Virtual Teacher Newsletter No.85 February 14th 2004
INDOMITABLE SPIRIT
THE
FREE ONLINE FORTNIGHTLY IT TEACHERS' NEWSLETTER
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CONTENTS
1.
Welcome
2. Mind Candy
3.
Local WWWinfo Ji Do Kwan
4.
New Printables - 4 Times Tables
5.
Technical Stuff Jamie Mackenzie
6.
Web Site Focus Ken Burns - Docos
7.
USELESS TIME WASTING SITES
8.
Great Sites
9. Readers' Requests/Comments
10
Next Issue
11.
Code of 'Netizens'
12.
Tips
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1.
WELCOME EVERYONE. Every now and then you come across
someone
or something THAT IS absolutely fantastic.
A
BOOK
Last
newsletter I quoted extensively from Bill Bryson¹s book
³A
Shorter History of Nearly Everything².
And,
of course I have been doing some thinking about it.
This
is the sort of book that should be, no, should REPLACE text books
for
years 10-12. It could be used for, well, nearly every subject.
It
has none of the attributes of textbooks, that, as Bill himself
says
²never stray too near the realm of the mildly interesting
and
..(are).. at least a long distance phone call from the frankly
interesting.² This book is great, entertaining,
amazing, profound,
informative,
up-to-date and controversial it has in a word
the
WOW¹ factor.
A
PERSON
Discovering
a teacher who is a fantastic mentor to his pupils as
well
as being knowledgeable. The right teacher can make all
the
difference. When both my children were keen to learn
Martial
Arts, I was lucky enough to find such a teacher in
Oded
Carmit, there is more info on him below, and the
Martial
Art - Ji Do Kwan.
(pp
5)
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2.
MIND CANDY
"...
it only makes sense to have rich information in the classroom
if
you're going to let kids ask questions and explore questions."
Jamie
McKenzie
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JI DO KWAN -
CREED
Loyalty to your country
Respect your parents
Faithfulness to your spouse
Respect your brothers and sisters
Respect your elders
Respect your teachers
Loyalty to your friends
Never take life unjustly
Loyalty to your school and Institute
Finish what you begin - Indomitable Spirit
http://www.worldjidokwan.com/our_creed.html
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³To
attain any kind of life at all in the universe of ours appears
to be
quite an achievement. As humans we are doubly lucky,
of
course. We enjoy not only the privilege of existence, but
also
the singular ability to appreciate it, and even in a multitude
of
ways, to make it better. It is a
trick we have only just
begun
to grasp.²
Bill
Bryson A Shorter History of Nearly Everything pp - 423
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3.
Local - WWWinfo - Ji Do Kwan - "Way of Wisdom"
Oded
teaches Martial Arts after hours at Rose Bay Public School
and
is held in high regard there. He
teaches classes for both
children
and adults at the school.
Oded
teaches both my children - Thomas 15 and Catherine 13,
Martial
Arts. He is a great teacher and
they both have benefited
from
his instruction. Occasionally you
find someone who proves
to be
an excellent mentor as well as instructor, Oded is one of these.
I
often watch the end of the lessons Oded gives and I am
delighted
to hear him say such things as :-
'it
is really down to you to perform, how hard you work you must
decide,
you alone control how well you will learn and perform.
You
are in charge " to his students, to my children.
I
recommend him highly, below is the electronic flyer I made
for
him
http://www.virtualteacher.com.au/ODED.pdf
I
hope that other students can benefit from this excellent teacher,
one
of the great ones. Oded can be
contacted direct:-
History
of Ji Do Kwan
http://www.worldjidokwan.com/history/the_history_of_jidokwan.html
=====================================
4.
NEW PRINTABLES Page 48 from MATHS HAMMERS
A
page from Maths Hammers - 4 times tables
http://www.virtualteacher.com.au/maths48.pdf
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5.
TECHNICAL STUFF
A
Morning with Jamie McKenzie - Melbourne 28/2, Perth 10/5,
Brisbane
12/5 Sydney 18/5.
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6.
WEBSITE FOCUS - Ken Burns documentary Filmmaker
Documentary
filmmaking has a special appeal for novice filmmakers.
Using
the ³Ken Burn² effect, stills can be incorporated into docos
With
great impact. There is also an
emphasis on the use of personal stories² well told, great for developing
engaging writing skills.
³People have learned more about history
from him than any text book.²
Jazz
How
to create Award Winning Photo DVD with Ken Burns Effect
http://www.dvdrhelp.com/forum/userguides/175186.php
iMovie
and the Ken Burns Effect
http://www.apple.com/ilife/imovie/visual_effects.html
What
is a documentary Film??
http://www.filmsite.org/docfilms.html
Documentary
Films.net
http://www.documentaryfilms.net/filmmakers.htm
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7.
USELESS TIME WASTING SITES
We've
all been afraid of them so here¹s a few for you to check out,
play
with and waste plenty of time.
Feed
the Fish
http://www.nobodyhere.com/justme/eating.here
Tumble
the Teddies
http://www.nobodyhere.com/toren.hier
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8.
GREAT SITES
HOT
SITES
The
Sun-Herald Class Scoop program is an education resource
combining
The Sun-Herald newspaper and the internet. Exercises
on
this website change weekly and are designed to test the
comprehension
and information retrieval skills of school students,
while
developing their interest in current affairs.
http://www.classscoop.sunherald.com.au/
Write
Your Own Music FREE software Mac and PC
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9.
READERS COMMENTS/REQUESTS
Cathy,
I
just wanted you to know that I tried to open up some of the
dictionaries
on the site you gave us and I got a ton of porn
site
pop ups -- and had a hard time stopping them. Some were
blocked
right off but the music site is the one
that
started it.
Thanks,
Debbie
------------------------------------------
Please
watch out for this and feedback to VT any problems.
The
site was
http://www.glossarist.com/glossaries/entertainment/humourous.asp
Sounds
like it should be used with great discretion.
------------------------------------------
Dear
Cathy,
Thanks
for the great newsletter - I always find something
of
interest. While we are on the topic of space, I don't know if
you've
seen this site. While looking for resources on Antarctica
I
went to http://www.enchantedlearning.com/school/Antarctica/
This
site has lots of useful stuff but the best thing was when you
chose
"See Antarctica from Space". There are lots of options for
different
views, maps etc. and if you click on "Choose satellite"
you
get an awe-inspiring list of satellites to choose from. When
I
found this I set up the data projector in my room and we spent
a
happy couple of hours just exploring the globe from space.
We
learnt more about night and day and 24 hour time in that
session
than would otherwise be possible. Of particular interest
was
the view of Australia at about 9:30 am EST because we
could
see that Western Aust. was still in shadow.
Regards
Rose Mahar
Pacific
Palms Public School
--------------------------------------
Enchanted
learning is one of my all time favourite sites.
Thanks
for the advice on this updated section. It really is a
must
see site with none of the above complication EVER.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello
Cathy,
a
fair while back I sent you an e-mail about a new website I have
developed
that I thought you may be interested in.
You had
linked
to bailup.com previously (after my request) and hope that
you
may be able to do so again. This new site that I have created
is
all about the siege at Glenrowan in 1880. I cover every
angle
of the story including the present day tourism. To
teach
people about the siege and last stand at Glenrowan.
To do
so I use original documents from the archives where
possible.
I also have used original 1880 newspapers from
across
Australia and books that I feel are of value in this story.
I
also have typed up the Glenrowan story as presented
by
Charles White in 1895 and as seen in Australasian Sketcher.
In
other words 'a one stop shop' about the Glenrowan story.
Please
take a peek and you will see just how much I have
at
this stage. I also have a kids corner, where kids can send
in
pictures of Ned that they have drawn for me and a few
simple
activities. Much of what I have is not available anywhere
else
on the net, such as the list of reward recipients and a
roll
call of all police present. I hope that I may be able to
assist
school kids (I have 4 myself) with an understanding
of
our history and perhaps assist with projects they do on the
subject.
Anyway
Cathy, hope this gives you an overview of my site
and
that it suits your audience. I am still involved with
the
other 'Kelly' sites, however this takes up the
bulk
of my time these days.
Thanks
for your time, kind Regards Dave White.
--------------------------------------
This
site is a standout and shouldn¹t be missed. Suitable from
Primary
to High School it is soooo comprehensive. Along with
a
great Novel like Ned Kelly¹s Helmut by Paul Stafford and
there¹s
a terms worth of brilliant work.
==============================================
10. NEXT ISSUE Something else
Absolutely Fabulous.
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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