We live in an increasingly audio-visual world, and while blogging and social media is on the increase, so too are videos, animations, music and games.
In my previous post, I alluded to Scratch, one way of creating audio-visual content (creation of games, quizzes, basic animation), but there are other excellent ways too. Here are a few of them:
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GPP (That's 'Guided Professional Placement' to the uninitiated) has begun and with it there are new technologies to get my head around.
The first thing I'd like to mention is that the school I am at in Salford takes its safeguarding responsibilities extremely seriously. The school is aware of the importance of joined up thinking when it comes to the protection of the children in its care, and as such has signed up to a website called "My Concern". This website is a superb way of ensuring that when it comes to child protection, everybody has access to relevant information. Let me give you a for instance (and, just for the record, this is a completely fictional example). Imagine a nine year old called Aaron has arrived for school on Monday morning with a pronounced limp. On further examination you notice a bit of bruising on his leg. Now, it may be nothing to worry about; you know that Aaron likes sport and he may have simply strained it at the weekend during a match (to be fair, this is the likeliest explanation). But, on the other hand, this may be a significant puzzle piece in a wider jigsaw that points towards child abuse at home. By reporting it on My Concern you ensure that the headteacher, his GP, his social worker, and any other party relevant to that child's wellbeing is aware of the puzzle piece. If it is of no consequence then fine, but if it is then you may have just helped to prevent further violence towards an abused party. I think My Concern is brilliant, and I'd encourage all schools (and any area of society that work with children) to sign up for it. A second technology I have seen used by my mentor is a piece of PE assessment software* for the iPad. In short, this software allows the user to photograph children during specific activities (selectable from a drop down menu), tag them by name, and mark down whether they have achieved, partially achieved or not achieved the lesson objective. This data is then all collated and is accessible by the headteacher. I feel this is a great part of the drive to boost the status of PE in English schools, and I'm all for it. Next up, I will blog about the pick and mix computing modules from my university's computing programme. * I will blog further about this software in the future when I can take some screenshots of the user interface. Evening, all! My word, I've been busy! Yesterday I had a swotting up session in the University of Manchester's Main Library, and I learned some exciting* new tips and skills, including this doozy; if you download the iManchester smartphone app from the App Store/Google Play, and then select 'Library', you can search for whatever book you wish to withdraw. You can seek by title, author, or use a generic search term (such as "Primary Curriculum") and, once you have hit 'search', it will furnish you with a comprehensive list of relevant content. But the fun does not stop there, oh no, as it will also furnish you with the book's exact location in the library, which is incredibly useful (as anyone who has written out book locations in longhand will concur). I am now armed with 19 books, ready to take on assignment A. Following yesterday afternoon's brilliant Professional Studies seminar with Martin, I then went home and set to work on A) my subject knowledge in English, Maths and Science, using pages from BBC Bitesize, ahead of my seminars on those areas today, and B) my computing action plan, based on Tuesday's audit.
If you click on My Computing Action Plan above (or hit the hyperlink), then you will be able to see my plan in full. Today it seemed as if much of my revision had paid off. I found all three core subject seminars absolutely fascinating. Mathematics (traditionally my weakest subject) was full of practical games and top tips (from Lawrence, who is brilliantly engaging) about the teaching of the subject. I learned that to get Maths across effectively you must ALWAYS use a Practical element (such as an activity), a representational element (pictorial) and an abstract element (symbolic). But even more than that, to school enthusiastic mathematicians you must teach a deeper level of mathematic reasoning that involves convincing, justifying and proving. It got me thinking about how I might use technology in the classroom in order to achieve those goals (more on that at a later date, I'd imagine!) My homework for this evening was a Key Stage 2 Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar (SPaG) SAT test. I did not disgrace myself, but I have a decent amount of work still to do in order to brush up on clauses (relative, subordinate), conjunctions (sub-ordinating vs co-ordinating), and past perfect/progressive verb forms. Primary teachers have to know this stuff! Tomorrow, more Maths, Science (including an big audit) and English. The fun never stops in PGCE-Land! * Okay, exciting to no one but me! |
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