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Virtual Teacher Newsletter May 12th , 2000 No. 5
THE FREE ONLINE FORTNIGHTLY IT TEACHERS' NEWSLETTER
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Subscribe: cathy@virtualteacher.com.au (put 'subscribe' in the
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Or visit: http://www.virtualteacher.com.au
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Contact: cathy@virtualteacher.com.au
Website: http://www.virtualteacher.com.au
Newsletter Archives can be found at:-
http://www.virtualteacher.com.au/archives.html
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CONTENTS
1. Welcome
2. Mind Candy
3. I Love your
4. Home Schoolers
5. Technical Tip
6. Ancient History Sites
7. Great Sites to Check Out
8. Readers Comments
9. Reader Requests - Can you help out???
10. Next Issue
11. Code of 'Netizens'
12. Tips
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1. Welcome one and all. Computer Inservice in Sydney Metro
area, is allive and well, check out some of our great topics at
the end of this newsletter. You'll love "Jerry's" story
if you need a lift check it out. I managed to word a question
well enough this week to recieve the answer "I love you"
from one student, it is great to to see such a spontaneous outburst
of effection from pupils isn't it. Check out the great site dealing
with viruses - great news really "I love you" is really
a virus - so with the right prescription we should be able to
clear it up altogether. This would make teaching teens much easier.
As promised the computer PC guide is included - let me kow if
there are any errors. Please forward this to a friend (or 20)
and encourage them to join.
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2. Mind Candy 2
22 Reasons to Celebrate May - any old reason at all is
worth a celebration.
http://www.virtualteacher.com.au/mayis.html
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You'll love 'Jerry's Story" if you need a bit of a
lift - read it. I've used it with students - a great discussion
topic. Great for Self esteem and personal development - students
as well as teachers.
http://www.virtualteacher.com.au/jerry.html
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Country Technology for Country Folk - here's a sample
1. LOG ON: Makin a wood stove hotter.
2. LOG OFF: Don't add no more wood.
3. MONITOR: Keepin an eye on the wood stove.
Read the rest here:-
http://www.virtualteacher.com.au/techtalk.html
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ªß´:*¥`>§>¥`*:ªß´Mariªß´:*¥`>§>¥`*:ªß´
What if the "Hokey*Pokey" is....what its all about?
"Mari Teresa McDade" <mariteresa@mindspring.com>
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3. I Love You Nothing personal. This bug has been in the
news lately and causing great havock. But I haven't seen it. Mind
you I get every other conceivable piece of junk mail on the planet,
get righ quick schemes, chain letters, how to spend 10 hours on
the internet and make a fortune at 1c per minute, incredible offers
you can't refuse, build your own computer in 10minutes offers,
etc etc. But I haven't seen the"I Love you" bug. Banks,
governments, leading financial instituations have been brought
to their knees with this bug, but not me, no, I'm not big enough,
not important enough, to worry about, well thanks "I love
you" bug guys - I don't need your bug to make me feel worthwhile.
This is a great topic at the moment, your students will love it.
How are viruses made, who makes them, why do they make them. Check
out the answers at this great site:-
http://www.howstuffworks.com/virus.htm
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4. Home Schoolers
I've had a lot of emails from homeschoolers who seem to subscribing
in droves to this newsletter. If you have any great ideas for
Home schoolers send them in for the next issue. Here's one of
the letters.
"Please send me the newsletter at arnett93@aol.com. I am
going to start
homeschooling a kindergartener in the fall and am greatful for
any ideas I
can get. Thanks in advance". Lisa
"My daughter just sent me this information. She recently
started home
teaching her three small children. And with such marvelous results,
I
decided to home teach the youngest of my own children. My sons
are 13 and
15. It's been a bit of a bumpy road and we are still trying to
find a
comfort level acceptable to us all. I would like to subscribe
and take
advantage of some of the great ideas and sites. Thank you",
Karen Macbain Klmacbain@cs.com
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5. Technical Tip
PC Computer Guide as promised.Here's the computer operations
instruction list for IBM compatibles. Its a good idea to put a
copy next to each computer for both students and teachers. Stapled
into a manila folder it is a great idea. Including startup and
shutdown instructions, maintenance and troubleshooting tips. Here's
the one I did recently for the IBM's for a school inservice I
conducted. You may need to change some details for your particular
computers.
http://www.virtualteacher.com.au/ibms.html
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A great idea. I recently had to overcome a problem of sending
information between computers in a school with no intranet. The
solution - set up an email account with yahoo, give everyone the
ID and password to the account and send emails to each other via
the internet. This works terrifically for sending information
to a computer attached to a printer, or for newsletters or just
general exchange of information between computers. Set up your
own email account at yahoo.
http://edit.yahoo.com/config/mail?&i=IWZkZHNKIXRzZnNydEpidXV4dSF0ZEqOZHh4fH5iU356YmNYcnM%3d&.rand=0.282635718863
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Go to the Microsoft site and download free loads of great teacher
templates
http://desktoppub.about.com/compute/desktoppub/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.microsoft.com/education/k12/classroom/free.htm
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6. Great Ancient History Resources
Georgeanne Kestner of
<mailto:crafter@family-net.net>crafter@family-net.net
Sent in this great site - Mr Donn's Ancient History:-
<http://members.aol.com/donnandlee/index.html>http://members.aol.com/donnandlee/index.html
It does everything. It has links to all the ancient cultures I
can think of. Absolutely fantastic - Thanks Georgeanne.
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Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators is a tremendous "page"
-- absolutely brilliant links to so many areas. It is my link
into Mr Don's Ancient History pages (Donn??).
the address is <http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/>
http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/
Actually, I just normally bring up Yahoo or AltaVista and type
in Kathy Schrock.
I hope this helps Susan Gaynard, if she hasn't already discovered
it.
Robyne Ridge
Kinross Wolaroi School
Orange, NSW, Australia
<mailto:rridge@kws.nsw.edu.au>rridge@kws.nsw.edu.au
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7. Great Sites to Check Out
Get the inside running on "What's inside a computer"
at this great site. Pictures, labels, the lot. If you ever wanted
to know what was inside one of these frustraing beast check out
this site.
http://members.aol.com/wbox/wbox.htm
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The ADD / ADHD Gazette
The FREE online ezine all about ADD and ADHD.
http://home.freeuk.net/theadhdgazette
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This is a great site for information on countries of the world.
It is quite sophisticated and would probably suit a Teacher going
on holidays more than students from Primary school, great for
countries research for Secondary students- however selective use
of some of the click- toos may be useful
http://www.worldskip.com/
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For pictures - royalty free use for non-commercial purposes,
this includes educational.
http://search.corbis.com
Here you can learn about what it takes to be an inventor. The
site is fairly informal. The site is suitable for 10 - 16 year
olds. The information on 'scout', ' wizard', ' critic' and 'trailblazer'
are rather fun and could be incorporated into all sorts of lessons.
http://mustang.coled.umn.edu/inventing/inventing.html
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Another Great Countries Links site. This site has a limited
selection of countries, but the information on each is most comprehensive.
The interface is less confronting than some others of this type.
Suitable for 9- 16 year olds
http://www.supersurf.com
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Family Geneology and History Printables
http://k-6educators.about.com/education/k-6educators/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://familyeducation.com/printables/index/0%2C2081%2C1%2C00.html
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This is a great links site for teacher tools and includes
a lot of educational links.
http://www.lane.k12.or.us/districts/pleasanthill/Schools/High/teacher_tools.htm
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Teachers Links offers some interesting choices - the email
classroom exchange is a great idea, and the puzzlemaker is just
great.
http://tinny.eis.net.au/~ronald/teacher_sites.htm
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Here's a good looking Kids site with stories to read, pictures
to colour, riddles and links. Children can also submit their own
work. Suitable for ages 8-12.
http://www.toonacat.com/kids/index.html
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LearningWare Reviews offers reviews of all the latest educational
and
entertainment software titles. You will easily recoop your $10
membership fee
by avoiding just one bad purchase this year! Find out what is
hot and what
is not from someone who has actually used the programs, and been
reviewing
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http://www.learningwarereviews.com
"Mrs ABC" located at <http://www.mrsabc.com>http://www.mrsabc.com
is a free interactive
web site teaching children spelling and phonics, free math worksheets,
learning tips, and much more! Members now receive unlimited
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FREE. Teachers are encouraged to enroll their entire class. Weekly newsletter.
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8. Readers Comments
I LOVE your newsletter, and share it often with collegues. Thanks!
Julie Strickland
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I would love to read your newsletter!
Alison
Hamilton, Ohio
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Thanks for your interest in Kids' Space.
We're honored to be mentioned in your newsletter.
Regards,
Michael Erde
(michael@kids-space.org)
Kids' Space Foundation
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Cathy, I thoroughly enjoyed your site
http://www.learningwarereviews.com
Thanks!
Juline Lambert
LearningWare Reviews
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'....it's wonderful, and it's always a treat to get interesting
and unique lesson plans.'
<cowgirl03@nac.net>
Thank you,
Nancy Sklavos-Gillett
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9. Reader Requests - Can you help out???
Sue Flannery
Is interested in Art resources on the web. So send in your great
suggestions and help her out.
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10. Next Issue Virtual Teacher will definitely take a look
at Word 2000, the task was larger than I thought and I still have
some unanswered questions. The complete picture will be in the
next newsletter; if you have any thoughts on its use with students
send them in. I'll also be monkeying around with a couple of great
web sites that are fantastic for students using the internet.
If you have any good ideas send them along. I am also looking
to review some great school sites, so if your school has a good
site send along the URL and I will review it here, I haven't received
any yet.
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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. If your
URLS aren't highlighted just copy and paste to 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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Try out the Inservice "I didn't know you could do that with
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