The Teacher Toolbox

Aussie / Kiwi Cartoon

Adrian — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 08:02:34 +0000

One of the things I love about ‘ripping across the ditch’ is the healthy banter between Aussies & Kiwis. As part of a demonstration of open source Vs proprietary software I knocked up this cartoon.

So now I’m looking for captions. Feel free to add your ideas to my comment section

Expanding Learning Horizons 09

Adrian — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 21:06:45 +0000

Who hoo, my son and I have just had our proposal for a 4 hour workshop accepted by the good people at ELH 09. This makes the 4th year in a row that I have been accepted for this conference and I’m pretty stoked to be asked back again. So for all those who missed out last year it might be time to hit your principal up for some funding to head to Lorne Victoria in August

Personal Learning Networks – EQ Magazine Article

Adrian — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 05:04:54 +0000

Last year I wrote an article for the Australian education journal EQ Magazine entitled ‘Keys to the Virtual World’ and now the time has come upload it to my website.

Beyond the school gate exists an awe-inspiring virtual place where a person can take almost complete control of their own professional development. It is a place devoid of filters that allow you to purchase a Russian bride but block the evils of lego.com. A place where staff politics, ill conceived arguments and small mindedness fall by the wayside to the pursuit of evidence based ‘best practice’. A world inhabited by passionate educators & ‘switched on’ learning communities. The world I speak of is that of the modern digital Personal Learning Network or PLN.

Read more about Personal Learning Networks

Stressbuster – Teacher Joke

Adrian — Sun, 31 May 2009 08:50:45 +0000

Two stories led me to creating this Stressbuster.

Story 1.

After just one year of teaching, a very talented music teacher friend of mine tossed it all in and went off to do ‘other things’. At his farewell morning tea I had a quiet word to him and inquired, ‘So mate, what led you to make this call?’

‘Look around this room Adrian,’ he whispered, ‘look at their faces, there is not a happy soul among them and I feel like I’m turning into one of them. I don’t want that for myself or my family.’

I must agree, I felt pretty much the same as him at the time.

Story 2.

A couple of months back I had dinner with a couple of second year Uni students after they had just finished their prac experience. As the wine flowed they recounted their experiences in staffrooms and how they found them such depressing places.

So are you one of the people who contribute to a toxic workplace, or are you one of the few who make the work environment a great place to educate and celebrate learning?

More Stressbusters

20 Roman Numerals Pages Complete

Adrian — Fri, 29 May 2009 11:00:51 +0000

Roman Numerals Shopping

I’ve just finished the 20th roman numerals webquest page but am really going to have to move on to a few more pressing projects for the next couple of weeks.

Next week I’m flying up to Mackay to give a keynote and run some breakout sessions. I’m then back to prepare a submission for my favourite Australian ICT conference ELH 2009 and then I need to get really busy as I’m off to New Zealand to speak on “Using ICTs to Engage Students’.

If anyone feels like finishing off the text for any of the remaining pages, feel free to email it to me via my contact page.

Cheers

Adrian

New Stressbuster – Ima Swami & the Candle

Adrian — Fri, 01 May 2009 08:28:01 +0000

My latest Stressbuster takes its inspiration from the fact that we all need to have a whinge occasionally. But in my experience there are those that need to whinge a lot more than others and they often never offer any solutions. They continue around and around and around on the same treadmill. It gets tiring but we listen politely.

I’m sure you know someone you can print this cartoon out for.

hehehehehe

cheers

Adrian

PS Know full well I composed it ‘just for you’!

3 Level Guides – Hidden Question Stems

Adrian — Fri, 01 May 2009 00:40:41 +0000

Here is the first installment of my ‘Hidden’ Question Stems from the Three Level Guide comprehension strategy. This resource covers ‘Inferring Word Meaning from Context Clues’ as well as having a few ‘tips and tricks’ for young readers. I’ve made the resource available as a Word document so you can add your own stems as well as a Acrobat Reader file in case you don’t have Word.

Cheers

Adrian

PS I’ve also added a Youtube video that might be worth a look if you are new to teaching the skill.

Swiss Cheese & Roman Numerals

Adrian — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 11:32:19 +0000

Recently friends & I have been discussing an appallingly named time management strategy known as, ‘Swiss Cheesing’. The strategy alludes to making lots of small holes in a project which eventually leads to the project being completed. This is how I’m currently trying and finish my roman numerals webquest site.

Over the last few months I’ve been making graphics on & off with my Wacom Tablet. This week I’ve started putting the webpages together and adding the ‘draft’ activity ideas to the pages.

Feel free to have a look around the beginnings of my roman numerals site, offer any suggestions and perhaps bring your class along to try it out the next few weeks.

cheers

Adrian

PS I’m rather pleased with the way my drawing skills are progressing and the graphics I’m producing

The Choir – A New Stressbuster

Adrian — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 09:21:14 +0000

I find the funniest thing about this Stressbuster is that it actually happened. Every year one of the schools I worked at took the kids to sing to the elderly. This one year we noticed that this one elderly guy had his very own minder. When he’d ask questions he was very, very loud and the kids had a bit of a laugh but rose to the occasion.

Feel free to check out more of my Stressbusters

cheers

Adrian

How Wind Works – Bernoulli’s Principle – A Reader’s Theatre

Adrian — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 06:13:22 +0000

Yep, been updating the science part of the site again today. Here is a great air pressure reader’s theatre script that is easy for a small group of students to present to your class as well as other classes around the school.

Science plays are a nice way to raise the profile of science around your school.

Enjoy the Air Pressure Science Experiment

Adrian