Embracing Challenges
Where in the world? Our new flag counter
Monday, 14 March 2011
Teachers and students in the 21st Century classrooms are:
It is interesting to see what they have observed so far.
Saturday, 12 March 2011
Exploring the new digital world and its implications.
Copyright-What's copyright?
JewelBeat Use these free royalty free music tracks & free sound effects for any production - advertising, education, video, photos, YouTube...etc.
Royalty free production music by JewelBeat
Flickr Creative Commons
The Frank Hardcase animation is the part of a Crime Stoppers Australia initiative against music piracy. The video features animated character Frank Hardcase as an investigative journalist whose light hearted but insightful reports provoke students to think about the effects of the illegal file sharing of music.
JewelBeat Use these free royalty free music tracks & free sound effects for any production - advertising, education, video, photos, YouTube...etc.
Royalty free production music by JewelBeat
Flickr Creative Commons
The Frank Hardcase animation is the part of a Crime Stoppers Australia initiative against music piracy. The video features animated character Frank Hardcase as an investigative journalist whose light hearted but insightful reports provoke students to think about the effects of the illegal file sharing of music.
Helping dyslexic children within the classroom.
Dyslexics in the Classroom - One of the astonishing things a recent United Kingdom study discovered was that 75% of the population claim to understand little or nothing about how dyslexic people think.
With dyslexic thinkers making up an estimated 10% of the population, most people have either a friend, loved-one, relative, colleague or client with dyslexia. So why are we so in the dark about how dyslexics think?
Dyslexics in the Classroom
Full Story
Frequently asked questions about dyslexia
With dyslexic thinkers making up an estimated 10% of the population, most people have either a friend, loved-one, relative, colleague or client with dyslexia. So why are we so in the dark about how dyslexics think?
Dyslexics in the Classroom
Full Story
Frequently asked questions about dyslexia
No two dyslexic children are exactly alike, and the symptoms listed below are just the more common ones:
• a noticeable difference between the pupil's ability and their actual achievement;
• a family history of learning difficulties;
• difficulties with spelling;
• confusion over left and right;
• writing letters or numbers backwards;
• difficulties with maths;
• difficulties with organizing themselves;
• difficulty following 2- or 3-step instructions.
• difficulties with spelling;
• confusion over left and right;
• writing letters or numbers backwards;
• difficulties with maths;
• difficulties with organizing themselves;
• difficulty following 2- or 3-step instructions.
"Beneath The Surface"
By Alexander aged 9 years
Winner in a DI "As I See It" competition
By Alexander aged 9 years
Winner in a DI "As I See It" competition
There is a wide range of teaching methods available to assist with teaching dyslexic children.
Monday, 7 March 2011
Working towards digital citizenship.
Shifting from Cyber-Bully to Digital-Citizen on Prezi
presented to North Sydney Region Teacher Librarian's about leading Digital Citizenship in their school
presented to North Sydney Region Teacher Librarian's about leading Digital Citizenship in their school
Read: Digital Citizenship | Arncliffe PS for a great outline to suit primary school.
Friday, 4 March 2011
NEW National Professional Standards for teachers announced
Education Ministers announced the release of the National Professional Standards for Teachers on 9 February 2011. The Standards were endorsed by Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs (MCEECDYA) in late December 2010.
The Standards support the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians and the National Partnership on Improving Teacher Quality.
Glossary available
National Professional Standards for Teachers Frequently Asked Questions FAQS
Tuesday, 22 February 2011
Why get students blogging?
If you are considering starting blogging or just want to find out more visit:Teacher Challenge (Connecting teachers through free professional learning) which is supported by Edublogs.
Blog with students – Visit these Week 1
At the site above you can locate links to help you :
Blogging With Students
Activity 1 - Set up class blogActivity 2 - Rules and Guidelines
Activity 3 - Commenting
Student Blogging Activity 1 (Beginner): Setting Up Your Class Blog
Student Blogging Activity 2 (Beginner): Setting Up Rules & Guidelines
More PowerPoint presentations from kathleenm
Are you still unsure? -not convinced that blogging is a good idea yet? Try viewing this post from Kathleen:
A Reflection on the Benefits of Classroom Blogging
If you are ready to have a go consider these first: Five Steps to Starting a class blog
Five Steps to Starting a Class Blog
Once you have started these tips may help you manage your blogging well: Tips for students and teachers
The Do's and Don'ts of blogging may well be of assistance to you also.
NSW DET teachers now have access to a free safe blogging platform called blogED. You will find many tips and much support material in the portal. Your Principal needs to apply for your school to be able to use blogED.
Check out blogED Prezi Engaging Learners with blogED by
BlogED by craig snudden on Prezi
Mrs Ratcliffe has written some supportive posts to help NSW DET teachers implement blogED and blogging:
What is a blog?
How to blog in NSW Schools
BlogED embeddable sites
Kid friendly howto for embedding in BlogED.
If you would like to see what others have done already on blogED you can search @: site:.www.det.nsw.edu.au/blog/ - Google Search
Happy blogging!
Wednesday, 26 January 2011
Step into a really easy global connections project. The Postcard Project.
The Postcard Project "in the spirit of developing global connections and getting to know a bit more about other peoples cities/countries." The project is being co-ordinated by Sarah Leakey, a teacher from New Zealand.
Such a simple, easy way to encourage your students to develop global awareness. The postcard project provides a real purpose for writing and would fit well when students are looking at their community, same and different.....
Join in the fun- it is easy and low cost- even using old-fashioned snail mail which will really emphasise the way it was (slow) and the way most of them now know-(instantaneous). It could fit in well with The Way we Were....History studies...Then and Now
The project is very flexible (low stress) : "Join in once in the year or ongoing throughout the year."
Are you ready to use your Connected Classroom and the Video Conferencing facilities?
BOS TV - the 2011 videoconference schedule coming soon
The Board’s 2011 videoconference schedule will soon be available on Schools Online.Topics will include:
· Australian curriculum in NSW updates (primary and secondary)
· Moderation of HSC assessment marks
· Developing HSC assessment policies
· Running subject selection sessions
· Managing ‘N’ determinations
· Disability provisions (formerly special examination provisions)
Videoconferencing is an excellent way for schools to book a whole group of staff to hear important Board advice from the source.
Love to hear from you
Playing to Learn - We do it from very early days as a baby. Why stop??
"Playing to Learn? - Children love to learn, but at some point they lose that and become adults that don't like formal learning. Let's explore why "play" has gotten such a bad rap and figure out how to get it back in education" says Maria Anderson. Have fun watching her prezi below:
Playing to Learn? by Maria Andersen on Prezi
Games are not like they used to be. They have a very high social component to them. There are claims that "gamers are able to detect, for example, new information coming at them faster" in the article:Video Games Boost Brain Power, Multitasking Skills by Michelle Trudeau. Brain researcher Jay Pratt, professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, says that "playing these video games changes your ability to learn, and to find and integrate new information."
Daphne Bavelier is professor of brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester. She studies young people playing action video games. Having now conducted more than 20 studies on the topic, Bavelier says, "It turns out that action video games are far from mindless." Both Pratt and Bacelier agreed that moderation is the key.
Did you know that Games Based Learning was identified by the 2011 Horizon Report as two years to adoption. That is not very long. We need to get our heads around this.
According to James Gee in his article:Deep Learning Properties of Good Digital Games How Far Can They Go? "Digital games are, at their heart, problem solving spaces that use continual learning and provide pathways to mastery through entertainment and pleasure."
Gee states in his video for Edutopia, “Kids want to produce, they don’t just want to consume.”
Would it surprise you that the future of schooling may lie with video games? Read: http://www.economist.com/node/14350149?story_id=14350149 and see what you think.
Gaming to re-engage boys in learning, a great TEDxPSU talk may expand your thinking a little further. The boys motivation is clear and evident in these games. We need to embrace the games' ability to advance deep learning.
In the article: Game based learning in the classroom Phillipa Cleaves noted that more than 50% of Yr6-12 students are more interested in practicing problems based around games; over 55% of Yr6-12 students are more engaged in a subject when GBL is used and nearly 60% of all Yr6-12 students find GBL makes harder concepts easier to understand. These statistics show that we would be on a winner to ensure students used quality games for some of their learning.
Ben Jones, in Computers in schools: IT is becoming child's play, states: " It is no longer a question of when but the more important question of how will we use them for teaching and learning? " Jones presents six ways of using consoles in education and then examines the various consoles on offer.(See the link below for more information on gaming consoles.) Jones also indicated that we need to engage parents and community in the process, as many have ill-informed preconceived ideas about gaming and games. It is vital that parents and teachers work in a close partnership as we create new learning environments to facilitate optimal learning conditions for our students in this fast changing digital age. Gaming Consoles in Education
‘We need to get away from “we’re doing computers”; it’s more “we’re doing learning” with technology integrated in all lessons without having to decamp to the IT block,’ says Andy Goff, director of iLX, a research centre where teachers learn how to get the most from video game consoles. "IT is changing in schools and our key focus is improving literacy and numeracy."
Some parents may say they don’t send their children to school to play computer games and Richard Healey, manager of the Birmingham East City Learning Centre, shares their concerns. He admits: ‘There is a PR job to be done there but we have evidence to show it encourages children to attend school and learn.’ School communities need to ensure that parents are educated along with their children.
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