Virtual
Teacher Newsletter No. 91 May29th 2004 THE GOOD WAY TO LEARN
THE
FREE ONLINE FORTNIGHTLY IT TEACHERS' NEWSLETTER
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CONTENTS
1.
Welcome
2.
Mind Candy
3.
WWWinfo Today Tonight
4.
New Hearables - Seymour Papert
5.
Technical Stuff 1 to 1 Conference
6.
Web Site Focus Peace Education
7. FOOD
& HYGIENE
8.
Great Sites
9. Readers' Requests/Comments
10
Next Issue
11.
Code of 'Netizens'
12.
Tips
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1. WELCOME EVERYONE. Last night was the first really cold
night of winter. I unwrapped my doona and was enclosed in a
wonderful warm cosy cocoon that made the job of sleeping a
dream.
Comfortable,
warm and cosy is not the way teachers are currently
feeling, about
their profession, so at least thereıs the doona option.
Synonyms
for cosy include calm, comfortable, stress-free,
hassle-free,
peaceful and tranquil, and Iım here to tell you that
teachers
in NSW are not feeling any of these things either.
We need to
attract the best people into the profession and then
support
them so that they can do the best job possible for our
children,
I have always believed that teaching children, future
generations,
is one of the most important things anyone can
do; itıs
hugely important. We need the best people, we need
to
support these people with structures that mean they can
get on with
doing the best job possible, more time with their
students,
not fixing computers, administering tests, filling in
endless
paperwork, making grant applications, raising money with
chocolate
raffles and the like.
Over
the past 25 years teachersı salaries have fallen in real
terms
from 150 percent of the average weekly wages to hovering
close
to average.ı Sydney Morning Herald School Sport Linda
Doherty
May 29-30 2004 PP29
So
you donıt attract the many of best people, and you donıt keep them.
And
the ones that stay, because they just love teaching, feel devalued,
and
are exhausted through overload.
I
hope that some sanity prevails, I hope solutions are found, otherwise
we face a really cold winter of
education, that will see the vast
majority
of the states children disadvantaged and our
best
teachers demoralized even further.
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2.
MIND CANDY
Seymour
Papert USE IT NOW
³Now with the
computer, somebody whose interest is in graphic
arts can use mathematics
as an instrument to produce shapes
and forms and
motions on a computer screen. Somebody who's
interested in
music can make digital musical instruments, and so
right along the
line, we have infinitely greater ways of connecting
the particular interests
that an individual human being might have
-- and a kid particularly -- with the
powerful ideas. And so they
really can learn
knowledge by using it, and that's radically different
from school,
where you learn knowledge which you are not going
to use. Maybe never, or maybe even if
you are going to use it in
12 years' time,
even granting that what they learn is going to be
useful one day.
That's not a good way to learn. The good way
to learn is to
use it now.² Seymour Papert
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FUTURE
PREDICTIONS
³ In
the rush towards artificial intelligence, it is all too possible to
forget
that the naked, non-electronically enhanced human brain
is
bound to remain the thinking organ of choice for the
over-whelming
majority of the worldıs population.²
*pp 165
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³Shlain
believes language and literacy have been responsible
for
the subjugation of women by men throughout recent history.
This
is because language and, even more so print are functions
of
the left hemisphere of the brain and as such are essentially
male-dominated
functions. What is happening now, Shlain says,
is
that the graphical, visual nature of film, television, and. most
significantly,
the internet, have put women, n whom the nurturing
holistic,
right hemisphere of the brain dominates, back in the
driving
seat, or at least in a more equal position in society²
*pp
76
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*A
Brief History of Tomorrow
-
Jonathan Margolis, Bloomsbury NY 2000
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3.
WWWinfo TODAY TONIGHT
Offers
a great search facility for all itıs stories. As do other
news
providers and TV shows. If you are
trying to find a recent
story
goto these sites and use their site search engines
spectacularly effective.
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4.
NEW HEARABLES
Hear
Seymour Papert on Project-Based Learning
The
renowned expert on children and computing describes learning environments in
which children collaborate on meaningful projects
and
powerful ideas. 11/1/2001
http://glef.org/php/interview.php?id=Art_901
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5.
TECHNICAL STUFF
Seymour
Papert visitis Australia - one not to miss
http://www.1to1conference.com.au/registration.html
there
may be still time to register if you are quick. This is the sort of PROFESSIONAL CONFERENCE teachers should
be attending.
A
major thinker in education and technology for over 40years
Seymour
Papert visits Australia to give the keynote at this conference.
If
you are serious about education in the next millennium
you
canıt miss this.
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FREE
ADOBE TRYOUTS
http://www.adobe.com/products/tryadobe/main.jsp
I
have been using Photoshop Elements lately and loving it.
The
students love it it is quick and easy to use at start-up as
well
as offering a lot of sophistication available in the full-blown
Photoshop,
and for a literal fraction of the price about
$69.00
AUD per user. A knock out product at an affordable
price
for schools. Try it out for 30 days your self.
The
stitch program is fantastic.
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6.
WEBSITE FOCUS - Peace Education area:
http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/peace/index.asp
Human
Rights: http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/humanrights/index.asp
Spartacus:
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/EUgeneva.htm
Our
own ABC Civics: http://www.abc.net.au/civics/rights/enter.htm
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7.
FOOD & HYGIENE
Food
Safety Music
http://foodsafe.ucdavis.edu/music.html
The
Elvis of E. Coli provides new lyrics to old rock songs, including
Stomach
Ache Tonight, We Are the Microbes, and many more hits.
Virtual
Museum of Bacteria
http://www.bacteriamuseum.org/
Brings
together many links on bacteria, bacteriology, and related
topics
available on the web. It also provides clear
information
about many aspects of bacteria.
Bacteria
Study Kit
http://www.hometrainingtools.com/catalog/life-science-biology/microscopic-life/p_be-bactkit.html
This
is an all-in-one source for culturing common bacteria.
Henry
the Hand
Henry
offers information on food safety and the importance of hand
washing,
plus activities and a contest.
Stalking
the Mysterious Microbe
http://www.microbe.org/index.html
Solve
microbe mysteries, conduct experiments, read microbe news and more.
Home
Food Safety Survey
http://www.foodsafety.gov/~fsg/fs01surv.html
Kids
can have fun surveying their households for areas that need
improved
food safety action.
Cells
in Their Environment
In-depth
study guide for information on cells and microorganisms.
Educational
Worksheets from GlowGerm
http://www.glogerm.com/worksheets.html
The
producer of GlowGerm, the bacteria simulator, offers some
experiments
and information for educators.
Sponges
and Sinks and Rags, Oh, My!
http://www.sciencenews.org/pages/sn_arch/9_14_96/bob2.htm
Where
microbes lurk and how to rout them.
How
Stuff Works: Black Light
http://science.howstuffworks.com/black-light2.htm
Of
course, the kids wanted to know how the black light works.
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8.
GREAT SITES
HOT
SITES
The
Place for Kids on the Net(K-6)
Aussie
School House
Readers
Theatre Scripts for Science
http://gvc03c32.virtualclassroom.org/
Where
Money Sense Rules including the Budget Gadget and Calculator
http://www.moneyopolis.com/new/home.asp
E- learning
Student Internet Projects
http://www.curriculumsupport.nsw.edu.au/learningtechnologies/index.cfm?u=2&i=2
Cover
Check and Write Spelling Words Online
http://ambleweb.digitalbrain.com/ambleweb/ambleweb/ambleweb/lookcover/lookcover.html
First
100 Hundred Words
http://www.duboislc.org/EducationWatch/First100Words.html
ESL
Word Lists Words Ranked in Frequency of Usage.
http://esl.about.com/library/vocabulary/bl1000_list1.htm
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9.
READERS COMMENTS/REQUESTS
From:
Wendy Hughes
I
visited the http://www.mathsyear2000.org/ and in 15 minutes I found an
error
in the mathonaire game and also the circus matching game. Although the
games
look great, having correct answers recorded as wrong could be
frustrating,
if not confusing for some students.
Hi Wendy,
Thanks
for the feedback - I played them for a while but didn't check everything so
didn't find the errors. I guess it would be good to let them know.
Hope
you are using the free atomic learning site - that's excellent.
------------------------------------------
Hello
Cathy.
Just
a quick congratulations on the newsletter. I subscribe to a
number
of newsletters (US based) but am constantly frustrated
that
the contents aren't really relevant to an Australian context.
Keep
it up.
Also,
that IT teaching program of Peter's sounds excellent.
I've
found one of the biggest problems with IT lesson is that
it is
virtually impossible to have all kids on-task at the same
time.
The idea that you can conduct and troubleshoot from
just
one computer is great and a long time coming.
A
real time saver.
Cheers,
Paul
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Today
Tonight aired the Cellfield program on
Reading
resolution
REPORTER:
Chris Allen
BROADCAST
DATE: January 28, 2004
The
Cellfield program offers new hope for these kids.
Many children suffer problems with reading. If they fall too far
behind some give up on further education, but a new reading
program offers to help kids overcome this barrier.
http://todaytonight.com.au//stories/868920.html
Perhaps
this is the one.
I
have found Phonics Alive an excellent program.
Some
other sites include
http://www.kiddyhouse.com/Songs/alpha/a.html
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Hi
Cathy,
Thanks
for the great newsletter. Are their any phonics based
computer
programs suitable for a stage 2 reader with severe
difficulties?
I remember seeing one being used (I think in public schools)
on one of the today tonightı type
programs but have had no
success
in tracking it down, Thanks
in anticipation,
Tracey
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Hi Elizabeth,
Links
worked for me - if not just copy and past to your browser
-
here are a couple more.
http://www.apple.com.au/education
http://www.1to1conference.com.au/workshops.html
if
you still have no joy I can send your email address onto
apple
and they will sort it out for you.
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10. NEXT ISSUE - Please write in and
let me know how
teachers
fair in terms of wages in other countries and other
states,
do you have technical support for your computer
programs,
do you have decent inservicing, do you feel valued by your communities, is
positive educational change supported? Also:-
THE
CARR ANTI- COMPUTER CONSPIRACY THEORY.
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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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information about inservice and training contact me at
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