Virtual Teacher Newsletter No. 122 March 4th 2006 - FORUM AWAY
THE FREE ONLINE FORTNIGHTLY IT TEACHERS' NEWSLETTER
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CONTENTS
1. Welcome
2. Mind Candy
3. WWWinfo - ABS
4. New Printables - 6 THINKING HATS
5. Technical Stuff – CORE DUO CHIP
6. Web Site Focus – THINKER’S HIGH
7. CATHY’S FORUM - HOMEWORK
8. Great Sites
9. Readers' Requests/Comments
10 Next Issue
11. Code of 'Netizens'
12. Tips
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1. WELCOME EVERYONE. For a long time, I have been writing Virtual Teacher
with the intention of provoking education change, to improve and expand on
current practises and to make learning AND teaching more enjoyable and
productive for all involved. I have decided to ramp this
up a bit, so have introduced CATHY'S FORUM. In each newsletter I will pose
questions/options designed to provoke, to develop breakthrough ideas, to
provide a springboard, something to make you stand-up and take notice, not
to sit down and just take it. There will be no perfect landings no definitive
answers but the FORUM is designed to deliver sharp pointed concepts that
hopefully will open up a whole new way of looking at particular aspects of
education or simply prod you into some long overdue reflection.
One bold idea can transform a class a school or even an education
system as large and unwieldy as the NSW Education Department.
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2. MIND CANDY
Electricity is really just organized lightning.
George Carlin
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When cheese gets it's picture taken, what does it say?
George Carlin
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If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn't it follow
that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted?
George Carlin
What about Baristas? - decaffeinated
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goodnight and goodluck murrow
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3. WWWinfo ABS
Australian Bureau of Statistics Population
Watch really big numbers click over as more births increase
the population of Australia
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4. NEW PRINTABLES THINKINGING HATS
Small thinking hats that can imported as graphics into Kidspiration,
Inspiration, Word, Kidpix etc.
http://www.virtualteacher.com.au/hats.html
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5. TECHNICAL STUFF
Intel has just shifted from the Pentium M notebook chip to the
Core Duo which packs 2 processors into a single chip, it delivers
increased performance and slightly better battery performance.
If you are about to buy a new laptop – unless it is a fantastic
deal for the run out model you should go for the Core Duo model.
http://www.intel.com/products/processor/coreduo/
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6. WEBSITE FOCUS - EXTRAORDINARY - THINKER'S HIGH
How many people have contemplated the possibility of
a Thinker's High? I mentioned this a couple of newsletters ago.
How many people realise that there is such a thing as mental
exertion, that strenuous thinking is an activity in it's own right?
That pure thinking time is a worthwhile endeavour. Some folk
crave mental challenge, others prefer a cozy mental comfort
zone, never stepping outside routine practised automatic
thinking. They go through life on autopilate, you know these
people, same thing year in year out, 2004 same as 2005,
same as 2006. In fact same year lived 40 times and then
they retire. At the start of the year they are avoiding involvement
in any innovation, new idea or new initiative. Make sure you are
not part of that mentally sluggish slice of humanity. There is a
price for mental sluggishness, apart from finding life increasingly
boring and pointless, those who take delight in learning new
things, experimenting, taking on mental challenges, scaffold
their brains with powerful protective gear which ensures a rich
mental life well into old age. Put simply if you don't use it you'll
loose it. And you'll begin to loose it at a surprisingly young age.
"The concept of lifelong mental fitness, with better odds for
keeping a sound mind for life is its reward, should become
part of popular culture. I believe it soon will."
The Wisdom Paradox E. Goldberg
Here's a site with some ideas to help you break out
of old patterns.
http://easymindstuff.com/index.html#examples
What if we:
could get whatever we want?
are a lot smarter than we realize?
could aim for the right career?
could shape our destiny?
could dream again, like we did as a kid?
could improve what we want when we want to?
Wouldn't that be unbelievable?
Astound yourself - become an effective speller in 10mins
http://easymindstuff.com/career_spell.html
BECOME AND EFFECTIVE READER IN MINUTES
http://easymindstuff.com/career_read.html
MATHS WIZARD
http://easymindstuff.com/math.html
SIX HEALTH ESSENTIALS
http://easymindstuff.com/healthessentials.html
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7. CATHY'S FORUM
Your chance to have your say on Educational issue
HOT TOPIC - HOMEWORK
An article in the Saturday Sydney Morning Herald in the
Goodweekend magazine February 25, 2006 pp 32 -38, By Mark Dapin
reports on Homework.
It's worth a read. The Eastern Fleurieu School in Adelaide
has taken a decision not to give homework to their year
7 and 8 students. After a homework free trial students gained
the same or slightly higher test results. During the trial parents
were not informed of the homework free period.
Interestingly some parents still thought their children had
too little home work and others that their children had
too much. Motivated students will always continue to
work at home.
What do you think about homework?
Should students get homework?
Do you think a no homework trial is worth a go?
Do you think we should abolish homework?
Who finds marking homework a great fun and a life affirming activity?
Who thinks homework policy should be dictated by parents?
(aka the parents expect it)
What should students be doing after school?
Please write in with more questions, your thoughts and any solutions.
HORRIBLE HOMEWORK
http://www.education.theage.com.au/pagedetail.asp?intpageid=1429&strsection=students&intsectionid=0
BREAKING THE HOMEWORK HABIT
http://www.australiandoctor.com.au/news/6d/0c02746d.asp
Next newsletter I will publish your answers.
Let’s get this Forum rolling with some grass roots input.
Does it Matter? It sure does.
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8. GREAT SITES
HOT SITES
Commonwealth Games Melbourne
http://www.melbourne2006.com.au/Channels/
Commonwealth Games Federation
http://www.commonwealthgames.com/default.asp
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TODAY IN HISTORY
http://www.brainyhistory.com/days/february_19.html
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9. READERS COMMENTS/REQUESTS
Hi Cathy :-)
I have been receiving your newsletter for a couple of years
now and have been passing on some great websites to my
teaching colleagues, both high school and primary school.
Thankyou very much for providing this great service.
My husband is working as a teacher aide this year at one
of our local primary schools with a little boy who has severe
autism and a learning difficulty. He adores Madagscar
(the movie and the animals in it) and my husband has
connected with him through this.
What I would like to know is, is there anybody out there
who knows of any websites that deal with autism or training
in it that my husband could look browse and use to adapt to
his approach with this student. We would appreciate any help :-)
Many thanks
Naomi
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Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
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Dear Cathy
Thanks for all the great links to Maths and other websites.
We use Australian company Ideal Resources for some great
numeracy and cross-curricular software. All their software is
free to evaluate at their website
http://www.ideal-resources.com.au
Works great with the interactive whiteboard!
Cheers
Rich
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What do you think of this site??
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My child who is in year 6 is having trouble finding information
for her assignments. Could you please help me with some
useful sites. She has to do an assignment on deserts and
when you ask Google some of the sites are not available.
I look forward from hearing from you soon.
regards
kotagama
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This is tragic, kids of 6 shouldn’t be getting assignments. However
a great site for all this type of stuff is
http://www.enchantedlearning.com
Specifically
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/biomes/desert/desert.shtml
Kidcyber
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Dear Cathy,
Hello from Zimbabwe. Loved reading your newsletter, see
Lisa Hulley is also from Zim so thought I would write.
My son (10) has been seeing an Occupational Therapist
for a year for sequencing and visual perception problems.
Mrs Foggin feels she has helped him as much as she can
but suggests some remedial English lessons.
I have called a couple of ladies in Harare, but they all
seem quite busy - look forward to receiving your ONline lessons
- any other suggestions???
Thanks
Lara Lendrum
Harare
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You may find something suitable here
http://www.virtualteacher.com.au/esl.html
Does anyone have any ideas??
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10. NEXT ISSUE – Your answers to CATHY”S FORUM – send
them in I am ready for the stampede and a bit on
stop frame animation. ciao Cathy
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11. Code of the 'Netizens'
This Newsletter is not free, despite the misleading advertising
above. The Fee is now due. Each week you must help one
colleague on the Internet who has less knowledge than you.
Help that person even if you have to visit their classroom or
do a little research and get back to them. Trust me, this will
help a lot of people get their computer classrooms running better.
OK I'm trusting you!!!
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12. TIPS
1. Double click on highlighted URLS to open in browser.
2. Send in your Questions, Questions will be published with
Answers, send in your Answers, if you have expertise to share.
3. Nominate a brilliant site for review and inclusion in this
newsletter.
4. Nominate a fantastic school site for review and inclusion in
this newsletter.
5. Make contact with other schools using fantastic programs.
6. Prepare and innovative article for this newsletter.
7. Tell 2 colleagues about this newsletter.
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The opinions expressed here are purely those of the editor,
Cathy Brown. All other small print clauses apply. Such as:
Use at your own risk. Nothing in life is guaranteed. If it doesn't
work for you send me an email.
Editor: cathy brown mailto:cathy@virtualteacher.com.au
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