Mossie Park LiBlog

This site will soon be closing down because of changes to Global Student which has been hosting the site.

I have not yet decided whether to export this blog to the new host or to use the Ultranet instead. (I’ve made a back-up of the data on this site so that the option remains open.)

The MPPS school community will be advised which route I’m going to take in due course.
Cheerio!
Lisa Hill, Mossgiel Park PS Library

PS Pasted below is information we received about the forthcoming changes, which may be of use to anyone who has missed receiving the information through their email.

This is to update you on the changes that will be made to Global Student. 2011 sees the beginning of a new space for DEECD schools to collaborate, communicate and create called Global2.

Like the previous spaces Global Teacher and Global Student, Global2 is an Edublogs campus site, in fact one of the largest in the world, and offers all of the advantages of Edublogs WordPress based blogs but with the support of and integration with DEECD tools.

Global2 has now become the space for DEECD students and teachers to collaborate online with the world. If you are an existing Global Student user http://globalstudent.org.au/ then access to your blogs will cease at the end of Term 1 2011. Pre existing sites are available till then and we are asking users to back up their blogs and export them before the Globalstudent site is decommissioned. Information on exporting and backing up blogs can be found here http://global2.vic.edu.au/2011/01/21/backing-up-your-blog/ or directly to http://www.scribd.com/doc/47111248/Backing-Up-Your-Blog . You will have noticed with the current Global Student site that new blogs cannot be created.

When you are creating your new blogs for this year please go to http://global2.vic.edu.au and you are on your way.

Because of problems caused by spam blogs, Global2 is designed to automatically only accept new users with an edumail.vic.gov.au or vic.edu.au email account.

All students in DEECD schools have access to a school email account e.g.
johnsmith@sampleps.vic.edu.au through your Netspace provider. In some cases teachers may need to ask their technician for the details of student email addresses so as to join students to the Global2 site. Schools that have not yet created these email accounts will need to do so if students are to be included on a Global2 blog.

Coming Soon! Previous users of Global Student and new users to Global2 who dont have an email account with one of these domains are invited to apply for access to a Global2 collaborative project blog. Please note any such blog must include one or more DEECD schools within the scope of the blog. To create such a blog simply click on the Collaborative projects tab and follow the prompts.

Please send any questions to global.teacher@edumail.vic.gov.au.

Thank you,

Site Admin

E-Learning Unit
Office for Government School Education
Department of Education and Early Childhood Development
Member of Global Student campus blog site.

Miss Hill went shopping this weekend and bought some great new fiction titles for the library with some of the money donated by the Narre Warren Rotary Club.  This time the focus was on buying popular fiction.

A new Geronimo Stilton, and six Go Girls titles…

11 in the Zac Power series, a Capt Underpants that we didn’t have, and a couple of Andy Griffiths: Just Shocking and Just Tricking – they’re always popular….

A couple of Ben 10 titles.  We don’t have any of these, but I’m pretty sure the kids will like them…

Someone asked for The Princess Diaries in the Suggestion Box, so I bought three of them….

The third in the Keys to Rondo trilogy – we love everything that Emily Rodda writes!

And a couple of bargains, because Miss Hill can’t resist a bargain!

These books will be ready for borrowing as soon as they are processed and covered.  Come into the library before school in the morning to reserve a title if you want to be first!

There’s a whole bunch of other popular titles coming from Scholastic Book Club too, but they were only ordered on Friday afternoon so we’ll have to wait a little while for those.

Thanks again to the generous members of the Narre Warren Rotary Club – we’re very grateful!

Rotary is an international organisation that helps people all over the world.  Rotary club members are volunteers who work locally, regionally, and internationally to combat hunger, improve health and sanitation, provide education and job training, promote peace, and eradicate polio under the motto Service Above Self.  See a video about their work here.

Every year the Narren Warren Rotary Club gives donations to organisations that they feel would benefit. They often give money to schools because they know that schools will use the money to improve the education of children.

Our library is very lucky because this year the Narren Warren Rotary Club has donated $500 for us to buy more books.   Mr Tim Fisher (Mrs Fisher’s husband) is the President and he came to assembly on Monday and handed over the cheque!

Miss Hill will be hitting the bookshops this weekend:)

Edward Tulane is a rabbit made out of china.  He wears a silk suit and his owner Abilene Tulane cares about him.

But one day he gets thrown overboard and this how he starts his journey around the country.  Edward Tulane is held by people other than Abilene.

My feelings about this story are sad and happy because there are sad bits but mostly happy bits.

This story has its own website.  Click here to see it, and you can read a little bit of the book here if you want to.

by Lilla in 4/5WV.

 Every year Prep and Junior classes participate in National Simultaneous Storytime. This means that on the day teachers and children from all over Australia sit down to enjoy a story at exactly the same time!

This year’s NSS is on Wednesday May 26th, just before 11.00am recess, and the story that everyone will be reading is Little White Dogs Can’t Jump by one of our favourite authors, Mr Bruce Whatley. There will be 165 children and their teachers all hearing the story at exactly the same time, and it’s a very funny book so you may hear laughing all over the school!

Well, it’s Term Two, and after spending Term One as Acting Assistant Principal, I am very happy to be back teaching in the library.

Yesterday I started reading Greek myths and researching ancient civilisations with the Senior students, and today I met the Preps for the first time.   I was in and out of their classrooms while I was AP, of course, but that’s not the same as sharing a book and chatting about it afterwards.  What a bright bunch of youngsters they are this year!

I’m looking forward to having the Juniors tomorrow, and then Years 3 & 4 on Friday.  We’ll resume our normal timetable as of next week.

Although it was a rewarding experience to take on the job of AP while Mrs Fisher was on sick leave, I love teaching – it’s the best job there is!

Lisa Hill, Director of Curriculum

Audio Owl has stacks of free audio children’s books to download and enjoy.  Check it out!

PS Thanks to the SLAV Bright Ideas blog for the link:)

As students at Mossie Park know by now, Miss Hill is taking Mrs Fisher’s place as Assistant Principal while Mrs Fisher is on sick leave. Mrs Fricke is taking library lessons for Years Prep-4, and Mrs Vine is taking Years 5-6.
Miss Hill will be in the library and online on this blog in Term 2.

As we finish the school year for 2009, I would like to express my thanks to all those who have sent cards and gifts to the library, and especially to the Homfray family who have made a generous donation to the MPPS Graduation Library Fund. I have already bought a book on Bradley’s behalf, it’s called Australian Backyard Explorer and it’s sure to be popular with our older students because it’s all about tales of adventure and survival.

It’s been a pleasure working in the library this year – so many wonderful stories to share, and it’s a privilege to spend my days discussing books with thoughtful and intelligent students. 

Best wishes to everyone for the Festive Season.  Enjoy a safe and happy holiday!

Thanks to the generosity of the MPPS Parents and Friends Association (PAFA), Miss Hill has had a whole lot of money to spend on some nice new books. 

To fill some gaps in our non-fiction collection, Miss Hill bought books about sustainability and the environment:

•  A set called Energy Choices: bio-fuels, fossil fuels, nuclear energy, solar energy, water energy and wind energy;
• A set about Recycling: clothing, drink cans, food and garden waste, glass, paper and plastic bottles and bags;
• A set called Environmental Footprints: clothing, energy, shopping, and water.

Miss Hill also bought some great new science and technology books, to make Miss Cavedon happy because she loves science!

• A set about Forensic Investigations
• The A-Z of Scientific Discoveries

We also needed some new books about Celebrations and Festivals

• Family celebrations
• Indigenous Australian festivals
• State and National festivals

And for the juniors unit about Australian animals, we now have some books about unusual animals:

• A set called Australian Animals: Emus and cassowaries; Goannas and water monitors; Mallee fowls and lyrebirds; Potoroos and numbats; Quokkas and quolls and Tree kangaroos and wallabies
• A set called Dangerous Creatures (from the desert, the forests and woodlands, the grasslands, mountains and polar regions, oceans and tropical rainforests).

For the Juniors unit about Community Helpers, we’re getting

• a set called Emergency Workers (animal rescue, police, fire, sea rescue and surf lifesaving)

Just for fun, we’re getting a set called Extreme Jobs: stunt performers, zoo keepers and high-rise workers, and to make Miss Spychalla happy in the art room, we’re getting Artists at Work (clay artists, metals artists and wood artists).

And – because everyone is interested in it, Miss Hill bought a set called Money (banking, budgeting, earning money,history of money, making coins and banknotes, and fundraising).

It’s because the PAFA is so good at fundraising that we will soon have these great new books, so thanks PAFA!