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VT's FREE Newsletter for Educators - Insight, Inspiration and Ideas that work!
NO MORE HOMEWORK
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35, 50, 62? and STILL doing HOMEWORK
Hello everyone
The meaning of life is to have more of it, and without homework you'd have a lot more RIGHT?
The older I get, the more I see that we have an insatiable need to start afresh, the need to see the world with a fresh set of eyes. The need to see a world with NO MORE HOMEWORK.
No more marking
No more checking
No more recording
No more checking who didn't do it & delivering appropriate punishment
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Well let me wave my magic wand. You can set the homework and let the magic of technology do the rest. Read about the wonderful TOPMARKS site. And if you are using something similar please send it in.Take a look at the Jane Goodall ROOTS AND SHOOTS site - just fabulous. And check out MATHS vs ZOMBIES, you'll love this insane maths app. Take the TREK to EVEREST and follow in the footsteps of Hillary and Norgay on the 60th anniversary of the ascent of Everest.
If you would like to book a seminar or series of workshops just drop me a line. A number of the topics are online on the VT website or by specific topics by request.
Thank you for your support & contribution! Become a supporter. Spread the Word about VT, email this newsletter onto someone you think might love it.
ciao
Cathy
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True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice that produces beggars needs restructuring. -Martin Luther King, Jr., civil-rights leader (1929-1968)
In the path of our happiness shall we find the learning for which we have chosen this lifetime.
ILLUSIONS - The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah - Richard Bach
Hillary and Norgay
People do not decide to become extraordinary. They decide to accomplish extraordinary things.
Edmund Hillary
Nobody climbs mountains for scientific reasons. Science is used to raise money for the expeditions, but you really climb for the hell of it.
Edmund Hillary
The cosmic calendar (Sagan, 1977)
Where the age of the universe is compressed into a single year:
January 1 BIG BANG
May 1 Formation of the Milky Way
September 9 Formation of the solar system
September 14 Formation of the Earth
September 25 Origin of life on Earth
October 9 Oldest bacterial fossils
November 12 Oldest eukaryotes
December 1 Earths' atmosphere fully oxygenated
December 16 First worms
December 19 First fish
December 20 First land plants
December 21 First insects
December 22 First amphibians
December 23 First reptiles
December 24 First dinosaurs
December 26 First mammals
December 27 First birds
December 28 First flowering plants, dinosaurs extinct
December 29 First primates
December 30 First hominids
December 31 First humans (at 10:30 pm)
December 31 Domestication of fire (at 11:46 pm)
December 31 Cave painting in Europe (at 11:59 pm)
December 31 First neolithic cities (at 11:59:35 pm)
December 31 Invention of the alphabet (at 11:59:51 pm)
December 31 Bronze Age (at 11:59:53 pm)
December 31 Iron Age (at 11:59:54 pm)
December 31 Roman Empire (at 11:59:56 pm)
December 31 Crusades (at 11:59:58 pm)
December 31 Renaissance in Europe (at 11:59:59 pm)
Within the scheme of the Cosmic Calendar, an average human life of 70-80 years is equivalent to approximately 0.16 cosmic seconds!
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Everest 60th Anniversary
On May 29, 2013, it will be 60 years since Sir Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest on the Nepal-Tibet border.
Read more
There are lots of online resources celebrating this anniversary.
You can follow the trek route at Glacier works. This site has magnificent imagery, and works fabulously well on a whiteboard. The detailed map shows the camps along the way to Everest. So you can take the virtual Trek to the top of Everest.
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MATH Vs ZOMBIES
Math Games Grade K - 5
Save Yourself from a Zombie Attack using Math as Your Weapon!
This game is now free for a limited period of time!
There are lots of apps for math fluency but Math vs. Zombies has to be one of the best! Students use fanatics facts to turn zombies back to people in this fast moving, sharply illustrated math fluency game.
Take look at the YouTube Video and all will be explained.
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ELECTRONIC WHITEBOARDS
Love the Top Marks site, it has lessons for whiteboards on almost everything. I did the lesson recently on angles and the lesson here was a dream. Old way back to class, and trying to look cool using an oversized protractor on the chalk board, new way let the whiteboard do the work and discuss what is happening with the students. Students loved it and I loved it.
I also like the fact that you can use this site for homework.
You will never have to mark homework again.
This site also offers a subscription based system which allows students to login and complete actvities, which are automatically marked and tracked. Great for homework, you never have to mark homework again, the students get immediate feedback and help and you get a record of their progress. Love it. They have also aligned it to the Australian curriculum
SCALE of the UNIVERSE
Scale of the Universe This is powerful interactive on the size of the Universe, the things within it and the speed of light. Some very big numbers here. Just a lovely resource.
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ROOTS and SHOOTS
Roots & Shoots is guided by the founding principles and extraordinary vision of Dr. Jane Goodall, renowned primatologist, environmentalist and humanitarian. Her firm belief that young people, when informed and empowered, when they realize that what they do truly makes a difference, can indeed change the world, is at the very heart of the program. Site offers lots of ways to get involved.
Fabulous TED Video
Jane Goodall, founder of Roots and shoots, hasn't found the missing link, but she's come closer than nearly anyone else. The primatologist says the only real difference between humans and chimps is our sophisticated language. She urges us to start using it to change the world. Watch this wonderful video - 29mins
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SBS Site - Comprehensive Coverage of Australian Gold rush, explore the impact of the gold rushes on Australia and uncover the stories of the diggers. The topics detail the varied results of the gold rushes on the young colonies of Australia, and use newspapers, diaries and memoirs to uncover the personal experiences of those caught up in the rush. This site has a number of great interactive features. If you have any other suggestions please send them in.
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I do answer all emails so send them along with your questions ideas and great sites.
Cathy
I’m teaching the text Hating Alison Ashley for the first
time to my stage three Year 5 students. Do you have any ideas
on this text.
Please help!!!!!!!!!!
Study Guide
All about the Characters
Be a Book Publisher to promote the Book
http://hatingalisonashley.wikispaces.com/
goodluck
cathy
Hi Cathy
I have been looking round your site for Art related info and found the Art page very helpful for my own background. Will be checking out other sites as well. Thanks for all your hard work.
Keep up the good work.
Kind regards Peter
Hi there
We are doing a unit of Australia and live in the USA. Do you have any Idea where I could Find a road Map of Australia? Is there one available on the net?
Maureen 
Hi Maureen,
This site shows major roads
http://www.atn.com.au/maps/australian-road-maps.html
and also has some other maps. other links for australia can be found at:-
http://www.virtualteacher.com.au/australia.htmlGoogle maps is also a great tool.
ciao
cathy
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More on Robotics next issue. Love to hear your thoughts on the TOPMARKS site - and if you have any other great sites for homework and whiteboards.
Please send in any great ideas or websites, whiteboard sites or fabulous things you a
re doing.
Join the VT conversation.
ciao
Cathy
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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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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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For information about inservice and training contact me at
cathy@virtualteacher.com.au
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