About sallygovett

The image of a teacher librarian as the soft-spoken, bespectacled woman politely shushing you when you’re talking in the library, is an outdated perception couldn’t be further from the truth. School librarians are highly skilled information and education experts playing key roles in driving student academic performance. They ensure that students make the right reading and information choices, perform at their highest levels, and reach outcomes their parents are proud of. And yet, many schools have cut back or eliminated their library staff, believing the myth that everything is free on the Internet. Many more are experimenting with replacing teacher librarians with undertrained staff—producing unsatisfactory and low quality student outcomes and library environments. Schools that make these misguided “penny wise, pound foolish” decisions are failing to recognize the vital contributions that these important, skillful team members make in developing the school's digital landscape, nurturing reading programs, developing curriculum and educating students. A teacher librarian will ask the right questions—even the ones no one has thought to ask—and knows which databases and resources will yield the most objective and complete information to assist staff & students, and place that information into context. The Problem with Free Of course, anyone can surf the Web’s limitless free information. But that takes time, which for most students is in short supply. A teacher librarian is able to help select and expertly research the most authoritative, objective information sources. These are typically commercial databases and rarely easy to search proficiently. They can teach students how to execute these complex searches in sophisticated databases, where the relevant information is extracted from “noisy” irrelevant content. In the real world, a student's survival depends on having critical information research skills. Serving as both consultant, educator and detective, often possessing a master’s or double degree in information and library sciences (from a program accredited by the Australian Library Association), teacher librarians are proactive, innovative, and inquisitive. The role of an expert teacher librarian is easily overlooked, but he or she helps identify what is often unknown and is well positioned to assist in all areas of the curriculum. Good libraries and librarians are like precious gems and have infinite value. If your school is willing to subject all of their investment of time, funding, and hard work to the vagaries of risk and failure, then having students surf through oceans of un-vetted information on the Internet is fine. But if you want to vastly improve outcomes for all students, then it is time to urgently rethink your stale image of the trusted teacher librarian. •

Philosophy and Goals

  • Listening to the voice of the whole community, and using the voice that is given to us;
  • Respecting the individual, embracing the human, and creating the space to look within;
  • Letting each other do their very best, through being the best that we can be;
  • Celebrating our past, discerning our present, and joyfully anticipating our future.

Virtual Zoo Experiences – World

These amazing zoos are bringing the animals in to our living rooms while we are social distancing.

San Diego Zoo: Webcams  https://zoo.sandiegozoo.org/live-cams

Smithsonian National Zoo: Webcams  https://nationalzoo.si.edu/webcams

Jigokudani Yaen-Koen:  (Wild Snow monkey Park Japan) Webcam  http://en.jigokudani-yaenkoen.co.jp/livecam2/video_en.php

Africam:  Webcam with an elevated position over the water where the Big 5 are often spotted.  https://www.africam.com/wildlife/rosies-pan-at-naledi-live-wildlife-channel/

Houston Zoo: Webcams   https://www.houstonzoo.org/explore/webcams/

Atlanta Zoo: Webcam   https://zooatlanta.org/panda-cam/

Cincinnati Zoo: Live stream feed on their facebook page at 3pm (local time), 6am our time. Previous resources at: http://cincinnatizoo.org/home-safari-resources/?fbclid=IwAR3ybGS6WKnHXccm4EFc_7H3UezlP0PCe2bPk_3cxX_jsGnM2GtEYXuKx8c

Georgia Aquarium: Webcams   https://www.georgiaaquarium.org/webcam/ocean-voyager/

Monterey Bay Aquarium: Webcam https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/live-cams

Aquarium of the Pacific: Webcam  http://www.aquariumofpacific.org/exhibits/webcams

Seattle Aquarium: Webcam  https://www.seattleaquarium.org/live-cams & video collection: https://www.seattleaquarium.org/video

Thanks to Cindy Tait for this list

Virtual Zoo Experiences – Australia

Taronga and Dubbo Zoo:

Webcam and video:  https://taronga.org.au/taronga-tv

Mogo Wildlife Park:

‘ask a zookeeper’ a question. Even better if the students can make a video of themselves asking the question to put on their page.
https://www.facebook.com/mogowildlifepark/
https://www.instagram.com/mogowildlifepark/

Symbio Wildlife Park:

Keeper talks and animal feeding videos on their facebook and instagram pages.
https://www.facebook.com/symbiozoo/
https://www.instagram.com/symbiowildlifepark/

Featherdale Wildlife Park:

Has Featherdale TV but it is more an advertising channel, and segments on TV that have featured Featherdale animals.
https://www.featherdale.com.au/featherdale-tv/

Zoos Victoria:

Has live streamed cameras in their animal enclosures. They also have live streamed feeding times listed for each animal included.
https://www.zoo.org.au/animal-house/

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary:
Webcams in various Koala enclosures
https://koala.net/webcams If you scroll further down the page, they also have webcams for: Dingo, Dragons, Skinks, Perentie, Platypus, Birds

Eco Eggs:
Choook-cam  https://www.ecoeggs.com.au/chookcam/watch-our-hens-live-on-camera

Phillip Island:
Penguin Burrow Camera   https://www.penguins.org.au/attractions/penguin-parade/penguin-burrow-camera/

Thanks to Cindy Tait for compiling this list

Australian Ballet – Free Performances Online

The Australian Ballet is offering a free cinema-quality digital season to bring full-length performances to Australians at home.

The new At Home with Ballet TV digital season will beam our premium-quality productions right to your couch for free. They’ve hand-picked a selection of the most beloved and inspiring ballets, and each will have a limited two-week season on their streaming platform, Ballet TV. Absolutely free!

They’re kicking off the Digital Season with the luminous extravaganza that is David McAllister’s production of The Sleeping Beauty.
We’re all at home – but we’re all together. And together, we’ll dance our way through.

Each full-length production will be available for a limited time only.
The Sleeping Beauty (David McAllister)
Sun 5 – Fri 17 April
Cinderella (Alexei Ratmansky)
Fri 17 April – Fri 1 May
Romeo & Juliet (Graeme Murphy)
Fri 1 – Fri 15 May

https://australianballet.com.au/the-ballets/digital-season

History Teachers Association HTA – Free resources

Some great free history webinars and meetings for while you are at home if you are a member of HTA. http://www.htansw.asn.au/online-meeting-events?fbclid=IwAR0QZ_wi3aXid6B6c6vDQRc-mT34YgmjhV2tfMsfm-EhIzz5ww_sGSlyaCk

Also some links to free ebooks that you could put in your google classrooms if the topic is right. https://ancienthistoryresources.com.au/?fbclid=IwAR1RQTcDPVMVsOXT2xaiMaw-IUUfGbWmo6uKL_Rma7Rc83cLQmmNq-GAa8Q​

Andrew Lloyd Webber – Free Musicals on YouTube

Theatre fans are in for a treat as Andrew Lloyd Webber will be streaming a number of his famous musical theatre shows during the coronavirus lockdown. A new YouTube channel, titled The Show Must Go On, is launching to give those stuck at home because of the Covid-19 pandemic their very own West End and Broadway experience. The channel will air a different musical each week, starting with Andrew’s hit show Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat that will premiere on Friday (3 April).

It’s free to watch for theatre-lovers and will stream the show’s 2000 stage adaptation starring Donny Osmond, Joan Collins and the late Richard Attenborough, who passed away in 2014. Each show will be available for a limited 48-hour period online, with next week’s offering being Jesus Christ Superstar starring Tim Minchin, Chris Moyles and Spice Girl Mel C. The channel will also feature behind-the-scenes footage alongside its full-length shows and has been set up in the hope of raising donations for a number of charities, including Acting for Others, Broadway Cares and Actors Benevolent Fund.

National Theatre in London – Free Plays

The National Theatre is going to stream a free play every Thursday night !

As numerous theatrical institutions across the world have opened up their archives in response to increasing lockdown restrictions, all eyes have remained on one organisation: the National Theatre in London, which has the greatest archive of cinema-quality recordings of stage plays of any theatre on the planet, thanks to its formidable NT Live programme. It’s designed to beam productions from the NT into cinemas across the country, but there are of course no cinemas in operation at present. So the NT is switching to its YouTube channel. From April 2, under the banner of National Theatre at Home, every Thursday (7pm BST/2pm EST) will see a new National Theatre play released – free to watch for one week – along with bonus content including cast and creative Q&As and post-stream talks.

There’s a definite emphasis on family-friendly good cheer for the line-up so far, which kicks off with a big hitter: Richard Bean’s beloved farce ‘One Man, Two Guvnors’, starring a pre-chatshow-days James Corden. Over the next few weeks you can expect a string of family-friendly titles, though naturally there will be those hoping for some of the real NT Live blockbusters, notably ‘Hamlet’ and ‘Frankenstein’ starring Benedict Cumberbatch and ‘Coriolanus’ starring Tom Hiddleston.

The initial programme is:
April 2 ‘One Man, Two Guvnors’ by Richard Bean, starring James Corden.
April 9 ‘Jane Eyre’, adapted by Sally Cookson. Read our review.
April 16 ‘Treasure Island’, adapted by Bryony Lavery.
April 23 ‘Twelfth Night’ by William Shakespeare, starring Tamsin Greig. Read our review.
Additionally, the National Theatre will be rolling out National Theatre Collection study resources to pupils now learning at home.

https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/nt-at-home

Audible – Free Audio Books

Audible has made hundreds of its audiobooks free to the public to help parents looking to entertain their kids.

Audible is offering some of their audiobooks for free for parents in quarantine with their families. With many families staying home to flatten the curve amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, companies are offering alternatives and forgoing cancellation policies to support the work-from-home lifestyle. Audible is one such company, offering hundreds of their audiobooks to the public for free, announcing, “For as long as schools are closed, we’re open.” The free books range from preschool-friendly to adult titles.

All available titles can be accessed via desktop, laptop, phone, or tablet at

stories.audible.com.

 

JSTOR – Free access for students

I usually access JSTOR through my NSW State Library Card and encourage my Stage 6 students to join the State Library and do this also. At the moment, the State Library is making an expanded set of content freely available through June 30, 2020 to participating institutions where students have been displaced due to COVID-19. Read here…

https://about.jstor.org/covid19/?utm_source=jstor&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=dsp_jstor_home_right_covid19_03_2020

For our students who do not have a accounts…they can access this for free:

  • 80% of journal content on JSTOR, ranging from 1870 to three years from the present
  • Read up to 6 articles per month

Get JSTOR