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Virtual Teacher Newsletter No. 15 September 29th 2000
THE FREE ONLINE FORTNIGHTLY IT TEACHERS' NEWSLETTER
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Contact: cathy@virtualteacher.com.au
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CONTENTS
1. Welcome
2. Mind Candy
3. Rainforest
4. New Printables - PowerPoint 1-5
5. Technical Stuff - Computer viruses and New Version of Navigator
6. Competition - our First
7. Olympics
8. Great Sites
9. Readers' Requests/Comments
10 Next Issue
11. Code of 'Netizens'
12. Tips
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1. Welcome everyone. Thanks to those folk who sent me in the missing
newsletter, it's now up on the site. WOW! hasn't the Olympics
been fantastic. We managed to get tickets to the opening Ceremony -
what an exceptional experience. Both children sat in awe through the
entire performance. Looking, cheering, and totally amazed at the
performances. A night to remember. I have also enjoyed watching the
telecast Olympics through the holidays - the horse -riding - one of
my favourites and the archery, the swimming and diving of course but
also the beach volley ball, the list seems endless. Most of all I
love the positive spirit I feel everywhere in Sydney. At the Opening
Ceremony the volunteers added to this spirit by being happy and
positive and seemed to have endless time to chat and assist,
throughout the city people seem to be happier, and friendlier than
ever before. It's such a great atmosphere, and I was inspired to
rewrite one of our old songs as tribute- to the tune of, 'I'd like to
have a beer with Duncan', using your schools name and various
children's names - here we go........

I'd like to have a game with Eddie
I'd like to have a game with Ed
I'd like to have a game with Eddie
'Cause Eddie's my mate

We play in the Sydney Playground (substitute your school's name here)
where the atmosphere is great,
I'd like to have a game with Eddie
'Cause Eddie's my mate.

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2. Mind Candy

TOP 20 THINGS THAT SHOW YOU'VE HAD TOO MUCH OF THE 90'S

20. Cleaning up the dining area means getting the fast food
bags out of the back seat of your car.
19. Your reason for not staying in touch with family members
is that they do not have e-mail addresses.
18. Keeping up with sports entails adding ESPN's homepage to
your bookmarks.
17. You have actually faxed your Christmas list to your
parents.
16. Pick up lines now include a reference to liquid assets
and capital gains.
15. You consider 2nd day air delivery painfully slow.
14. You assume the question to valet park or not is rhetorical.
13. You refer to your dining room table as the flat filing
cabinet.
12. Your idea of being organized is multiple coloured post-it
notes.
11. Your grocery list has been on your refrigerator so long
that some of the products don't even exist any more.
10. You lecture the neighbourhood kids selling lemonade on
ways to improve their process.
9. You get all excited when it's Saturday and you can wear
sweats to work.
8. You refer to the tomatoes grown in your garden as
"deliverables".
7. You find you really need PowerPoint to explain what you
do for a living.
6. You eat out of vending machines and at the most
expensive restaurant in town within the same evening.
5. You think that "progressing an action plan" and
"calendarizing a project" are acceptable English phrases.
4. You know the people at the local coffee store better
than you know your next door neighbours.
3. You ask your friends to "think out of the box" when
making Friday night plans.
2. You think a "half-day" means leaving at 5 o'clock.
1. You hear most of your jokes via e-mail instead of in
person.
Comedy on Tap
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Living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a free
trip around the sun.
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The final exam in electrical engineering worried my son, Don.
On the last day of class, the professor wished the students
luck as he wrote a phone number on the blackboard. "If any of
you have difficulty understanding the review material, call
this number," he said as he dismissed the class. On Saturday
afternoon, stumped by one of the review problems, Don reached
for the phone and heard a recorded message from Dial-A-Prayer.
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A little girl was diligently pounding away on her father's
word processor. She told him she was writing a story.
"What's it about?" he asked.
"I don't know," she replied. "I can't read."
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Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul
nobler and stronger than it was before.
-- James Buckham
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And if you want a look at the sillier side of the Olympics
this site is a bit of a hoot.
http://www.silly2000.com/
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3. Rainforests
Hello Cathy and Everyone!
Thanks for all the Backup tips in No. 14 Newsletter.
Most of us seem to have to learn the hard way about the importance of
backing up files - regularly and often.
I hope the following rainforest sites are of some use.
You can ignore the commercial angle of this one because it's such a
colourful interactive for early and middle Primary Schoolers:
http://www.toucansam.kelloggs.ca/eng/contents.htm
This is a great Australian site. Where teachers have only limited
computers, access management can include printing BLMs for projects
between student access times. Numerous (great) links to other
rainforest sites are included. One of these is the 'Yowie' (It's
alright - it's Cadbury's.) site. Resources available are excellent
and graded 1 - 6.

http://www.cap.nsw.edu.au/dsp_modules/rainforest_module/rainforest_module/index.html
http://www.cadbury.com.au/yowie/teachers/index.htm
This is the 'Enchanted Learning' site for Rainforests, great for
lower and middle Primary:
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/rainforest/
This site is a great source for collaborative learning incorporating
discovery-learning, critical- thinking and problem-solving, all while
having fun too. Check it out:
http://www.memphis-schools.k12.tn.us/admin/tlapages/tropical_rain.htm
'The Kids' Corner' at the Rainforest Action Site has many ideas for
learning and involvement for students of Primary School age:
http://www.ran.org/ran/kids_action/index1.html
You will need 'Shockwave' to view this but it's downloadable from the
net. 'Expeditions', games, etc. for Years 1-6 at:
http://www3.adventureonline.com/login.asp
For high school students, there are a number of sites to check out including:
http://mbgnet.mobot.org/sets/rforest/main.htm
'Amazon Interactive' at:
http://www.eduweb.com/amazon.html
'Amazon Life' a 'Thinkquest' Project, has provision in 'Solutions'
for students to send their solution (genuine) for an environmental
problem.
http://library.thinkquest.org/20248/inicio.html
Cheers,
Olga Laurantus
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4. New Printables
The final 6th page pdf of the PowerPoint series is now available.
The last lessons is included in this complete set. Enjoy it
http://www.virtualteacher.com.au/ppoint.pdf
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5. Technical Stuff
How do Computer viruses actually work, here's a succinct article from ZDnet
http://www.zdnet.com.au/biztech/news/stories/au0005834.html
Download Communicator 4.75!
Netscape Communicator 4.75, the latest version of the award winning
browser software,
is the result of our ongoing commitment to quality releases of
Netscape software, offering
enhanced security and increased stability.
http://computing.netscape.com/computing/main.tmpl
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6. Competition
Yes the first Virtual Teacher Competition Ta! Dah!!!
The prize:- a copy of the Australian Macquarie Dictionary 3rd Edition
Mini Megalex CD - which was reviewed in the last newsletter.
For the best 'Mind Candy' from a subscriber sent in over the next 2 weeks.
So get your 'Mind Candy' in, goodluck.
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7. Post Olympics
Dawn Lorraine Fraser Olympic Gold Medallist 1937 -
http://www.theschooldaily.com/articleView.asp?articlePK=4028
By Patti Chadwick
www.historyswomen.com
Dawn Lorraine Fraser is an Australian swimming legend. She is considered
by most as Australia's greatest female athlete and the greatest Olympian
to come from her homeland. During her career she won eight medals at the
Olympics (four gold and four silver) between the years of 1956 and 1964
and six gold medals at the Commonwealth Games. She also set 27
individual world records, 39 world records, and was awarded the
distinguished Olympic Order...
Reply-To: TheSchoolDaily@TheSchoolDaily.com
Subject: TheSchoolDaily for Thursday, 21 September 2000
TheSchoolDaily for Thursday, 21 September 2000
"Building a networked learning community of parents, teachers and
friends of schools."
(Copyright regulations apply as described in our terms and conditions
http://www.theschooldaily.com/terms.html
Just as the Olympics celebrated 100 years of women in the games,
celebrate famous women.
Click down through this site and the history of Women site and
'celebrate' wonderful women. Your students may like to complete a
short writing assignment on famous women.
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8. Great Sites
CIA World Fact Book new location
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html
Check out this great resource on Asia
Check out the snapshots and the free resources at this site as well.
http://www.curriculum.edu.au/accessasia/index.htm
It includes info on China, Korea(wasn't it wonderful to see North and
South Korea united and marching in together at the Olympics),
Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam and India. A fantastic resource
- just the sort of thing needed to back up Asian studies.
Selectively useful for upper primary, very suitable for high school.
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9. Readers Requests/Comments
New Free eZine: Art and Art Education
Hi fellow artists, teachers, students,
Interested in receiving by eMail the new, monthly, art-based iiaeZine?
interActive interDisciplinary art events
interActive interDisciplinary art education
To subscribe send a blank eMail to iiaesubscribe@ziplip.com
Feel free to pass on this free option to colleagues, students, interested
others?
Respectfully,
Stan Horner
Prof. Emeritus,
Concordia Univ.
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What is an effective manager of Information and Communication Technology?
What does an effective manager of ICT "look like? A new competition
on the ICT in Education website hopes to unearth some interesting
answers.
Reams have been written in answer to the question, but the
competition expects answers in 25 words or less. (Who said this was
going to be easy?)
The competition does have its serious side. Terry Freedman, owner of
the site, sees it as a way of finding out whether or not there is a
consensus on the issue. "Many people think they know what managing
ICT entails, he said. "But do they know how effectively they do it?
The closing date for the competition is midnight (GMT) on 6 October
2000. See the ICT in Education website for details. The address is
http://www.ictineducation.org

Further information about the ICT in Education website
The ICT in Education website has been set up to help teachers and
managers make the best use of ICT in management and administration,
and to help schools manage the provision of ICT.
The author of the site is Terry Freedman, an ICT adviser in London
and a regular contributor to Managing Schools Today, InteracTive and
other periodicals.

Sections on the website include:
Using computers to save time
Managing ICT provision
Free tools
The free monthly newsletter, Computers in Classrooms
Effective management of ICT: Frequently Asked Questions
Articles
Current Developments in ICT
Email management
The site is usually updated at least once a week.

Thank you so much for your help! I am looking forward to the next newsletter
and will try to share some of the things that I learn as well!

Kathy Kadray
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Canadian Teachers Get Free Resources For Their Classrooms...
September 18, 2000 -- Free Stuff For Canadian Teachers offers
freebies in over twelve categories and exclusive offers available to
teachers in six provinces and the North West Territories, all free
for the asking. The web site is user friendly, designed for all
browsers.
In addition to frequent site updates, visitors can sign up for the
Free Stuff for Canadian Teachers newsletter, an email notification
service that informs subscribers weekly about new free additions.
Some of the freebies found in Free Stuff for Canadian Teachers:
Free Computers For Schools - Apply to receive computers that were
donated by corporations. Refurbished computers are made available to
schools through a number of different organisations around Canada.
Free Grade Book Software - Moving into the next generation of grade
books. These free software programs allow teachers to calculate
grades, proportion marks, and process graphs based on student's
performance.

Free CD Samplers - Many software companies offer free CD's that
demonstrate the capabilities of their software. The try before you
buy process gives educators the chance to use it in their classrooms
before they decide on purchasing products.

"As teachers we're always on the lookout for materials that help
teach the curriculum for our students. Unfortunately, there are so
many companies, government agencies and other organisations that
offer free materials, that busy educators just can't keep up with
them. Finally, a Canadian Web Site that makes our job at finding
these materials so much easier. Thank you Quentin", said Marjan
Glavac author of the Busy Educator's Guide to the World Wide Web.

"It's all about providing educators with a useful service", said
Quentin D'Souza Editor of Free Stuff for Canadian Teachers.
Check it out at
http://www.thecanadianteacher.com
Laura D'Souza (416)-492-7031
laura@thecanadianteacher.com
http://www.thecanadianteacher.com
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10. Next Issue - I will road test The Macquarie Concise Dictionary
3rd Edition CD - product review. If anyone has had any personal
experience with this product please let me know what you think. I
will also be looking at Net first aid and medical sites on the
internet, with particular emphasis on sites do with children's
illnesses and learning difficulties, so if you have any thoughts or
great websites on these topics please send them in.
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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:comfilm1@optusnet.com.au
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