Virtual Teacher Newsletter No. 33 2001
THE FREE ONLINE FORTNIGHTLY IT TEACHERS' NEWSLETTER
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CONTENTS
1. Welcome
2. Mind Candy
3. BOOKWEEK is from 18-24 August
4. New Printables - ICT Program Docs
5. Technical Stuff
6. 6. WEBSITE FOCUS - FATHER'S DAY
7. MORE ON KIDSPIRATION AND INSPIRATION
8. Great Sites
9. Readers' Requests/Comments
10 Next Issue
11. Code of 'Netizens'
12. Tips
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1. WELCOME EVERYONE. 'How Aliens from Alpha Centauri
invaded my maths class and turned me into a writer....and
how you can be one too" by Jackie French
(Angus & Robertson1998), is the latest great book I am
reading. Some fantastic ideas for writing, check out some of
Jackie's advice at http://www.jackiefrench.com/advice.html
My love affair with Kidspiration and Inspiration has not abated -
and I will be writing a more detailed article about them in
Classroom Magazine No 7 this year - sorry o/s folks this mag
is only available in Australia, keep a look out for it.

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2. MIND CANDY
"It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a
reputation for subtlety." Isaac Asimov
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ELEPHANT STEW
1 Elephant, Medium Size
2 Rabbits (Optional)
Salt & Pepper to taste
Brown Gravy
Cut elephant into small bite-sized pieces. This should take
about two months. Add enough brown gravy to cover. Cook
over a hot fire for about four weeks. This will serve 3800 people.
If more are expected, two rabbits may be added, but do this
only if necessary as some people do not like to find a hare
in their stew.
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Some excerpts from a Washington Post Report, in which
readers were asked to tell Gen-X'ers how much harder they
had it in the old days:

Kids today think the world revolves around them. In my day,
the sun revolved around the world, and the world was perched
on the back of a giant tortoise. (Jonathan Paul)

In my day, we didn't have water. We had to smash together
our own hydrogen and oxygen atoms. (Diana Hugue)

In my day, we didn't have hand-held calculators. We had to
do addition on our fingers. To subtract, we had to have some
fingers amputated. (Jon Patrick Smith)

In my day, we didn't have no rocks. We had to go down to the
creek and wash our clothes by beating them with our heads.
(Barry Blyveis)

In my day, we couldn't afford shoes, so we went barefoot.
In the winter we had to wrap our feet with barbed wire for
traction. (Bill Flavin)

In my day, we didn't have dogs or cats. All I had was Silver
Beauty, my beloved paper clip. (Jennifer Hart)

In my day, we didn't have Strom Thurmond*. Oh, wait.
Yes we did. (Peg Sheeran)
*Strom Thurmond is a US Senator(1902- )
http://www.senate.gov/~thurmond/
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No great discovery was ever made without a bold guess.
ISAAC NEWTON
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If we wish to make a new world we have the material already.
The first one, too, was made out of chaos.
ROBERT QUILLEN, OMNI Magazine
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3. BOOKWEEK is from 18-24 August
Y.A.R.A Young Australian Readers Awards
This is a fabulous site where students can post and read
reviews of books in specific genres. There are also some
great links to authors from this site. This is a great place
to start for Bookweek.
http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/ozreading/yara/main_pages/favourites.htm
2001 A book Odyssey
http://www.midcoast.com.au/~ttc/2001ABookOdyssey.htm
Allen and Unwin Children's Authors
http://www.allen-unwin.com.au/Authors/children.asp
Book wraps - these are fantastic for students - interactive
comments and questions about current children's
literature text. Have a look at some past raps at this site.
http://www.pa.ash.org.au/rite/projects/book-rap/rappoints.asp#past
Of course Jackie French has an interesting site at
http://www.jackiefrench.com
and many other children's authors can be found at:-
http://www.virtualteacher.com.au/writing.html
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4. NEW PRINTABLES
This week I have been writing ICT Scope and Sequence
and School Policy Documents. You can download these and
adjust them , use them or whatever. They are represent an
amalgam of a number of different Scope and sequence
charts from everywhere including the referenced sites
at the end of the documents -
School Computer Policy
http://www.virtualteacher.com.au/policy.doc
Scope and Sequence
http://www.virtualteacher.com.au/scopes.doc
Summary of Scope and Sequence
http://www.virtualteacher.com.au/sssum.doc
I believe they are clear and workable documents.
Please send in any other possibilities you have
been developing as everyone is looking for ideas
in this area at the moment. These documents are
designed for K-6 only.
Other School Internet Policies including K-12
programs can be found at:-
http://www.bham.wednet.edu/policies.htm
http://www.mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au/school/aup/aup.htm
http://www.corpus.wa.edu.au/Public/pubs/POLICIES/aup.htm
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/netpolicy.htm
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5. TECHNICAL STUFF
The Curriculum Corporation is sponsoring two late
afternoon sessions presented by Jamie McKenzie in
Melbourne in September. For details
http://fno.org/JM/melbourne.html
Updated virus removal tools - the SIRCAM virus is
the latest in a long line of threats to computers,
Norton's is updating its new anti virus software with
new removal tools that can be downloaded from
http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/tools.list.html
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6. WEBSITE FOCUS - FATHER'S DAY
Father's Day Graphics:
http://rats2u.com/clipart/holidays/father_clipart.htm
Father's Day Kid Sites:
http://members.aol.com/Love4JULI/dad-kids.html
Surprise Dad with a downloadable job coupon
http://blackdog4kids.com/holiday/dad/coupon/index.html
Father's Day Ideas For Kids:
http://www.amazingmoms.com/htm/fathersdayartideas.htm
Sesame Street insiders guide to Dads
http://www.sesameworkshop.org/parents/advice/results/1,4124,,00.html?hdesc_ids=91
Ode To Father's Day:
http://www.ctw.org/parents/advice/article/0,4125,1130,00.html
Father's Day craft for Kids
http://www.EnchantedLearning.com/crafts/fathersday/index.shtml
Father's Day at Kids Domain
http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/dad/

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7. MORE ON KIDSPIRATION AND INSPIRATION
When I reviewed these 2 wonderful programs I interviewed
Linda Zugai - at the Sheraton on the Park, no less - in great style -
fantastic for morning tea. She is available to
liven up your staff meetings with great ideas about these
2 programs - here's a bit about her:-

'Linda commenced service with the NSW Department of
Education and Training in 1977 as a primary school teacher
with a focus on Early Childhood and Special Needs. During
her successful career with the department she was employed
as a Computer Consultant with the Computers in Education
Team, Metropolitan North Region and as an Assistant Principal.
In 1997 she joined Edsoft as an Education Consultant and is
currently the NSW State Manager.

Linda is available to assist schools make informed decisions
about software purchases by:-
* School visits;
* Demonstrations at Staff Meetings, Network Meetings,
Association Meetings;
* Assisting with seminars;
* Attending Conferences;
* Providing advice about licencing requirements,
special offers and software content.'
EMAIL : Linda.Zugai@bigpond.com
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8. GREAT SITES
The "I Have a Dream" program begins in October.
Read more about it and begin your preparations now:
http://www.kidlink.org/dream/
Computer Lessons - How a computer works and much more
http://www.kidsandcomputers.com/SiteToc.cfm
Digital Portfolios
There are some useful websites at
http://www.essentialschools.org/pubs/exhib_schdes/dp/getstart.htm
http://www.mehs.educ.state.ak.us/portfolios/portfolio.html
http://transition.alaska.edu/www/portfolios/PBS2.html
http://www.mervlink.com/id114.htm
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9. READERS COMMENTS/REQUESTS
Cathy,
Again, thanks so much for your support! I love Inspiration.
You will have a great laugh. I created a concept map to a
webquest I have developed (for a lesson plan that I have worked
on for our local public broadcasting station) that printed out to be
12 pages! I was surprised! Lot's of fun.
I have ordered Inspiration and Kidspiration for my teachers at
school. We will be working on integration within the classroom.

Keep in touch! I will send some ideas soon! Right now I am
working on Turtle Logo and win logo - I have some math
textbooks that 2 of my teachers have tech pages integrating logo.
Did you know that there are free logo programming software
that you can download. If you are interested in this,
let me know and I will provide links to the site. Great resources.
Sincerely,
Cathy Maher mandm5@erols.com

DEFINITELY interested in the FREE Logo - send on the
links - love to see anything new - or Aanything that you
are developing - new ideas new thoughts - great stuff.

I taught logo maths in the IBM Starwars campaign over
15 years ago - great program.
thanks Cathy
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Dear Cathy,
I don't know if you remember me, I sent you the Philippine
Parol lesson - office ideas in March. Did you ever receive it?
I hadn't heard from you. I was wondering what you thought
of the lesson. On another note, I would like to thank you for
your newsletter. I am a computer teacher and technology
coordinator and wonder how you do it! - meaning find the time.
I seem to be doing work at home, weekends, etc.
I am also responsible for training teachers - not only in
competency but in technology integration across the curriculum.
I enjoy your newsletter and look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Cathy Maher mandm5@erols.com
Hi Cathy M,
Loved the lesson - there is a link to it from my site
http://www.virtualteacher.com.au/phillipi.pdf
Thanks for sending it in - it's good to get other folks to
contribute - sometimes I am a bit pushed for time - as to the
newsletter I like to write - and much of what I write is included in
in-services and seminars I give - and I love exploring all the new
ideas and sites on the Internet. As far as teacher training goes I
think the key is to find programs that teachers find really useful
and fun - my latest great passions are the Inspiration/ Kidspiration
programs - which develop computer competency as well as being
programs useful in the classroom..
ciao Cathy
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Dear Catherine,
We're Teachers from Brazil. We work at Fundamentum School,
in Valinhos city. We work with little children - four and five years old.
I've read something about your butterfly site and I'd like to know
more about your project. Could you send us a e-mail with these
information?
hugs
Sílvia and Dani - Teachers from Brazil
Hi Silvia and Dani,
One of the links from the Virtualteacher site is to
a butterfly site you might find useful -craft activity - quite cute
http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/butterfly/index.html
Zoom butterflies is also fantastic- it is one of my favourite sites
for younger children with pictures to print and colour and great info.
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/butterfly/
Also the children's Butterfly site might be of interest
http://www.mesc.usgs.gov/butterfly/Butterfly.html
Ciao Cathy
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10. NEXT ISSUE - I will be looking for great art sites - and
using the Internet and computers to teach art - any ideas
would be most welcome. I will also cover Searching the net
with students - using search engines etc.
Ciao Cathy
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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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