Raptor Presentations

Raptors for remote areas

Marra Apgar — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 07:49:16 +0000

I’ve mentioned it before, but thought I’d fill you in on some more details. For me, 2012 is going to be the year of starting to do webinars and adult training courses. What this means for remote school kids is that they’ll be able to get me “in” to show them my birds and share cool stuff about raptors.

looking at a webinar

Lots of people don’t know what a webinar is yet, but if you have used the internet it is pretty easy to explain. A webinar is a web page you go to at a particular time, like going to a seminar or phone conference. The page you look at can be changed during this virtual meeting by the person running the webinar. This means they can show you stuff in a structured way, just like seeing a slide show or Powerpoint presentation in person.

The webinar ‘show’ can include sound, live voice from microphones, pictures, slides, video and webcam. The cool thing about a webinar is that it can be set to work both ways. The presenter can turn on your mic so you can ask a question all the viewers can hear, you can ask questions privately by typing them or everyone can doodle ideas on a virtual whiteboard with their mouses. Pretty cool stuff, really.

Many remote (as well as not-an-easy-drive-from-Perth) schools have a fast internet connected computer hooked up to a projector in their classroom. That’s all you’ll need for me and the birds to “visit”! I’m enjoying the learning curve in getting familiar with the software I’ll be using. I’m also running around gathering video and pictures to share during presentations. If you have any questions, click the button to raise your hand. No wait – this isn’t a webinar – you can phone or e-mail.

Wild Watcher launch

Marra Apgar — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 07:26:54 +0000

I’ve got an online theme happening this year. I am starting to run webinars (more on that later) and I will have my first intake of Wild Watcher students in Term 1. The web site is a “project space” with a Western Australian wildlife and nature exploration theme. It is a place for students to come together to share their own “finds” and see what sorts of animals live near them. It is also a space for teachers to create and share project ideas. A lot of our sightings will come from the Perth metro area, highlighting the importance of urban habitat conservation.

Teachers will find a range of predefined projects to choose from, and to set as class activities or homework. As a value-add, students can pick and do as many additional projects as they want to, and teachers can create their own project ideas. Wild Watcher is a great tool to use if you are trying to transition indoor tech kids to a “children in nature” and “nature play” paradigm. It uses social media to stimulate enquiry and exploration of the outdoor natural spaces that are immediately accessible. Self directed activities and friendly competition are encouraged. Teachers can play too – can you get as many ‘sightings’ as your students?

Opening days:

Wild Watcher will be open for you to tour and play on for 10 days, from Wednesday April 4^th to Friday April 13^th. It’s like the big opening ceremony gig. I’ll be inviting some interesting guests to add content, and I’m sure we will have some interesting sightings on that last Friday!

Teacher PD / tour:
Not an official one, unfortunately! Only 15 minutes, though. This will be a live online guided tour of Wild Watcher and how the Project Space can be used. If you join the webinar live, you’ll be able to ask me questions and get me to show you how stuff works. If you can’t come at the right time, I will be putting up a recording of the tour you can watch any time you like.

If after attending these you’d like to sign your class or school up for the year, 2012 is going to be free. To qualify to join, you will need to commit to use the Project Space for one class project during the year. Next year there will be a small fee (like, $10) so that I recover running costs for the site. If you book a raptor encounter, a Wild Watcher membership will be included.

To get details as they are finalised, subscribe to my newsletter or give me a call or e-mail. Fun times ahead!

Ouch

Marra Apgar — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 02:25:59 +0000

Do not operate pointy machinery while under the influence of drowsiness.

Pointy machine

Sometimes I forget to observe the warnings. Like at midnight at the end of a busy Christmas day. Fortunately, I have tegaderm and melolin handy, and know how to treat wounds.

ouch

Running, running, running…

Marra Apgar — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 01:48:56 +0000

This time of year is often hectic. I’ve had my hands full this week, and lots has been going on this month.

A chick arrived 29^th November and has grown at an astonishing rate. That’s normal for chicks. She has been dubbed “Talla” and fledged in the aviary yesterday. Her education has included lots of planning to ensure she grows up to be a wild, hunting bird. More training to come.

Talla chick

I finished off the gift shopping and have, amazingly, distributed all gifts to people I won’t see this weekend. One hint here is that I have only shopped for close loved ones. I’m sorry if you are overseas or didn’t make the grade, but I know you will get heaps of junk anyway.

Half of my office is in another room, as the ceiling added an alarming crack to the existing bulge right above the desks last month. That got repaired on Tuesday, but the office chaos continues to be chipped away at. I can highly recommend “Getting Things Done” by David Allen.

On Tuesday, I wasn’t home, so my partner handled the ceiling guy, the frozen quail delivery, a surprise load of mulch and fed Talla lunch. I’m sure I’m forgetting a few other Tuesday things. I have a great guy to put up with all that cheerfully while not getting any of his stuff done.

Today I managed to take one bird to the vet and came back with two. Both are thin and in need of hospital time. Lots of dead mouse chopping for me. The trick is to remember to use the nail brush vigorously before going off to Christmas lunch and wanting to lick the turkey juice off the fingers.

Signing off for 2011: best wishes for your favourite endeavours for 2012.

Raptor-e-cursions: remote school friendly

Marra Apgar — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 04:12:52 +0000

Yep, more new stuff! This is the Raptor Encounter you have in your classroom without actually having a raptor in the classroom. Huh? OK, it’s a webinar. Haven’t heard of those? Right – a webinar is a seminar you attend by sitting down at your computer and pointing your web browser at the presenter. And her raptors. For a class full of kids, you plug in the class data projector, turn up your speakers and hey-presto! they’ve got us talking to them up on the wall. Advantages of a Raptor-e-cursion are

you pay less to see the raptors (since it costs me less to run them),
you actually CAN get to see the raptors, even if you are a long way from Perth,
I spend less time driving and the raptors get more snoozing in the sun time.

It may not be as good as the real thing, but if you are on a budget or at a remote school, this may be a fantastic option for you. I’m currently testing out the software and putting together the online version of what I do when I am in the classroom. If you are interested in being one of my first classes, please get in touch.

Wild Watcher beta is Go

Marra Apgar — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 00:33:46 +0000

What is Wild Watcher? It is an online Project Space that I have created for students of all ages. Schools are really getting into teaching with technology these days, so this is the place for nature-based projects. Kids can collaborate, compete and share their finds, sightings, questions and inspirations. They’ll be able to use the web site to share their class stuff with you and each-other, as well as being able to connect with other kids doing similar stuff. What I need from you, the teachers, are some kids with projects to do! Don’t worry if you aren’t too inspired: I have a few ideas ready to go within the web site. Drop me an e-mail or give me a call if you’d like to join our testing phase for free.

Inside Wild Watcher Project Space

News from Marra’s Mews

Marra Apgar — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 00:14:43 +0000

I’ve finally done it. I’ve set up a template and am busy collecting stuff to put in an e-newsletter. A lot of stuff happens around here, so thought this might be a nice way for people to get a sneak peak at what goes on behind the scenes. A “mew” is a raptor house – in other words, an enclosure where they live. I’ve also set myself a challenge: include a video in each newsletter. The first one is going to be that kestrel feeding video from a couple of posts ago. If you find it hard to keep up with blogs, you might like to pop back to the main Raptor Presentations page and subscribe so that a selection of bite sized bits land under your nose in your inbox once a month.

Raptors at Scitech Excursion Expo

Marra Apgar — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 08:47:37 +0000

We’ll be showing off our wares at the EE at Scitech on Monday nest week. Here are the offerings I’ve been cooking up:

Raptor-e-cursions: we’ll be there, but we wont go there…
Wild Watcher web beta testing re-launch
New newsletter -- with free raptorial educational video
Live raptors and presentations by me at your school (but you knew about this one)

Some lucky doer who comes to the expo is going to win a free Raptor-e-cursion webinar registration for their class. The value of the prize is $110.

So I’ve been busy behind the scenes at R.Pres HQ cooking up ways to keep me busy and technologically challenged. I’ll get into more details on these in coming weeks. I know some of your country colleagues will be rapt when they hear about the web-based incursion type stuff.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=awPjJuKjfWk

Habits and how to survive them

Marra Apgar — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 02:12:18 +0000

Alicia over at Revolutionary Lives was asking about what sort of habits help you have a great day. For me, a lot of it is about managing my fear of ‘too much to do’! This is where habits are priceless. They allow you to do stuff on ‘automatic’ so that they aren’t cluttering up your to-do list. Too much on the list (or worse, buzzing around in my head) is a sure sign that I will do nothing and feed really bad about it. Here’s how I use habits:

only add one new habit or ‘daily routine’ at a time
attach the new one to something that is entrenched (eg. take vitamin pill every time I make morning coffee)
mentally celebrate each success – success is remembering to do the new thing, and doing it
ignore the times you forget or don’t feel like it. Totally don’t beat yourself up over it.

This stuff comes straight out of animal training 101. I use it because it works (don’t believe me? Then look up all the scientific evidence!)

And of course, there are habits that need to be removed. It can be hard. One of my major tools for this is to substitute something else for the thing I’ll be missing. At the same time, I make sure that I let other things slide a little, and give myself extra pampering, because changing habits is hard.

My latest example of changing habits is switching to a low carb diet. I really needed to get past that sugar high / sugar crash, eat all day lifestyle. I have chosen to exclude refined sugars and flours from my diet, but I’ve made sure I have all the nuts and cheese I can eat. I’m not sweating how many times a day I head to the kitchen to eat something instead of sugar. Peanut butter, sweetener and cocoa concoctions have been a regular snack / treat. I’ve been eating way more than I had, but I’ve stuck to the new foods. And my food intake is starting to drop as I’m craving sugar less frequently. Oh, and I went down a size in pants! A great reward for a new set of habits.

Kestrels eat mice

Marra Apgar — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 01:39:52 +0000

Well, they do. These little guys haven’t got a lot of ‘processing’ experience, and they were hungry, so I’ve lovingly chopped up their dinner into little bite sized bits. Sorry for anyone who was hanging out for this ‘tomorrow’ post that is actually 2 days later!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=83sRMi5ub_E

They’re now in Geraldton getting ready to learn to be wild, independent birds. Thanks again to:

Society for the Preservation of Raptors Inc -- and our grant writer
Kimani aviaries for an excellent, temperature controlled hospital box
Telfer gold mine -- Kylie the Enviro who made sure they didn’t get squished
Just Raptors -- Janelle who will see them back to the wild