World Animal Week (4-10 October)
Although it might be school holidays in many states and territories,
don’t forget this important week, for it is a special time to
focus on the protection of animals. You have
a chance to help make animal welfare history by joining the Animals
Matter To Me campaign. WSPA is leading a global
effort to convince the United Nations to make a Declaration on animals
and their welfare. Our world will change, once mankind acknowledges
that animals are sentient beings with needs and feelings. Go to http://www.wspa.org.au/animalsmatter to
be part of this campaign.
Check the WSPA (World Society for the Protection of Animals) website
for heaps of information and useful detail. http://www.wspa.org.au/
Keep Childhood longer
It has been stated by a group of
British academics and childhood experts that with so much schooling
competitiveness, electronic entertainment, marketing and even junk
food, that the span of childhood is being diminished. Children’s development is being drastically affected
by the kind of world they are brought up in? Is childhood a race?
According to UK’s Sue Palmer in her book, Toxic Childhood (available
from Allen&Unwin in Australia) a child’s physical and psychological
growth develops by biological time, not at electrical speed. Visit
Sue Palmer’s website: http://www.suepalmer.co.uk
Got an opinion? Make a comment on the Teachers’ Toolkit
Forum – News.
Read to your child
While encouraging parents to read to their children every day, here
are a few quick pointers to offer by way of assistance. When read
to your child:
- Don’t always jump in without pausing
- Stop after each turn of the page and wait for your child to respond
to the page
- Let them initiate the conversation and choose their own topic
of interest
- Use open questions that require more than a one-word answer.
Art Galleries and Museums
In issue 4 (September), some guidelines
were offered to help teachers plan visits to some very worthy learning
establishments in art galleries and museums. Either by physical attendance
or else online via the internet, it is important to thoroughly plan
in order to maximise the benefits. Interesting to note that the MCA
in Sydney has just appointed someone from Tate Modern (UK) to review
the MCA’s
educational programs on offer to schools. Stay tuned.
Space
Shuttle Atlantis
Another mission has taken off to the International Space Station
(ISS). You track progress via http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/
An Inconvenient
Truth
Al Gore’s movie offers a passionate and inspirational
look at exposing the myths and misconceptions that surround global
warming and inspire actions to prevent it such climate change. See
the movie and if your students are old enough, make it a classroom
excursion. Visit: www.teacherstoolkit.net.au/downloadLessons.php to
download Global Warming Fact Sheets. Visit: www.metromagazine.com.au/metro/default.asp (Australian
Screen Education) and discover some excellent primary school teaching
resources and downloadable study guides for a variety of movies.
Those at Teachers’ Toolkit are quite passionate about
our environment (on both a local and global front) and firmly believe
that it is important to educate our students – from a very
young age.
Solar Power
Talking of environmental issues, a record was recently set with
at Hermannsburg (go and Google or else find your Atlas) when a new
set of solar panels were able to convert sunlight to electricity
at a rate of 30 per cent. Normal rooftop solar panels cover at a
rate of only about 12 per cent. What impact does the Hermannsburg
installation have on its immediate community? Take a look at renewable
energy and its impact for the environment.
http://www.nt.gov.au/powerwater/environment/renewable.html
http://www.solarsystems.com.au/projects.html
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