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Welcome to the twelfth edition of the termly
SHAMBLES newsletter
..... of relevance to International Schools
in S.E.Asia (& friends)
:
CLICK HERE
for aims, purpose & mailing policy

Apologies if you have received more than one copy of the notice of this newsletter -
To subscribe to the newsletter just send a blank email to newsletter-subscribe@shambles.net
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CLICK HERE to download a summary "Word.doc" version of the May 06 newsletter (170KB)
Download free Microsoft "Word" Viewer HERE (only if you do not have "Word" on your computer)

INDEX (in no specific order)

Welcome Google Analytics
New Shambles Website Developments International Schools Websites
Environment and Conservation Advertising on the Shambles website
Mandarin Flickr as an Art History Tool
School Inspections S.E.Asia Mathematics Competition
Bangkok Conference : Helping Students I.B. : International Baccalaureate
Open University (UK) : Open Content Cameos : for CPD
School Library News Web 2.0
The Hipster PDA Fund Raising
... bringing together educators, parents, health care professionals and share the latest  research and technology and ways to maximize the potential of children in their learning experience
PageQ is a dynamic web page player. PageQ allows you to create an online slideshow of your school webpages .. VERY EASILY!
Support Shambles with a donation (through PayPal) if you feel suitable - many thanks if you do  .... Chris
   search ALL schools worldwide
 
Welcome
 

"The Education Project Asia" (Chris Smith) 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 in the area of "ICT Across The Curriculum" .. ICT Reviews / audits / staff inservice / inset / parents evening /
... my ePortfolio is at www.shambles.net/csmith
 

New Shambles Website Developments : What's New and Exciting on Shambles
www.shamblesnews.net

Since Shambles was established over four years ago it has not been been possible to receive information about changes when they take place
... now it is possible by visiting the Shambles 'update' Blog at www.shamblesnews.net

or subscribe to the "What's New" Shambles RSS Feed :
or listen to the updates by subscribing to the Podcast
Link to Podcast (RSS feed) for this blog

HELP Pandemics
Some international Schools now have policies that provide guidelines for what to do if a Pandemic happens in Asia ... if you have this already then please share by adding a link to those already at
www.shambles.net/pages/learning/medical/pandemics/
this link is a subsection of the main nurse/medical page on Shambles at
www.shambles.net/nurse/

HELP Finding Educational Equipment Suppliers in S.E.Asia
Shambles has some areas that list educational equipment suppliers and agents in the 17 countries across S.E.Asia ... but the lists are incomplete and it would be appreciated if you could let your local suppliers know this and let them know they can add their details for free.
The most convenient links to the areas are at www.shambles.net/audiovisual

4 School Webmasters and Webkeepers
www.shambles.net/4webmasters
There is a new page on Shambles specifically for those staff who look after the school website(s)
 

Environment and Conservation
www.themeatrix.com        www.shambles.net/pages/school/Envir

If you have seen the movie "The Matrix" and also have an interest in "Factory Farming" then this online video is made just for you.

"The Meatrix" introduces viewers to the problems with factory farming not only through this video but also with ideas and resources about how you can extend it with your students.

This video has now been followed up with "Meatrix II" ... which looks at the horrors of the dairy industry ....
  

The MeatrixBrilliant motivation for students .....and FREE
Mandarin
www.shambles.net/mfl/       www.melnyks.com

Mandarin Free Audio Lessons
In the last Newsletter free Mandarin audio (Podcast) files from ChinesePod were highlighted ... there are now a number of 'look-alikes' appearing.

Mandarin Chinese Lessons with Serge Melnyk www.melnyks.com is one example

Chinese Language programmes, community projects & trekking in
Western Sechuan, China :

The university tourism and foreign languages departments of South West Jaotong University in Sechuan. have co-operated with the Maekok River Village Outdoor Education Centre (MRVR) in Northern Thailand to work together to produce Chinese language programmes.
These will take the form of a week’s visit through to a 4 week Chinese language camp in China (and even a year’s placement for post-graduates). The language camps will be based at the university with accommodation either in student dormitories or the university hotel. All travel arrangements, visits etc, will be organised through the MRVR in co-operation with the university travel service in Jaotong.
 

Click logo to download more details of Mandarin Language Programmes

CLICK HERE
to download a
Word document

email organiser
Bryan Massingham

School Inspections
www.shambles.net/pages/staff/Inspection        http://tinyurl.com/gfa27

From September 2005, all Ofsted (UK) inspections were radically changed.

"Central to the new inspections is the self-evaluation form, which the inspectors use to determine which areas of school life to focus on. There's very little classroom observation, but just enough to determine whether the school's own assessments are accurate." .. inspectors give schools only 48 hours notice.

There is a free, easily digestible, 30 minute online video from (Teachers TV) "The 48 Hour Inspection" that can get you up to speed on this .... and could be useful with any staff discussion of this issue ... the video is focused on Primary but would have relevance to all age groups.

There are links to other relevant resources related to this (and other) aspects of School Inspection available on Shambles at www.shambles.net/pages/staff/Inspection
 

"The Keys to All Learning : Bangkok Conference : 17th May 2006
www.adbkk.com/

The Keys to ALL Learning : Brain-Based Research and more ......
A co-sponsored Scientific Learning International Brain Summit

May 17th, 2006 at the Imperial Queen's Park Hotel, Bangkok

The purpose of this seminar is to bring together educators, parents, health care professionals and share the latest research and technology and ways to maximize the potential of children in their learning experience

"We have invited scientists and professionals from the US, Singapore, and Germany to speak about very interesting topics regarding the latest in Neuroscience Research, Sensory-Integration, Neurofeedback, and many other relevant topics that would give a deeper understanding of what is going on during a student's learning process and techniques to maximize this learning."

For more details visit the website or contact the organisers ...
Naresh Indhewat info@adbkk.com

 

CLICK HERE
to download a flier
(320 KB)
Open University (UK): Open Content Initiative
http://oci.open.ac.uk/

From the Open University (UK) :
The Open Content Initiative (OCI) will make educational resources freely available on the Internet, with state of the art learning support and collaboration tools to connect students and educators.

This is a £5.65 million project to make a selection of its learning materials available free of charge to educators and learners around the world. The website will be launched in Oct. 06.
The Open University will be the first in the UK to offer Open Content materials under a Creative Commons licence

Initially the OU 'will select and make available educational resources from all study levels from access to postgraduate and from a full range of subject themes: arts and history, business and management, health and lifestyle, languages, science and nature, society and technology.

Learners will also be able to benefit from a range of study skills development material.'
  

School Library News
http://tinyurl.com/qs8lh         http://tinyurl.com/nqm3z           www.shambles.net/librarian

OFSTED Report (UK): Good school libraries: making a difference to learning
published March 2006 http://tinyurl.com/qs8lh
This report identifies those factors which help to produce good libraries
in primary and secondary schools.
It emphasises the importance of .....
          - the commitment and support of headteachers;
          - the appointment of specialist library staff;
          - effective monitoring and evaluation; and
          - coherent programmes for developing pupils’ information literacy.
The report draws on inspection data collected from visits to 32 schools between September 2004 and July 2005. It includes case studies from some of the schools.

"Headteachers with vision bring about most significant improvements in libraries"

"Report confirms that effective school libraries
can have a positive impact on pupils' learning"

Another recent study in Ontario (Canada) "Kids at schools with librarians do better" also supports this outcome ... download pdf file/report from http://tinyurl.com/fg87k

SILCAsia Listserv has moved
In order to improve the online communication of SILCAsia members the listserv is now hosted at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/silcasia/
.. you will need a Yahoo ID in order to join.
To post a message email silcasia@yahoogroups.com to subscribe email silcasia-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
SILCAsia : " Library Media Specialists Serving American and International Overseas Schools in the Pacific Rim"
... old archives live at http://listserv.sc.edu/archives/silcasia.html

Google Librarians Third Issue Newsletter
Available at http://tinyurl.com/zpwf8 topics are :
| Google and Scholastic offer lesson plans | How Google Earth works | Taking a Virtual Field Trip with a Book | What's next for the Library Center |

Is a library blogger a "Liblogarian" ?
 

Good School Libraries ... report

The Hipster PDA for all students .....
http://tinyurl.com/946dh

The Hipster PDA (Parietal Disgorgement Aid) is a fully extensible system for coordinating incoming and outgoing data for any aspect of your life and work.
It scales brilliantly, degrades gracefully, supports optional categories and “beaming,” and is configurable to an unlimited number of options.

Best of all, the Hipster PDA fits into your hip pocket and costs practically nothing to purchase and maintain.
 

Who says all ICT
solutions
are complicated
and expensive?

Google Analytics
www.google.com/analytics

Google is becoming a regular feature in the Shambles newsletter ... it offers so many free applications and utilities ..... this one in particular will be of interest to those who are managing the School's website. (HIGHLY recommended)

"Google Analytics tells you everything you want to know about how your visitors found you and how they interact with your site."

I installed this on 'Shambles' early in April and it immediately came up with some amazing statistics that have helped prioritise areas for development.

.. and purely because I'm often asked about this .... Shambles gets over 8,000 individual visitors every day ... and they look at over 12,000 pages every day .... & as yet, no one has clicked on the "donation" button ;-(
 

Google Analytics website
Google Analytics (at this time) is available by invitation only ...
you can request to be included on a waiting list ...
the wait will be worth while!

International Schools Websites - Showcased
http://ibtarts.blogspot.com/

There is no doubt that Blogs are here to stay ....

.... Timothy Evans, Head of Performing Arts at Yokohama International School, Japan, has built one to support I.B. Theatre.

A place for IB Theatre students, teachers and theatre people.

Woodstock School (India) www.woodstock.ac.in
OK .. not a website but it does involve ICT.
The school had a particularly impressive write-up of their ICT capability in Digit Magazine in March 2006.
Digit is one of the two largest consumer computer magazines in India .
CLICK HERE to download the pdf file (780KB)
 

Click to go to Tim's Blog for I.B. Theatre Arts
click to download 780KB pdf file
Advertising on Shambles
www.shambles.net/advertising/

Surprisingly not too many schools have taken up the advertising options on 'Shambles' : remember we get over 14,000 page impressions every day.

'Shambles' is a free service because of sponsorship and advertising ... your support would be appreciated .. details at www.shambles.net/advertising
 

Support Shambles with a donation (through PayPal) if you feel suitable - many thanks if you do  .... Chris

Google Adwords
At the risk of losing revenue (for Shambles) .... if you are looking for ways of advertising your school, product or services then I would highly recommend you also considered using Google Adwords .... this enables you to have simple text adverts that link back to your own website.
These adverts are only displayed when people search Google for key words you decide or on webpages that contain your keywords ... which can also be geographical ...

You can set up your own Google Adwords scheme automatically online in only a few minutes .... and the important part is that you can stipulate your maximum monthly spending .. so you have full control of your budget. Click this button to sign up

Shambles does display adverts from the Google (Adwords Scheme) and you will often see adverts from international schools appear in these ads ..... the boxes in the top right of most pages ... and the very low cost is very affordable.
 

Flickr as an Art History Tool
http://flickr.com/photos/ha112/901660/

There are not yet many examples of where Web 2.0 websites are being used in learning and teaching ... but this 'Art History' one is excellent ... especially in its simplicity and ability for students to collaborate.
It focuses on the Merode Altarpiece.

Flickr is a online photo management and sharing application .. free option available.
 

Click to go to Flickr
SEAMC : S.E.Asia Mathematics Competition 2006 and 2007
www.wis.edu.hk/seamc2006/

SEAMC : this year's contest (23-26 Feb. 2006, Hong Kong) was three days of
intense competition hosted by a group of seven international schools in Hong
Kong, it attracted 39 teams of 3 students each from across SE Asia.

The winners of the 'Warry Cup' (named after the founder of the contest) were KGV
School (KGV Roar), Hong Kong, closely followed by Singapore American School
(The Jocks) and Island School, Hong Kong (The BAD).
The individual contest was won by Eng Seng NG from Singapore American School who got an amazing 46 out of 50 (second got 41) in a very tough contest.
The contest included a guest presenter, Professor Marcus du Sautoy fellow of Wadham College, Oxford who gave the teachers some insight into the latest research on Prime Numbers and a hint of their importance to students in a talk entitled 'Why Does Beckham Wear Prime?'

SEAMC 2007 : information for your diaries is:
Feb. 1-4, 2007 to be held in Singapore at 2 different international schools.
Contact:
Jim Kett, Singapore American School jkett@sas.edu.sg
  

SEAMC 2006 : Hong Kong .. lots of photographs of the event

 

International Baccalaureate : I.B.
www.shambles.net/ib      www.ibo.org        www.ibo.org/ibap

The I.B. section on Shambles is at www.shambles.net/ib

The I.B. Organisation has a new look public website at www.ibo.org with the new I.B. Asia Pacific page at www.ibo.org/ibap the regional office is located in Singapore with subregional offices in Beijing, Mumbai, Sydney and Tokyo.

The Jan-March IBO Asia Pacific Newsletter is available at www.ibo.org/newsletter_ibap/january_2006
You can subscribe to the newsletter by sending email to subscribe@ibapnews.com
  

Cameos (examples of best practice in teaching)
www.ofsted.gov.uk/cameos

Cameos are examples of best practice in teaching, drawn from OFSTED (UK) inspectors' lesson observation.

This is a searchable database of some of the UK's best teaching ... an excellent resource for use in professional development and on courses.
 

 

Web 2.0
www.shambles.net/web2

The number of Web 2.0 websites has grown considerably since the last newsletter and the page on Shambles has grown in proportion.

The Shambles page attempts to approach the idea of Web 2.0 from a teaching and learning perspective providing links to a number of relevant resources that can be used in the classroom and in virtual space.

The page also has an area related to "Library 2.0" which is an interesting concept being embraced by some schools .... although it's not yet completely clear what a school "Library 2.0" would look like .... but a very interesting debate.


"Coming of Age: An introduction to the NEW worldwide web"
The main objectives of this new free publication are first to inspire teachers to want to try some of these "new tools" (web 2.0) for themselves and with their classes, and then to provide practical advice and guidance on how to do so.

The publication is a collaborative venture between
14 people from the USA, Canada, Thailand and the UK ...

more info plus pdf file downloadable from a link at
www.shambles.net/web2/comingofage/
 

logos of some web 2.0 websites

Web 2.0 Page on Shambles

'Coming of Age' Web 2.0 Booklet

Coming of Age Booklet (Web 2.0)

Fund Raising
www.shambles.net/pages/staff/FundRaise/        www.octanecreative.com/ducttape/walltapings/

Most, if not all, schools around the world are well experienced raising funds for good causes .... the "Fund Raising" area on Shambles has over forty ideas ...

One of my favourites is Wall (and Ceiling) Duck Tapings ... of people .... but take note of the advice at the 'ducktape guys' website as it could be dangerous.

... but what fun : duck taping the headteacher to the wall ;-)
If you do this then PLEASE send me a photo for the newsletter csmith@csmith.info
 

A headteacher .. duck taped to the wall .. what fun ;-)

SHIRT SHOP
For fun ... I've produced 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 :

Items for School Calendars plus templates to download
www.shamblescalendar.net/       www.shambles.net/calendar

If you are in charge of putting together the school calendar for 2006-2007 then you will find the events listed at the Shambles calendar helpful ... conferences, training, recruitment etc.
School Calendar TEMPLATES
You can also now download the annual MS Word A3(size) 2006-2007 school calendars ....
there is a blank template and also others with public holidays listed for Hong Kong, Thailand, UK and USA
at www.shambles.net/calendar

One of my favourite calendar questions is "What is the date of next years 'Cinco De Mayo' festival?"


TES Special Supplements

www.tes.co.uk/supplements/
Did you know that the (TES) Times Educational Supplement special supplements are available to download online for free?
At the moment there are four magazines focusing on ... German , ICT, 14-19 and assessment.
They have an RSS feed so that you can subscribe for automatic notifications.


The Lunch Clock
www.lunchclock.com
Lunchclock is a (JavaScript) clock that distorts time to give you a longer lunch hour.
Lunchclock discreetly runs fast in the morning, runs slow over lunch, and runs fast again in the afternoon. The result is that the length of your working day is unchanged, but you can sneak a few extra minutes onto your lunch break ... please do not tell the senior management you found this here!


Ask Jeeves : Search Engine
http://ask.com/en/docs/about/jeeveshasretired.html
You may have used the search engine "Ask Jeeves" ... it has been around for a long time ... but on 1st April 2006 ... Jeeves retired and the site name changed to just "Ask".
The site has reinvented itself at www.ask.com .. well worth a visit. They also still have "Ask for Kids"


Web Browser : Internet Explorer 7 (IE7)
www.ieaddons.com
The new version of Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE7) is growing in popularity and now has a dedicated page for listing extensions (add-ons) ... IE7 supports Tabs and built-in RSS feeds plus .....
BUT ... when I downloaded IE7 the TABs did not work ... and more importantly the dropdown menus on the front of Shambles do not work ... it might be advisable to wait a few months as it is still being developed.
If you want tabs then use Firefox to browse the web it's very stable


International School Library Day
www.iasl-slo.org/isld.html
International School Library Day is held the fourth Monday in October each ye ar.....
.... next is 23rd October 2006 with a theme "Reading, Knowing, Doing"


Paper Folding Links
www.shambles.net/pages/learning/MathsP/PaperFold/
Whatever you are doing with students there is usually a free paper model template somewhere on the internet to be printed out and made. There is a list (of course) on Shambles.
One of my own favourites is "Paper Toys" at www.papertoys.com


Voluntourists Without Borders (Thailand)
www.voluntourists-without-borders.com
"This Initiative puts volunteer labour, and the funding they secure, to work alongside ethnic minority and rural Thai village groups under a programme to establish a world class eco-tourism industry."


For all those old(er) teachers and senior managers who are retiring at the end of this term
http://tinyurl.com/nkcbq
Growing Stronger: Strength Training For Older Adults
This presentation describes the benefits of strengthening exercises for older adults, and provides guidance in starting and maintaining a strength-training program. The "Exercises" section features step-by-step instructions and animated drawings for each of the exercises.
Also includes a physical activity readiness questionnaire to help determine if you should check with your doctor before you start. From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).


Send a picture to be displayed on the front page of www.shambles.net
www.shambles.net
On the front page of the Shambles website is displayed a large image which changes every time the page is refreshed or when you visit next time.
You can see all the images together at www.shambles.net/randomimages
The image is taken at random from a 'pool' of images .... if you have a picture of your school or students / children that you would like to go in this group of images for display then just send it to me by email ... Chris Smith csmith@csmith.info

Shambles Poster for Staffroom Noticeboards : Full of I.T.
http://www.shambles.net/about/fliers/fullofIT.doc
It would be appreciated if you could download and print out this A4 notice for your staffroom noticeboard.

That's IT
The next newsletter will be 2nd November 2006 ....

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

email Chris Smith

csmith@csmith.info
ePortfolio at www.shambles.net/csmith
Thought for the day .. the difference between managers
and the managed
... CLICK HERE
-

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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| Shambles Home | Brunei Schools : bn | Burma/Myanmar Schools : mm | Cambodia Schools : kh | China Schools : cn | Hong Kong Schools : hk | India Schools : in | Indonesia Schools : id | Japan Schools : jp | Laos Schools : la | Macau Schools : mo | Malaysia Schools : my | Philippines Schools : ph | Singapore Schools : sg | South Korea Schools : kr | Taiwan Schools : tw | Thailand Schools : th | Vietnam Schools : vn | contact webmaster (Chris Smith) |

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