Edublogs Challenge, Week 7 – Connections

 

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Activity 1. Survey or poll the teachers at your school  to find out how they are connected. Did they know about Connected Educator Month? How do they connect with other teachers in their state? How do they connect overseas? How do they connect with family? What do they use to connect? Write a post about your results telling us some statistics about connectedness at your school.

Activity 2. Create a mindmap showing how you connect as a student. Include the tools you use to connect as well as who you connect to. Think carefully about all the ways you connect to different members of your family.

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Homework  Week 5– Create your own mindmap to share with the class, that shows how you are connected as a student. What tools do you use to connect with others?

If you can, enter information on your kidblog. How could you include a diagram? Possibly draw and take a photo, use Explain Everything App, make a PowerPoint/Keynote or use Word/Pages.

Edublogs Challenge 6- Our World

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Our world is a very complex one, yet like the song says it is a small world now especially with technology and ease of transportation. This week we are going to look at the world of your grandparents and even further back if you can. Look at how their culture might have affected the world in which you live.

The world of our grandparents

Activity 1. Survey the students in your class or school. Where were their grandparents born? How many are immigrants to the country they now live in?

Activity 2. Are there any foods you eat that come from your grandparents home country? What recipes have been handed down in the family?

Activity 3. Are there any cultural events that directly relate to the old country from which your ancestors came?

Activity 4. How many generations do you go back before you find an ancestor immigrating to your present country? For example on my mother’s side of the tree, I can go back 5 generations to my great great great grandparents who were sent out from England as convicts to Australia.

Activity 5. What is the most important invention created since your grandparents were born? You might need to ask them and others of their generation.

Operation Christmas Child

Our school is  participating in Operation Christmas Child this month.

http://operationchristmaschild.org.au/

5SK have brainstormed a list of possible items to include in the shoe boxes destined for communities around the world. In 2013, Samaritan’s Purse Australasia-Operation Christmas Child Limited hopes to send 320, 000 boxes to South-East Asia and the South Pacific.

Mrs N from Prep H is collecting our boxes this week and they need to be completed by next week.  Notes will come home tomorrow with further details.

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Edublogs Challenge 4 – Global Issues

 

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Asylum Seekers

I was very apprehensive about approaching this topic in class. Don’t get me wrong, I think it is a very important topic to examine further but the stories we mostly see on tv and read about in the paper can be very negative. My hope was that our class would approach this topic with an open mind and gain a stronger understanding of the reasons why people seek asylum, where they travel from and why they take such risks.

We were very lucky to have two guest speakers come in from Customs and Border Protection and present to our class. Both men have worked in this field for a period of time and were very informative. Our Principal, Mrs F and Mrs K both sat in on our session as well.

Eight pages of notes later I am trying to decide where to start. I came away from that session with so many thoughts going through my mind.  Our students sat, listened and took notes throughout the session. I could see that they were really thinking about the information presented and their questions at the end were very meaningful.

Some of our questions:

What is the difference between an asylum seeker and refuge?

Refugees apply for permission to enter the country, fill in relevant paperwork, register with the United Nations and mostly travel by plane. Asylum seekers mostly enter our borders by boat. They could have been in the refuge process for many years and through desperation have chosen to seek asylum instead.

Where do asylum seekers travel from?

At present they mainly come from countries in the Middle East such as Iran, Iraq, Syria and from Afghanistan. They may travel by plane to Indonesia then board a boat to travel to Australia.

There are 500, 000 people in refuge camps in Somalia right now. That is 50 times the population of our town.

Are many of these people highly educated?

Yes. Many of the asylum seekers are very highly educated and are seeking asylum due to issues that may have arisen in their country. They may have spoken up against their government or someone in power. Doctors, engineers and many other skilled workers have been through Border Control.

How many boats enter our waters each year? So far? How many don’t make it?

Last year the count was 445. This year it has reached 850. Of every 100 boats that leave Indonesia, approximatley only 5 survive the journey.

How old are the people on the boats?

The youngest was a 4 week old baby and the oldest was in his 90’s.

Why do people make this journey?

They may possibly have a death sentence at home for standing up against a regime. There may be a war in their country or they may suffer great financial hardship. We were told that many families sell all their posessions and homes to send just one relative to Australia.

How many people are on the boat?

Up to 100 people can be on those boats just the size of a small fishing boat. The area that our 24 students sat in was equal to the space the 100 people had for the entire journey. We learnt that there may only be five small bags on the boat holding all of their posessions.

What happens to these people in Indonesia?

As Indonesia has not signed the UN Treaty, asylum seekers are allowed to enter Indonesia but are unable to access work, medical treatment and schools. (We did discuss this topic further as there needed to be two sides to the story.)

What happens when they arrive in Australia?

Boats are intercepted by Australian customs and each person is provided with a life jacket. They are then moved to shore by the rip tenders. Asylum seekers are met by customs, immigration and  health officers to assess for any medical issues. They then hop on a bus and are provided with food, shelter, their posessions are searched and background checks run.

SOLAS – Safety of Life at Sea

If asylum seeker boats experience hardship and request assistance, the nearest vessel must attend. The captain of the boat is legally required to respond and assist.

What is our government’s policy?

Our government is trying to stop boats coming to Australia as the journey is so dangerous and the loss of life too high. They are working with Indonesia to buy boats back so they can’t be used for smuggling. They have placed staff at Indonesia to work with asylum seekers to discourage the journey. Increased patrols in Indonesia are trying to limit the number of people leaving.

Border issued Visas are also being discouraged and the sending away of documents encouraged. The Australian Navy patrol from Townsville across the top of Australia as well as planes.

Asylum seekers entering Australia now are being sent to Naru and Papua New Guinea. They then become a refuge and must work through the paperwork process to enter another country.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

This was the most powerful part of our session.

There isn’t a lot that we can do other than  show compassion for asylum seekers and take the time to hear their story and understand their journey.

Don’t generalise

Be more accepting

Be more informed

 

 

Edublogs Challenge – Week 4

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This week’s activities relate to these topics:

  • Asylum seekers
  • Refugees
  • Greenpeace and piracy charges
  • Government shutdown in USA
  • Human Rights – Blog Action Day – remember to publish your post on October 16
  • World Teachers Day – October 5th
  • World Habitat Day – October 7th
  • World Food Day – October 16th
  • a global issue affecting your country but not mentioned above

Activity 1

Imagine you are a journalist researching one of these topics. What are some of the questions you might ask someone you are interviewing? Remember questions start with

  • who
  • what
  • where
  • when
  • why
  • how

Activity 2

Which of these topics affect your country? What is your government doing about it? What could you as a student or class do to help solve the problem?

Edublogs Challenge – Week 3

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Week 3 Challenge – A Week in the Life of ……..

Answer some of these questions by writing one or more posts or present using a variety of tools mentioned in the sidebar:

  1. What time do you normally get up to go to school?
  2. What do you normally have for breakfast, recess, lunch, tea (dinner, supper)?
  3. How do you get to school?
  4. How long does it take to get to or from school?
  5. A typical lunch at school
  6. Subjects you have to do – remember to explain abbreviations like LOTE and ELA
  7. Specialist subjects or electives, options
  8. Technology in your school
  9. A typical school day with timetable and breaks
  10. What do you do at break times? Games, activities etc
  11. School bell has gone for end of day – what happens now?
  12. Do you have to wear a uniform?
  13. How many days per year are you at school? How is this arranged – terms etc?
  14. What do you enjoy most about school?
  15. If you could improve your school, what would you do?