Ideas for an F1 unit.

This is a collection of ideas from Me, Alan Parkinson that have stemmed from a great tweet from GeogJo 

'Belgium GP practice is inspiring me to include a lesson on need for/difficulty of weather prediction in sport - in new yr8 weather unit'

If you want to add to this go to the following link for the google Doc that is open for you to edit and add to.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/11P2aAYxDVime6i9Cl4leBZvzAIpM6aGCBkHvz_oTM...

GoogleDocsF1Weatherlesson-1.docx.doc Download this file

Buddhist Learning thinking

This is a collection of thinking in a Buddhist way and how this thinking could apply to learning. I got the inspiration from a programme I watched on the BBC iplayer called;

'Seven Wonders of the Buddhist World'

This is a series of notes taken on my iPhone as I watched the programme. It is a series of things to think about from a Buddhist spiritual perspective for various ways of learning. I am currently really exploring my mind for one reason or another and am going through a real creativity patch I actually put it down to this way of thinking and am going to stick with it for a while and see where the journey takes me. I wouldn't call myself a religious person or a spiritual person but perhaps a reflective person.

Take it point by point rather than as an overall methodology as the flow could be better!

The main aim is to Empower individual learning, collaboration, reflection, and passing on learning to others to enlighten all.

Buddha created a radical change of thinking. Mark out YOUR path to follow for self revelation . Make it a rigourous quest to avoid complacency and stale state.

Meditate - think deep on a problem. Enlightenment state don't move from a problem until you have created or thought of a possible solution or range of solutions.

Sit under a tree to reflect. Have a different location to mix thinking up so it is free from the classroom. Go back to that spot to remind you that you came up with an idea to physiologically train the mind that this is a thinking spot where successes are born. Let students discover physical places that work for them. Let them explore. My place is virtual I find I am most creative on twitter between 6pm-3am (a big window to fuel my insomnia)

3 jewels of life:

An idol - Try to have a trio found this most manageable I have a learning Trio currently of David Didau, Alex Quigley and Zoe Elder who I find have had most impact on my teaching and learning.

They could equally be themed so Geographers for me would come from this list everyday of the week as my go to for inspiration. (The Geography Collective Dan Raven-Ellison, Tony Cassidy, Alan Parkinson, David Rogers, Richard Allaway I'll come back to this....

It is important everyone is Responsible for their own learning. As a teacher I am not 'The Saviour' be critical and highlight this to students! They are someone to gain curiosity from, to ask for guidance of where to find help i.e resources, peers etc.

Create self evaluation learning plans. Be True to self of strengths and weaknesses for all in class.

Personal morality - Many Buddhist temples have faces as focal points.
Eyes - teacher role to watch/assess not do.
Ears - to listen. I want students to come up with strategies as a community to answer them.

3 jewels again....
1. Buddha founder - The Big Picture
2. Community - Learning community
3. Preaching - Spread Learning to peers, community the World. - twitter, blog, website, youtube, teachmeets, staff briefing/news, display

Journey paths to enlightenment: 

I wrote these all down and found it really helped. I recently had some help on how to cope with my loss using CBT - Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and am writing a lot of things down and finding it has untangled a lot of my thinking webs that I have in the past got trapped in.

Chanting - repeating strategies to gain enlightenment to one self's learning and progress.
Earth, water, wind, fire, space, mind into a plan. Is awareness that universe is ideal

Earth - solid aspects to own learning in geography and T&L. (Geography - using description, explanation, investigation, opinion and interdependence across various scales incorporating human interaction with the physical world at the forefront of my learning for geography. T&L - using solo, critique, questioning, collaboration.)

Water - what learning flows well for individuals?

Wind - what blows over you? What do you struggle to grasp / sense?

Fire - what frustrates you most about your learning? Key weakness target.

Space - goal - aspects of awe to you.

Key behaviours:

Sangha - focus on learning (during lessons stay focussed to gain wisdom.
Dharma - teachings. According to understanding to do what you do practically without doing any harm. To try to gain 'Purity of thought' understanding whilst not restricting others and aiding others as we're all the salt of knowledge.
Karma - emphasis on consequence of actions. How we think and act. Twisted we should think and act (create) to bring about a consequence/product- to evaluate review.

My room in the past has been messy and still is to an extend I am working very hard on creating an 'awe of class should be full of wisdom and have decadence properties / respected by all who enter'. A place people are proud of and want to enter. So that it hopefully produces positive Karma. So My walls are filling up with breathtaking pieces of learning from students who have taken time and pride in their work.

I want to create this positive mindset in the room of excellence and not mess - It shows I don't care, take pride in my room, myself so why should the students? This is a huge push in my marginal gains for my learning in my classroom. No stone will go unturned to bring about excellence in my classroom from myself and my students. This I believe will lead to greater resilience of learners in my room. I am bringing this about hugely at the minute with my language of choice in describing tasks and expectations. The minimum is just not good enough. 


Allow for creativity. Artistic (This is a figure of speech it could be presented from any of the multiple intelligences) work for students to take time and pride and aim for the look at what we have created. Sharing moment that brings me so much pride and love of the job. It happened so many times yesterday from students who normally come into my room and say I can't or give me behaviour gripes. Perhaps the task wasn't outstanding but the learning was breathtaking to me and more importantly to the student who shared.

Large scale (interpret as you might) be big on creativity - take it to next level don't think small think of something that will make people sit up, observe and listen and act.

Aim to reach enlightenment samsara.

Go through cycles of learning like - TEEP or the 7e's that Hayley Thompson introduced me to as a planning strategy, until for that specific learning objective you gain enlightenment and can be reborn to focus on the next learning objective. So allow students to escape Samsara. We shouldn't think ok that lesson is over now, next lesson we are learning this, here are the next set of objectives when students haven't achieved their last set of objectives! This will only create frustration and student behaviour of 'I can't do it' because the goals are 'too big' in the time frame for them to achieve and so they gain a defeatist attitude. We keep hearing it but PERSONALISATION of learning really is key. This could be targeted for specific students. But don't make them too easy, allow for that strive, that challenge that is achievable but only through real drive and ambition.

Samsara can also be thought of to examine the daily life around us. To review the passions, desires and destructions of everyday life. And reflect how these conflicts can come to Nirvana - peace.

This has been key to me. I have been so angry lately from those who I have told or have read about my past. I have been working on this hugely and I am making massive strides with it. A direct correlation with myself being more at peace with myself that my teaching is going to new and improved places. Mainly due to the great learning I am reading on twitter, blogs and books people mention.

The main message I would like you all to take away from this post is to:

• REFLECT
• FIND YOUR OWN JOURNEY
• ENLIGHTEN

The next bit will be ramble as I try and form it in my mind so bare with it:)

Cambodian Buddhism is to take a more human face. Be humble reflect look at different views / opinions, have different temples - seeds for thought. Reflect on destruction around us the fragile nature of the world around us reflected in the temples that are crumbling empty now like areas that are affected by war, natural disasters, poverty etc and see the liberation that occurs in the time after.


Areas that are good to meditate according to Parli Cannon:

'Mountain, hill side, open field, forest cave, root of tree' - this highlights as geographers we have to explore visit to meditate allow the human mind to explore and to transcend the world around us and not be happy to just read about these things.

Also from Ankor Wat explore drama (re-enact scenes, role-plays, future) the dramatic lives that exist around us and not to limit where we examine. Apply on a monumental scale. - pass on experiences to parents, friends, other schools the community, other countries through blogging etc. So the Power and wisdom of what we learn / experience is available to all.

Zen - Qualities are not just unique to me. Explore - Discover - Share - Teach - Coach - Pre-structural - Multi-Structural - Relational - Extended Abstract by seeing how others take the learning.

I hope this helps your thinking:)

Buddhist Learning Concept

Seven Wonders if the Buddhist World

The power of the hashtag in twitter #

During my insomniac phase after a general anaesthetic I thought I should add to my blogs:)

This evening at 2:00am I was browsing through my PLN (personal learning network - the tweets of those that I've chosen to follow) tweets when it struck me as to how I gain ideas fastest on twitter and how in the future I will focus on these simple strategies to enhance and accelerate my learning of facts, resources, ideas, programs/programmes, key dates and most importantly specifics related to hashtag groups.

I first became aware of hashtags from one of the 1st people in education that I followed @susanbanister she added in a message containing the hashtag #ukedchat. I clicked on the message and found that the hashtag was hyperlinked. So I clicked on it. What I discovered was that it took me to a list of tweets that people had made relating to #ukedchat or educational issues.

In the following months I explored many of these and now as you will all be aware who use them there is virtually a hashtag group list on anything and everything from sport like #bbcf1 (formula 1) to #NQT (tips for mainly inquisitive / nervous / struggling NQTs looking for drive/focus/clarity) to #geography #geographyteacher (self explanatory). To educators meeting for a curry #curryNE5 or for conferences or teachmeets #bmobile.

Now to my initial point over the coming weeks I'm going to stay more focussed on how I use twitter as I have woffled on recently after I've had a knee op and procrastinated. So my strategy for me and others to try perhaps.

1. I'm a geography teacher and I've found that some of the best practitioners in my subject of geography add the hashtag #geography or #geographyteacher to their subject specific tweets. By clicking on the hashtag hyperlink I see hundreds if not thousands of useful geography comments. Some can be broad and so some subdivide these using more specific hashtags.

2. One you see useful tweets click on the person and read their other tweets 99/100 they will have something else if not lots of things that you find useful from a link to a useful website, to a program to try, to a tv programme that is on that is useful for a certain unit if work. They could give pointers. This I have had incredible help with from @geoblogs @tonycassidy @aknill @davidErodgers @mrgeog @vausekatie @victoriaellis to name a few

3. Check the tweets of the RTs that people send out. These are often useful ideas/resources or people they respect as accelerating their learning opportunities/potential and can quickly increase those that you follow and accelerate your learning potential.

3b. They can often be a joke that can lighten the mood for you bs actually clear your thoughts so you can re focus when getting bogged down.

4. search for specific hashtags by typing a useful phrase or topic and 80% of the time I have found something useful trying that method if I'm hunting for something specific.

5. Once you've gathered a respectable PLN and you are part of a large number of people's PLNs you can go about creating your own hashtag. This is often done by those organising events and the hashtag quickly expands like wildfire due to RTs or by people saying they will attend or setting down key aims, focuses etc. E.g #ukedchat or one started arcs conference this morning tweeted to me by my good twitter friend @aknill #ifip11 for a conference in Kenya. This highlights how you can very quickly gain access to inspiring ideas happening all over the world in your specific search field controlled by the hashtag used or created. E.g. #ukedchat is effective as it is specific and easy to understand UK education chat/information.

6. Find links to similar hashtags like #geography and #geographyteacher or like I found tonight #NQT and #ntchat . This will quadruple if not more the specific search targets that a tweeter is aiming to gain information on. Similar to when we see #edchat #ukedchat etc and specific chats related to subject like #mathchat which i discovered from the person sat in front of me at a teachmeet in Newcastle @ColinTGraham and other maths tweeters like @bucharesttutor or #mfl or #ELTchat which I discovered from @Isilboy and @DaveDodgson

7. People power - when you search specific hashtags you will notice certain people pop up a lot. These people will become synonymous therefore for certain topics, issues which if you are lucky they might have in a bio if them in their profile homepage but like I say with the hashtags you visit you will figure this out for yourself. This means you will quickly figure out experts in certain fields and so you can tweet them for help or you can search their recent tweets if something caught your eye and who they were in conversation with as 9/10 that person will have something useful as well.

8. Using the search option (the magnifying glass symbol in twitter) this is an excellent tool if you know the person who you want to find just type the name into the search bar and hopefully they show up.
At times i have wondered how has this person found that tweet i made and teplied to it when they dont follow me and it isnt spam???? I recently tweeted about my knee and the fact i am suppose to wear DVT stockings to avoid Deep Vein Thrombosis. This morning i got a tweet from a support group asking how i am recovering? So i was bamboozled for a minute or two so i thought how on earth that eas days ago!?! Then the penny dropped they must have searched DVT and found my tweet. I searched and wa la it was there.
Another searching strategy can be where you click on the search option tab to search all tweets that include that name. You might have a task to come to a judgement on the public opinion of David Cameron following recent events. You could then enter the name into twitter search all tweets and come to a judgement of positive and negative with some examples to back up your judgement.
You could use it to search a topic or find out recent information on an issue or event and how through time perceptions changed or events got better or worse? I used this for a flash flood lesson. Brief as twitter journalists your task for the geography gaggle is to report on Flash flooding. Here is some areas the students took it as I asked for categories to be created and for students to work as sub teams to extend the research for our paper. They searched twitter for the most recent tweeted event, analyse the tweets for severity e.g area flooded (effects has it caused other issues secondary effects), deaths, mapped it, has flash flooding occurred there before? has there been mention of emergency services and rescues (responses) and examined weather reports to try and predict could anywhere else be at risk? Then write a timeline of events based on twitter feed, create using ICT a picture prezi portrait if pictures news articles are attached to tweets add to location on a map. Students were then set a homework:)where they searched for other flash flood events that occurred near to them using twitter as a search engine by refining the search or if they couldn't find anything extend the lesson project by finding a flash flood in a different location.

Anyway I'll leave it at 7 well 71/2 as it's my favourite number. I hope these techniques will prove useful for many new tweeters. I'm sure it is telling many how to suck eggs but it is how I use twitter to aid my expanding knowledge of subject matters to keep improving. It is where I find out about new apps, programs resources, web links that then become invaluable tools for my learning and teaching in the classroom.

Also as I'm on twitter a lot lately where I come for a friendly chat to improve my mood, take a break, socialise and have a laugh to get in good spirits. As normally that is when I'm at my best and therefore at my optimum to spread ideas in my classroom and that of others to aid the students that I teach who this all really matters about as it is them who I strive to learn more for as they are our future.

An in pain insomniac John Sayers

Knee operation 17th August

What a day. Got to hospital at 6:50am to be told I'd be first to have an operation. Then at 7:45am I was told I had been shifted back to 4th in the list due to an emergency and would sit around till 1pm.

So I started reading my book on my iPad after a few putts on golf putt pro (set a new personal best). WHEN a nurse came through with a porter at 8:30am saying the emergency wasn't ready (screams of no, no, down the corridor), I was whisked along a number of corridors feeling like a toddler enjoying a fast push pram ride.

When I reached the anaesthetist he tried to put a needle into a vein in my right hand only to fail!
"Sorry about that:S Oh that will come out in quite a bruise tomorrow!",
'gee thanks I thought'
He eventually got it in and gave me the general anaesthetic. I got to the count of 7 before lights out and the land of nod.

When I woke up a lovely nurse called Nuha said to me in a lovely soft voice (Irish voice)
"Are you awake John? Shall I go and make you some buttery toast and a cup of tea?".
It was like I was prancing through a summer meadow, she could not have said anything sweeter if she tried:)

Waiting back on ward 3 room 2 on my own after the best toast and tea of my life, a male nurse called Steven came to see me to inform me that the physio would be along in 20 minutes to run through some exercises so that I could be discharged. He took my blood pressure, which was low and asked Nuha to make me another tea to try and increase it and bring some colour back into my Lilly White face.

After the tea of dreams take 2, my blood pressure was higher and Steven was happy.

Queue the Scottish physio. she entered the room very cautiously. I was puzzled! When I glanced at her eyes they had fear in them and she couldn't look me in the eye. So I asked her straight out.
"Are you ok pet?"
She replied, "to be honest I was worried when I saw your name on my list:("

I suddenly put 2 and 2 together and like her came up with 666 a scary number as she thought I was the renowned Geordie Gangster JOHN SAYERS! We had a laugh and a joke about it and after watching me excel on the crutches that she brought for me (years of practice with broken, feet, legs, knee ops) she left with a very large sigh of relief that felt like she was exhaling a huge breath after consuming a Narga Chilli!

Queue Steven to run through my discharge papers, procedures, medication, outpatient appointments, stitches removal appointment, bathing instructions, physio appointment, letter to my local GP nurse, letter to my GP......AND medication again (30 minutes later) I was ready to go.... "WAIT go and pass urine please!"

When I returned exhausted at having to listen to my next 6 weeks of rehabilitation Steven brought in the MOTHER of all PEE takes!!!! Oh yes and your consultant has asked for you to wear these for 6 weeks to avoid deep vein thrombosis...... A PAIR OF STOCKINGS!!!!! HONEST!

And that has been my hospital adventure for the day. Well half day as I was discharged at 12:51pm.

To finish i have to mention the incredible NHS staff who treated me. They were professional, thorough, kind, pleasant, and made my nervous day not so. TOP JOB THANK YOU:)

'In the Zone' homepage review

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Examine the 7 homepage options for the soon to launch 'In The Zone' website.

The Welcome Trust will send a free 'In the Zone' kit to every UK school in early 2012. The kits, along with the supporting website, aims to encourage young people to explore the physiology and psychology of exercise, movement, performance and rest through practical investigation.

The free kits and website will provide experimental equipment, teaching materials and resources to ensure you have everything you need to bring the science of the human body to life in your classroom. Each activity has been tailored to meet curriculum requirements for Science and PE for ages 4-19.

Please review and choose your favourite homepage. A comment with reasons why would be appreciated as well.

Thank you.

BBC radio interviews with me from the F1 at Silverstone

My radio interviews on the BBC yesterday from the Formula 1.

my_interview_but_not_quite.m4a Listen on Posterous

my_radio_interview.m4a Listen on Posterous

Field visit Arkengarthdale river study

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Arkle Beck is a tributary to the River Swale. It starts at 627m above sea level on the moors above the valley of Arkengarthdale and flows for 20km before joining the River Swale just below Reeth where it is 176 m above sea level.
The following photos are from 3 sites along Arkle beck.
1. William Gill G.R 93207
2. Eskeleth G.R 998036
3. Reeth G.R 044987

We expected to observe the following changes:
The size of the river channel increases
The volume of the discharge increases
The velocity of the river water increases
The size of the bed load decreases and becomes more rounded
The shape of the valley changes from a V shape to a valley with a floodplain so more U in shape

What do you think we found from the following photos?

A range of ways I've used geocaching in (outside) the classroom

Does your school have a high percentage of students who are not engaged and stood bored at break time, lunch time and before school waiting for the day to begin? 
Geocaching projects might be an option for your students!

Here is a simple guide as to how to set up a geocache geocaching introduction I will then go through a range of strategies I have used it in conjunction with.

• Change on a weekly basis.
• Competition between form classes/houses.
• Have mascots with trackable so students get to use GPS. Students can take other groups mascots hostage and produce clues using learning during the week.
• students with geocaching tasks have to communicate with each other and so they find out about each others learning and so it assists students skills at collaboration, teamwork and inter and intra personal skills.
• Students in house can nominate who will go on mission try to link in with different years.
• Link to marking so a teacher can give a few students a message. A way of getting students to check written comments more thoroughly. Students write a comment back about work and the geocache message.
• Students get given missions with geocache get agents in all the continents by the end of 48 hours. 
• iPhone 4 secret mission with text message students find via find my iphone application, to open link to learning. Further clue linked to QR code and teacher students work a riddle out. Link to Iamlearning and a place name in a certain task. Give students outdoor fun tasks from the mission:explore range. 
• Students have created tour guide to local sites and attractions in area @Kenny73
• Make class geocache made one about coursework about local river.
• About local geography in that area
• Students with project with parents for doomsday reloaded add a geocache at picture site with how site looked and how it does now add stories for how students use that area in their lives and how parents use to live. This project has been very successful.

This whole project and Kinect in class have been used to engage students to move about and be excited and intrigued to participate as linked to school reward system.

Now over to you to track down the #tmthink geocache you will get a clue to find an agent in the room who will give you the final clue to hunt down the hidden geocache. Be quick before someone else finds it!

Doomsday Reloaded Parent child peer collaboration and geocache

Over the last month couple of months I have taken geocaching into (and more importantly outside of) the classroom, embeding it into the learning.

In the last week I have been on a year 9 controlled assessment field visit. On the visit the class placed a geocache which had an information booklet and a QR code of the guide to a blog site of the geographical history and landscape characteristics that people were looking at at that specific part of their walk / cycle ride. So if you are near William Gill near Tan Hill Grid Reference 932071 Or Reeth Grid Reference 044987 you can hunt for a geocache (to get confirmation from Geocache) about Arkle Beck.

I first started off by getting students to create their own geocache (click on the link here to visit the geocache website and watch the video on the home page on how to geocache geocaching introduction. Click on the 2nd link for a guide on how to set up your own geocache geocaching guides) and writing about the learning that they have done in school over the last term. Students then created a QR code which would take them to the work that they had produced on a blog.

Over the last week I have developed this to incorporate the BBC doomsday project. This was a nationwide project launched in 1986 to record a snapshot of everyday life across the UK for future generations. Now 25 years later you can explore the archive online, see the pictures, update the information and make your mark on this record of our history.

My interpretation of the project has been for students to fill out a booklet with their parents of their everyday lives for the students NOW and for their parents / carers / guardians / aunts / uncles / grand parents to write down what their everyday life was like 25 years ago. I've found this has worked best with photographs. Students have been really interested in seeing old photos of their parents with their fashion sense, hair cuts (perms), dogey facial hair and glasses. I've tried to request that parents find photos of what Darlington looked like 25 years (or so) ago and then the students go to the same spot and take a photo today This gets them familiar with their surroundings and looking at a scene in a different manor.

This is where the geocache comes in. Parents and students include photos of the same site and they compare the similarities and the differences and their comparison stories of life 25 years ago and now. The students and parents then go and make a geocache and hide it for the next generation to find and update.

The final element of the project is to get parents and students to present their doomsday reloaded projects to the rest of the class.

Data analysis spreadsheet with automatic graph generation

Tracking Analysis Trial year 7.xls Download this file

 The following spreadsheet is what I made as an element of my data analysis of my classes to check progress and for the head teacher and deputy head to quickly analyse the data and check to see if any trends appear around school for groups whio are above or below target and to see if whole school or simply a teacher needs to adjust their planning to improve achievement.

J Sayers

T:
M:
E: sayers@branksome.org.uk

 

Controlled Assessment Booklet for Water on the Land 2012 submission

Coursework_Booklet_2011.doc Download this file

Controlled Assessment guidance booklet for Water on the Land

Coursework Booklet 2011.doc Download this file

Controlled Assessment guidance booklet for Water on the Land with the key question hypothesis of: Investigate ‘EROSION AND DEPOSITION IN THE RIVER CHANNEL.’

Coastal worknotes

lesson booklet for pupils to complete at home for each lesson coasts.doc Download this file

 An internet find.

J Sayers

T:
M:
E: sayers@branksome.org.uk

 

Whitby Fieldtrip booklet

Whitby field trip.doc Download this file

A field trip booklet for a day trip to Whitby with various tasks for geography students to do.

An Introduction to TNCs

Transnational Corporations – (TNC).ppt Download this file

Deltas introduction

Deltas.ppt Download this file

 Introduction to Deltas

J Sayers

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E: sayers@branksome.org.uk

 

global warming

Global Warming milankovitch.ppt Download this file

 A powerpoint to introduce global warming

J Sayers

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E: sayers@branksome.org.uk

 

Favela Creation and Indian Case study videos

 The following powerpoint has 2 Channel 4 case study videos of life in a Shanty Town dwelling. Also a model is provided from unit into Africa.

favela creation.ppt Download this file

Lesson9-Activity12.pdf Download this file

I AM LEARNING a new ICT question tool

My school signed up to I AM lEARNING a couple of months ago and it seems to be a successful learning tool with many features that keep students engaged and coming back. Mainly the GAMES FEATURES Students take part in exercises provided by I am learning or exercise questions that have ben created by their teacher. These can be multiple choice questions or they can be written questions where the use of key terms and phrases are incorporated into the I am learning answer box and so these have to be incorporated for students to get the question correct. The concept is simple. If a student gets a question right they get an allotted time to play a game. This might be 10-20 seconds. They then have to attempt another question in order to continue the game. If they get a question incorrect they still get to play a game but for half the time. 

Unlike other online revision question programs like SAM LEARNING students can click back on the browser to go back or find the right answers out and then know the sequence and what to press to get the answers right and so not take any learning in as I am learning mixes the questions up and the play element makes the students try. Also it will log that students are trying to do this and so a teacher can see how many questions a student has attempted what they got wrong etc and can then work on individual learning plans for students to inform their planning to see if a certain question is a class issue or whether it is an isolated incident that needs independent action.

Pupils sign in and they see the following screen:

This is their homepage when they log in. From this you can see many roll over with a mouse features.

A paint can - Decorate their study homepage

An ipod - student podcasts

A photo frame - allows students to edit their personal details and edit their avatar

A head statue - where students work on their skills and add details where they have demonstrated certain PLTs they can even upload work to prove this.

Bar graph blocks - were students check their progress and performances through the exercises.

A snow globe - to input targets and check them to see how the student is working towards it.

Exam Paper - try real exam papers to see how the student is progressing.

Books - Guides on how to get most out of I AM LEARNING and revision.

Phone - To contact their teacher if they have a query or to get messages from teacher that work has been set.

Computer Screen - Take an exercise 

Clock - How long the student has spent on I AM lEARNING revising.

Champions League - Compare how they are doing to other I AM LEARNING students around the country.

Picture with finger pointing - A teacher survey that students have to complete.

VAK vacuum - Complete a how they learn survey to find out what type of learning they are strongest at and what areas need learning help / persistence.

Calendar - What homeworks / tasks have been set by a teacher?

What the I AM lEARNING screen looks like to a teacher with twitter feed (note my twitter feed at the top:)

This allows you to check who has taken the exercises that you have set, how they have done, progress of that classes, year groups, individual students, how the student is getting on in other subjects, allows you to check the students PLTs progress to the student, Who has completed the homeworks, if you have a message from a student who may be having trouble, allows you to create a survey, create an exercise, allocate homework - For this you can use the I AM lEARNING created exercises, your own or exercises that other teachers have created and you can search for subject and key areas of study for specific examples if any have been created that you can set your students.

This is what the questions look like from a Rivers Management exercise I have created. SEARCH FOR IT AND HAVE A GO!

I AM lEARNING is on twitter and they have begun creating iphone apps for specific subjects for questions to be attempted. 

Overall a good engaging tool that can be used as an ICT exercise for questioning and for some good fun for the students to keep them revising. 

My Mission Explore Task

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If you haven't got the mission explore books see picture then you really should!

My mission with the books is to make global links with schools around the world and to share blogging pictures and webchats / Skype chats with students from other countries to find there findings for certain missions.

My aim is to actively engage my students to make links with foreign students and more importantly using the books to find out about the world around us and what different places are like with a common theme the books to aid and gave a continuity running through the project so that students have a certain theme they can discuss / see the similarities and the differences. Students can then come up with their own missions and continue to find out new things of the people and place of the world around us.

So this is a plea to visitors to my blog to get in touch and let's make a global blog of people and place and bring the world closer to hand for our students.

Sugata Mitra: The child-driven education | Video on TED.com

Sugata Mitra: The child-driven education | Video on TED.com
This is a great advert for letting students research for themselves. Provide a key term, question, idea and let them research and be CREATIVE with it and then begins the key question for a teacher/educator 'how can we make them THINK with this acquired knowledge? And what are they going to do with it that will get their minds and bodies working?'

Trekking the planet

Follow the link for an outline of this fantastic project that will start January 2012 http://www.trekkingtheplanet.net/ the project trek is a geography educational bonanza and true spread of the fabulous place geography has in the world around us. Follow and use in lessons. I know I will!

Geocaching from your iPhone

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This is a fantastic co-ordinates game using a GPS, mapping skills treasure hunt. A geocaching is a great addition to any dog walk, cycle ride, walk or even outdoor learning adventures. The principle is simple. Go to the website or download the app for geocaching. £4.99 on iTunes app store (a free introduction app is available it limits a search to the 3 nearest placed geocaches to you). The app will place your phone GPS to your current location and you can search to see if there are any geocaches in your area. Then simply using the co-ordinates and using a map you can hunt them down or more simply you can let the GPS on your phone close in to the co-ordinates. You can change the setting to show you a compass to try and match your co-ordinates with that of the location of the geocache. Then it is down to you to hunt out the box / casing. You should see a container with the geocaching official symbol and it should have paper and a pencil for you to write your name and date you found it. Some have an object in them. You can add something to the container of equal value. Overall great fun:)