End of 2015

Okay folks - end of 2015 and now a six week break!

 It has been a busy year all round with lots happening and I think everyone is looking forward to the break coming up.

Thanks for all the fun, laughter and support throughout the year.  It has been awesome.

Farewell to the staff leaving us and wishing you all the best wherever you go.  

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all. 

Computer Coding and the Hour of Code

December 7th to 13th sees the 2015 Hour of Code run once again.  Every student should have the opportunity to learn computer science. It helps nurture problem-solving skills, logic and creativity. By starting early, students will have a foundation for success in any 21st-century career path. See more stats on code.org. 

This app is being offered free as an official app for the Hour of Code - see below. 
"Box Island: One Hour Coding - The #1 mobile tutorial for an Hour of Code™.  Officially featured by Code.org at https://code.org/learn.

Box Island purports to teach kids from 6+ about coding via a game and it’s currently free on the App Store https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/box-island-one-hour-coding/id1048373739

Take a trip on Box Island and help Hiro collect all the clocks scattered in the wilderness! In this fun mobile tutorial, students take part in a journey on Box Island that has been specifically designed for the Hour of Code™ campaign. Students are introduced to many of the basic fundamentals of coding through engaging puzzles in the tropical wilderness of Box Island.

Students are introduced to fundamentals such as:

* algorithmic thinking

* sequencing

* pattern recognition

* loops

* conditionals

* debugging

The tutorial is student-led and suitable for age six and up. The Hour of Code™ is a nationwide initiative by Computer Science Education Week and Code.org [code.org] to introduce millions of students to one hour of computer science and computer programming.

It could be handy for getting kids more involved in computers and computer science.

Digital FootPrints

Have you ever vaguely thought how 'convenient' it is that the ads that show up on the sidebar of your computer seem to be the sort of stuff that you are interested in?  Ever noticed that you don't ever really see anything other than your interests?  No?  Never thought about it?  Well, maybe you should.

The weblink below  takes you to a documentary about the web economy and privacy - or the lack of, mainly.  It is apparently personalised so everyone watching will have a slightly different experience depending on the computer they are on - and it hopes to make people think about privacy on the web, both theirs and others. Everything is driven by the almighty dollar, and how to separate us from our dollars.

Most of us have no real idea how we can be tracked by our mobile phone or how an advertising network operates, nor do we even really know how much information is being collected about us through our activities on the web. 

Check out the link below and see what you think.  
https://donottrack-doc.com/en/intro/

 And further to that, if anyone is interested, there is a book called 'The Filter Bubble' by Eli Pariser - which talks about how and when Google began customising results for it's users instead of giving a broadly popular result.  This quote from the author probably explains it clearer than I can.

"We’re used to thinking of the Internet like an enormous library, with services like Google providing a universal map. But that’s no longer really the case. Sites from Google and Facebook to Yahoo News and the New York Times are now increasingly personalized – based on your web history, they filter information to show you the stuff they think you want to see. That can be very different from what everyone else sees – or from what we need to see.
Your filter bubble is this unique, personal universe of information created just for you by this array of personalizing filters. It’s invisible and it’s becoming more and more difficult to escape."

Hmmm,  anyone else see the computers and the Internet taking over the world??  Or is that just me?? 
(Cue Twilight Zone music here) 

Games Day in the Library

On Friday we ran with the theme of International Games Day in the Library, which is an activity promoted by ALIA. (Australian Library and Information Association)   Various board games were set out, especially the ever popular Connect 4, along with Pick Up Sticks and Chess.
  
There were also a variety of Minute to Win It Challenges happening during recess and lunch as well, which were very popular with the students.... or maybe it was the M&Ms contest and eating them that was the highlight?

 Kalheel currently holds most of the top scores, successfully defending his title against all comers.  He came back when the lunch bell rang to go back to class, concerned in case he had been toppled off his perch, and was very happy to be assured that he was still top dog.


A couple of the boys challenged Mr Marday to a game of chess - so he took them both on at the  same time.  Very impressive!
 
On asking the students for feedback, it seems they all had fun, and would like to see more of that type of thing happening in the Library -so something to plan for - although maybe not everyday as was requested.  And nobody appeared all that upset that the computers were off-limits for the day, so bonus!  

A very enjoyable day for all involved it seems.  My thanks to the teachers who came in and helped supervise, and challenged the kids to some of the activities.

R.E.D. Book Awards

The RED Book Award is an initiative by Falkirk Council in Scotland to promote reading by raising awareness of new titles and encouraging teenagers to read, enjoy and debate (R.E.D) good books. This year is a celebration of 10 years, and ten secondary classes from different countries across the world were selected to participate with Falkirk schools. Students in Mrs Spina’s year 8/9 English class, in Tennant Creek, Northern Territory, were the lucky Australians chosen. 

Students enjoying the books

This week we received our lot of books. There are four different titles ‘Beneath’, ‘Inflicted’, ‘Salvaged’ and ‘Mind Blind’ all specifically chosen for 13 – 15 year olds. Students have already begun reading their first book in silent reading, and we have already had several requests to take the books home to continue reading!

Enjoyment and choice is at the heart of pupils’ experiences as well as the opportunity to develop listening and talking, reading and writing skills. 

Students with Dion

As participants, we have been teamed up with a sister school in Denny and we will be communicating and sharing our thoughts and views on the books. Some of our responsibilities as participants is to provide some fabric that represents us/Australia that will be added to a patchwork quilt that represents the selected schools and countries. Fortunately, after discussions with Mrs Boulter, she was able to organise our local artist Dion Beasley to provide a fabric piece featuring Dion’s Cheeky Dogs. Further to this, Dion very generously donated a copy of the book he illustrated ‘Too Many Cheeky Dogs’ for us to send to Scotland. Our librarian, Mrs Walsh is making a special bookplate and has also donated some other beautiful Australiana fabric featuring platypuses, kangaroos, koalas and Aboriginal artwork. Students in photography classes have also begun planning the visual images they wish to create and send, while others are planning a sleep over in order to Skype our new Scottish friends. 

If any blog readers have further suggestions or items to donate, please contact our wonderful librarian Shelagh Walsh, who first introduced us to the RED Book Awards.

It is a wonderful opportunity to read some fantastic short-listed books, as well as talk to students on the other side of the world. 

Massive thanks to Yvonne Manning and the Falkirk Council for including us in this exciting experience. 

Stay Tuned for book reviews and More!
(Guest Blogger this week is Mrs Spina)

Special Days

Just so you know, today is the International Day of Peace and also World Gratitude Day. What are you all grateful for today?
 
Thursday 24th September is Punctuation Day - probably a good one for English teachers and Friday 25th September is World Dream Day - a good day to start working on making your dreams a reality, whatever they are, even if it is just by figuring out where you need to start.  Doesn't this sound like PLP and Dream boards?

And just a couple more ready for next term - Wednesday 14th October is World Maths Day and Saturday 24th October is Make a Difference Day - which is a day designated for service - whether you start or join in with a big project, or just help out wherever you can in your community.

These days may be something that you can use in your planning - or just something to know about.

Either way - carry on with being amazing - and remember - it is week 10!!  A weeks break coming up - now there's something to be grateful for.
 

Deadlines and Mad Hatters.

Well, end of week 9 - just one more week to go to the term break - and although a week doesn't seem long enough, I think most people are going to enjoy a little downtime.  Term 3 always seems the busiest somehow. 

Senior classes are battling the last assignments with deadlines looming everywhere  and teachers are pouring in just as much effort, if not more, to help them get through, and everyone is getting just a little frazzled and frayed around the edges.   

Maybe we should start off term 4 with a Mad Hatters Day?  This is actually a recognised day to celebrate, believe it or not - which was started by a bunch of computer technicians who had nothing better to do.  The benefits of this day of silliness were immediately seen - not only because they caused less damage than if they had been doing their jobs, but also because of the side effects of less stress and tension if only for a day.  Sometimes being a little silly just helps to smooth out the ripples.  Mad Hatters Day is usually celebrated on October 6th, which is about when we return to school.  

Silly hats, riddles and cupcakes could be the order of the day, maybe with a prize for the weirdest hat or best unanswered riddle?  Or maybe some Minute to Win It games and competitions? It could be good for all our sanity, as I have been noticing a lot of ruffled feathers everywhere.  (Even mine have been fluffed up every now and then, and we all know what a sweet person I am!!)

Anyway, just my two cents thought for the  day and more 'Special' days to come next post.

Have a great weekend - and just think, last week of term starts on Monday - we can do this!

And again, QR Codes

Just thought I would share with you all the web site I use to produce the QR Codes I use here at school.  It is almost totally idiot-proof - and that is coming from me who nearly always manages to run foul of technology.

http://www.qrstuff.com/

Log on, have a play and see what you can create.

Serendipity and QR Codes

Serendipity.. 'the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way'.... and when you add my fascination with QR Codes to the mix... well, let's just say I had a good day.

While chasing something else, I came across a site with Reflection Questions built into QR Codes, and then turned into cubes that can be rolled and scanned, then answered.  I am guessing it would engage the students, as it certainly kept me entertained for a while, once I had printed and made up the cubes.  Check out the link....
 http://elenikyritsis.com/2014/03/28/qr-codes-in-the-classroom/

While I was browsing the fun stuff, I came across a couple of ideas for using an app called QR Voice. I haven't checked it out yet, but it appears that you can record messages, change them to a QR Code and have the students scan them and hear the message.  Hmm - must explore this further....
 http://librariansquest.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/mind-your-ps-and-qrs2.html

Anyway, aside from all of that, just a reminder that today is National Flag Day and Monday is World Literacy Day.

 Thank you for your patience with my soapbox ramblings - now carry on being AWESOME!! 

Student Data, Special Days and Unicorns

Believe it or not we are already looking down the barrel of the last quarter of the year!  Scary or what?

There are a couple of special days coming up in September that we should maybe find a way of celebrating... even if by just spending time reading.  
Whether silently, or out loud, or to other people or classes - can you think of a better way to celebrate Read A Book Day on the 6th September?  I know this is a Sunday, but hey, you know what?  We could be radical and do it on the Monday  - which would tie in very neatly with the fact that Monday 8th September is World Literacy Day!  

Of course, if it is fun stuff you want... then 6th September is also Pet Rock Day and the 9th September is for celebrating Wonderful Weirdos Day - and I know there are a few of those around.  I am pretty sure some of the students (and maybe the staff) would put me in that class - and I am quite happy to wear that tag. You need people like us around.

I am also sharing a link I came across on the MindShift site about collecting data on students.  Although I am not a teacher in any way, it made sense to me in terms of forging a good relationship with the students and although I believe we actually do a pretty good job of it here, maybe this post has a few more ideas that can be employed.  

http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/08/26/rethinking-data-how-to-create-a-holistic-view-of-students/

 Wishing you a great weekend, hopefully with more rain to come - and I will leave you with this thought:

'Always be yourself - unless you can be a Unicorn.  Then always be a Unicorn'

National Science Week 2015

National Science Week is happening now till the 23rd August and there are a number of links on the ABC Splash website to intrigue and engage your students.  Take a look and see for yourself.
http://splash.abc.net.au/newsandarticles/blog/

To celebrate National Science Week, you are being asked to think science and draw a blue-print of a great invention that would help to improve someone's life. The most creative invention could win a $30 ABC Shop voucher!  Your invention can be simple, complicated, realistic, futuristic or totally fantastical – follow your imagination!   Just draw your idea, scan it or take a photo or screen shot, and upload it… 

Read details at:

http://splash.abc.net.au/ugc-competition/-/u/1981315/get-inventing

Vocabulary, Word Power and Urban Legends.

I was asked to to find some resources that may be able to engage students and help out with vocabulary and word knowledge, and I thought that maybe other teachers would be interested in some of the sites that seemed to fit the brief. 

I have included what I think is one of the best for this; Freerice - a game that covers a lot more than just vocabulary as for every word you get right, 10 grains of rice are donated to help with world hunger - and it is a self-leveling game that adjusts to the vocabulary level of the person playing it, so it should suit all our students.  It isn't just words though, as there are sections for Maths, Science and Art... with multiplication tables to try out in the maths section.

Check them all out - and if you are wondering if you can really help world hunger by playing a game online, check the site out using Snopes.  Snopes is a site that ferrets out the truth about all those urban myths and legends and tells it like it is. 

 http://freerice.com/#/english-vocabulary/1538

http://www.eslgamesplus.com/fun-games/     (Printable board games)         

  http://www.manythings.org/vocabulary/

http://www.english-4kids.com/games.html

http://www.vocabulary.co.il/word-power/

http://busyteacher.org/13612-7-best-games-for-vocabulary-class.html 

http://www.snopes.com/

Gone Global Baby!!

Check out the latest stats for this blog!  For this week, we have had 59 hits from Russia, 12 from Australia, 6 from Hong Kong, 5 from the USA and 3 from France.  

 Who would've thought Russia would be reading it? Seriously?? We really have gone global... well for this week anyway.

Semester Two, Term three, Week two

Semester two and term three, week two  - and eight more to go!!  But who's counting??  

It has been a busy sort of a week here - Marngrook Footy Show, the KAGE group, lots of practising for various events in the Desert Harmony Festival which kicks off this evening and the Multi-Cultural Event on Saturday.  All of this has been happening along with the usual classes and activities.

Probably the highlight, I think, has been the talk given to our students by the Para-Olympian, Kurt Fearnley.  You could have heard a pin drop during his talk, and the students had lots of questions to ask - and there were plenty of them lining up to have their photo taken with him afterwards.

Enjoy the long weekend and really make it count.  It is the last one for the year! Lots of relaxing and READING.

Holiday break coming up.

Well, here we are - last day of Semester one - and it has been a busy one.  Everyone is ready for this break, staff and students.

Just a reminder to have all resources back at home in the Library for the 4 week break - both they and I will be much happier about that.

As a thought for the start of Semester Two, I came across a few special days....
On the 20th July, it will be Space Exploration Day, 30th July will be Paperback Book Day and the 1st Aug is World Wide Web Day.  The last one should be easy to celebrate - we just do what we always do, I guess.   

Chances are this is the kittens last day as they should go to their new homes during the holiday break - so anyone who wants a last cuddle, today is it. They would like to express their thanks for being so welcomed here.

Wishing you all a safe, enjoyable and relaxing break.  Make sure you include the time to curl up with a good coffee and an awesome book.  After all, recreational reading lowers the blood pressure and calms the mind.

Look forward to seeing you all in four weeks time to do this all over again. 

New Books ready to borrow

We have a few new books in the Library which are now catalogued and ready for loan.  Two of these are Picture Books, which may seem a little strange in a High School, but is often a less intimidating format for kids who are not overly confident in reading. These are viewed along the lines of comics and Graphic novels, which can then lead on to more 'mature' formats of reading. 

One is called 'My Country' and is by Ezekiel Kwaymullina and Sally Morgan and is described as a "vibrant, lyrical celebration of country".

The other is a brand new picture book just published, with the title of  'Chicken Clicking' and written by Jeanne Willis.  This is suggested as a "subtle introduction to responsible internet use." Taken from the blurb on the back; "One night Chick hops onto the farmer's computer and - CLICK - she's soon shopping for the whole farm!! But when she arranges to meet a friend she's made on online, Chick discovers all is not as it seems...."

The last item is a book written by Jack Heath and titled 'The Human Flytrap'  Obviously this fits the Horror Genre, and any doubts are removed by the cover itself with a crime style tape running across the back cover warning you that you are reading this at your risk. According to the blurb - "Josh lives in Axe falls - a town of mysterious disappearances, terrifying visions and unusual events.....What is really going on in Axe Falls? And will anyone survive long enough to find out?"

Come and have a look - and check out what else we have on the shelves while you are here.  Lots of new magazines to read as well, or you could borrow a board game to play, or challenge your mates to a chess game.

Library System Upgraded

Virtua, which is our Library Management System, has now been upgraded.  Aside from a few small glitches across the NT system, it all seems to be working  pretty well.

Fun part now is that I will need to learn the new ways of doing things.  I already know that the Inter-Library-loan area has become a whole lot more complex.  There will be further areas to be ironed out as it is a cloud-based system so a learning curve coming up - but hopefully not too steep.

Thank you for your patience while our system was down and while this has been happening.  It has been really appreciated.

Weblinks and Special Days

For those of us who use Pinterest, especially as a teaching tool, their new rules mean that everyone needs to have an account to be able to access whatever it is you have set up for students or staff.  This tends to make it a little - unfriendly, shall we say - for use in a classroom arena.

Below are a few links of similar on-line tools that may be worth taking a look at.  Comments were made on the TL list-serv that most of the Pinterest collections are able to be moved across to the Juxtapost site without too much of a problem - however I haven't tried it myself.

http://www.juxtapost.com/      (fast simple way to bookmark images)

https://sqworl.com/   (listed as Simple Visual Bookmarking for Educators)

http://www.pearltrees.com/     (organise all your interests)

Have a look and see what you think.

 Just out of interest, below are a few special days coming up that may be of interest to your class - or yourself.
Today (15th May) is Endangered Species Day, Tuesday 22nd May will be the International Day of Biodiversity, Tuesday 5th June is World Environment Day - and my personal favourite Tuesday 2nd June - Rocky Road Day.

Have an awesome weekend folks.

Library Management System

Just a quick note to let you know that Virtua is running again, albeit with a few little glitches. I can check out and in but cannot catalogue anything or update people's cards if they have expired.  For the moment, it is refusing to save to the database, so I am still using spreadsheets to keep records till we get it fully operational.

As the upgrade to the new fancy version is due middle of May, we may have to deal with it until then - but we are more or less back on track.

Thanks for your patience.

LMS & ANZAC Ceremony

Our Library Management System is STILL out - but we are at least getting phone calls from Darwin now, so hopefully we have reached the top of the action pile.  
The whole of the system is being upgraded in early May, so possibly they don't feel any urgency to get it going - and I can see them getting it operational and then we run into problems with the new one.  GRR.

As I said previously, please be patient when it takes longer than usual in here.  I am in no better a position - and have piles of items and pages of notes, just waiting for everything to come back on line. At least, I now have a spreadsheet that I can put people's names into, and scan the barcode, thanks to Carrie being so tech savvy.  (I really don't like spreadsheets!)

Also, I just wanted to congratulate everyone involved for a beautiful and very moving ANZAC Day ceremony.  I am so glad that we have these activities back on the agenda, and that the students got so involved as well.  

There are a couple of special days coming up in May that I thought you might like to be aware of:
1st May is School Principals Day and also Endangered Species Day
16th May is Biographers Day.

Hoping you all have an awesome week, and lets not forget it is a long weekend coming up.

Welcome back to Term 2

Welcome back to our own little patch of Paradise - looking forward to working together once again over the next 10 weeks.

Here in the Library, we have started back with computer problems - or rather, Virtua problems.  The school changed ISP providers over the break, and that has caused a hiccup with the Library management system, which is run from Darwin.  It is still out, despite all Kate's hard work in trying to get it running again and we are now waiting for the technicians in Darwin to make it behave as it should.  

I know it is a nuisance but please have patience.  I currently have 6 pages of hand written notes and 3 piles of returned books I can't do anything with till the system is back up.  I am no happier than anyone else, I can assure you.

Just for general thought if anyone can use it - April is Poetry Month and May is Reading Month.  Scholastic is running a 'Read more in May' competition which could be worth tapping into.  If you are interested, please see me. 

Also a general reminder that if there is anything that you think I can help you with, please come and talk to me.  I can cover a wide area of crazy bits of probably useless knowledge and I like challenges; (Translation; works well for coffee or chocolate.)

That's all Folks.  Now carry on being awesome!

Interesting Web Links

Below are a few weblinks that may (or may not) be of some use or interest to you.  It could be worth having a quick browse if you get a few minutes to see if they generate any new ideas.

http://www.edutopia.org/article/digital-citizenship-resources

http://www.schrockguide.net/qr-codes-in-the-classroom.html

http://www.bbcactive.com/BBCActiveIdeasandResources/QRcodesineducation.aspx

http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/10/5-excellent-videos-to-teach-your.html

http://splash.abc.net.au/home#!/home

Have a great weekend.

Latest Books in the Library

Just a quick post to let you know about two new books in the Library this week, already catalogued and ready for loan. 

The first title is a book that has been donated to the school by our Chief Minister and has been written by two local NT Historians who are based in Darwin.  The book is titled  'Battling: Territorians and their War" 
From the blurb on the back of the book:   This is the story of the Territorians war, of how  they battled for their country and then had to battle for the right to come home and rebuild their lives.  Eventually they triumphed and, out of the ashes of war, they created the modern Northern Territory. This book gives all Australians the chance to know and understand the human consequences of what happened to ordinary people during Australia's sternest test.


The other title is one that was requested by a student, and is actually not yet available in Australia.  Yay us!!  It won't even be released for publication here till the beginning of April.

It is number 5, and is the final one in the Virals series, written by Kathy Reichs and is called 'Terminal'.  It concludes the story of Tory and her Virals pack as they battle against another pack - The Trinity - who appear to be stronger than they are and are intent on handing them over to a mysterious government agency.  One Pack, One Territory! Who will win?

Come in, have a look, borrow one - or a few.  Then maybe write me a review that I can post on here.  Easy as!

Vale Terry Pratchett

Sad news today with the passing of one of the best fantasy writers I know.  Sir Terry Pratchett has died following an eight year battle with a rare form of Alzheimers.

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-31858156

He has long been one of my favourite authors, especially for his Discworld books with his subtle (or maybe not so subtle) satirical comments on humanity. Possibly his greatest character created was DEATH, who always spoke in capital letters.

Below are a few quotes of Sir Terry's that are favourites of mine;

*   Wisdom comes from experience.  Experience is usually the result of a lack of wisdom.

*   Real stupidity beats artifical intelligence every time.    (Hogfather) 

*   Humanity is a nice place to visit, but you wouldn't want to live there.  (Witches Abroad)

New Books here

Just to let you know that we have some new books available to be borrowed. 

One is called 'Tracy Tales' and is about the Darwin Business Community and how they survived the Great Cyclone. 

Also available for staff is a copy of 'Digital Photography Projects for the Classroom'.  This will be kept with the Teacher Resource materials in my office, if anyone is looking for it.

Following a request from a student, we now have the 'Maze Runner' trilogy here and ready for loan.  Apparently there is a fourth book in the series now as well so I will be looking for that as well. 

Also, just to let you know, the DVD of the 'Maze Runner' is also available for loan across at the Public Library along with loads of other titles, so it could be worth checking out what else they have to offer.  Drop in and say Hi to Kylie and Pam.

Clontarf and Cupcakes

I have just been lucky enough to receive a beautiful made-from-scratch cupcake, made by some of the Clontarf fellas and delivered with huge smiles, along with Happy Valentines day wishes. Looked good, tasted even better!

Thanks guys!  Awesome job.

World Read Aloud Day

http://www.readaloud.org/why.html

http://www.busylibrarian.com/2015/02/world-read-aloud-day-2015.html

World Read Aloud Day is Wednesday, March 4th, 2015. Last year over one million people in more than 80 countries celebrated this day of joy.

"World Read Aloud Day is about taking action to show the world that the right to read and write belongs to all people. World Read Aloud Day motivates children, teens, and adults worldwide to celebrate the power of words, especially those words that are shared from one person to another, and creates a community of readers advocating for every child’s right to a safe education and access to books and technology.
By raising our voices together on this day we show the world’s children that we support their future: that they have the right to read, to write, and to share their words to change the world."

Maybe 15-20 minutes spent reading aloud with your class is a good way of celebrating this day - whether you are reading, or you and your class are reading, it is all good.  Maybe we can have someone come in and read? To try and help get the students involved, we should all be modelling what we keep telling them to do - READ!

Any suggestions or ideas?  Maybe a brief entry on this blog about book choices, genres, etc. could get people interested? Share it with the students as well - this blog is for them as much as for the staff.

QR Codes with year 7s.

As some of you know, I have a fascination for QR codes, and using them for learning activities with students.  I think they could be used for most classes...well, I am still trying to apply them to Maths, but I am working on that one.

The last couple of weeks I have had 2 of the year 7 classes come in for a Library Orientation lesson, using QR codes to learn about each area of the Library and it seemed to go well.  At the end of the lesson, in most cases, they could show me all the various areas, and talk about the Library rules and why we have them. 
(I got a lovely thank you card from Mr. Lutwyche's class, which was awesome. Never had that before.) 

Congratulations to Flynn on winning the Swimming Carnival.  Well done!

Currently we have a display up in the Library with a Twitter theme - lots of birds and very short book reviews.  All the books to match are on the display shelf and ready for loan so come borrow a few, or more.  If anyone would like to get their class involved with writing short book reviews to be added to the display, that would be great. 

Also, if anyone would like to have class work displayed here in the Library, please come and see me - I would love it.  (Displays are not my forte, I must admit)

Library Display and Swimming Carnival

There is a display up in the Library with a selection of books to match, so come in, have a browse - maybe even borrow one, or a few. 
Many, many thanks to Carrie and Coralie for their help with this - you are both awesome!

Swimming carnival was the go for today - lots of red, green and blue happening everywhere. Wishing everyone good luck in being the winning team....though we all know it will be Stuart, of course.

Have a great weekend folks!

Games and Computer coding skills

With computer coding now being regarded as a 21st century skill, there are lots of sites, activities and so on to teach and enhance understanding of coding. Some of these are aimed at students as young as 5!

Below are a couple of links to go back even further than using a computer to develop these skills - using no-tech board games.  Check it out and see for yourself.  Couple of games that have scored high on the reviews are: Code Monkey Island and Robot Turtles.

http://venturebeat.com/2014/06/03/12-games-that-teach-kids-to-code/

http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/01/no-tech-board-games-that-teach-coding-skills-to-young-children

The site I took the second one from is called MindShift, and is one that I have linked on the blogroll on the right-hand side, and it is all about different ideas and thoughts on lots of subjects for teaching our students, not just computer coding. 

Also, just thought I would point out that March 5th is World Read Aloud Day.  Probably something worth celebrating, even a little, in your classrooms.  And February 14th is Library Lovers Day - just saying!

2015 - and a new school year.

Welcome back to everyone for 2015.  I hope you all had a nice relaxing break with lots of time spent with family and friends and are all refreshed and ready to go. And a big welcome to all our new staff as well - looking forward to getting to know you all.

Well, here we go - the start of 2015 and a whole new year of opportunities for books, and reading. How awesome is that? 

For the new staff - and a reminder for some of our previous staff - below is a list of some of what we can help you with. I put this list up each year, so if you go back through the posts, it is all there. Anything else? If there is something that you think we can help with, just come and have a chat. We have learned to be fairly good at pulling rabbits out of hats and we also like a challenge.

• Looking for a particular book or resource? Come and talk to us. We can organise an Inter-library-Loan or help you find where to purchase it.
• Resources: Books, DVDs, Magazines and Newspapers, iPad sets, Digital Cameras, Video Recorders, Computer Mice sets, Data Projectors, Teacher Reference, Board games, Chess sets, Kits........
• IWB area and a bank of computers, as well as laptops that are available to be booked for classes.  The Library laptop trolley is only to be used in the Library area, however.
• Help with research, proofreading of assignments, suggestions for books to read - we are your people.
• A place to display your amazing class work.
• Collation of websites for subjects/classes
• Booking sheets for: Library areas, F Block Laptops, Headphones, Ipads.

Students have a 2 week borrowing period while staff have a month. For most of the resources, we can adjust the loaning period for whatever is needed - at least till the end of term. However, this doesn't include the AV materials - that is a 1 week loan period only.

The big deal for us this year is the new way of using the DVDs.  No more borrowing a disk and playing it in your laptop..we have gone more upmarket and digital this year.  Thanks to Kate and her brilliant ideas, most of the DVDs are now on the server, and by following a few simple steps you can play it through your laptop without ever having to borrow a DVD again.  The school also now subscribes to TV4Ed so if there is a TV program that has been screened that you think would be handy with your class, please see me and I'll do my best to find it and and download it for you.  (All legal and allowed!)

Wishing you all a fantastic school year with lots of READING involved. Now carry on being awesome.