With swimming season well underway I thought it was a great time to share a new resource provided by Life Saving Victoria (LSV). LSV is using virtual reality (VR) technology to educate the community about water safety. They have 4 topics to explore:
Each virtual tour contains a range of ‘scenes’ which are 360 degree images. These images have interactive buttons that provide information about the scene. The virtual tours can be downloaded on the Google Expeditions App or can be used straight from the website on any tablet, smartphone or computer.
Each virtual tour also has a great range of cross curricular activities linked with the curriculum for Level 3 – 8.
Bully Stoppers provide 2 free interactive learning modules for teachers. These are designed to help teachers understand, recognise and manage bullying behaviours within schools. They are quick to complete, provide updated information and are a great refresher for all of us.
This module has been developed to support Department employees to:
address standards of behaviour in the context of social media tools
recognise that no matter what protection they place around access to their personal sites, online postings are still at risk of reaching an unintended audience
understand that intentional and unintentional inappropriate use of social media may complicate or threaten their employment.
The module is based on guiding principles of behaviour that are applicable under existing Department policies and guidelines. It will assist teachers to better exercise their professional judgment. The module should take 30 – 60 minutes to complete and can be completed over multiple sessions.
Bullying and Cyberbullying
This module, developed in partnership with Dr Ken Rigby (adjunct research professor, educational consultant and leading authority on bullying), has been developed as a practical guide to support teachers to respond and manage bullying behaviours within schools. The module will assist teachers to:
recognise bullying behaviours
identify how a student may be involved – as a victim, a bully or a bystander
recognise a range of methods of intervention that are available to address cases of bullying and when they can be most appropriately employed.
This module will address standards of behaviour and some practical interventions, rather than detailed strategies and procedures.
It is not designed to cover every conceivable situation but it will assist teachers to better exercise their professional judgment and take actions that support the wellbeing of their students.
This term Pip and I had the pleasure of attending a teacher masterclass with the very inspirational Linda Liukas. Linda is the author of Hello Ruby (a series of books exploring computer science) and is an advocate for getting woman programming globally. She is so worth listening to that the people at TED asked her to do a Ted Talk. You can watch it here:
“Hello Ruby is the world’s most whimsical way to learn about computers, technology and programming. The story started with a book, and now Ruby continues her adventures in exercises, games and apps. It’s suited for kids age 5 years and older (but even adults might learn something new).” -helloruby.com
Her workshop was brilliant – both Pip and I left with 2 of her books which we can share around to those who are interested. All of her teaching resources and lesson plans are free online here and her graphics and activities are very fun and engaging for students.
The second half of the workshop was hands on; we had to build a game using Scratch. The newest version of Scratch will be available to use on iPads which is fantastic news.
It is well worth taking a look at her website, she has videos aimed at teachers that might help you understand the concepts involved in Computer Science. She adds a little magic too which we all need a little of.
The Lost Summer is a role-playing video game, designed to be a highly engaging experience for 11-14 year olds while building digital intelligence skills and encouraging online safety. It is available to download for free in the iTunes App Store for iPad and iPhone.
The game is made up of five chapters, with each focusing on a key area of digital intelligence:
RESPECT – act respectfully towards others, acknowledging and appreciating that others may have different points of view, cultures and backgrounds.
CRITICAL THINKING – think critically about what you see online and ask questions to identify and analyse information that may seek to exploit or misinform.
RESILIENCE – be resilient and respond with strength and maturity when risks are encountered online.
RESPONSIBILITY – be responsible about what you say and do, by engaging positively with others and being accountable for your behaviour.
EMPATHY – be empathetic to others and use emotional intelligence to respect opinions, embrace diversity of opinion and freedom of speech.
How to use The Lost Summer in the classroom.
The game is designed for Years 5 to 8, it is a classroom resource which allows students to practise skills and generate discussions.
The game is split into ‘Chapters’ which do not have to be played chronologically. Each Chapter is centered on a key theme of Digital Intelligence (as listed above).
Similar to a ‘choose your own adventure’ concept, each Chapter allows the player to make decisions that demonstrate their personal maturity and capacity to relate to others appropriately.
Each chapter has a lesson plan and accompanying student slides designed to help teachers facilitate discussions around the implications of the decisions students make during the game.
With the new iPad sets around the school I thought it was an appropriate time to share related professional learning for teachers.
This year the Office of the eSafety Commissioner has created a new teacher training program for online safety named, “Safety and Respect Online”.
This program includes three hours of professional learning through live webinar participation and the completion of a quiz.
All teachers, and related staff, who complete the program will receive a summative infographic containing key learnings and a participation certificate.
To participate in Safety and Respect Online, register to attend each of the 3 webinar topics during 2018 listed online. Dates are available in June, July, August and September both day and evening times. Click here to see the dates!
Topic One: Respect and Online Relationships
By the end of the module teachers will be able to:
discuss and identify relationships and behaviours that may lead to harm
identify teaching strategies and policies to encourage respectful online relationships, including:
personal and social capacity building and
techniques to assist in managing emotions and building an understanding of online resilience.
Topic Two: Preventing and Managing Cyberbullying
By the end of the module teachers will be able to:
understand the challenges of cyberbullying in the classroom
identify a range of evidence-based strategies for preventing and dealing with cyberbullying issues when they occur, including:
strategies for encouraging helpful bystander behaviour
the process for reporting issues to the Office of the eSafety Commissioner.
Some fantastic opportunities to preplan for our Term 2 Big Idea of Life Below Water. Some awesome FREE virtual excursions are on offer from both the Museum of Victoria and Zoo’s Victoria. Here is a great one that links with environmental issues facing marine wildlife.
and also this virtual excursion about how mobile phones are contributing to the gorilla habitats which links to our Term 3 Big Idea of Life on Land…
Have a chat with your teams and you can book via the below link:
Maroondah City Council are offering a free information session on empowering young people and carers to manage online issues. The session is suitable for parents, grandparents, carers, teachers and educators. The session is being run by the Office of the eSafety Commissioner who we have had present at our school before. The presenter was very knowledgable and engaging and the information was current with great supporting research. It was an extremely worthwhile session.
Date: Wednesday 7 March Time: 7pm to 9pm Venue: Karralyka
“Children are exposed to online content in their preschool years. Behaviours like cyberbullying begin at primary school. Peer pressure can cause poor online decisions for many teenagers. Hear from the Office of the eSafety Commissioner on empowering parents and carers to help young people manage online issues. Commit to your child’s online safety by attending this presentation from one of Australia’s leading online safety experts. eSafety is important for every child aged from 1 to 18 years old. “
BANQER is an online learning platform to develop students understanding about money and saving. Although there are many apps and programs out there that ultimately do this, Banqer is better designed and more thought has gone into the functions of the program.
Originally designed and made by teachers, for teachers, Banqer has a range of functions that help students develop their financial literacy during primary school. What ultimately sets Banqer apart from the rest is that it centrally controlled by the teacher. We get to see who has what, schedule payments for things such as class jobs, and monitor student progress. Currently in Grade 6, we use an App called Cash Flow. Although good, it is more difficult for teachers to see or keep progress of student saving and withdrawals.
Banqer is set up with different modules. There is simple banking, but then it moves into ‘Income and Careers.’ In this module, students can be paid on an ongoing basis from the teacher depending on their classroom job. After this stage, more in-depth modules are available to give students an understanding of how the real economy works. Modules on Superannuation, Tax and Property allow students to see the functionality and real life application of money and savings. Furthermore, the people who have designed the program have a huge resource bank (pun intended!) of lesson outlines and resources for teachers to help best deliver learning programs.
We have been in contact with staff from Banqer this year, and one of their staff members, Liz, came out to do a PD with some staff here a few weeks ago. We are keen as a school to get on board to see how well we can use Banqer. I have been in contact with Liz and she is going to come out early next year to give us a full run down of how it operates.
We are hoping the program would look like this:
Grade 4 – Simple Banking (including interest on savings)
Grade 5 – Income and Careers (inline with classroom jobs in Grade 5)
Grade 6 – Super and Tax.
With this staggered structure, it will prevent students from being overloaded with information and allow new things to be learnt across their time using the app. Currently, Banqer has sponsored spots for students. I have spoken to Liz and she has said that she will guarantee sponsored spots for all students we sign up to Banqer.
We would love to get on board this excellent program next year, so please have a look around by signing up today for free!
We’re winding down for the end of the year and it is a great time to reflect on the year that was and start planning for the year to come. Here are a few new opportunities available to us in 2018 that may interest you.
This is a new initiative run by the DET Digital Learning Team. They are collecting information on topics that classes will be exploring in 2018 in the hopes of connecting classrooms together.
“Do you want to link up with classes learning the same thing your students are? To share your students learning, give them a real audience and purpose?”
If you register your class or year level, it will ask you what topics you will be exploring each term. If they are able to make an appropriate connection they will help the teachers connect and provide technical support. They may also use this information to approach external experts that could support a virtual learning session for multiple schools who are looking at the same topic.
Topics for 2018 get updated every few months so you can see what others have done. So please still register your class with other topics and hopefully you will get connected with other classes exploring the same topic. It will be very interesting to see what will be achieved by Collaborative Classroom Connections. We are very lucky to have the Polycom Unit available to us, so if this is something you might be interested please register!
This ABC TV Series is now available through FUSE. It is a comedy series where every episode takes place during morning snack time.
“Little Lunch is a clever look at 15 highly important minutes in every child’s day. The program follows six students as they over dramatize and embellish stories and their teacher Mrs. Gonsha who has to navigate these tales. It focuses on the way that kids tell stories involving jokes and visual gags to make even the simplest of things seem grand and adventurous. The legends of the playground and the battle between junior and senior students, the absence of a classmate that causes wild theories, and the setup of a band are among some of these tales. Based on the book series written by Danny Katz and illustrated by Mitch Vane.” IBDM
Little Lunch tackles the big issues in the school playground. Every episode is self contained and is recognisable, relatable, funny, moving, and positive. Suitable for Grade 3-6.
FUSE also provides individual English and Cross-curricular mapping attached with learning and teaching ideas.
Many Virtual Excursions are provided free through the DET Digital Learning Team. SeaLife has already updated their dates for 2018 for classes to register. Next years topic will be Marine Debris. Other topics will be updated throughout the year. Zoo’s Victoria also provide a number of great virtual excursions so keep an eye out. Their calendar is updated here: http://lv2vl.global2.vic.edu.au/calendars/
Session 01 – River to Sea Wednesday 7th March 2:30-3:10
Session 02 – Amazing Reefs Wednesday 2nd May 2:30-3:10
Session 03 – Ocean Predators Wednesday 1st August 2:30-3:10
Session 06 – Penguin Party Wednesday 17th October 2:30-3:10
In the past, virtual excursions have been really worthwhile experiences. If you need any assistance with setting up the Polycom I am more than happy to help!
Thanks to those who made it bright and early last week to our final Techie Brekkie for the year. Nathan did a brilliant job showcasing the new iOS update and how it might be useful as a teacher. We also looked at how we can utilise Pic Collage more in the classroom and had a quick review on Google Drive. A big thank you once again to Nick for organising and preparing breakfast.
If you weren’t able to make it, you can view the presentation here.
