Starlink Newsletter Issue 112 October 2014

News, Reviews & Resources || Issue 112 October 2014

Dear Reader,

An eclectic mix for you as usual ...

Take a cup of resources for educators, a cup of inspiration and a half a cup of professional development for aged care. Add a dollop of tools for managers, drizzle over some early childhood resources and sprinkle with a little responsible travel. Bake well, serve with a smile ... and remember to lick the bowl ... :)

That's this month's issue for you!

Cheers
Sue & Chris
BJ Seminars International

An excellent resource for all those involved in leading non profit organisations, the Better Boards website contains a wealth of information via news, reviews, fact sheets and articles. Also on offer are a number of excellent books in their online shop. Well worth visiting and bookmarking!

And don't miss the opportunity to be involved in the 2015 Better Boards Conference, convening for the first time in Queensland in July next year. The call for speakers and presenters is now open.

Sydney: Tuesday 18 November
Adina Apartment Hotel (next to Central Station)

Our Taste of Appreciative Inquiry workshop is for all those who are 'dipping their toes' in the water of AI and would like to learn the essentials of this approach. It covers key concepts fundamental to the philosophy and practice of Appreciative Inquiry.

Appreciative Inquiry is a strength-focused approach for stakeholder consultation, engagement and planning, whether internally or external to an organisation. It is used extensively by local governments, communities, nonprofit groups and businesses around the world.

The registration fee of $341 (incl GST) covers the workshop, morning tea, lunch and a pack of professionally produced reference cards published by Appreciating People in the UK. (These card sets are available in Australia exclusively through BJ Seminars International and provide an excellent ongoing resource and reference after the workshop.) .

Discounts on the registration fee are available for those from remote regions or when three or more attend from one organisation. Should either of these options be of interest, please contact us for further details, as they are not available via our automated online registration system.

Uniting Journeys is a wonderful initiative by Australian owned travel provider Jetaway Travel Pty Ltd and the Commission for Mission of the Uniting Church in Australia (Victoria and Tasmania). Their website is packed with resources to help us 'travel responsibly':

▪ Imagine if we all, every time we travel, travel in “responsible” ways.
▪ Imagine how as business travellers, adventurers and holidaymakers we can maximise positive effects in the communities we visit.
▪ Imagine how we can reduce cultural impact, support local development, reduce environmental impact, support local communities and fair trade initiatives.
▪ Imagine if doing all this is as easy as choosing our airline, or offsetting our carbon offsets when we book a flight.

Uniting Journeys is an exciting new initiative with exactly these goals. Guilt free travel! And it’s easy!

Do check it out. You'll find lots of resources, travel options .... and much food for thought!

Sydney: Monday 17 November
Adina Apartment Hotel (next to Central Station)

We're delighted to be returning to Sydney to offer our Chair Chi Training (Level One) workshop. This is for aged care professionals, carers or volunteers and is based on an innovative, gentle exercise program that Chris has been delivering in aged care centres across Melbourne for almost two years. The program teaches people how to deliver Chair Chi sessions for residents to enhance physical, psychological, social and emotional wellbeing.

The registration fee of $341 (incl GST) covers the workshop, morning tea, lunch and a comprehensive workbook as an ongoing resource and reference.

As with our Taste of Appreciative Inquiry workshop (above) we offer discounts for anyone travelling from a remote region or for three or more coming from the same organisation. Contact us for details.

The full title of this downloadable pdf is Exceeding Expectations: An Anthology of Appreciative Inquiry Stories in Education from Around the World.

The stories in this anthology were gathered and curated by three of our generous-spirited Appreciative Inquiry practitioner colleagues from the US: Dawn Dole, Lindsey Goodwin and Matt Moehle.

Download, read and be inspired!

Yes! Magazine

KindSpring

Australian Childcare Alliance

Foto Community

The Excelsior College Online Writing Lab (OWL) is a comprehensive writing resource offering multimedia support (at no cost to the user). The OWL covers topics such as the writing process, documentation, grammar and more.

Designed for tertiary students in the US, the site contains a wealth of useful and user-friendly information about the craft of writing.

While spelling and some of the points made are of course US-centric, much of the information is helpful for students and writers of English everywhere.

Well worth a look!

Vicroads has available a great range of Early Childhood Road Safety Education Resources for educators, children, their parents and carers. There are downloadable resources, at no charge, in pdf or word format as well as information about apps that have been developed for mobile devices. They also have storybooks for sale as well as puzzles, posters and play mats.

Reflections is a quarterly newsletter produced by Gowrie Victoria, both excellent sources of support, ideas and resources for the early childhood sector.

You can also subscribe to their electronic newsletter.

The concept of Flipped Classrooms (or Inverted Classrooms) has been around for a while now. "Flipping" your classroom basically means that concepts, content and instruction are delivered online outside class time, so during class the focus is on application, activity and action learning.

While the buzzword has predominantly been heard around tertiary learning environments, the concept is applicable in many ways to secondary school classrooms as well. And experienced teachers of all age groups will of course recognise much in common with many (most?) other effective, student-centred teaching and learning strategies.

Below are four "flipped classroom" resources. Want more? This blog post by Michael Gorman has "A Goldmine of Research and Resources to Keep you on Your Feet"!