blog

East Timor

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 04:07:53 +0100

East Timor is a small poor country of many languages. A few old people speak Portuguese and the former resistance fighters and leadership speak Portuguese. The Middle Generation speak Bahasa Indonesian. The young people speak mostly Tetum or one of 15 other dialects. Many young people want to learn English to improve their job prospects, but the Official policy of the government is Tetum or Portuguese. The government policy is partly based on a future hope of selling tropical fruit one day to Europe, but for much of the interior, for much of the summer, a long dry "hungry season" is more of a reality we can help . ..by being involved teaching simple agricultural food programs to schools in East Timor, by collecting old bicycles, and old wheelbarrows, by helping set up Agricultural Schools and by making instructional videos (in the local languages) which teach local students how to help the people how to grow more food, so that they get to eat more often. The e- squared organisation has a green exchange program in Brazil learn more

Why I wnt to see students help East Timor !

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 22:57:02 +0100

I probably should explain why I want to see students help East Timor. Students can fly under the radar compared to Governments. Also helping one of the 10 poorest nations on earth become a second world country will help the students feel proud of what they have accomplished, and be less self absorbed. I have found a website which partly illustrates some of East Timor's problems ....
www.asianews.it-en/East-Timorese-go-hungry-for-at least-five-months-of the-year-13498.html

Teaching students about Storyboarding.

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 13:03:00 +0100

I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT HOW I CAN INTRODUCE STUDENTS TO STORYBOARDING, I AM GOING TO LOOK FOR AN OLD DISNEY FILM ABOUT CARTOONING AND STORYBOARDING TO SHOW THEM. THEN I WILL TEACH THEM HOW TO PLAY SOLITAIRE (PATIENCE) THEN I CAN TEACH THEM HOW TO STORYBOARD 'HOW TO PLAY SOLITAIRE' THEN GET THEM TO MAKE A VIDEO CLIP TEACHING OTHERS HOW TO PLAY SOLITAIRE. I WILL THEN TEACH THEM ABOUT THE "HUNGRY SEASON" IN THE EAST TIMOR HIGHLANDS AND GET THEM TO PARTNER WITH A TWO SCHOOLS IN EAST TIMOR, ONE A WELL RESOURCED SCHOOL JUST OUTSIDE THE CAPITAL (DILI) THE OTHER THE LARGEST SCHOOL IN THE HIGHLANDS. AN IDEA I HAVE IS FOR PHOTOCOPYING PLAYING CARDS ONTO LARGE CARD STOCK, USING A PHOTOCOPY SHOP TO ENLARGE THEM TO 4 TIMES THE SIZE, IN BOTH BLACK AND WHITE (CLUBS AND SPADES) AND COLOUR IN RED (HEARTS AND DIAMONDS) I WILL TRY GETTING SOME IMAGES USING CAPTURE WIZZ AND PUT SOME LINKS ON POVERTY AND HUNGER IN EAST TIMOR.

Teaching Students/Video/Reflections

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 09:19:50 +0100

I have been thinking about what constites meaningful learning. In western society we get to eat, and education is virtually free. What if a primary school teacher could help a class create an aid program to East Timor. the students here could a) Enlist the aid of other schools b) collect old wheelbarrows and bicycles, and put them in a sea-container together with triicale(to feed chickens) purchased c) Create teaching videos which a school in East Timor could then use to raise chickens and to teach the local people. East Timor has a season which is called the "hungry season" it is a dry season. Most people in East Timor only eat 1 meal a day. there are three things which could be done about this. Firstly a local primary school could keep a Rhode Island Red Rooster with 3 Rhode Island Red Hens and 7 Light Sussex Hens. The Egg Shells are different- Rhode Island Red are Deep Brown Eggshells, Light Sussex are a light salmon colour. This cross is a sex-linked cross- the chickens from a Rhode Island Red Rooster Crossed over Light Sussex Hens hatch out light yellow with silver on the wingtips (males) and deep orange (hen chicks). At six weeks old the rooster chicks can be killed,plucked and eaten. Japanese silky bantams are used to incubate and raise the chicks. By buying a cheap "chicken microscope" the local East Timorese children could teach local children in the highlands how to sex chickens(using the sex linked crossed chickens first) After a primary school in Dili or a close large town learnt the techniques, they could teach a remote village, they would need another 10 light sussex Hens and a light sussex Rooster but could easily set up 10 breeding sets for the remote villagers. I watched an e squared program about a green exchange in Brazil. The Govt paid the villagers with 1 kilo of food for every 4 kilos of rubbish they collected. A similiar compost plan could give the people sweet potatoes for every 4 kilos of chrubbery they collected. I need to ponder how to teach kids to make videos !!!!!

Assignment 1 B Social Media

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 08:20:23 +0100

I am going to put a pretend wedding invitation as part of my social media assignment. I have to ask the guests to rank 2 menus out of 3 or to choose vegetarian if they are Vegetarians. It isn't so simple. In real life I would probably email a link to them along with a cardboard invitation, then get them to post the bottom of the cardboard invitation back (with preferences) then send a second invitation out including which of the two of the three menus had been chosen. Tomorrow, I pick up my new computer, I will start web blogging twice a day from Home.

Using a digital camera

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 08:07:08 +0100

I've had a lot of time to reflect. Digital Photography is easily 20% of the guts of personal website deisgn but it's more complex than film photography. The effect on the website can be quite dramatic. To teach a classroom of primary school students how to do digital photography is really the hard yakka of teaching personal web design !

Retro/ A Change in My Thinking

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 04:11:54 +0100

Last Week, Tuesday 28th February, whilst travelling to University on the 886 bus, I met a group of grade 6 school students who got on the bus at the corner of Forrest and Fitzgerald Streets. They said that they were doing an "Amazing Race" activity by bus. I explained that I was studying to be a primary school teacher, and was learning how to teach students how to create their own websites. They were genuinely interested, and said they all wanted to create their own website. this experience changed me. What I am studying I could easily teach on 'Prac" in 2nd Semester- the students have a keen interest. Anything which motivates students to learn, to create, to go outside themselves is a POWERFUL LEARNING TOOL. Tomorrow I will write about how I think I could teach a classroom to build a website.

Lindsays Blog

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 03:50:31 +0100

Hi, this is the first entry of my blog. I had a lot of difficulties getting here, because the lecturer showed setting up the blog on Yo LA too quickly. I also had difficulties using a laptop for the first time. You don't anticipate half the page is not displayed at the bottom of the page. I need to give out clear handouts including screen shots, to help the students set up a blog - YO LA is not intuitive enough, it is probably best giving out the handout, discussing, then showing on an electronic whiteboard.