Det ble introdusert læreplanen, sammen med bevisstgjøringsoppgaver læreren må påta seg i forholdt til sin egen praksis, sin fortid som språklærende.

Opplysninger om undervisningsplanen og litteraturlisten finnes under DIDAFRAN1 & DIDAITAL1.

Idag (fredag) oppsummerte vi litt om læreplanen. Elevautonomi-begrepet ble nevnt i forbindelse med tilpasset opplæring, sammen med navn på pensumlisten som Holec, Little, Dam og Franck (se på lenken (Autonomy, never, never, never!).

Vi fikk en oversikt over utbytte av IKT i språklæringen, sammen med språklarerens refelksjon over sin egen praksis. Vi snakket om den digitale kompetansen, som jeg mener har 3 nivå (primaire, secondaire og tertiaire) og refererte tildokumenten Digital skole hver dag. som knytter temaet til det norske samfunnet.
Temaene IKT, læringsprossess, og teori er innviklet og vi får komme tilbake til dem i løpet av semesteret. Denne bloggen har en side som heter FLE og som samler lenker med fransklæringsaktiviteter, exempler på bruk av blogg og wiki i språkundervisningen.

Deretter gikk vi super fort gjennom bruk av MOOen High Five som vi vil bruke for bl.a.:

• nettseminarer
• logg publisering
• forumsdiskusjoner

Vårt neste møte er et nettseminar på High Five, den 04.09.08 kl.12.15-14.00.

Husk at den 01.09.08 er en fellespråkdidaktikk forelesning om Språkpermen til for lærerstudenter. Det anbefalles at dere ser litt på dokumenten på http://epostl2.ecml.at/Resources/tabid/505/language/en-GB/Default.aspx (også kjent under navnet "European Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages"). Da vil dere vite hva det snakkes om og kan få mer utbytte av sesjonen.

Is it just me, or did the Chinese give awkward high fives?

Moved to High Five and the party was still ill.

Click more for the rest of the pics...

Ok, rationally, what am I feeling? Right now, just thinking about his smile, is making me kind of happy. He has a great smile. And really beautiful eyes. I think about him. A lot! I catch myself at the library while I am supposed to study, just dreaming of him with very little clothes on. But every time I am with him, I cannot help acting like a complete idiot, talking way too much and way overenthusiastic about law, school, work or whatever is happening in the world. We are sort of going out on Tuesday this week. As a good bye, I hope I can get a little more that the high-five I got as we parted. Yeah... seriously... think back, I see that maybe he is not that into me... seriously...

Love Mandy

It was a challenging morning. My work pc got taken to the shop by Mike Smith after it somehow got a little ill with a bit of spyware/virusish stuff. So I was working in the Catalyst Tech booth. It was a lot of fun. I learned an awful lot today... a lot about Wordpress, CSS and just websites in general. I am pleased with how quickly I am picking this stuff up. This weekend, I will begin development on the new catalystlife.tv site. It is going to be fun. My goal is to have that up and running by the end of August.

One of the things that I am learning about my new role in Catalyst is that I have to manage my workflow differently. My main role is to be creative. This is not the problem. The problem is the balance between coming up with new ideas and seeing the ones I started last week to completion. I am a great starter. I am not always a good finisher. Does anyone have any advice?

Editorial Reviews

In this fifth entry in Janet Evanovich's increasingly popular series, Stephanie's problems are many and varied. She's not making enough money picking up FTAs (Failures to Appear) for her cousin Vinnie, of Vincent Plum Bail Bonds; her red-hot love affair with Detective Joe Morelli has cooled off; and her giant extended family is no help at all. For instance, Uncle Fred the cheapskate has disappeared, leaving behind some suspicious photographs of body parts in garbage bags and links to some really dangerous people.

When Stephanie turns to her friend and mentor, Ranger, for financial advice, he gets her involved in a gang of toughs doing instant evictions for landlords. (She complains to Ranger about the job and its dangers, prompting one of the hired thug to say, "Man, you don't like to get shot. You don't like to get arrested. You don't know how to have fun at all.")

Most of Stephanie's charm, of course, comes from her attitude--a combination of the brazen bravado that turns a failed lingerie model into a bounty hunter in the first place and the normal fears of a person in over her head.

Other Plums in paperback, by the numbers: One for the Money, Two for the Dough, Three to Get Deadly, and Four to Score. --Dick Adler --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly
Fans of Evanovich's tales of the adventures of Stephanie Plum (Four to Score, etc.), Jersey girl and bounty hunter extraordinaire, have been eagerly anticipating this next installment in the popular series. The good news is that the novel is just as wacky and over the top as its predecessors, and that the disaster-prone Stephanie has brought along her usual wild-and-crazy crew of sidekicks and loony relatives to help her chase down felons. Evanovich even manages to make the dowdy working-class city of Trenton, N.J., seem like a hip, edgy place for her funky characters to live. But Trenton also has its share of nefarious criminals for Stephanie to pursueAfolk like Randy Briggs, the dwarf, who not only repeatedly eludes her grasp but keeps taunting her as a loser. Stephanie careens through her days, looking for her missing Uncle Fred and taking on FTA (failure to appear) cases for her cousin Vinnie, a bail bondsman. Further complications ensue when she tries to earn extra money by moonlighting on quasi-legal "security" jobs for Ranger, her dangerously sexy mentor at the bounty-hunting game. Ranger is looking awfully good to Stephanie these days, and she is finding it hard to choose between him and old flame Joe Morelli. Evanovich tells her fast-paced and furiously funny story expertly. The action never stops, the dialogue is snappy and the characters are more than memorable. Readers can't miss with this one. (July)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal
This latest novel in the Stephanie Plum series concludes with an author interview: a Q&A between Evanovich and the many characters of the books, as voiced by this book's narrator, C.J. Critt. An abridged edition was issued last July by Audio Renaissance.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From AudioFile
Debi Mazar's streetwise and brash style bring to mind Stephanie Plum's big hair, short skirts, and smart mouth without even hearing her described. All of these attributes come in handy in Stephanie's job as a bounty hunter in Trenton, NJ, working for her (totally) unprincipled cousin Vinnie. Mazar narrates a little fast sometimes and doesn't always enunciate every word, but that's undoubtedly the way Stephanie talks too, and emphasizes the importance of setting to the story. In HIGH FIVE, Steph searches for a missing relative and tracks garbage, assisted by two oddball characters. Mazar has a lot of fun, and so will the listener. M.A.M. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

From Booklist
Raucous, rambunctious Jersey girl Stephanie Plum, the Bounty Hunter from Hell (as she's known in her neighborhood), is back in her fifth madcap adventure. That she's lived long enough to have five adventures is amazing enough, considering that Stephanie has near-death experiences (bombings, shootings, kidnappings) like normal people have breakfast. This time she has about 47 problems on her hands. Her uncle Fred has disappeared after a close encounter with the garbage company; Grandma Mazur is disturbed when she finds her granddaughter Stephanie's stun gun; Stephanie herself has found a dismembered body in a garbage bag; and the superdeadly killer she supposedly put away for life has been released on parole. And, of course, there's that pesky car problem: this week alone, Stephanie has been through three (bombed, stolen, towed). It will be no surprise to series fans that Stephanie overcomes all these obstacles, finds her uncle Fred, disposes of the bad guys, and brings peace back to Jersey. Is she Wonderwoman or what? This series may be the hottest thing going in the mystery genre right now. The combination of hilarious dialogue, oddball characters, and eye-popping action is hard to beat on its own, but the heroine, a righteous babe if ever there was one, is what sets the over-the-top series apart from all the competition in the comic mystery field. A must for all collections. Emily Melton --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Kirkus Reviews
Stephanie Plum, the bodacious bounty-hunter from Trenton, New Jersey, returns for her fifth adventure (Four to Score, 1998, etc.). Or rather misadventure, since nothing ever goes right for Stephanie, thank heaven. This time out the trouble (and fun) starts when Steph's mom informs her that Uncle Fred is missing. Actually, nobody could really miss the disagreeable old coot, but he is family. And either the Plums stick together, Stephanie's told, or they get picked off separately. Besides, not much is happening in the way of miscreants jumping bail, which means she's got time on her hands. The hunt commences. Soon enough, Steph discovers that dead-head Fred is connected to some high-powered scams nobody would have believed he had the gumption for. In turn, this has the effect of connecting Steph to various hard guys who mean her serious harm. So she scrambles an egg and downs a multivitamin with her orange juice: ``A healthy breakfast to start the day off rightjust in case I lived through the morning.'' The ensuing complications include: Champ Ramirez, that no-account sociopath, freed from the slammer and on the prowl for her; hunkish Detective Joe Morelli and his special kind of prowlingeverlastingly lustful; and now senior bounty-hunter Ranger the dangerous, her erstwhile mentor, casting looks at her that are distinctly non-mentorish. What's a Jersey girl to do about all this? Something outrageous, of course, that leads to a mad chase on the turnpikeand readers grinning appreciatively at another wonderful romp. Savvy, sassy, sexy Stephaniegood to have her back. ($350,000 ad/promo; author tour) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

Review
"Terrific."-- The Washington Post Book World

"Wonderful."-- The Philadelphia Inquirer

"This one deserves our high five!"-- Liz Smith, Syndicated Columnist

Product Description

From the Publisher
"Evanovich is the master." -San Francisco Examiner
"A Fun Romp." USA Today
"Terrific"-The Washington Post Book World

About the Author

Who is the person high-fiving? Tell me! I must know.

Bungling a high five is a bummer. Now that it's not the 90's and you're not a teen, high fives come with an element of goofy irony that means you only have one chance to get it right. Bungling a high five, like when you only catch the side of the other person's hand or, in a worst-case scenario, miss completely, means that you've got to stop and try again, which eliminates the spontaneity that makes high fiving ok in the first place and replaces it with a feeling of failure and lost youth. Total un-bummer (surprisingly): High TEN, bungled or not. Election year un-bummer: Terrorist fist jab. Delicious beverage un-bummer: Five Alive. Citrusy!

B: And not only did we graduate...we also won the "Golden Biscuit" Award for the best tricks! We dazzled the crowds with our prowess. I started out by ringing a bunch of bells with my paw, then I fashionably walked across that purple catwalk thing and to top it all off, I gave the judges a wave AND I high-fived my owner.

M: And I also high-fived, walked across that purple thing, jumped over the purple hula hoop and then, to top it all off, I DANCED.

B: You only dance better than I can because you have big, long legs. Oh, and thick thighs.

M: I'm going to let the fat jokes flow in one ear and out the other, my dear. Anyway, you'd think that we'd be able to SHOW you our performances...but alas, we cannot. This is due to the fact that our owners are a bunch of morons who couldn't care enough to CHECK the batteries in the camera before we left.

B: I can't believe they didn't think of bringing the camcorder. Now my loveliness won't be captured on film for eternity. Pity.

M: Here are our graduation pics. I actually look pretty good.

B: I still look better. And fluffier. And cuter.

M: You're relentless. Ass.

I'll admit it, this decision was made after I read last week's NYT magazine and learned that William Safire has noticed the fist bump, thus dragging it into the public lexicon in a way I just can't ignore.

Plus, I do love Obama. I'm still regretting not bringing the kids to see him, last time he was in Phoenix.

And finally, I'm happy to do away with the high five.

"You know what I think of whenever I see Sophie high five?" I asked Ray this afternoon.

"Yep."

No need to say it. We were both thinking of an article we remember too well, must have been at least a year ago, in one of those special supplements the Times puts out -- this one on education, and I swear, we don't just sit around reading high brow newspapers. I am proud of my subscriptions to People, Bust and Domino.

This article was about mainstreaming, specifically, a young adult woman (could have been a man, but I'm fairly sure it was a girl) with Down syndrome, who insisted on high fiving everyone on the bus every day when she got on. The writer made sure to note that while cute on the surface, this was a source of annoyance to the high five recipients.

I don't fault the writer at all; it's the kind of detail I treasure in my own writing and the writing I edit. But in this case, it made me wince, and I do think about it every time Sophie high fives -- which must be half a dozen times a day, easy.

The high five is a big deal to Sophie, a way of connecting, the sign of a job well done. She does it with gusto, so hard it hurts, coming from her teeny hand. I don't want to get rid of the idea, even if it does hit the pit of my stomach every time.

So we'll do the fist bump instead. At least we'll be cool. And instead of thinking of that sad article every time, I'll think of how my sister and brother in law trash-talked the phrase "fist bump" til we all laughed so hard we couldn't breath.

However, she, in all her 19 months of wisdom, has been employing these principles for one important ambition, that is, what the playright Daniel Kamenetz referred to as "the salutation of slapping palms."

Rhema never stops moving.

But Hope, with her chubby, toddler legs chases Rhema day after day, week after week, month after month. With her arm raised in the air, Hope calls out imploringly,

“High five? High five?”

According to Wikipedia, “If one initiates a high five by raising a hand into the air and no one consummates the celebration by slapping the raised hand, the initiator is said to be "left hanging."” (For more on High Five Ettiquette, click here).

Until today, Hope had always been “left hanging.”

Rhema has been a tad bit peeved with Hope, since hhhmmm, the day Hope was born. It was understandable in the beginning: all siblings go through adjustment periods when the new baby arrives. For Rhema, I had always been her means for communicating and getting what she needed or wanted. She was queen of the “autistic leading” technique. Without words, she would simply grab my hand, drag me to the desired object and thrust my hand at it. I believe my preoccupation with Hope as a baby caused Rhema to view her as an intruder and an interference, and she has tenaciously held onto that view.

Rhema’s game plan has been to basically ignore Hope’s existence until Hope has a popsicle. Then Rhema turns into Swiper and steals the popsicle. Oh man.

The response to the plaintive request for a high five has been no response... or a fast run in another direction. In the past I have felt bad for Hope – getting dissed and all – so I have offered her a high five. But she shakes her head… she doesn’t want it from me, she wants it only from Rhema. I have attempted to tackle Rhema and force her hand to slap Hope’s, but it always reeks of phoniness.

Nevertheless, Hope possesses that defiant boldness and strong devotion that embodies hope. She insists on sharing something with Rhema – not her popsicle, not her toys – no way! - but a connection, a greeting, an acknowledgement. Her determination reminds me of the Dreamgirls hit “And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going” sang by Jennifer Hudson.

And I am telling you
I'm not going,
Even though the rough times are showing.
There's just no way, there's no way!
We're part of the same place,
We're part of the same time.
We both share the same blood.
We both have the same mind.
….
I'm staying, I'm staying,
And you, and you, and you, you're gonna love me.
Ooh, you're gonna love me.
You're gonna love me!

Today, finally today, Hope got her breakthrough. She was in hot pursuit when Rhema stopped abruptly, causing Hope to crash into her. Hope stepped back and raised her hand in the air.

“High five?”

Rhema awkwardly, all the while grinning and avoiding eye contact, slapped the palm of her sister.

What word suffices here? Momentous? Stupendous? I cheered like the Red Sox had won another World Series.

Hope, of course, couldn’t get enough and requested high-fives all afternoon. And Rhema obliged her every time.

Sistas at last.

“A high-five is done when two people congratulate each other after they achieve success.”

Here I am with a pair of my cousins. . . (more pics uploaded later on my Flickr. . .)

United States:

It's a hand gesture normally associated with sporting events and Bud Lite commercials. But on Tuesday night, millions of people witnessed Michelle Obama daintily knocking knuckles with her husband as the Illinois Senator took the stage to claim the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. The Washington Post called it "the fist bump heard 'round the world."

The origins of the bump are murky, though most communication experts agree on a basic — if fuzzy — evolutionary timeline: the hand shake (which itself dates back to ancient times) begat the "gimme-five" palm slap that later evolved into the now universal "high-five" and, finally, the fist bump.

Some claim the act of knuckle-bumping began in the 1970s with NBA players like Baltimore Bullets guard Fred Carter. Others claim the fist bump's national debut occurred off the court, citing the Wonder Twins, minor characters in the 1970s Hanna-Barbera superhero cartoon The Superfriends, who famously touched knuckles and cried "Wonder Twin powers, activate!' before morphing into animals or ice sculptures. One might also credit germaphobics for the fist bump's popularity. Deal or No Deal host Howie Mandel reportedly adopted the gesture as a friendly way to avoid his contestants' germs.

Even the terminology used to describe the manual move is under dispute. On reporting Obama's speech, The New York Times described it stuffily as a "closed-fisted high-five" while Human Events racily suggested it was closer to "Hezbollah-style fist-jabbing," (the phrase was later removed from the article). One Internet poster even referred to it as "the fist bump of hope." Other terms for the move include "power five," "fist pound," "knuckle bump," "Quarter Pounder" and "dap."

The fist bump's precursor, the low- and high-fives, originated in the 1950s, again mostly among athletes, who deemed handshakes too muted and formal for celebrating teamwork and triumph.

The 1980s are generally regarded as the heyday of the high-five, though the gesture has enjoyed a revival of sorts in recent years — especially among Gen-X parents and their offspring. Modern-day high-five enthusiasts have even created a cellphone version: Callers high-five their phones (slap the speakers) or simultaneously type "5."

The problem with the high-five is that it can occasionally be hard to pull off. Just ask Tiger Woods and his caddie, who botched a high-five on national TV during the 2005 U.S. Masters Golf Tournament. Perhaps this is what makes the fist bump so unique. Though simple in motion, its meaning is far more complicated. In any other context, a clenched fist would be perceived as hostile.

Ambiguities aside, most pundits and observers alike had complimentary words for the Obama family's fist bump, seeing it as a rare moment of spontaneity and playfulness that a race already in its 17th month sorely needed.

"Gestures, particularly ones that are recent, haven't been studied that much," says David Givens, director of the Center for Nonverbal Studies in Spokane, Wash. "For me, it's ironic because we all noticed that fist bump. I thought it was very touching. It was an elegant little non-verbal moment and it gave us a view into their relationship."

For his part, Obama, who once likened himself to NBA star LeBron James, said the fist bump reflects a marriage that keeps him grounded. "It captures what I love about my wife," he later explained to NBC's Brian Williams. "That for all the hoopla I'm her husband and sometimes we'll do silly things."

Though National High-Five Day already exists — the third Thursday in April every year — the fist bump has yet to claim its own day on the calendar. June 3rd might be a good candidate.

SOURCE

History of the fist bump

 St. Paul - Minnesota, USA:

What was this hand gesture? What did it mean?

What happened to the good, old-fashioned handshake? ? Is it like the victorious 'high-five'?

The Washington Post referred to Obama's goodwill gesture as "the fist bump heard around the world." Time magazine published "A Brief History of the Fist Bump". "How to Fist Bump" videos began cropping up on YouTube. It has its own, trivia-crammed entry on Wikipedia. But for a current hot topic, the fist bump is far from new.

Chances are, if you're just hearing about the suddenly controversial hand gesture, you've never watched professional sports, Bud Light commercials or the Wonder Twins of "Super Friends" fame.

A "manly" alternative to the high-five, the fist bump, which some sources date back to 1970s NBA players, has been around for years in both sports and hip-hop culture.

The gesture has since gone mainstream, appearing in movies such as 2007's "Wild Hogs" and the recently released "Kung Fu Panda." Howie Mandel, the germ-phobic host of "Deal or No Deal," exchanges fist bumps instead of handshakes with guests.

Closer to home, Timothy Wyrosdick, Santa Rosa School District assistant superintendent, bumped fists with students at the Gulf Breeze Elementary School fifth-grade graduation on June 4.

"It came from my athletic background. Shaking hands is a little too formal on the gridiron," Wyrosdick said. "It's a fun, informal way to say hello or goodbye or it's a congratulatory-type gesture."

But, as most trend-followers know, once your dad's company softball team — or presidential candidate — starts doing it, the cool factor is long gone. Pensacola resident Tracy Powell, who is black, receives regular "goodbye" fist bumps from a male buddy, who is white.

"He thinks it makes him cool, but he's a dork," she said, laughing. "It isn't a cultural thing when we do it. It's an 'I'm too busy to talk right now, but I acknowledge that you're leaving' thing. It's lame, but it's funny."

On Oct. 5, 2007, New York blogger Anil (anil.vox.com), wrote, "As I've been trying to educate people... THE FIST BUMP IS DEAD. (White people, I'm looking at you.) Please stop doing this now. It's over. The time has gone." Maybe the fist bump is played out. But if Barack Obama is smart, the "freedom fist" could have a future in politics.

SOURCE:

Shake it up

[Wired]

While this is an important release for me, and most people need “their time” each day, I think it is important to not fully block yourself out from the rest of the world. In the words of Mike Marriner, “Expand your scope of what the world holds. Rent that independent documentary you usually wouldn’t rent. Talk to that person in the coffee shop you normally wouldn’t talk to. It’s so important to keep your eyes open. How can you find what you’re passionate about when you only see 10 percent of what’s out there?”

If you have read any of my other posts you might be thinking, “Where the hell is he going with this?” Well, I am thinking the same thing as I write. But I guess I am starting here because of something that happened to me a couple weeks ago on a run, the time of the day when I fully close myself off from the world.

It was a pretty typical Thursday evening run, 6 miles. Not a whole lot was different from the 6 miles I did the day before, except that I happened to be in New York and was running through the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. For those of you not familiar with Williamsburg, many residents describe it as “an exclusive area of artists and hipsters.”

When I started the run, I just knew it was not going to be a good one. My legs felt flat and with every step I took my stomach told me to duck into the next pizza place to grab a slice. I continued to struggle through the first 4 miles and then something happened. About 100 feet ahead I noticed a mother and her young daughter walking toward me. The girl, about 4 years old was bopping along, and when we got about 50 feet away she put out her hand. I wondered what she was doing, and then it hit me. She was waiting to give me 5!

At first I was a little unsure of what to do. Should I take a quick left and avoid the whole thing? Should I just pretend I didn’t see her? It amazes me that I had those thoughts, because the answer was simple – stick my hand out and give her 5. And when I did, everything changed. My tired legs and hungry stomach suddenly become unnoticeable. All of a sudden I felt great. That little girl, who I will probably never see again, gave me a spark. She changed my whole perspective. I closed out the final two miles feeling great. And it was all because some little girl gave me 5.

So why did I feel the need to share this story? I think it is because everyday we all encounter times when we can turn someone’s day around if we just keep our eyes open and heads up. Whether that person is a friend, family member, acquaintance, or stranger, we often forget how simple gestures can have a huge impact on someone.

• Mom and dad can give 5 minutes to play catch or dolls with your kids
• Acquaintances can give 5 simple words “How is your day going?”
• Strangers can give 5 or a smile to someone passing by

This being said, I am probably one of the worst culprits. With launching Atayne comes a lot of challenges and high levels of stress. It is very easy to get tunnel vision with a focus solely on the company. I often find myself walking down the street unaware of my surroundings. For all I know I could have walked by 100, metaphorical or literal, high 5s. I addressed this briefly in my Waiting for My Real Life to Begin post. Part of the joy of entrepreneurship is enjoying the journey along the way.

This does not just apply to entrepreneurs. Just remember, “Life is a journey, not a destination” (Ralph Waldo Emerson). Enjoy the journey one step and one high five at a time. I’d love to hear your high 5 stories – as giver or receiver.

Giving a high five is a very subtle art form, one that is perfected through regular practice. You can't be good at something if you don't practice it, and high fives are no exception.

To request a high five, simply raise the palm of your hand in the air, facing towards the person whom you are requesting it from. If they accept your request, they will raise theirs in turn towards yours and basically clap your hand in the air. The term "high five" is therefore made up of the altitude of the palm - "high" and the amount of fingers used - "five". And before you ask, I have no idea if a person who had a finger amputated still is able to give high fives of if they would be called high fours.

The sign of a good high five is the resounding slap sound that occurs when both hands meet at speed. This occurs for a few reasons:

• The person requesting the high five, upon seeing that another person is about to accept their request, pulls his hand back and thrusts it forward at the correct time, thereby doubling the force and thus the sound.
• The person giving the high five slaps your hand so hard that there cannot be anything but a huge sound. Also, your hand will probably be red for a few minutes afterwards.
• You manage to catch the other person's hand in just the right way with just the right cupping/straight hand ratio. I have no idea what this ratio is, but you will probably find the ideal amount to cup your hand / keep your hand straight through experimentation.

Now, if a bad high five is given, you will know it by the small, feeble sound or possibly the lack of sound entirely. Not to be sexist here, I'm just stating the facts as I have observed them, but from my experience women seem to give worse high fives than guys do. Possibly it is just more in the male culture to give high fives as a physical way of showing affection or approval. In other words, it just comes more naturally to guys than to girls. Or not.

When to request high fives: when you have just said or done something that you thought was especially clever or witty, and there seems to be moderate support for this in your circle of friends. By asking for a high five from the person who seems to most support your action, it is possible to increase support for the action from the rest of the group. It is bad etiquette to request a high five when nobody else in the group supports you, and this will probably lead to you being shunned by the group. Although a requested high five counts for less than an offered high five, it is still a good feeling to get a high five.

When to offer high fives: although a high five can be requested at any time, there are certain situations which really call for it. Ideally, when in a large group of friends and you say something that gets a laugh, somebody will offer you a high five by raising their hand towards you. By being given a high five like this you are under obligation to approve the request, because by offering it they are supporting you and to deny their offer is just plain rude. To offer a high five, simply raise your hand towards the person and they should respond appropriately.

When to grant/offer high five requests: When somebody has said or done something that you think was especially awesome or worthy of praise. If they are not requesting one, you may offer them a high five, but only if you truly believed that the action deserved it.

Of course, not all high five requests are successful. When somebody requests a high five, for whatever reason, and nobody present feels that it is worth a high five, the original requester is said to have been "left hanging" IE they stand around with their hand up for a while before they start to feel stupid and put it down. This is considered very rude in most situations, but is appropriate when the original request for a high five was simply not deserving enough to earn a high five.

There are many variations of the standard high five. These include:

• Gimme Five, which is similar, but the hand can be anywhere.
• Air Five, where the participants are too far to physically touch, but the gesture is made all the same. When giving air fives, it is important to simulate having the hand actually touched, IE moving it backward a little.
• Top-Gun High Five (aka the Flipside and the Windmill), where the participants high five as normal and then continue the trajectory in a windmill motion to meet hands again at a lower level. Made famous in the movie Top Gun. Also used in How I Met Your Mother season 1, episode 10 - The Pineapple Incident.
• Extreme High Five, when spins, jumps, kicks, cartwheels etc. are added to transform a "regular" High Five into an "EXTREME" High Five.
• Phone Five, when talking on the phone, you request a Phone Five and then slap the phone's microphone. As seen in How I Met Your Mother season 1, episode 1 - Pilot.
• For other variations, watch How I Met Your Mother and read this article.

You just might be a slut if...

1. Your skirt, dress, or shorts are cut above the knee.
2. Your sleeves do not cover your wrists.
3. Your hair is not pulled into a tight bun and covered by a hat.
4. You walk next to, not behind, guys.
5. You show your ankles.
6. You do not fear men.
7. You have boobs.
8. You smile or wave at a guy.
9. You talk to a guy.
10. You poke, slap, pat, or high-five a guy.
11. You look at a guy.
12. You wear a swimsuit.
13. You are in an area where a guy might be sighted.
14. You wear any trace of make-up.
15. You somehow wronged the person accusing you of being a slut.

(Please note: This is fully sarcasm and is not meant to offend anybody. If it does, I offer an apology and a Walmart gift card)