text:
Jun 28

Holodeck or Builder’s Buddy Challenge

Many dismiss holodecks or Builder’s Buddy scenes (see my previous posts here and here) as tools for learning and teaching languages in Second Life thinking they are only good for role-plays (e.g. restaurant scene to practise ordering food). While I personally don’t like role-plays that much, they have their place in language teaching. However, when we started the Holodeck Challenge two months ago, we asked participants to be creative and literary think out of the box when creating scenes for language teaching and learning. And they did!! I am still amazed  what they have come up with — those who built scenes and participants who were at the final event and contributed with their ideas. The final event took place on Saturday, 28th July 2009.

Here are snapshots of some of the scenes and some ideas that have come up:

1. Mary Roussel’s gardens

Holodeck Challenge Final EventHolodeck Challenge Final Event

Mary added some free educational tools to her beautiful class spaces which can be used to brainstorm and write words collaboratively and to display notecards.

Her teaching idea:

Send students to a furnished building to collect furniture names. Then, they come back and write the words on the board, which can then be used to for further activities.

If I had been taught in such lovely class spaces, I might have liked school more.

2. Mary’s Venezuelan market

Holodeck Challenge Final Event

Teaching ideas:

  • Role-play different tourist/sales-person dialogues (not only for buying/selling souvenirs. Tourist could ask questions about the culture, city, life in Venezuela, etc).
  • Learn/teach the names of the objects in Spanish
  • Talk about Venezuela
  • Talk about markets and customs associated with them in different countries/cultures
  • Talk about traveling, holidays, souvenirs, shopping, etc.
  • Talk about handicraft, art, …

Mary created this Souvenir Market because there seems to be nothing about Venezuela in SL.

All participants loved this scene. It is such a lovely scene that it made me want to stay there longer and explore. It also made me want to say something. I wanted to express my feelings and ask questions about the place and objects. I think this is a very important point in language teaching. If emotions and feelings  are involved, then students do want express them and they will more readily seek and accept help to formulate what they want to say in the target  language.

3. Anna Begonina’s shop scenes

Holodeck Challenge Final Event
Holodeck Challenge Final EventHolodeck Chalenge Final Event

Anna teaches Italian in Second Life and always comes up with creative ideas. She said that although, there are a lot of shops in Second Life, shops and items are mostly named in English even in Italian places. Shops also often move or close so you can never really on using them again when you need them for a class. Also, most items in a shop cost money and are not modifiable. This is why Anna has created two different market/shop scenes in which the objects show typical Italian brands and the names of the objects are in Italian. They are modifiable so that objects can be moved, copied, renamed or retextured (e.g. for teachers who teach other languages).

Teaching ideas:

  • Teach/learn names of the objects in display
  • Practise shopping language and dialogues

4. Anna’s kitchen scene

Link to snapshot with kitchen scene

Teaching ideas:

  • Talking about how to cook pasta
  • Talking about Italian food
  • Learning vocabulary related to kitchen and cooking
  • Moving objects from one table to another (e.g. those that are needed for a certain recipe)

—> Check out Anna’s Italianiamo blog where, I am sure, she will post more ideas

5. Denni’s Dogme garden

Holodeck Challenge Final Event

Dennis has created a garden which can be used as a nice place to sit together and talk about anything that comes up in a language lesson. As it is as a Dome garden, he could obviously not give specific ideas or language points that would be taught there.

One thing that is special about his garden is that the some of the textures that he used (like the walls) are from Real Life, which would well be a starting point for discussions as well as the up-side-down trees, which he wanted to “correct” but we thought he should leave as they are 🙂

6. Carolrb Roux’s garden scenes

Holodeck Challenge Final Event

The first one is intended as a meeting space (above).

Link to snapshot of The Owl and the Pussy Cat garden.

The second one is The Owl and the Pussy Cat garden. It is a beautiful place to explore. There is music, hidden objects in the trees and the garden, a snake ladder game and many other things from the poem. Carol even recited the poem for us as a special treat because some of us didn’t know the poem.

Carol’s reading room with some books in notecard form, notecard giver and dropbox.

This is a nice room to sit together to read and talk about a book. It also makes a nice space for other kinds of meetings and discussions.

Carol also generously helped other participants to build their scenes and troubleshoot them during the two months which this challenge lasted.

Teaching ideas:

I don’t remember whether any were mentioned because I had some technical trouble at this stage but I can imagine the following:

  • Have students explore the garden and think what this could be about
  • If students had to memorize the poem, playing in the garden can help them remember the poem.  They can walk from place to place and recite the lines connected to the objects.
  • It can also be simply a fun activity after having worked with the poem as a kind of bonus or reward.

I’m sure Carol and others have more ideas.

7. Nahiram Yakubu’s flea market street scene

Holodeck Challenge Final Event
Nahiram has created this beautiful flea market scene.

Teaching ideas:

I missed most of this because I had to relog but one idea nahiram mentioned when I was back is the following:

Students take out objects from their inventory and set up there stand or area. Then, they can all walk around and explore the market, ask questions about the objects on sale and haggle over the prices of the objects. If students don’t have enough freebie objects in their inventory, they can either be given different boxes full of objects by the teacher or sent freebie shopping in SL first (depending on the available time). If two students have the same object, it could be interesting because they might have different prices and would have to justify why theirs is more expensive.

Of course, their could be an activity first to learn or review the names of the objects or this could come at the end and only if necessary.

8. Shawn’s maze

Another brilliant idea and very different way of using holodecks for language teaching purposes. Shawn has built this (and other scenes) with the Horizons holodeck.

Teaching idea:

Students work in pairs. One student sits on a chair that automatically lifts them up to a certain hight where they have a good bird’s eye view of the maze. The other student stand in front of the entrance of the maze and waits for instructions. The student on the chair gives directions to the student on the ground and guides him either to certain objects that are distributed in the maze or to the exit.

I can imagine adding extra fun to this activity by having them go to certain objects in the maze to interact with them (e.g. retrieve their content, get a copy) and then find the exit. Several teams could compete with each other using IM voice/text chat so that they wouldn’t be overheard by the other teams.

We have tried this activity with some colleagues and it generated a lot of speaking (giving instructions, clarifying, asking for help, providing help, vocabulary, different tenses and structures).

You can see more snapshots in the SLExperiments flickr pool.

There are some more ideas about how to use holodeck or Builder’s Buddy scenes in language lessons in my previous posts here and here.

We have also created a page in the SLExperiments wiki for the Holodeck scenes and ideas.

The Holodeck Challenge is over but this does not mean we don’t accept more scenes 🙂

I know that others wanted to create scenes but couldn’t do so out of lack of time. Maybe some have time during the summer holidays. If so, we are happy to see more scenes and ideas here or in the wiki.

We will find a place where we will deposit the created scenes and language teachers will be able to grab a copy. Whether the creators will offer them all for free to everybody is up to them. As soon as we have agreed on how to make them available, I will post it here.

If you are interested in Holodecks, you might also want to check out what EUROCALL and CALICO are up to at their HQ in Second Life. You can contact Groovy Winkler or Randall Renoir in SL or join one of their in-world groups for more information.

A big thanks to everybody!!!

—> Link to all blog posts related to holodecks, Builder’s Buddy and language teaching ideas.


Content-Type: application/http; msgtype=response

WARC-Identified-Payload-Type: application/xhtml+xml

WARC-Type: response

text:
Sunday, 27 July 2008

some beach, somewhurrrrr

someone's blasting this frigging song and now it's in my head and i would rather scrape out my eardrums with a moldy spork than listen to any newish country music especially something that references goddamn margaritaville although that josh turner dude's majestic hasselhoffian chest hair does give me some special feelings in the pants anyway so maybe if i use this as a post title it'll go away and i wonder how much more horrific a runon sentence this can get? NOT VERY.

anyway. this post is all bathing suits, i was too lazy to shoot at a beach, and i totally stole ash's polaroid gimmick. skip to the end for slurls, prices where applicable, and item credits.

not free, all photos
hair - naughty, nicole (350L for a three color pack)
skin - cake, sienna (3000L for a four makeup pack)

photo #1
bikini - bijou instore freebie, comes in other colors as well.
shorts - mirrors*+, instore gift but you MUST join their group in order to get them. these delightful hickory shorts come in three versions, each better to show off your plumbers crack than the one before. there are several other gifts there as well - leggings, a bag, a cute tshirt.

photo #2
bathing suit - amerie's naughty, 20 minute item camp. located in the little shack next to the main store. comes with two skirt attachments, but also is super cute alone.

photo #3
bikini - laughing academy, retrolicious instore freeb/dollarbie.
sunglasses - worldwide industries subscribe-o gift. i believe they plan to give out gifts everytime they reach a milestone of so many members, so join up and stay put!

photo #4
bikini - in the light, bronze bikini (250L). and the prim skirt resizing torture was worth it.

photos #5 & #6
bikini - grabbed it at the b11 mall opening and there are a slew of other great freebs around. also home of one of the greatest carousels in the history of slcarousels, the hieronymous bosch carousel; which is perhaps second only to the moustache rides at floyd.
hasselhoff lounge chair, tophat, beer tub, necklace, and flip flops - all prizes from the latest ohana isle treasure hunt:
"Our treasure hunt has just gotten started - will run through Aug 3rd... There's 43 treasures to find, and 5 more in our new extra uber treasure hunters bonus round. (Full instructions at the landing point on Mt Wannahawkaloogie.) We try to offer a fair amount of men's items too - it's never even anywhere in SL but we do make it worth it for the guys."

Anonymous said...

Great entry! :)

Love the "format" used

Anonymous said...

Just bought the items from Mirrors and didn't have to be in the group to buy them. :)

olivia connaught said...

weird, i thought it was a group thing. oh well :D

bex hathaway said...

oh lawd, now you got me singing that song...

Adaire DeCuir said...

Oi! Don't Hassle the Hoff! Ok, maybe that's my favorite saying I've seen on a tee shirt lately, but anything with Hasslehoff on it is a BRILLIANT find. Great post!! <3

Anonymous said...

Nice touch adding the Hoff to the last pic. Sweet.

- Gidge

Amber said...

I love the Hasselhoff chair!

Bella Baroque said...

were you aware the Hoff tried to put Baywatch on Broadway? that would be epic....EPIC!

warcinfo:
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-179-198-159.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2018-13
operator: Common Crawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web for March 2018
publisher: Common Crawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf


text:
Monday, 31 May 2010

I is Kyoot Pastel Kitteh Fromz Space

I can haz spaceburger?The shooting star hunt gift skin from Dimbula Rose makes me sooo happy! I just can't help but use some lolcat speak. It is like a space cat! The furry areas covering the nether bits are attached :DThe hunt is more complicated than normal hunts but once you get the hang of it it's easy as pie. Basically you find the glowing orb particles flying around and get close to them and type "/7 catch" and an item will randomly decide to come to you or not. Some stores have more than one prize. While I have not completely finished the hunt, every store I have been to so far has had adorable prizes from skins and hair to clothes and furniture.

Skin, Lashes, Eyes: Dimbula Rose, hunt gift
Ears and Tail: *Dreams* by Sanura Snowpaw, not free
Hair: House of Munster, no longer available
Pose: Glitterati, not free

Thank you Dawn Bohemian for letting us know about this skin or else I never would have known!

Sunday, 30 May 2010

OMG MiaSnow new lucky chair yay!MiaSnow has this awesome skin in her lucky chair for women, along with the one for men which I blogged already. After winning this I was even more excited to check my group notices to find that TekuTeku, Rotten Toe and I Love 13 had new gifts also! And to top it off with the Dreams gacha corsets? Yeah...good day!Worn:
Skin: MiaSnow, lucky chair prize
Hair: TekuTeku, group gift
Tattoo on Neck and Leggings: I Love 13, group gift and 1L
Corset: Dreams, 15L in gacha machie (60 colors to win, holy wow!)
Bracelets: Rotten Toe, group gift

Umi Usagi!

If you haven't been to Umi Usagi you have to check it out. There are some great items there and it is a fun build to explore.

Umi Usagi Group Gift

This pretty dress is the latest group gift. I love wearing it with some dramatic skin and hair for a striking contrast.

Umi Usagi Lucky Chair

This 'Bunny Hunter' outfit was a lucky chair win and it is so well made. It comes with pant and skirt options and is great when you are ready for an edgier look. I've shown it with the pvc buckle boots from EVA Footwear (not free).

Style Notes
Hair and Skin: Lelutka

Saturday, 29 May 2010

Dany French

There is a new dollarbie for girls at Dany French Touch. I really like the off-shoulder style!

Lenka 08

Dany French Touch - Dress Rozenn $1L

Other stuff (not free):
Hair: Exile/Earrings: Alienbear Design

German Castle Ruin

Suri, xoxo

Friday, 28 May 2010

Latest Favs

Here's a few of my favourite things:

Dominion Free Black Dress and Free Eva Boots

These gorgeous black suede boots with oriental motif are the latest freebie from Eva Footwear. They are perhaps the nicest freebie they have ever released. They are scripted and totally gorgeous. Don't miss out.

While you are at Eva Footwear, head around the corner and grab this black belted minidress, which I've worn as a top here. You'll find it on the promo wall by Riviera Couture.

Vinyl Cafe Addicts GG Dress With Free EVA Boots

The red version, which I've worn as a dress here, is available at the main Vinyl Cafe location.

OoEas! GG Bodice With Nyte & Day

This soft green romantic bodice is the latest freebie from OoEas!. I've shown it with two of my new favouite items: these great jeans and fantastic grey coat, both from Nyte & Day (not free). Check their store out, right around the corner from OoEas!.

Style Notes
Skin Photo 1 & 2: Lelutka
Skin Photo 3: Tuli
Jewellery Photo 1 & 2: Mandala

Thursday, 27 May 2010

I Am a Retiree

Dilly Dolls and Mango, Mango! retirement cheapness!!
Dilly Dolls has tons of stuff in a special retirement section of their store for super cheap! Clothes, shoes and accessories for all under 50L, most in the 10L-20L range. I really like these color change Flamer boots especially!
I also have some skins retiring in honor of my main store move and they are 99L each in the retirement sale room. Oh! And check out my cute tattoos. The top layer of the sugar skulls and roses tattoo can be won in the lucky board at Lolapop! The bottom half (not shown) can be bought for super cheap in the riot vendor. Each part can be worn on its own if you like just the top or just the bottom.
Dress and Boots: Dilly Dolls, retirement sale until the 3rd
Skin: Mango, Mango!, not free but only 99L at the retirement sale
Necklace: Lolapop, not free
Tattoo: Lolapop, lucky board prize
Eyes: Tuli, not free
Hair: Lamb, not free
Pose: Long Awkward Pose, not free

British Invasion

A little birdie told me that Sey has a new group gift out, which was reason enough to have my regular look-see at their very generous "front counter" area. Join the group for $0L + then click the glass panels on the entryway desk; scoop away for oodles of free gifts (remember to click both glass panels; I think the newest gift is one of the belts here).
These free British flag jeans, free red goggles + free black flagged T is just 1 ensemble that you can throw together. I particularly thought this colored safety pins necklace was fun + cute. -- I knew I had some British flava when my proud Londoner friend Rene Caerndow told me so. (She loves to go on about London vs. NYC, etc.).

Peace, love & Marmite, baby. *mwuahs Rene, Suri + Creamy*
Gavin is wearing this lovely $1L T-shirt by Furious in honor of a certain tasty beverage (which btw has nothing to do with anything British). This grunge gear store is great (love the bloody tats here) + there's also a particularly rude T-shirt for free here in the Dark Katz hunt (look for a cat head somewhere on the higher stairs).
I will also randomly share that I tried a meat pie the other day for the first time (which Rene later informed me was "peasant food"). Love + fashionista kisses to all!

Teshan2222 Wycliffe
(who's been to London once + dreams of returning . . . Suri you gonna have some curry ready for me babes?)

Jeans: Sey - Union Cross Jeans - group gift - free
T-shirt: Sey - Thank you for 700
- group gift - free
Plaid waist wraparound: Sey - Afghan Stall[LOxKE]/GroupGift_009 -
Goggles: Sey - Goggles1 - red
- group gift - free
Necklace: Sey - "pin-choker"[G11] -
group gift - free
Hair: Clawtooth - True Betty - Uptown Brown - previous $50L Fridays sale
Bangles: Atelier AM - Snake Bangle 02 [Project Themeory] -
previous Project Themeory $75L sale
Skin: Laq - Julie - 05 [Peach] Glow skin
Eyes: Negaposi - Fairy Eyes - Glass
Lashes: Cake - Bedroom Lashes
Poses: Don't Freak Out ; Pididdle/Artistic Taxidermy (previously free); High Fidelity (store closed)

Gavin McGinnis:
Jack Daniels T-shirt: Furious - Razorblade Jacket=- Jack Daniels Shirt (*NOTE: fly out of club landing point + follow red beacon to separate store in back of club) -
Pose by:
Long Awkward Pose

Day Out

SMS has the store in a new location, there is a gift top & skirt, I mixed and matched some things to show you!

Style Du Jour

Top: {SMS} Rose Tank Monochrome (group gift)
*COCO* Gift_ClearToteBag-Black (group gift)
*COCO* Gem Bracelet (group gift)

Other Stuff (not free):
Necklace: SMS/Ring: Paper Couture/Hair: Truth - Marcelle/Jean skirt: Doppelganger Inc./Boots:
Pose: Geez by Grazia Horwitz

Zoo Neunkirchen

Suri, xoxo

Wednesday, 26 May 2010

Thirsty Thursday!

If you are a fan of the weekly sale events here is my offering for Thirsty Thursdays!
There seems to be a sale for every day of the week, any excuses to shop, eh?

Well, i made these tatts for fun, yoou can pick them both of these up for $50L thursday ONLY!

tattoo set

[doll.] Tattoo Set for Thirsty Thursday week 13

Suri, xoxo

Mystic Sky

Mystic Sky has this lovely gown in the lucky chair!

Mystic Sky

~Mystic Sky~ Samantha Gown: Lavender (lucky chair prize)

Location: Sands of Persia

Other stuff:
Hair: W&Y/Necklace & Earrings: Genesis

Suri, xoxo

New From OoEas!

OoEas! Dark Hunt Gift

This soft lavender top with black lace trim is a Dark Hunt gift from OoEas!. Jeans from Nyte & Day (not free).

OoEas! Midnight Mania Item

Stop traffic in the latest Midnight Mania offering, also from OoEas!

Style Notes
Skin: Lelutka
Hair: Laq
Shoes: Slink
Earring: Morantique

p.s. I'm posing in the cute skybox Sileny blogged about below. Go get it!

Casual Fun

Anyone that makes a reference to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is my friend whether they like it or not. And when we hang out they better bring a towel.
My fave skinny jeans about a week ago were from RezIpsa Loc. Then they released new jeans. Now my fave skinny jeans are from....RezIpsa Loc.
And check the skybox! Only 50L from A.D.D Andel and it's just so simple and waiting for you to decorate it.
A.D.D Andel! skybox mist1
Shirts and Blue Towel (on neck): Color Me Chaos, is 0L at the moment but is limited time and not sure when it will be full price, (comes in 42, Got Towel?, and Don't Panic)
Jeans: RezIpsa Loc, 1L
Skybox: A.D.D. Andel, 50L for this week only
Hair: Lamb, not free
Skin: Imabee!, not free (new release)
Necklace in First Pic.: Alchemy Immortalis, Not free

Tuesday, 25 May 2010

Get You Kink On

Here's some sexy new freebies for when you're ready to get your kink on.

Fetish Latex Racer Set

This two piece latex ensemble with a laced back is free at Dominion Fetish.

Sinister Sister Halloween Freebie

Find this Sinister Sister set at Halloween. It includes the grey cotton mini dress, the spider web stockings and garter, and the sculpted spider clasps which I love.

Fetish Net Outfit

Last but not least is this daring fishnet set which looks great under outfits or worn alone when you're ready for action. It's packaged with the free latex outfit shown above at Dominion Fetish.

Style Notes
Skin and Lashes: LeLutka
Hair: Laq
Shoes: Maitreya

Quick Quick Quick

Just a quick post to tell you about Nomine's new gacha! For 10L a spin you can grab some awesome goodies. There are TONS of things in there including this gorgeous corset set.
In addition to the gacha machine there are also new prizes in the lucky chairs like dresses and jewelry, including the set I am wearing in the post. Go now and gacha it up!

Jewelry: Nomine, lucky chair prize
Corset Set: Nomine, 10L gacha item
Skin: Tuli, past freebie (no longer available)
Hair: Katat0nik, not free
Chair: A.D.D Andel, not free but it is always in my skybox. It's mah thinkin' seat.

I hear her heart beating, loud as thunder

This new lucky board prize dress from Lika Ruby is so pretty!! It comes with several wear options too if you aren't into mini skirts and such.
There is also a great group gift dress as well, again with several wear options.
The skin is the latest group gift from Romi but if you don't want to pay the 100L enrollment fee you can stalk the lucky board instead.
The glasses are a group only board prize from December and have sooo many color change and tint options. On the lens is a world map texture! The hair is 1L at W&Y's Haiti relief charity booth! Several colors in the pack and 1 prim (!!!)
Dresses: Lika Ruby, first is lucky board prize and second is group gift
Hair: W&Y, First is a charity donation item and second is 1L
Skin: Romi, group gift (100L join fee) or lucky board prize
Glasses: December, group only lucky board prize

Monday, 24 May 2010

Summer Feeling

Summer is upon us, and we need lots of sunshine, beaches, bikinis and boys!

Zenith brings us this gorgeous pink number, along with a shawl (resizable with script) to cover up if you don't like to show that much leg. This is a 6 days limited lucky board item, grab it while you can!

This is available at Zenith's NEW MAINSTORE only!

Zenith & Reek

Bikini: Zenith Fashion - Minna Pink (6 days limited lucky board item)
Hair: Truth Hannah (not free)

Other stuff (not free):
Pants & flip flops: Reek. Boi: mine!

Heart Reef Resort

Suri, xoxo

Prism Pirate

Check out this sexy pirate inspired outfit, the latest dollarbie from Prism. It comes complete with the tank, sweater, fishnets and suspenders. I love how the fishnets peak out over the belt of the skirt...very sexy!

Prism Pirate

Style Notes
Hair: Truth
Skin: Lelutka
Necklace: Mandala
Earrings: Morantique

Sunny Summer Sunshine

Some bright shades for you from Theory. in several colors and some sale hair from Kik!
theory freebie_001
I am feeling so....sunny! *Passes the joy around to the grumpy folk*
Glasses: Theory. w/Red Lemon, subscriber gift (comes in three colors with lens tint options)
Hair: Kik, 30L (several other styles as well)
Dress: A-Bomb, past gift no longer available in this color but IS available in other colors
Skin: Idiosyncrasy, not free

Everything in Magi Take is only 10L (and 45L for fatpacks of colors!) and a lot of it is high quality, ESPECIALLY the shoes. Lots of good stuff for guys. A whole variety of girls' clothes too! It's almost a freebie shop, and there is one free color of every item, given as a group gift! I'm really, really in love with the shoes and bags, great detail. The best part is that they're trans, so you can share or give to friends!

on Xing-ge:
tartan plaid fedora: free, Fabulous Fashion TV gift from MADesigns
shoes and shorts: shoes are excellent! Easter gift from Sensual Mistery, still available!
bracelet: grasp group gift
Vest: mr.poet, free gift
haversack: group gift from Magi Take
on me:
Ticky Tacky 10L feather headband at Le Cirque, the full headdress is just 100L!
hair: Anessa, Fabulous Fashion TV gift from MADesigns
dress: Zenith Fashions group gift, was blogged by Suri! Sooo pretty.
bag and heels: group gift from Magi Take (limited skin colors)

on Xing-ge
hat hair: AVOID, 150L, hat is color change!
track jacket: magi take group gift
scarf: fatpack of colors, mr.poet free gift. my favorite boy scarf, EVER. so so detailed.
belt: Reek I heart stripes belt, not free
boots: magi take group gift (other colors are only 10L! insane)

on me:
hat+hair: Kik, not free
dress: DCNY MM board, needs 75 clicks only. lovely dress!
sandals: 10L from Magi Take!

on Xing-ge
hair: Fabulous Fashion TV gift from MADesigns
scarf: fatpack of colors, mr.poet free gift.
shorts: 10L per color, fatpack of colors for 30L
bag and shoes: denim slip-ons, group gift from magi take

on me:
hair: Kik, not free
jumper and studded flip-flops: group gift from magi take
Bikini: Reek Province bikini, not free but lovely!
ring: LaGyo

all girls' poses from doll.!
boys poses from actchio.

winged eyeliner worn on SL 2.0 layer from actchio.
tattoos from actchio.

Sunday, 23 May 2010

Morea Style Hunt

Morea Style is having a VERY easy hunt going on until May 30th. There are ten gifts to find between two locations. Here's a few of the items you'll find.

Morea Style Hunt Gift Black Gown

This dramatic dress comes with the decorative neck piece. I've shown it with gloves from Mimikri (not free).

Morea Style Hunt Gift

Here's a flirty lavender cocktail dress that I think is seriously sexy. Shown with shoes from Stiletto Moody (not free).

Morea Style Hunt Gift Red Dress

This dramatic red ensemble can be worn without the neck piece and the black train to make it a little more casual. A show stopper. Shown with shoes from Indyra Originals (past hunt gift), and earrings by Morantique.

I really love this new Lola skin from Lelutka. It's not free but comes with lashes, this hair, and a bunch of viewer 2.0 compatible makeup options. My new fav!

Saturday, 22 May 2010

Themeory is Totally Rad

I have kind of a sick obsession with all things 80's so when I found out the Project Themeory theme this weekend was the 80's I ran as fast as my pixel legs could carry me to the stores!
There are so many different styles that were popular in the 80's it's really way too hard to even try to explain them all. Things that were so cute and wild and outrageous, to things so conservative and drab. Fortunately for us most stores went with a wild more exaggerated version!
All in all I would say this is my fave Project Themeory so far. Lots of great designers who are highly underrated involved this round.
So yeah, whether you like the bright, floofy, crazy, neon, or the athletic, body-conscious, dance wear-inspired styles there is something for you!

Also make sure to check out the skybox I am in, it's a limited time freebie from Tweedle!!
Worn Throughout:
Skins: CStar, GGH gifts, 0L (search for umbrellas)
Blond Hair: Fashionably Dead, not free
Black Hair: Nouveau Miranda, free
Themeory Items:
Outfit 1: Veschi, 75L (includes leg warmers)
Outfit 2: Theory., 75L (Includes several wear options and skirt options, great value)
Outfit 3: Atomic, 75L (or 150L for a fat pack, includes leg warmers)
Glasses: Duboo, 75L (for a fat pack of colors and leggings too)
I seriously bought so much more stuff this week but dang time and space are limited here! Go forth and shop!

For Da Boyz

I have been acquiring some great male freebies as of late and wanted to share a few of them with you.
As you can see my man av is a bit femme but that's the be expected as...well...I am a woman :P
Skin: CStar, GGH prize (several tones available)
Pants: FK Virtues, subscriber gift (female version and cropped version also)
Hair: No Longer Available
Necklace: Nomine, lucky chair prize
Pic. 2
Skin: MiaSnow, lucky chair prize
Pants: Pig, not free but only 100L for several wear options
Hair: Bryce, not free

Friday, 21 May 2010

Azul May Group Gift

Azul May Group Gift

Another lovely Azul group gift. Get it in store.

Style Notes
Hair: Fascimo
Shoes: Juicy
Skin: Tuli
Earrings: Morantique

I Just Have To Show You...

I nearly tripped over myself running to get these gorgeous shoes from Kookie!
50L until midnight only! These wedges are so yummy in nudes they can be worn with anything...or...nothing. *Grins*

LAQ Julie

Dress: Yozoh - Ugly Duboo (gift)
Kookie - 50L Friday Wedges in Nude

Other stuff (not free):
Hair: Truth - Marcelle/Bangles: Mandala/Skin: LAQ Julie
Suri, xoxo

[Vilet Shapes]

My friend, Vliet Canucci, also known as the CEO for Ricielli, has just opened her shapes store. She invited me for a tour and it looks absolutely fabulous! I am totally pimping her *PINK* swimsuit and gonna show you some pics of her shapes available too! I actually got really excited shape shopping, because all the subjects are hot as hell~~ Here are my favorite ones from the store:

Vilet Shapes

Vilet Shapes

Vilet Shapes

OH, did I mention free swimsuit?? And free eyes??

TP to Vilet Shapes now! Gifts are on the table XD

Suri, xoxo


WARC-Identified-Payload-Type: text/html

WARC-Truncated: length

text:
Everyday DBA for Progress OpenEdge

Everyday DBA for Progress OpenEdge
What You Need to Know, and When to Call for Help
David Eddy
Linx Tailored Development Services
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
What is the DBA responsible for?
Users must be able to connect to,
read from, and update the database
whenever they need to.
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Sounds simple... What does it mean?
• The database must exist and be up to date and
• It must be on-line when users need to connect
• Users must be able to connect
• DB operations should be fast enough, and other
applications should not be unduly impacted
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
It may also involve...
• Ensuring user actions are monitored and/or
• Protecting the database from unauthorised access
• Complying with legislative requirements or other
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Hang on! That’s quite a bit!
• Some tasks need to be done weekly, daily, or
sometimes even hourly
– You should know how to do these, and when to do them
• Some tasks only need to be done occasionally
– For most users, it’s easy to forget how to do these
– Call in the experts
• Don’t panic
– Progress databases largely require no administration once
set up (for small to medium users).
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
The database must exist, be current, and be usable.
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Where is your database today?
• Your database must exist
– If it goes away, you must be able to get it back
• Your database must be current
– Lost data costs money
• Your application must exist and be current
• What challenges are there and how will you
address them?
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
The tender art of backing up
• Backup – everybody does it
– On-line, offline, mirror split
• Restore – can you do it?
– Have you actually tested your backup recently?
– Clear, available documentation
• What if you’re sick and the restore has to be done by someone
• What about the application?
– Or the system data? User password database?
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Backup techniques
• For small and medium sites:
– KISS: Use probkup (online or offline)
probkup [online] dbname backupfilename –com
– Then back up backup file, applications, and critical system
files to removable media (and take them offsite)
• Large sites may wish to use mirror split (i.e. arraybased backup)
– proquiet dbname –C enable (pauses update activity)
– Mirror split or snapshot commence
– proquiet dbname –C disable
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Restoring a backup
• Technique will correspond with backup
• For probkup-based backups:
– Restore DB backup file (and possibly other stuff) from
removable media into scratch area
– Restore database:
prorest dbname backupfile
– Copy any other needed parts (e.g. application code) to
proper locations
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Why application?
• Application corresponds with database
• Changes to DB structure, or application code
changes, may mean restored DB will not run
with current application code
– Not usually an issue in practise
– But needed anyway in case of total disk loss
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Existence II: Preventing data loss
The case for after-imaging
• If you have to restore from backup, you’ve lost
everything that’s happened since
– Paper-based operations? No problem (just $ to
– Telephone or web-based? You’re in trouble!
• Solution: After-image logging
– Trivial to implement
– Self-managing in OpenEdge 10 and higher
– No excuse not to!
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Implementing after-imaging (AI)
It’s easy!
• Add after-image extents to DB if you need to
– 5 variable-sized extents ok for most small-medium
• Create a directory to hold archived afterimage data
• Enable after-imaging
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Implementing AI
Adding AI extents
• Create a file e.g. “ai.st” to
describe AI extents (one line
per extent needed)
• Add to database
# AI extents for somedb
a /path/to/directory
a /path/to/directory
a /path/to/directory
prostrct {add|addonline} dbname ai.st -validate
prostrct {add|addonline} dbname ai.st
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Implementing AI
Enabling after-imaging in the database
# Shut down DB
# Enable after-imaging and AI log management
rfutil dbname –C mark backedup
rfutil dbname –C aimage begin
rfutil dbname –C aiarchiver enable
# Modify db startup to include argument
“-aiarcdir /path/to/aiarchive/dir”
# Restart DB
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Existence III: Up in smoke
Planning for business continuance
• What planning do you need to make for
– What if there’s a fire at the office?
– Or total loss of electrical power?
• If you’re a multi-site operation, you should
consider “DR”
– Would being able to run on an off-site system
benefit the business?
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
A complex topic
• Key part of Business Continuance planning
– But only a part
OpenEdge Replication
Trigger-based replication
Array-based replication
Log shipping
Often an area needing expert advice
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Information vacuum sucks
• Plans are of no use if nobody knows of them
– You might be sick or injured (or in the Bahamas)
• Clear, written checklists and instructions
– Store a copy with your off-site backups
– Include exact commands to use in case must be
performed by unfamiliar personnel
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
DBA tasks for: Existence
• Take backups (and manage them properly)
• Test restore
– Test fact that you can read your backups
– Test documented procedure in case you’re not there
– Document how long restore takes
• Document disaster scenarios and recovery
• Socialise existence of documentation
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
The system needs to be available whenever the users need it.
But it need not be available when they don’t need it.
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Uptime requirements
Identify your needs
• Most businesses have modest needs, e.g. 5x16 or 6x24
– e.g Mon-Fri, 7am-11pm or Mon 6am -> Sat 9pm
• Very few business are genuinely 24x7
– Exceptions are typically web-response systems
– Large businesses
– 24-hour (petrol station, convenience store, Crown Casino)
• Nobody will care if you bust a gut making the system
available when they don’t need it
• Uptime costs money – how much do you need?
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Other uptime requirements
• Do you need to be able to remotely administer
your database?
– Use free OpenEdge Explorer if 10.1C+
• Should your database auto-restart if it goes
– Use OpenEdge Management or bespoke scripting if
• What non-database services are needed?
– AppServers, WebSpeed, batch procedures, interfaces
e.g. Sonic
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
• Consider using AdminServer for database
– Use is required anyway for WebSpeed, AppServer, etc so
you may as well use it.
• Database configuration stored in
• Administered using “dbman” commands
– Database have nicknames instead of pathnames
• Preferred method if using OpenEdge Explorer or
Management (i.e. Web-based admin interface)
– Default for OpenEdge 10.2B+
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
What causes uptime problems
Human error
Lack of DB free space
Lack of log free space
Lack of filesystem free space
Reaching DB extent size limits
Reaching area size limits
Hard kill of client processes (sometimes)
Silly stuff:
– Removing .lk file
– Changing host name
– System crash
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Free space management
• Space/size issues are your primary uptime risk
• Address by combination of:
– Risk mitigation
– Monitoring
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Free space: Risk mitigation strategies
• Enable large file handling (for Enterprise Server)
• Ensure all storage areas have variable extent
• Test whether on-line extent add works for you
– Might not if clients don’t have DB extent file permissions
Establish a usage baseline
Make sure AI logs are archived/emptied
Make sure BI log doesn’t get too big
Monitor free space at all levels
Be aware of area maximum size given recs/block
setting (_AreaThreshold VST)
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Free space: Monitoring
• Monitor database free space for each storage
area independently (including log areas)
– prostrct statistics
– _AreaStatus VST
• Check for variable extent size and growth
• Monitor filesystem free space
– In filesystems containing variable-size extents
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Monitor usefully
• Just knowing kB free is often useless
– How many kB per week are consumed?
• Establish a usage baseline
• Describe free space in terms of number of weeks
– Long-term average consumption
– 7-day moving average consumption
• Also monitor if 7-day average moves too far from
long-term average
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
• Automated monitoring is most useful
– Especially when combined with exception
• Can be hard to do if you’re not systemsliterate
– Call in the experts to set it up for you
– Learn to interpret output
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Bad things!
Hot-spots to watch out for
• Less than 2 weeks free space in any data area
– Remember: When one area fills, the whole DB is full regardless
of how much free space there is in other areas
• Variable extent >1GB
– Unless you have large file handling enabled
• Very little (<4GB) free space in filesystem
– If there are variable-sized extents there
• Rapidly-growing log files in filesystem with variable-sized
• BI log growing rapidly and no large file handling
• BI log large (e.g. >4GB) can have extended crash recovery
• Only one empty AI log extent
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
More bad things
...a little more indirect, this time
• Long-running transactions
– Cause BI log growth
• No empty AI log extents
– Backups will fail until corrected
– Log space exhaustion prevents updates and shuts DB
• 2 or more locked AI log extents
– Replication has probably stopped
– Unreplicated data prevents AI log space reuse
– Measure with rfutil db –C aimage extent list
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Large file handling for OpenEdge
• Supported in most V9 and all OE10 ports
– Enterprise Server only (not Workgroup or
– Filesystems need LFH also (beware AIX!)
• How to tell whether it’s enabled:
– You have an extent larger than 2GB
– Use proutil db –C describe (10.1C+)
– Look in the log file (after “multi-user session
begin”) for “large-file handling enabled”
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
DBA tasks for: Uptime
• Monitor free space in:
– All DB areas
– Filesystems
Monitor size of BI log
Monitor number of empty AI log extents
Watch for variable-size extent growth
Know how to add extents
– On-line, ideally
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
The database should have enough “slots” for users to be able
to connect.
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Is primarily concerned with...
Remote vs. Local connections
Maximum total DB connections
Server pools
Lock table size
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Remote vs. Local connections
• You should use local connections where feasible
– Best performance
– Minimum resource usage
• Remote connections are useful for:
– Off-system clients
– Ensuring database stability if client termination causes
– Segregating users into pools (access denial, user count
control, performance)
– Performance in specialised circumstances (e.g. highlyasymmetric NUMA)
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Remote connections
What makes a connection remote
• Presence of –S parameter in causes remote
– Beware, this parameter is needed on DB server to
allow remote connections
– Usage of common parameter lists for client &
server is therefore a Bad Idea
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Monitoring connectivity
What to monitor
• Number of connections vs. Maximum
– Global for database
– Per server pool
• Number of locks vs. Maximum
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Monitoring connectivity
How to monitor
• Promon
– R&D, 1, 13: Overall connections, overall lock
– R&D, 1, 2: Users per server, number of free slots
per server, number of free server slots
• VSTS: _Connect, _Server, _DbStatus
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Server pools
• By default, 1 server pool only
• Multiple pools recommended if you
frequently use SQL-92
• Multiple pool setup can be hard to ‘get’
– Straightforward but frequently misunderstood and
only occasionally needed
– An example where calling the experts can save
you some headaches
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
DBA tasks for: Connectivity
• Monitor usage of constrained resources
– Global connections, server connections, locks
• Make sure there is sufficient headroom to allow
for burst usage
– Connections: At least 10% free
– Locks: Limit ideally at least 1.3x max usage
• You may have connection limit policy to enforce
• Connections are not necessarily licences
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Monitoring Tools
Some people prefer to buy their tools
• OpenEdge Management
– Monitoring, trending, alerting, job/report execution,
remote monitoring, files, cpu, disk, network
• ProTop (http://www.greenfieldtech.com/articles/protop.shtml)
– Free, monitoring only
• Monitoring infrastructure kits
– E.g. Nagios, Hyperic
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Many things to many people
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Security means many things
Authentication (identification)
Authorization (limitation of action)
Encryption (prevention of snooping)
Integrity (detection/prevention of attacks)
Key part of larger concerns
– Auditing
– Legislative requirements
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
• Know how legislation or Best Practise affects
– Aus: TFN management
– USA: HIPPA, SoX, P.I. Data (Mass.)
– Europe: Personal identification data
• Can be part of a competitive position
– Web commerce
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Basic tasks
• Filesystem permissions for DB containers
– Disallow deletions
• Use _User table for key user identification e.g.
• Take advantage of pre-compiled permissions
to limit interactive accessibility of DB
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
More advanced stuff
• Use CLIENT-PRINCIPAL and use it to assert trusted
identity in AppServers
• Single sign-on
• Encryption (field & table level)
• SSL plumbing
• System hardening
• Many options, often with substantial tradeoffs
– Get expert advice
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
DBA tasks for security
• Mostly about setup, procedure, and
sometimes programming
– Little maintenance needed
• Difficult to maintain skill
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Who did what and when... inarguably
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Auditing is...
• Recording of changes in DB
– Often triggered by legal requirements
– Sometimes pure paranoia
• Maintenance of queryable archive
– Investigate prior questionable activity
– Spot checking by auditors
• Non-repudiable
– Might have to stand up to challenge
– Also useful for preventing “black hats” hiding tracks
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
• Tradeoff between completeness and
• Fully-enriched audit trail requires code
• Planning is required to guide recording of
– Need to think about how archive might be queried
or reported upon
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
DBA tasks for auditing
• Keep audit data from building up in live DB
– Move to audit archive DB regularly
Maintain auditing roles
Planning of events and context
Implementing changes to audit policy
Specialised help may be needed in some areas
SSO integration
Key techniques e.g. copying identity to AppServers
Help with planning events and context data
Setup of archive database
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
How fast to you want to go?
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Performance is multi-faceted
An incomplete list...
Database tuning
System tuning and configuration
Schema design
Query formation and index usage
Performance impact of DB structural elements
Usage patterns
Code efficiency
Client tuning and parameters
Connection mode
Hardware and network configuration
Business changes
User expectations
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
A complex system
A complex system is a system composed of
interconnected parts that as a whole exhibit one
or more properties not obvious from the
properties of the individual parts.
• Snowballing decline
• Databases can exhibit other counterintuitive
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
DBA tasks in performance
• Most aspects of performance need expert
• Some tasks can be usefully managed by DBA:
– Gradually increasing execution times and/or
sustained record reads >50,000/sec: Sign of bad
indexing (code fault)
– High I/O = too little buffer memory (DB config)
• If adding memory doesn’t fix it, call the experts – it can
be a complex topic!
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Summary of Tasks
There’s quite a bit you can and should do
• Hourly
– Long-running transactions and BI size/free space
– Connections, lock table usage
• Daily
– Storage area and filesystem free space (expressed as weeks
worth of consumption)
– Growth of variable-sized extents
– Backup
– AI extent archive management
• As needed
– Perform test of backup restore process
– Numerous configuration and setup tasks
– Document your DR plans and promulgate
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Call the experts to...
Investigate performance and capacity issues
Take baseline load data for long-term trend analysis
Review your system for best practise
Help plan implementation of new features
Help solve automation problems
Execute seldom-performed tasks
Train or mentor you
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Most importantly...
• Know your business!
– Understand business requirements of systems
– Plan to meet objectives
– Implement appropriate measures to suit
– Know what you need, and what you don’t need
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
A Final Thought
• This presentation largely canvassed topics
rather than detail
• If you want detailed instruction, talk to me
about training and mentoring
• If there’s demand, might develop a 1 or 2 day
course covering the mechanics of these topics
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Questions and Answers
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd
Thanks for your time …
©2010 Linx ADS Pty Ltd

similar documents


text:
Meeting slide pack

AGC Slide Pack – 11 December
Shared Business Services & McCracken
Mark Bennett
Director of Finance & Facilities
11December 2013
Shared Business Services Update
DH Family introductory workshop held with Arvato - October
HFEA introductory scoping workshops with Arvato w/c 25 Nov (some
shared w HTA): general, Finance & Procurement; Payroll & HR; IT
DH Migration Board initiated (2nd meeting 10 Dec); ToR and
representation on Arvato ISSC1 Boards being agreed
‘Small six’ ALBs meeting 17 December – to share notes, compare
progress and compatibilities for ‘Arvato lite’ (HFEA, HTA, HRA, NICE,
Monitor & NHSLA)
January 2016 remains preferred slot for HFEA (and HTA) but some of
‘small six’ might migrate early in 2015 hence engagement now
Arvato propose 9-12 month migration standard; 3 month for ‘small six’
HFEA upgrade of SAGE and use of makes our existing
processes not dissimilar to Arvato ISSC1 designs (early days)
Becoming clearer that tasks of junior finance role, definitely, and junior
HR role, quite probably, substantially transfer to ISSC1
McCracken Review Update
 Rec 2, on track for April 2014: Job Role for Shared FD developed,
DH approved and salary point determined; interviews being scheduled
Recs 4 & 13, in progress:
Stakeholder engagement survey part
of IfQ preparations; Corporate Strategy includes strengthening
arrangements and taking action on remainder
Rec 5, delayed to summer 2014:
Fee Review Group conflict
with other stakeholder involvement, not achievable 2013/14 in time for
1 April fee review; next available opportunity 1 October 2014
Rec 6, in progress:
Reducing burden essential ingredient and
outcome of IfQ
Rec 7, in progress:
Improved use of information; improved
(information) support to ART-conceived – embedded in IfQ
Rec 8, on track:
HRA / HFEA co-operation agreed Nov 2013
Rec 11, in progress: MHRA joint working an active workstream
Rec 10, in progress: Regulatory focus – part of Corporate Strategy
Rec 12
Complete (eliminate duplication w CQC)
Outstanding Debtors Report:
Mark Bennett
Director of Finance & Facilities
11 December 2013
Outstanding Debtors Report
 Debtors 2013 month end balances:
February £505k
 October
£598k Invoiced
 Overall position little changed, operationally, since last update ‘Excess’ of about £100k
 Long-dated outstandings:
 £173k related to two clinics managed by same PR, of which:
 £42k provisioned March 2013 and approved for no further recovery
 Letter to PR drafted, revised and sent 10 December updating on
status of £42k and requiring progress on remaining £131k
 One clinic financial status is now ok; other clinic invoices pursued
 Letter requires formal information from PR and accountant within 14
days contradicting HFEA payment status of the invoices (sent May
2011 and now resent), or
 Letter requires payment within 28 days or formal agreement to offset
and make progress on legal payables to PR
7 Internal Audit Update
HFEA AGC December 2013
Internal Audit Plan 2013/14 – Progress Update
The following Reviews are at fieldwork stage:
• HFEA Payroll and Expenses
• Risk Management Review
• Review of governance arrangements
The following reviews are being scoped with senior management:
• Justin McCracken/Francis Reviews – Assurance review of HFEA progress in
implementing actions
• Data processing arrangements
Next Steps
Audit Reviews
• The reviews listed above will be completed in quarter 4. We would report
progress at the next AGC.
Annual Audit Opinion
• We expect to have undertaken sufficient work by year-end to provide an annual
audit opinion.
Health Group Internal Audit Update
Group Reviews
• Where we undertake reviews that impact on the operations or activities of all members
of the Health Group Audit Service, we intend to share good practice and lessons across
the group e.g. Information Governance.
• We are currently discussing with ALB Heads of Internal Audit the possibility of
undertaking group reviews based on common themes. Work is on-going at the moment
and when a draft group plan is developed this would be shared with the HFEA AGC.
HGIA Assurance and Governance Event – 30th January 2014
• Audit Committee members as well as Finance/Governance Directors are invited
HIA/NAO Meetings
• HGIA and NAO have in place scheduled meetings. Issues discussed cover NAO upcoming
reviews (both inspections and financial audit work) as well as our planned work. Areas
of focus in the future would be work done across the group.
HMT/Cabinet Office
• We are providing HMT/Cabinet Office regular updates and KPI’s on our performance.
• HMT has also been directing HGIA/other central government internal audit groups to
undertake specific work e.g. Review of Departmental Quarterly Data Submissions. So far
requests have not extended to ALBs.
Compliance and Information Risks
Debra Bloor
Head of Inspection
11 December 2013
Managing sector risks
Risk based
assessment tool
Risk Management
Information and
Compliance activities
• Inspection
• Post inspection
• Incident
• Compliance and
Risk based assessment tool
Success rates
Multiple birth rates
Donor registration
Payment of fees
Information and intelligence
Communicating and
sharing with
Professional bodies
Fraud, Whistleblowing - 6 month update
Mark Bennett
Director of Finance & Facilities
Fraud & Whistleblowing
 Fraud – no reports of instances
 Fraud - scope / opportunity summary:
Payroll – limited, oversight of finance & HR, segregation maintained
 T&S – approvals and payment approval involve several senior
officers; culture of scrutiny and challenge exists
 Contracts & Suppliers – all main suppliers now GPS / CQC / DH
framework; WAP system enforces procurement order and
goods/services receipting prior to payment
 Assets – safe for cash and cheque-book; no assets identified as lost
in recent fixed assets review; policy of replacing equipment for staff
until frequency reaches ‘careless’ threshold (one member of staff
thus warned)
 Whistleblowing session for staff due in October, now delayed until
January 2014
 Ownership of Whistleblowing policy and process to be determined as
part of change to new shared services directorate
Governance, Effectiveness and Standing
Orders review – scoping
Audit and Governance Committee
Sam Hartley
Head of Governance and Licensing
11 December 2013
• Governance project – formally closed November 2013 –
transition to business-as-usual
• Annual review of committee effectiveness – Head of Governance
and Licensing (HoGL) collating results to analyse
• Standing Orders (SOs) – set out rules and regulations by which
Authority runs and governs itself – reviewed annually
• Internal Auditors’ (IA) review of governance running in parallel
• Sense-check revisions made during governance review – are
they working? Could they work better?
• Consider delegated powers and their appropriateness – e.g. for
administrative licensing changes
• Committee/executive relationship – what works well and what
could be improved?
• Revision of SOs – to reflect any governance/delegation changes
but also to tidy up/make consistent
• October 2013 – December 2013:
• Governance review scoped;
• Committee reviews carried out;
• Initial meetings between IAs and HoGL, committee chairs,
other key members/staff
• January 2014 – February 2014:
• HoGL collating committee review findings and considering
changes to delegated powers with lawyers/members where
• IA conducting review of governance in parallel with HoGL
• March 2014:
• Conclusion of review and revised SOs put to Authority for

similar documents


text:
PPT - Region I RRT

FEMA Flood Response Strategy
Maintaining a State of Cat-Like
Flood Potential
Northeast River Forecast Center
(NERFC) webpage:
• http://www.erh.noaa.gov/nerfc/
– Region-wide graphic of Observed and Forecast River Conditions
• Near, Minor, Moderate, Major Flood “quick-look” symbols
River Conditions (including river hydrographs)
Observed Precipitation
Forecast Precipitation
Snow Water Equivalent
Flood Outlook
Spring Flood Outlook
Flash Flood Guidance
Ensemble River Forecasts
• Experimental, seven day, short-term ensemble river forecasts. This will
give NWS forecasters an earlier look at possible flood outcomes when
advising decision makers. The public can link to this experimental
information at http://www.erh.noaa.gov/mmefs
Northeast River Forecast Center
(NERFC) webpage:
The Northeast River Forecast Center (NERFC) is one of 13 National Weather Service River Forecast Centers in the United States. They are colocated with the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Taunton, MA. They provide daily river forecasts and flash flood guidance values
for New England and most of New York State. Their office is open from 6:30 AM until 11:00 PM 365 days a year, and is open 24 hours a day
during times of increased flood potential.
Northeast River Forecast Center
(NERFC) Briefings
• Occurs every 2 weeks on Fridays at 1400 hours
• Dates - March 18, April 1, April 15, April 29
• Briefing materials sent out 1 to 2 hours before
the conference calls
• Phone No. 888-495-9808 Pass code 993314
Other Flood-Potential Resources
• USGS Water Alert
Subscriptions: http://water.usgs.gov/wateralert/
– Establish customized alert subscriptions for your email and/or cell
phone; choose river(s), stage heights, cubic feet per second, etc.
National Weather Service website: http://www.weather.gov/
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New England District, River Watch–
Reservoir Control website http://www.reservoircontrol.com/
– Real time River and Reservoir data
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and
Engineering laboratory
– website http://www.crrel.usace.army.mil/icejams/index.htm
– Current Ice Jam Map (see link near top center of page)
USCG Ice Breaking Operations District I POC = CDR Matthew Stuck
ph# 617-201-0384. Note –Please confer/coordinate with Response
Division Director, Planning or Operations Integration Branch Chiefs
before contacting CDR Stuck (to avoid multiple FEMA R1 queries).
Other Flood-Potential Resources
Montpelier, VT Flood Monitoring website
– Watch and Warning Statements
– Evacuation Route Maps
– Subscribe to cell phone and email alerts
New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services Real-Time
Data & Information for Watersheds in New Hampshire website
• Sebago Lake, Maine Water Level website (Portland Water District)
• Lake Champlain Water level website (USGS)
FEMA Strategy: Day to Day
• Increased Situational Awareness
• Near, mid and long term flood potential
– Attend Northeast River Forecast Center bi-weekly
teleconference briefings
– Maintain Awareness via the resources listed above.
– Review the MERS Daily Situation Awareness Report
• Look for indication of projected flooding
– Share information with MERS for inclusion in the
• Federal and state government source only
– State Liaison Officers check-in with states as
FEMA Strategy
• FEMA Region 1 procedures for reporting to stakeholders:
MERS provides general awareness of forecast flooding in the
Flood forecast information will include
If a DSAR includes reference to forecast flooding, Mitigation
staff will analyze the situation and provide a detailed report to
MERS for distribution to the DSAR readership.
state(s) and river(s) involved,
may also include detailed information (e.g. flood severity forecast
(minor/moderate/major) and/or copy and paste of river
The Mitigation report will include detail such as river stage crest
height and date forecast, “return frequency” (provides additional
measure of severity), location of facilities that may be impacted,
When the RRCC is activated the responsibility for detailed
flood forecast reporting will reside with the Planning Section.
FEMA Strategy:
Moderate Flooding is Forecast
• RRCC activated to a Level III
• Planning Section assumes responsibility for
flood forecast Situational Awareness
• Conference Calls established:
– NWS and NRFC
– States
• Staffing plans developed for RRCC Level II
FEMA Strategy:
Severe Flooding is Forecast
• Based on info from Mitigation, contingency
planning initiated
– State Liaison Officers/IMATs on alert
– RRCC Level II Staff on alert
– Warning Order issued to ESFs (if warranted)
FEMA Strategy:
Severe Flooding Likely
• RRCC activated to a Level II
• ESFs deployed:
– ESF 1: DOT….possible impacts to transportation infrastructure
– ESF 3: USACE….possible impacts to flood control facilities; statutory
flood fighting mission; generators & pumps; debris
– ESF 6: ARC/FEMA….evacuation support; sheltering
– ESF 7: FEMA/GSA….identification of vendor managed resources;
identification of facilities; prepositioning of federal resources
– ESF 8: HHS….identification of health/medical facilities that may be
impacted; Medical evacuation requirements
– ESF 9: FEMA USAR….rescue strategies
– ESF 10: EPA/USCG….identification of potential Hazardous Materials
releases; statutory hazmat response mission; hazardous debris
– ESF 11: USDA….possible impacts to agricultural concerns; possible
impacts to cultural resources (archives, libraries, museums, records
FEMA Strategy:
Severe Flooding Likely
• SLOs/IMATs offered to States
– May be prepositioned
– Establish IOF/UCG
• Coordination with HQ
• Planning Cycle initiated
– Regional Support Plan (RSP)
– If IMATs/SLOs deploy, they fall in under RRCC
Operations RSP initially.
• Stafford Act Declaration!!!!
– Emergency Declaration for Category “B” and Direct
Federal Assistance.
FEMA Strategy:
Severe Flooding Occurring/Subsiding
• If not deployed, IMATs/SLOs will be held until risk
has passed
• Establishment of Unified Coordination Group
• Establishment of Planning Cycle (if not already
– Publish IAP
• Initial assessment of impacts:
– State : Calls to local Emergency Managers; private
sector (utilities, big box stores, voluntary agencies,
faith based community
– Federal: Remote sensing; coordination with
ESFs/OFAs; Whole Community; Critical Infrastructure
FEMA Strategy:
Severe Flooding Occurring/Subsiding
• If it hasn't happened already Stafford Act
– Emergency Declaration for Category “B” and Direct
Federal Assistance.
• If this doesn’t happen things get tough.
• Response requirements:
– State identified
• Fill through internal resources, contracting, National Guard,
• If the requirement cannot be filled by the state, referred to
– ARFs and Mission Assignments
FEMA Strategy:
Severe Flooding Passed
Continue to provide direct federal assistance
Establish JFO
Support Preliminary Damage Assessments
Governor’s Request for Major Disaster
• Recovery Programs
– External Affairs
• Community Relations/Congressional Affairs/Media
Affairs/Intergovernmental Affairs/Tribal Outreach
• Long Term Recovery

similar documents


text:
Presentation is loading. Please wait.

Presentation is loading. Please wait.

Clinical Supervision Foundations Module Six Performance Evaluation.

Similar presentations

Presentation on theme: "Clinical Supervision Foundations Module Six Performance Evaluation."— Presentation transcript:

1 Clinical Supervision Foundations Module Six Performance Evaluation

2 Covered Thus Far: 1.Definition and Roles 2.Personal Theory 3.Supervisory Alliance 4.Modalities & Methods 5.Assessment Resources

3 Module 6: Learning Objectives 1.Identify importance of performance evaluation 2.List a number of methods for monitoring job performance 3.Provide performance-based feedback 4.Structure supervisory interviews to be of most benefit Participant Workbook – p. 49

4 Role of Performance Evaluation 1.Assess job performance and professional development within context of supportive alliance 2.Link counselor performance with criteria and evaluation methods 3.Engage supervisees in continuous learning 4.Assure agency mission, quality of care and client safety Participant Workbook – p. 49

5 1.Read the case study 2.Identify concerns about the interview 3.Note what merits positive feedback 4.What strategy might foster professional development within the counselor? 5.On what would you focus in providing performance based feedback? Case Study Participant Workbook – p. 50

6 Supervisory Methods: A Review Direct observation Individual or tutorial Group Participant Workbook – p. 52

7 Resources Performance Assessment Rubrics Fidelity measures for EBP

8 Measuring EBP Implementation Using established fidelity scales Modifying established fidelity scales Identifying agency-based performance indicators

9 Levels of Fidelity Assessment Program: Addresses whether structure, procedures, and routines are in place Practitioner: Addresses whether practitioner is delivering services consistent with program Client: Addresses whether client is receiving services within the practice framework

10 Integrative Activity 1.Reconsider the case study of Tony and his counselor, Megan 2.On which issues would you consider giving Megan feedback? 3.Using Practice Dimensions I and II in the Rubrics document, identify up to three competencies which could be targeted for Megan’s professional development Participant Workbook – p. 53

11 Performance Feedback: Basic Concepts Supervisor interpretations of behavior are influenced by own assumptions Clear statements of these assumptions are key to supervisee understanding Sharing and comparing expectations signal collaboration Feedback should be crafted thoughtfully Verification of mutual understanding is essential Participant Workbook – p. 54

12 Feedback Defined Feedback is any overt response, verbal or nonverbal, that gives specific and subjective information about how a person’s behavior in a particular situation affects someone or something Participant Workbook – p. 54

13 Objective Transmit reliable information so that a person receiving it can establish a “data bank” from which to change behavior if she/he chooses to do so. Participant Workbook – p. 54

14 Oral Feedback Model O O = Observe R R = Report A A = Assumption L L = Level Participant Workbook – p. 55

15 Oral Feedback Example “When I saw (heard) you... I assumed (thought)... and my reaction was...” Participant Workbook – p. 55

16 Adding Three More Steps … 1. Start by asking for permission to share feedback 2. Request playback of the message 3. Confirm mutual understanding after accurate playback Participant Workbook – p. 55

17 The Whole ORAL Process 1.Ask permission 2.Report behavior observed 3.Relate assumptions about situation 4.Share feelings and concerns 5.Report impact of behavior in question 6.Request playback of feedback 7.Clarify misunderstanding or omission 8.Confirm mutual understanding Participant Workbook – p. 55

18 Practice Groups of 3 Supervisor – Supervisee – Observer 3 cycles in this activity – roles rotate Each cycle: – Supervisor provides performance feedback to supervisee using ORAL model – Observer provides feedback on use of model Participant Workbook – p. 55

19 Discussion What is the value of the ORAL model? How important is the playback? How might this skill impact the relationship between supervisor and supervisee?

20 Integrative Practice 1.On the Preparing Feedback form, decide on a supervisory message for Megan 2.Watch a demonstration 3.Practice with a new partner 4.Revisit the value of the ORAL model in a large group discussion Participant Workbook – p. 57

21 Supervisory Interview Definition: Structured communication process with a clearly definable purpose enabling the counselor to improve job performance. Purpose: 1.Create an atmosphere and provide a structure which facilitates bi-directional feedback, teaching, learning and evaluation 2.Improve quality and effectiveness of client services Focus: Development of supervisee knowledge, skills, and professional attitudes. Participant Workbook – pp. 58-59

22 Supervisory Interview StepsObjectivesTools Step 1 SET AGENDA Provide structure Decrease anxiety Foster trust Establish agenda Prioritize Set time frame Step 2 GIVE FEEDBACK Empower Individualize supervision ORAL model Step 3 TEACH & NEGOTIATE Confirm understanding Negotiate objective Motivational skills Active listening Paraphrasing Step 4 SECURE COMMITMENT Determine willingness Clarify expectations Mutual accountability Clarification skills Ask for commitment Participant Workbook – p. 59

23 Discussion 1.What was the impact of using the structure? 2.How did the supervisee respond to feedback? 3.Was an adequate understanding achieved? 4.What helped bring it about? 5.What happened when the issue of improved performance was raised? Discussion

24 Brief Interview 1.What is the performance issue? 2.What behaviors or observations do you want to cite as part of the performance issue? 3.What is your preferred outcome for the interview? Participant Workbook – p. 60

25 Discussion Practice 1.In pairs you will each conduct a brief supervisory interview, using the 4-step structure 2.Take 10 minutes to do the 1 st interview 3.Debrief using the questions in the workbook 4.Repeat the exercise, switching roles, and doing a 2 nd interview

26 Performance Evaluation 1.Monitor and assess job performance 2.Provide performance-based feedback 3.Assure feedback is understood and discussed 4.Use an interview structure that which helps lessen anxiety and assures supervisor’s goals are met Participant Workbook – p. 61

Download ppt "Clinical Supervision Foundations Module Six Performance Evaluation."

Similar presentations

Ads by Google


text:
Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Resume & Interview Colloquium With Robert Newlen

The Adobe Breeze presentation can be viewed HERE.

Robert Newlen came to Davis College on October 15 to offer advice for SLIS students as they breach
the job market and present themselves to hiring managers.

No comments:

Post a Comment


text:
Latest games for pc 2017

Posted by

latest games for pc 2017

The first half of has been bountiful, with game of the year contenders the recent years' boom in PC game releases continues with gusto. Club, a membership program that offers ad- free browsing on this site and a. Our guide to the new games of is broken down by genre, and we've any other free -camera gameplay montage, but despite masking the   Action and FPS (cont.) ·  RPGs ·  Strategy and sims ·  MMOs. Because gaming can be pricey, the PC's best free games progression, Battleborn has made the cut for the best free games to play in !.

TOP 20 NEW Upcoming Games of 2017 & 2018 (PS4, XBOX ONE, PC)

Latest games for pc 2017 - kann aber

It's let down by lacklustre combat and some annoying enemy design, but Prey is still a compelling, beautiful immersive sim. Black Flag, the next chapter in the series will take us into the body of Bayek, as he becomes an assassin and protects his people from outside threats. Most Popular Most Recent. It's also helplessly running from danger, while watching your last drops of breathable air trickle away. We said it would and it finally happened: Skylines - Mass Transit. Action The sequel to the critically-acclaimed Middle-earth Shadow of Mordor — Winner of over 50 industry awards — arrives this August, continuing the original story of Talion and Celebrimbor, who must now go behind enemy lines to forge an army and turn all of Mordor against the Dark Lord, Sauron. Can you distinguish between free games and pay to win freemium games please? An upgrade system adds a sense of personalization, while being surrounded by a whole army constantly reminds you that loners don't do well on the battlefield. Hawken As it's been in beta since with little to no organizer professional push, you may have forgotten about Hawken or were unfamiliar with it in the first place. Dead Island's gameplay doesn't quite match the trailer's promise, but the open-world action-RPG offers a very solid zombie-slaying good time as you craft weapons and try to stay alive in an island paradise gone wrong. Why Dota 2 Reborn is finally a game for everyone A brief tutorial now points out the ropes, with the Steam Community stepping in to provide guides wie kann ich geld verdienen ohne zu arbeiten the original MOBA. The Division - Last Stand. Utilizing a rock-paper-scissors-styled combat system, Halo Wars 2 tasks you with developing bases and armies to combat hostile alien forces. latest games for pc 2017

Leave a Reply

Deine E-Mail-Adresse wird nicht veröffentlicht. Erforderliche Felder sind markiert *


text:
Home >> Blogs >> Millennial entrepreneurs rely on ACA to keep communities creative

Millennial entrepreneurs rely on ACA to keep communities creative

At Designing Local in Columbus, co-owners Josh Lapp and Amanda Golden are passionate about creating inspired community design projects that highlight local attributes. Their goal is not only to increase an area's aesthetic value, but to build relationships among the citizens who participate in these projects. It is a noble and unique effort to try to increase the quality of life in communities around the country, but the future of Designing Local will be in jeopardy if these entrepreneurs no longer have access to affordable health insurance.

Since opening in 2014, Designing Local has extended its reach from strictly local ventures to national preservation and urban design projects. In fact, the business’ success has allowed Amanda’s husband, Aaron, to quit his job in order to pursue his own dreams of becoming a business owner. The biggest hesitation when making this decision was the prospect of losing his insurance, as both he and Amanda were covered through his employer. However, thanks to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Amanda and Aaron, as well as the rest of Designing Local’s employees, were able to easily enroll in the individual marketplace through Healthcare.gov.

For Amanda, the most valuable aspect of their health coverage is the amount of money they’ve saved. Amanda and Aaron pay the same amount as they did for their previous plan and receive similar coverage under the ACA. And since they don’t have to worry about their health costs, Amanda was able to allocate more money towards her growing business, which allowed her to hire two new employees.

According to Amanda, this is just one example of how “the ACA drives economic development in local communities and beyond.”

Amanda’s business partner, Josh Lapp, has reaped similar, if not greater, benefits from the ACA. Before the law’s passage, Josh’s pre-existing condition required him to keep his full time job while getting the business off the ground in order to remain covered.

He says that the ACA “removed the fear many would-be entrepreneurs feel about losing their health coverage.” It allowed him to realize his dream of becoming a business owner while receiving the level of care required for his health issues, which would be impossible for him to pay for out of pocket.

“Repealing the ACA would discourage entrepreneurship. It will send a ripple effect to small businesses everywhere, and they are the backbone of the American economy,” says Josh.

He is worried that if the ACA is repealed, he will be forced to leave the business to find employer-sponsored coverage. Amanda and her husband face a similar scenario, where one of them would be forced to rejoin the traditional workforce in order to access coverage.

Josh says, “If I could talk to a member of Congress, I would tell them that a vote to repeal the ACA is a vote to kill entrepreneurship, which is a key part of the American dream. It's not the American way.”

Josh and Amanda echo the sentiments of countless entrepreneurs who have gotten coverage thanks to the ACA as they urge Congress to fix the law, not repeal it.

We want to hear how the Affordable Care Act has impacted small businesses and entrepreneurs so we can make the small business voice heard on this issue and others. Share your story with us in our Healthcare Story Bank.

Small Business Profile


text:
GAO Confirms: AbilityOne Trumps SDVOSB for VA Set-Asides

The VA has been on the receiving end of a number of GAO bid protest decisions, the most recent issued just a few weeks ago, holding that the VA is acting illegally by ordering off the Federal Supply Schedule without first determining whether the procurement at issue can be set-aside for service-disabled veteran owned small businesses.  But the GAO’s recommendations, and the outrage from the veteran community (which, in my opinion, is very well-deserved), have not stopped the VA from pushing ahead with its “FSS First” acquisition strategy.

Now, the VA has pushed SDVOSBs even further toward the back of the line.  The VA has determined that the Javits-Wagner-O’Day, or JWOD Act, which calls for agencies to make certain purchases from nonprofits listed by the Committee for Purchase for People who are Blind or Severely Disabled (also known as the “AbilityOne” program), trumps SDVOSB set-asides for items on the Committee’s list.

And this time, the VA agrees with the GAO.

The GAO’s recent bid protest decision in Pierce First Medical; Alternative Contracting Enterprises, LLC–Reconsideration, B-406291.3, B-406291.4 (June 13, 2012), involved the protester’s request that the GAO reconsider its earlier ruling in Alternative Contracting Enterprises, LLC; Pierce First Medical, B-406265 et al. (Mar. 26, 2012).

The original Pierce First Medical case involved a VA procurement for medical exam and surgical gloves.  Without considering a SDVOSB set-aside, the VA purchased the gloves from an AbilityOne non-profit.

Pierce and ACE filed a GAO bid protest, alleging primarily that the VA had violated the Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006 by failing to consider a SDVOSB set-aside before procuring the surgical gloves through the AbilityOne program.  If this sounds familiar, it is because the argument Pierce and ACE made was very similar to the argument made by Aldevra and others in successful challenges to the VA’s failure to put “Veterans First” when it comes to the Federal Supply Schedule.

This time, however, the GAO sided with the VA.  The GAO noted that unlike in the case of the Federal Supply Schedule, the JWOD Act requires agencies to procure items on the Committee’s list from an AbilityOne organization, unless certain exceptions (which were not present in this case), exist.  The GAO noted that the 2006 VA Act never discussed how the VA Act was supposed to interact with the JWOD Act.  Congress did not provide any guidance as to which one was supposed to control in the event of a conflict.

Given this, the GAO held that “the VA’s decision to give the AbilityOne program contracting priority for items already on the procurement list was not unreasonable in light of the statute’s silence regarding this issue.”  The GAO denied the protest and upheld the VA’s decision.

The protesters filed a request for reconsideration with the GAO, urging the GAO to re-examine its decision.  The GAO did so, but found no errors in its ruling, and upheld the original decision.  In the reconsideration decision, the GAO noted again that unlike in the Aldevra cases, the JWOD Act sets forth a contracting priority of its own, requiring purchases from AbilityOne non-profits.  The GAO wrote that the VA had properly harmonized the two statutes so that the AbilityOne program would receive preference for items on the Committee’s list, whereas SDVOSBs would receive preference for items not on the list.  The GAO denied the request for reconsideration.

The two Pierce First Medical decisions raise an interesting question: could the VA, if it wanted, validly interpret the 2006 VA Act as providing a preference for SDVOSBs over the AbilityOne program?  And if so, why did it not do so?

The AbilityOne program, of course, fulfills important socioeconomic objectives designed to assist some of the nation’s most vulnerable citizens, and the VA might defend its decision on that basis.  However, for service-disabled veterans still reeling from the VA’s ongoing insistence on going forward with FSS procurements without considering SDVOSB set-asides, the two Pierce First Medical decisions may be seen as additional evidence that within the VA, “Veterans First” means anything but.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


text:
Monday, January 9, 2012

Yogi Scare

my gym has a lot of scary things in it. im not talking about the beefy guys with seemingly way more veins than normal. i mean terrifying machines and classes. there is a huge list of cardio and weight machines that i wont go near. and a ton of classes i am way too chicken to step foot in. i decided to conquer my fear. to get my feet wet, i thought i would try yoga.

easy enough, right? relaxing. not a lot of moving. my gym turns the lights out during yoga so no one would even be able to see if when i messed up. how bad could it really be?

worse. way worse. it started off easy enough. i stood obediently in the dark, crowded room on my mat and followed each of the instructions given by the woman with a soothing alto voice. "sit pretzel legged"....."put your palms face up"....."lay on your back and breathe"...."acknowledge your fingers and toes"...."breathe in"..."breathe out"

i lay there breathing and thought of renaming my blog to "Yogi Girl"...i had this in the bag.

the changes were subtle. the instructors voice was still calm and soothing. but it was forming words into absurd commands. "lay on your belly"...."bring one foot up under your chin"...."stand up and look behind you"...."bend over at the waist"...."rest on your forearms"...."put your head on the floor"...."pick your feet up off the floor"

say, what??? i looked up to see the instructor in this position...

i wanted to go back to acknowledging my fingers and toes! when had this class turned into a simon says game from hell???

i looked around the room for my mom who had come with gaze finally found her...still sitting pretzel legged on her mat. i figured she was on to something. i unfolded myself and plopped on my mat. i sat like that for the next 15 minutes until the class ended.

im glad i tried it though. now i can cross it off my list. the next time some one asks if i have tried yoga, i can smile and say, "yes."

Dina said...

I can totally relate! The whole laying down and breathing part is the BEST part of yoga. I've taked to just doing some sun salutations and laying on the floor with Yoga Pandora on. That's the best way to be a yogi :)

Monica (Weight Loss Journey) said...

LMFAO, Im soo sorry to laugh at your post, but when I came across the picture of that "Impossible" move i'll call it LOL.. I laughed out loud lol Im not sure yoga would be for me :) Im thinking about trying out a zumba class at my Gym, but again the FEARS are in my way I might try it tho.. But not just yet lol

Amy said...

Haha! I love this post! That whole stand on your head thing? I would be afraid my body weight would split my skull or something. I wish I were a yoga girl though, it is pretty relaxing.

Jennifer said...

Geez! This sounds way harder than some of the classes I have taken at the gym. I can totally relate to being scared and intimidated to take a new class. Keep trying ones until you find one that suits you. I found I like zumba(once I got past the thoughts that it felt like dirty dancing...hehe). Anyway, good for you. I will be updating my blog soon. But it wont be pretty :(

Ronnie said...

I love me some yoga... but I wouldn't have been able to do that either!

Bring Pretty Back said...

I have never tried yoga - It look so calm and slow and a bit easy... but, I know that is NOT the case.
BRAVO you for going . Keep trying new things .Keep going!
You are lucky ... we have a gym in town that has NOTHING to offer. There are machines - no classes and you are totally on your own.
I no longer go .
I am proud of you !
have a pretty day!

Maren said...

Wow! I've avoided yoga because I can't bend for the life of me, I'm not flexible at all! Kudos for trying it!!

A journey to LIFE said...

good for you!!!
i wouldn't do that ever, at least until i lost most of my weight hahaha.
i can't do sit ups and push ups so no way i am entering any yoga class soon :))