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Shambles November 2004 Newsletter
 
Welcome to the seventh edition of the
SHAMBLES newsletter
... entering a third year
designed to be of relevance to International Schools in S.E.Asia (& friends)
http://www.shambles.net/newsletter/
CLICK HERE
for aims, purpose & mailing policy

Apologies if you have received more than one copy of the notice of the newsletter -
To subscribe to the newsletter just send a blank email to newsletter-subscribe@shambles.net


CLICK HERE to download a summary "Word.doc" version of the November 2004 newsletter (200kB)

INDEX (in no specific order)

Welcome Trauma & Emergency Preparedness
Subject Departments - Resources International Schools Websites
International Assoc. of Sch Librarians Advertising on the Shambles website
SEAMC : S. E. Asia Maths Comp.          British International Schools Worldwide
School Calendar 2004-2005 (to print) iNet Online Conferences (Leadership +)
Assessing Student Technology Literacy Voices on the web
Free Asia Photographs GCSEs (exams)
Study in the USA Using Grandpa's Computer : A Poem
Tools for Website Evaluations Guestbooks as a Learning Resource
Maths software for secondary / grades 6 to 12 ... recommended
Hobsons Guide to US Education: Asia Edition, register and apply for a $2,000 scholarship
Notation Software has released two new music software products-- MidiNotate Musician 1.0 and MidiNotate Composer 1.0. ... includes many new features, including annotations, ornaments, free text, 'Easy Notes', piano score reductions, and page layout.
if you are getting lots of junk mail then this is an excellent solution (a personal recommendation : I use it all the time ! - Chris S)
Apple Computers : wonderful solutions for education ... in particular multimedia
 
Welcome
 

'The Education Project Asia" is a consultancy designed to offer support to International Schools in S.E.Asia ... particularly in the area of integration of ICT across the curriculum.

Apart from maintaining the "Shambles" website I also provides on-site support to schools : for example Singapore (ICT School Review), Brunei (conference on elearning), Malaysia (general ICT support to staff), Thailand and Hong Kong.

A three day visit to one school last term included a day with all staff on ICT across the curriculum (much of it 'hands-on'), two days working with individual teachers and their class in an ICT room and finally an evening presentation to parents on "Can we trust the internet?".

Subjects & Departments on Shambles .... now Assessment + Information Literacy + Financial
www.shambles.net/

The modifications on the Shambles website continues in response to feedback ... new sections have been completed for Assessment Recording and Reporting, Information Literacy, Financial Planning

Try your own subject or interest area by clicking here :
| Headteacher or Senior Manager | School Counsellors/careers staff | School Nurses |
| Mathematics | English | Science | Information Technology | Geography | History | Religious Education |
| Art and Design | Design and Technology | Music | Modern Foreign Languages | Physical Education |
| SEN | ESL | The School Library | The ICT Technician Room | ... and (for primary / K-6) a 'Topics' area.

HELP :
I'm just starting to build a webpage of resources that are relevant to I.B. International Baccalaureate at www.shambles.net/ib .... if you know of good websites then please add them to this page .... especially if relevant to individual subjects.
33rd Annual International Association of School Librarians (IASL) conference
www.iasl-slo.org/conference2005.html

8 -12 July 2005 in Hong Kong
IASL 2005 will provide the forum for serious discussion about school libraries and school librarians and their role as information leaders. However, more importantly, the conference invites contributions and participants who can communicate -- as change agents -- the collaborative strength of teachers, principals, and knowledge managers to further information literacy.

Interested practitioners, teachers, information specialists, and researchers are invited to submit proposals on the following themes: Information Literacy, Information Policy, Knowledge Management, Social Responsibility, Leadership in Education, ICT in Education.
Presentations can take the format of professional papers, international research papers/ forum, workshops / demonstrations and poster sessions.

The closing date for submission of proposal and abstract is 15 November 2004, criteria and further details can be found on the conference website

contact
Dianne McKenzie
diminhk@pacific.net.hk

SEAMC : South East Asia Mathematics Competition
www.asparrow.com/seamc/seamc.htm 24 to 27 February 2005

The South East Asia Mathematics competition 2005 will be held at Dulwich International College, Phuket, Thailand 24th to 27th February 2005.
"an opportunity to enjoy mathematics and to be challenged, to meet students from other countries in a different environment."
SEAMC is an annual international mathematics competition aimed at 14 and 15 year old students. Schools send in one or two teams of three students for a rigorous two days of mathematical challenges and some fun aspects of mathematics.

2001 : Malaysia
2002 : Island School, Hong Kong
2003 : UWC Singapore
2004 : Garden International School in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (pictures)
2005 : Dulwich International College, Phuket, Thailand

.. and while on the subject of Maths, teachers may be interested in the conference in Singapore 13 to 17 December 2004 http://atcminc.com/mConferences/ATCM04/

click for larger image of 2004 participants
for full details
of the 2005 event
CLICK HERE
to download
a pdf flier
School Calendar 2004 - 2005 ... to print out
www.shambles.net/calendar/schoolcalendars/

In the last newsletter it was mentioned that A3-size academic year calendars were available on Shambles as Acrobat pdf files.
Several readers wrote to me to ask if these could be made available as Microsoft Word documents so that they could be modified more easily .... I have now done this and they are available for downloading .... but probably now information to store away for when you need them next year for 2005-2006

There are several versions ... including a blank template, one with Hong Kong (&ESF) holidays, one with Thai holidays and one with U.K. holidays.

click this image to download a school calendar 2004-2005 .. for printing onto A3 size paper
Assessing Student Technology Literacy : New Online Tool (USA)
www.iste.org/news/2004/06/17msiste/index.cfm & www.iste.org/resources/asmt/msiste/

ISTE and Microsoft teamed up to provide online assessments of technology literacy in middle schoolers.

The NETS Online Technology Assessment helps teachers measure student skills in using software applications and helps measure student progress toward meeting the USA National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS•S). They are designed to be formative assessments and are criterion-referenced rather than norm-referenced assessments.

The free online tool is accessed through ISTE's Web site www.iste.org/resources/asmt/msiste/ and contains 12 assessments as well as classroom curriculum and teacher support materials.
Each of the 12 assessments involves between five and 10 tasks.

go to the online assessment of student technology literacy

Free Photographs for Use in Schools
www.csmith.info and www.shambles.net/image_search/

If you are looking for photographs (especially Asia)then some options are :

Study in the USA
http://tinyurl.com/62rsj

US Education Guides (free) ...for students interested in studying in the USA.

Hobsons have gone out of their way to produce four online guides that address the individual needs of students who originate from Europe, Asia, Latin America ... and 'worldwide'.

In addition to the expected " USA College & Course Search " you are also able to read accounts by other students from your own area who are already studying in the U.S. and find out more about studying abroad (in the USA).

There is also a section to specifically support students interested in
English as a Second Language.

Hobsons Guide to US Education: Asia Edition, register and apply for a $2,000 scholarship
click the image to visit the website
Hobsons Guide to US Education
Register (free) and apply for a
free entry in a
US$2,000 scholarship drawing

Website Evaluation
www.gananda.org/library/mshslibrary/lmnet.htm

The importance of Information Literacy is being recognised more and more, part of this involved the evaluation of websites and website materials, a few specifics follow :

Trauma and Emergency Preparedness
www.shambles.net/pages/staff/emergency/ and www.shambles.net/pages/staff/Trauma/

This is not a particularly pleasant topic to have to be covering but it is one that needs to be addressed especially in the light of the incidents over the past few years.
"Shambles" does have a list of resources related to preparing and dealing with emergencies and disasters, there is also an area dealing with trauma and stress.

In April 2004 a document was published by The American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress titled "A Practical Guide for Crisis Response in Our Schools" This can be found at www.crisisinfo.org/ where a number of practical documents are also available as free downloads.

A Practical Guide for Crisis Response in Our Schools:  fifth edition
International Schools Websites - Showcased
 

Maths : Mr. Surowski's Home Page (China) http://search.saschina.org/surowski/
A Maths page at Shanghai American School ... the layout is straightforward and functional and there is considerable content behind it .. especially algebra.

Maths again : Sha Tin Junior School (Hong Kong) www.sjsmaths.org/
This Maths website (K-6 / Primary) is credited to Dave Cooper the Schools former maths coordinator who is rumored to now be somewhere in Vietnam. This is geared to the British National curriculum but should be of interest to most K-6 teachers. (and parents)

Film Club site on Dragonnet http://dragonnet.hkis.edu.hk/hs/technology/dnetflicks/
A previous newsletter mentioned a Spring 2004 student film festival that was held in Hong Kong ... the films are now available in full to view online from this site at Hong Kong International School.

.. and for this academic year : "We are planning a 48 hour Filmmaking contest with a number of high schools in Hong Kong on the weekend of November 19-21 and our annual Film Festival this year will be the week of April 11-16. We usually have 3 days of screenings to select finalists during the week, then finals on Saturday night (April 16)."
Submission for the Film Festival in April can include the 48 hour movies or other movies produced during the current school year in the following categories: 1) Animation, 2) Ads or Promotionals, 3) Short Films i.e., Drama or Comedy), 4) Music Videos, 5) Documentaries.
Visit the website or email Richard Friedericks rfriedericks@hkis.edu.hk for details.
 

Advertising on Shambles
www.shambles.net/advertising/index.htm

Not many schools have taken up the advertising options on 'Shambles' which is a surprise as our pages do come up high in search engines.

'Shambles' is a free service because of sponsorship and advertising ... your support would be appreciated .. email me for more details if interested csmith@csmith.info
 

British International Schools Worldwide .... congratulations
www.bisw.org/
COBISEC Council of British International Schools in The European Communities
FOBISSEA Federation of British International Schools in South & East Asia
LAHC Latin American Heads Conference
BSME British Schools in the Middle East
(BNA) (British Schools of North America)

click this image to go to the BISW website
For more details from the
General Secretary of COBISEC
Albert Hudspeth
CLICK HERE (pop-up window)

To support the work of British schools around the world the associations of British schools :
COBISEC , FOBISSEA , LAHC , BSME and BNA have come together in an overarching organisation
(since May 2004) called The British International Schools Worldwide.
Educational Leadership : Online Conference .. NOW FREE to ALL
 

Invitation to Register to participate in a free Online Conference 6-12 December 2004 on the topic of Educational Leadership.

To register, email the Online Conference Manager, Ms Debra Brydon, at: brydon@bigpond.net.au you will then be given the programme details and website address where it all will take place.

This type of continuing professional development opportunity is becoming a greater part of international schools inservice programmes; it can be cost effective (this one is free) and reduce disruption to students as the teacher does not have to be away from school. Teachers can also just visit and participate in the areas that are most highly relevant to them and not have to sit through everything.

Registered participants will be given detailed guidance on how to participate in an online conference so that they can benefit by experiencing not only the content but also the process ... helping them also to decide if this is a preferred personal learning style (PPLS).

This is a joint venture between The Specialist Schools Trust (UK) and iNet (International Networking for Educational Transformation).

Using Voice Recordings and Audio off the Internet
www.shambles.net/pages/school/SoundE/ & www.shambles.net/pages/school/voices/

During my travels around schools I'm surprised that I have not seen (heard) the internet being used to find and play 'sounds' across the curriculum ... often the results of searches are kept text based. Maybe because many students are still only comfortable in expressing themselves in the written word or visually.

But where they are used 'sound effects and music' seem to be top of the list ... still a well hidden resource, except for many history teachers, are the online archives of recordings of famous people. Have a look at (listen to) some of the links at www.shambles.net/pages/school/voices/

.... and for a regional experience .... listen to the sounds of Hong Kong at
www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/interactive/sounds/index.jhtml
 

GCSE Examinations + 14-19 News (England & Wales)
 

Final report on the introduction of new GCSEs : July 2004 http://tinyurl.com/5g79r
Developing new vocational pathways
In September 2002, eight new General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) courses in vocational subjects were introduced: applied art and design; applied business; engineering; health and social care; ICT; leisure and tourism; manufacturing; and applied science. This report covers the introduction of these courses in schools from September 2002 to April 2004.
GCSEs: What the 2004 statistics show http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/1/hi/education/3598818.stm
BBC education correspondent Mike Baker looks at what the GCSE figures reveal - and what they do not.
Top grades rising again for 2004 GCSEs http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/1/hi/education/3597490.stm
GCSE results have shown the biggest increase in top grades since 1999, with girls still out-performing boys.

BBC News One Stop webpage dedicated to the latest developments in 14-19 Learning :
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/education/14-19_learning/default.stm
If your school offers a "UK-related" curriculum then this page can be very helpful to you.

A Grandchild's Guide to Using Grandpa's Computer : A Poem
http://people.cornell.edu/pages/elz1/clocktower/DrSeuss.html

It is just about the ten year anniversary of this IT-related poem that has been floating around in hyperspace and used in many schools .... click on the URL to see it. If you are familiar with the style of Dr Seuss then you may appreciate it even more ... and my favourite part is:

"If a packet hits a pocket on a socket on a port,
and the bus is interrupted as a very last resort,
and the address of the memory
makes your floppy disk abort
then the socket packet pocket
has an error to report!"


with thanks to Gene Ziegler, PhD,
e-Learning Advisor for permission to use this

Using your school website GUESTBOOK as a Learning Resource
http://tinyurl.com/6muwz

Not many International School websites have an online Guestbook for people to sign ..... in fact why bother when most visitors just ignore them .... and, to be honest, are they ever read by anyone?

But with a little imagination, and clarification to visitors, a Guestbook could well become a learning resource for students and an information source for other visitors. The Guestbook on "Shambles" is graphical, using a world map for visitors to indicate their physical location as well as providing an opportunity to leave comments. This could well be fine tuned by asking visitors specific question to comment on rather than presenting them with just a blank page (I'll get around to this one day).

To see the "Shambles" graphical guestbook (guestmap) CLICK HERE


SHIRT SHOP
For fun ... I'm producing tee-shirts with a theme of "EDUCAUTION" ... see some of the examples at www.shambles.net/shop
If you have a "prompt line and response" you'd like on one of these shirts then just email the text to me ... I'll make it for you ... but you'll have to buy it online yourself.
Putting "U" into "Education

EDUCAUTION IDEAS

STOP PRESS BRIEFS :

Master of Science in Information Technology in Education MSc(ITE)
http://msc.cite.hku.hk/
This course is a two year parttime programme for educators run by Hong Kong University which was first offered back in 2000.
A modular approach allows course customisation to fit in with each participants individual needs.
The next course (the 14th time it has run) starts in January 2005, visit HKU website for more details.

New CEO for the English Schools Foundation (Hong Kong) :
Congratulations to Heather Du Quesnay who starts work as the new ESF CEO in February; a press release is available at www.esf.edu.hk/news/041018-press-announcement.pdf . She is presently the (founding) Director and CEO of the UK’s National College for School Leadership www.ncsl.org.uk.

School Library - self-evaluation tools :
Three documents .... a comprehensive self-evaluation model, reflecting the latest research and best practice, for secondary schools, a substantial volume with detailed support materials, again for secondary, and a shorter version for primary schools.
All at www.teachernet.gov.uk/schoollibraries and www.informat.org/schoollibraries/
With thanks to David Streatfield for this information, David (based in the UK) has previously provided professional support to library staff in Hong Kong and adds "Although designed for British schools it should be fairly straightforward to adapt these for South East Asia." 

Science - new UK KS4 Prog. of Study now available :
The revised programme of study for science at key stage 4, which comes into operation in September 2006, is now available www.qca.org.uk/science

Religious Education - new National Framework (UK) now available online :
The first non-statutory national framework to support the delivery of high quality religious education (RE) in (UK) schools www.qca.org.uk/news/2586_9821.html

That's IT
The next newsletter will be the first week of March 2005

Feedback
www.shambles.net/feedback/

Any feedback you can give about this newsletter is always appreciated .... especially ideas or contributions for future editions ...

If you know of any new international schools opening in the region - Brunei Burma/Myanmar Cambodia China Hong Kong (HKSAR) India Indonesia Japan Laos Macau Malaysia Philippines Singapore South Korea Taiwan Thailand Vietnam - then please let me know csmith@csmith.info

dare I mention
Merry Christmas

email Chris Smith

csmith@csmith.info

"My job was difficult because of all the interruptions, until I realized my job WAS the interruptions!"

If you know of any commercial companies or organisations that might be interested in sponsoring a future newsletter then please feel free to forward this newsletter to them .... many thanks.

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Congratulations to :
President Bush ... keeping the keys to the White House
www.whitehouse.gov/
www.whitehouse.gov/kids/

 

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