Book Week 2014 - Paper Bag Book Reviews

Students chose their favourite book and created a Paper Bag Book Review. Some examples of these bags were photographed and made into a collage using the Google App Loupe Collage.

Archdiocesan eLearning Network Meeting

Today I battled through the rain and flooded roads to attend the eLearning Network Meeting for the Sydney Archdiocese. What an inspirational experience!

Our presenter was George Couros who says: " I am the Division Principal for Parkland School Division and an Innovative Teaching, Learning, and Leadership consultant. I believe we need to inspire our kids to follow their passions, while letting them inspire us to do the same"                    http://georgecouros.ca/blog/

CC image by: devianART http://fav.me/d6bkchf

Here are some of the thoughts I came away with:

• eLearning is not about technology; it’s about relationships and learning. I'd always known that teaching and learning depended very much on relationships, but had not before considered technology in the same way.

• Although we can use Google and other search engines to effectively find information, it’s what we do with it that really matters.

• If you can Google the answers to the questions on a test – it's not a good test. We need go write better questions that make students think.

• Technology does not equal engagement - just because a student has a device in hand does not mean they are engaged in the task.

• The biggest shift for educators using technology is not a skill set – it is a mind set.

• Teachers need to go to the place where our students are because that is important to them.

• Kids need guidance from teachers and parents.

• The focus needs to be on learning first, technology second.

• Schools can be a place where exploration, creativity and imagination make learning exciting and where all learners (including staff) aspire to reach their dreams.

St Brigid's new school website coming soon!

Our new school website is a Google site. It is much easier to navigate and certainly much easier to manage. It looks great! 
Here's a preview of the banner...

There will be tab on the horizontal navigation bar for the school intranet where students, parents and teachers will be able to log on.

https://sites.google.com/a/syd.catholic.edu.au/stbmarrickville/

Premier's Reading Challenge 2014

Countdown to end of the 

Premier's Reading Challenge

17 reading days to go!

That's right! The Premier's Reading Challenge finishes on Friday 22nd August at 11:59 pm.Students can locate PRC books in our library by checking for the label on the spine of PRC books. The labels look like this:

Also, there are tubs containing picture books and non fiction books for those completing the 3-4 and 5-6 Challenge. Here's a link to the PRC site: https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/logon.html

CC image by Philip Martin

Holiday Event for Girls - Australian Computer Society

ACS WOMEN 
For girls who would like to become Tech Girl Superheroes....

Microsoft is holding a special holiday event for girls. The girls will be shown how to become a Tech Girl Superhero. Each girl must be accompanied by a parent or carer.

This morning event will be held on Wednesday 2nd July, 2014. 

Venue:

Microsoft office 1 Epping Road North Ryde NSW 2113

It runs from 9:30am until 12 noon and is designed in two parts:

1.  30 minutes with our guest speakers – Jenine Beekhuyzen (Director of Tech Girls Movement) and   Pip Marlow (Managing Director of Microsoft Australia)

2.  2.5 hours of activities for both parents/carers and their daughters.

Girls (primary school) – get involved in solve problem activities, games, create your own superhero, Microsoft entertainment games, play Xbox and seeing how people work in their day job at Microsoft and find out about studying at Uni. Women studying ICT at UTS will accompany the girls through these activities.

Parents/carers – hear about why ‘Tech Girls are Superheroes’ works, meet some of the superheroes, meet university students studying ICT and explore the day job of ICT.

Click on the link to find out more and enrol:

http://www.acs.org.au/branches/new-south-wales/events/upcoming-events/event-details?eveID=50294767693991

The end of Term 2 is fast approaching!

The end of the term is almost here and now is the time to return all the books and resources you have borrowed.

                         

So check under your bed, on your bookshelf or in your desk and find any overdue items that you still have and return them to the library tomorrow!

The Research Safari

This term, students from Year 2 - Year 6 have been learning to be more effective researchers. We have discussed the steps in the research process, and learned that we need to be organised, deep thinkers if we want to produce good research results. 

The Research Safari

We have used The Research Safari as our resource base and found very helpful information and useful links on this site. 

Marrickville Library - School Holiday Activities

Eric Hill - author and illustrator - dies at 86

We remember Eric fondly as the creator of the loveable character, Spot the dog.

Marrickville Library After School Programs

Marrickville Library is offering some great after school programs for primary school children.

Visit the Marrickville Library website for details:

http://www.marrickville.nsw.gov.au/en/library/

The Student Tuition program runs from Monday to Thursday afternoons, with our volunteer tutors offering assistance in a range of subjects.

The Kids Zone afterschool activities happen every second week, and are open to children aged 5-12 years.

The Youth Zone activities occur on the alternate weeks, and are suitable for children from 10-16 years.

2014 - Here we come!

I know the year has been powering along for several weeks, but it has taken me a little longer than usual to get back into action on this blog.

This is an exciting year for me since I am continuing in the role of Teacher Librarian, but will also be the eLearning Coordinator at our school. The new title for this position gives prominence to the idea that we are using technology for a purpose - to enhance learning and teaching. 

                                                                       CC licence  Some rights reserved by internet and tacos

Since improvements in technology are happening all the time, you can be sure that this is going to be a year of rapid change. There are several exciting innovations arriving soon, and I will keep you posted. 

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