by CATHY BROWN      No:251 05 03 2022
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Hello Everyone,
I hope you had a great weekend! Are you looking for new and innovative ways to connect with and inspire your learners?
Times are pretty tough for teachers at the moment. Greatly increased workloads, additional new curricula, daily updated CoVid protocols, and more and more mandated boring training. What is needed is inspiration, not just more protocols and administration.
The inspiration is missing, when was the last time you walked away from a staff meeting inspired, thinking, "WOW!, I'm going to try that in my classroom tomorrow!"
At the moment, there is minimal student agency, the creativity has been crushed, the joy has left the building. And the students are suffering.
Numerous studies show that teaching for the test, indeed continually testing(name a kid who finds this inspiring) and outcomes-based learning, leads to stress, disengagement, problem behaviour, and other mental health issues. Monique Potts, a recent Phd student, is addressing this check out her video here she is one among many.
I believe, that INSPIRATION comes first, then basic skills or rigour should follow. This is backed by current research. For both students AND teachers.
One of the most effective programs I have found is the development of a School News Broadcast, which not only provides an opportunity for learning film language and visual literacy, but also student agency, a platform for student ideas, creativity, and most importantly a real purpose. Kids that do really well have a purpose for the work they do.
The evidence is strong, digital video reporting can inspire and engage students: * increased student motivation
* enhanced learning experience
* higher marks
* development potential for deeper learning
* development of learner autonomy
* enhanced team working and communication skills
* a source of evidence relating to skills for interviews etc
* learning resources for future cohorts to use
* opportunities for staff development
Are you a visionary? Are you Looking to develop student agency, inspiration and responsibility? Start a School News Broadcast. Anchor it in student agency, start with inspiration, lead students to rigour. If you'd like help kickstarting your School News Broadcast - Let's chat. Making videos and sparkling eyes are my favourite things and I'd love to see you succeed. ciao
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And don't forget to send in your Impossible ideas. XX |
WORDLE - The Pandemic Sensation In the second-biggest gaming deal of the day, the word puzzle sensation Wordle was acquired by the New York Times, for a low seven figures. Seven figures refer to a number with seven digits, meaning that it's an amount over 1,000,000, yes that's 1 million at least. Not a bad haul for a pandemic hobby. Created by software engineer Josh Wardle to help his puzzle-loving partner kill time during Covid, Wordle has exploded. The game was played by just 90 people on Nov. 1, per the NYT. Fast forward to today, and millions of people play it on the regular basis. DO YOU PLAY Wordle? Dordle is another version - Some of my great thinkers love this one. You solve 2 words at a time. Because one word a day is never enough! Has a number of these puzzles that run for Google Classroom in Sheets. You can download them direct to you Google Classroom for FREE from this link. I suggest you ssubsrbie to this site for all the good stuff. This is Tricky, WORDLE for MATHS!
Ooodle
Is a great maths game from MathsZone. Based on the idea of Wordle. We had splendid fun with this.
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14th of March is Pi Day!
Happy 3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939... Day! I do so love a good Pi, irrationally so, that is why I always celebrate PI DAY.
For one thing, it's constant.
Pi(π) is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. Bymeasuring circular objects, it has always turned out that a circle is alittle more than 3 times its width.
The mathematician Archimedes usedpolygons with many sides to approximate circles and determined that Piwas approximately 22/7.
William Jones first used the symbol for Pi,the Greek symbol “π”, in 1706. In recent years, Pi has been calculatedto over one trillion digits beyond its decimal.
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I'm starting my next Sphero program. I do love these round balls of coding inspiration! I have had some wsplendid fun creating Zig Zags this week. We have made some most amazing discoveries. The task is to create a Zig Zag path for Sphero from masking tape with 3 right angles, each of the 4 arms(zigs or zags) measuring 30cms. Check the VIDEO out here. You start with a heading of 00 and code for the first turn, which might be 900
or 2700 depending on whether it's right or left. Then set you speed and time on this zag to the same as the first zig. Cool!!!! Then what do you do?? Actually you have to return to the initial heading of 00, the same as the first zig. AND what does this mean? We have 2 lines with headings of 00 They are parallel! //
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MERGE CUBE USED TO BE SPLENDID LITTLE AR CUBES When Merge Labs launched their Merge Cube in 2017, the device instantly changed how people could access AR experiences. Merge Cube has lost it's way. This once easy to use exciting AR product has made usage compicated and time Consuming. It no longer supports a number of apps that were fun and educational. Instead opting for more boring and academic options, that provide little scope for creativity and experimentation. They have become a text book in AR.
What a pity to replace a creative innovative tool that was simple to use with complication that requires downloading for each usage and a full page of instructions on how to logon.
What a pity. What do you think about this? Love to hear your thoughts.
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Check out some of the STEM Tutorial Playlist videos on the Virtual Teacher Youtube Channel. these have been AMAZING during LOCKDOWN. Work can be set with Casual staff using them and also done at home by thw whole family. Lately we have been loving doing KAHOOTS! Setting the challanges so kiddos can work on them at home. And also using them as part of a zoom meeting. Start with the FREE version so you can get the feel of it. Here's my HOWTO Video on how to make a KAHOOT!. Simple easy and straight to the point. You will need to setup an account first. |
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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. Editor: Cathy Brown cathy@virtualteacher.com.au |
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Reach a growing audience of teachers, by advertising in the Virtual Teacher Newsletter or on the Virtual Teacher site. For more information goto Virtual Teacher Sponsors or contact, cathy@virtualteacher.com.au For information about inservice and training contact me at cathy@virtualteacher.com.au |
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