Graduation!

Welcome to the BaW 2007 Graduation ceremony and... party!

Hello, BaW 07ers!!!

Welcome to our virtual Graduation party! Enjoy yourselves!

Before we get on with the show, have You, chosen Person of the Year 2006 by Time Magazine, ever wondered about the meaning of HELLO, probably one of the most used words in the English language?! I'm almost sure you've taken it for granted... and so had I till a couple of years ago.

Welcome to Baw 2007

This was Ibrahim Rustamov's (Tajikistan) very special and bubbly "Welcome to Baw 2007!" six weeks ago. Remember? Times does fly, doesn't it? It seems like yesterday! Thank you, Ibrahim! :-)

A "mini UN"

Baw 2007, with its 270 participants from 41 countries spanning the 5 continents, is truly a global community or, as I put it early on, a mini UN. I just wish the authentic UN worked as well and as collaboratively as we do!

BaW 2007 in slides

Here's an overview of the numerous activities that went on in these 6 weeks!

Hala's flu

Hala's sneezing (aaatttssshhhuuuuuuu!) was felt all over the world and generated fantastic global warmth and collaboration to get her well very quickly! Check out our Global Flu Cook Book.

Coping with stress

... or we will definitely survive!! :-))

A BaW workshop without stress isn't a true BaW workshop!!!

By Week 5 Susana Araujo (Portugal), in "survival mode", helped us all pull through and survive the remaining two weeks by sending us back in time - to the 70s disco sound - with Gloria Gaynor and her contagious "I Will Survive".

5 days to the Graduation party, Moira surprised us with her way of coping with stress in between marking exam papers. Very cute!!! Take a look! It must be wonderful to cycle around the Bois de Bologne, isn't it, Moira?!

Let's party!!!

No party is a true party without food and drinks. As usual, I (Teresa) have brought my cyberfamous Oven-baked codfish accompanied by great Portuguese red wine. But there are many other goodies that several of you prepared for our virtual Graduation party to celebrate the end of our 6-week workshop and the beginning of a new era in your lives!

Two BaW classics

Let's get away from the bustle of the party for a while and relax a little while we look at two BaW classics.

Geese is a presentation about togetherness, collaboration and community spirit - what "Becoming a Webhead" is all about!

(Please click the image below and enjoy!)

Becoming a Teacher is a curious and surprising text. Do read it. You won't regret it!

Once there was a man named Nathan. He wanted very much to be a teacher. So

he went to seek the advice of the wisest, most highly respected counselor

in the land.

"Wise counselor," Nathan began, "it has always been my dream to be a

teacher. I want to stimulate the minds of the young people of our land. I

want to lead them down the road of knowledge. Please tell me the secret of

becoming a teacher."

"Your goal is a commendable one, Nathan. However, it is also a very

difficult one to achieve. First you must overcome three major obstacles."

"I am ready to meet the challenge," answered Nathan bravely. "First you

must swim the Sea of Children," directed the knowing counselor.

Nathan started off to swim the Sea of Children. First he had to learn

their 38 names. He had to send the line cutters to the end of the line. He

made the paper throwers stay after school to clean the room. He commanded the

name callers, pushers, and punchers to apologize to their victims. He gave

candy to those who finished assignments and stars to those who were

sitting in their seats quietly. Nathan checked passes to see how many

children were in the bathroom. And he tracked down students who were gone longer

than was necessary. He arranged the desks in alphabetical order, then boy-girl,

boy-girl, and finally into small groups of four. He lined his children up

for physical education and music and library and lunch. Then stifled a cry

when the secretary came into the room with number 39.

Tired and shaken but still undefeated, Nathan returned to the counselor

for his second task.

"You are a very determined lad," said the advisor. "However, now you must

climb the Mountain of Paperwork."

Nathan set out at once. He wrote objectives and drew up lesson plans. He

made out report cards and graded papers. He filled out accident reports,

attendance reports and withdrawal reports. He completed inventories,

evaluations, surveys, and request forms. Finally, he made dittos and more

dittos. He ran them off until he was purple in the face.

But the courageous boy's resolve never dwindled. He went to the wise

counselor for his third task.

"You are indeed very strong, Nathan. But this third task will take all the

courage you can muster. You must now cross the country of Duties and

Committees."

At first Nathan was hesitant. But his convictions remained steadfast. He

began his long journey across the country of Duties and Committees. Nathan

took lunch duty, bus duty, and recess duty. He was on the social

committee, patrol committee, and the faculty advisory committee. He was the

adult supervisor of the student government and ran the United Fund and Easter

Seal drives. He went to PTA meetings, AEA meetings, SST meetings, School

Site meetings, and in-service workshops. He organized bicentennial programs,

talent shows, and book drives. Finally, he was elected the building

representative of the union. At last Nathan reached the outskirts of

Duties and Committees.

Exhausted but happy, he returned to the knowledgeable counselor.

"I swam the Sea of Children. I climbed the Mountain of Paperwork. I

crossed the country of Duties and Committees," Nathan proclaimed. "Am I not

worthy of the title of Teacher?"

"Why, Nathan," began the counselor, "you have been a teacher all along."

Nathan protested, "But I have not stimulated any minds. I have not guided

anyone down the road to knowledge, I have not had any time to teach."

"Oh, you say you want to TEACH! I thought you said you wanted to be a

teacher. That is a completely different story!!

Surprised?! I was the first time I read it.

Participants' reflections

Last but not least, let's take a look at your reflections about BaW 2007!

Two analogies

Dennis Newson had a very interesting analogy about BaW.

I have just thought..... Being at BaW07 (or any year) is like being at

a large conference, or a large exhibition. What is on offer is so

exciting, you want to do everything - go to all the sessions, do all

the tasks, write to everyone that comes across your path. But that

just is not possible. Too late, you realise that you need to make

choices and stick to them.

But, no, BaW is better than conferences and exhibitions. When the

current workshops end, just about everything is still available in

blogs and wikis and downloadable files. Make the 6-week programme your

12-month curriculum and the frustration and disappointment drain away.

Maru had another very interesting analogy in a totally dofferent perspective.

I will like to make an analogy. Becoming a Webhead course is like making a pilgrimage to ‘Santiago de Compostela’. It is a road that starts in Bayone, France and ends at ‘Puerto de la Coruña’ in Galicia, Spain. The road was created and guarded by the Templars; it had several posts along the route. Every post had a guardian. The guardian was in charge of attending every need of the pilgrims; he cared for them and guided them to the next post. The road was maintained by the community, they saw that it was safe, in well condition, and provided that all the pilgrims reached their goal.

I felt in a learning journey, at every cyber site met a guardian who cared for my needs, if I had lost the way someone came around with a link to get me to where the group was gathered, if I made mistakes there was someone who either corrected them or told me how to correct them myself, all along the way there were angels watching my development and sharing light where needed. With my deepest thanks.

Thank you, both! I hope ou don't mind my posting your thoughts here.

BaW 2007 cake

It's time to get back to the party. No graduation party would be complete without a virtual cake to celebrate "not the end of a workshop, but the beginning of a new era... life after BaW 2007"! João, my husband, baked this BaW 2007 cake for us! Enjoy it!

Certificates

No BaW workshop would be complete without a symbolic Certificate of Participation.

Families - neglected husbands, wives and children - weren't forgotten! Here's our token of appreciation for your patience and understanding!

Time to join WiA

Six weeks ago most of you probably didn't have a clue about what you were getting into. Six weeks later you have come of age and are "full-fledged Webheads", ready to join the Webheads in Action community of practice (CoP). On behalf of Vance Stevens, our Webheads coordinator, Daf and I now invite you to join our "mother group", the Webheads in Action (WiA). Welcome! We hope you feel part of a big cyberfamily and as fulfilled and challenged as Daf and I have been for 5 years!

Thank you!

Before this page is over and another one is turned tomorrow, Daf and I (Teresa) would like to thank all our fabulous guest speakers, moderators, co-moderators and participants for a fantastic job, for persevering to the last day and making it the success it was. Without you all, none of this would have happened.

To Thank you all for having made this fourth round of the Becoming a Webhead workshop the big success and life-changing event it was, nothing better than to include a beautiful poem sent to us by Analía Doboletta, a participant in last year's BaW(24Feb06).

WHAT DOES 'THANK YOU' REALLY MEAN?

" Thank you" is one of those wonderful phrases

people use to express a special gratitude.

But there's often a lot more to it

than those two words can say.

When it comes from the heart, from deep inside

the nicest feelings and the most special thoughts,

"Thank you" means so much.

It means thank you for taking the time to show

that you care. It means "you really made my day,"

and sometimes it means that you really make all

the days so much better.

It means you make me feel so nice,

and I wish I could do the same for you...

just by letting you know how much you mean to me.

"Thank you" means you didn't have to...

but I'm so grateful that you did.

"Thank you" means that you've done something special

that I'll never forget.

Chris Gallatin

THANK YOU means that you've all done something very special that Daf and I will never forget!

See you in life after BaW 07!!!

Teresa on behalf of the BaW 2007 team!