese word “magazine” means store in an old-fashioned way, it refers to the old shops that used to sell a little bit of everything. In French “Magazin” also means store so I played with the words and merged the two and added a playful “Y” to the mix. For me it is also an homage from the time I lived in Paris, which was an amazing personal experience.

Has it changed much since it opened? How?

Yes, the store has changed quite bit, even though we’ve been open for a little over a year. I feel that the store is settling into its own personality, which sounds funny but it’s true!  The store is more mature from when I first opened doors. When we launched, I had a different idea of what I wanted this place to be and with time and valuable feedback from clients and friends, it has changed shape and grown. The essence of our business remains the same, we aim to showcase high-end Brazilian design and offer pieces that are unique and exclusive from what you’ll find in other stores in LA.

What’s one of the challenges you have with the business? 

As a small business owner, there are so many challenges, that it can be hard to name one. I like to say that in retail, we have to kill a dragon every day! It’s a Portuguese reference, but in all seriousness the retail business has gone through such a transformation and it’s hard to navigate what the future looks like. People shop differently today than they did 20 years ago, there’s been a tremendous shift in the shopping experience and there’s a lot of competition when it comes to retail. Between technology, online shops, instant shops, corporate shops, mass production and competitive pricing it can be a lot to take on as a small business owner.

While it’s extremely challenging to watch a boutique, restaurant or small business close its doors in place for a big chain or corporate brand to fill, it’s more important we stay on top of these shifts in the marketplace. For Le Magazyn, we know that there are many people who appreciate and value a more exclusive shopping experience. The touch and feeling of a product are important to our audience as is the opportunity to be surrounded by handmade, one-of-a-kind or limited-production pieces.

In my opinion nothing replaces this personal interaction. When you can get to know the provenance of the pieces, the story behind each piece and how they are made, or even presented with the opportunity to meet the designer in-person; These are the experiences that we are constantly aiming to offer our customers.

So, while the challenges may seem huge, it’s the enjoyment we receive from our customers who appreciate the in-store experience that is the most motivating and gratifying!

What other stores have you worked in before opening this one?

Believe it or not, this is my first experience in retail. Before opening Le Magazyn I did a lot of research to understand the market, but you never know until you’re fully immersed.

What’s your favorite item in the store right now?

As the curator of the store I love to discover new pieces. Right now, I’m super excited with my latest find, from Brazilian designer Claudia Savelli. Her maxi bijoux pieces have a lot of personality and are handcrafted with sailing ropes in her studio located in the Jardin Botanico neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro.

What is this season’s theme/inspiration/story?

At Le Magazyn, we are less focused on trends and more focused on cultivating a unique product selection that is timeless and made to endure the seasons. Each of our products carries its own story and we like to be the storytellers for these brands here in the US.

Are you carrying any new products and/or undiscovered gems you’re particularly excited about?

Almost everything we carry is still an undiscovered gem, and we can say that because much of what we offer are exclusively available in the US at Le Magazyn! We are proud to be a destination for the LA Market that specializes in Brazilian design. That said, here’s some highlights from the store – it’s hard to choose one piece.

Manus Studio with their Buddha Collection

Thais Costa jewelry – She’s a molecular biologist turned jewelry artist that works with the effects produced by fire and different manual movement

Heloisa Galvão’s liquid porcelain vases

What’s been a consistent best seller?

Everyone loves Paula Ferber’s sandals and handmade bags and the Flavia Del Pra tile tray are always a huge hit (we’re the exclusive carrier of Flavia’s trays and ceramic tiles in the US). We always have new patterns and styles, but these are probably our best sellers and what most people look for when the walk in the store.

Does the store have its own line?

Not yet, however we did just introduce a limited-edition of tile trays with the Brazilian designer and ceramicist Flavia Del Pra. The exclusive print for Le Magazyn is called the Balcony Print and not only are they offered in trays, she’s also doing tile so our cash wrap features her print – it’s beautiful!

Any special events/exhibits/pop ups/collaborations coming up?

Yes! We always have revolving exhibitions in the store and it’s our goal to bring in the designers and artists so that our customers and clients have the opportunity to meet the creatives behind the products. Coming up this month – September 13th – Brazilian fine art photographer, Betina Samaia will showcase her “Amazonia” series. Betina’s work mixes stunning night photos with light painting, she’s extremely talented and she tends to photograph places that normally do not lend themselves to photographs, places that are full of mystery and abundant of possibilities. Her work has been influenced by the Impressionist painters: subtle lines and contours, strong colors, images that go beyond what we see – combining reality and imagination. The exhibition will be her unique vision of Amazonia using an infra-red lens.

Do you have anything from the store in your own home?

Yes, I do have many pieces! I have the liquid porcelain vases from Heloisa Galvão, a tile tray from Flavia del Pra, pieces from Manus studio, and I have an amazing photo from Claudio Edinger’s “Venice Beach” exhibition, that we hosted last year. Ah, I almost forgot, I also have a JZ tea trolley by the great Jorge Zalzsupin.

What’s next for you and your store? 

My passion is for curating and using my knack for design to produce interesting and unexpected results. My challenge is to stay away from the obvious and to transform Le Magazyn into a must-visit destination for high-end Brazilian design as well as produce engaging content and divulge the works of these amazing artists and designers.

Looking ahead, we want to focus on collaborations and bringing new and emerging designers and artists to Le Magazyn.

What’s one lesson you’ve learned since opening your store?

My first and most valuable lesson was involving inventory management. In the beginning, I bought too many of the same pieces, but thank god at the end of the day we sold through everything. The second most important lesson that I live by every day is that you must innovate constantly.

If you could give one piece of advice to someone who wants to follow a similar path to yours, what would it be?

I don’t want to sound cliché, but follow your gut and don’t be afraid to fail. Falling and getting back up is part of life and has an important role in any learning process. We all celebrate the winners but I’m sure they all passed through a lot of difficulties to finally succeed. So, for that reason, my only advice is persistence, persistence, persistence! Do not give up easily!

Every path is different and unfortunately there isn’t a recipe for success. I wish I had it to share and for myself!

Visit Le Magazyn at 904 Pacific Ave, Venice, CA 90291.

via http://design-milk.com/

from WordPress https://connorrenwickblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/05/this-venice-shop-is-bringing-the-best-of-brazilian-design-to-the-west-coast/

[alinemiami]

The Benefits of Having a Diverse Workforce

Most of us would like to think of ourselves as being open minded, respectful of other cultures, points of views and life styles.  But do we really proactively strive to emerge ourselves in foreign knowledge?   Do we see the benefits of becoming friends with people that are from completely different backgrounds in the workplace (and outside of it), or do we gravitate towards those that look, think and speak similarly to us?  Do organizations really understand the benefits (and shortfalls) of having diversity in the workplace?  Scholars have written numerous articles and have even operationalized racism and prejudice (against not only race, nationality, gender and religion, but also against sexual orientation) by developing scales and surveying hundreds of subjects.  Most of the articles I researched still suggest we are far from an ideal society where we can all look beyond the color of our skins, the root of our religious beliefs, beyond our birth places and whom we choose to love and share our lives with. I still think results of such studies are skewed and the reality is much more eerie than most of us would like to admit because it is hard to answer these questions accurately - the truth of the matter is that there is a significant disconnect between what people say they think and do, and what theyreally think and do, making answers to such studies biased.  And that disconnect makes it impossible to gauge how open to diversity we really are as individuals.  

However, on a corporate level, we can look at data to try to understand where we are at in terms of diversity in the workplace.  According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics in the last 3 decades the white civilian workforce has remained relatively stable with a slight projected decrease in 2020, whereas non-white workers have shown a steady growth and represents a larger percentage of the workforce. Of course this trend is due to the same trends in the growth of the general population, which directly influences the numbers of the civilian workforce. And the reason for this upward trend in non-white residents (and therefore, workers) is largely due to the fact that the USA is in essence made up of immigrants.  “Immigration has a major role in the growth and makeup of the racial and ethnic composition of the U.S. resident population. Every race and ethnicity is projected to grow over the 2010–2020 period. However, the share of White non-Hispanics in the total resident population is expected to decrease.” (BLS Monthly Labor Review • January 2012).   This data indicates that we are moving in the direction of not only a more diverse workforce, but also a more diverse population in general.  Therefore, it is important to look deeper into the benefits of having diversity in the workplace.

Fostering diversity offers many benefits to corporations. Forget thinking outside of the box, in a diverse workforce, some of the employees may have a difficult time even seeing a box to begin with, because they bring insight from across the globe that could prove to be innovative in nature. When having a diverse workforce, corporations have access to a much larger pool of creative solutions to problems. Each employee may have unique talents and experiences, bringing the organization to new heights in terms of flexibility and adaptability to various customer’s demands.

As Ordyx’s (a technology company located in Boca Raton, FL) co-founder David Marrero explains:

“Ordyx works with customers with very diverse cultural and educational backgrounds. As a result of the diversity within the company, we are able to use the backgrounds of our own staff to help us better understand and service our customers. Understanding our customers allows our staff to better suggest to them an Ordyx configuration that best matches their preferences. An example would be the effective use of the language skills in Ordyx. Having recently signed our first customer in Panama, we have had to integrate Ordyx with the local fiscal printing required by the government in Panama. Having assigned a Spanish speaker software developer has made the interaction with the local contacts in Panama that much easier. The effective interaction has allowed us to speed up the development efforts related to the integration.”

Ordyx is a prime example of a company that fully understands the benefits of having a diverse workforce and capitalizes on this competitive advantage to gain market share, increase efficiency and achieve superior customer service.  The company was founded by a Dutch computer programmer and a Puerto Rican MBA graduate, and signed its first customer in 2004.  They have grown tremendously since then, always having a solid vision that diversity would help them stay in the cutting edge of technology. Ordyx was one of the first Point of Sell companies (POS) to offer cloud-based POS services to hospitality establishments in the USA - an innovative idea at the time that now has become industry standard. Today, Ordyx employs 20 people, from 10 different nationalities and remains on the leading edge of their industry thanks to the forward thinking mentality of the entire organization.

When asked about how they achieved such a high level of diversity in their organization, David Marrero, once again explained: “Diversity at Ordyx has been a byproduct of both South Florida's melting pot as well as the founders' previous experiences and backgrounds. Coming from such diverse places as The Netherlands and Puerto Rico gave Remon and I a deep understanding of the advantages that different points of views or starting points can provide. In addition to that, having worked in international projects with countries as diverse as US, Mexico, Israel, Taiwan, etc provided a deep understanding of how to work and maximize the value of a diverse team. Therefore, we try to be as open-minded as possible in our recruiting efforts in terms of gender, age, nationality and backgrounds.  What we look for is the right attitude that will fit in with our corporate culture, and then we provide the training to create excellence in the workplace.”

Another great benefit of having a diverse workplace is that it increases job satisfaction and customer satisfaction simultaneously.  In a 2013 article published by Harvard Business Review, 24 CEO’s from highly successful global companies that are known for embracing diversity (such as Avon,  IKEA and Bank of America) were interviewed and the pervasive message is that diversity not only contributes to creativity and innovation, but also to a more satisfied workforce as well as a more satisfied customer base. “A diverse workforce also prevents an organization from becoming too insular and out of touch with its increasingly heterogeneous customer base. Many of the CEOs asserted that it is crucial for a company’s employees to reflect the people they serve. Brian Moynihan of Bank of America saw an important link to customer satisfaction: ‘When internal diversity and inclusion scores are strong, and employees feel valued, they will serve our customers better, and we’ll be better off as an organization.” (Great Leaders Who Make the Mix Work, by Boris Groysberg and Katherine Connolly, Harvard Business Review, 2013)

Therefore, to all CEOs and high level management out there: Make sure that diversity and inclusiveness is part of your corporate culture and vision.  Only hiring people that you feel comfortable with and that you connect with is a common survival instinct – fight that instinct and you will see a surge in creativity in your organization.  By embracing differences, you will expand the pool of knowledge and skills that are available to you, thus gaining leverage over your competitors. As Stephen R. Covey (an international leadership expert, author, and graduate of Harvard Business School) once said: “Strength lies in differences, not in similarities”

About the author: Aline is a Marketing executive with over 20 years of experience in global corporations that are leaders in their fields with highly diverse workforces. She graduated with a double major in Management and International Business, and later obtained a MBA with emphasis in Marketing. Currently she holds a position of Business Development Specialist for the College of Engineering and Computing at Nova Southeastern University, in Davie, FL. Her career has taken her on business trips to forge new relationships in a variety of countries such as Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, Switzerland, and many others, giving her a broad understanding and appreciation of different cultures and societal issues. Aline is passionate about learning other cultures, languages and customs, and, of course, about traveling. Originally from Brazil, she is also a wife, mother and a sprint triathlete.

[athena29stone]

Amazon Alexa in the Classroom

Episode 108 with Bill Selak

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter

Bill Selak @billselak shares how he’s using Amazon’s Alexa via the Echo and Dot in the classroom. He shares the ideal grades (in his opinion) and how the Echo is an “assistant” of sorts for his teachers. He also talks about how his school made an app for the Echo and about the biggest mistake they made in implementation.

Stream by clicking here.

Download the transcript or scroll down to read an organized transcript on this page.

Click the button for iTunes or Stitcher to subscribe to this show

    Bio as Submitted by Guest

Bill Selak is the Director of Technology at Hillbrook School in Los Gatos, California. He is an Apple Distinguished Educator, ISTE 2014 Kay L. Bitter Vision Award recipient, ISTE 2013 Emerging Leader, and a Google Certified Innovator. Bill is currently obsessed with sharing his professional learning on Snapchat.

Transcript

www.coolcatteacher.com/e108

 [Recording starts 0:00:00]

About the Podcast

Starting the week of July 3rd, for three weeks, we’re going to be taking a well-needed summer break from the Ten-minute Teacher. But I wanted to take the chance today to thank those who have supported me on Patreon. You can go to patreon.com/coolcatteacher.

Thank You’s

And I want to give a shout out to Evelyn PV, Deborah Johnson and Gina Boyd. I also want to give a shout out to four people who have recently left iTunes reviews; William D. Parker, Diana Maher, Always Learning Admin, and Teacher Mike. I do appreciate those reviews, and it does really help other people find the show. I am so grateful for all of you listening to the Ten-minute Teacher and telling your friends.

For this first season, I also have to thank Lisa Durff, the most amazing research assistant, extraordinaire in the world. And also, my dear husband Kip, who has been an incredible producer. And I hope you guys will give him a shout out, because he’s really done a tremendous job editing the show. I had no idea we would be on such an adventure or so many of you would listen, and I’m really grateful. Thank you so much. And have a great summer.     

About This Episode

Episode 108. The Amazon Echo in the classroom. This is a special ISTE Episode. And I do want to warn you. After some discussion, we decided not to bleep out what we say to activate the Amazon Echo. So if you have one, you might want to listen on headphones or turn the Echo off so we don’t activate your Echo. Enjoy the show. And I hope all of you have enjoyed all the ISTE goodness.

The Ten-minute Teacher podcast with Vicki Davis. Every week day you’ll learn powerful practical ways to be a more remarkable teacher today.

[00:02:00]

How Bill Selak is Using the Amazon Echo in the Classroom

VICKI:          Happy Edtech tool Tuesday. Okay, so I have an Amazon Echo in my kitchen and I love it. But Bill Selak @billselak is using it in his classroom. Bill, how are you using the Amazon Echo?

Note from Vicki Davis: There is the Echo – http://amzn.to/2uz1KHp and the smaller, Echo Dot http://amzn.to/2tcp6PD. Technically, I have the Echo Dot hooked to speakers in my kitchen. Many people who have speakers in their classroom already are just using an echo Dot and hooking it into their class speakers.  

BILL:    Yeah. So that’s a great question, Vicki. We actually have it in all of our first and second-grade classrooms. I got the idea talking with Scott Bedley; @Scotteach  he’s a fifth-grade teacher in Irvine. He applied for a grant and actually got four of them for his classroom, and put one in each corner. And just, he had kind of a hunch and was like, how might we use these as learning tools? Because he was feeling overwhelmed with students coming to him, what’s this and what’s that. You know, in fifth grade, the state report is a big thing in California.

So, like, you know, well, what’s the capital of Massachusetts; and he’s like, just look it up. So all those kind of low-level stuff, students were able to actually use the Echo to get the information from, which freed him up for the more interesting things that I think teachers would want to be doing, like looking really critically at some of these projects.

So I heard him talk about that about thought, wow, how might we use those at Hillbrook School? And so was just telling the story at lunch to Sarah Lee, one of our second-grade teachers, and she was like, “that’s amazing; I would love to have one of those in my classroom; imagine the things you could do.”

So at the lunch table, I just took out my iPhone, bought an Amazon Echo for her and put it in the second-grade classroom, and she was blown away. And so she got it. And we have two sections of second grade; so then the other second-grade teacher thought, well, that’s really cool, I hear students talk about it all the time. You know, they share students an awful lot. And so they would go into the other second-grade class and say, you know, where is the Echo? Or even better, sometimes they’re just…

Or even better, sometimes they’re just…

VICKI:          Where’s Alexa?

BILL:            They’re just like, hey, Alexa; what’s the – and nothing replied.

VICKI:          Oh. Talking to nothing. I guess she’s not in there.

BILL:            I know. And then first and second grade, all four of those classrooms, share one building. We call it a pod. And the first-grade teachers had a couple of Amazon Echos at home, and so they asked, how might we use these in first grade? And that seems to be the sweet spot.

Takeaway: First and second grade seems to be the ‘sweet spot’ for Amazon Echo devices according to Bill Selak and what he’s seen in his school.

[00:04:00]

                    Talking with the kindergarten teachers, and they weren’t particularly excited with the use of it. And we even tried it in a third-grade class, and third-graders got just so excited that no matter what, Alexa will always talk back at you. And so just kind of first and second grade for us, kind of for our culture to be the sweet spot for it. So we’re using it a lot for just really basic facts that are so super important as a first-grader and as a second-grader, so, like, how to spell things and double-checking math facts.

So things that students want to know they got right, so it’s not like a way to cheat, which is a great thing about the Echo. If you’re doing like two-digit addition, if you shout across the room, hey, what’s 24 plus 36, everyone is going to know that actually the Amazon Echo is giving you the answer. But if you’re doing a little bit of work on your own, you can just walk over quietly and say, what’s 24 plus 36; you get the answer and go, cool, I’m right.

So it’s enabled us, in first and second grade, for students to have way more control over their learning and in double-checking things, and it’s freed the teacher from that bottleneck of, how do you spell this, how do you spell this, considering writing time; the teachers are able to work on the more interesting things like story, and let’s try and get a really good hook, and the students write the spelling, which, again, is a really important part of second grade; to be able to spell correctly, it empowers the students to take ownership over their own spelling. So it’s been really cool.

How the Amazon Echo Works

VICKI:          You’re blowing my mind. But I have a couple of questions. So those of you who have not had an Amazon Echo, the way that you activate, it’s kind of like “OK Siri”, and now probably all the devices on my desk are going to go crazy. And I’m actually hoping that Alexa doesn’t hear me from the kitchen. You say Alexa, and then you tell Alexa what to do, and then she’ll do a variety of things, whether it’s, you know, play Jimmy Buffet or set a timer or what’s the news; there’s just so many things you can do. Now, do you have more than one Echo in a classroom?

[00:06:00]

BILL:            We have not tried that. We’re just putting one in every classroom.

VICKI:          See, I’m afraid to do that. Because I would be afraid that she would hear the different places. Now, here’s the next thing; does the school actually have the Amazon account?

BILL:            Yes. So that’s how we did that.

VICKI:          Okay. But you turned off purchasing, obviously. Because if you turn on purchasing at the house, you can say, you know, Amazon, deliver some dog food, and she’ll do it.

BILL:            Yeah, exactly. We have one account right now. And I’ve heard that Amazon is looking at ways of schoolifying these to make them so that a school can own it and it feels a little bit less like, “hey, buy some more fruit loops,” and you’re able to use it. Like, the interface becomes more education-facing.

VICKI:          Yeah. The thing I love is that you can actually look back and see all the things that have been searched on Alexa. So you can monitor it. It’s not like she’s being asked all kinds of things without you knowing what they are; you can actually look and see what those are.

BILL:            Exactly. That’s so powerful, actually, for the teacher to get the analytics on what are students wanting to double-check spelling on.

VICKI:          You know, when I heard, I saw it on Facebook, and you all were talking about using the Echo in a classroom. And I’m like, why didn’t I think of that? I use it all the time. And I’m calling her her, and it’s a thing. What are your teachers thinking about this?

Teacher Response to the Echo in the Classroom

BILL:            It’s great. They actually don’t talk that much about it, which I think is one of the greatest things you can have with technology, is that it just becomes another tool. Like, our teachers aren’t talking about scissors; oh my gosh, we have these new scissors, can I show you how great the scissors are? You might do that like the first day, and then it’s another tool. So Amazon Echo has really just become that pretty quickly.

We went from one classroom to four classrooms in just two years, and it’s another tool; it’s another great thing they can do. We also have TVs, Apple TVs hooked up; beginning of the day, had some kind of mellow, chill music as students come in.

[00:08:00]

                    And that used to be on the TV. And I’ve seen, depending on, I guess, their mood, sometimes they’ll just be playing on the Echo, just having some nice music in the background.

VICKI:          You can just say, you know, Alexa, play some calm music or play some piano music. I mean, you can just say whatever and it just plays it.

BILL:            Exactly.

The Biggest Mistake Made While Implementing the Amazon Echo

VICKI:          So as we finish up, now, we have to say that this is actually part of your whole school life movement to more flexible classroom. And we are going to do an upcoming episode on that, because that’s really the big picture. This is just a tool that’s part of this student-customized environment. But, Bill, what do you think the biggest mistake that you made with the Echo when you first got it?

BILL:            I think the biggest mistake was not setting expectations with students. If you introduce it and say, this is the coolest thing, you can ask it anything, and all you need to say is, hey, Alexa; if that’s how you tee it up, then every human, I would imagine, is going to go, hey, Alexa. But if you talk about, hey, there’s this amazing tool that will help us check math facts, help us check spelling, will give us all kinds of facts, will actually tell jokes also; that’s a big part of the culture at Hillbrook School, is telling jokes. We do that school-wide every Monday. And so, you know, Alexa will even tell us jokes. But saying, here is what we’re going to be using it for so that students see it immediately as an educational tool in the classroom and not just, oh, I can ask it any random question, and be silly around it. And that’s so important. And that’s just, you would do that classroom management-wise with any new thing.

We do that school-wide every Monday. And so, you know, Alexa will even tell us jokes. But saying, here is what we’re going to be using it for so that students see it immediately as an educational tool in the classroom and not just, oh, I can ask it any random question, and be silly around it. And that’s so important. And that’s just, you would do that classroom management-wise with any new thing.

Amazon Alexa Skills

VICKI:          Yes. And they can be silly because you can tell Alexa to talk like a pirate, can’t you?

BILL:            Yes, you can. You can also – you might not know this one. One of our parents actually built a skill – that’s what these little apps are called on Amazon Echos – a skill called the Hillbrook bear, so you can download that skill and say, hey, Alexa, ask Hillbrook bear, and the Hillbrook bear will give you, like, what letter day it is and what school-wide events they are.

Note: A Skill is an app for the Amazon Echo devices. See how to create an Amazon Echo Skill in 6 steps. 

[0010:00]

                    So we’ve actually used that as part of kind of our morning meeting each morning to find out what’s happening schoolwide. So that’s been a really cool thing also. It’s more than just talking like a pirate.

VICKI:          Yeah. Because skills are something you can add features and functionality. So we have 30 seconds left. What are the – you’ve already talked about math, you’ve talked about spelling, and now you’ve talked about a special app just for your school. Is there anything else cool that people need to know about the Amazon Echo will do in the classroom?

BILL:            So I love just the inquiry that second-graders do around it. When they got it, it was just, what questions do you have. And the second-grade class shared that with me, and it was just 100 Post-it notes. And they went through, like, what’s a question that a database can answer and that can’t answer, and talked about opinions and facts. And it led into so many amazing authentic discussions.

Teaching Tip: Classrooms using Amazon Echos might want to have a discussion about fact versus opinion. Bill’s suggestion here is a great tip for teaching. 

Instead of just saying, today, we’re talking about fact and opinion; you can frame it around, so Alexa didn’t answer this question because it’s an opinion, let’s talk about that. So it became just really authentic learning that was much more student-driven than it otherwise would have been.

Is Alexa an Artificial Intelligence App?

VICKI:          Would you call Alexa AI, artificial intelligence, or not?

BILL:            I don’t know. I think the jury is out on that one. I think that it’s a specific thing; you could make a case either way.

VICKI:          Yeah. Because, really, it’s almost like the semantic web; it’s just accessing the web with your voice, right?

BILL:            Yeah. I think it’s more of just that and other specific things. It can search and query and give you the results of. I don’t think that it really learns in the way that we think of as artificial intelligence.

VICKI:          Yeah. Okay, so we’ve hopefully given you an exciting new tool to consider for your classroom, the Amazon Echo. Happy Edtech Tool Tuesday.

  Thank you for listening to the Ten-minute Teacher Podcast. You can download the show notes and see the archive at coolcatteacher.com/podcast. Never stop learning.

  [End of Audio 0:11:51]

  [Transcription created by tranzify.com. Some additional editing has been done to add grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors. Every attempt has been made to correct spelling. For permissions, please email lisa@coolcatteacher.com]

The post Amazon Alexa in the Classroom appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

from Cool Cat Teacher BlogCool Cat Teacher Blog http://www.coolcatteacher.com/amazon-alexa-classroom/

[thegypsysoulstyle-blog]

Goa, Goa… What do I even begin with?

There was a kind of adrenaline gush inside me when I actually started packing off my bags. I opened my diary of wish-list where I actually started jotting down the list of places I want to go and there it was ‘GOA’! I quickly went into the memory lane of ‘Dil Chahta Hai’, when as a kid I always dreamt of going to this awesome getaway but could not make it until I was 24! Ha-ha! You read that right!

The Portuguese houses, the pristine blue beach with golden sand, the GOA VIVA CARNIVAL ’17 and my gypsy soul, I had enough reasons to justify this trip! My first stay in Goa only lasted 4 days and 3 nights, which makes it an unbelievably short stay for such an amazing place.

So of course, the first thing I did is research all of Goa’s must dos. And there are many. This took me about a week as I tried to gather as much information as possible, varying from shopping to food, to churches, night clubs, beaches … And the list goes on and everything, you’ll need at least a few check points. You want to make sure you visit all the different areas and avoid the tacky, overpriced, tourist things that will take away the charm of your experience. I am so excited to share with you this Goa guide, inspired by my experience in the city. It is definitely a place where I’d like to go back each year at least to get my fix up whether it’s beach, vintage, beauty or simply the vibe which is so tremendously inspiring. You’ll fall in love instantly and re-discover yourself like you never have before. Are you ready? Ok, let’s go.

The Stay

My hotel was nearly at one hour distance from the Dabolim Airport, near by the Candolim Beach. (I booked it through makemetrip.com and yes let me tell you, I got a good deal even during the peak time of VIVA CARNIVAL GOA 2017). Immediately, in the next day morning I hired a scooty for myself so that I could easily indulge myself in every nook and corner of the G-town.

A Portuguese architecture inspired boutique spotted on my way to Panjim.

Food

Food in Goa is a curious affair, especially for the vegetarians. Ahem! It can be either SOOO good, or so deceiving and overpriced. It’s honestly all a matter of luck. But no worries, local people to the rescue! The localities in Goa are the best people who can indicate you what places to go to, it can be a very easy to hit or miss. During this trip I had my ups and downs. It’s not because you go to a fancy restaurant that you’ll have a good cuisine experience and seeking restaurants in the street is honestly a matter of stumbling upon a good one. So definitely ask the Goan localities for recommendations, they always have good tips for what’s around. Or else, ZOMATO on the tip of finger and you end up finding a good deal.

CCD near my stay

Shopping

Before anything, when you come to Goa make sure to leave lots of room for new finds in your suitcase (or just get a new one) because Goa is literally shopping heaven… If you’re scared of dressing up, don’t be in Goa. You can wear the craziest outfit and no one will pay particular attention as they are so used to absolutely crazy personal styles. People watching in Goa is the most fascinating thing Get your hands on some sick cap, sunglasses, vintage inspired chandeliers, hand-embroidered bags and handicrafts. If you like street shopping and artist’s merchandizing you’ll find yourself in heaven.

Goa is the place to let your inner Lady Gaga out if you have any fashion fantasies. Think of the craziest thing you’d like to find and you’ll probably find it there. The nicest the store looks, the more pricey it tends to get. But the products tend to be the same. Honestly, go for the shadiest boutiques, you’ll find real treasures for less than half the price and everyone will ask you where you got it.

Shopping paradise near Baga Beach

The Beaches

Goa’s beaches cover about 125 kms i.e it has almost more than 50 beaches of its coastline. These beaches are divided into North and South Goa. A notable exception in South Goa is Palolem Beach which features basic accommodation and is one of the most visited beaches in Goa. The further south you go, the more isolated the beaches get. Some of the more popular beaches are Colva, Calangute, Baga and Anjuna, Candolim, Vagator, Querim. These beaches are lined up with shacks that provide fresh sea food and drinks. Quality food is again a challenge here. So make sure, you do your research well-in-hand.

Since, my hotel was near by the Candolim beach, I took most of my time spending in North Goa. I went to the Candolim beach at the evening, the day I landed in Goa. Sleeping on the cold sand beneath the stars. *phew*  this feeling, can’t be defined into words. The Baga and Calungute beaches are the ones which attracts a lot of tourists but girls, just be a little alert when it comes to visiting there because they are extremely over- crowded. I found the Querim beach one of the best beaches in North Goa. White sand, blue water and the Ajuna Fort View. WOW! Nothing could be better than this.

Night life.

Cold sand, loud music and a beer in hand chills down my spine. Nothing compares to the nightlife in Goa. And hell, thanks to the wonderful beaches that make it a hotspot for party animals. Most of the people end up flocking here year after year for its vibrating beach shacks, high-on-energy pubs and live music scenes. There’s really something fascinating about the vibe that it has and makes you kick your 6-inches to the curb.( I’m talking about your credit card *wink wink*).

I’ve zeroed down to a list of must visit clubs in Goa. The much hyped of the iconic Titos (Café Mambos, Hype, Capetown Café) gains a lot of attraction but nevertheless new concepts keep coming in and I was amused when these  innovative clubs grabbed my attention.

LPK (Love Passion Karma)

SinQ

Leopard Valley

Cohiba

Club Cubana    

The famous cruises in Goa : The Deltin (above) and Casino Pride (below)

The Carnival

When: February, before Easter Where: Entire Goa Duration: Three Days Highlights: Street plays, songs, dances, parades, feasting and merry making

One of the most colorful and popular festival of Goa is the Goa Carnival. This three day extravaganza, of fun, frolic, amusement and merry-making, takes place in the month of February. The Goa Carnival festival is one of the most eagerly awaited events of the year. Though essentially a Christian festival, all people of Goa, irrespective of their faith and religion take part in this festival.

Here’s a  you-tube video for VIVA CARNIVAL 2017:

So overall, the beauty of the city is definitely to get absorbed by it, walk around and get lost to find cute little shops and restaurants. And please save enough time to do that, don’t over plan everything otherwise you’ll miss on the beauty of spontaneously experiencing Goa which actually might be my favorite part of it. I absolutely loved with all my heart. You can just go on and on without ever taking a rest and you’ll barely notice your feet hurting because you spent your whole day walking around, loosing yourself in the endless possibilities this place has to offer. I am sure most of us have been to Goa, I couldn’t recommend it enough. It’s a trip that’ll definitely change the vibe once you are back to home.

If you go, make sure to stay for at least a week if not more and just allow Goa to guide you through. Plan a few things ahead but let this place take you. There’s a sense of crazy freedom that you’ll experience there, that’ll inspire you for the rest of your life. I hope this guide made you want to plan a trip right now because I am most definitely going back soon. And this time it’s going to be South Goa and vintage places !

“C’est la vie” folks!

#GoodVibestoAll :)

Shout Out to the beaches ! And it’s GOA ! Goa, Goa... What do I even begin with? There was a kind of adrenaline gush inside me when I actually started packing off my bags.