I recently published posts with 10 Internet Safety Tips for Students and 10 Internet Safety Tips for Teachers. If parents, teachers and children can all work together to build a culture of safe and positive internet use, problems can be minimised. Internet safety is a topic that should be regularly and authentically discussed in classrooms, staffrooms […]
Author: Kathleen Morris
10 Internet Use Tips for Teachers
Last week I attended a presentation by former police officer and cyber safety expert, Susan McLean. There was a lot to think about at this session and I wrote a post with 10 Internet Safety Tips for Students. I do have some concerns about the way some teachers conduct themselves online and promote internet safety […]
10 Internet Safety Tips for Students
Last night I attended a presentation by former police officer and cyber safety expert, Susan McLean. She addressed many issues around internet safety, cyber bullying, sexting, problematic internet behaviour and digital reputation. Internet safety is something I try to address frequently and authentically with my students. I have found education around this issue to be […]
PowerPoint: Dead or Alive?
Since Microsoft PowerPoint was released in 1990, it has been a key tool in many classroom ICT programs and businesses. There seems to be a reoccurring theme in social media that “PowerPoint is dead”. PowerPoint has been the butt of many jokes including this infographic by SlideRocket. Wikipedia outlines a history of the “death by PowerPoint” criticism, […]
Online Maths Activities
We had a numeracy curriculum day at my school today and I was asked to present a workshop on online maths sites. The audience was diverse with teachers from all grade levels as well as CRTs (casual replacement teachers) and student teachers. I began by giving a few tips for using online maths sites. 1. […]
Instructions for Using Creative Commons Images in Blog Posts
Many bloggers are not aware that you can’t just use any images off the internet in your blog posts. Not only is this ethically incorrect but you could leave yourself open to copyright infringement. I teach my student bloggers to “do the right thing” by using their own images or Creative Commons images in their […]
Free Online PD: Learn About Blogging and Global Collaboration
In June I travelled to the USA to present at the ISTE conference with my long time blogging buddy, Linda Yollis. Read more about it here. If you weren’t at ISTE and would like to see our presentation, Linda and I are joining together for an online professional development webinar next week. What: Tech Talk Tuesdays […]
Five Steps to Starting a Class Blog
I have revised the posts I have written in the past to create a nine page, five step guide to beginning a class blog. Feel free to view, print or download the document to help you get started on your blogging journey. Five Steps to Starting a Class Blog If you’re having trouble with the […]
Tips and Topics for Student Bloggers
Recently, I wrote two posts about quality student blogs. You can find them here and here. I have also written a guide to setting up student blogs here. A new group of students in my class are almost ready to earn their own blogs. I wanted to compile the tips I offer my students in […]
Making Educational Blogging Work for You
Originally published as a guest post on Free Technology for Teachers. I was introduced to educational blogging in 2008. A twenty minute tutorial by a Department of Education staff member was enough to ignite my interest and, four years on, blogging is something that really works in my classroom. When I look back at how I […]
ISTE 2012 – What an Experience!
Six weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to win the Victorian Teachers Mutual Bank Outstanding Primary Teacher Award. This award has partially allowed me to attend the ISTE conference in San Diego, California and meet some of my international blogging buddies face to face. Meeting Mrs Yollis! When I arrived in the USA, my long term blogging […]
Quality Student Blogs Part Two – Post Topics
Last week I wrote about how students with their own blogs can be guided to create quality posts. After I published my post, I showed my class the less ideal post example I used about dogs. It was so interesting to get their opinions on the fictional post. Seeing their “shock” at the lack of […]
Quality Student Blogs Part One – Posts
As I have written about before, I have a system in my classroom where students can earn their own blog. Adapted from Linda Yollis’ idea, I have found the system to work well in both my grade two and grade four classes. Recently, six 4KM and 4KJ students were the first to earn their own […]
Ten Tips for Teaching Students how to Research and Filter Information
I was recently involved in a conversation about how difficult it now is to filter what is on the internet and research effectively. In the past, students would primarily use books to research; being overloaded with possibly unreliable information wasn’t really an issue. Teaching students research skills is becoming increasingly important. Some refer to the […]
A Team Effort!
On Friday night I was honoured and humbled to win the Victorian Teachers Mutual Bank Outstanding Primary Teacher Award. This was part of an amazing night at the Victorian Education Excellence Awards at the Palladium at Crown Casino, Melbourne. The title is one thing but I am also extremely grateful to receive funding to attend ISTE […]