Wise words
Wise Words provides teachers, parents and home tutors with access to shared ideas, teaching/learning tips and some best practices currently being modelled in distance education and mainstream schools.
One of the main aims of the NT Distance Learning Service is to ...improve the quality and effectiveness of distance education and in sourcing and developing teaching and learning materials tailored for the Territory and relevant to Indigenous students. (Building Better Schools, NT DET, August 2007)
You are invited to contribute resources to this site. We are looking for books, teaching ideas, tips or anything useful for teachers in their busy world. If you would like to add something, please contact Sue Thomson or Tom Harold. Each month one contributor will win a $50 book voucher.
Please feel free to take any information - it is here for teachers or parents to use.
Picture books - units of work
These are mini units of work related to popular picture books for primary students.
- Are we there yet? (pdf 696Kb)
- Beaut Bugs (pdf 283Kb)
- Big Rain Coming (pdf 221Kb)
- Can I Play? (pdf 651Kb)
- Chatterbox (pdf 280Kb)
- Counting on Frank (pdf 629Kb)
- Daddy's Having a Horse (pdf 149Kb)
- Edward the Emu (pdf 324Kb)
- Eight (pdf 193Kb)
- Ella Kazoo will not brush her hair (pdf 217Kb)
- Ernie Dances to the Didgeridoo (pdf 155Kb)
- Grandpa and Thomas and the Green Umbrella (pdf 195Kb)
- Little Humpty (pdf 251Kb)
- Lucy Goosey (pdf 165Kb)
- Meanies (pdf 234Kb)
- Megs Egg (pdf 233Kb)
- Old Pig (pdf 826Kb)
- Our Rooster Jack (pdf 178Kb)
- Picasso the Green Tree Frog (pdf 163Kb)
- Where is the green sheep? (pdf 1.2Mb)
Copyright Information (pdf 37Kb)
Special guests
Exciting topics are shared by fellow enthusiasts who discuss their fields of expertise. If you would like to be involved, contact Sue Thomson.
John Butler, Musician
Our first special guest is the world famous independent musician, John Butler, who recently presented an extremely popular Interactive Distance Learning (IDL) forum that was accessed by Distance Education students Northern Territory wide. His audience ranged from Preschool to Year 12 students.
What did John like about the IDL forum?
The eagerness of the students and the fact that it was being broadcast around the outback. That was very cool.
How important is education for young people today?
Education is our weapon against the biggest problems we face today as a human race. Education fights racism, sexism, poverty, war and disease. If we are educated we do not discriminate against each other because of race, colour or creed. We cannot justify war if we know what its really about. We cannot tolerate diseases like AIDS spreading rampantly if we know how cheap and possible it is to combat.
How important is it to follow your passion and dreams?
It is so important to follow one's dreams. The greatest achievements in the world start out and are fuelled by dreams. The end to racial segregation in the US, the end to apartheid in South Africa, the dream of Vincent Lingarrie for land rights, the landing on the moon. None of these things are possible without people being brave enough to dream and then most importantly, following through and working hard for it. You have got to work hard. The important things for me are my family, my commitment, a voice, a guitar, a song and the path they work together for me. My ideal of independence has seen reality. The concepts of independence, artistic integrity and ethical business practice have been proven and are highly successful.