collaborate, communicate, create
kerry
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Posts by kerry
Breaking the Cycle
Mar 10th
Have you checked out the Breaking the Cycle project yet? Kate Leeming has now been cycling across Africa since last October. The trip will continue until July this year.
You can view Kate’s blog posts (including some new videos!) and join the Breaking the Cycle ning to receive updates about the trip and resources. If you join the site please do share your own ideas, learning and resources.
Right now, there are links to help you connect to teachers in Africa, a post from the youth participant advisor at Plan, updates from participating schools, videos and more!Â
It really is a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the Millennium Development Goals, poverty, environmental sustainability and projects which aim to create positive change. You can find learning sequences, lesson ideas and resources on the wiki.
Great new features on the Global Sites
Dec 16th
Edublogs campus sites (which are what Global Teacher and Global Student are) have had an upgrade! There are a number of new features to check out. The content of this post has been taken from the Edublogger blog with permission. Thanks 
Add New Users
This is a nice simple feature, but very powerful tool for creating and adding new users to your blog in batches of up to 15 users.
This is the fastest way to add students quickly to your class blog — if they don’t have a username.
Off course this means there’s now four tools that create usernames slightly differently so here’s a quick summary of their differences.
Read the rest of the post at the Edublogger to find out about more cool features.
What can I do?
Oct 28th
One of the great things about the Global Teacher and Global Student blogs are the opportunities they offer for sharing fantastic practice.
We’ve collated some great posts on the ‘What can I do?’ page in Global Teacher. Many teachers want to know more about engaging their readers and we’ve included some ideas for how you might do this too.
What could you do?
Provide students with guidelines for writing a book review. Post them on your blog and encourage other students to respond to the books in the comments.
http://shclinc.global2.vic.edu.au
Take it further: encourage subsequent reviewers of the books to build on the comments of previous reviewers.
Write poems and encourage responses. http://56cblogfest.globalstudent.org.au/
Take it further: Provide brief instructions and ask commenters to share their own poetry writing.
Watch videos of stories and create your own. http://missrodda.global2.vic.edu.au/
Take it further: ask commenters to share their favourite examples of a particular type of story.
Set a collaborative challenge where students plan a trip using google docs.
http://murch.global2.vic.edu.au
Take it further: encourage students to share their learning in the comments.
More ideas: ‘What can I do?’
What about you?
What posts are you particularly proud of and why? Was it the great learning you were able to showcase, student involvement, interaction in the comments? Feel free to leave your examples in the comments, we’d love to hear from you!
Irresistible Ideas for play based learning
Oct 14th
Are you a teacher of play based learning or do you have colleagues who are? Even if you’re not, you’ll enjoy exploring this blog. Â
Created by two passionate Victorian educators, Sherry and Donna, it aims to showcase irresistible ideas for teachers who follow a play based curriculum. Their enthusiasm in palpable. Be sure to leave a comment!
Sherry says:
‘These days most of us explore the web for ideas, my assistant and I being no exception. We have struggled to find a site which is relevant to the Australian educational philosphy of play based learning and the developmental curriculum, so decided to set up our own blog as a resource for teachers, parents and tertiary students of children 3 – 8 years old. We call it “Irresistible Ideas for Play Based Learning”.
Its address is:Â www.playbasedlearning.com.au.
We are basically putting our own program out there and inviting others to share their ideas with everyone else as well. There are many people with fabulous programs which we never get to see or use because we don’t know about them or have a forum where these ideas can be exchanged.
Please take a look -Â we’d love your feedback!’
Don’t forget!
Sep 17th
Breaking the Cycle in Africa
Sep 2nd
Follow Kate Leeming as she cycles over 20000km across Africa, highlighting social issues along the way. The trip commences in October this year and continues until June 2010.
As Kate says: The purpose of the project is to learn firsthand about the causes and consequences of extreme poverty and through the story of the expedition which unfolds, educate and inspire actions which will assist in making communities more sustainable and resilient to the issues. Essentially this is about giving a ‘leg up’ NOT a ‘hand out’.
Visit the Breaking the Cycle website to find out more:
DEECD is supporting the project with the creation of four inquiry units of learning which are targeted at the middle years. A wikispace has been set up to store the units, which are being progressively uploaded. These will be finalised ready for use in term four:
A Breaking the Cycle ning, or collaborative website, has been set up for teachers and their classes to enable participating schools to connect to others who are also involved in the project. Any teacher is welcome to join the ning, although we encourage those that join to please be an active member of the project. You can view the ning without joining. You can dowload some guidelines for the ning at either the wiki or ning.
Email connect@edumail.vic.gov.au with any questions about the project.
Edit: There was an article about Kate in the Age on Thursday 2nd September. and you can hear her at http://url.edna.edu.au/H62r also she will be on twitter @btcycle when the expedition starts.
Connect and SLAV Web 2.0 Competition
Aug 12th
Are you doing some wonderful work connecting students using web 2.0 applications in your classroom … or keen to start? You might be interested in entering the Connect and SLAV web 2.0 competition 2009. What do you need to do? Work in a team to create a unit of work incorporating the use of web 2.0 technologies and submit it, along with an application form to Connect by Monday October 5th.
There will be two prize packages awarded to winning schools with a value of approximately AU$800 each. Wii machines have generously been donated by the International Digital Entertainment Festival (iDEF) and games donated by Madman interactive. Each package includes:
- Nintendo Wii ConsoleÂ
- Wii Sports
- Nintendo 7 in 1 sports kit
- One copy of each of the following gaming titles:Â Disney Think Fast, Ultimate Band, Bratz Kidz Party and Build A Bear Workshop
Please share this information with other teachers you think may be interested in entering! Visit the link or click the images to find out more.
We tell Stories
Jul 1st
Looking for exciting digital fiction for Secondary students? Check out We Tell Stories. Six authors. Six stories. Six weeks. Digital fiction from Puffin.
Based on the 39 Steps by John Buchan, this is ‘The 21 Steps’ – an adventure written and and designed for Google maps … ‘One minute, Rick Blackwell is sightseeing at St. Pancras in London; the next, he’s caught up in a conspiracy that takes him far away from home.’
This post is cross posted from the Connect blog. Check it out! For more great online story sites, especially for Primary students try the Online Story topic in Connect. There are 30 sites to explore!
Educating for Global Citizenship
Apr 21st
Interested in participating in a Global Project and looking for something manageable? Try ‘Educating for Global Citizenship’! It’s a wiki set up to allow students and teachers from around the world to share their experience about what makes a safe and peaceful school.
Participants can add pictures, stories and messages about what makes safe and peaceful schools and contribute to discussions.
Email Gary Shaw from Multicultural Education if you’d like to join the project. A page for your school will be created and you can get started! shaw.gary.r@edumail.vic.gov.au
