And this site is definitely going to make Math teachers everywhere happy! 🙂 Not only can you use these amazing open lectures to increase/sustain your content knowledge, you might want to slip a segment or two into your lessons themselves. Sometimes, students might prefer talking heads of various kinds once in a while instead of ours. 😉
If you’re a student, this site should be of interest to you as well! Like the previous site, links are organised into topics such as “Basic Math”, “Calculus”, “Algebra” etcetera. My hands are shaking slightly as I type this as I have never been a Math student, let alone an excelling one at that! But if my teachers had threw in a video or two from these sites, perhaps my interest may have been tweaked more!
If you haven’t heard of Onlinecollege.org, then it’s time you surf your way to the website! This post and the next will feature two articles from the many (and I mean, many) articles from the site. This one will interest you if you’re a History, Social Studies (or even Literature) teacher. 100 Incredible YouTube Channels for History Buffs! Who knew there were so many YouTube channels just on History, huh? I wish my History teacher had used some of these. Then again, teachers today are lucky because of the vast amount of resources available online at your fingertips. One YouTube channel that might interest you is LearnHistory. The good thing about this site is that the History channels are arranged according to theme. Example, General History, Art History, Music History et cetera. I hope some of these videos come in useful to you!
I’m pretty sure you’re going to love it too. According to the website:
“Curriki is more than your average website; we’re a community of educators, learners and committed education experts who are working together to create quality materials that will benefit teachers and students around the world.
Curriki is an online environment created to support the development and free distribution of world-class educational materials to anyone who needs them. Our name is a play on the combination of ‘curriculum’ and ‘wiki’ which is the technology we’re using to make education universally accessible.”
So, I did a bit of clicking around and it did not disappoint. Definitely helpful especially when you’re burnt out or desperate for a fresh burst of energy. The material is categorised in 4 broad categories: Language Arts, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies. Material in each category is arranged according to age and grade levels. You can also browse the resources according to Topics. Example, under Language Arts, material is arranged under topics such as Reading Comprehension, Grammar, Journalism, Literature and Phonics amongst others. Resources are also rated by members so you can identify a great resource from a good one. But as we know, even a bad resource can be a great one if worked the right way. Do check out the site here. And oh, membership is free. 🙂 Gotta love Web 2.0.
Almost everyone is on Facebook. And chances are, you’re wondering whether or not to add your students. That is a truly tough decision that is yours to make (unless there are explicit school policies regarding this). However, one teacher espouses the notion that a teacher can have a public profile to share with students that will facilitate learning. Why not? Here is how you may want to go about doing this.
Shared this with some colleagues today and thought that this might make for some mature and critical discussion with upper Secondary and/or Junior College/Pre-Tertiary/Tertiary students. Whilst an obviously sensitive topic, this might train our students to think critically and allows the issue to be discussed in a more conducive setting, i.e. the classroom, instead of online where flaming and often unvalidated comments abound. Teaching point or danger zone?
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Saw this and thought our kids would love to discuss this in the classroom. There’s a whole lot of debate going on right now about the place of Singapore Citizens as opposed to PRs or “foreign talents”. Makes us question the very definition of citizenship, and how what it means to be Singaporean is rapidly changing. Here are some links to may get us started.
The popular belief is that this phrase derives from the manner of construction of pipe organs. These instruments have have stops to control the air flow through the pipes and pulling them out increases the musical volume. This seems to be the type of casual easy answer that is the hallmark of folk etymology. In this case, the popular belief isn’t a fallacy but is in fact correct.
Prior to the introduction of pipe organs the word ‘stop’ had, in a musical context, been used to mean ‘note’ or ‘key’. That usage is recorded as early as the late 16th century, as in this example from George Gascoigne’s satire The Steele Glas, 1576:
“But sweeter soundes, of concorde, peace, and loue, Are out of tune, and iarre in euery stoppe.”
Of course, ‘notes’ and ‘keys’ can’t be pulled out. The word ‘stop’ later came to be used for the knobs that control the flow of air in pipe organs, by pushing them in or, more to the point here, pulling them out.
The first person to have used the phrase in a figurative, i.e. non-organ related, sense appears to have been Matthew Arnold, in Essays in Criticism, 1865:
“Knowing how unpopular a task one is undertaking when one tries to pull out a few more stops in that… somewhat narrow-toned organ, the modern Englishman.”
And here’s something that I’m sure many of us new teachers would appreciate! I’m guessing even seasoned teachers might get some use out of this site. Imagine the first day of school and you’ve been assigned a form class. Or even a subject class. Maybe even the kids don’t know each other. And to add to your first-day distress, this is a school you’re completely unfamiliar with and 40 pairs of eyes scrutinize you closely, with an air of skepticism.
So what are your options? If you’ve got your game on, good for you! Otherwise, you always have good old ice-breakers to come to your rescue. An immediate reaction to the term ice-breakers or even games might be groans and apprehension. But never underestimate the power of these activities for they allow students and teachers to get to know each other in double time and in a fun manner. If the activities are executed well, chances are your students would not want you to stop! This site contains quite a number of useful ice-breakers you might want to use in class or during CCAs. I’m guessing you may want to even adopt some of these activities as starter activities for your lessons.
I personally prefer the first link because it has ice breakers for a classroom setting. But the second link will work wonderfully well too if adapted nicely. Have fun! 🙂
MOE’s Press Release on 17th September- An extract and some key points.
“At the Ministry of Education (MOE) Work Plan Seminar, Minister for Education Dr Ng Eng Hen signalled the importance of nurturing the communication and language skills of young Singaporeans, so that they will thrive in the globalised world. The Minister also announced measures to deepen the professionalism of the teaching service, so as to build a world-class education service.”
Some key points from his speech:
Nurturing the Communication and Language Skills of Our Young
Growing a World Class Education Service
A. Nurturing a Teacher-Driven Culture of Professional Excellence
(i) Supporting the Development of Schools as Professional Learning Communities
(ii) Establishing a Teacher Development Centre
B. Strengthening the Teaching Track
(i) New Apex Appointment — Principal Master Teacher
(ii) New Lead Teacher Appointment
(iii) More Senior Teachers
(iv) Professional Development for Pedagogical Leaders
Scholastic brings us the Top 20 Teacher Blogs. Perhaps you wanna start your own too! You might want to refer to these as blogspirations. I personally like the “Best Forward-Thinking Blog” that goes to Integrating Tech. It talks about how teachers can integrating education with IT and always looks out for new ways to engage students.
Another one that may interest you is the The Teaching Palette. It belongs to the rare but always quirky combination of art and blogging. Very. Cool.
If you’re a student, this site should be of interest to you as well! Like the previous site, links are organised into topics such as “Basic Math”, “Calculus”, “Algebra” etcetera. My hands are shaking slightly as I type this as I have never been a Math student, let alone an excelling one at that! But if my teachers had threw in a video or two from these sites, perhaps my interest may have been tweaked more!
If you haven’t heard of Onlinecollege.org, then it’s time you surf your way to the website! This post and the next will feature two articles from the many (and I mean, many) articles from the site. This one will interest you if you’re a History, Social Studies (or even Literature) teacher. 
The popular belief is that this phrase derives from the manner of construction of pipe organs. These instruments have have stops to control the air flow through the pipes and pulling them out increases the musical volume. This seems to be the type of casual easy answer that is the hallmark of folk etymology. In this case, the popular belief isn’t a fallacy but is in fact correct.
And here’s something that I’m sure many of us new teachers would appreciate! I’m guessing even seasoned teachers might get some use out of this site. Imagine the first day of school and you’ve been assigned a form class. Or even a subject class. Maybe even the kids don’t know each other. And to add to your first-day distress, this is a school you’re completely unfamiliar with and 40 pairs of eyes scrutinize you closely, with an air of skepticism.
Scholastic brings us the Top 20 Teacher Blogs. Perhaps you wanna start your own too! You might want to refer to these as blogspirations. I personally like the “Best Forward-Thinking Blog” that goes to 
Education.SG 
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