Your NZQA Record of Learning & Certificates

NCEA students need to order documents they are eligible for and want copies of from their Learner Login on NZQA. Your ROL will be updated to include all your 2013 achieved standards from 1 March.

• Certificates, School Results Summaries and Records of Achievement can be requested from your Learner login for standard delivery in 15-20 days.
• The first copy of each of these documents is free, but additional copies will cost $15.30 each.

See Assessment Matters A2013/032NCEA and New Zealand Scholarship 2013 Results Publication in 2014.

Want to pass NCEA Level 1 & 2 Maths, Science & Physics?

    

Students are saying that thanks to learncoach.co.nz they passed their NCEA Maths, Science and Physics.  I suggest you definitely check it out!

Learn to write code - it's the future

Hey Kids! Learn to Write Code, It's the Future!

February 26, 2014 by Doug S, Abridged LinkedIn Article.

My first attempts at coding were with a tiny Radio Shack computer that hooked up to a cassette player and the TV. I think it took me hours to write the Basic program to get “Hello world!” to display on the screen. Years later I’d work in the world of web marketing and design and work with HTML, JavaScript and CGI every day. Well that’s nothing compared to what’s coming! Top leaders in the tech world are encouraging kids to start learning how to code now, for the future.

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey all recently threw their considerable tech weigh and credibility into Code.org’s video “What Most Schools Don’t Teach.” The clip stresses a growing worldwide shortage of coders, and that only 10% of American schools teach any kind of programming. Since Computer Science is the best paying college degree in the U.S., learning a little coding makes financial sense. But what’s it gonna cost YOU up front? In many cases, only time and effort!

Image courtesy of Code.org

Code.org is a “non-profit whose goal is to expose all students to computer programming. We believe that computer programming is a liberal art; it's something EVERY student in the world should be exposed to at some point in their childhood.”

Code.org offers options straight from its homepage for students to start learning code, or for teachers to start bringing code to their schools. The amount of resources available for FREE to learn code are vast and overwhelming. Who needs college? Bill Gates didn’t!

Code.org’s online learning options include Scratch where you work on some lines of code in a left pane, and see the results on the right. Also offered are links to sites where you can learn coding online. At Code Academy, you can learn to code for free. Khan Academy’s “resources are available to anyone. It doesn't matter if you are a student, teacher, home-schooler, principal, adult returning to the classroom after 20 years, or a friendly alien just trying to get a leg up in earthly biology. Khan Academy's materials and resources are available to you completely free of charge.”

Code.org offers links to apps to teach kids coding set within games for Android with apps like LightBot, RoboLogic for IOS, or Kodu for Windows, and even xBox. Other online tutorials affiliated with Code.org include Lynda.com and Udemy. Lynda.com offers thousands of online courses and tutorials and offers programming tutorials on core languages like Java, C#, and HTML5. Universities are affiliated with Code.org as well. Coursera offers “free full university courses online taught by real professors.” You’ll also find resources to learn web programming, mobile app programming, and even resources to write code for robots!

So that you know where to go, what should you learn? Well, you’ll need to hone your math and basic computer science skills. When you work up to it, what programming languages should you be learning? Well, jobstractor.com did an overview of the most sought after programming languages.

Here they are in order:

PHP
Java
Objective C
SQL
Android (Java)
Ruby
JavaScript
C#
C++
ActionScript
Python
C
ASP.NET

Well…what are you waitin’ for? We gave you the links. Most of the course are FREE. We even gave you a list of what to learn. So, get out there and start learnin’ some code. Make Mr. Gates and Mr. Zuckerberg happy and maybe you’ll enter the world of all night hackathons, high paychecks, no sleep and free lunches! Good luck!

- See more at: http://www.geeks.com/techtips/community/hey-kids-learn-to-write-code-it-s-the-future.html#sthash.88tjsMQ2.dpuf

Create a visual image for NCEA and enter a competition as well

                    
Race Relations competition    due 20 March
Download the blue banner for your poster and do your own drawings.        

Hangout (the Google form of Skype) with your teacher or each other

If you click on the Google Hangout image to the left, it will link you to a teacher site which you would definitely find useful, except for the Classroom Ideas tab.  I have been using hangouts for a while and I learnt a lot from this site.  Otherwise click here for Tips.

Online safety

Netsafe OWLS - some wise words to heed.

Plan to Present

The Presentation Planning Checklist - Free eBook by We Are Visual from Nadine Hanafi

Sumdog's free Southland Maths contest 14 - 20 March

14 - 20 March

Let Ruth know if you would like to enter.

Research Skills

The Big 6

For investigating sources of information from databases, encyclopedias and the Internet is “the Big Six.” This process sets out the steps as follows:

1. Define the task – what needs to be done?

2. Information Seeking Strategies – what resources can I use?

3. Location and Access – where can I find these resources?

4. Use of information – what can I use from these resources?

5. Synthesis – what can I make to finish the job?

6. Evaluation – how will I know I did my job well?

The Kentucky Virtual Library How to Do Research

The Kentucky Virtual Library has an online poster-style How to Do Research site for guiding younger pupils through the steps to finding the information they need on any topic, whether in print form, multimedia or online. Presented in a visual comic/game style it explains in child-friendly language the process to find the information being sought. And each page of advice is presented as a set of easy to digest straightforward steps, breaking down each task (whether finding the information, recording it, evaluating it, or presenting it) in cartoon-style visual interactive style making it attractive to primary users.

Ergo – Teaching Research Skills

Ergo – Teaching Research Skills from the State Library of Victoria, Australia, is a guide for you to get help finding the information you need for a school assignment. The guide provides helpful explanations, hints, tips and further resources for each of the steps: Define the task, Locate information, Select resources, Organise notes, Present the ideas, Evaluate your work.

All About Explorers

All About Explorers is a webquest which guides you through making better use of information that is presented online. It helps you to evaluate what you read online, and how to select from the information you do find. 

Google Tools for Better Searching

Google A Day is a daily-changing search challenge. (You can go back to previous challenges if you wish). Answer the question by using a search engine. If you are not sure how to get started, click on the hint to get a bit of help. And the answer is provided. There are also links to tips and techniques for better Internet searching.

Get More Out of Google is a poster with advice and practical tips for making more eficient use of Google search engine.

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk 

ICT across the curriculum in Falkirk primary schools - Glow blog by Malcolm Wilson

Maths starter for each day of the year

http://www.transum.org/Software/SW/Starter_of_the_day/index.htm