This is where the K2AV team does the ground work to find practical information that educators can apply, ponder, and discuss to move the needle 1% further . So here it is:

Ex Perth school teacher’s achievement that educators are applauding

Ex school teacher from Perth features on Eminem’s new album. Donna Burke, an ex-high school teacher who grew up in Doubleview and now lives in Tokyo Japan, has had her vocals sampled on Eminem’s new album Kamikaze on a song titled Good Guy.
“I’m shocked and happy to think that Glassy Sky is being heard by..well Eminem for starters..it’s so fun and completely out of left field! I couldn’t make this up…!”

Advice teachers are giving to students transitioning to high school after this term

Don’t feel overwhelmed by the jump in school work, to avoid embarrassment – leave the “kid” items behind, and just be yourself, don’t panic, it isn’t the be-all and end-all. This is summarised from “My Year 7 Life” which is a docuseries following 16 Australians as they make their way through the first year of high-school.

Where teachers find movies, documentaries, and education related programming

Enhance TV. A collection of video resources linked to the Australian curriculum completely searchable by subject area, and age. Also free for 12 months for teachers.

Most shared education videos on Facebook

All inspiring and motivating this time around, putting you in the right mindset for Term 4!

1. Teaching Kids To Be Determined : A classroom practising loud affirmations geared towards developing resilience and toughness, as opposed to over-protection.
2. Linda Liukas- The poetry of programming : A talk on how educators need to adapt to the ever-changing landscape of education due to technological advancements – primarily coding.
3. Brené Brown – Daring Classrooms : A talk on the importance of vulnerability, courage, and taking uncomfortable steps that mean students are likely to fall.

Most commented education articles

The ones causing the most heated debates on the socials…

1. Teachers are NOT under-qualified and NOT under-educated: here’s what is really happening.
2. This school replaced detention with meditation and the results are phenomenal.
3. Frustrated with the “new way” of teaching.

A simple activity schools are implementing to get younger kids moving

Yoga For Kids. With sitting being branded as “the new smoking” – schools are placing great emphasis on minimising poor habits carrying over to the next generation. Particularly young kids who are born to move. As part of a school’s garden program – the below poster has been prepared to help run a garden yoga sequence.

This is where the K2AV team does the ground work to find practical information that educators can apply, ponder, and discuss to move the needle 1% further . So here it is:

Ex Perth school teacher’s achievement that educators are applauding

Ex school teacher from Perth features on Eminem’s new album. Donna Burke, an ex-high school teacher who grew up in Doubleview and now lives in Tokyo Japan, has had her vocals sampled on Eminem’s new album Kamikaze on a song titled Good Guy.
“I’m shocked and happy to think that Glassy Sky is being heard by..well Eminem for starters..it’s so fun and completely out of left field! I couldn’t make this up…!”

An online tool educators are using (while giving back to education!)

Giving Docs – creating a Last Will and Testament online. A critical, yet commonly ignored, task of estate planning which on average costs $500 of lawyer fees can now be done online in 10 minutes using this freebie. Even though the tool is legally binding for US states, once completed, the template can be printed and submitted to a local attorney to minimise billable charges. Importantly – distributions can be made to the causes you care about – such as education organisations.

Where teachers find movies, documentaries, and education related programming

Enhance TV. A collection of video resources linked to the Australian curriculum completely searchable by subject area, and age. Also free for 12 months for teachers.

Coding templates educators are using to run their own coding lessons

Below are two ready-to-go coding projects developed by local Perth educator Daniel Budd:

1. Create the Space Invaders game using Swift Playgrounds, and,
2. Map earthquake data on Swift Playgrounds

Exciting projects like this can serve as a foot in the door for students to develop an interest in coding, or alternatively maintain motivation through variety. There are further resources developed by Daniel to help with the coding curriculum – highly recommended is the iBook Swift Playgrounds in the Classroom as a step by step guide.

Most shared education articles

9yo refuses to stand because national anthem is for ‘white people of Australia’, and,
Heavily decorated classrooms disrupt attention and learning in young children.

P.S. Enjoy the upcoming term break, and if your school is still using Smartboards in the classrooms – here’s an offer you’ll find useful (or at least amusing!).

This is where the K2AV team does the ground work to find practical information that educators can apply, ponder, and discuss to move the needle 1% further . So here it is:

Most discussed (and debated) article by educators

The NAPLAN Results Are In. Here’s what you need to know. In summary,

1. The validity of the results and process has been questioned, with scathing criticism of the system by renowned US assessment authorities, however,
2. Primary school students continue to improve in reading, spelling, and grammar,
3. Yet, in writing the scores dipped to the lowest ever since the national tests were introduced a decade ago.

What educators have found really valuable

This is where the K2AV team does the ground work to find practical information that educators can apply, ponder, and discuss to move the needle 1% further . So here it is:

Topics educators are debating

1. Young people who can’t use the keyboard. With the prevalence of smartphones, an ever-increasing number of students are unfamiliar with the use of a desktop computer (or haven’t even seen one before), and hence don’t know how to use the keyboard. Educators are arguing the importance of training students on its use as it is necessary knowledge for their future job and others feel it is unnecessary.
2. Zero tolerance approach on bullying. Victorian opposition government plans to rollout a $15.3M four-point plan to tackle bullying by implementing a zero tolerance approach. This comes at a time when Brett Lewis principal of John Butler Primary School in Perth made an announcement to resign due to on-going violence because of his no-suspensions policy.

Most shared YouTube video by educators

Online resources on Australian Curriculum teachers are recommending

Article educators are finding really helpful

7 Meaningful Strategies to Increase Engagement in The Classroom. A few of the favourites:

1. Rock the First Five Minutes or FFM – use the first few minutes of class as a warm-up, provide a bit of breathing room before jumping right in,
2. Share Your Life – teachers are expected to put up a front, sometimes showcasing there is a human standing at the front of the classroom can work wonders, and,
3. The obvious one – Smiling. Smiling through difficult situations can make those situations less difficult, smiling is contagious and our brains mimic a smile without even realising it.

What educators are doing to tackle gaming addiction in class

In the article A Battle for Student’s Attention Against Fortnite – Chris Aviles provides an alternative approach by integrating a student’s interest in a game such as Fortnite into the lesson. “Instead of fighting the tide (sometimes) if you embrace it…you just get more out of your kids.” This could be a valuable approach to tackle other behaviour problems aside from just mobile addiction.

P.S. Someone we are a big fan of who has taken out precious time to help many educators in Perth, and also helped us many a time. Sarah Hill has set up her own edu consulting called Lumos Learning – to help schools handball the thinking around ways they could do things better onto her capable shoulders. It has our recommendation!

This is where the K2AV team does the ground work to find practical information that educators can apply, ponder, and discuss to move the needle 1% further . So here it is:

An event educators are getting year 10 – 12 students to attend

1. The Innovators’ Tea Party STEM Networking Event. 8 different speed-networking sessions allowing year 10-12 students to meet with 12 women working in a range of STEM fields. Students can ask questions one-on-one, and get to meet mentors passionate about their field. The aim is to empower more young women to pursue STEM based careers. Held on 11th and 18th August.

Most shared education article

STEM funding schools are applying for 

A talk (still!) impacting the way teacher’s teach

Joshua Foer’s deliberate practice model. In this 17 minute talk Joshua lays out a roadmap, a how-to, that students can follow to become exceptional at any skill they desire. Joshua isn’t just theorising, he put this into practice by going from a freelance journalist to the USA Memory Champion in under 12 months. He set a new record of memorising a deck of 52 cards in 1 minute and 40 seconds. Joshua did this with no prior experience, or skill in the area. His journey was documented in his New York Times Bestseller Moonwalking With Einstein.

WA school achievement that educators are proud of

Vasse Primary School’s world record for the largest number of students dressed up as Dr Seuss characters.

This is where the K2AV team does the ground work to find practical information that educators can apply, ponder, and discuss to move the needle 1% further . So here it is:

The one exercise educators are taking the time out for

1. Self Compassion exercise from the School of Life. Educators typically fall into the highly self-critical category, being tough as nails on themselves. And if exercises and practices to lessen the voices of self-flagellation are not practised, then it is extremely unlikely they can be taught. Teaching this practice, as we all know, is imperative for a fruitful life.

Classroom website builders educators recommend

1. Wix, and,
2. Weebly for education.

Most shared article on supporting young entrepreneurial types

Most shared education video on Facebook

Some schools have stopped grouping kids by age — and it’s making a big difference. Essentially the Montessori method of education – the premise being, the only reason students were grouped by age was for efficiency of “knowledge transfer”. Classrooms should allow students of different age to collaborate promoting opportunities for tutoring, modelling others, eliminating the “normal” for a particular age, and greater autonomy.

An event WA educators are excited about

Eddie Woo at Curtin University on 2nd August 2018 on engaging students with mathematics. Named “Australia’s most famous teacher” – with a YouTube channel boasting 300,000+ subscribers, a finalist for top 10 teachers in the world, and awarded Australia’s Local Hero 2018 by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

P.S. Here’s a link to one question we’re asked most often “Is a normal everyday TV good enough for my classroom display?” – the answer is “most likely not.” As 58% of students in an average classroom can’t read from a 70″ screen. Use the 4-6-8 method described here to calculate the size display you need.

This is where the K2AV team does the ground work to find practical information that educators can apply, ponder, and discuss to move the needle 1% further . So here it is:

Grants and competitions that educators are excited about  –

1. Western Power’s Circuit Breakers program which is a 10 week STEM program for Year 4 – 6 students where each successful school receives 2 x 3D printers and course material to help explore what it takes to provide electricity to the community. Schools can apply until June 22nd via Western Power’s website.
2. Promethean’s most creative video competition to win 1 of 15 interactive touch screens. The competition requires a short 5 minute video to be created and submitted before 4th September 2018 which showcases why your class and/or school would benefit from the grant of a Promethean interactive screen. As inspiration there is an example video of last year’s winner.
3. And one that just ended – the Australian Aeronautical Velocity Challenge designed to address the shortage of scientists and engineers in Australia. There is a $5,000 student prize pool and two junior (Year 7 – 9) and senior (Year 10 -12) divisions that compete to create a bottle rocket, propellor powered plane, and drone, and battle their creations against others. The national finals were held last week.

A complete list of competitions sorted by curriculum group is here.

Most shared education article –

How To Ensure Students Are Actively Engaged and Not Just Compliant. The article outlines 8 qualities to help measure engagement.

Safest interest browser to use at school –

The Brave Browser. Developed by the creator of the JavaScript programming language with the aim to block all ads, trackers, and other methods that browsers employ to violate a user’s privacy. Also claims to be the fastest browser and one with an ‘incognito’ mode that is actually private.

What’s making educators laugh: A museum trip with 60 school kids –

People can’t contain themselves with this dad’s live tweets of a museum trip.

Most shared Facebook videos around education –

Pitch 1 and Pitch 2 of “Pay Teachers The Same As Politicians” from the Gruen TV show. Pitch 2 seems to have taken the honours, however the segment has further fuelled a discussion around the topic of teacher pay again.

This is where the K2AV team does the ground work to find practical information that educators can apply, ponder, and discuss to move the needle 1% further . So here it is:

An app educators are experimenting with  –

Nearpod. Cross-platform (Apple, Android, etc.) and lets teachers create drag/drop interactive lessons, or use pre-existing lessons created by others. Then that lesson can be instantly shared across all student devices, facilitating real time feedback, and uncovering where each student is struggling or may require additional support. There’s a good case study on its use by a science teacher in San Jose.

Most shared Facebook video amongst educators –

12-year-old Chinese boy solves 3 Rubik’s Cubes while juggling them…And also breaks the Guinness World Record.

Practical tips on helping self-critical students –

How To Help Kids Who Are Too Hard On Themselves.

A valuable takeaway:

“In isolation, negative self-talk is natural and not cause for concern. But it can also be evidence of low self-esteem, a learning disability, anxiety, or depression…(A sign to look out for if) The negative self-talk is persistent and pervasive, it is not based in reality, eating and/or sleeping patterns have changed, (and) vague “I don’t feel well” statements in the absence of physical symptoms.”

Hotly debated topic amongst Perth schools –

Call for primary school ban on mobile phones. “Perth College, Scotch College, Helena College, Gilmore College and Ocean Reef Senior High School have all banned or heavily restricted the use of mobile phones during school hours.”

A free course teachers are excited about –

An online Noongar language and culture course by Curtin University. To help learn about the Noongar people of Western Australia who have been here for 45,000 years, their culture and their language. The course will teach a range of conversational Noongar words and phrases, spiritual and cultural beliefs, and key events that transformed the history of the Noongar people.

P.S. There may be a chance to win an interactive screen and/or projector — we’re working on a competition to celebrate 3,000+ subscribers, so keep an eye, ear, and nose out.

This is where the K2AV team does the ground work to find the most practical information that educators can apply, ponder, and discuss to move the needle 1% further . So here it is:

A tool educators are using more often –

Video conferencing. The ability to extend a classroom’s boundary to incorporate another on the other side of the world was, not only unfathomable, but completely unaffordable even 5 years ago. Now a classroom in Geraldton is taught a new language from a teacher in China via video link. The program called My Chinese Teacher is one of 10,000+ classrooms that can now afford to set up commercial conferencing hardware such as theBiamp Devio and then use any software – Skype, Zoom, Hangouts, etc. and expand the classroom beyond the confines of its four walls.

Additional funding WA schools are jumping on –

The School Device Program 2018 available until 8th June 2018 allows WA schools access to additional funding to support all WA students undertaking NAPLAN online by 2019. This funding gives schools the opportunity to improve integration of ICT/AV equipment in classrooms between $1,000 to $30,000 per school. Two options of audio visual solutions that can be purchased using this funding.

Most shared education article –

WA Schools To Teach Meditation…As Part of New Mindfulness Curriculum.

A device for releasing stress & enhancing mindfulness –

HeartMath’s Inner Balance sensor displays a user’s heart rhythm allowing the user to become more mindful of his/her emotional states, and being able to generate favourable ones on demand in the future with 6-9 weeks of practice.

Most successful approach for group coordination (and addressing racial division between students) –

The Jigsaw Classroom. A learning technique developed in early 1970s with many case studies of improved test performance, reduced absenteeism, and greater liking for school attributed to this technique. Each lesson is split into 5-6 chunks, a student is assigned to research one of these chunks with others in the class assigned the same task, and when research is complete – they return to the group and teach the others. The key is structured interdependence where each student’s success depends on both his/her own contribution and those of his/her partners. A step by step guide and tips on implementation here.

P.S. A video response to a frequently asked question –

What’s a more valuable investment – an interactive projector or an interactive screen?

This is where the K2AV team does the ground work to find the most practical information that educators can apply, ponder, and discuss to move the needle 1% further over the next couple of weeks. So here it is:

Most commented education article –

The Sydney Morning Herald’s – “A day in the life of a Sydney high school teacher.” With the quote:

 “On Tuesday, I worked nine hours with a 15-minute break. And on Tuesday, I read that teachers need to do more work.”

Seemingly in response to a previous Sydney Morning Herald article – “Teachers need fewer holidays, more hours.”

2018’s Perth student success story –

iRony. An 8-minute hand drawn animation about the intrusion of social media into people’s lives. Written, directed, and animated by 18 year old Perth boy Radheya Jegatheva – the short film has won 74 awards, been selected for 168 film festivals, and is part of the qualifying competitions for the Academy Awards. A great example of supporting a student on a path less trodden – this short film was made possible because of his dad’s support, who initially pushed Radheya to study commerce, to realise that would be a mistake.

Most viewed video experiment on Instagram –

This Right Pointing Arrow video created by Physics Fun showcases an arrow that always points right even when you turn it 180 degrees. However is actually symmetrical when viewed from above, and even more perplexing, always points to the left when seen in a mirror.

List of popular FREE incursions for students –

The logistics of transporting an entire class to an off-site location can be very difficult, there are providers that will come to you and provide a valuable learning experiment for students. The most popular include:

• Water Corporation,
• Red Cross,
• Department of Fire & Emergency Services,
• RAC,
• Western Power, and,
• CSIRO, Bunnings, Woodside, and many more.

Helpful tips for teachers struggling with insomnia –

Episode 267 of the Tim Ferriss Show, one of the most downloaded podcasts in the world on self improvement and performance. A snippet of the 267th episode seems to resonate with a large percentage of educators who struggle with insomnia. It provides some actionable tips like the Marpac Dohm, keeping room temperature cold as possible roughly 18 degrees, going to bed at a reasonable hour i.e. by 11pm, and supplements such asLithium Orotate (very small dose) that can alleviate the problem.