Category Archives: Uncategorized

Making use of our K-12 library again!

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Yesterday the Year 9 Child Studies students came to the IRC for their lesson . First they were taught about the stages of the development of literacy skills from birth to school age, with emphasis on the importance and inter connectivity of all forms of communication. The use of books, digital or print, as a foundation for literacy development was demonstrated with illustrations from baby’s first recognition of shapes on a page. The introduction of words that eventually introduce concepts of fantasy as distinct from reality was then discussed – the problems this can cause and the fun this can initiate.

The Year 9 students looked at the K-2 collection of books and as Year 3 was in the IRC ‘borrowing’ books at the time, their teacher allowed us to ‘borrow’ the students in 3B to read them stories and discuss their story choices. A great time was had by all!

The Book Fair has arrived

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Our annual Book Fair has arrived and is ready for the stampede tomorrow. Murray, from Scholastic came today to give ‘book talks’ to all the K-6 students and as usual they were engrossed and enthusiastic about all the new books. We had read The very cranky bear together for National Simultaneous Storytime earlier this year so the Kindergarten students were very excited to her the new Nick Bland book The very hungry bear.
The older students were shown a book trailer about how some of the new books are linked to online introductions and then for the actual ending of the story. This mix of digital, visual content with traditional hard-copy text is quite new and we will be interested to see how much the students enjoy this.

Technology forecasts – changes to teaching and learning

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This chart, by the United States Department of Labor Futurework, graphically illustrates where we might be heading over the next thirty years based on the rapid changes in technology today. A conclusion is reached: “Fifty percent of today’s grade school kids will end up at jobs that haven’t been invented yet.” Clearly we must be training students to be creative and inventive.
This is where Guided Inquiry, used at Broughton in many classes, trains students to pose deep, personal questions, discover, select and channel information from many sources to reach conclusions that assist in bringing about change.

Educators: Social Networking sites for your PLN

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So much change in so many areas makes it hard to keep abreast with educational research and developments. A well connected teacher has access to many people and new ideas with similar interests to their own.
This site offers access to selected social networks so that teachers can link to stay informed or to share their own expertise in an area of education.
This is Part 2 in a series. The Comprehesive Guide to The Use of Social Networking in Education Part 1 gives a clear explanation of social networking as it applies to education but this site – Part 2 – delves deeper

Some of the principal benefits of these networks is that they help you grow professionally and expand your knowledge base to include new ideas and concepts. To be a successful educator, we need to constantly engage in discussions and participate in the various communities of practice and PLNs available online.

Harnessing Social Media to Enhance Education

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There is no denying the impact Social Media is having in society today and this, of course, extends to schools, students and teachers.

There are a number of educators blogging and publishing online about this and I hope to link to a few here so we can assess for ourselves how we can collaborate and integrate social media into our pedagogy and ‘classrooms’ (wherever they might be). Online tools, Content Management Systems and Social Media in general can help us to create a classroom without walls and boundaries.

Here are links to a a few interesting items about the use of media and technology in the educational environment or on the implications of its use:

How Social Media can Enhance Schools as Professional Learning Communities

Digital Citizenship in Schools

Mitch Resnick: The Role of Making, Tinkering, Remixing in Next-Generation Learning

The New Wild West: Teens Navigating Ethical Decisions Online without a Sheriff

Book Week! “One world, many stories”

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Displays, online activities, and an author visit set the scene for a week long focus on books and reading.

Children’s author and humanitarian refugee worker Andrew McDonough visited Broughton for two days. On the first day he spoke to Year 11 about his work with refugees as they come into Australia. He then spoke to Years 7 & 8 about writing and illustrating books for children.

Andrew McDonough returned for another day and spoke group by group to the whole Junior School (K-6) about his writing and illustrating. His story telling was amazing and he demonstrated some of his digital illustrating techniques.