Blogging Reflections

In my previous Blog I briefly mentioned how Blogging had become a part of my life, especially following others blogs with whom I have similar interests or I find the topics they discuss fascinating. On Radio 4 the other day there was a short programme discussing the validity and reliability of blogging and discussions posted on the internet and it was interesting to hear conflicting views on the matter. One speaker was adamant that everything that is written was just bitter, lonely people ranting about all the things that made them angry, whilst another speakers believed that although their were a lot of mindless and pointless blogs – there were some that reflected well on the events of the world and took the time to make interesting and intellectual insights into the happenings. I had to agree with the second speaker! I have found blogs that are intelligent, fascinating and have given me an opportunity to reflect in a whole that I wouldn’t have had I not read them. It allows you to look at situations and arguments differently and for those writing them it is a chance to reflect on what they have thought about and learned.

In my new teaching job I hope to set up a blog for my class of children – using it to reflect on the events of their year and reflect on their learning and progress. It is a valuable way to process the events of life – both in our classrooms and in the world – and it is a chance to share and interact with others in a way that has not really been possible before. Children can use blogging to reflect on how they feel their learning is going and potentially I can use this as a tool for helping the children in my class set targets and understand how they feel they are coping and where they think they are at. Rather than leaving things unsaid and leaving things in the past – blogging is a way for children and myself to use what we have learnt to make productive and informative steps forward.

Let ICT Come to School!

Before coming to Southampton I used my computer for general web browsing and emailing but never really explored other useful aspects of the web. I have found blogging quite fascinating and started to explore other people’s blogs and discussions about issues and events that I have found interesting. It has been a way of opening up discussions and exploring different people’s beliefs and ideas from across the world rather than just in the places and with the people that I am living.

It has made me realise that the enjoyment and benefits I have had from this experience and introduction into blogging can be valued and enjoyed by children in primary schools and it can be a way for them to understand and interact with other children from all areas of the world and cultures. Although some people are sceptical about the safety of the internet – if used carefully, the benefits for children outweigh the danger that has been fuelled by the government and newspapers in Britain. I have been encouraged through my learning to use blogging and photograph sharing sites, such as Flicker, in my classroom and intend to use them fully next year to build up a online community for my class and a chance for them to connect with other children in schools across the world to build friendships and enhance their understanding of Internationalism.

In this last school placement I feel I have really embraced ICT use in the classroom. The school have a whole class set of laptops which I have regularly brought into my lessons and allowed the children to use for research and creation of their work. I have done a lot of their English work on computers – giving the children a chance to type their stories and ideas and even in maths; we have used the computers to create graphs and tables that they have used as part of their Rich Maths Problems Solving. The children that are in our primary schools today and those that I will be teaching in the years to come are part of an interactive world that should not cease to exist at the gates of our schools. They embrace ICT in their lives and can benefit from using and learning with it in the classroom and harnessing the fine skills that can later be transferred into their jobs and careers.

I have also learnt about the range of ICT that can be used in schools. I have planned a set of English lessons on Instructions that I have taught entirely through the use of children using Roamer Robots – the children programme and discuss how to give the robot instructions and then set up courses and maps for the robot to move around. The children then transfer these skills onto a computer programme that allows them to instruct a robot on the screen to move through different adventure courses and create their own. The children have learnt and achieved the objectives required for their English unit but instead of doing it with a pencil and paper – they have actively put into practise the use of instructions which could not have been so enjoyably achieved had it not been for the use of ICT!

It has been a real expierence working in different schools and coming to grips with their technology! One of the schools I worked in had an ICT man who seemed to know very little about how to sort problems out on the schools computers and laptops but it least it was better than having no-one there to help fix things when they went wrong! 

I have integrated ICT into most of my lessons, using the IWB, cameras, laptops etc for various things!!! I passed my QTS ICT test which was an interesting expierence - I would have thought they would have updated that test by now!! It did not seem very relevant to what most teachers use in classrooms and use on their own computers! 

I have greatly enjoyed using the ICT I have learned in class and putting it into practise in my lessons. 

ICT in Shakespeare

Interactive Whiteboard

The benefits of technology that is wireless are indisputable! Keyboards that can be passed around the classroom provide teachers with the freedom to use the interactive whiteboard as part of an interactive lesson where children can contribute to the work. The children can type a contribution to the lesson using the wireless keyboard and then pass it on so that the next pupil can also type something. The interactive whiteboard can also be used to allow the children chance to move things around the screen and participate using the coloured interactive pens that are available.

http://www.shanballyns.ie/2007%202008%20images/Interactive%20Whiteboards1.jpg

Youtube Ban!

Schools are locking down the access that teachers can have to worldwide popular and very useful sites. Schools are being stopped from accessing such sites as Youtube, Flickr and the majority of social networking sites due to concerns that inappropriate content may potentially be looked at. At the school where I have just been observing there was a need for a clip of ‘chick’ being hatched from a egg as part of a science lesson. The teacher had no video or dvd that could be played and so i suggested that there would be loads of clips on Youtube that the children could watch and use in their science lesson. I was then informed that no access was available to Youtube at school nor could any videos downloaded from Youtube at home, later be played at school. I can understand why there maybe concerns as to whether pupils should have access to it but in regards to teachers who could use is valuably for teacher purposes – it is awful that they are deprived of such a resource. Youtube is being used to teach children across the world and in universities etc today – there is no reason that primary schools should be stopping their teachers having access to it!

Dazzle Art Software

Firework Art with Dazzle!

Having just finished my Serial Placement week at a local primary school, I was surprised by the amount of ICT there is available in the school (some of which was rarely used). Having spoken to the ICT man who works full time with the school he thought that a lot of improvements could be made especially in regards to the software used – but he had more experience of what ICT was advanced and what was not. Obviously the amount of ICT that is useful for each class varies depending on their Year Groups and the capabilities of the individual teachers. Interactive whiteboards are available in most classes and in the cases there is not one, a device is used which converts the regular whiteboard into an interactive one. In the early stages of primary school, years R and 1, it is very hard to integrate ICT fully into the lessons the children do because the focus is on the children learning to write and read not work computers. The basics of ICT are introduced at this stage but it is not the main focus of the lessons. Further up the years I believe that the children use more ICT programmes that help with their subject areas such as science and history. The main programme I came across was a programme called DAZZLE which the classes used during their Art lessons. The programme is fairly similar to Paint but it allows the children to use a whole variety of more exciting colours and use different techniques to blur or enhance different parts of the pictures they draw. Since it has been Bonfire Night this week the children focused on creating pictures of fireworks and bonfires. The Dazzle programme allowed them to be imaginative and explore the various ways you can make effects such as explosions and flames!