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VT's all New FREE Newsletter for Educators
InLove with Fish
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Welcome
InLove with Fish
Well it IS Valentines Day soon.
I loved this video. Dan Barber: How I fell InLove with a Fish (link below)
I found it a metaphor for what we need to do in education.
We need a radically new idea of education one in which the people, students and teachers involved, actually love what they do.
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SO this Valentine's Day.....
CELEBRATE by finding out what your students love, what they are passionate about, what their interests are.
GET THEM TALKING about their interests and passions with peers, parents and mentors.
ENCOURAGE students to ask questions and find answers about their passions.
EXPOSE them to amazing things, great ideas and passionate people.
INSPIRE them to write and read about their passions.
EMPOWER students to find and explore their passions.
MENTOR them in their discoveries.
Their interests and passions may persist or change, this is quite OK.
You will be giving a gift this Valentine's Day
YOUR STUDENT WILL LOVE WHAT THEY DO
(Kids who love what they are a dream to teach and you will fall inlove with teaching all over again)
The discussions on LinkedIn will continue this year, plase joion in - it is a great forum. Take a look and add your thoughts.
WE have had more VT Supporters come on board, take a look at who is on the list and click on their names to see what else they are up to. Thanks to all the folk who have purchased Maths Hammers, I would love some feedback on this eBook.
ciao
Cathy
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And You think you're having a bad day......
The crux... is that the vast majority of the mass of the universe seems to be missing.
William J. Broad
You know that what you need to do is possible to do, even though difficult, and sense of time disappears. You forget yourself. You feel part of something larger.”
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi - on experiencing ‘flow'
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has contributed pioneering work to our understanding of happiness, creativity, human fulfillment and the notion of "flow" - a state of heightened focus and immersion in activities such as art, play and work.
Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi asks, "What makes a life worth living?" Noting that money cannot make us happy, he looks to those who find pleasure and lasting satisfaction in activities that bring about a state of "flow."
To establish a place of work where engineers can feel the joy of technological innovation, be aware of their mission to society, and work to their heart's content."
Masaru Ibuku - The First Purpose of Incorporation of Sony
IMAGINE LINK IMAGINE there is a bank which credits your account each morning
with $86,400, carries over no balance from day to day, allows you to keep no cash balance, and every evening cancels whatever part of the amount you had failed to use during the day. I like this idea - let me know what you think.
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Three great videos to watch for inspiration. Use them in staff meetings or for promoting discussions. I'd love to hear your thoughts on them.
FLOW, The Secret to Happiness - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
What contributes to a life worth living? Great Video - this is what we would like to give every student, the secret of happiness. Watch it on the Virtual Teacher Site It is worth thinking about how this works, and incorporating this potential into learning activities. Take a look at
Dan Barber: How I fell in Love with a Fish
This is just a great video, here is a guy who is passionate about food. This video is about providing a optimum environment for FISH. Where the fish are, well, happy, the environment is about relationships, health and freedom. I loved it. It resonates form me - provide the right environmnet for our students and they will thrive. Virtual Teacher Site
How a Boy became an Artist - Jarrett J. Krosoczka
These kinds of talks should be shown to students and parents (and school board members and education departments and governements) because this is what we want every student, the opprotunity to be creative and draw NICE CATS. Virtual Teacher Site
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iPad inspires creativity and hands-on learning and is the beginning of the portable accessible knowledge base that will accompany our students for the rest of their lives. iPads and mini iPads are now more affordable than ever. and give students access to amazing amounts of information. They provide an alternative to textbooks, interactive experiences, presentation and wordprocesing applications. Many of these applications are FREE. Some of the best are:-
Allows users to view and manipulate three-dimensional models of different molecules.Visual learners can see how protein molecules are composed and can download new molecules from the RCSB Protein Data Bank.
Lists notable events in history as well as important figures who were born or died on a specific date. Use for trivia quizzes or facts of the day.
A free version of Math Ref, this app offers 600 out of over 1,300 formulas, figures, tips, and examples. Use as a formula study guide or to view graphs of different equations.
The Exoplanet app is a highly visual and interactive catalogue of all known exoplanets. Exoplanets are planets orbiting stars beyond our own Solar System. It is frequently updated whenever new discoveries are confirmed. An amazing model of the Milky Way lets you explore our universe all the way from the Solar System to the cosmic.
Use your touch screen to rotate and zoom around 29 interactive structures. Discover how each brain region functions, what happens when it is injured, and how it is involved in mental illness.
Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world. Here's where you can start introducing sudents to amazing ideas.
These are just few of the amazing FREE apps avaiable, I am sure you have some favourite APPS - send in your recommendations and I wll share them with everyone.
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NASA VOYAGER 1 ENCOUNTERS NEW REGION IN DEEP SPACE
NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft has entered a new region at the far reaches of our solar system that scientists feel is the final area the spacecraft has to cross before reaching interstellar space.
Follow the mission and get new updates and images from Voyager. When I looked Voyager 2 was 15,178,424,125 KM from Earth.
This is an amazing site with great images and video. It also gives details of the contents of the "Golden Record. What is that? Go here and find out.
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How many people are there in the world? World population has reached 7 billion on October 31, 2011. World population live counter with data sheets, graphs, and details of population groths since year 1. Also ake a look at all the other counters at worldodometers see the world energy use, the amazing speed of the counter for the number of cigarettes smod today and the sale of illicit drugs.
7 billion people on 1 page. We recently reached 7 billion people in the world. On this page you can see every single one of us. One by one.
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Valentine’s Day, also called Saint Valentine’s Day, is a holiday on February 14th celebrating love and friendship. Approximately 150 million Valentine's Day cards are exchanged annually, making Valentine's Day the second most popular card-sending holiday after Christmas. Since the early history literature, love has been a major contributor to many poems, plays, stories, and novels. Love is a particularly interesting subject because it seems simple but it is most complex with many possible variables, and it also ignites great passion. Love - What is it? How do you find it in the 21st century? How is it commercialized?
The Bradman Museum The Bradman Museum is now called The International Cricket Hall of Fame. All the existing Bradman Museum collection is still here in the wonderful new Bradman Gallery.
Tennis A destination for fans and enthusiasts looking to stay on top of the game, TENNIS.com provides coverage in addition to breaking news, scores and commentary from the game’s most recognized and respected writers. Racquet reviews and instructional video.
ANEKI Country Information regional and world rankings. - Great site - easy to navigate. Also take a look at the other lists on this site including, the poorest/richest countries, thinnest smart phones, the world's first solar powered country.
Geography IQ - just when you think you've found the definitive geography site another one comes along that is also fantastic. Take a look at geography IQ. this site includes a currency converter as well. Facts and Figures about each country, easy to navigate. this site also includes country rankings- top 25 - in almost anything you can imagine.
Gigglepot Poetry - Just the thing for reading to the class or class performances.
Australian Poetry - Australian Poetry Ltd (Australian Poetry) is a new organisation launched in 2011 as a merger between the Australian Poetry Centre and Poets Union.
Offering great resources as well as Super Poets, School Poet Laureate Program and Poems of the week.
Outback Australia Popular outback towns, events and attractions and maps.
Royal Flying Doctor Service The RFDS began as the dream of the Rev John Flynn, a minister with the Presbyterian Church. He witnessed the daily struggle of pioneers living in remote areas where just two doctors provided the only medical care for an area of almost 2 million square kilometres.
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I do answer all emails so send them along with your questions ideas and great sites.
Hello!
I hope you had a nice, relaxing weekend! Not too caught up in the shopping craziness out there I hope ;)
My name is Laura and I'm one of the education resource planners for the Northwest Home School Group. I wanted to send you a note of thanks for all the work you've done on http://www.virtualteacher.com.au/christmas.html! I'm pulling together information for a unit about different holiday symbols and traditions. Your page has been especially helpful in that respect :)
Sometimes, when I'm working on finding resources, my son Jamie will offer to help. He's eleven and just gets so excited about the festivities during this time of year. He's been really loving helping me with this unit in particular, learning all sorts of new things about Christmas in particular!
Anyway, he found an article about the history of Christmas trees that he really liked and asked if I would share it with you. The web address is: http://www.redenvelope.com/gift-guides/christmas-tree-guide-1
He thought it would be a great fit for your resources and I promised him I would e-mail you if I could. It does have some great information in it. I was wondering if you'd be able to add it to your page for him?
Thanks again for your helpful site and Happy Holidays!
Best,Laura Finney
Hi Laura,
Thank you for your email - it as great to receive it. I had a quick look at the site and it does look interesting. I will definitley include your letter in the next VT Newsletter - and check the site out further for inclusion in the website.
You might like to let your son know that what I am looking for in sites is well designed sites which provide large amounts of imagery and video - this will be the new web - so if he finds any really great sites I would love him to send them in.
Also in the new year I am looking to do seminars, discussions and workshops - so if your group is interested in this perhaps we could discuss in the New Year. I home schooled my daughter for a time and believe it has much to offer and is much to offer in the Educational change that must come.
ciao
Cathy
Hi Cathy, Wilderquest is a great site on various environments including The Rainforest. There is also a fantastic free Ipad app that can be downloaded. It is produced by NSW Parks and Wildlife and is aimed at children.
Cheers,
Errol Callaghan
(Retired primary teacher)
Hi Errol,
Great to see the site, and thanks for sending it in - I will include it on the site in the new year.
Must say most of the rainforest sites are pretty old and poorly designed so it is great to see a site that is fresh and well done.
I was struggling to find anything that was excellent and current.
The ipad apps are becoming very important - such a great resource.
If you come across any other exceptional sites please send them into me.
ciao
Cathy
By the way I don't think teachers ever retire - they always seem to maintain an interest in education and often by serendipity end up sharing and teaching something.
Hi Cathy,
My name is Kathleen Bednar, and I am a math tutor in the San Jose area. I hope it's okay that I'm
I recently noticed that one of your links is broken Adrian Bruce's Fantastic Site. While researching, I found these other resources that might be of interest to you:
I’m sure they will be of great interest to your readership since I’ve found them helpful in keeping my students engaged and interested in learning math.
If you decide to link them, let me know! Hope you find them to be useful. :)
Best wishes,
Kathleen
Thanks Kathleen. Thse are great resources.
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What do you think about the Videos, which one inspired you most?
How do get started making changes? How do you improve the professionalism of teaching? WE all want to make things better? How do you begin? Send in your thoughts. What are YOU doing? Next issue a FREE Educators TOOLKIT.
What great things are happening in your school, send them in and I'll feature them here.
Any upgrading links or suggestions please send them in.
Tweet or email your answers. |
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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 an email or tweet me.
Editor: Cathy Brown cathy@virtualteacher.com.au
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