Ideas, Practices & Personal Insights

How the use of the iPad changed the pedagogy of a Design & Technology project

This blog post is going to examine how the iPad was used to improve the pedagogy of a Design & Technology project, and allow child initiated learning by motivating the children to discover new skills and knowledge through project based learning. The ultimate aim of the controllable vehicle project, and use of the iPads, was to get the children to become more responsible for their own learning and not rely ...

Parent power – home/school collaboration

It is a natural sentiment for parents to want the best for their children and many who have entered the teaching profession have done so because of their love of children.

Password security tips

Have you ever thought about the passwords that you use? Or that you give to your children? In our school, to get on to the school network the children simply type their name without a password but for online services there are usually criteria to meet before a password can be allowed. Some services, such as Google Apps, require a secure password. So how do you get children to have ...

Tools for presenting work using audio narration

Asking pupils to create presentations to demonstrate their learning has long been a common tool for assessment. In today’s classroom learners have access to a range of tools that allow them to create effective presentations, and these can often be a great way of letting those pupils who struggle to write their ideas down on paper communicate what they know. There are many voice recording tools around. Simple gadgets ...

Should Twitter be used in schools?

For the past six months I have become a fan of Twitter. It has enabled me to network very freely with other like minded teachers and educators around the world. This can enable you to spread information very quickly on what is happening now or at a particular moment. It is an excellent resource to spread information, especially if you have updated your blog and are looking for instant readership. ...

Tech ideas for SEN

The purpose of this post is to explore some of the technology that myself and some of my colleagues are hoping to implement in our school over the next year. We have set up an ICT working group with two aims. The first is to explore cost effective ways of using technology to create engaging and creative uses of ICT. The second is to explore new technology and see what ...

[Case study] Augmenting reality in the primary classroom

Like many schools across the world, Shaw Wood Primary in Doncaster is discovering the benefits that mobile technology can bring to its curriculum. Introducing mobile technologies at Shaw Wood was something of a venture into the unknown. As the school's IT Coordinator, I decided to use the eTwinning collaboration tool to work closely with Anne McMorrough and her primary class at St Martin de Porres National School in Dublin, which ...

'TeachMe' - Competitive revision

Over the past month, my GCSE PE class have been involved in directed revision classes for their forthcoming exam. I wanted to do something that freshened this up and caught the students off guard, taking them way out of their comfort zone. I had decided on my drive into school this morning that I was going to trial a student led revision lesson that involved the students presenting different areas ...

What do the new statutory careers guidance responsibilities really mean?

This September, secondary schools in the UK will have a new legal duty to provide impartial careers guidance to their students. With that time fast approaching, we look at some of the issues and challenges that are facing schools. Preparing to deliver new duty Schools have had details of their new responsibility from the Education Act 2011 and the statutory guidance issued by the Department for Education (DfE) earlier this year. ...

Using audio stories and MP3 players in the EYFS

I have recently spent a few days teaching in an EYFS Unit. It’s been a wonderful chance to share my love of storytelling and use of audio stories with the children. It’s also been an interesting opportunity to observe children’s reactions to the different ways of sharing and listening to a story. I don’t claim to be the world’s best story teller but I like ...

Using Facebook groups in schools

In my experience, students have never been brilliant at checking their school emails, especially the older kids. This makes communicating with them quite difficult when they are not sat in your class. A great way to improve this is to use Facebook groups. Now, this presents a problem. The main one being schools tend to be terrified of social networks. Possibly because they do not understand them? However, if you ...

The truth about teaching in America

When I was asked to write a piece about teaching last week, I knew I could write fluff about the feel-good nature of working with children, or the high of enlightening a child's cerebral world. In fact, that would be true, but if you're reading this article because you're pondering a position as a teacher, you already know that. What you want to know is: Is it worth it? Five ...