Virtual Teacher Newsletter No. 128 June 3rd 2006 – SAVE ONE STARFISH 2006
THE FREE ONLINE FORTNIGHTLY IT TEACHERS' NEWSLETTER
Current Subscribers 9,185
Newsletter at http://www.virtualteacher.com.au/VT128.html
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CONTENTS
1. Welcome
2. PERCEPTUAL Mind Candy
3. WWWinfo WIKI 1 WIKI 2
4. New Printables - FABLE FOR THE SCHOOL PEOPLE
5. Technical Stuff – FREE FIX WINDOW ERRORS
6. Web Site Focus – THE GERKIN
7. CATHY’S FORUM - OUR SCHOOLS ARE FAILING OUR TEENAGERS
8. Great Sites
9. Readers' Requests/Comments
10 Next Issue
11. Code of 'Netizens'
12. Tips
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1. WELCOME EVERYONE Well here it is the last week of term 2
for most of us. After the mid year report writing efforts, and the
cram as much as you can into an 8 week term are over, the break
seems long overdue. This newsletter I tackle some biggies,
our teenagers, school is FAILING THEM. I have just seen another
student drop out of school before gaining a School Certificate,
a “gifted & talented” student of acknowledged great ability. Left
because of inflexible school policy, teacher centred learning,
intractable school rules and, what I like to call “Teacher Professional Distance”.
http://www.virtualteacher.au/starfish.html
As principals and teachers we are in the perfect position to
‘save the starfish’. Have a great holiday. And use it to email
me with your comments about our teenagers.
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2. PERCEPTUAL MIND CANDY
Colour Perception
http://www.echalk.co.uk/amusements/OpticalIllusions/colourPerception/colourPerception.html
Colour Illusion
http://www.johnsadowski.com/big_spanish_castle.html
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2b. MIND CANDY
Civilisation becomes, more and more, a race between
education and catastrophe. H.G. Wells
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If ever there is a generation that knows only what the generation
before it knew, it can kiss its survival chances good-bye.
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Some underlying assumptions about curriculum
“What the next generation most needs to know is what this
generation happens to know.”
“Education is a fairly straightforward process” which, in the words
of Louis Gerstner, CEO if IBM, has to do mostly with
“the distribution of information”. “If schools will just “raise the bar”
students will clear it. The student potential wasted by
one-size-fits-all programs isn’t worth developing.
Students turned into failures by their willingness or inability to
meet standards won’t be a problem.”
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If we teach only what we know how to test, we won’t survive.
We won’t deserve to survive.
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Learning like love is its own reward. It meets one of the
strongest human needs and therefore pays off and in deeply
satisfying ways. Substitute extrinsic for intrinsic satisfaction,
threaten the teachers and the kids with humiliation if they fail,
reward them with praise and other goodies if they succeed-
and getting the praise and avoiding the penalties are the emotions
that drive the system. Love of learning for it’s own sakes die.
Dead. What Copernicus did for astronomy, and Newton and
then Einstein did for physics, Antione Lavoisier did for Chemistry
and Sir Charles Lyell did for Geology. They didn’t build on
someone else’s ideas, they advanced theories that zigged
off in a totally different directions. That kind of zig is long
overdue in education.
Excerpts and Inspiration, and Quotes taken from
A Seamless Curriculum*
*A single, systemically integrated whole, every part of which
relates logically to every other part
http://home.cfl.rr.com/marion/page1.html
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3. WWWinfo WIKI ONE WIKI TWO
WIKIBOOKS
Collection of free open-content textbooks
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Main_Page
Try Wikijunior Big Cats at
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikibooks/en/c/cc/Big_Cats.pdf
Or Perhaps a little Trig
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikibooks/en/c/cf/Trigonometry.pdf
The great thing about these books is they can be downloaded
and edited to suit.
You can in fact make your own textbook. AND they are all
FREE.
If a textbook is what you want - you never have to BUY a
textbook again
WIKICOMMONS
Pictures and Sound
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
WIKISPECIES
Free directory of species. This will cover Animalia,
Plantae, Fungi, Bacteria, Archaea, Protista and all other
forms of life as users add info.
http://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
WIKINEWS
The free news source you can write!
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Main_Page
WIKITIONARY
A collaborative project to produce a free, multilingual dictionary
with definitions, etymologies, pronunciations, sample quotations,
synonyms, antonyms and translations
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Main_Page
WIKIQUOTE
Wikiquote, a free online compendium of quotations from notable
people and creative works in every language
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Main_Page
WIKISOURCE
The Free Library – is an online collection of free content source texts
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Main_Page
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4. NEW PRINTABLES - FABLE FOR THE SCHOOL PEOPLE
Print this out and read it at your next staff meeting,
if more of your staff meeting is about the curriculum,
than the rabbits, squirrels and eagles, then, think about that.
http://www.virtualteacher.com.au/fable.html
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5. TECHNICAL STUFF
FREE Fix Windows Errors
RegCure Repair Features
Fix Windows-Installer Errors
Repair DLL Files
Windows Startup Errors
Internet Explorer Errors
Runtime Errors
Prevents PC from Freezing or Crashing
Restore Correct File & Registry Paths
Broken DLLs, OCX, and ActiveX Components
Corrupt Files
Stabalize Scripting Errors
Tune & Repair Your PC with Diagnostics
... and More!
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REGISTRY MECHANIC
With Registry Mechanic you can safely clean, repair and
optimize the Windows registry with a few simple mouse clicks!
Problems with the Windows registry are a common cause of Windows
crashes, slow performance and error messages. By using a
registry cleaner regularly and fixing registry errors your system
should not only be more stable but it will also help improve
your system performance without expensive hardware upgrades.
Learn more about the importance of a clean registry with
our registry insight.
http://www.pctools.com/registry-mechanic/?ref=googleA
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6. WEBSITE FOCUS – THE GERKIN
Take a look at this fantastic new building in London, made
entirely of triangles.
This incredible construction in London is an absolute must see!
This huge building comes complete with over 24,000 square
metres or the equivalent of 5 football pitches of glass cladding
and is recognised worldwide as a fantastic piece of architecture
which has changed the capital's skyline.
Owned by Swiss Re, the Gherkin has 40 floors and it's
restaurant at 165 metres high, is officially the highest in London,
so there's no doubt that this amazing building must be one of the
best places in the city for views.
http://www.30stmaryaxe.com/location.asp
http://www.bconstructive.co.uk/onsite/projects.asp?sub_section=133&sub_section2=237
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7. CATHY'S FORUM – OUR SCHOOLS ARE FAILING TEENAGERS
‘A Champion is Needed to Drive Change’ or maybe 9,185 Champions.
Our schools are not giving our teenagers the education
they need for the 21st Century.
The curriculum is the imperative in our results driven
educational environment when human beings, need to be.
There is no reason that a school certificate, or Higher School
Certificate need be definitive, yet the HSC year is dreaded by all.
To many parents and students tolerate the boredom, irrelevance and
dictatorial environments of schooling, just to ‘finish schooling’.
To many students truant, drink, take drugs, simply to avoid school.
To may students drop out, school doesn’t do it for them.
To many students are unhappy.
Much of the curriculum is irrelevant.
http://www.virtualteacher.com.au/curriculum.html
Students 15-19 years Old
… this age group is going through significant personal
change and development. There is a need for the school
and teachers to accommodate the diversity of the student
needs both personal and learning. Peer pressure is enormous
on individuals but often teachers don’t encourage and support
students in making individual choice and decision.
When you are young you often lack confidence but as a
teenager you can’t acknowledge that with
peers and in the classroom. It is often too hard to get help
from the teachers and you can be ridiculed. As a 15-19 year
old you need to learn to push away fear and learn how
to ask questions but you are not taught or encouraged to
do this so you end up following the behaviour of others.
There is a need to develop trust between teachers and
students. Peer pressure and pressure from
older students is usually significant and demotivating.
https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/media/downloads/reviews/futuresproject/report/j_ch215to19yrs.pdf
Eric Matez – sacked for teaching off the Curriculum
http://email.e-mailnetworks.com/ct/ct.php?t=1353435&c=740210626&m=m&type=3
What do you think? Do you think schools work for teenagers?
Are we getting it right? What really matters in the education
of our teenagers?
Does it Matter? It sure does.
Send you responses in as usual, I’M SURE A LOT OF YOU
WILL HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT THIS.
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7B. ELECTRONIC WHITEBOARDS – Your responses
Hi Cathy,
Here are my thoughts on EWBs. I agree with what you say
about them being a new way to present and old piece of
technology/furniture. I have had a few demonstrated to me
over the years and (as a maths teacher) found that
the software that went with them was too cumbersome to use.
There were just too many "taps" to set up a graph or what ever.
I have decided that the way to go is a laptop with a graphics
tablet and a data projector. Maths problems can be demonstrated
with the teacher actually facing the class. Then there are all the
other advantages that go with a networked computer/data projector.
Wendy Forsyth
Hobart
PS I haven't actually got my graphics tablet yet, but am working on it.
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Dear Cathy,
Here are my thoughts.
As a classroom teacher and now, as an educational technology
consultant, I totally support the concept of Electronic Whiteboards
in the classroom. I use the Smart Board and have been for four
years. You haven't seen classroom excitement and total involvement
until you use one. Yes, it is easy to use. There was one very
important point missing from your description of what the boards
can do - INTERACTIVE - students can interact with the board
and that concept can change your whole method of teaching.
You physically, arrange your classroom to centre around kids
getting up to the board. When you plan a lesson, you look at
the features of the Smart Board and coordinate them with your
lesson. Smart Board also offers a web site that has hundreds
of lessons planned for you to download, customize, and call
your own. All perfectly legal. The software updates are yours
to download from the site to any computer. You can plan your
lessons at home, in school, and your students can plan their
presentations and projects using the software, and ultimately,
the board.
You can incorporate sound, record your instructions, video,
insert graphics (large maps, diagrams from a web site, etc.).
These work very well with the electronic pens. More and more
virtual libraries are becoming available, on the internet - e.g.
virtual geoboards. I particularly like the handwriting to
text tool. It works beautifully when reviewing for exams.
KidPix, Kidspiration and paint are just a few of the softwares
that I've used besides The Microsoft Office Suite. And yes,
you can print everything. The gallery of graphics and backgrounds
are incredible. Build your own handwriting exercise or graphs
using the different size graph paper background.
The Smart Board has transformed education. Portable is nice
but when you get them in every classroom, it's magic:-)
Good Luck, everyone:-)
Kathy:-)
Middletown Public Schools, CT USA
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8. GREAT SITES
HOT SITES
Teachers in the Loop is a FREE website for teachers in NSW.
Primary and Secondary teachers can connect directly to
businesses and organisations that provide relevant
educational services across all key learning areas.
Be amazed with what’s on offer for teachers in NSW!
http://www.teachersintheloop.com/
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Submit a Craft Recipe
http://www.makeplaydough.com/submit-craft.php
MakePlayDough.com
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Instructables, part of the group's Engineering for Good program,
tackles projects it hopes "will make a positive impact on the world,"
allowing anyone -- not just educators -- to upload detailed
instructions on how to build or create a wide variety of projects.
They're illustrated by photos or step-by-step drawings and include
how to build a robot out of a computer mouse, how to craft a
marshmallow gun, and how to create a helicopter toy.
More than 600 "lesson-free lessons" are available free on
the Instructables site
One of the highlights of the site is a section called Howtoons, http://www.instructables.com/howtoons/
which contains ingenious one-page paneled cartoons that offer
instruction on topics such as how to make a flute from a turkey
baster or how to create an underwater viewer using a 2-litre
soda bottle.
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9. READERS COMMENTS/REQUESTS
Dear Cathy,
Your newsletter is fantastic, my husband and I often read it together –
I'm a primary teacher and he's in IT (he explains all of the computer/techy things to me),
we have a great time checking out your recommended
sites and learning together.
In 7 weeks I am moving to Beijing to teach yr 6 in an International
School. Over there I have to use the English Curriculum system.
Do any of your readers know of any good/helpful sites that will
make my lesson planning and preparation easier?
Thanks heaps
Sheree Brown
This is a Japanese – but pretty cool.
http://www.genkienglish.net/curriculum.htm
Free Lesson Plans
http://www.curriculum.edu.au/download/lesspln/lesson.htm
Does anyone have some suggestions.
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Dear Cathy,
One of your readers was seeking more sayings like - 'see you
later alligator...' I found this website which may be helpful.
However the sayings are all forms of goodbyes.
http://www.drjean.org/html/monthly_act/act_2001/11_2001.html
Hope this page is helpful, it's all I could find.
Blessings,
Sheree Brown
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Not sure if Pauline can get the books written by June Factor.
These will help her with the Aussie sayings if this is
what she is after
Far Out, Brussel Sprout!
All Right, Vegemite!
Unreal, Banana Peel!
Real Keen, Baked Bean!
Roll Over, Pavlova!
Lorraine Kennedy
Hong Kong
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10. NEXT ISSUE – AFTER THE BREAK I’ll be back – hope to
have lots of your thoughts on teenagers and schooling. This is
a biggy, and well overdue for sorting out. Also, some of Tim’s
tips, I promise. Have a great break. 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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