Technology in our classroom

Many students in the blogging challenge have done some great research on this topic for their BAD post. There will be a post highlighting some of their posts over the weekend.

But having lived on this earth now for just over half a century (this makes me old …lol) I have started noticing in the last decade or so, the many changes in our weather and climate patterns, especially how they affect me.

When growing up as a child, winter was always cold and wet, maybe some snow on the nearby mountains and this happened in June, July and August.  But recently we have been having more rain in September and October. We even had snow on Mt Wellington in  September.

Trees that used to begin flowering early in September, are now flowering in October – no good for my hayfever.

Here in Australia, we are hearing more about hurricanes, cyclones and tsunamis in the last few years.  Maybe this is the media being more interested in the topics but they are certainly in the news more often.

Having travelled to many countries over the last twenty years, I really appreciate getting back to Tasmania and the little town where I live.  We have a reputation as a state that is clean, green and very little crime.

My greatest wish for Australia regarding climate change is that something is done at the summit in Copenhagen later this year.  I would like to see electricity in our country to be clean and green – hydro power (Go Tasmania), wind power (Go Tasmania), solar power, tidal power and as a last resort nuclear power.

Image: ‘Baa Baa Rainbow Sheep‘
www.flickr.com/photos/27639319@N00/2935143781

Let’s go on a tour of some challenge class blogs.  Some blogs will have a list of students in the blogroll.  Please leave some comments on their blogs as sometimes they get missed when students are in the blogging challenge.

Mr Bogush – he always has some great topics to write about  – his students are all registered for the challenge as individuals as well

Mr Barrett – lots of images used in this blog

Mrs Yollis – lots of comments including from parents

Mrs Benjamin – only been blogging for a month

Mrs Manross – nearly all her students have registered in the challenge

Mrs Randall – very bright blog with student folios on the sidebar

Mr Baker – Fab4 have student reporters and lots of global connections

Mr Salsich – love the header

Ms Giraud – check out what each student is blogging about

Mrs Braidwood – check out their vision

Mrs Odom – 2nd year in the challenge – they exchanged ‘peeps’ with NZ last year

Doris – Venezuelan students learning English – check blogroll for monthly bloggers

Mrs Carrington – check out the class avatars

Mrs Smith (Huzzah) – 2nd year in the challenge – great posts about classroom activities

Mrs Davis – this blog run completely by students – maybe some comments needed to invite them to other blogs might be helpful

Mrs Burton – some great widgets, a superstar blogger badge and lots of videos about Web 2.0

Mrs Hogan – another blog run entirely by students who are listed under categories

Ms Cahusac – check out the Eagle Nest in Hong Kong

Image: ‘SRPS Bo’ness Steam Locos.‘
www.flickr.com/photos/26314424@N08/3657498431

We thought some of you might like to add badges to your blogs to let your readers know you’re part of the Student Blogging  and Commenting Challenge.

So here they are!

For the Better Bloggers

150 pixels wide

Image location:   http://wyatt67.edublogs.org/files/2009/10/better_bloggers_150.gif

200 pixels wide

Image location:   http://wyatt67.edublogs.org/files/2009/10/better_bloggers_200.gif

For your blog posts

Image location:    http://wyatt67.edublogs.org/files/2009/10/better_bloggers_468.gif

For the Better Commenters

150 pixels wide

Image location:    http://wyatt67.edublogs.org/files/2009/10/better_bloggers_150.png

200 pixels wide

Image location:    http://wyatt67.edublogs.org/files/2009/10/better_bloggers_200.png

For your blog posts

Image location:    http://wyatt67.edublogs.org/files/2009/10/better_bloggers_468.png

For the Challenge Helpers

150 pixels wide

Image location:     http://wyatt67.edublogs.org/files/2009/10/better_bloggers_1501.png

200 pixels wide

Image location:     http://wyatt67.edublogs.org/files/2009/10/better_bloggers_2001.png

For your blog posts

Image location:     http://wyatt67.edublogs.org/files/2009/10/better_bloggers_4681.png

Adding to your blog sidebar:

All you need to do is add a text widget to your sidebar and write a link to the image here on this blog using HTML code.

Here is an example of how you need to write the code:

Where it says:

http://theedublogger.edublogs.org/files/2009/o3/theedublogger2.jpg

you replace it with the image location given above for the size of badge you want to add to your sidebar.

Enjoy!

Miss W. says, “Thanks very much James  from Edublogs for designing and organizing these badges.  Also many thanks to Sue from Edublogs for writing this post to show students and me how to add them to their blog.  I am sure many students and classes will soon have them on their blogs and will have left a comment here thanking you for your support of the challenge.”

Hey, hey, just because I am away doesn’t mean you don’t have any work to do.  You have

• your presentations about a period of time in earth’s history to get organized
• check the history blog for links about the period of earth’s  history
• if you haven’t finished your work on “Bridge to Terabithia” do that
• read more of ‘Bridge to Terabithia’
• in your blog write a post about a time you didn’t have to come to school - was it the fault of nature? was it illness? was it a special event?
• leave comments on some new blogs in the blogging challenge
• catch up with the activities in the blogging challenge

Finally, if the relief teacher brings work for you to do, I will expect it finished before going on with the work I mentioned above.

I have just checked out the information sent to teachers about websites and contests and found a few that some of you might be interested in looking at.

Name a road

With the Hobart International Airport expanding they are needing four roads to be given appropriate names.  You might need to check out this website for the correct way to name roads – this is called nomenclature.  This website also has information about giving geographical names in Australia.

You must be in primary school, so sorry Grade 7 students, you won’t be able to enter.  If either of your parents work at the airport, you also won’t be able to enter.  This closes 5pm on 10th July, 2009.  Check with your teacher by the end of June,  if you are interested in submitting 4 names as there is an official entry form for you to fill in and send off.

Image: ‘747 Over Airport Road‘
www.flickr.com/photos/67952341@N00/512716303

 Grow a crystal

This competition runs from July to September and involves participants in growing a crystal.  Check out the information at this website and also mention it to your science teachers.  They might do this as part of the science course over term 2.

In the Smithsonian kits, these are called ‘frosty diamonds’.

Anne Helmenstine

http://chemistry.about.com/od/growingcrystals/ig/Crystal-Photo-Gallery/Alum-Crystals.-LUM.htm

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.

“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.

Sue Waters and I were on Twitter on Friday having a chat about how the challenge was going.  It was hard to write much in only 140 characters, so we changed to Skype so we could chat in real time. I was in Tasmania where the time was 9pm while Sue Waters was in Western Australia where it was 7pm.

We realised that we are now half way through the challenge and perhaps it was time for some reflection.  Sue thought she could write a post on The Edublogger and have it as a student competition with some prizes to give away.

Therefore, all students anywhere in the world, not only those taking part in the student blogging challenge have been given the opportunity to take part in the Edublogger Student Competition. You will all need to visit the Edublogger to find out what to do for this week’s challenge.

Original image: ‘Blue Ribbon Cake‘
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48355243@N00/27304177
by: Adam Lederer

Released under an Attribution-NonCommercial License

About 7.30pm tonight I was chatting to my next door neighbour about Earth Hour.  He was glad I reminded him – his family was going to take part but he had forgotten.  Now it is 8.30pm, my lights are all out, the next door neighbour’s are out, but the other neighbours are still on.

I rang my brother – his daughter answered – ‘Oh dear, I am going to turn them off now.’ she said.  Next my parents – ‘Yes we’re in the dark now watching TV.’

So my immediate family have all taken part.  I wonder how much energy we all saved?

I probably didn’t save much, because with only one person in the house – me – I usually only have one light on at any one time.

My next thought – how much would I save if I turned the TV off at the powerpoint instead of on the TV?

Original image: ‘Vote Earth! Switch Off Your Lights For Earth Hour by Shepard Fairey‘
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7636772@N08/3292761226
by: Earth Hour

Released under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License