Coming soon: Harmony Day: Thursday 21 March

Sandy Beach Public School students will be celebrating Harmony Day this week. 

Welcome to Harmony Day

Harmony Day 21 March is a day of cultural respect for everyone who calls 

Australia home –from the traditional owners of this land to those who have come 

from many countries around the world.

                                      The message of Harmony Day is Everyone Belongs.

It is a day to celebrate Australia’s diversity. It is a day of cultural respect for everyone 

who calls Australia home – from the traditional owners of this land to those who have

come from many countries around the world. 

We are celebrating Harmony Day  through storytelling. By participating in Harmony

Day activities we can learn and understand how all Australians from diverse 

backgrounds equally belong to this nation and make it a better place.

   
Students will explore the new online resources specially provided to help them understand their culture more deeply.

Teacher can use any of the IWB Harmony Day resources provided to enhance the students understanding.

Join in the learning at TeachMeet

WHAT IS A TEACHMEET?  (Info below is TAKEN from their page)

• TeachMeets will be meeting/un-conferences where teachers will share good practice, practical ideas and personal insights into teaching with technology.
• All participants are encouraged to be ready to volunteer an idea, a tool or a website that they have delivered in their classroom.
• Alternatively they can discuss a product that they believe enhances their classroom practice.
• New scheme teachers are encouraged to attend and learn.
• The idea behind TeachMeets is hearing stories about learning, from teachers.
• This is a chance for teachers from all types of schools to network and to hear ideas from each other.
• TeachMeets are open to all and do not charge an entry fee.
• If you are still not comfortable with the concept of TeachMeet I have blogged about them a few times previously @

  Aussie teachers: It's TeachMeet- a virtual one!! Don't miss it!

  Australian teachers crazy for their teachmeets!!

  TEACHMEET WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT UPDATE

  
  
  MATT ESTERMAN shares this latest news:

So, to again boost interest in the smaller teachmeets, a few special ones have been organised. These are anchored in the Australian Curriculum subjects to be rolled out next year, but not restricted or chained down by content. All teachers of all KLAs are welcome to attend and encouraged to present on topics relevant and useful to teachers in that field and beyond. 

Please visit the wiki page and sign up to attend and (hopefully) present at at least one event! You are what makes teachmeets happen, so we need your help!

Confirmed events are:

TM AC Science - April 5th at Taronga Zoo - 4 for 4.30 start. Click HERE for the wiki page. 

TM AC History - May 1st at the State Library NSW - 4 for 4.30 start. Click HERE for the wiki page.

TM AC English is being organised now with the Sydney Theatre Company (June dates in mind) and if there are any volunteers to organise a Maths-flavoured one for perhaps August that'd be grand! 

If you would like to be involved in organising, there's always room! Let me know and I'll point you in the right direction.

As always, there are myriad other opportunities to attend and/or host an event. If you want to use the wiki, go for it. Just check out the other dates to see that it's not directly clashing with something else in that region/time. Here's the link for the Calendar of Events. 

Please forward this email to colleagues (or better yet, tap them on the shoulder to present if you think they have a great idea that should be shared!)  Consider also putting TeachMeets into the agenda at a staff meeting as the AC teachmeets are meant to help people connect with great ideas and colleagues as they develop new teaching and learning programs. There are also posters available for the AC teachmeets (see attached for the current duo).

Hope you all had a great weekend and see you at a TeachMeet!

Matt

Regards,

Matt Esterman

@mesterman

http://au.linkedin.com/in/matthewesterman 

2013 Sea Week -Sustainability

 Visit the website to check out: 

Seaweek 2013 - What's on the site?

Information

Background Information

Sustainable Seas for K to 6

Teaching Ideas

Sustainability and the Great Barrier Reef Teaching Unit

References and Websites Last year the theme was: ‘Marine Debris – Clean it Up!’.

Disappointingly WE have a LONG way to go to get it right!!

"The ocean is like a soup of plastic mostly composed of fragments invisible to the human eyes, killing life and affecting dangerously our health."  Pierre Fidenci, ESI President.
 Credit:   Important call: plastics kill!

"Fourteen billion pounds of garbage, mostly plastic, is dumped into the ocean every year."

^{o Orme, Helen. 2008. Earth in Danger: Pollution. New York, NY: Bearport Publishing.}

^{"Americans buy over 29 million bottles of water every year. Making all those bottles uses 17 million barrels of crude oil annually, which would be enough fuel to keep 1 million cars on the road for one year. Only 13% of those bottles are recycled. Plastic bottles take centuries to decompose—and if they are burned, they release toxic byproducts such as chlorine gas and ash containing heavy metals."}  

Didier, Suzanne. “Water Bottle Pollution Facts.” National Geographic. 2011. Accessed: January 25, 2012.

Most of the marine debris in the world is comprised of plastic materials (between 60 to 80% of total marine debris). 

The longevity of some plastics is estimated to be hundreds to thousands of years! 

The environmental impacts resulting from the accumulation of plastic waste are huge and increasing. Plastic debris affects wildlife, human health, and the environment.

The millions of tons of plastic bottles, bags, and garbage in the world's oceans are breaking down and leaching toxins posing a threat to marine life and human. Plastic materials in landfills sink in harmful chemicals into groundwater. Chemicals added to plastics are dangerously absorbed by humans like altering hormones.

Research on plastics includes a large and robust literature reporting adverse health effects in laboratory animals and wildlife at even low doses. Plastic debris is ingested by hundreds of species choking and starving them. Floating plastic debris can spread invasive species.

Endangered Species  Important call: plastics kill!

Litter and Debris in our waterways pdf available for download. This tiny plastic confetti, along with larger pieces of floating plastic, creates a big problem. Birds, like the laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis), and filter feeders that strain food out of the water may mistake plastic for plankton, fish eggs, or other food. On remote Midway Atoll, albatross chicks die of starvation and dehydration because their parents have unwittingly fed them bottle caps and cigarette lighters, which they can't digest. Even in the protected waters surrounding the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, at the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, our trash threatens endangered species like Hawaiian monk seals and green sea turtles.

Marine Debris | Ocean News | Ocean Today Drinking Water: Bottled or From the Tap? video available -Click on the link above.

Plastic Bottles & Ocean Pollution from Jeff Bennett

Further reading: Theme Issue 'Plastics, the environment and human health' compiled by R. C. Thompson, C. J. Moore, F. S. vom Saal and S. H. Swan

Additional resources for Sustainability
Fish and Kids / Marine Stewardship Council  A package containing lessons, worksheets, and activities to teach young students about sustainable seafood. Each subject has two levels: one for grades K-2and another for grades 3-5  Additional resources: http://www.fishandkids.org Grades: K-5

Confused about classifications and showing of films at school?

These sites may well provide some insight for you and your fellow teachers:

Australian Film censorship ratings and classifications explained

Check out these sources: 

Complete range of fact sheets for parents and children, teachers and students, schools and libraries

Information sheet for teachers – provides summary of the various classification categories for films, computer games and publications.

Database to search film classifications

Thanks to Barbara O’Connor| Resource Centre Coordinator for sharing these websites.

Lawful Screening of Films & Television Programs

Playing films, television and radio in schools (Main points taken from this website)

Schools can play films, television and radio in the classroom (or another teaching venue) as part of a course of instruction under s 28 of the Copyright Act. This includes playing a film to students via distance education software or a reticulation system, ie playing the film from a central point into a number of classrooms.

Playing films for non-educational purposes

There is no exception or licence in the Copyright Act which allows a school to play a film to its students for non-educational purposes, such as on bus excursions, during camps and for rainy day activities at lunchtime.

The Australian school sector has negotiated a voluntary blanket licence, called the Co-Curricular Licence, with Roadshow Public Performance Licensing (‘Roadshow’) for the playing of films by schools for non-educational purposes. This includes:

• At school for entertainment purposes (e.g. at lunchtime on a rainy day)
• On bus excursions, where the school provides the DVD (not the bus company)
• At school camps and excursions, including outdoor screenings at camp, where the school provides the DVD (not the camp)
• At after-school care and holiday programs conducted at and by the school.

NSWDEC schools need to act as an individual school, because we are not covered on a central basis as an educational department , and enter into the Co-Curricular Licence by:

• Going to www.roadshowppl.com.au 
• Selecting ‘Schools’ from the drop down menu under 'My Business Activity'.
• Inserting the following details:
  • School name and contact details
  • School ABN
  • No. of students in the school
• Paying the annual fee as agreed to under the Licence.
  
  The annual fee of the Co-Curricular Licence will vary between $55 and $154 depending on the number of students in your school.
  
  Payment can be made online by credit card or by cheque/direct deposit.
  
  The school must pay the total annual fee no later than 30 days after the commencement date of the licence in the first year of its uptake, and thereafter on for before the 30th of March in each year.

Always Obtain DVD’s from Reputable Sources

It is essential that films played in schools are obtained from legitimate sources. Film DVDs, for example, may be purchased or hired from non theatrical film distributors, licensed lending libraries or educational sources for screening on school premises. Visit Playing films, television and radio in schools for all of the facts.

Advice from Colleen Foleyof NSWDEC School Libraries
 "In relation to classifications which guide what can be shown, see the Department’s memorandum on ‘Films, Videos, DVDs and Computer Games Procedures for Use in Schools’. This is linked under ‘F’ on our Links page at http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/schoollibraries/links/index.htm

You can also locate it in the Policies section of the DET internet and intranet."

Creating stories on the iPad- SO MUCH CHOICE!!

Book Creation on the iPad

View more lists from Meg Wilson

Creative Book Builder is a very popular app and with Google Apps on its way very soon, the feature that allows importing to google docs will prove very handy. For more info: Creative Book Builder, Make Amazing ePubs on your iPad

Further reading on some of the apps above:-5 Apps for Creating Interactive Books and ePubs on your iPad

Book Creator
"Mooklet for iPhone" is an app that allows you to create a "Mooklet", a "Photo Story Book", using your photos and text, that is unique in the world!

Just choose your favorite pictures and create a dynamic photo album in just a few minutes.

Since you can give out your pubished Mooklet as a "HTML5 based web application" via URL, your family and friends can easily look at and install it as native photo book app on their iPhone or iPad Home screen.
Check out a review on Mooklet

Maybe you are ready for some more advanced applications-You might like to try:

iBooks Author: Creating Multi-Touch Books for iPad

iBooks Author: Creating Multi-Touch Books for iPad from Nicole Hennig

For Higher Education Inkling could be just what you are looking for 
Turn textbooks with inkling into interactive books for the iPad
INKLING  FREE from iTunes

Ebook Innovator Inkling Releases Free Digital Publishing Kit  PC Mag and if that is not enough here are Technology Tailgate: 21 Great iPad Storytelling Apps: by Matt  Gomez

UPDATE- The First Book Club

One of the initiators of this innovative Book Club, Barbara Braxton, shares the latest update:
"The March 1st task for The FIRST Book Club has now been posted on the Club's
site  (While anyone can view the task only those registered as members can respond to it.)

Unfortunately, this site is very 'no frills' so I apologise for the lack of
formatting that might make it difficult to read.

However, in conjunction with this site, we have also established a wiki - The
FIRST Book Club Wiki 
The tasks will also be available there as well as extra information, like Lyndy's list of suggested apps that students might use for Task 1.  This is where students will also need to upload any digital presentations, although written responses are added to the comments section of the original site.  If you choose not to upload to the wiki, then put the link to the presentation in the comments box of the original site so others can view it.

     

                                                                                  





                                                                                                   Enokson

Participants will need to register for the wiki before they can upload any
presentations, and I'll approve these as I get the notification.

Students have till the end of this month to respond to this task.  

            wikimedia.org

Please encourage them to comment on what others have said or done 
but remind them of the rule to treat everyone with dignity and respect. 
Remember the purpose of the club is to connect kids so they can have greater enjoyment of their reading adventures."


If you are subscribing to The FIRST Book Club wiki so your students can share
multimedia responses please make sure you subscribe to
http://the-first-book-club.wikispaces.com/ There is another wiki called
firstbookclub which is run by someone else. Ours has 'the' as the first word and
I've now changed it so that there are hyphens in between the words.

You will know you are at the right one because there are a dozen little
calendars marching across the banner on a purple background.

Remember you don't have to join the wiki or the club
http://www.bookclubit.com/bookclub/default.aspx?id=700 to view the activities
but only registered members can upload their responses.  Each person wishing to
upload their response has to have their own account - neither is a site where a
teacher can create one a/c and then a host of 'sub-accounts'.  However, a
teacher can collate students responses and upload them in one post, although the
forum site has minimal formatting so responses may become garbled.