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Three Aussie teacher Pinterest profiles you need to follow

aussiestarresourcesau · Dec 26, 2017 · 2 Comments

Hello, my name is Amy, and I’m addicted to Pinterest. It’s been oh… about 20 minutes since my last pin.

Please raise your hand if you’re addicted to Pinterest too. Go on.

Teachers love Pinterest! In fact, an article from eSchool News reports that teachers use Pinterest in almost equal amounts for personal and professional use, 69% personal vs 67% professional. This is compared to Facebook which, according to the article, most teachers use Facebook as their main social media (71%) but the use for professional reasons was much lower at 44%.

Pinterest should count as PD then… right?

I find Pinterest incredibly helpful when I’m looking for ideas on anything, decorating, cooking and most often teaching. I love that it’s so visual, I don’t have to read through great swathes of text to be inspired or to find relevant information.

I’ve put together this post to let you know about three great profiles you should follow on Pinterest. These are some of my favourite Teacher-Authors who are at the top of their game when it comes to teaching ideas and resources. Their Pinterest accounts are well worth a follow!

Curiosity and the Hungry Mind

Aussie Teachers your should follow on Pinterest

If you’re looking for STEM ideas then Sarah at Curiosity and the Hungry Mind will have you totally inspired. She loves sharing STEM ideas and resources with the education community I wish I’d found her Engineering for Kids board earlier. Sarah has been teaching STEM as a specialist teacher in Primary Schools and found that there was a real lack of quality resources so thought she'd give it a go and produce her own. Sarah says, “I really enjoy the creation process and when I see students around the world enjoying the activities and resources, it makes my heart sing. I am passionate about STEM and the tools and skills it gives the students. It really is important for our future generation.”

Check out her Pinterest profile here for more STEM inspiration.

Teaching Products

Teaching Products focuses on resources for lower primary, with an emphasis on English. And you’ll find a profile that is a “smorgasboards” of ideas (see what I did there? ). It’s loaded with fabulous pins to really get your teaching ideas flowing. Jennifer’s always looking for fresh, hands-on ideas that will get her students moving and interacting with letters and words check out her huge Literacy Board. She incorporates a lot of findings from recent research into her own resources to reflect best practices and advancement within the classroom. You can follow Jennifer’s Pinterest profile here.

Aussie teachers you should follow on pinterest

Ready To Print

Ready to Print resources are focused on a variety of products that are suitable to use in a range of classrooms and so is their Pinterest account! The variety of teaching ideas and helpful pins are indicative of Michelle’s dedication to creating resources that excite children to learn and teachers to teach. Michelle creates games and hands on activities that are related to Mathematics and English curriculum content allowing students to access this in a fun way. If you’re looking for great ideas for the new school year check out her Back to School with Ready to Print board.

I could go on for ages about fabulous teacher profiles on Pinterest but I wanted to highlight a few of the amazing Australian teacher-authors who are constantly pinning great ideas for you to draw inspiration from. If you know of any other brilliant Australian teachers on Pinterest drop a comment below so we can check them out. You can follow Aussie Star on Pinterest here or check out our Pinterest link below.

In the meantime,

Happy Pinning!

Amy

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Upper Primary Teaching Tips: Build Relationships

aussiestarresourcesau · Dec 17, 2017 · 2 Comments

Have you ever been to a dinner party and had a conversation with someone who comes across as 'friendly' but you can tell they're just being polite and are not interested in you at all? #awkward How much effort do you invest in getting to know that person further? Not much right? You'd rather spend your time with people who are genuinely friendly.

Why would you make any extra effort for someone who isn't truly interested in getting to know you?

Upper primary teaching tip: If you're not willing to build relationships with your students then teaching probably isn't for you.

There, I said it.

Just like you, upper primary students can tell when a teacher is not really interested in getting to know them. This can make life really difficult for you as it will affect behaviour management, interaction within the class and ultimately relationships with parents who will pick up on the same vibe or hear it from their children.

When I put a shout out on the Aussie Star Resources Facebook page asking teachers for their tips for teaching upper primary students building relationships was mentioned by most of the teachers who responded! Here's what they had to say:

"Be real! It's all about relationship."

"Be honest and build a strong relationship it will help with behaviour management. Ask them advice on what they want to learn and classroom set up. Give them some ownership of their space."

"Get to know each of the kids and show them that you are interested in who they are - not just the job that we do."

"Relationships are key! Be ready to negotiate too...."

"Build the relationship first, be yourself and most importantly you are not there to be their friend (mentor, yes, friend, no)"

Students are looking for real connections, they want to get to know you and they want you to get to know them. They will know if you’re not really interested in them and it will be difficult to gain their respect. You will find that if you have a strong authentic relationship with your students it will make an enormous difference to your teaching and your enjoyment of it.

So how can you build relationship with your students? Here are my top ten ideas for building relationships with students.

1. Be enthusiastic about your teaching and about your students

2 . Create a classroom environment that is a safe space for students to be themselves

3. Take an interest in your students' lives outside of the classroom. Ask them about their hobbies, sporting interests and what they do in their spare time. If you live locally drop in at their Saturday morning sport to cheer them on. Parents will appreciate this too and it will help strengthen your relationship with them too.

4. Be positive! Your attitude will rub off on the students.

5. Make learning fun and interesting! This doesn't mean that you need to make every lesson an Oscar worthy performance but it does mean putting in the effort to make lessons interesting and engaging. The amount of effort you put in will be reciprocal of the amount of effort your students make.

6. Get to know their parents. Take time in the mornings and afternoons to greet parents and have a quick chat. These short discussions go a long way to building open lines of communication and show that you are really invested in your students.

7. Share your life with students (within reason). Your students want to get to know you too. I would often share about my family and use examples from my own life to help teach a concept. I would also let students know about my own schooling, I think they forget we were children once too.

8. Let your students have a say in their learning. This always sounds a bit scary but it doesn't mean handing over full control of your planning and lessons. Involve students in your planning by asking what they would like to know about a topic or allow them to make class rules and consequences.

9. I've written a separate blog post on the importance of recognition in the upper primary classroom but providing students with recognition for their achievements and their growth will help foster strong relationships with your students

10. Provide boundaries for your classroom. The word boundaries sounds restrictive but they actually build a sense of trust and reliability. By providing set expectations on behaviour, work ethic, responsibility and conduct students feel safe and have a clear understanding of what's required of them. Without boundaries they can feel chaotic and unsure. Boundaries are a good thing.

I could go on with more ideas but I'd rather hear yours instead. Leave a comment below about how you build relationships with your students. If you have VIP Access you'll find our Mind Mapping pages in our Free Resource Library which can be a great way to get to know students. Our Cohesive Class Pinterest Board also has some great pins about building relationships and working with students to create a great class environment.

Take care

Amy

Upper Primary Teaching Tips: Recognition

aussiestarresourcesau · Dec 10, 2017 · Leave a Comment

For this week's upper primary teaching tip we're going to explore the importance of giving your upper primary students recognition.

Does your school have perks for the older students? Everybody loves to have something that signifies they're moving up in the world and upper primary students are no different.

Maybe they get to sit on chairs at assembly or be house captain or chairperson of the SRC? These perks are a great way to show recognition of their senior position within the school and are some of the first things students mention when asked what they’re looking forward to about being in Year 6.

You can do this in your classroom as well, by including students in their learning, asking for their ideas and opinions and providing fun self-directed learning activities (with your guidance of course).

Listening to students and allowing them to have a say in classroom management is a great idea too. Here are a few ways you can give your students recognition in the classroom and wider school community.

1. Flexible seating

Allow students the choice of where and how they sit in the classroom. This will need to be managed and have set rules and expectations but it is a great way of allowing students to demonstrate their growing maturity through making choices and behaving responsibly.

2. Added responsibilities

Look for opportunities for your students to help around the school and take on roles that are suited to their age and increasing sense of responsibility. Here's some examples I've seen at various schools:

* Manage the PA system at assembly
* Help out with borrowing and returns in the library
* Serve the canteen or help with prep
* Manage the borrowing system for sports equipment
* Organise lunch time games and activities
* Help duty staff keep the school crossing safe at drop off and pick up time
* Help set up for special events
* Help the junior primary students with logging on for their IT lesson (the JP teachers will LOVE this)

3. Relax your stance (just a little bit)

I rarely make older students line up to move between classes or around the school. I also rarely make them sit on the floor to listen to stories or hear instructions. I find sitting on the floor for extended periods uncomfortable and so do they. They also find it a bit demeaning which isn't conducive to a great relationship.

Obviously there are times when I've needed them to line up and I find because it's such a rare occasion they do it quickly and quietly because they realise for something important (like a head count on excursion or class photos or during an evacuation drill).

Relaxing your stance on things like this is a small but very effective way to show students your recognise their position as older students and they respond well to it and feel proud that they no longer need such strict procedures and protocols. That said, it still needs to be managed by you. If they aren't able to demonstrate the maturity to move around the school as a quiet sensible group or sit at their desks without being distracted go back to lining up and sitting on the floor and try again later in the term when you think they might be ready. Also, explain to them what your expectations are and that you believe they are capable of doing this so it's up to them to show you.

These are just a few of the possible ways you can give your students recognition as the senior students in your primary school. There are many other ideas and tips for teaching upper primary students and I will explore these further in future posts. In the meantime sign up for VIP access, in our free resource library you will find our Goal Setting Flip Book which is the ideal way to start the year with your class.

I'd love to hear from you about how you provide recognition for your upper primary students.

Take care

Amy

My Go-To Australian Federation Teaching Resources

aussiestarresourcesau · Nov 9, 2017 · Leave a Comment

Having the right resources can take your lessons to the next level and really reduce your stress levels. Here are my go to Australian Federation teaching resources that are sure to make teaching this boring topic far more interesting and fun - for you and your students.

Need a crash course in Australian Federation?

If you feel that your understanding of Federation needs a refresher check out our posts on Engaging your Students with Federation and The Argument for Federation. Basically, Federation happened in 1901 (after many years of discussion and debate) when the colonies voted to become one nation with a Federal Government that serves the people of Australia and is bound by the Constitution.

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Worth the read!

If you're looking for more facts and figures and information about Federation and the events that led to it check out the Australian Electoral Commission Education website it has fact sheets that are full of information!

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The National Archives also have several resources that you might find helpful, especially about how the constitution was drafted, reviewed, edited, reviewed and eventually voted on. You can check out this information by clicking on this link.

This PDF fact sheet from the Parliamentary Education Office is also a handy reference about Australia’s Federation. The PEO are a great place to start if you’re looking for information about Australia’s political history.

Australian Federation teaching resources at the ready!

My despair at the lack of Australian Federation teaching resources was the catalyst for Aussie Star and I've received a huge amount of feedback from teachers expressing delight and gratitude for our range of Australian Federation resources. Here is a brief rundown on what's available.

Reasons For and Against Federation

This was the very first resource that I ever created and it has recently been updated to be even more engaging and interactive. It is a great discussion starter and is a simple but highly effective way to help students identify and sort the reasons for and against Federation.

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Federation Vocabulary Flip Book

With every new topic there are always a few key words that students need to be able to understand to fully grasp concepts. This flip book dictionary has 6 words that are all related to the topic of Federation. Students are required to define each word and practise using it in context. They are then able to assemble their dictionary to form a funky little flip book that they can refer to later.

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Australian Federation Hall of Fame

This activity is great fun!
There were several gentlemen who were instrumental in bringing about Federation and this resource is designed to introduce them to your students. They will be able to conduct their own research to find out key information about each person and then enter it in to their Hall of Fame. Once they've got to know these famous faces of Federation they can create a grand double door entrance for their Hall of Fame.
We’ve received great feedback from teachers about this resource for example Michelle said, “Thank you! This saved me hours of work and the children were engaged for what could have been a "boring" lesson!”

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Australian Federation Foldable Timeline

Timelines are a prominent feature in the Australian HASS Curriculum and with good reason. The road to Federation was long and filled with debates, draft constitutions, more debate and a couple of referendums. Without understanding the process students won’t really appreciate the significance of the decision to Federate and how it impacted the development of the Australia they know today.
Creating foldable timelines is a great way to make sorting information into chronological order interesting and memorable.

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Sir Henry Parkes Cloze Activity

While not the most exciting bloke Henry Parkes was a major advocate for Federation. He traveled around and gave long rousing speeches about the reasons Australia should Federate. This cloze activity is a great way for students to meet Henry and learn about his role in Federation.

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Edmund Barton Research Puzzle

Edmund Barton was our first Prime Minister and another advocate for Federation and is therefore, worth getting to know. This activity requires students to research information about Edmund and use their answers to unjumble the puzzle to form his image. They must also record the websites they used and the keywords they entered to demonstrate their ability to use reliable information sources and search efficiently.

Each of these resources is available in our shop for immediate download.

Teaching Federation can be fun and interactive, it is a pretty boring topic but by using some of the ideas above hopefully you can spice it up for your students.

Let me know if you have any other ideas that you've found helpful in your classroom to teach Federation. I'd love to hear about it.

Take care

Amy

Hands-on History at Old Parliament House Canberra

aussiestarresourcesau · Nov 5, 2017 · Leave a Comment

I’ve mentioned previously that the Aussie Star family traveled to Canberra earlier this year. There’s no question that the Museum of Australian Democracy (or Old Parliament House) was the highlight of the trip for all of us but particularly for Miss 11. We went twice and if she’d had her way we would have gone back again. She rated it even higher than Questacon! I also have no doubt that Grace got a great deal out of it from an educational perspective since she is in Year 6 and has been learning about Australian Government in her HASS classes at school. She spent ages reading information plaques, interacting with the touch screens and following their instructions to move around the display.

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5 Reasons you should visit Old Parliament House

Given her enthusiasm for Old Parliament house I asked her for her Top 5 reasons to visit the Museum of Australian Democracy as part of your trip to Canberra and here’s what she said.

I liked that they had loads of hands-on things to do.
It was so cool sitting in the big seats in the Upper and Lower Houses.
I liked that you could spy on the Prime Minister in his office through a spy hole!
It only cost $5 for the whole family. What a bargain!
They have a little kid’s area and an awesome dress-up photo area.

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Getting in to character at The Museum of Democracy

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All day fun with an Australian History lesson too!

There’s not much that’s off limits at Old Parliament House. Grace and Mr 3 loved sitting on the deep worn leather seats in the Upper House and Senate, they’re surprisingly comfortable and I can understand how they could be tempted to nod off during parliament! The Speaker of the House’s office was very plush and while you’re not allowed to sit at the official desk you can sit at the secretary’s desk and have a great time looking efficient typing away and answering phone calls like these two monkeys.

Hands on fun in the press room.

Hands-on learning and engaging activities

The Press Room was also a favourite, sitting in the sound proof booth and reading a press release for others to hear in the next room was a highlight as were Bob Hawke’s office, the dress-up room and the Cabinet room with its sound proof door and plush interior.

For parents of little people there’s an excellent playroom that kept our little guy entertained for ages and gave us all a place to rest up before more exploration.

If you’re heading to Canberra, either on your own or with your class for camp, make sure you add The Museum of Australian Democracy to your itinerary. I’ve been twice as part of a school group and the guides are wonderful however, I would allow time for small group exploration if you have enough teachers and parent helpers. I saw more, and engaged in the museum more, by just being free to wander the halls and explore so if you have time this is worth doing after your guided tour.

So, there you have it, Grace’s top 5 reasons to visit Old Parliament House in Canberra and my quick run-down to back them up. The museum really has been well planned and organised to maximise learning opportunities and to genuinely engage students with Australia's democratic history. Make sure you visit when you’re in town. If you’re looking for some more information their website is very helpful.

I’d love to know your favourite place to visit in Canberra or the highlight of your school trip so feel free to leave a comment below.

Take care