Around five years ago, a colleague suggested I set up a teacher account on Twitter. I was reluctant at first, anxious about the implications of having an open profile as a teacher. Now I am a self-confessed teacher tweep, using Twitter for free CPD, connecting with colleagues around the world, sharing good practice and organising events for teachers. I also have a class Twitter account, which I’ve used to enable pupils to share their learning with parents, pupils and the world!

Manchester’s Russell Scott Primary School will be holding a free-of-charge Speed Learning Apple RTC event on Thursday 1st December. Running from 4:30pm to 6pm, the event will begin with a keynote from the renowned deputy head and ‘ideas factory’ Julian Wood, and will feature 10 top table hosts who will share how they use Apple tech across the Primary curriculum. These sessions will repeat every ten minutes in the style of speed-dating. What’s more, edtech experts JTRS Training will be supplying festive snacks to be served throughout.

When we decided to start a regular interview feature, Ms Kingsley seemed like an ideal choice. Not only is she fun and inspirational via her @MissKingsley85 Twitter feed, she’s also written several hugely popular articles for us. With this in mind, we wanted to find out what fuels Amy to attain glory on a daily basis. Amy is a Year 1 teacher working at Russell Scott Primary School in Manchester.

I recently came across the above quote on Twitter. Needless to say, it doesn’t apply to me, and if the prospect of glitter on your classroom carpet brings you out in hives, you probably shouldn’t read this!

Explain Everything: Without a doubt my signature app, I have used Explain Everything in a number of ways. It is ideal for editing and improving pupils’ written work. By simply taking a photo of the child’s work, I record myself reading it out, using the cursor tool to encourage children to read along with me, and the pen and shape tool to annotate positive features of their work.

My job as a Year One teacher is many things, but it is certainly never dull! I count dressing up, leaving mysterious messages and generally making a bit of a fool of myself as all in a day’s work! Luckily, my colleague is almost as crazy as me and fully on board for the ride! Faced with a lively and very enthusiastic cohort, we wanted to end the previous school year with a topic which would really engage them. Thus we began our topic ‘Do monsters live amongst us?’ by hooking pupils into Claire Freedman’s book: Monsters Love Underpants.

What comes to mind when you think of Goldilocks? Sweet, innocent little angel with pigtails and a healthy appetite? Maybe. However, when planning for a literacy unit on traditional tales, I decided to focus on the true moral of the classic fairy tale by portraying Goldilocks in a new light: as a porridge thief!

Both teaching and marking can take up a huge amount of a teacher’s day; the latter, in particular, especially tends to eat into supposed ‘free time’. Here, Manchester-based primary school teacher and blogger Amy Kingsley discusses one app that’s been invaluable for her literacy lessons.

Over the last academic year, Explain Everything has fast become one of my top educational apps for applying pupils’ speaking and listening skills across the curriculum. As a busy primary school teacher, I have never been an avid fan of the daily marking marathon and would much rather spend my time planning engaging lessons and creating resources.