G’day seniors

Hi Junita and her seniors class,

I hear you are learning about blogging today. So I thought I might tell you about how I got into blogging.

San Francisco skylineMy name is Mr Davo Devil. I have been blogging since 2011 when I started to travel overseas with my friend Miss Wyatt. I decided I needed to keep a record of all the interesting places we visited. We have driven around America and Canada for 3 months visiting lots of classes who also were blogging. At the end of that first trip, I was a bit naughty and hid in one of the classrooms. By the time Miss Wyatt got back home to Tasmania, she thought I was truly lost and sent out a call for the classes to look for me. Thankfully I was found in Mrs Yollis’ classroom. I then spent a year travelling around America on my own, going from class to class and staying overnight with students at their homes. I had a great time.

Davo GreystonesThen last year Miss Wyatt and I spent time in Ireland where Miss W was researching her family history. We also visited other classes especially Merry Beau’s school in County Wicklow. Because Miss W was trying to find out about her great great grandmother who was a convict in Tasmania in the 1840’s we visited a lot of archives and gaols while touring. She did find out a lot of information while we were there and has written about it on her family history blog. If you click here, the link will take you to her blog about family history.

A few years ago Miss W and I decided we were going to try and take one photo each day and put that on a blog. We thought this would be very easy to do but we haven’t yet made it through one entire year with a photo for each day. Here is the link to that blog.

So thanks for reading my introduction. I wonder if you have any questions. If you do then feel free to ask Junita or leave a comment on this post.

To leave a comment, click on the title of this post. Now scroll to the bottom and the comment area will appear. Fill in your name, your email if you have one (this doesn’t get published). In the big box, write your comment. Copy the comment by highlighting and CTRL C. Fill in the anti spam word and finally hit the submit button.

You should get a message saying your comment is in moderation. If it asks you to write your comment again, then you will have to fill it in again but paste in the comment you have already copied from earlier.

So time now to leave a comment if you wish.

I have a question for each of you:
If you were going to have your own blog, what would you write about on it and why?

On the road yet again

Road to Awe

Creative Commons License Klardrommar via Compfight

Miss W woke me up from a nice warm sleep this afternoon to tell me we are off on the road again tomorrow. She has packed our bags ready to get on the bus to head to Oatlands for lunch, Devonport for tea and then a night on the boat across Bass Strait.

Then I checked my blog and realised I am WAY behind reporting on my Aussie travels. So I will do a quick report about Hervey Bay and whale watching and Fraser Island. Then another of our trip around the west coast of Tasmania.

Then on the 10th July we have to have a post written so a group of seniors who are working with Junita can see what a great blog I have.

Well bye for this short post, time to get the other two written.

Exploring Seattle with Andrew

As part of my visit to Washington, I got to go home with Andrew, a kindergarten Bulldog Reader! He took me to Seattle to see some of the sites there! We thought about going up the Space Needle, but I’m afraid of heights, so I said, “No, thank you!”

I had a fun time with the Bulldog Readers in Washington. Now I’m on my way back to the east coast to visit some new students!

First we went to the Seattle Center, where the Seattle Space Needle is located. you can see it in the background. The Space Needle was built for the 1962 World’s Fair.

Then we went to the Pike Place Market. I got to see all the wonderful fresh food and flower vendors there. It gets really crowded with tourists!

All that walking around made us thirsty, so Andrew took me to the original Starbucks Coffee shop at the Pike Place Market. I had some hot chocolate because I was a little chilly!

Arrival in Washington State

Last week I arrived in Washington state to have a short visit with Mrs. Hembree and the Bulldog Readers.

As you can see on the map, Washington is a LONG way from Tasmania, Australia!

Washington state is on the northwest  coast of the United States. I came to us via Mr. Salsich’s class in Connecticut, which is on the northeast coast of the United States! I traveled about 3,000 miles or about 4,900 kilometers from there to here.

 I was pretty tired when I arrived, so I went home with Mrs. Hembree to rest. She let me take a  nap on the couch with Kasa, Mrs. Hembree’s Pomeranian.

Once I was rested, Mrs. Hembree thought it was time for me to meet Reese, Mrs. Hembree’s other dog. YIKES!  He is a rather large Bernese Mountain Dog!  I wasn’t sure if Reese was going to eat me or lick me! Luckily, he just gave me a look, and left me alone!

Then it was time to go to school just in time to meet Cat in the Hat who was also visiting for Read Across America Week!

I also helped some students with their library lessons. They were practicing how to be a book illustrator.

Then I counted stripes on Cat in the Hat’s hats! There were a lot to count!

Next I will be going home with Andrew! I wonder what that will be like!

 

News from the Antipodes

Davo! Davo! It’s me, Squirrel!

Look downunder, here in the Antipodes!

I have arrived and Miss W has started a blog for me. I am going to be touring downunder in Australia and New Zealand. I might even get a chance to visit some Asian countries or some of the Pacific Islands which are nearby.

Miss W added the link to my blog  under class links.

I am so excited!

Did you see the picture? That is called a Leptospermum or a tea tree, commonly found in Australia. Doesn’t it look unusual?

I am going to have a hot Christmas down on the beach, rather than having to hunt down acorns and other nuts to put away for your cold winter. You might need a warm coat if you are travelling north to Mr Salsich in February.

Chat again another day. Just going to visit the local shop with Miss W, to check out the food here in Tasmania.

Image: ‘Australie

Davo has been found!

He was hiding out in Mrs Yollis’ classroom. Here is part of the comment from Mrs Yollis.

Dear Miss W. and Squirrel,

We have some surprising news for you! Leila discovered Davo hiding behind our visitor count number! He was crouching down and looked a bit sheepish when discovered. Sheepish means he looks a bit embarrassed with shame.

We can’t believe that he has been here hiding for almost a week!

So it looks like Davo will be starting more travels around the USA and Canada.

If you want him to visit your class sometime during 2012, could you please fill in the Google form below.

Miss W will need to know the following information:

  • Name of teacher and twitter name if possible
  • Name and address of school so Davo can find his way there
  • Time of year you would like him to visit – month or special event with date

We will create a page with Davo’s calendar on it, so you will know which dates are already taken.

NEWS ALERT …… NEWS ALERT ……

Squirrel worried about Mr Davo Devil

Squirrel:  Miss W! Miss W!

Miss W: What’s the problem Squirrel?

Squirrel: Have you seen Davo since we got home to Tasmania?

Miss W: Now I think about it, he wasn’t in the suitcase when I unpacked last night. Do you have any idea where he might be?

Squirrel: Well, I heard he had been talking about staying in America and Canada for a bit longer. He loved all the travelling around and thought he could hitch a ride through the postal service to visit lots of other schools that he missed on this trip.

Miss W: We need to send out an alert then on the blog to find out where he might have gone.

Squirrel: I reckon he stayed in Mrs Yollis’ room somewhere. He loved chatting to Panda and Beverly.

Please, please check your classrooms to see if Mr Davo Devil has hidden himself there. Please leave a comment on this post if you find him.

Also please tell him, his blog has been nominated in the Edublog Awards for best new blog. He needs to be around when the announcement is made.

LA – our final stop

WOW! It has been eleven weeks since I started this blog and began my fantastic trip around North America with Miss W. We have only one stop left – that is with Mrs Yollis and her class in Los Angeles.

Our first night here, Mrs Yollis  and her husband Todd, had invited their friends for a meal. Delicious hickory smoked chicken cooked on a rotisserie in the BBQ, asparagus and rice then fresh fruit and chocolates for dessert.

The next couple of days Miss W drove to three different schools to visit classes that were blogging. Again we spoke about our trip and especially about the plight of the Tasmanian devils. The students also had lots of questions, so many that we ran out of time. They will need to put their questions on the link in my blog, so the Aussie students can answer them.

When we visited Mrs Yollis’ class, I met Panda and Beverley. I already knew of Panda because he helped create the video about ‘Quality Comments‘, but this was the first time I had seen Beverley. Apparently Beverley is good at playing a game called ‘Switch or Bamboo‘.

Pacific Ocean and smog over downtown LA

While we weren’t visiting classes, Miss W did her normal thing – get in the car and go for a drive. So we went up and down the canyons here on the Pacific coastline – a lot different from the canyons in the desert areas of USA and Canada. One thing we often see on the news, especially in the American summer, is images of brushfires in the canyons on the west coast near Malibu. That was where we went for a drive.

One evening after school, Mrs Yollis had been invited to speak (5 minutes only) about using technology in her classroom. This was as part of a panel, in front of many administrators and superintendents of education as well as senators and other politicians. She did a magnificent job talking about her class blog and was the only speaker who had visuals as part of her presentation.

Well, it is time to go and help Miss W pack our bags ready to head back to Australia. We need to clean out the car, give Mrs Yollis all the brochures we have collected as we travelled and say goodbye to Squirrel. It will be good to have some company on the long trip back to Australia.

I would like to thank all the classes that have been following my journey around USA and Canada. Make sure you keep checking the questions and answers section.

Also remember to check out Squirrel’s blog once we arrive in Australia.

Bye, see you later, ciao, arrivederci, au revoir, auf wiedersehen.

How do you feel when something is over – a great holiday, reading a magnificent book? What do you do to start feeling good again?