Is it Time for You Tube?

 

"Silly videos, crass practical jokes, music videos, bloody street fights; you name it, you can probably see it on YouTube. But what many of us (teachers, that is) are finding out is that the site is also rich in serious, professionally made videos that can teach our students a lot."

...I have mentioned Mister Teacher before on this site because he has a lot of fab things to say, and not in a long-winded way, on technology.  Personally, I need to make better use of technology, it's way high on my list of stuff I absolutely, definitely, really must get onto.  If you're in that position too and are interested in using You Tube for teaching, and are on the brink of doing instead of blah blahing, like slouchy me, check this out.

JOKE: The Monk

JOKE: The Monk

1. Read

A man wanted to become a monk so he went to the monastery and talked to the head monk. The head monk said,

"You must take a vow of silence and can only say two words every three years."
The man agreed and after the first 3 years, the head monk came to him and said, "What are your two words?"
"Food cold!" the man replied.
Three more years went by and the head monk came to him and said "What are your two words?"
"Robe dirty!" the man exclaimed.
Three more years went by and the head monk came to him and said, "What are your two words?"
"I quit!" said the man.
"Well, the head monk replied, I am not surprised. You have done nothing but complain ever since you got here!"

2. Underline

5 words made of 2 syllables

3. Write

a. 3 things a person might quit doing

b. 3 words beginning with qu

c. 3 places where people go to worship

d. 3 things that will be different for everyone in 3 years from now

Movie Alert - Go get Percy Jackson!

I’m not exactly renowned for being quick off the mark, so you’ll forgive me, I’m sure, if you knew this decades ago, but…here’s a movie, and a really good one, with a dyslexic hero/main character.  -AND there’s a whole book series, AND it’s family-viewing (though probably not for under 12s), AND …well I can’t think of another AND, but anyway, if you haven’t done so already, you should watch this movie! 

Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief

 

Follow the author, Rick Riordan, on his blog

Dyslexia is great -I wouldn't be without it!

Catherine -grainy on my little phone camera, but still captivating

Yesterday I had the pleasure of speaking to Ausssi author and outspoken TV personality (most recently appearing in the ABCs Get Back to Where You Came From) Catherine Deveny who herself has dyslexia or, as she sees it, a different and dynamic way of thinking. 

Dyslexia (trouble with reading and especially with spelling) didn’t slow Catherine down much.  “I managed not to buy into the “You’re-not-trying” myth,” she said. -Her advice for fellow dyslexics.  -“Authority isn’t truth and remembering things isn’t intelligence.” Did you have any dark moments in school?” someone asked.  “No. I’m a pathological optimist,” Catherine said, waving her iPhone. “I remember a teacher saying to me, “You know Catherine, you won’t be able to carry around some kind of magic dictionary that spells for you and gives you your daily schedule…”  

-Catherine likes the app. Speak It. “It lets me record my thoughts and listen to them over and over while I’m doing other things (I like to walk and listen.  You get a kind of motor learning happening so you soak up the information better).  I also use Audio Note which lets me find my place in a recording and add notes.”

 “Dyslexic thinking isn’t linear,” Catherine told me.  “It’s creative and dynamic.  -If you walked into my kitchen at any given time you’d likely find me simultaneously stirring a pot of pasta sauce, answering two or three phone calls and cleaning the shelves, with every cupboard door swinging wide open.”

I was so glad to have met Catherine Deveny -she's a reminder of how dyslexia is just one facet of a person, and maybe a beneficial one they wouldn't part with.

For more: Dyslexics may take a different route but we get there in the end

STORY Household Chores

Household Chores

A. Reading

Tanya is 15 years old, and she lives with her mother and her

younger sister.  Her mother has two part-time jobs, so Tanya

has to do most of the housework.  Tanya doesn’t think this is

fair.  She thinks her sister should have to help with the

housework.  Her sister is only ten years old, and she likes to

play with her friends after school.  Tanya remembers that she

had to do housework when she was ten, so she doesn’t

understand why her mother doesn’t make her sister help with

the household chores.  Tanya is tired of doing all the

housework.  She wants to hang out with her friends after

school or go to the library and use the computers to do her

homework.  She is going to talk to her mother about this

problem, but she doesn’t know what to say.

B. True or False

1. ________ Tanya and her sister are both ten years old.

2. ________ Tanya’s mother has two pairs of teeth.

3. ________ Tanya would like to go to the library to use their communal showers .

4. ________ Washing the dishes is boring.

5. ________ Tanya is tired of doing all the houseplants.

6. ________ The girl in the picture is shrinking.

7. ________ The sink is a nice place to sleep.

8. ________ Tanya believes it isn’t chair.

9. ________ Tanya believes it isn’t far.

10. ________ Tanya believes it isn’t fair.

C. Write

1. My worst chore is….

2. If I could afford a cook or cleaner or nanny or gardener I would get a …..

3. If I had to work as a cook or cleaner or nanny or gardener I would be a …..