For those in Australia the end of the teaching year has arrived or is just around the corner. With holidays approaching now might be the perfect time to find a good book to read and reset your thinking ahead of the start of a new year. Here are my favourite reads from this year.
With the Christmas Holiday's finally here this is the perfect opportunity to catch up on some of that reading which has been delayed while more pressing matters are dealt with. Here are the top items on my holiday reading list. With a project underway that explores a conceptual based approach to teaching mathematics there is a bias in that direction.
With summer in the southern hemisphere, long days combined with school holidays for school teachers create the perfect opportunity to relax with a good book. Here are five great reads that might spark some curiosity and keep the brain working over the break.
"For most children, school holidays are a chance to grow together as a family and time to take a break from classes (although we hope that learning continues!). But not all children look forward to school holidays. School may be their sanctuary from conflict and abuse from home or elsewhere. The most important, and often the most difficult step to safeguard vulnerable children is identifying that they are vulnerable in the first place, as the truth is often hidden very well. Safeguarding training is a yearly mandatory course in many parts of the UK, but are teachers confident at spotting issues and stepping in when needed?"
"So, congratulations! Perhaps you're the owner of a new iPad this holiday season. If so, you've come to the right place. Apple's tablet is incredibly easy to use, but there are still plenty of ways to set up and optimize your iPad to take advantage of everything it has to offer. Some of these suggestions may be obvious; others might not."
Two New Free Games!
Just in time for the Holiday Season - two brand new games! Test-N-Teach (TNT) is our new spelling game and Read-A-Word is our first-ever reading game. Both games are available to everyone!
It consumed every evening and at least one day of the weekend. I had no life and the cycle repeated itself every week until the summer holidays. I hated marking.
Oh, and by the way, it made no difference!
I was ticking and flicking, leaving comments that were far too generic and the marking often went unnoticed or unacknowledged by the students. So, I've stopped. Or at least, I've stopped doing what I was doing. Now, my marking is less frequent but makes a much greater difference to the progress of my students.
Valve, a game developer has released their hit game Portal for free with a series of educational resources targeted at teaching Senior Physics and Maths. Will be checking this one out over the holidays, but so far looks excellent.
CS Unplugged is a collection of free learning activities that teach Computer Science through engaging games and puzzles that use cards, string, crayons and lots of running around.
The activities introduce students to underlying concepts such as binary numbers, algorithms and data compression, separated from the distractions and technical details we usually see with computers.
CS Unplugged is suitable for people of all ages, from elementary school to seniors, and from many countries and backgrounds. Unplugged has been used around the world for over fifteen years, in classrooms, science centers, homes, and even for holiday events in a park!
After the holiday vacation some students will return to school determined to get organized and improve their grades. The following fifteen resources could help those students get a handle on managing their assignment due dates.
now that e-readers are cheaper and more plentiful, they have gone mass market, reaching consumers across age and demographic groups, and enticing some members of the younger generation to pick them up for the first time.
Kids are drawn to the devices, and there’s a definite desire by parents to move books into this format,” Ms. Vila said. “Now you’re finding people who are saying: ‘Let’s use the platform. Let’s use it as a way for kids to learn.’
I didn’t buy it until I knew that the teachers in middle school were allowing kids to read their books on their e-readers
the family used the local library — already stocked with more than 3,000 e-books — to download titles free, sparing her the usual chore of “lugging around 40 pounds of books
"Ever since the holidays, publishers have noticed that some unusual titles have spiked in e-book sales. The "Chronicles of Narnia" series. "Hush, Hush." The "Dork Diaries" series. At HarperCollins, for example, e-books made up 25 percent of all young-adult sales in January, up from about 6 percent a year before - a boom in sales that quickly got the attention of publishers there. "
What is Smilebox?
At Smilebox we believe that how you share your photos should be as memorable as the photos themselves. So we've designed a new way to bring your photos and videos to life.
Our simple application lets you quickly and easily create slideshows, invitations, greetings, collages, scrapbooks and photo albums right on your computer. With more than 1000 customizable templates to choose from, you'll find inspiration around every corner.
Whether you want to drop a photo into an everyday greeting, put together a slideshow for your sports team, or create a special holiday keepsake book, the result is professional and one-of-a-kind.
"Think of Stixy as your online bulletin board. Create as many Stixyboards as you like, one for each project. Use Stixy to easily organize and share:
* Your family's schedule
* Projects at work
* An upcoming holiday with your friends
* Your photos from your last bike trip
* Or share a file or two with a friend
Only you set the limitations for how you want to use Stixy."
"Think of Stixy as your online bulletin board. Create as many Stixyboards as you like, one for each project. Use Stixy to easily organize and share:
* Your family's schedule
* Projects at work
* An upcoming holiday with your friends
* Your photos from your last bike trip
* Or share a file or two with a friend
Only you set the limitations for how you want to use Stixy."
Recently I left the cold and dark of a Sydney winter and journeyed north to the warmer climate of Fiji. A jewel dropped in the warm waters of the Pacific, Fiji is a popular holiday destination for those looking for a tropical escape. This trip was very different from the norm. There would be no resorts, no five-star dining and my company was to be a group of 24 Year Nine students. It was to be a journey full of learning and insights into the challenges facing education.