Interactive Whiteboards: Leading us into the 21st century or chaining us to the past?

Check out this SlideShare Presentation from Chris Betcher-co-author of the book "The Interactive Whiteboard Revolution and producer of the Virtual Staffroom podcasts." begin_of_the_skype_highlighting     end_of_the_skype_highlighting :

Interactive Whiteboards: Leading us into the 21st century or chaining us to the past?

View more presentations from Chris Betcher.

Christmas resources for your kids to enjoy.

Some of the terrific Christmas resources available:

Christmas livebinder from Steph Westwood - has a huge range of all sorts of Christmas websites

Write Santa a letter:- helps guide students through the process.

 Christmas Quiz for Stu's Quiz Boxes 

ICT and Christmas in the classroom from EdNA

Image via Wikipedia

The Price is Right: Free Educational Resources

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

The Price is Right: Free Educational Resources

View more presentations from alma_row.

Intrinsic motivation is vital to success.

 What truly motivates us has been a mismatch with what was understood to motivate us.


Dan Pink insists that “management” does not lead to engagement.
The only way people truly engage is through self-direction. 
http://www.danpink.com/archives/2010/10/motivation-twitter-style




There is a "growing trend of companies tapping the power of autonomy to deliver results. And it joins similarly inspired efforts like Atlassian’s brilliant FedEx Days — a concept that is spreading like benevolent kudzu at companies and even schools across North America — and the 20 percent time initiatives at Google and elsewhere."

Money can be a powerful motivator, but as studies show rewarding people financially only works to a point. Beyond that, you need autonomy, mastery and purpose. They are the building blocks for intrinsic motivation. http://onecoolsitebloggingtips.com/2010/05/29/drive-the-surprising-truth-about-what-motivates-us/

For those who love to see visual to understand tricky concepts enjoy this engaging presentation:

Love to hear what you think.

The 21st Century Learner -

There is a shift away from education and teaching but towards learning!!  

School is certainly not the only place that learning takes place. "Ubiquitous learning (anytime, anywhere, any device) will be a more consistent part of education and the lines will be blurred between learning in and outside of the classroom." M.Iemma

It is time to re-imagine learning.

Sit back and enjoy!

Future School in Finland

Love to hear what you think.

Are you looking for an interesting persuasive writing topic for your stage 3/4 students

Then check this out:

You may also like this introduction to persuasion by the same author, Andy Fisher.

Persuasion 101 on Prezi

This tool may help your class develop persuasive techniques:

For even more sites to asist with developing persuasive writing try: Persuasive LiveBinder

Are you looking at introducing the use of a flip camera into your class?

Heaps of support and advice on Flip Cameras

Forty Interesting Ways* to use your Pocket Video Camera in the Classroom

Love to hear about what you and your students create.

Help for Year 6 students heading to High School

Are your Year 6 students a little apprehensive about what is ahead of them at High School? NSWDET has provided some support materials for their use.

Going to High School

Starting high school

Year 7 students introduce primary students to high school life in this fun and informative video.

How to have a great year at high school

This short and helpful video has great tips on making friends, getting organised, planning assignments and studying.

Tooth Tally 2011 is taking registrations!!

TOOTH TALLY! worth shouting about for "littlies" (yr1-2)
The 2011 Project runs from 1 February 2011 until 30 April 2011.
Taking part is free and the only cost involved is your participation.

Register for 2011 

1-2C Tooth Fairies 2010 on PhotoPeach
I have participated for the past few years with classes in their library lessons  but look forward to class teachers coming on board this coming year. Kids LOVE the activities because it is all about THEM!

Each class will have it's very own page in 2011.
Ideas and Resources galore
Teaching-Lesson Plans for NSW DET based outcomes 
Teacher's Page includes many downloadable resources.
Denton Avenue School make a bookemon.

Make Books Online at Bookemon!			read	send

Look at the 2010 Tooth Fairy drawings

Many teeth are lost
Come and join the fun....

Music Music Music....improve student outcomes while having fun!

 Music is fun. Music makes us feel happy. Music stimulates the brain. Music is correlated with children building a wider vocabulary, gaining improved listening skills, and can help in developing an understanding of concepts.

In many brain research studies, evidence strongly points out that children who use music and movement learn information more easily and retain it longer. "It activates three different centers of the brain at the same time: language, hearing, and rhythmic motor control." Don McMannis, an expert on children's music 

 Bus Songs – This website has many songs divided by genres. For all the songs it lists lyrics and for some they have videos and/or audio clips.

 Sites2See Why Music? -secondary programs and support resources

 Whack-A-Note- Can you identify the right note? Learn which note lands where on the staff, and click it as fast as you can! This activity is designed to help students recognize music notes as they appear on a treble clef.

Image via Wikipedia

 Grooveshark allows a teacher to set a playlist of songs that cannot be altered by students.

Musicovery is an interactive and customised webRadio service. Listeners can rate songs, resulting in a personalised program.

KIDiddles – This website has song lyrics and audio. Sign up for free printable lyrics sheets and  put them up on your SMART Board for the whole class to follow along.
 Image via CrunchBase

Don't forget YouTube for great songs like: Clean It Up  The Cat in the Hat and friends sing a song to help them clean up. There are plenty to choose from.

Mama Lisa’s World  – This website has songs from around the world. The songs can be searched for by continent and the lyrics are written out in the original language and also translated into English. Some of the songs have sound clips and sheet music.

 Musica Viva In Schools Zone.

Have fun - Experimenting with sound in the studio, creating a web page, designing the ultimate concert, exploring a day in the life of a musician and investigating a large range of musical instruments.

Classroom Apps -great selection of musical tools, including some free ones.

The Music Lab- from San Francisco Symphony
 -Use the Composerizer to create your own music.

Having kids listen to music for five minutes and write about the way it makes them feel, or playing an instrumental track and encouraging them to write and sing lyrics, are just two ways to spark creative energy and engage students in the learning process. "It's natural for children to make music," says Madden, who notes that kids often sing to themselves in idle moments. "With music, you can get right to them and open their minds to the idea of learning other subject areas, of becoming learners, and of respecting their teachers."  http://www.edutopia.org/sing-sing-sing

Talk, Respect and Connect

 Have any of you taken a look at the 'talk, respect and  connect' site? 

You'll  have to register with a DET email address.

It's a great tool to help schools build stronger partnerships with their Aboriginal community and facilitate engagement of Aboriginal students with school drug education.

 Image via Wikipedia
Love to hear from you

Thwarting world supremacy through mathematics....Villainy Maths

Ever wanted to work as a secret agent? To stop a criminal mastermind from taking over the world – one fast food restaurant at a time? Then the Villiany Inc site is for you. Introduce your students to AVU: thwarting world supremacy through mathematics. :)

Villainy Inc, an innovative site for middle grade mathematics students. The site contains activities that explore statistics and probability, algebra, geometry, decimals, percents, negative numbers, and more. In addition, they have added reading supports to ensure that all readers can access the content.

But what is Villiany Inc all about?

Villainy, Inc. Basics

In Villainy, Inc., the user becomes a secret agent working to foil Dr. Wick, ID's plans to overtake the world. The secret agents infiltrate Wick's headquarters in each mission, working under secret orders from the 

Anti Villainy Unit (or AVU).

Villainy, Inc is an animated story about Dr. Eugene Wick, ID, and his sidekick Platypus. Wick and “Platy” have ridiculously goofy plans to take over the world. For example, in Mission 1, Wick wants to turn the Gulf of Mexico into a golf course.

Your students will take on the role of an advisor to Dr. Wick’s company, Villainy, Inc. Outwardly, they seem to go along with Wick’s schemes. But, secretly, they are really working with the Anti-Villainy Unit (the AVU) as double agents, using their math skills to make sure Wick never succeeds.

Each story offers tongue-in-cheek dialogue along with comical animated characters and scenes that set the stage for mathematical success.

The site is extremely well done with colourful animations and fast streaming videos and sounds. Students of varying reading levels are catered for, and they can turn on (or off) the subtitles to the videos. The student tasks are well set out, and teachers can view all concepts being covered through the teachers section.

Need an in-depth guide to the Missions? Our Mission Teacher’s Editions have everything you need — story synopsis, explanations, scripts, vocabulary lists, answer keys, and other web resources. They offer in-depth information about each activity in the Mission, the tools used, the helpers’ advice, and what you or your students should notice on-screen as your students work.

Design features that support readers:

• The animation is closed captioned and narrated for students to develop fluency as they read along silently.
• The prose is clear and written in a style that middle school students can easily read.
• Animations are appealing and engaging.
• The size/style of the font and amount of print on a page are accessible and motivating.
• Graphical information (cities on a map, for example) offer additional information via pop-up feature for easy reading.

Cross-curricular possibility
Invite a language arts colleague to read the Mission scripts ahead of time with students. The better the students understand the plot, the more they can focus on the math. Scripts are included in our Mission Teacher's Editions. 

Printable worksheets are available to introduce, record, and extend the mathematical learning in each Mission's activities. 

  adapted from Ideasfor teachers

For MORE great Maths games visit:

Games in Education Wiki-Mathematics

Leadership that lasts...about social justice...embraces the principles of diversity

Professor Andy Hargreaves  is the Thomas More Brennan Chair in Education at the Lynch School of Education at Boston College. Andy Hargreaves’ teaching and research at Boston College concentrates on educational change, performing beyond expectations, sustainable leadership and the emotions of teaching.

Andy’s current research is funded by the UK Specialist and Academies Trust and the National College for School Leadership and is concerned with organizations that perform beyond expectations in education, sport, business and health.

Andy Hargreaves is the author of The Fourth Way: The Inspiring Future for Educational Change. Read the 143 pages at Google books

“Andy Hargreaves and Dennis Shirley, always one or two steps ahead of the field, have done it again. An extremely balanced and insightful treatment of the first three ways of change, in which the authors clearly display the strengths and limitations of each model. And then they go to town in mapping out the fourth way—a concise and compelling framework for change that integrates teacher professionalism, community engagement, government policy, and accountability. The Fourth Way is itself a powerful ‘catalyst for coherence’ in a field that badly needs guidance. Read the book and rethink your approach to educational reform.”—Michael Fullan, Educational Consultant, Author, The Challenge of School Change

The FourthWay is a framework for sustainable education reform that integrates teacher professionalism, community engagement, government policy, and accountability.

Professor Andy Hargreaves spoke at the ACEL Conference  in Sydney this September October 2010. At this conference Andy Hargreaves listed 5 areas of focus to create the ideal 21st century society: social justice, collective responsibility, human rights, only taking what you need (sustainability), and trust and transparency.  

How can we help develop these ideas in our community?

Inspiring an inclusive vision -dream

Ability to use data as a basis for inquiry as a community.

Principles of sustainable leadership

Further reading:  

Hargreaves and the 4th Way

Hargreaves and the 4th Way Part 2

The Global Read Aloud Project

Welcome to the Global Read Aloud Project. 

 

The idea is simple; one book to read aloud to your students, some chapters a week, and then have students share their thoughts somehow. 

 

How much sharing you do is up to you; just reach out and connect!

Through one book we can connect the world.

Join fellow educators and students as we share "The Little Prince" beginning September 20th, 2010.

20 pages a week, as much sharing as you wish.

Information

• How do my students share?
• FAQ
• How Do We Sign Up?

Our new BER classrooms are on their way.

Classroom from NSW BER on Vimeo.

You can view the standard double classroom plan. We are to get one double component attached to a single component.

An eye-opening reflection on how we view children and how we teach children in our current education system.

I promise you that 5 minutes spent watching this WILL be very well worth it!!

No doubt about it!!

Can you recognise some of your students in this video? all of your students? yourself?

What does 21C Education mean to you and your students?

 View this video on the Sydney Region IT Support website to gain an insight into New Brunswick Schools and 21C Education.

 

 21C Education in New Brunswick Schools

 

An ethics-based complement to scripture in NSW primary schools.

There was a really interesting treatment of the ethics/philosophy in school question on ABC's Compass program last night: http://www.abc.net.au/compass/s2968581.htm

Several brilliant teachers shown working with really clever kids - inspiring stuff! expand »

For those that missed it you can watch it either online, via iView or on Channel 24 Thursday 2:30pm 

 See what Sean Nicholls says in his article "O'Farrell says remarks on ethics classes a personal view." from September 13, 2010 Sydney Morning Herald

Learn more about the project: An ethics-based complement to scripture in NSW primary schools.

Rationale: Towards an ethics-based complement to scripture in NSW primary schools

FAQs - Ethics complement to scripture

Related articles by Zemanta

• O'Farrell shortsighted over ethics (news.theage.com.au)

Kinder Clips from Eastwood Primary

 Enjoy Kinderclips happenings .

Portable Computer Lab for Primary School

Stu Hasic presents:

"My dream set up.......

 What I would love to see in Sandy Beach Public School 21C library learning space......."

 Sydney Region Schools IT service Podcast Lane.

How do YOU show your principal that you make a difference and are worth the extra cost?

 Read the following post from The Hub:Campaign for Quality School Libraries in Australia 

How do we show principals they can NOT AFFFORD to be without TLs?

 Love to hear what you think.

Promote empathy and social skills-Dave is brave....antibullying

Listen to a mother of three boys with Autism talk about Autism, getting a diagnosis and support services for families living with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Listen to Amanda Gray talk about autism-struggles that parents experience...
meltdown situations.

Schools and families working together: Building a positive partnership.

Don't miss out on using this terrific service-ETIS

                                     
       EDUCATION AND TRAINING INFORMATION SERVICE

Have you visited the  ETIS website  and especially the e-form request page?
You can request a search.

ETIS also has access to many specialised databases and provides a comprehensive search service. 


You might also be interested in subscribing to some alerts (very popular information service) or have a browse through the research spotlights
The current topics of research include:
 Aboriginal education and learning technologies

Adobe and Microsoft software in education

Computer games

Cyberbullying

Effects of quality teaching on student outcomes

Interactive whiteboards

Interactive whiteboards in industry

Laptop initiatives

Moodle*

Social media

Student retention and engagement in high school

Sustainability

Workforce skills

YouTube in education


ETIS provides a section on effective searching of the internet


There is also a section where ETIS have compiled a list of links which focus on:

Government – Commonwealth, state and local

Educational departments

Educational organisations

Reference sources

Do you have a special anniversary coming up?

ETIS can provide you with historical information on both schools and TAFE in NSW.
School files which include school histories
Subject information files on various aspects of school education
Reference collection including various departmental publications, published histories and major reviews
A range of digitised photos covering school history *
School teachers' records *  (some details are not available due to privacy issues)The history information collection includes:

Interactive Whiteboards: Leading us into the 21st century or chaining us to the past?

Chris Betcher is an Australian teacher, author, blogger and podcaster. 

He blogs about education, technology and ideas at betchablog.com, and produces The Virtual Staffroom, a podcast featuring conversations with leading teachers about the use of technology in the classroom. 

He has presented at conferences and workshops in Australia, New Zealand and Canada on the effective use of technology for learning, and is an active member of the online global educational community. 

Chris is also the co-author of the book “The Interactive Whiteboard Revolution”.

"Love them or hate them, interactive whiteboards seem to have become a part of today’s modern classroom.  There are many teachers who see them as a wonderful ‘window to the world’, able to open their classrooms up to a plethora of digital experiences, make learning richer and more engaging in the process.  Then there are others who see IWBs as the devil incarnate, a scourge on the educational landscape that sets our classrooms back by thirty years. They claim them to be setting the sage back on the stage and ruining the student focused nature of the classroom."

VSR30: The Whiteboard Conundrum   November 1st, 2009

In this episode as we speak with Rob Newberry, James Hollis, Danny Nicholson, Martin Levins and Stuart Walsh, five experienced and opinionated IWB users and try to explore some of the bigger, deeper questions behind the use of IWB technology.

Interactive Whiteboards: Leading us into the 21st Century or chaining us to the past?

View more presentations from Chris Betcher.

Love to hear from you

National Literacy and Numeracy Week is coming up soon.

National Literacy and Numeracy Week (NLNW) is an Australian Government initiative conducted in collaboration with the Government, Catholic and Independent education sectors. It will be celebrated in all States and Territories from 29 August to 4 September 2010.

Aim of NLNW

The Week represents a collaborative approach by the Australian Government and the school community to highlight the importance of effective literacy and numeracy skills for all children and young people.

The week gives schools the opportunity to get involved in a range of activities and to recognise locally the achievements of students and the work of teachers, parents and members of the community who support young people to develop stronger literacy and numeracy skills.

"Learning for Living" - Our theme for 2010

 Literacy site

In the 21st century, the definition of literacy has expanded to refer to a flexible, sustainable mastery of a set of capabilities in the use and production of traditional texts and new communications technologies using spoken language, print and multimedia.

Students need to be able to adjust and modify their use of language to better meet contextual demands in varying situations.

Visit  National Literacy and Numeracy Week website.

A suite of teacher professional learning and parent support videos is available for viewing.

There are also many  Kids Links on literacy and numeracy available.

 

Great spelling activities for your class from Bits and Pieces.

 How common are spelling difficulties?
Almost all people with developmental reading or language disabilities have great difficulty spelling. In the new definition of dyslexia, people with the condition known as dyslexia are noted to have “conspicuous” problems with spelling and writing.  Ginger is a free download. 

A well designed program for students who do not learn easily will emphasize the sounds in the words, the letter combinations that usually spell those sounds, the spellings of six basic syllable types, and how the spelling rules of English work.

In summary, effective spelling instructions should emphasize these principles:  

• knowledge of sounds, letter-sound
• association, patterns, syllables, and meaningful parts;
• multisensory practice; 
• systematic, cumulative study of patterns;
• memorizing a few “sight” words at a time;
• writing those words correctly many times;
• using the words in personal writing.

The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) thanks Louisa Cook Moats, Ed.D. for her assistance in the preparation of this fact sheet. from Spelling Facts

By: International Dyslexia Association (2008) http://www.gingersoftware.com/articles/spelling_facts

Bits and Pieces is @2Sparkley's blog. Her class enjoys these spelling activities. She kindly posted them to share with othere teachers like yourselves. . They are able to be printed on A3 if you wish.

If you are looking for other good spelling sites check out this:

Good Spelling sites on-line training videos. Part of the TeachertrainingVideos.com site. You can find many more free on-line training videos.

For those of you who had kids who like pirates try : Poop deck pirates

and for a little online word finding fun try:  WORD CRUNCHER

Here are some Interesting ways to support spelling in the classroom organised by Tom Barrett. You are welcome to add your own ideas.
 

Check out Bits and Pieces for other great teaching resources....

How to add a watermark on your work for identification once printed.

Check out my new abodo-very green and clean

 Think clean environment:  recycling, saving water, saving energy...these issues are considered and more, in this activity.

To create your own go to:  Myabodo

Great activity for our naturalist intelligence kids.
(Thanks Pip for the suggestion on twitter)

Unfortunately the tool section has been closed, but there is still plenty of choosing to do. 

The website allows you to explore other abodos to compare and discuss their merits.

Closing soon – WeCreate: Greeting Card Design Awards

2010 August 11

Attention: All K-12 Executive and classroom teachers

Christmas in August?

Although we are only half way through 2010 the WeCreate: Greeting Card Design Awards are closing soon!

This competition is open to Primary and Secondary students in NSW Departmental schools (NSW DET login only) and gives them the chance to design the front of a card suitable for the Christmas holiday season. The card design should communicate a message of goodwill, harmony and celebration that would be appreciated by all community members.

The winning design will be selected by the Director General of Education.

All entries in the WeCreate: Greeting Card Design competition must be submitted by 6:00 pm AEST on 11 August 2010.

For full details : Greeting Card Design Awards competition

All WeCreate Awards and Challenges can be mapped across a range of curriculum areas.

For details of these great awards and challenges 

Digital Tools for Teachers

Digital Tools for Teachers Toolboxes

View more presentations or Upload your own.

Summary: More than 2,000 teachers were recently surveyed about the Web 2.0 tools that they and their students most commonly used. This presentation by clifmims ,will provide a hands-on introduction to these tools along with teacher-created and student-created examples. Strategies for implementation will be shared. 

Vocabulary Games

These games suit from Kinder - Year 12

What a way to build vocabulary..great ideas to support learning

Try some for homework-students without computers at home 

would be most welcome in the library to try these games.

Analogy Games
Syllable Games
Contraction Games
Parts of Speech Games
Spelling Games
Compound Word Games
Homophone Games
Foreign Language Games
Root Word Games
Context Games
Antonym Games
Synonym Games
Prefix Games
Suffix Games
Word Play Games
Oxymoron Games
Hig Pig Games
Idioms Games 

There are  many games to choose from in each section. Try this one:

Break It Up: Place the line between the letters to show where the apostrophe goes in these contractions.

Where Does the Apostrophe Go?