Doodle 4 Google

The Doodle 4 Google competition is ON!!! 

Every child in the school is drawing their own Doodle under the theme "South Africa of my Dreams". I am so enjoying seeing the results of their efforts as they are returned signed with explanations of the doodles and dreams for our beautiful country.

One of the challenges I gave some of the children was to design a Google Doodle (no theme) on MS Paint. Here are a few of the results from the grade 3s.

TRENDING TWEENS

Do you know what your children and their friends are up to when they are quietly occupied on electronic technology? Read the post Trending Tweens to get an idea.

Beware Cyber Bullying

Colossians 4:6

Let your speech be always with grace, 

seasoned with salt, that you may 

know how you ought to answer 

every man.

IT and Media in 2012

We've entered a new and exciting year in our Media Centre at Northwest! One of the first things a couple of Grade R's told me is that they don't have computers at home... they have ipads!

This year we will be starting with e-books in the library and Grades 5 to 7 will have class blogs. The class blog will be a place for each class to interact with their classmates about educational matters, including book reviews, class projects and current events. I look forward to your support in this.

My wish for you for this new year is that your life is as amazing as it is on Facebook:)

Mrs Tschohl

Prizes donated for Numberwise

A big thank you to the de Charmoy family for the donation of 20 Ster Kinekor movie tickets as prizes for our Numberwise program. The tickets will go to the top 20 Numberwise users in the school for this year. We are still looking for a donation for the main prize which will go to 1 of 365 children who have done over 100 calculations in a day, selected by Numberwise. We are looking for a technology prize in the form of an ipod, laptop, digital camera, Blackberry etc. The name of the donor or donating company will appear on the Numberwise wesbsite. If anyone can help us, please contact Tracy Tschohl on 084 408 0169 or through the school office.

INTERNET LICENCES

Congratulations to all of you in Grades 4 to 7 who passed your Internet Licence last term. You are on your way to opening huge doors of learning in the exciting world of ICT. Those of you who did not get your licence last term may come and see me after school on Monday or Tuesday between 13.30 and 14.00 to take an oral test.

Your new licence entitles you to use the computers on a Monday and Tuesday afternoon between 13.30 and 14.00 and during first break on a Tuesday and Thursday. Come on in and do your project research, find out more about a subject or sport, watch YouTube videos to improve your tennis swing or skateboarding techniques, write a story using Word or Storybird.com. There is sooooo much you can do! Remember, school rules apply and the Internet is not for playing games at school.

Two IT monitors have been selected and must be respected when they are in charge in the computer room. Breaking of the rules or lack of respect for the monitors or teacher in charge will result in the loss of your licence for the year.

Enjoy this privilege! I look forward to seeing what you can do. I would love to see things you have done at home on the computer too. You can print it and bring it in or you can email it to me on tracy.tschohl@gmail.com.

Looking forward to doing great things with you.

Mrs Tschohl

Numberwise

Our school has registered each pupil to use Numberwise to help improve mental maths skills.  The program is free and can be used at home.  If you need help with downloading and installing, please speak to Mrs Tschohl.

The maths computer programme is running well, with the children taking a keen interest in competing against both themselves and each other. The hope of a prize is also very inspiring. There has already been an improvement in the children’s mental maths.

The one thing we are missing is sponsorship. This is needed at two different levels.

The Championship Prize at school level: A child enters for this prize by doing 1 or more Numeracy Olympiad drills. The winner is the student with the fastest time during the year. We are looking for a sponsor who would be prepared to donate a cell phone, ipod, laptop, software or some such item for this prize to be awarded at the end of the year.

The Grand Prize at school level is to reward the consistent use of Numberwise. A child is entered if he or she does 100 or more calculations in a day. The daily winner is chosen randomly from the pool of entries. Sponsorship at this level could be air time, stationery, etc.

If you or your company is interested in sponsoring our students in their endeavour to improve their
mental maths, please would you contact Tracy Tschohl on 084 408 0169 or the school office.