Technology in our classroom

One of the most important parts of blogging is continuing conversations.  This means readers have to read many blogs and leave lots of comments.  If you read a great post and decide to write a similar post on your blog, then it is manners to include a link to that original post where you got your idea from.

So this week’s challenge involves visiting the ‘Bringing us Together’ blog and reading the post about heroes, taking part in the survey and leaving a comment. Some of you might want to write your own post(with a link back to the original) about someone you consider to be a true hero or heroine.  Be careful to spell heroine correctly on your post.

War often brings heroes and heroines to our notice and while I have been ill over the last few weeks, I have been watching a lot of TV on the History channel.  A person I consider a heroine is Vivian Bullwinkel and a hero is Sir Weary Dunlop.

Thanks to Miss Ale and her grade six class in Argentina for the idea for this post.

Original image: ‘Hero of the Soviet Union‘
http://www.flickr.com/photos/44124385307@N01/95230930
by: Kees de Vos   Released under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License

As there are some classes in grade 6/7 who are blogging and others that don’t have that chance, I have created a single middle school blog for all students in grade 6/7 at our school.  All students will become users of the blog and if you want to be an editor with the privilege of publishing posts directly on that blog, then please visit the blog and leave a message.

On your personal blogs you have adminstrator rights, which means you can make all changes as needed, but as a user on the middle school blog you will have less rights.  If, though, you are prepared to help the teachers run the blog, then we will give you further rights as an editor or author.

Please visit the new blog and leave a comment.

Original image: ‘3:30 PM-Web Team Works After School‘
http://www.flickr.com/photos/83955435@N00/7701596
by: Judy Baxter

Released under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License

Welcome back after your Easter holiday break.  I hope you all had a great time.  I wonder what you did?  Perhaps you could write a post about it in your blog.  Also with ANZAC Day coming up this weekend, I would be interested in knowing:

• What do you know about ANZAC Day?
• What was the event that began the tradition of ANZAC Day?
• What does ANZAC Day feel like, sound like and look like to people taking part in the parade and to people watching the parade?

This is another great post to be completed by Friday.  Make sure you have done some research and know your topic.  If you visit the website for the Australian War Memorial you will find lots of information and you might also find some images you could use. Remember to give attribution like I have for this photo (tells the readers where you got the photo).

You might also find some information from these BTN websites:  one about ANZAC Day and the other why people joined up. 

From Picture Australia:  www.brisbaneishome

070425 Anzac Day March, April 25th 2007, Adelaide St, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia-52

Flickr

If you look down my sidebar, you will see I usually have links associated with the topic my students are studying.  But where do I get these links and how do I know if they are going to be alright for my students to use?

I am thinking of looking at the topic ‘Adaptations in nature’ and have found these two links.  They look quite good as the video is made by the BBC – a reputable company and the other link includes a recommendation by a University Professor at our local university. 

Challenges this week

Would you recommend I add these to my links?  Why or why not? Leave a comment here on this post.

Write a post about an animal that you would like to see in the wild.  See if you can add a link in your post to a webcam or video and some websites about your animal.  Why do you want to see that animal in the wild rather than at a zoo?

Teachers – you might want to do something in class about verifying sources.  Do you have any other sites you use when teaching this topic to your students?

I have just been to a website which allows you to put in your name, and they will then write it in hieroglyphs.  I did a print screen and cropped the picture to put it in here for you to see.

I have always loved anything Egyptian and have actually visited there and climbed through one of the pyramids.  I also went on a week’s cruise down the Nile River, visiting many of the tourist areas on the way like the Valley of the Kings, Queen Hatshepsut’s tomb and the temples at Thebes.

If you also have an interest in ancient civilizations then the Penn Museum currently has an online exhibition worth visiting. 

They also have lots of activities for kids to do.  Thanks to Mr Byrne for the link to this great museum.

This challenge is an adaptation from a post on the blog ‘Bringing us Together’ run by the students and teachers in last year’s challenge.

Most countries of the world have deciduous trees which have leaves that change colour and drop during  Autumn in the southern hemisphere or in Fall during the northern hemisphere. 

But in Australia, most of our endemic trees are evergreen and rarely lose their leaves. The first settlers to our country in the late 1700 and early 1800’s brought with them seeds of trees such as oaks, willows and poplars from their old country usually England. They planted these on their properties and nowadays these deciduous trees can still be seen in groves or avenues at some of the older settled areas of the country.

On Good Friday, I went for a drive through the Derwent Valley north of Hobart, and took some photos of the trees in this area both deciduous and evergreen.

Your challenge this week

To write a post about a colour.  The post could be a narrative story, a poem, a photo story , a photo collage, a quiz or any other form of post you care to write. You could include different shades of this colour as I have with my photos of shades of green in the Australian bush. You must include some images and make sure if they are not your own images, that you have given the correct attribution.  Below are a few websites where you might be able to find some images to use.

http://flickrcc.bluemountains.net/

http://johnjohnston.name/flickrCC/

http://compfight.com/

http://www.behold.cc/

http://www.pics4learning.com/

http://www.morguefile.com/

http://www.freefoto.com/index.jsp

http://www.imageafter.com/index.php

http://www.djusd.k12.ca.us/technology/images.htm

http://www.photoree.com/photos/start

Finally a link from Mr Bogush’s class for their links to photos to use

WHO/Shareef Sarhan

A doctor surveys the damage to a medical facility in the Gaza Strip during the conflict in 2009. International humanitarian law urges combatants to respect the neutrality of health facilities, staff and ambulances during conflicts to ensure they are not caught up in the violence and can continue to provide care.

WHO/Christopher Black

In Pakistan’s most-affected areas during the 2005 earthquake, 49% of health facilities were completely destroyed, from sophisticated hospitals to rural clinics and drug dispensaries. A woman receives medical care outside a hospital in Muzaffarabad after the earthquake.

WHO/China

The May 2008 earthquake in China’s Sichuan province damaged or destroyed more than 11 000 health facilities and killed and injured tens of thousands of people. Chinese health, emergency and military authorities led a massive response effort shortly after the earthquake hit.

WHO/PAHO

To ensure health facilities can withstand earthquakes or avoid sea surges caused by cyclones and hurricanes, planning is needed in terms of proper site location, design and construction in compliance with building codes. Two construction workers review the model of a hospital in Costa Rica.

WHO/Myanmar

After Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar in May 2008, makeshift health and accommodation centres were set up in temples, monasteries and other buildings that were unaffected by the cyclone. About 2.4 million people were affected by the cyclone.

WHO/Margie Peden

Members of an emergency aid team participate in a training session in Durban, South Africa. Simulating response scenarios and conducting field tests allow health workers to practice their skills and teamwork and be ready for real emergencies.

WHO/Paul Garwood

A nurse checks the intravenous (IV) fluid infusion for a patient at a treatment centre in the district of Norton in Zimbabwe during the cholera outbreak in 2008. Many emergencies occur in remote locations and require strong, flexible and multi-sectoral means of response to save lives and treat the critically ill.

WHO/PAHO/J. Vizcarra

Poorly built and located health facilities are extremely vulnerable to natural disasters but with modest investment and appropriate planning they can continue providing health services when most needed. Two nurses visit the site of a hospital being rebuilt in Mexico.

WHO/Christopher Black

Families of those affected by emergencies need help, particularly psychosocial services, to cope with the tragedy of the event. Mohammed Rafaiq brought to a hospital in Pakistan’s Muzaffarabad his son Razaif who was in shock after the 2005 earthquake, which destroyed their home and killed four in the family.

All photos from the WHO gallery.

Imagine you are one of the people in one of these photos.  Write about what you see, hear and feel.

A few health comparisons between Australia and some of our Asian neighbours.

Country     A                B          C         D            E           F

Australia    $3200                17        12          2.77             1             17

China            $94                  1            5         1.55           34             31

Fiji              $150                   9           ?           0.37             0             15

Japan         $2700                 18        12           2.18             1            29

Malaysia      $255                  7          15          0.87           22             21

New Zealand   $2420             19          ?          2.30             0              21

Papua New Guinea  $29          7         38           0.13        668              ?

Phillipines        $45                 6         37          1.14         122             23

Singapore     $1450                 6            ?          1.61             1             13

Vietnam           $47                  6         29          0.62          41             18

A=Health expense per person

B=% government spends on health

C= % population below national poverty line (different each country)

D= Doctors per 1000 people

E = Deaths from malaria in a year

F = % population smoke daily

What can these statistics tell you about our health and that of people in our neighbouring countries?

“Who wrote that great post on the trail of tears? I know it was someone in Mr Bogush’s class.” But that means looking through over 50 blogs.

“I loved that recipe on ANZAC biscuits?  Who wrote that post?  Which blog was it on?”  Someone in Mrs Smith’s Huzzah blog loves cooking but who is it?

There was one student who writes great posts on a variety of topics.  Who was it?

If you and your teacher are asking these types of questions, then you need to get your blog roll organized.

What is a blogroll?  It is a list of your favourite blogs or websites.  You can divide it into different categories and then add them to your ‘Links’ widget in your sidebar. On my class blog I have divided mine into these categories:

• 2008 students
• 2009 bloggers
• 2009 Inuit websites
• Games to help your skills
• Geography and the world
• Our school blogs
• Talk to these students
• Teacher blogs
• Wikis to visit

Notice they are alphabetical beginning with numbers.  So you will need to think about what the names are for your categories. 

If using Edublogs, to add links, go to write > links > add new link  Remember to say what category you put the link under and also use http:// in front of the URL.

Your challenge this week

Add at least 10 blogs to your blog roll.  Make sure you have at least two different categories.

If you took part in the challenge last year, your task is different.  You need to write a post recommending at least 5 blogs you think students and classes should add to their blogroll.  Remember to give reasons why that blog should be added.

If you still have lots of time to do some more challenges, then visit the blog run by last year’s participants.  Leave some comments on the posts and perhaps you will also find some other links for your blogroll. Check out the categories used on this blog in their blog roll.

Original image: ‘Question Mark‘
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25696778@N08/3233934830
by: Laika Henna

Released under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License

Most answers to this quiz can be found in Wikipedia, but you might have to visit a couple of pages to find the answers.  This could be used as an example of Activity 1 in the Edublogger Student Competition.

Note you must be 13 or older to be able to create your own quiz in MyStudyio.

All the images in this quiz were either from flickrcc or wikipedia pages.  There was nowhere in the quiz allowing me to attribute the images.