Red Space Rocket

New East Timor government headquarters – by David by Andrea Woodhouse

I saw bits of a show last night called Answered by Fire on the ABC and it made me think about the students who were quite convinced that they never wanted to vote. This two part mini-series is a drama about the vote for independance in East Timor, just north of Australia, and the people involved.

Not only was it a gripping story but it made me realise all over again just how fortunate we are and how important it is to vote when you have the chance.

The first episode is on again next Saturday at 10.20pm on the ABC and the second and final part is on Sunday night at 8.30pm.

I really recommend having a look at this if you can. It’s a terrific look at recent history, politics as well as a very human drama.

Wave Goodbye by Mnemonix

Well this is my last day at Galvin Park. I’ve been here five weeks and I want to say a quick thank you to the students I have worked with in that time. You characters have certainly thrown me some curve balls but into the bargain I’ve learned a heaps about teaching, students, and the subjects that we’ve studied together.

More importantly I hope you guys have had some fun and learned something along the way. I know I’ve done both in bucket loads.

I should also mention a big thank you to Mr Armatas for all his help. You guys have a really good teacher here, consider yourself lucky.

And for the film enthusiasts you could do worse than to track down the film I pinched the title from. It is in French so chances are you’ll have to read the subtitles but it’s a wonderful film provided you don’t mind crying like a hungry tired baby at the end of it.

Tropical Fish Art by RandyThomas

This blog is for you students but if any of the teachers here at Galvin Park read it I want to thank you characters for being really friendly, supportive and funny.

I couldn’t even list all of the people who have offered me help, advice or just friendly conversation. If I had to guess I would say about five people a day just stop to ask how I am going and offer help. Again this is a guess but I have probably observed and taken a small part in the lessons of at least ten of the teachers here and have learned something really useful in every one of them.

A big part of what makes this experience work is how others treat you and I feel like I’ve been treated really really well.

Thanks heaps.

Byron Nuclear Power Station 3 by iluvcocacola

I am bringing some articles about the nuclear power issue to class tomorrow for our debate. But if anyone wants a head start here they are.

PM – Nuclear power doesn’t stack up: experts
Beazley a nuclear hypocrite: PM
Push to reveal site

All of these articles are only a couple of days old as this is a very current issue.

Steve Bracks by Agent FareEvader

My final story in a week’s government news is called Bracks stays ahead in poll, and there’s hope for Baillieu and once again I found it in The Age. It talks about the Victorian State election later this year so I am making the very good guess that it is about the State Government.

WW2 Memorial by hanneorla

Women and work
Rosie the Riveter
Selected Writing about women in wartime
Rosie’s Wikipedia entry

Rationing
Wikipedia entry on rationing
Australian War Memorial site on rationing

Propaganda
All these wonderful sites I linked to earlier.

Resistance Under Occupation
A few Wikipedia entries to start with
Resistance in WW2
Nancy Wake
Violette Szabo
Madelaine Damerment
Albert Guérisse
Gilbert Norman

As well as a wealth of information these entries have really good links to other sites at the bottom of the page.

Human Impact of War
I’ll put some links here later. Hopefully you guys can add some good ones in the comments.

Beechworth Courthouse by mrdehoot

Today’s news item is from news.com.au and is called Call to abolish suspended sentencing. I found it under the heading Victoria and, as it happened, it related to police and courts and is a state issue.

Attorney-General Rob Hulls is set to release a report today recommending the abolition of suspended sentences in a major overhaul of the state’s sentencing regime, The Herald Sun reported

Main Street, Werribee by Ironique

In preparing for tomorrow’s Civics & Government class I picked up The Age and the Werribee Times to find some stories that relate to government. I expected to find a few and I wasn’t wrong, twenty-three in just two papers.

Just making the point that there is plenty out there if you are interested.

Bryan Singer really loves Superman by peter-noster

Quite a few of the students I talk to are really interested in film and films so I thought I’d mention this quite interesting interview with Bryan Singer, the director of the first two X-Men flicks and The Usual Suspects, about making Superman Returns.

It’s got some interesting stuff about film-making and super-heroes.

Three Little Ducks… by A~c Jalali

With some basic maths, a smidge of rat cunning and a whole load of dumb luck I actually won that competition to guess when the 10,000th blog on edublogs would be created.

For anyone who cares this is how I did it.
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Melbourne train station by SJohnson2005

Today’s story relating to government comes from The Age again and is called $4bn plan to convert rail line into a subway and is about the state government in Victoria.

Here is the text that gave it away –

…as part of a multibillion-dollar proposal before the State Government.

Under the “top-secret” plan, the Glen Waverley line would become a subway through some of Melbourne’s most exclusive inner-eastern neighbourhoods.

Deck of Cards- Alexander Downer by FIG2

Just like everyone in my year nine SOSE class I am quickly documenting a story a day relating to government in Australia. Today’s pick has the headline Downer accepts Papua is Jakarta’s. It comes from The Australian newspaper.

I know it relates to the Federal Government because Alexander Downer, mentioned in the headline, is a Federal Minister and because the article is about Foreign Policy which belongs to the Federal Government.

The story (1 of 3) by kool_skatkat

Here are those films Mr Armatas mentioned today.

The Battle of Midway
Enemy at the Gates

If you’re really interested they are available for sale here and here.

Medieval Manor by Mom of 5 cuties

In year eight history we are doing a quick introductory game coming up with words from a to z from our medieval topic. I figured I would have a go myself just while I have a minute or two.

Armour
Battle
Castle
Drawbridge
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iPod nano cards by purprin

In every class I notice half a dozen students with iPods which got me to thinking about podcasts and how they can be both entertaining and a good way to keep up with the world. I’m sure you all know this but I figure it’s worth mentioning that you don’t need an actual iPod to listen to podcasts, just a computer will do fine.

I used to get the newspaper delivered everyday but now I mainly just read two or three stories from the paper online which, while not the same, gives me some idea what is going on. I also listen to a few podcasts which works well for me.

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