Wednesday, 5 March 2014

Advocacy, My Daughter, Morris Gleitzman & Jackie French

What a great day was had by all the folk who made it to the NSW State Library Day last Saturday
where Darcy Moore (Deputy Principal Dapto High School), 

authors Jackie French and Morris Gleitzman 

Ava Banerjee (SHORE School) and Andrew Taylor, author 

 Michael Grant, creator of Edutainme, provided plenty of learning opportunities.

                                                             See the storify for more insight.
screenshot of storify page.

Darcy Moore (Deputy Principal Dapto High) blogged this post after the day:
Advocacy, My Daughter, Morris Gleitzman & Jackie French
What a great opportunity for a young girl!
Well done to SLANSW for facilitating a student voice in the introductions!

Don't forget to visit the Australian Teacher Librarian Facebook Page to keep up to date.

Sunday, 2 March 2014

The Right to read!!! and write...World Read Aloud Day March 5

A year has passed already since the last World Read Aloud Day

World Read Aloud Day is an opportunity to celebrate reading and storytelling
with entire communities. World Read Aloud Day also highlights the need for
libraries and community centres as crucial spaces to discover, explore and
foster literacy.
Imagine a world where everyone can read... 
On World Read Aloud Day, celebrate by reading aloud or 
taking action on behalf of the 793 million people who cannot read
.
How did this event start? who had the bright idea? Read this inspiring article:
Huffington Post: Read Aloud. Change the World.
Read Aloud. Change the World by Pam Allyn

"You're never too old, too wacky,too wild, to pick up a book, and read to a child!!" Dr. Suess


World Read Aloud Day is about taking action 
to show the world that 
the right to read and write belongs to all people.

There are many resources available at LitWorld
including:
Download the World Read Aloud Day Classroom Activity Kit. - See more at: http://litworld.org/worldreadalouddayactivities/#sthash.VwqMoK0o.dpuf
Click to download LitWorld's Picture Book New Day, New Friends:
Activities from Read Write Think courtesy of Barbara Braxton:

I made this World Read Aloud sticker sheet to give out to the children.

- See more at: http://litworld.org/worldreadalouddayactivities/#sthash.VwqMoK0o.dpuf

Make every day read aloud day - a post  by Donalyn Miller is well worth a read.
"Reading aloud exposes children to books, authors, or genres they might not discover on their own. When choosing books to read aloud, I often pick books with the goal of leading my students to more books they can read on their own."
Reading aloud builds community.
Reading aloud supports developing readers.
Reading aloud reminds children why they love reading."
 Miller also lists many great read aloud books for you to try.
Did you know:
Global Literacy Statistics 
LitWorld works to cultivate a new generation of leaders, storytellers and academic
achievers, effecting change for themselves, their community, and their world. Our
campaigns mobilize children and adults from around the world to advocate for literacy as a
human right that belongs to all people.

Ø Reading aloud to children every day puts them almost a year ahead of
children who do not receive daily read alouds regardless of parental
income, education level or cultural background. (Melbourne Institute of
Applied Economic and Social Research)

Ø According to the latest data (2009), 793 million adults – two thirds of
them women – lack basic reading and writing skills. Included in this
statistic are 127 million youth aged 15-24. (UNESCO)

Ø Since 1985, the female adult literacy rate has risen 15%, which is about
double the growth of the male literacy rate in the same time period.
(UNESCO)

Ø On tests involving 4,500 to 10,000 students in 43 countries, half of the
girls said they read for at least thirty minutes a day, compared with less
than one-third of the boys. (UNESCO)

Ø In sub-Saharan Africa, girls have less than a 50% chance of finishing
primary school. In some Asian countries, girls also struggle: 41% of girls
in Pakistan and 30% in India fail to finish primary school. (results.org)

Ø Poorly-literate individuals are less likely to participate in democratic
processes and have fewer chances to fully exercise their civil rights
(UNESCO)

Ø A child born to a mother who can read is 50 percent more likely to
survive past the age of 5 than a child born to an illiterate woman.
(UNESCO)

Ø A literate and educated girl is three times less likely to acquire AIDS,
she will earn at least twenty-five percent more income, and she will
produce a smaller, healthier family. (UNESCO) 

UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Further reading 2@ http://litworld.org/worldreadaloudday
Huffington Post: Read Aloud. Change the World.

Enjoy one or all of the read alouds below:
I chose a few to cater for different aged students.

Sunday, 23 February 2014

Come along & Build your "iKnowHow" @ Coffs Coast TeachMeet

To see all of the Smore flyer you will need to scroll down the inside bar...
 Register @ Coffs Coast TeachMeet Term1 2014

Please print out the flyer for your staffroom Register @ Coffs Coast TeachMeet Term1 2014
or fill out online.
 

Saturday, 15 February 2014

Don't miss this valuable reading app: Read with Me Fluency app, currently Free

READ WITH ME FLUENCY APP

I love the potential of this app! Give it a go. It's a winner in my book!
****Free for a limited time, while we fix this update
                                                                             ****Please check back in a few days and update

"Many in educational fields have hungered for a system that would actually decrease the work load required for assessment, and it looks like it’s finally here." -BestAppsForKids.com


Read With Me Fluency is the new iPad version of the award-winning online reading fluency assessment app, Read With Me. Now you can conduct oral fluency reading assessments, or running records in a faster, less-painful way. No more timers, paper, calculators or binders full of testing materials

 Import your own digital texts or take advantage of our own leveled library of passages aligned to the Lexile® Framework. 

Monitor your child or whole class of students' reading progress in terms of accuracy, fluency and benchmark goals. 
Great for teachers who already have their own program, or for new teachers looking for a new, faster way to stay on top of their students' fluency. Used by reading specialists, resource educators, parents, and K-8 teachers . 

Video recording for your running records:

This iPad app takes the web version further by taking advantage of the front-facing camera to record a video session of the student reading a text you assign. By syncing two iPads via the web, you can use your iPad to save the recordings and view them with the student conferences, or for later scoring. Generate quick reports for student to review and track own progress. 

Air Server proves to be great value......but price is set to rise very soon.


Thanks Nathan McGregor for sharing this news about Airserver:

AirServer (www.airserver.com ) is getting a price rise starting March 1st, 2014.
Screenshot http://www.airserver.com/

Currently, you can buy three Education AirServer licences for $US12.00, but starting March 1st, Education AirServer licences will increase to $US12.00 each.

If you're interested in getting AirServer for your school, you'll want to purchase your licences before March 1st, 2014. You can still organise bulk purchases. See the current prices below:


Screenshot http://www.airserver.com

Screenshot http://www.airserver.com

Note: Mirroring is only available from iPad 2nd generation or newer, iPad mini, iPod Touch 5+, iPhone 4S or newer, Mountain Lion and Mavericks.

Handy Tip:
If more than one person uses a computer make sure that you go into settings and tick the box for all users if it doesn't automatically do that.
* Recording is available for Mac only and will be coming to
DISCLAIMER: I have no financial interests in this company and will not gain financially (or any other way) from this post.

Sunday, 10 November 2013

IN FLANDERS FIELDS by s

Terrific ideas for preparing for 2014 English from the awesome Lizzie Chase

Lizzie Chase shared: 2014 Stage 3 & 4 blogs

 – From Week 3 each term, for 5 weeks

 Term 1: Raft, river, rainbow - All about me blog - http://rapblog14.edublogs.org/ - AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL blog Click on 1.CHEST for Week 1 student writing

  Term 2: Band of heroes QUEST blog FANTASY blog [See 2013 version at http://rapblog15.edublogs.org/ - Click on 1.BAND for Week 1 writing

  Term 3: Hats, boxes, magic, moon - IMAGE based writing - Using images to inspire narrative writing http://hatsboxesmagicmoon.edublogs.org/ - Click on 1.HATS for Week 1 writing, etc]

  Term 4: Super 6 plus blog - DIFFERENTIATED tasks - http://super6plus.edublogs.org/ Minimum requirements: Students complete ONE task per week from the CONNECT, PREDICT, QUESTION, SUMMARISE and VISUALISE tasks. Enrichment options: Students complete as many tasks as they like, including the CRITIQUE, CREATE and ACT options.

  What are the Super 6 skills? Connecting, predicting, questioning, monitoring, summarising and visualising – these six ‘super’ skills form a repertoire for actively processing text and making meaning.
 When we share these skills with students – and name the skills so students can name and use them independently – students greatly improve their reading comprehension and inferential reading skills. - Click on 1.CONNECT for Week 1 writing and as if that is not wonderful enough Lizzie also shared:

BOOK WEEK ART: I have built a website featuring Samira Chami's Book Week art work at http://bookweekartsms.weebly.com As of yesterday, this site now has DOWNLOADABLE teaching notes!!
Last go through EVER - Stage 3 & 4 Fiction with a twist blog, starts Week 3, Term 4 - goes for 5 weeks at http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/raps/twist13/index.htm 

 Check out Super 6 based activities at:

 1. http://super6cards.weebly.com
 2. http://wiesnerfun.weebly.com [David Wiesner picture book activities]
 3. http://emilyfun.weebly.com [Emily Gravett picture books activities]

Time to review iPad use in class....How is your workflow?


Greg Swanson, Senior Project Officer eLearning Catholic Education Office, Sydney,
 has a very valuable and helpful blog for educators implementing iPads in education called Apps in Education

In this post Apps in Education: Student Documented Workflows for the iPad: Greg states: " Students love to share how they do things. This is especially true when they are working on iPads." Visit the link to discover more. The three posters below are shared by Greg who also states that "If students and or teachers want a more detailed explanation than the step-by-step instructions are available."




Monday, 14 October 2013

2014 schoolstechOZ conference ATTEND? or PRESENT?

 
Dear Colleagues
We would like to let you know about our exciting new conference, schoolstechOZ - 2014.
schoolstechOZ (one big conference) is a consolidation of our four national conferences: 

  • Leading a Digital School Conference
  • Interactive Teaching and Learning Conference
  • Masterclass Conference
  • Digital Classrooms - NZ Conference
 It will be held at Firbank Grammar School, Melbourne on Friday 12, Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 September 2014.


A fantastic Launch Special is available until 30 September 2013 (only a few weeks away). There are 2 options for this Launch Special:
  • 3 Day Option - AU $595.00 or
  • 2 Day Option - AU $395.00
If you are unsure of names at this stage, simply email team@iwb.net.au with the number of teachers you would like to register and you can confirm names a little later.

Overview
  • For all staff in the K-12 school education sector - network with 750 delegates
  • Explore the essence of contemporary and future digital classrooms and digital schools
  • Choose from 240 thought provoking and energizing breakout session over 3 days
    • Leadership strand - targeted to current and emerging school leaders, presented by those in leadership positions with a reputation for leading digital technology in their school (if you like our Leading a Digital School Conference this is the strand for you)
    • Classroom practice strand – targeted to classroom teachers, presented by teachers who integrate digital technology in the classroom to enhance teaching and learning (if you like our Interactive Teaching and Learning Conference this is the strand for you)
    • Cutting edge future strand – targeted to experienced users of technology, presented by award winners passionate about discovering technology initiatives to excite teacher and student imagination (if you like our Masterclass Conference this is the strand for you)
    • Cut across strands as you like!
  • Attend 7 high profile expert keynote addresses over 3 days
 

Download the conference brochure 
here Yes, I would like to register
We hope to see you in Melbourne in September (2014) - a great place to be.



Are you interested in presenting at our exciting new conference schoolstechOZ?

The conference will be held at Firbank Grammar School, Melbourne, VIC, on 12 – 14 September 2014. Find the current conference brochure athttp://bit.ly/17s1RxH

Join in the program with the 7 high profile keynote speakers who have already been confirmed. (We have received over 80 expressions of interest to present to date so do not hesitate)

If you are interested, and we hope you are, we would like you to present the equivalent of two different 50 minute sessions. A double session counts as two different sessions.

We are looking for submissions with:
  • A leadership focus - presented by school leaders
  • A classroom practice focus - presented by teachers
  • A cutting edge future focus - presented by technology award winners
Benefits
Every two (50 minute) sessions filled in the program attracts one complimentary registration for the full 3 days of the conference.

Further information about schoolstechOZ is available on our website at http://www.iwb.net.au/schoolstechoz.htm

Please contact val@iwb.net.au to express your interest and she will send you further information about submitting your sessions.

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Best regards,

Val Macaulay and Margo Metcalf


Web:
 www.iwb.net.au
Email: team@iwb.net.au
Phone: +612 4647 0783
Fax: +612 8456 5707
ABN: 29 112 252 034

Sent with the permission of Margaret Lloyd.
Shared with the permission of Margot Metcalf.
Disclaimer: I do not benefit in any financial way by promoting this educational conference.
My intention is to share the news.
Register for schoolstechOZ @ www.iwb.net.au/schoolstechoz

Saturday, 12 October 2013

You could be about to embark on a whole new journey in the world of education. POWTOON!

One of our highly respected, innovative NSWDEC Teacher Librarians, Joachim Cohen, scored tens of thousands of free POWTOON accounts for other innovative teachers to use. These vouchers will run out soon, so get on to them!!
 Here are the instructions:
 1. Go to: http://www.powtoon.com/toonup/
 2. Once the payment wizard pops-up, type in your district's coupon code: TOONUP243
 3. The payment amount due will revert to zero. There is no need to enter any credit card info in the payment wizard.
 4. Each teacher account includes 30 individual student accounts as well and is good for one year.

 PowToon in the classroom -Visit  Getting Started  to get an overview.


 Tutorial for teachers
 Tutorial for students
 We also have a facebook group set up specifically for teachers where you can share ideas and experiences: Animated Videos Video Marketing Animated Presentations

COMING SOON Desktop player Continuous music loops Music fade out PowToon publisher

Disclaimer: I am not associated with this company nor will I profit in any way from anyone deciding to sign up.

Sunday, 15 September 2013

Terrific Australian Curriculum support resources from Aus Lit.

AustLit is a searchable, scholarly source of authoritative biographical, bibliographic, critical, and production information about Australian writers and writing. It also documents the publishers, newspapers, magazines and scholarly journals that make this work known.

AustLit aims to be the definitive virtual research environment and information resource for Australian literary, print, and narrative culture.
is available to all Australian schools for free
Access for AustLit for DEC schools:
Go http://www.austlit.edu.au/ and initiate a search, and login when prompted
You will need to access the confidential DEC User name & Password 

 By drawing on resources from specialised areas of research within AustLit, AustLit can help teachers address the three primary cross-curriculum objectives of the National Curriculum.


ASIA AND AUSTRALIA’S ENGAGEMENT WITH ASIA

Three AustLit research areas provide useful background about Australia's relationship with Asia.
– Asian-Australian Children’s Literature and Publishing provides information about fiction for children that is
— set in Asia
— represents Asian-Australian cultures and experiences
— published in selected Asian languages.
– Children’s Literature Digital Resources make available a number of children’s literature Research and Learning Trails.
– Australian Literary Responses to 'Asia' tracks literary responses by Australian writers to that diverse region called 'Asia'.

ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER HISTORIES AND CULTURES

BlackWords provides searchable information about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers, storytellers and their published and unpublished books, stories, plays, poems and criticism. It includes works in English and in Indigenous Australian languages.
Children's Literature Digital Resources is a full text digital repository of Australian children’s literature from 1830 to 1945. Users can read online the complete texts of a selection of early Australian children’s literature, both popular and rare.
Digitised items include children’s and young adult fiction, poetry, short stories, and picture books.
Creative Commons Licence
In AusLit I discovered: ASIAN-AUSTRALIAN CHILDREN'S LITERATURE

Great for new Australian Curriculum

The Asian-Australian Children’s Literature and Publishing (AACLAP) project investigates and records details of Australian children’s literature either set in Asia, works that contain Asian-Australian content or characters, works that represent Asian-Australian cultures and experiences, as well as hundreds of Australian works that have been translated into at least one Asian language.

The collection includes autobiographical works, fiction, criticism, poetry, drama, short stories, and picture books.

All Australian schools have free access to AustLit plus registered patrons of Australian libraries, such as national, state and territory, university, or government department libraries, have full access to AustLit through their membership of those libraries.
Teachers and students of Australian schools enquiring about access should contact their school's state-based education authority. Your school liaison librarian or teacher/librarian may also have access details.

Sunday, 25 August 2013

WonderNote- Wonderful

WonderNote described in iTunes as " a wonderful diary book which can help you to record your life with text, photo gallery and voice, from now on, your life will become remarkable."



Features Highlight: 1. Support text, photo gallery and voice.2. Support both iPad an iPhone, sync notes and configuration to your iDevices automatically.3. iCloud backup, your notes will always be there.4. Support background color configuration, life is always colourful as it should be.5. Support passcode to protect your notes.6. Weather information retrieved automatically.7. Share your wonderful moment via twitter, email or just save it to your photo library.8. Notice on time to write an essay, which makes a great habit.9. Support All orientations. and it's FREE. 

Don't miss out as it is a very handy app for students in class.

Friday, 9 August 2013

News from Australian Science Teachers Association

The Australian Science Teachers Association (ASTA)
has produced 15 online Units of Work supporting the Australian Curriculum: Science for students in years F-10. 
The units were written by experienced teachers using resources available freely
online and through Scootle, in a project funded by DEEWR through Education
Services Australia.


The website is now live at http://scienceweb.asta.edu.au

ASTA is presenting a series of weekly webinars from August - November to support
teachers using the ScienceWeb units. The first of these webinars will be
presented by course writer Deb Smith on Tuesday 6 August at 8.00 pm EST.


There are two ways that teachers can login to the webinar. 
or 'enrol' in the Mixing and Separating course page on the ASTA
portal http://moodle.asta.edu.au/course/view.php?id=124


A free login on the ASRA portal is required to enrol. There are no requirements
other than a valid email address to set up an account on the site.


If your email address is an .edu.au domain you can self-enrol, otherwise please
email online@asta.edu.au to request access.
The portal page also contains a discussion forum about the unit. Links to
additional resources and the recording of the webinar will be added later.

Times for the webinar:
8.00 pm in Qld, NSW, ACT, Vic and Tas
7.30 pm in SA and NT
6.00 pm in WA
10.00 am GMT/UTC

The schedule of future webinars can be viewed at
http://moodle.asta.edu.au/course/view.php?id=73 

Nigel Mitchell
Manager, Online Professional Learning
ASTA - the Australian Science Teachers
Association    www.asta.edu.au   moodle.asta.edu.au

Sunday, 21 July 2013

Are you interested in undertaking a free photo imaging course?

Are you a teacher or an educator who needs a little help with photo imaging - taking digital images, enhancing them, being creative with them?
 If so, this course could be most helpful to you:
Adobe Generation is a project-based learning course that provides a unique opportunity for teachers to learn new skills, develop existing skills using Adobe tools and provides an insight into how creative industries work.

The course lasts for 5 weeks; classes are weekly, live and online and run for 1.5hrs. When teachers complete the course, they will earn an Adobe Generation certification.
This course is about photo Imaging - taking digital images, enhancing them, being creative with them. The course is aimed at teachers and educationalists who wish improve their ability and confidence to create images and develop their classroom practice.
In this course we will cover key imaging techniques and principles, move on to some more in depth work and explore some advanced image creation and enhancement techniques (using Adobe Photoshop CS6). Each week you’ll hear from a professional about how they use some of the skills and techniques we’re covering and tune in to expert teachers who will share their classroom successes.
You’ll be asked to maintain an online image portfolio and will be set a weekly task to complete and display in your portfolio before the following session to reinforce the learning and allow you to start expanding your own portfolio.
The first live class for this course is on Wednesday 24th July 2013
How it works Register – Simply click this link to complete your registration form: http://anzmoodle.adobegeneration.com/login/signup.php?
Attend – Adobe Generation courses run online, so you can learn from anywhere. The one and a half hour tutorials are weekly and run in the evenings for five weeks. If you have to miss a live session, you can watch a recording later.
Participate – During the course, you’ll learn new techniques and complete creative challenges alongside other teachers from Australia across the globe.
Graduate – Once you’ve completed all course requirements (including the final project), you’ll earn your Adobe Generation certificate and digital badge. You’ll also be ready to integrate digital media into your teaching practice.

The Student Guide to iPads – It’s Great for Teachers Too

So your school has introduced iPads but you would love a simple, clear guide to support your students?

Richard Byrne's post entitled: The Student Guide to iPads – It’s Great for Teachers Too  shares about such a guide available as a free iTunes app- The Student Guide to iPads & iOS 6, written by Jac de Haan. 
Byrnes indicates that this app covers all of the basics needed to get started.
iTunes describes the app as: 
"The Student Guide to iPads & iOS 6 was written to help middle-school and high-school students become proficient with basic iPad operations to support learning.

This book focuses on iOS productivity apps and basic troubleshooting."


but WAIT there's MORE! .....
It is NOT enough to know HOW to use iPads we MUST use them well to support teaching and learning.
Mark Gleeson (Mr G online) stated in  iPurpose before iPad: " there is room for improvement in creating a tool for supporting time poor iPads in Schools implementers in planning, selecting, justifying and integrating iPad apps in education." and then went on to suggest a collaborative effort to develop such a tool.
Visit  iPurpose before iPad and be amazed at how helpful such a tool can be as it is continually tweaked and developed. You may wish to contribute your ideas to this helpful tool.

It's time to re-connect!

My cruise has been and gone!
My time in Europe is over.....
It is time to re-connect with my valued PLN's.
I have missed being connected to all my online friends & peers.


Where does the stage "Take a break!" fit in this diagram I wonder??

Change is inevitable but first I need to get organised to return to the wonderful kids at school. I missed their cheerful smiles heaps.

TEACHMEET REMINDER: 
The King's School is hosting a Sydney TeachMeet on Tuesday afternoon 8 October.
More about TMSydney
For further information on TeachMeets in Australia go to Teachmeet AUS


Thursday, 16 May 2013