Virtual Teacher
Newsletter No. 56 August 9th 2002 – ROARING SILENCE
THE FREE ONLINE
FORTNIGHTLY IT TEACHERS' NEWSLETTER
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Newsletter
Archives can be found at:-
http://www.virtualteacher.com.au/archives.html
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CONTENTS
1. Welcome
2. Mind Candy
3. WWWinfo
– Career Site
4. New
Printables - Sports links
5. Technical
Stuff – Internet Connections Speed
6. Web Site
Focus - Maths
7. More
PowerPoint
8. Spinout
Stories
9. Great Sites
10. Readers' Requests/Comments
11 Next Issue
12. Code of
'Netizens'
13. Tips
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1. WELCOME
EVERYONE. Roaring silence. An oxymoron that
makes you stop,
makes you think, challenges your usual notions
of silence.
Creative inventive, new. The
silence inside an
Egyptian pyramid
when the last door has been sealed is roaring
silence.
Creating new imagery, inventing new ways to express
ideas, is the
best way to make an impact with writing, and to start
your audience
thinking. Below is a list of some
more oxymorons
I think you will
enjoy. Some are clichés and old hat, some are
refreshing and
new. Check out your internet
connections speed,
and make some
comments on the connections speed report for
schools. Don’t miss the ‘Angles
away’ site, terrific, or the extra
PowerPoint
tips.
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2. MIND CANDY
Time is not measured by the
passing of time, but by what
ONE does, what ONE feels,
and what ONE achieves.
- Nehru
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"Who dares
to teach must never cease to learn." John Cotton Dana
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TOP 45 OXYMORONS
45. Act naturally
44. Found missing
43. Resident alien
42. Advanced BASIC
41. Genuine imitation
40. Airline Food
39. Good grief
38. Same difference
37. Almost exactly
36. Government organization
35. Sanitary landfill
34. Alone together
33. Legally drunk
32. Silent scream
31. Living dead
30. Small crowd
29. Business ethics
28. Soft rock
27. Butt head
26. Military intelligence
25. Software documentation
24. New classic
23. Sweet sorrow
22. Child Proof
21. "Now, then
..."
20. Synthetic natural gas
19. Passive aggression
18. Taped live
17. Clearly misunderstood
16. Peace force
15. Extinct life
14. Temporary tax increase
13. Computer jock
12. Plastic glasses
11. Terribly pleased
10. Computer security
9. Political science
8. Tight slacks
7. Definite maybe
6. Pretty ugly
5. Twelve-ounce pound cake
4. Diet ice cream
3. Working vacation
2. Exact estimate
...And the number 1 oxymoron
is..
1. Microsoft Works
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3. GREAT CAREER
SITE
‘Welcome to the facts. Here you have
access to information on
career related
topics. Select the topic you are interested in and
search, browse
or read through detailed information, articles and/or
links to other
useful resources.’
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4. NEW
PRINTABLES
The start of a
Sports Link page send in you sites at
http://www.virtualteacher.com.au/sports.html
The Bradman link
is outstanding and the info on the Australian
Sports Web is
most comprehensive.
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5. TECHNICAL
STUFF
HOW FAST IS YOUR
INTERNET CONNECTION
56K modems run
at about 48Kilobitspersecond on a good day
- 9Kbps on a
very bad day.
The best you
will get out of a 56K modem is about 5 kiloBYTES per
second (Byte = 8
bits)
That is a floppy
disk every 8 or 9 minutes (on a good line)
Network Speeds
– What do they mean???
http://www.whnet.com/speed.html
http://www.homenethelp.com/web/explain/about-network-speeds.asp
Here’s a
natty little online device to test the speed of your internet connection
http://promos.mcafee.com/speedometer/
HOW FAST IS FAST
ENOUGH FOR GOOD EDUCATIONAL
USE OF THE
INTERNET
Read the Report
below and send in your thoughts regarding
internet access
for schools.
Broadband in
Australia Availability Issues and initiatives Report
http://www.noie.gov.au/publications/NOIE/BAG/Broadband_in_educ_Final.PDF
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Do you have a
student with a passion for science and an
extraordinary
flair for public speaking?
Then why not
enter the Powerhouse Museum's Talking Up
Science
competition?
http://www.phm.gov.au/education/tus/
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FREE/DEMO
Software/Downloads
I have had many
requests for available free programs –
so here are
some. Beware FREE Downloads some are
great like
Crocodile Clips others are just a waste of time.
Great selection
of software downloads from Edsoft,
Crocodile clip
is a must have.
http://www.edsoft.com.au/Downloads/DLindex.htm
Free
Downloadable Map puzzles.
http://www.yourchildlearns.com/owlmouse.htm
Educational
Software Co-operative
http://www.edu-soft.org/padlib/index.php
Free Worksheets
and online Games
http://www.schoolexpress.com/comped/default.asp
Hot Potatoes
http://web.uvic.ca/hrd/hotpot/
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Recycled PC's
Pentium 1, 2, and 3s Available.
Jeff Harper
JKH Brokers
Cartridge
Collection
Turn Trash into
Ca$h!
http://www.cartridgecollection.com.au
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THE TEDDY BEAR PROJECT
Hi Cathy
I facilitate an online
project for teachers. It is called the Teddy
Bear Project.
Teachers register on the
website, then I match them with a
class in a different
country. A teddy bear or other soft toy is
then exchanged. The teddy writes home a diary by email.
In this way an authentic
purpose for reading, writing and using
technology is provided. It
is also a wonderful to foster tolerance and understanding of cultures other
than our own.
I have quite a few teachers
from the US who teach Prep,
Year 1 and Year 2 waiting
for classes to be matched to.
Over 3000 teachers have
participated in this project since 1996.
Could this publicised in
your newsletter please?
Registrations:
The Teddy Bear
Project
mwells@iearn.org.au
Bye
Muriel
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6. WEBSITE FOCUS
–Maths
Angles Away
– This site is sooo hot you
can see the team rising.
http://www.ambleside.schoolzone.co.uk/ambleweb/mentalmaths/protractor.html
Links Sites
http://cte.jhu.edu/techacademy/web/2000/heal/mathsites.htm
Fractory
Make your own
Fractals and understand them, great site for independent workers and extension.
http://library.thinkquest.org/3288/
Count On –
Great Maths site
Tangram site -
interactive applet
http://standards.nctm.org/document/eexamples/chap4/4.4/#applet
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7. POWERPOINT AGAIN
Cathy,
Please let Paul
know that quizzes in Powerpoint, if kept simple,
are very
easy to do. The responses are simply links between
pages of the
presentation, so
students can select responses, be linked to a page if the
answer is
correct, another if the answer is not correct, and be able to
return to the
question or go on to the next question.
In our school
district in
Arizona (USA), we use PowerPoint for Jeopardy-type games.
(Don't know if
you see Jeopardy in Australia or know of its popularity here,
but it's great
for school.)
Terrie
Yes this is
quite true Paul – but keep it fairly simple.
HERE’S HOW
1. Set up your
questions, multiple choice is best. eg
What is a
googleplex?
2. Each answer
is then hyperlinked to another page within the
PowerPoint
presentation. Incorrect answers might be all linked to
a page that says
NOPE!! Go back and have another GO!!, with a
hyperlink back
to the original questions. The
correct answer is
hyperlinked to a
page that might say
‘YIPPEE!!
Your right!!!’ – with applause sound effects,
‘HERE’S the next questions’. (You can thus build up a series of
questions in
this way)
3. To Hyperlink
pages, highlight the answer to be hyperlinked,
goto the Insert
menu, goto hyperlink. On this menu
you will find
a button, on PCs
usually at the side, on Macs goto ‘DOCUMENT’
then to
‘LOCATE’ near the anchor dialogue box. This will allow
you to hyperlink
within your PowerPoint from one page to another.
TIP: Each
question should have its own correct and incorrect
answer pages,
otherwise it becomes hard to return to the correct
section of the
presentation.
TIP2: You can
use pictures and hyperlink these as well.(Your
MAB block
pictures??)
TIP3: Sound
effects make it great fun. (Added through
Sideshow/Custom
animations – best set on ‘Automatically’)
TIP4: Students
can write their own 3 page question and answer
series which can
be added together to form one long presentation. T
o Add extra
slides GOTO Insert/Slides from file.
Goodluck
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8. SPINOUT
REVIEW
“Spinout
stories. The Spinout Stories packages combine computer
software and
printed books. They are designed to promote literacy
among students
with reading problems in late primary and early
secondary.
The stories are a mixture of informative non-fiction
and interesting
fiction, specially written for these older students.
Each story is
available at three levels of difficulty, allowing the
student to start
at a suitably easy level and progress in gentle
stages through
to more demanding words and sentence constructions.
At the highest
level, the software includes an optional hypertext
facility,
allowing the student to click on key words (shown in blue)
and on picture
hotspots - this brings up extended information on
the selected
subject, with web-like links to still more information.”
http://www.greygum.com.au/contents.htm
This program is
easy to load, easy to use, I can see the appeal
for many
teachers. Children in lower
primary as well were
motivated by the
program as were ESL and remedial children.
However, not as
inspiring as Circus Maths or the Kidspiration/Inspiration packages, not as open
ended and creative - even though you
can write your
own stories. Many teachers will love the printable
worksheets which
can generated from each story according to
personal
preferences. I can see a niche for it.
This product is
well worth a look.
Linda Zugai
NSW State
Manager
Edsoft Pty Ltd
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8. GREAT SITES
HOT SITES
Here is an
excellent set of Primary School Links
http://www.casino-p.schools.nsw.edu.au/hsie/hsie.htm
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Ooey Gooey
science recipes
http://www.minnetonka.k12.mn.us/science/tools/ooey.html
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These sites have
links for inventors & inventors. http://www.northcanton.sparcc.org/~greentown/invent.htm
http://www.stemnet.nf.ca/CITE/inventors.htm
This webquest,
although for middle primary children
http://www.cap.nsw.edu.au/bb_site_intro/stage2_Modules/inventions/inventions.htm
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Book WEEK
winners
http://www.cbc.org.au/winner02.htm
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9. READERS
COMMENTS/REQUESTS
Before more
children get misinformed, read this:
http://www.snopes.com/language/phrases/1500.htm
Thanks,
Simon Beck
London, UK
Hi Simon,
I number of folk have been concerned about this
info at VT so I have added this site to the bottom of the page
http://www.virtualteacher.com.au/life.html
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Thank you
Cathy:-) I enjoyed viewing your Web Site.
Your students
may find my research in Vincent van Gogh's life..
interesting and
intriguing. My friend. Artist Jan van Gogh, will be
visiting my home
in September, and yes.. I will learn more of the real
Vincent van
Gogh.. who I believe was a true " Artistic Minister.. ", in
his journey
through life.
Regards,
Dennis Pelliccia
Grants Pass,
Oregon
http://community.webtv.net/ospro/ArtistDennis
Keep us updated
the site is most interesting.
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Hi Cathy,
Just letting you
know that the jokes and riddle link on the year
2/3 page is not
working. I am just checking out the newsletter this month.
Great as always!
Cheers
Susie W
I have fixed the
link – thanks – keep your eye out for more.
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Hi, Cathy,
It's been a
while since we've shared contact, though I'm still scouring
your wonderful
newsletter for new information.
Needless to say, it's
always readily
available! I loved reading about
making mistakes, being
able to do so in
front of one's students and using them as a problem
solving
opportunity. I tell my students
they can add 5 extra credit
points on any
assignment should they find an error I've made. Needless
to say, they
love it and usually pay closer attention to the materials
presented. It's a nice incentive, and it also
helps their grades.
You should also know
that I was able, thanks to you, to get to know and
visit another
schoolyard gardening teacher in Illinois.
We initially
connected
through your newsletter. Tracy and
I would like to thank you
for the
introduction, and we look forward to having an opportunity to
network with
others who might have similar projects.
Nancy S-G
Thanks Nancy
Always great to hear from you.
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I request your
permission to create a link
between your
website and ours at:
Thank you
Brad Woodbrook
http://www.side.wa.edu.au/schools/prim_school/index.html
Primary School
SIDE
Conquering Distance
Challenging Minds
Thanks Brad,
What does everyone think of Brad’s Site???
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Hi thanks for
your help on the middle ages. I
have another
question this
time on the Novel The Wave by Morton Ruhe.
If there are any
sites that have
suggested units
or relate to the actual event on
which the
book is based I
would be very, very grateful.
Thanks Andrew.
Is there someone
who can Help Andrew???
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Hi Cathy,
Thanks for all
the great links - I mostly appreciate the quality
of your
selections. My 5 yr old daughter is focusing on space
at the
moment. I have been searching
everywhere on the web
for a simple
animated orrery(that works!) of the planets moving
around the sun,
so she can have a greater understanding of the
different speeds
and orbits of the planets as they go around.
I have used all
the usual search engines. There
must be such
a site out there
somewhere surely?!!
Cheers
Susie W.
Hi Susie,
This one might
do:-
http://kids.f9.net.uk/flash/planets/about_planets.html
ciao
cathy
Thanks Cathy,
you are a gem!!! It is just what I
have been l
ooking for. You have no idea how many people I
asked about
this, and it had
stumped us all.
Cheers
Susie W.
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Hi Cathy,
Do you know of
any sites where I can send a 13 year old who is
learning German
to extend his studies and back up what he is l
earning?
Thanks
Glenda Begg
Hi Glenda,
A quick google
search should net you a wealth of resources,
her are a few to
start with
http://www.germanfortravellers.com/learn/
and of course
the BBC site is excellent
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/languages/german/dplus/index.shtml
There are also
some links from my site at
http://www.virtualteacher.com.au/esl.html
ciao
cathy
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To Cathy,
I got two
replies with an ERROR IMPERATIVE on both - and
I was unable to
read them.
Perhaps, we
could try again.
I'm looking for
an interactive site (games etc.. )for Year 3/4s
with the 100
demons (ie spelling words), plus a site that you
can enter your
own list of spelling words onto.
Also, I'm
looking for a site that tells me about any feedback
(to the Govt.)
from the Australian public on a proposed nuclear
dump in South
Australia. What are their views,
and do their
views hold any
power anyway.
(Whether they
have been consulted I'm unsure?)
PS - the sites you recommended on
McCarthyism were fantastic.
Thank you.
Hi Maria,
The Spam
assassin seems to be alive and well and living at the
CEO at the
moment. The only scrambled message
reports I
get are from
.catholic.edu.au maybe I am seen as a subversive
force for evil
by the CEO I don't know. I will add in my defense
that I did
theology through the catholic college of education at
some time in the
distant past - and passed with distinctions.
Spelling Demons
listed at:-
http://derekmcmillan.tripod.com/spelling.htm
Make your own
game at Quia or try some of the games already developed.
http://www.quia.com/pop/13123.html
ciao
cathy
Can anyone help
Maria on the on the Nuclear dump in SA???
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10. NEXT ISSUE Looks like the Circus is in town and letter
writing will be
on the agenda. Send in any Sports
sites that
are great. Have
a good fortnight.
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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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For information
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