End of Term 3

Here we are - end of term 3.  That has come around quickly.  

Wishing everyone a relaxing and enjoyable break - lots of recharging so you will be all ready to come back and dive into term 4!  

See you then - and carry on being your awesome selves!!

Digital Citizenship Week - Lessons & Ideas

Digital Citizenship Week is coming up in October - and although this is primarily an idea from US - a lot of the ideas and lessons can be aligned with our classes here in Australia.  

In today's world, ruled by Social Media - these are probably good skills for our young ones to have.

Below are a couple of weblinks - two from the US, and one from NSW Education with some hints, tips and ideas.  

https://nearpod.com/blog/digital-citizenship-week-free-lessons

https://www.digitalcitizenship.nsw.edu.au/

https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-citizenship-week

More Edutopia Weblinks

See below for some more weblinks from Edutopia - that hopefully may be of some interest to you. These cover areas such as: Science, Math, reading and writing - and also STEM. Who knows, these may just give you some crazy ideas to run in the classroom that will TOTALLY get the students on board!! Miracles happen ... 

https://www.edutopia.org/article/fun-survivor-themed-classroom-activity-promotes-science-learning

https://www.edutopia.org/article/how-can-we-survive-mars

https://www.edutopia.org/article/quick-and-inexpensive-design-challenges

https://www.edutopia.org/article/connecting-math-and-science-reading-and-writing

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/why-origami-improves-students-skills-ainissa-ramirez

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/making-is-essential-to-learning-youki-terada

Read A New Book Month so Let's Celebrate!

 What a wonderful way to welcome spring in – September is also known as Read A New Book Month! To celebrate, all you need to do is pick up that book you’ve been meaning to start and finish it by the end of the month.

But for added fun we challenge you to pick up a book outside of your favourite genre. Are you a romance reader? Maybe have a look at some contemporary fiction suggestions. Or maybe biographies are more your cup of tea? Try out a fictional read instead and let your imagination run wild on the adventure.

Check out the Harper Collins Blog for September 2021 - 

https://www.harpercollins.com.au/blog/2021/09/

Enjoy some down time - reading is good for the soul and the blood pressure!

National Threatened Species Day

Today is National Threatened Species Day - and there are a couple of web links below to check out if you are interested.  

https://www.wwf.org.au/what-we-do/species/national-threatened-species-day

https://www.wwf.org.au/news/news/2020/37-million-animals-already-lost-due-to-lack-of-independent-cop-on-the-beat#gs.a85cu8

Carry on being your awesome selves!  

Teacher Magazine Articles on Digital Literacy

Below are a few articles from Teacher magazine on students and Digital Literacy - not just the reading and writing but the understanding and the knowing.  

It makes for some interesting reading - and I would bet my bottom dollar that a lot of adults would be in the same boat as well with very minimal deep reading skills. 

 It seems that, although we do our best to encourage students to read for pleasure, we rarely do the same for adults - and adults need to develop the same deep reading skills for all of the same reasons .. and, as is often said 'what you don't use, you lose!'

Although - to be fair .. just having someone READ, whatever they are reading - is seen as a win in today's world!  But then, if the skills are not being developed - can it really be a win? 

Take a few moments to check out the offerings below and hopefully there will be something to catch your interest. 

https://www.teachermagazine.com/au_en/articles/developing-literacy-skills-in-a-digital-world

https://www.teachermagazine.com/au_en/articles/critical-thinking-tools-the-crap-test

https://www.teachermagazine.com/au_en/articles/the-research-files-episode-25-why-young-people-are-easily-fooled-by-fake-news

https://www.teachermagazine.com/au_en/articles/developing-a-nation-of-innovative-thinkers

https://www.teachermagazine.com/au_en/articles/a-stem-program-to-develop-digital-literacy

https://www.teachermagazine.com/au_en/articles/adults-engaging-in-reading-for-pleasure

Conservation Days in September

September is going to be a busy month for conservation minded people.  Take a peek at the list below....

Days on the Conservation Calendar for September 2021

Sept - National Biodiversity Month
1 Sept - International Primate Day

4th Sept - International Vulture Day
5 Sept - International Day of Charity
7 Sept - National Threatened Species Day
12 Sept - National Bilby Day
18 Sept - International Red Panda Day
22 Sept - World Rhino Day
24 Sept - Save the Koala Day
26 Sept - World Rivers Day

Wattle Day

 Happy Wattle Day to you all .. please check the link below for all the info on this special day as per my post last year.  

The Special Ed class visited yesterday - and we talked about Australian Symbols and State Emblems.  Then they made some 3D Wattle pictures with pompoms that they could use for a display in their classroom.  It was great fun!  

http://barklycollegelibraries.blogspot.com/search/label/Wattle

Make it an awesome day!!