I think I have added the most vital things to my blog to hand it over to Alec. However I have so much more I want to add. Like lots of cool videos to make it a bit more fun, links, projects, etc but I know I just have to stop today and can add to it tomorrow and forever. Thats the great thing. I can just keep my blog going and add and change it to suit me.
I did really want to add some papers and units of work to share with anyone that was interested but for some reason, my virus infested computer or my illiteracy and forgetfulness is restricting me from doing it. It just wont upload no matter how many times I press browse.
So anyone have ideas as to what I could be doing wrong on what i thought was a simple process please give me a hoy and let me know.
Thanks Alec for helping me set this blog up. Its a great tool and I know I will continue to use it through my education and teaching career.
This is our final tech task. It’s about the decisions we have to make in a world full of choices. No one can make up their mind or speak with certainty because we are bombarded with products and choices all telling us they are the best ones to choose.
We used imovie to make it and the the song behind it is ‘Everybody’ By Martin Solveig. Hope you like it.
Over the last few weeks or more our ECMP (computers) class was asked to mentor and comment on two classroom blog sites. We were able to make view and make comments on a senior maths class’s blog or a grade 4 classrooms blog. Initially I wasn’t very enthusiastic about the idea and found it hard to make comments to the class. I was unsure about the actual benefit students would get from working with a blog and was a little concerned about how I would use this idea in my future classroom and school without other teachers and parents having a problem with it.
However, that all changed once I started to view the blog sites more and read the comments students had posted about the lessons they had just learnt. It made me realize how beneficial having a class blog is. Students are able to clarify their learning by posting on their blog. They practice the terminology of topics but also learn how to put ideas in their own words which increases their understanding and there is a better chance that knowledge and understanding will go into their longterm memory. Blogging is like an online journal except better. I think the fact that it is an interactive tool that people can discuss topics, ask questions, make comments, give praise, and show off their skills makes it more education for each student and more relevant to students because it uses the internet which we are all we are all involved in now.
The saying is so true, what you don’t understand you are afraid of. This project and these blogs changed my view of blogging and interacting with people on the internet. I realise everyone still needs to be very careful but I am not afraid of implementing this idea into my classroom anymore. These blogs model great structure and content that any teacher could build a something off. Its fun and gives children a great sense of pride to know that you, their teacher thinks their thoughts and knowledge is good enough to share with others and it gives them independence that is so important to learning and critical thinking.
Here are the two blogs that we have been looking at. Check them out if you haven’t already.
For all those people who aren’t from Australia you may not know about our curriculum documents.
I’ve been working with the Saskatchewan Evergreen curriculum since being here and have found it a little challenging to sort through, especially the paper document. That folder is terribly organised. The online version is much better but I just thought anyone else reviewing my blog might like to check the New South Wales curruculum documents. Every student and Teacher is required to have a hard copy of what we call the Syllabus which is all the outcomes and indicators or objectives students in each grade need to accomplish each year. The online version is a PDF but it is still pretty good to sort through. We also have a curriculum document called modules. The modules are lessons you can teach for each topic and grade.
It comes under the the NSW board of studies curriculum but i’ve linked a few of the key learning areas or main subjects below. I hope anyone has a look through and maybe you can gain some extra or grab a few lessons for future teaching.
This is the link to the Board of Studies Primary (Elementary) curriculum site – http://k6.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/
> On the left hand side there is the list of subjects, maths, english, etc
Anzac day – Australian and New Zealand Army Corp > remembered every year on the 25 of April.
In rememberance of these troops who were sent to Galipoli to fight the Turkish in WWII. When approaching the shores in boats at night they were directed to the wrong beach by the English and instead of landing in a position where they had cover and could surprise the Turkish forces they landed on Galipoli cove which was a cliff. The Turkish were waiting at teh top and the ANZAC’s had no place to take cover from their gunfire. Thousands of Australians and New Zealand’s died but they still managed to dig trenches into the cliff and fight there way up. The troups stayed at Galipoli fighting for months. The Australian women made biscutes to send to the troops in the trenches. These biscutes are now called ANZAC biscutes. They were and excellent source of food for the men because they have rolled oats in them for energy and very little dairy products so they keep for a long time.
Bake ANZAC biscutes with your class.
Incorporate the measurements of ingredients and oven temperature with maths learning in class.
Recipe:
1 cup rolled oats 1 /2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup plain flour 1 tablespoon boiling water
3/4 cup coconut 3 tablespoons Golden syrup
1 cup sugar 125 grams of butter
In large mixing bowl combine oats, flour, coconut and sugar.
Melt butter and golden syrup in a bowl – don’t let it boil. Combine the baking soda with the boiling water then mix with butter and golden syrup. Mix into dry ingredients.
Mixture should not be too dry. Its ok if its quite oily from the butter.
Take spoonfuls and roll into balls, place on greased tray and flatten a little. Space them out as they will expand and may join together if too close. Bake in oven at 150 degrees celceus for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool on tray.
What a fantastic idea! This is a great way students can become aware of their global position and global influence. These tools are great fun and develop students cognitive awareness of global concepts. It can be challenging for some students to really grasp the whole world concept. Students can learn about different places and find similarities and differences between cultures by interacting with students from another country. The fact that students can develop their understanding about global concepts such as the importance of environmental sustainability and being environmentally friendly is very important to me and our future and the fact that this simple tool can help develop this understanding is great.
Note: Online way to save photos. You can download the program onto your computer to save and edit photos and/or you can have a web page that shows off your photos for friends and family to see.
