Banned Books Week

Banned Books Week is from 18th Sept to 24th Sept and is about censorship and not allowing people the freedom to read, understand and make their own choices.  

The theme for 2022 is:  'Books Unite Us, Censorship Divides Us'.  

Currently there is a small display up in the Library about banned books - mainly just with the titles that we have in the school.  These are not books that are currently banned - but are ones that HAVE been banned at some point, along with the reasoning as to why they were banned.  I haven't added the Bible to this, as we no longer have it on the shelf - but even that has been banned at some point.  

Surprisingly, the display has generated some discussion (and even indignation) from a number of our students - which is fantastic!  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_books_banned_by_governments

https://theconversation.com/ca/topics/banned-books-week-31602

https://www.harpercollins.com/pages/banned-books-week

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-23/dangerous-and-deeply-disgusting-books-once-banned/11421108

https://apnews.com/article/libraries-american-library-association-book-banning-af7c9f312266b572c3dc189b1d109de4

Edutopia Weblinks on Reading and Literacy

A couple of articles from the Edutopia website on Literacy, Reading and using comics and Graphic Novels.  

Using Comics and Graphic Novels to Support Literacy | Edutopia

Is it Time to Drop ‘Finding the Main Idea’ and Teach Reading in a New Way? | Edutopia

Take a look if you get a few moments and see what you think. 

Links for Digital Citizenship Ideas

 Digital Citizenship Week is coming up in Term 4 - so I have added a few links that may (or may not) be of some use.  

The first one is a quiz about digital citizenship - are your students good digital citizens?  This quiz may help you find out. 

The second one is an updated version of a Digital Citizenship Survival Kit, as sometimes a visual thing can have more impact than any words you can say.  I have blogged about this one before - but the teacher has now put up an updated/improved version with his reasons for each item.  What do you think? 

And the last one is from Commonsense.org, with information and ideas. 

https://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=andretrace_1

The "New and Improved" Digital Citizenship Survival Kit - A Teacher, Coach & Dad (craigbadura.com)

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

The Internet & our Brain - Monday Musing

Something to think about on a Monday morning - Is Google (and FaceBook, Twitter and all the rest) making us stupid? Is the Internet changing our brains? How many of us can remember information any more? Or is it just that there is SO much information available that we cannot process it as we used to? 

And, are we all becoming trapped in a filter bubble of our own making? Some experts have been warning about this for at  least the last 10 years or so, and with all the talk about Fake News, it does seem more topical than ever. 

Maybe the real question is - does it really matter? This is the reality that our students live in so can we change it? Do we need to? 

When you have some spare time, maybe check out the websites below and see what you think. 

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/aug/15/internet-brain-neuroscience-debate

https://www.nbcnews.com/better/lifestyle/problem-social-media-reinforcement-bubbles-what-you-can-do-about-ncna1063896\

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8ofWFx525s   TED Talk on Filter Bubbles  - Eli Pariser

Digital Reading vs Print reading.

If you get a chance, take a moment and check out this infographic from Teacher magazine about students reading habits.  

I was interested by the point made that most students who read paper style books usually score at least 30 points higher on most standard tests, and those who read digital books usually only score about 15 points higher.  

It has been found that text learning was less effective on screen than on paper - mainly because the brain will process digital reading differently to how it does with reading from print.  

Infographic: Student reading in a digital age (teachermagazine.com)

Special Days and Months Term 3

 Every month of the year - there are always special days to celebrate, or to support something.  Below are a few for August and the start of September.  There are plenty more - maybe something to generate a conversation?  

https://www.ourcommunity.com.au/

August is the month for the MS Readathon - and the period of August to October is the Great Northern Cleanup - like Clean Up Australia Day - but at a better time of year for those of us living up here. 

Great Northern Clean Up

Organisation: Clean Up Australia

The Great Northern Clean Up, an event of Clean Up Australia, takes place during the months of August, September and October - a time of year which is more suitable for communities living in the tropical North.
Since the campaign started in 2009 more than 30,000 volunteers have removed the equivalent of 1,800 ute loads of rubbish from 813 sites north of the Tropic of Capricorn. 

This year the event is taking place during the months of August-October when an estimated 3,851 volunteers have already removed around 277 ute loads of rubbish from 126 sites across northern Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland.

National/State: National

Phone: 02 8197 3412

Email: community@cleanup.com.au

Website: www.cleanup.org.au/the-great-northern-clean-up

MS Readathon - One month challenge

Organisation: Multiple Sclerosis Limited (MSL)

The MS Readathon is a reading-based fundraiser run by Multiple Sclerosis Australia (MSA). It encourages people of all ages to read and improve their literacy whilst at the same time raising their community awareness and empowering them to make a difference in the lives of people living with MS.

National/State: National

Phone: 1300 677 323

Email: msreadathon@ms.org.au

Website: www.ms.org.au

Footy Colours Day  1st Sept

Organisation: Fight Cancer Foundation

Fight Cancer Foundation's Footy Colours Day is a national community fundraising campaign that helps kids with cancer keep up with school. Join thousands of Australians by wearing your favourite team's colours and hosting an event at your school, organisation, group or club to raise much needed funds!

National/State: National

Website: www.fightcancer.org.au/footy-colours-day

Wattle Day     1st Sept

Organisation: Wattle Day Association

Wattle Day is oriented towards the future, encompassing positive virtues in the celebration of Australia and the Australian spirit.

National/State: National

Email: President@wattleday.asn.au

Website: www.wattleday.asn.au/

Collective Nouns and Librarians

A discussion has been happening on the TL listserv just recently about collective nouns - and what would be the best suggestion for a group of Librarians.  Yes, I know ... the things we do! 

Below are some of the suggestions that have been made - what do you think? Personally, I like the idea of a community of librarians or a web of librarians.... however does anyone have any other suggestions?

A catalogue of

A web of
A gripe of
A genius of
A Dewey of
A Google of
A database of
A collaboration of
A community of
A full text of
A Boolean of
A shoosh of
A hush of
A coven of

For anyone that likes words, especially collective nouns - check out this site:

http://www.annexed.net/bthree/nouns.html

While we are talking words... A couple I came across a fair while ago are meant to describe the feeling you get when you enter a search into Google and find yourself faced  with millions of pages to troll through.  What do you think of the words gazillionised and info-whelmed? Descriptive?  Or otherwise? 

Language is a wonderful thing, isn't it? 

Weblinks from Common Sense Education site

 Please take a look below for a few links that may be of some interest to you. The GameMaker one could possibly be used in the Digital Tech Electives, was my thought?  

Anyway - have a browse, see what you think.  These are a cut n paste from the Common Sense Education website, which has lots more ideas on it as well. 

Here are a few of our newest Common Sense Selections for Learning:

• Buncee (Free and Paid): This presentation tool perfectly blends top-notch learning content—including great pre-made SEL lessons—with a friendly design that makes it a delight to use every day. 
• GameMaker (Free): This tool makes it easy for kids to go from playing games to making them. What's more: It can work equally well for novices and experts—even some pros use it to create and publish their games!
• iCivics (Free): This classic collection of social studies and civics-related games comes with a ton of teacher materials. And while the games vary in style and depth, they all bring to life topics that can seem abstract at first.
• Kialo Edu (Free): If you're looking to help students fight against their biases and consider all sides of a debatable issue, then Kialo Edu is worth a look. It offers a collaborative and pretty neat visual system for how to break down a tough topic. 
• Quizizz (Free and Paid): This one's been on our radar for years and has steadily climbed the ranks. Now, among the dozens of other options for quizzing, Quizizz stands alone. We love its customizability, and how it can now function as a quiz tool or a lesson delivery platform. It's even got video and audio responses.

https://www.commonsense.org/education/top-picks/best-tools-to-make-games

Fact Check Explorer tool

 I found this on the Australian Teacher Librarian website and thought I'd share it with you. 

It could be handy for anyone checking on whether something is 'fake news' or misinformation.  I usually use Snopes.com - but this one could be easier for students to navigate. 

https://toolbox.google.com/factcheck/explorer

Semester 2 2022.

Welcome back - Semester 2 and here we go again. 

The new timetable is out and I have updated the booking sheets - hopefully I have it right.    Any extra bookings that teachers may have had last semester are now cleared, so if you need something, it is a first come, first served basis. 

A reminder that the keys to the laptop trolley in the Science lab need to be booked/checked out through me so that they don't grow little legs and disappear. 

Also a reminder that if you are looking for anything that may have screened on TV, I can have a look and see if I can access it from our TV4ED system and download if possible. 

Any questions, please ask.  

You've got this!!

End of Semester One

 School break is upon us!  

Make the most of it - and enjoy some quality reading time.  Research suggests it calms the mind and lowers the blood pressure - something we could all probably do with about now. 

See you all back here for Semester 2 - bright-eyed and bushy tailed.  

Edutopia Links to check out

 A few links to check out and see if there are any hidden gems that you can use....

https://www.edutopia.org/article/5-review-activities-kids-actually

https://www.edutopia.org/article/simple-strategy-encourage-student-reflection-and-improvement

https://www.edutopia.org/article/using-inquiry-based-learning-create-culturally-responsive-classroom

Freerice Game - with a myriad of categories to try out.

An oldie but a goodie - Freerice is an educational online game that helps kids with Vocabulary, Maths - including Times Tables and Basic Maths - along with a wide range of extra categories, such as: Flags, Countries, Ancient History, Movies, Quotations, Chemical Symbols, Biology, Languages, Foods of the World, Current Affairs.... 

For each correct answer, 10 grains of rice are donated to feed people dealing with famine in Third World countries through the United Nations World Food program.  

The best part? The game is self-levelling so it adjusts to the level the kids are working at, but keeps making it a little more challenging to increase their capabilities, without making it so hard that they don't want to do it. I realise that many of the subjects probably sound out of the park for a lot of our kids - but because it adjusts to their level, it isn't beyond the realms of possibility. 

https://freerice.com/categories

This could be useful in most learning areas - maybe a class competition? Teams to compete against each other?  Hmm - maybe a teacher competition??  😉

Check it out when you get a moment.