Wednesday 27 February 2013

The FIRST Bookclub-an online club for students.

Recently Sue Warren, Lyndy Cracknell and Barbara Braxton announced the formation of an online book club for students in Years 5/6 
                                           Open publication - Free publishing - More reading
 There has been a lot of interest in this already but there are a couple of points that  Braxton  feels need clarification:
 1. The tasks and questions will be closely aligned to the outcomes of the English strand of the ANC for Years 5 and 6, which, I understand, are still Year 6 and 7 in Queensland. (Braxton  doesn’t know when education authorities are going to adopt the nomenclature of ACARA.) It is not limited to those students but because students will be recommending books within the context of the answers, these books need to be age appropriate.

2. The first task will be posted on March 1st under the Discussions tab.

3. There is no charge to join the Book Club and none of us are getting any payment or other reward for doing this. We just thought it might be a great way to connect kids, particularly those in isolated circumstances where there might not be a lot of other students of their age to discuss things with. “Isolated” may be their location, their situation or circumstance. So a student may be in a hospital school or the back of Bourke or in a large city school – we researched and chose a platform that was the most accessible that we could find.
 4. Our primary purpose is to get kids enjoying reading and offering them a way to share their enjoyment with others.

For further information download the information sheet.

Tuesday 26 February 2013

Are you in it to win it?

With sustainability featuring highly in the Australian Curriculum it is wonderful to see a great new selection of teaching resources available to support teachers
 @ Sustainable Schools NSW hub.

Goodies up for grabs!

Welcome to our new-look Sustainable Schools NSW hub.
To celebrate our online makeover we are giving away three prize packs worth over $500 each!
Email us with your favourite education resource on the hub and you could win an annual NSW national parks and reserves pass PLUS a school visit from one of our rangers.
We look forward to hearing what you think!

Competition details:

  • The deadline for entries is 31 May 2013.
  • One entry per person is permitted.
  • Entries are open to anyone with an interest in sustainability education.
  • The draw takes place 3 June 2013.
  • There are three prize packs to be won each consisting of one 12-month NSW National Parks All Parks Pass, and a NSW National Park Ranger visit to the winner's nominated school, including an assembly talk and an education session with one class. For remote schools, an alternative prize will be negotiated, such as a video-conference with the ranger.
  • Winners will be notified via email.
  • Employees and families of the Office of Environment and Heritage are not eligible to enter.

Friday 22 February 2013

Writing workshops for wonderful wordsmiths!

The Children's Book Council NSW branch holds excellent writers workshop for high school students each year in partnership with the NSW State Library.

 Further details and flyers are found on the website.
CBCA NSW > Programs > Teen Writing Master Classes >
http://nsw.cbca.org.au/pages/writing-master-classes.html

Registration and scholarship details http://nsw.cbca.org.au/data/files/Teen_Masterclasses/2013/Teen_Writers_2013_Program_booking_form_20130208.pdf

They operate on 2 levels.  A Beginers course and an Ádvanced course is offered by each author.

Yes, they do cost $70 per student per session. Scholarships are available.


Bring your pen and imagination to one class or to the entire program; level 1 is for new students and level 2 is for returning students who want to develop their creative writing further.
 Please see below and make your selection.

March 18 - Anthony Eaton presents Level 1: Short Stories and How We Find Them

March 19 - Anthony Eaton presents Level 2: Getting Into and Out of Characters

May 6 - Ursula Dubosarsky presents Level 1: The Ultimate Challenge

May 7 - Ursula Dubosarsky presents Level 2: Delicate and Dramatic Novellas

July 22 - Michael Pryor presents Level 1: Write Like a Professional

July 23 - Michael Pryor presents Level 2: Supercharge your Writing

October 14 - The Bell Shakespeare Company & Tony Thompson present Level 1: If I Chance to Talk a Little Wild

October 15 - The Bell Shakespeare Company & Tony Thompson present Level 2: Fatal Flaws

These are top notch workshops and can be made more  financially accessible through a scholarship program. These provide invaluable writing experiences for your keen writers in the wonderful environment of the State Library.

I've gone to variations of most of these and am happy to share further info beyond the details on the website.

Cheers- Jackie Hawkes, for the Children's Book Council - NSW Branch



Shared with permission.

Share your GOOGLE journey.


Call for Presenters!

 Have a story to tell about your Google Apps journey or want to share classroom applications or technical know-how? 

Receive complimentary registration and apply here.

We invite you to join us for the first annual Google in Education Brisbane Summit to be held
 at the Matthew Flinders Anglican College 
on April 12 & 13, 2013.

 This high intensity two day event focuses on deploying, integrating, and using Google Apps for Education and other Google Tools to promote student learning in K-12 and higher education. The program features Google Certified Teachers, Google Apps for Education Certified Trainers, practicing administrators, solution providers, Google engineers, and representatives from the Google education teams. 

Register now to send teachers, administrators, tech directors, library media specialists, tech support staff, CTOs, and anyone who is interested in finding out more about leveraging Google Apps for Education to support student learning.

Sessions include two keynote presentations, a demo slam competition, and a closing capstone session - plus two full days of informative breakouts, cutting-edge demonstrations, and hands-on workshops led by experienced and knowledgeable professional developers.
  • Deployment & Management of Google Apps
  • Google Apps Scripts
  • Google Apps for Education Certification
  • Chromebooks in Education
  • YouTube for Schools
  • Google Docs, Google Sites, Google Calendar, Gmail power tips, and... even more!
All presenters are Google Certified Teachers, Google Apps for Education Certified Trainers, Google Employees, or teachers with local success stories!  via Chris Betcher on OZTLnet 

Wednesday 20 February 2013

Upbeat revamped!!


Mike Botham advised: Jeffrey Leask's fabulous music program, "Upbeat" has recently been revamped and is available direct from the creator.


Botham stated that "Whilst it is much more than just a singing/choir program it is chock-full of great songs that K - 2 will enjoy."

Prices and order forms 

Disclaimer: I have no association with this company and stand to receive no financial gain from informing you of its changes.