Simple and very effective.
Thanks today to @joedale for putting me on to this one. I will be using it a lot!
For instructions on how to, visit:
Simple and very effective.
Thanks today to @joedale for putting me on to this one. I will be using it a lot!
For instructions on how to, visit:
Many thanks to Posterous for helping me get my blog up and running. I've knocked up over 10,000 unique visits in that time and I'm pleased as punch. It's been a really great user friendly interface, but I really wanted more from my blog - therefore, I've purchased a domain name, sorted a Wordpress site and migrated everything over.
It wasn't the easiest process in the world - these things never are, but things are shaping up very nicely over there.
Please come see by checking out http://ictevangelist.com
Thanks for reading as always!
Mark
I've always felt very lucky to work where I do. It is a forward thinking school and the colleagues I have always give 110% to the students, as do the Governors, of which I am one. My job is a privilege and I love it.
5 years ago, our SLT decided to move over to a Vertical tutoring system and I have to say, it's been an overwhelming success. Despite some trepidation to start with both from some staff and students, none of us would have it any other way now. Seeing my Year 11 tutees looking out for Year 7 tutees in the playground and the sense of family and community that resides in both my tutor group and within my House is something that fills me with great pride.
This mindmap shows a bit of where I think I am currently, and some ideas about where I would like to go (more below too)
Due to me feeling so passionately about this area of my work, at the start of this new year I wanted to invigorate my work with my tutor group; to engage them even more with new activities and even more engagement. Here are some of the ideas I've come up with and collated with some help from my PLN (special thanks to @moreolives)
Tutees create a music video involving all students (and other students / teachers from their House) e.g. Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes: e.g.
[youtube][/youtube]
Here are some of the activities and ideas that I would like to carry forward and work with in the new academic year with my tutor group:
I've got a few more ideas rattling around in my head, but will leave the list like that for now. It will be good to check back at this blog in a years time and see how many of these ideas worked, what more I did and how much of it was successful. I'd love to hear if you've got any ideas for how I can further develop the group.
Thanks.
Short screencast made using a screenshot from GarageBand, a ScreenChomp screencast a song I made in GarageBand and iMovie.
Tidy :)
Here's the original version of the screencast sans music before I put it through the rinse to add the music in iMovie for quality comparison.
Nice collection of iPad related resources. Well worth checking!!
So you want to hold a TeachMeet event?
I’ve organised two events and whilst I’m not old hat at this, I certainly learnt from chatting with, observing and discussing how to run events with other organisers from around the UK and beyond. Recently a number of people have asked me about what a TeachMeet is and how to best go about organising one, so I thought I’d write this blog post as a point of reference.
As with all good promotion too – the next TeachMeet I am organising is #tmclevedon at Clevedon School, North Somerset on 20 October 2011.
The common definition of a TeachMeet can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TeachMeet where it states:
“A TeachMeet is an organised but informal meeting (in the style of an unconference) for teachers to share good practice, practical innovations and personal insights in teaching with technology. These events are often organised to coincide with other educational events like the Scottish Learning Festival and the British Educational Technology and Training Show BETT.
Participants volunteer (via the TeachMeet website) to demonstrate good practice they've delivered over the past year, or discuss a product that enhances classroom practice.[1][2]
TeachMeet events are open to all and do not charge an entry fee.”
Certainly, I would subscribe to that definition of a TeachMeet but certainly, there is no restriction on it being limited by teaching with technology, although to be fair, many TeachMeets do and I would also say that no two TeachMeets are ever the same.
For those that don’t know, a TeachMeet is an event where educators get together to meet and share their very best practice. This is often done through micro (7 minutes max) and nano (3 minutes max) presentations.
The essential ingredients I have found to get a good TeachMeet are:
1. The first rule of TeachMeet is TALK ABOUT TEACHMEET!
2. Get good speakers and find a good venue – anticipate numbers of delegates and book a location suitable for their needs. A massive hall might be nice, but if you can’t fill it, the speakers won’t feel too good. By the same token, a room that is full up isn’t going to be suitable as a venue either. Plan!
3. Have a good compere who ‘knows’ the speakers who can introduce them while they get set up
4. Don’t be too hung up on timings, but certainly don’t let people hog the stage
5. Get some sponsorship – despite these being brilliant events, teachers give up their spare time to attend TeachMeets and an incentive always help
6. Intersperse the event with time to network
7. Offer food and drink – most events are in the evening and delegates will appreciate this
8. Promote the event relentlessly on Twitter, email and posters in Staff rooms of local schools
9. Get sponsors to pay for food / drink / promotion
10.Give the event a ‘hook’ that will inspire delegates to attend but not limit speakers
11.Network your local area to spread the word in non-regular methods, such as Word of Mouth
12.Get help – you can’t do it all yourself
13.Use the Classtools random name generator to pick speakers
14.Use the Twitter back channel and give the event a good hashtag prior to the event, e.g. #tmclevedon #tmbett #tmm11
15.Show at intervals during the night what people are Tweeting about the event – this will help draw live feedback about the event and could promote discussion
16.Prepare the tech beforehand – have a decent machine for people to demonstrate via, decent projector, decent sound / mics if needed
17.Have a wireless feed handy so delegates can tweet / blog, live from the event
18.Stream the event via a service such as Webex so that people who cannot attend for reasons such as Geography, can
19.Ask previous delegates to speak AND bring a friend
20.Take time out as organiser to enjoy the night yourself – don’t put too much pressure on yourself; it’s good to talk if you want to, but don’t feel like you have to
21.Follow up the event by saving the Twitter hashtag feed from the event and blogging it yourself as a record of what delegates have said about the event.
22.I would also say, make the very best use of the TeachMeet wiki to let people know what is happening at the event, what the rules are, show who is sponsoring the event, what to expect, so forth and so on. For great examples, just check the TeachMeet wiki and check some of the events that are already up there. A Google Map on there to help people find the location of the event (as well as the postcode for the location) is always VERY helpful too! Once you've created your Wiki page - get it promoted on Facebook too - visit this address and fill in the form: https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHBkLXg3cVVnTThnLXItYXJJdVRSRUE6MQ - thank you to @OliverQuinlan who does this to help everyone in his own time. Check his blog here.
I would also recommend getting your TeachMeet event listed in the TES - you can do this either by emailing resources@tes.co.uk or tweeting details to @todayilike on Twitter
This certainly isn’t an exhaustive list and please feel free to add comment / extras on the end, I am very happy to update this post with more thoughts.
Thanks.
Head of ICT & aspiring school leader. Love ICT & how it enhances teaching & learning opportunities 4 students.
