Proof in practice that my baby weight calculator works

Interesting... the software we are required to use in New Zealand for maternity documentation converted 3175g to 6lb 15oz. My site calculator converted it to 7lb. The precise conversion is 6lb 15.99oz so it is much more accurate to round up to the 7lb.

Blog Revival

I still had my old blog posts here on Blogger. I tracked down entries that were on blognessie.com and nzmidwife.net . I have moved them over and kept some of them locked to my personal account and imported my old entries here. Way back in the early 2000's there was so much link spamming with webrings and reciprocal mentions. It was fun but much of that seems redundant now. I am unsure if I should keep them for the novelty and reference to sites and services that no longer exist. These entries will feed through to pages on my main site at www.nessinnz.com . This will demonstrate the overlap between my areas of interest and it will be fascinating to see what grows the fastest... and, yes... I am writing this while on a night shift.

I Don't Do Fluff

I have been thinking about voice lately. Not the grand literary kind. More the practical sense of how a person comes across when they open their mouth, send a message, write a note, or try to explain something without wanting to die of second-hand embarrassment from unnecessary padding.

Apparently I do not do fluff.

This was reported back to me with suspicious accuracy by AI, which is funny because AI fluff is one of the things that makes me want to throw a chair. It's the text version of a selfie run through a filter — patting its own back, dressed up to look good rather than telling you anything true. I want truth, accuracy, insight. Not a flattering reflection.

That is not me.

I am not very good at small talk. I can do it, in the same sense that I can probably use a blunt vegetable peeler if required, but it takes more out of me than it looks like from the outside. Some days I navigate the social padding fine. Some days I don't. Either way, I like substance. Pattern. Useful detail. What is actually going on. If there is a point, I want it early. If there is a problem, name it. If there is a fix, excellent, let's get on with it.

I was pleased the warmth came through and got identified in that read. I get read as blunt, sometimes harsh — that's the usual interpretation when people don't know me well. But unkindness isn't the intent. Rudeness, meanness, that's not what I'm doing. The people who actually know me know I'm trying to do better than that. So when the read landed on direct, compressed, sharp — but warm — that mattered.

I do not tend to do decorative emotion. If I care, I usually get specific. The actual person. The actual problem. The actual thing that mattered. That is probably why my writing can read brisk until you know how to hear it. For anything more formal — an email, a letter, person-to-person or person-to-business — I still build it on SCRAP, a structure I picked up in my early twenties: Situation, Complication, Resolution, Action, Politeness. This post isn't that. But the instinct for structure over padding runs through how I build most things, not just writing.

There is also, apparently, a dry sideways humour running through things. Also true. I am rarely trying to be funny in a formal sense. I just notice when something is absurd, badly phrased, structurally ridiculous, or one nudge away from being unintentionally hilarious. Then I cannot unsee it.

The other part that felt true is that I make logical leaps. Quite a lot of them, probably. I know where I am going and sometimes forget that other people have not done the same internal sprint across the ravine. So if I come across as abrupt now and then, it is often not because I have nothing more to say. It is because I have accidentally edited out the bridge.

That, I think, is the actual writing lesson.

Not "be softer". Not "add fluff". Definitely not "make it sound more like AI wrote it".

Just build the bridge.

One more sentence. One more piece of context. One small human signal so the other person can make the jump with me.

That feels like a better goal than trying to be chirpier or softer for the sake of it. I can sustain building the bridge — one more sentence, one more piece of context. I can't sustain being fake. That doesn't mean the responsibility disappears, though. How something lands is still partly on me. I want my communication to be genuine and honest — just not in a way that hurts people. Building the bridge is part of how I manage that.

So this is me, apparently. High signal. No fluff. Dry humour. Specific warmth. Occasional missing bridge.

I can live with that.

E-Portfolios for Learning: Using Blogger Pages to Create an ePortfolio

E-Portfolios for Learning: Using Blogger Pages to Create an ePortfolio

Using Blogger Pages to Create an ePortfolio Creating an ePortfolio with Blogger - Blog and Pages PLUS GoogleDocs

Getting started

1. Define the purpose of the portfolio (Learning? Showcase? Assessment?) What is this portfolio supposed to demonstrate?
2. Keep a Learning Journal in the Blogger blog
3. Collect digital documents [artifacts] (or convert documents into digital format through digital cameras or scanners or digital audio/video tools).
4. Use GoogleDocs to create artifacts for portfolio, including word processing documents, presentations, spreadsheets, or PDFs. Any type of document can be uploaded into GoogleDocs (up to a maximum of 1 GB, not counting Word/Excel/Powerpoint files converted to GoogleDocs).
5. Select specific documents to meet the goals identified in step 1 above. (Sometimes in reviewing the documents, the goals emerge!)
6. Use a simple table to list the artifacts, and assign (classify) each one to the outcome/goal/standard that the artifact will demonstrate. 
7. Set up pages for each component of the portfolio (outcome/goal/standard)

Keeping a Learning Journal

Blogger is a “blog” or learning journal (sometimes called a learning portfolio) that allows individual posts, organized in reverse chronological order. The learner can create a link to any GoogleDocs Document/Presentation/Spreadsheet, to a GoogleSites page, or any web page. 

Create a New Post for each entry, to reflect on learning that takes place over time. Add at least one label to each entry, to add a classification system.

Digitize/Store Digital Artifacts 

Most of the time developing an electronic portfolio will be spent in the development of the digital archive (mostly maintained in GoogleDocs), and in maintaining this learning journal, that may include links to the specific learning activities being discussed in the journal/blog.

Authoring a presentation portfolio with Blogger Pages

At a certain point in time (prior to a parent conference, end of the school year, etc.), a more formal presentation portfolio would be developed, which is discussed below. Below is detail on each step, using Blogger Pages and GoogleDocs.

Create a first page - Introduction and Table of Contents

Write an Introduction to the Reader (sometimes this is the last thing you write, although it is the first thing people will read). Identify the purpose of this portfolio, the audience, and the contents. Why did you create this portfolio?

Set up a structure using goals (or themes) as organizing framework 

Create individual pages for each goal/theme (maximum of 10 pages). These pages will appear on the navigation structure of the blog, either on the left side or across the top, as shown on this page.

Upload artifacts/create hyperlinks

Add the artifacts (through hyperlinks or EMBED codes) to the appropriate page in the portfolio. 1 GB total storage available in Google Docs (not counting converted documents… put your video in SchoolTube or another video storage site!)

Write reflections for each goal/skill and each artifact

Write a brief reflection on each artifact (what is the context in which this artifact was developed? Why was it included in the portfolio?). You might also write a reflection on each grouping of artifacts (by outcome/goal/standard).

Write future learning goals

Set up a page for Goals. The process of goal-setting turns portfolio development into powerful support for lifelong learning or professional development.

Publish Portfolio - Seek Feedback

This stage provides an opportunity for interaction and feedback on the work posted in the portfolio. This is where the power of Web 2.0 interactive tools becomes apparent. Feedback through comments in blog or allow comments on pages.

Evaluating Portfolios

Teachers often provide exemplars for different levels of achievement, and provides a rubric for evaluation. 

The portfolio developer should be given the option of updating the work, based on the feedback and the rubric.

via blog.helenbarrett.org

SugarSync - Zero excuses for dog eating my homework

I am liking how SugarSync will work with my Android phone and different workplaces. Sorry...but I think SugarSync beats Dropbox for me. With 5GB free storage, what a great way to sync! Get yours here: https://www.sugarsync.com/referral?rf=dxk3ypcymeqq2 and I get some bonus space too  =)

Remedies: Chewing Gum for Heartburn - NYTimes.com

January 13, 2011, 10:14 am — Updated: 10:14 am -->

Remedies: Chewing Gum for Heartburn

By ANAHAD O'CONNOR

Tony Cenicola/The New York Times What alternative remedies belong in your home medicine cabinet?

More than a third of American adults use some form of complementary or alternative medicine, according to a government report. Natural remedies have an obvious appeal, but how do you know which ones to choose and whether the claims are backed by science? In this occasional series, Anahad O’Connor, the New York Times “Really?” columnist, explores the claims and the science behind alternative remedies that you may want to consider for your family medicine cabinet.

The Remedy: Chewing gum.

The Claim: It relieves heartburn.

The Science: It may be hard for most people to think of chewing gum as a remedy for anything other than a case of bad breath. But several studies in recent years have shown that it can in fact help alleviate the symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease, better known to most people as GERD or heartburn.

Chewing on a piece or two of gum, it seems, helps force fluids back into the stomach and flood the esophagus with alkaline saliva, neutralizing acids that cause the characteristic burning sensations.

One independent study demonstrating this, published in 2005 in The Journal of Dental Research, involved 31 patients who were recruited for testing after they showed up at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London with symptoms of heartburn. The scientists conceded that their hypothesis going into the study “was that chewing gum does not have any effect on the clearance of reflux from the distal esophagus.”

Ultimately, they were surprised. On two separate days, they asked subjects to fast for four hours, then fed them a “refluxogenic” lunch that would give just about anyone heartburn: two bars of full-fat cheddar cheese, green salad with two tablespoons of mayonnaise, 15 large chips and half a pint of full-fat milk. On both days, some of the subjects were then randomly selected to chew sugar-free gum for half an hour after the meal.

After monitoring the subjects for two hours after the meals, they found that acid levels were significantly lower when the participants chewed gum. The study was financed by King’s College London School of Medicine and Dentistry.

Another study, this one in 2001, involved 36 people, some of them with diagnosed cases of GERD and others who were healthy controls. The study found that chewing sugarless gum for an hour after a large breakfast reduced acid reflux in both groups for up to three hours, particularly in the heartburn group. The study was carried out by gastroenterologists at Veterans Affairs hospitals in New Mexico and Illinois, and financed by the American Digestive Health Foundation.

The Risks: Frequently chewing sugary gum may damage tooth enamel and increase cavities. But sugar-free varieties containing xylitol — which helps inhibit tooth-eroding bacteria — can have a protective effect.

via well.blogs.nytimes.com

Just notified the National Testing Centre that their URL has been hijacked...oops