Using the discussion board. I think that it can be useful, people can leave comments and attachments in their own time and this can be communicated to many people. Unlike when sending an email you don't have to include the names of all the people you want to read it, meaning everyone can visit and more people than expected if they have the access. In this case, other than using and experiencing the discussion board, this activity seemed to make the task more complicated as in our groups we see each other everyday and could have discussed the task face to face which can make it easier to explain. In general I think this could be used well, I'm not 100% sure when I would use this in a school situation, but it is good to know about it and to have used it in case it does come up. It has been interesting to see some of the other issues this has been used for such as the use of mobile phones in classrooms etc. I found it very interesting as the conversation was open and anyone could read what had gone before and add a comment. It was good to see what other people thought especially from different groups. (Image is a "snap shot" of the discussion board in use, easy to see who initiated the topic and when etc)
Monday, 10 December 2007
Using The Discussion Board
Using the discussion board. I think that it can be useful, people can leave comments and attachments in their own time and this can be communicated to many people. Unlike when sending an email you don't have to include the names of all the people you want to read it, meaning everyone can visit and more people than expected if they have the access. In this case, other than using and experiencing the discussion board, this activity seemed to make the task more complicated as in our groups we see each other everyday and could have discussed the task face to face which can make it easier to explain. In general I think this could be used well, I'm not 100% sure when I would use this in a school situation, but it is good to know about it and to have used it in case it does come up. It has been interesting to see some of the other issues this has been used for such as the use of mobile phones in classrooms etc. I found it very interesting as the conversation was open and anyone could read what had gone before and add a comment. It was good to see what other people thought especially from different groups. (Image is a "snap shot" of the discussion board in use, easy to see who initiated the topic and when etc)
Saturday, 1 December 2007
Confused (without the dot com!)
We understand how important inclusion is for all. In one lecture we were advised to include ethnic names when we write maths problems etc to promote inclusion. I read an article recently about Gillian Gibbons (right) a teacher in Khartoum. The children in her class chose a name for the class teddy. One child…whose name is Muhammad liked his name so much that they decided they wanted to name the teddy after him. And then all hell let loose. A parent complained to the authorities about Ms Gibbons who has now been arrested, but not currently charged.Having read the article in the education section of BBC news online I understand why they have taken this case of blasphemy so seriously. Although it does seem extreme. The main case against Ms Gibbons seems to be that she has named a class teddy in a Christian school the name of the Islam’s Prophet, and thus giving the Prophet an image, which they consider insulting. But how can they say that Muhammad cannot have an image yet children can be named Muhammad? Why can’t the same principles apply to the teddy? The naming of the teddy was down to the children and they chose a name they liked, no insult was intended.
Gordon Brown is asking for her release, Britain and the Sudan (left) have a good relationship which has the potential to be damaged depending on the outcome of this investigation. I think one of the most concerning details is the possible punishment if she is convicted. For naming a teddy Muhammad the 54-year-old teacher may be subjected to six months in prison, 40 lashes or fine….does this scare anyone else? If I have a class toy it will be named Bob and that will be the end of it.I understand that they take their religion seriously and that they have strict beliefs about the Prophet Muhammad not having an image or form, but as I mentioned above I don’t see how you can name your children Muhammad and that be ok. I think this case is being blown out of proportion and will be interested to see the outcome.
The photos are from the BBC website http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7114439.stm
Related Links:
Article
Video report
Thursday, 22 November 2007
Rosie!
Rosie is my Sat Nav. My family know that I make a meal out of directions, NOT because I am a woman….but because I can’t be bothered to stop and look at a map, which I can read if needs must, but I feel it is easier to drive around in big circles, waste a lot of time and petrol and eventually arrive. Strangely I seem to be able to get where I am going but get lost on the way home. I clearly don’t have the homing pigeon instinct! So before I embarked on this teaching journey my family bought me Rosie. Who knows if I would have made it here from the Midlands without her! Finding my first placement school was a breeze; out on the road no one looks after me like Rosie.My Rosie is a Garmin Sat Nav, she tells me where to go and when to do it. The technology she has is amazing! The colour of the screen lets me know if I am near a wood, near a river, in the daytime or at night. She tells me the instructions, which are written on the top of the screen, repeats it when I am closer and has a giant purple arrow to show me the way. On the off chance I don’t listen to her she says “recalculating” and gets me back on track! She is always calculating how long until I will arrive and displays it at the bottom of the screen, readjusting the time as I get held up on my way. She also counts down in miles and then in feet the distance I have until I need to turn, or will be entering a roundabout etc.
One of the best things Rosie does for me is she lets me know when I am near speed cameras. Firstly she beeps when I come into a speed camera area and a red line at the top of the screen tells me the speed of the area. A picture comes up on the screen when there is a camera on the road, and she will tell me if I am in a mobile speed camera area or if there are average speed cameras, that work out your speed over a long distance. When in these areas if I speed she beeps at me continually until I slow down.
Rosie is touch screen and so doesn’t compromise her size with buttons, she stores my recent destinations, allows me to save and name my more common trips. She lets me search for airports and train stations, restaurants and shopping centres.
Rosie is always looking out for me and before I set off she always makes me agree that I won’t touch her whilst driving, especially important now that it is illegal.
Rosie has many more tricks up her sleeve, but for now she gets me from A to B and I can go via C. My family don’t have to worry about me getting lost anymore and I have a fellow female to talk to in the car! Watch this YouTube clip, thankfully my Rosie is not like this (click on this link to see another side to Sat Nav's!)….but I am always polite so she never leads me astray!!!
(Picture of Rosie's cousin from: https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=9160&locale=en_US#)
Saturday, 17 November 2007
Gain ICT confidence....
Worried about your ICT skills as you embark on becoming a teacher? I have found a website that is free and helps primary school teachers develop their use of ICT.
You can register for a weekly magazine called Sharing Good Practice
It looks like a really good site with surveys e.g. on children’s use of mobile phones – a topic on one of the discussion boards recently. Every week they look into four new lessons and includes activities e.g. word searches.
The site is called Ictopus, visit today and improve your ICT confidence!
If you are worried about how ICT and Ofsted are linked the you can visit an Educational and Communications Technology Agency (Becta) and look at the self review framework, and see how far you need to go to include ICT into your lessons in order to impress on that first important Ofstead meeting!
ICT is something that worries a lot of potential and current teachers in primary school, especially with those children that seem to have more knowledge than you, but at the same time you want to help encourage those that don’t have the same confidence or access to computers as others. Lets work together to provide a confident front when it comes to ICT.
You can register for a weekly magazine called Sharing Good Practice
It looks like a really good site with surveys e.g. on children’s use of mobile phones – a topic on one of the discussion boards recently. Every week they look into four new lessons and includes activities e.g. word searches.
The site is called Ictopus, visit today and improve your ICT confidence!
If you are worried about how ICT and Ofsted are linked the you can visit an Educational and Communications Technology Agency (Becta) and look at the self review framework, and see how far you need to go to include ICT into your lessons in order to impress on that first important Ofstead meeting!
ICT is something that worries a lot of potential and current teachers in primary school, especially with those children that seem to have more knowledge than you, but at the same time you want to help encourage those that don’t have the same confidence or access to computers as others. Lets work together to provide a confident front when it comes to ICT.
Friday, 16 November 2007
Blogs 4 Schools
I have recently read an article in Junior education magazine about blogs in schools. It came up with some interesting points, below I have reflected on what I have read….
Potentially blogging in school could be a massive success…if it is approached in the right way and monitored. The audience for the children could be huge too. Other schools could be involved, children could produce blogs on recent books they have read, whether with their class or individually and could use the blog to recommend books to other children in other schools. Using one regularly could give children responsibility; perhaps on a weekly basis a different group could be in charge of the postings. It gives a point, a meaning, a reason to writing and practising computer skills and competency; it makes it real and relevant.
The ability to arrange and re-arrange the lay out of the page, or the blog itself allows the children to organise their thoughts, combined with the use of pictures, links, graphs etc. It can be a great motivational tool, for example the first 5 children to correctly complete the worksheet can do today’s blog. But most importantly it gives children a voice, and it is out there for those who are willing to listen (read!).
The children have to come up with snappy titles for each entry and a blog name. In setting up the blog you (as the teacher) can have complete control and can check and edit the children’s work. It can be a great way to make contact with other schools and together crack the World Wide Web. You can inform parents of the going’s on in the classroom…once set up and running the children can check it when home, parents at the office etc.
With power, comes great responsibility. This can allow you to talk to the children about Internet safety, about silly comments that may be damaging to others self-esteem and how this is not the place for those comments. However this can be controlled as all comments can be emailed to the teacher before they are posted.
As the children should not be identifying themselves they could create pseudonyms, perhaps pretend they are spies and so assume a role, the class could create blogging rules, keeping blogging safe and fun.
Two schools are mentioned in the article as having successfully set up a class/school blog, check out their blogs, see how it is really working in schools today: Hope CE Primary School and Sandaig Primary School Having looked at these blogs I am so impressed at the standard even a year 2 class is achieving. It puts ours to shame!
Ten ideas the article suggests for happy fun classroom blogging:
· Diary of a science experiment
· Artwork Gallery
· List of links, good websites and other blogs
· Work of the day/week/month
· Homework challenges
· On going class novel
· Poem anthology
· Plan of the week’s lessons
· Share any resources by parents, children and teachers
· Menu for the week
Potentially blogging in school could be a massive success…if it is approached in the right way and monitored. The audience for the children could be huge too. Other schools could be involved, children could produce blogs on recent books they have read, whether with their class or individually and could use the blog to recommend books to other children in other schools. Using one regularly could give children responsibility; perhaps on a weekly basis a different group could be in charge of the postings. It gives a point, a meaning, a reason to writing and practising computer skills and competency; it makes it real and relevant.
The ability to arrange and re-arrange the lay out of the page, or the blog itself allows the children to organise their thoughts, combined with the use of pictures, links, graphs etc. It can be a great motivational tool, for example the first 5 children to correctly complete the worksheet can do today’s blog. But most importantly it gives children a voice, and it is out there for those who are willing to listen (read!).
The children have to come up with snappy titles for each entry and a blog name. In setting up the blog you (as the teacher) can have complete control and can check and edit the children’s work. It can be a great way to make contact with other schools and together crack the World Wide Web. You can inform parents of the going’s on in the classroom…once set up and running the children can check it when home, parents at the office etc.
With power, comes great responsibility. This can allow you to talk to the children about Internet safety, about silly comments that may be damaging to others self-esteem and how this is not the place for those comments. However this can be controlled as all comments can be emailed to the teacher before they are posted.
As the children should not be identifying themselves they could create pseudonyms, perhaps pretend they are spies and so assume a role, the class could create blogging rules, keeping blogging safe and fun.
Two schools are mentioned in the article as having successfully set up a class/school blog, check out their blogs, see how it is really working in schools today: Hope CE Primary School and Sandaig Primary School Having looked at these blogs I am so impressed at the standard even a year 2 class is achieving. It puts ours to shame!
Ten ideas the article suggests for happy fun classroom blogging:
· Diary of a science experiment
· Artwork Gallery
· List of links, good websites and other blogs
· Work of the day/week/month
· Homework challenges
· On going class novel
· Poem anthology
· Plan of the week’s lessons
· Share any resources by parents, children and teachers
· Menu for the week
Die Hard 4.0
The latest Die Hard movie is about a “massive computer attack on the U.S.” even the title Die Hard 4.0 is like a software program…version 4.0.
The thrilling film is about computer hackers, seeing the amount of technology that surrounds them and how fast they can negotiate around the World Wide Web etc is astounding. In the film the “terrorists” use their computers to change traffic signals at a tunnel, causing the lights at both ends to say use all lanes. Leading to a massive head on collisions for 4 lanes of traffic.
They are also using computers to track people, all the police cars have tracking devices on them, and the “good guys” are looking for a “digital fingerprint…there has to be one…FIND IT!!!” Throughout the film they track people through satellites and using the security cameras…all from the comfort of their base…. They appear to be able to control and track the world.
The film takes on the issue of Virtual Terrorism. One code and the whole world will come crashing down, most of the world’s technology could be controlled by remote, but some are manual.
Is Virtual Terrorism a real threat? Yes this is only a film, but could it have real merits? So much is digital these days and we need computers for everything, to change our traffic lights, (in the film all the lights were put on green at an intersection causing a mass crash), etc. The digital ‘wave’ that we are in…could it be taken over by a terrorist attack? Could the government’s secrets, finances and defence plans be lost in a moment, due to a virtual take over?
In the present day data, be it finances or information etc can be transferred in a microsecond. Just think if we were still in the days of pen and paper, everything would be filed in draws, there would be no backups, and terrorists would have to steal originals or copy out by hand details that they needed to steal. Granted films wouldn’t be as exciting if people were running around with bits of paper, stopping and copying something else on to it.
The technological advances are of course a blessing, how otherwise would I display my Blog? Short of writing it out and walking around with a sandwich board displaying my thoughts! I even need a code to get into my building….but what if there is a malfunction? How would I get in? That wouldn’t happen with a key! Technology is the future and we tend to accept it, but how open is it to attack? People already abuse the Internet, grooming children etc. Is it just a matter of time before Die Hard 4.0 becomes a reality?
Die Hard 4.0 picture is from google images: http://www.firstshowing.net/img/diehard4.0poster-big.jpg
Monday, 5 November 2007
ICT in my SBT1 Serial Days
I have spent the past week in a school where I am to complete my first school base training on my journey to teaching! I was really interested in the amount of ICT the children were exposed to or interacted with during their week. During my serial days unfortunately I had two inset days, followed by a special Halloween day and then two days of a science week. So to all intense and purposes this was not a "normal" week and so I don't feel I got a true idea of what ICT the children get to use. However in the three days I spent with them we used the computer suite several times! I think it is really important for children to have continual access to computers and ICT, to make them part of their everyday life, especially as most of these children don’t have access to computers etc at home. They obviously have a good deal of practice at school, as most were extremely confident, which also shows how quickly they can acquire new skills, especially compared to adults.
I was impressed when I first went to see my classroom that attached to it was a computer suite compromising of at least 32 computers just for my class, not all classes have their own suite, but there are several suites around the building. All were flat screen with the most updated software and internet connection. (Although, in saying that none of the classrooms had SMART boards, which was disappointing as I was keen to practice on one). The children had assigned seats and their own passwords (Year 4 class) and were more than able to navigate themselves around the desktop and different programs etc.
I was present and participated largely in one ICT lesson, which was a set up for a Maths/Science lesson the next day. The children were learning how to produce a simple bar chart on an Excel spreadsheet. Initially the teacher explained about the cells, and the types of things you could do with one. He then encouraged the children to create a table and use the borders tool to make a box around the table. One of the two “ICT” staff, (they are teachers but who have more knowledge about ICT) lead the ICT sessions, whilst the class teacher took notes and learned with the children as she was not confident. Fortunately I have had quite a lot of ICT training from my university course and subsequent jobs that I was able to assist and have offered the class teacher support during my placement.
Whilst watching the ICT lesson progress, with myself, the class teacher and LSA's spread throughout the room I found that the lay out of rows and rows of computers was not teacher friendly. The children had computer chairs (meaning those on wheels) which did not help, you were always tripping over someone and the children were much more free to move about and just "pop" over to someone else's computer. I also found that the children at the back of the class were too far away to see the board properly and so some spent the lesson messing around, whilst others went off into their own world and so had no idea what to do when the teacher handed back over to them. I have suggested that they look into a system where the teachers computer takes over the children's computer, the child then has a screen in front of them mimicking what is on the board and it means that their mouse won't work and so they can not be messing around going on things they shouldn't. Hopefully it is something that the school can take advantage of and help any of those lagging behind.
The next day the children were to create bar chats to show the results of an experiment, where they had recorded the time taken to dissolve different sugars (caster, icing, cubes etc) into water. As my group had completed this task first I took them into the computer suite and led the lesson with more children filtering in as and when they had completed the conclusion of their experiment. The class teacher and the LSA, for that day, had some knowledge but were not confident with Excel and the graph process, if problems occurred they were often unsure of how to solve it. This really boosted my confidence in the ICT area as I was able to step in and for the lesson was the “expert”.
The children had time at the end of the maths/science lesson and on some other occasions when they had completed their work to go into the computer room and play on the several games they had. I have not had time to note down exactly what games they used but I saw typing practice, where they had to hold their hands in a certain place and learn to type without looking, which is how I learned at primary school. Something, which as an adult would be quite boring and frustrating, but as a child I used to be motivated to get it right! I saw many playing one game where the computer provides a background e.g. a dentist surgery, a park or outside a café etc, the children have to put people and objects in to create and image. They could alter the size of images to make the overall picture appear 3D, as people could be made bigger and smaller and put to the front and back of the image, they did not seem to have a problem with this scaling to create a certain affect. There were also maths games and science games, where they could label parts of the body etc.
The children also wrote a gruesome poem to do with Halloween, which they then typed up and changed the font to make it look scary!
The classroom had a projector onto the whiteboard, which I think can be easier, as you can use it as you would an interactive board….just without the interactive parts. From my limited use of SMART boards I find it difficult when you want to use it as a normal board e.g. writing on it etc. Having a normal whiteboard means that you can write normally without the board having a mind of it’s own! The class had a digital camera and I saw work that they had done using the camera, and whilst looking at different solids and liquids in groups the teacher went round photographing the children in action!
I do feel strongly that ICT and computers are the future, and I feel that children should not be held back from a world including ICT, due to teachers with a lack of confidence or knowledge. In general I think teachers should continually boost their knowledge as unfortunately technology is changing faster than fashion fads these days, just look at the new Windows Vista, completely different to the current Office system that we use but will soon make the Office system as obsolete as typewriters. If the children come into class with a new hand held game, borrow one from someone. Talk to children about what they experience and play with, incorporate it as much as possible into your lessons. Keep them interested, make it real and relevant, at the end of the day we have a job and it is about them and preparing them for their journey.
I was impressed when I first went to see my classroom that attached to it was a computer suite compromising of at least 32 computers just for my class, not all classes have their own suite, but there are several suites around the building. All were flat screen with the most updated software and internet connection. (Although, in saying that none of the classrooms had SMART boards, which was disappointing as I was keen to practice on one). The children had assigned seats and their own passwords (Year 4 class) and were more than able to navigate themselves around the desktop and different programs etc.
I was present and participated largely in one ICT lesson, which was a set up for a Maths/Science lesson the next day. The children were learning how to produce a simple bar chart on an Excel spreadsheet. Initially the teacher explained about the cells, and the types of things you could do with one. He then encouraged the children to create a table and use the borders tool to make a box around the table. One of the two “ICT” staff, (they are teachers but who have more knowledge about ICT) lead the ICT sessions, whilst the class teacher took notes and learned with the children as she was not confident. Fortunately I have had quite a lot of ICT training from my university course and subsequent jobs that I was able to assist and have offered the class teacher support during my placement.
Whilst watching the ICT lesson progress, with myself, the class teacher and LSA's spread throughout the room I found that the lay out of rows and rows of computers was not teacher friendly. The children had computer chairs (meaning those on wheels) which did not help, you were always tripping over someone and the children were much more free to move about and just "pop" over to someone else's computer. I also found that the children at the back of the class were too far away to see the board properly and so some spent the lesson messing around, whilst others went off into their own world and so had no idea what to do when the teacher handed back over to them. I have suggested that they look into a system where the teachers computer takes over the children's computer, the child then has a screen in front of them mimicking what is on the board and it means that their mouse won't work and so they can not be messing around going on things they shouldn't. Hopefully it is something that the school can take advantage of and help any of those lagging behind.
The next day the children were to create bar chats to show the results of an experiment, where they had recorded the time taken to dissolve different sugars (caster, icing, cubes etc) into water. As my group had completed this task first I took them into the computer suite and led the lesson with more children filtering in as and when they had completed the conclusion of their experiment. The class teacher and the LSA, for that day, had some knowledge but were not confident with Excel and the graph process, if problems occurred they were often unsure of how to solve it. This really boosted my confidence in the ICT area as I was able to step in and for the lesson was the “expert”.
The children had time at the end of the maths/science lesson and on some other occasions when they had completed their work to go into the computer room and play on the several games they had. I have not had time to note down exactly what games they used but I saw typing practice, where they had to hold their hands in a certain place and learn to type without looking, which is how I learned at primary school. Something, which as an adult would be quite boring and frustrating, but as a child I used to be motivated to get it right! I saw many playing one game where the computer provides a background e.g. a dentist surgery, a park or outside a café etc, the children have to put people and objects in to create and image. They could alter the size of images to make the overall picture appear 3D, as people could be made bigger and smaller and put to the front and back of the image, they did not seem to have a problem with this scaling to create a certain affect. There were also maths games and science games, where they could label parts of the body etc.
The children also wrote a gruesome poem to do with Halloween, which they then typed up and changed the font to make it look scary!
The classroom had a projector onto the whiteboard, which I think can be easier, as you can use it as you would an interactive board….just without the interactive parts. From my limited use of SMART boards I find it difficult when you want to use it as a normal board e.g. writing on it etc. Having a normal whiteboard means that you can write normally without the board having a mind of it’s own! The class had a digital camera and I saw work that they had done using the camera, and whilst looking at different solids and liquids in groups the teacher went round photographing the children in action!
I do feel strongly that ICT and computers are the future, and I feel that children should not be held back from a world including ICT, due to teachers with a lack of confidence or knowledge. In general I think teachers should continually boost their knowledge as unfortunately technology is changing faster than fashion fads these days, just look at the new Windows Vista, completely different to the current Office system that we use but will soon make the Office system as obsolete as typewriters. If the children come into class with a new hand held game, borrow one from someone. Talk to children about what they experience and play with, incorporate it as much as possible into your lessons. Keep them interested, make it real and relevant, at the end of the day we have a job and it is about them and preparing them for their journey.
Sunday, 4 November 2007
A round up of this week, 'Children in the News'
If you look back over this weeks news with regards to children’s education one would find that 26 schools in the region have been praised for their teaching abilities. At least the government is recognising there are professionals with standards working to provide the people of the future. Brown has announced that schools not achieving 30% of their pupils with 5 GCSE's or above will be closed over the next 5 years. Thursday's news picked up on the stress that children can experience when moving from primary to secondary school. Followed on Friday with the news that the hundreds of millions of pounds that was spent on the literacy hour has failed, as a follow up to channel 4's recent "fight for words" campaign, which has been supported by Richard & Judy's new children's book club. However a spokes person on GMTV said that the reading standards have hardly changed since the 1950's. I found it encouraging that everyday children and education were mentioned. This reinforced the fact that we are concerned about our children and that we are working towards providing a better future.
However on the flip side there was a disturbing amount of news about children and tragedy. Still featuring in the news most days is that of Madeleine McCann and the struggle of her family to keep awareness of their daughter in the worlds mind, so that there is a hope of bringing her home. However it is important to remember there is a shocking number of people, adults and children that go missing on a daily basis, but unfortunately they don't all have the same media attention and so loved ones all over the world are going missing without a trace.
There is still Rhys Jones' killer out free after committing such a heartless crime, and these stories can only remind us of Damilola Taylor, Jamie Bulger, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman to name but a few of the more tragic stories of our children in "society". I know we can't wrap our children up in cotton wool but you hear of those people who can barely look after themselves that have children and treat them even worse, as I recall a series of books I read by a man called Dave Pelzer, whose mother used to treat him worse than Cinderella, favouring his siblings over him, he could only eat left over scraps if there were any, was used as a punching bag, shut in a bathroom full of ammonia and locked in the cellar with a sack for a bed. Unfortunately there are people that treat children this way, and with charity programs such as Full Stop we can help to fight it and this is something going on behind closed doors. But out in the open people aren't content with ruining their own lives and that of their children but at all ages going out and ruining the lives of the rest of us. Shattering the families that care when our back is turned for only a moment. If to keep our children safe we have to be over protective and maybe not grant them the freedom of the good old days then personally I will be handcuffing my children to me, just so they can have a chance to make a difference in the world.
However on the flip side there was a disturbing amount of news about children and tragedy. Still featuring in the news most days is that of Madeleine McCann and the struggle of her family to keep awareness of their daughter in the worlds mind, so that there is a hope of bringing her home. However it is important to remember there is a shocking number of people, adults and children that go missing on a daily basis, but unfortunately they don't all have the same media attention and so loved ones all over the world are going missing without a trace.
There is still Rhys Jones' killer out free after committing such a heartless crime, and these stories can only remind us of Damilola Taylor, Jamie Bulger, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman to name but a few of the more tragic stories of our children in "society". I know we can't wrap our children up in cotton wool but you hear of those people who can barely look after themselves that have children and treat them even worse, as I recall a series of books I read by a man called Dave Pelzer, whose mother used to treat him worse than Cinderella, favouring his siblings over him, he could only eat left over scraps if there were any, was used as a punching bag, shut in a bathroom full of ammonia and locked in the cellar with a sack for a bed. Unfortunately there are people that treat children this way, and with charity programs such as Full Stop we can help to fight it and this is something going on behind closed doors. But out in the open people aren't content with ruining their own lives and that of their children but at all ages going out and ruining the lives of the rest of us. Shattering the families that care when our back is turned for only a moment. If to keep our children safe we have to be over protective and maybe not grant them the freedom of the good old days then personally I will be handcuffing my children to me, just so they can have a chance to make a difference in the world.
Friday, 2 November 2007
News Update Continued 3
Friday November 2nd 2007
There is only one truly relevant story in the news today with regards to primary school children. This is the criticism of the hundreds of millions of pounds spent on the literacy hour, to which there has been little effect. In defence some have said that there has been an increased stress on pupils and teachers, but that truthfully there has been little change in the standards of reading since the 1950’s.
In the news regarding “young people” there were stories as follows:
A tour around the region will be showing 10,000 young motorists the consequences of reckless driving and not wearing seatbelts, in order to reduce the number of road accidents and fatalities.
A teenager was sexually assaulted at 5pm in Oxford.
The youngest solider to be injured has been awarded compensation of £57k, however his medical costs is approximately £46k. The young solider is in a wheel chair, uses a colostomy bag and has lost the use of one of his arms. Since being in hospital he has contracted 3 “bugs” which have continued to hold him back from the recovery he hopes to make. The family and forces are outraged at the treatment of someone that has risked their life for the country only to be paid a meagre amount of money. He had hoped the money would help him set up a business with his brother, as he will never be able to go out to work as most of the population do. However this money will be of little support to him in starting up a new company and so his future is uncertain.
One of the most disturbing but at the same time understandable stories was that of healthy eating, something that if we as adults can’t get right then there is little hope of passing the “good behaviour” onto our children.
Millions are ignoring the advice given on healthy eating e.g. 60% ignore the advice provided in a supermarket, 20% ignore the advice of ‘an apple a day’, with a quarter of people not trusting the advice on red meat and alcohol.
This is understandable as there is much conflicting advice out there, one day we are told not to eat this but that is ok in moderation and then the next day we are told actually we have no idea what this does to you and that shouldn’t be eaten EVER. What advice should we follow, they say we are ignoring the advice; maybe we are following some different advice, the one given yesterday not today. However our country is becoming overly obese and this is something we can’t hide from. We all need to promote healthy eating and a healthy life style, the specialist should set the example and we can follow leading our children in to a fitter future.
There is only one truly relevant story in the news today with regards to primary school children. This is the criticism of the hundreds of millions of pounds spent on the literacy hour, to which there has been little effect. In defence some have said that there has been an increased stress on pupils and teachers, but that truthfully there has been little change in the standards of reading since the 1950’s.
In the news regarding “young people” there were stories as follows:
A tour around the region will be showing 10,000 young motorists the consequences of reckless driving and not wearing seatbelts, in order to reduce the number of road accidents and fatalities.
A teenager was sexually assaulted at 5pm in Oxford.
The youngest solider to be injured has been awarded compensation of £57k, however his medical costs is approximately £46k. The young solider is in a wheel chair, uses a colostomy bag and has lost the use of one of his arms. Since being in hospital he has contracted 3 “bugs” which have continued to hold him back from the recovery he hopes to make. The family and forces are outraged at the treatment of someone that has risked their life for the country only to be paid a meagre amount of money. He had hoped the money would help him set up a business with his brother, as he will never be able to go out to work as most of the population do. However this money will be of little support to him in starting up a new company and so his future is uncertain.
One of the most disturbing but at the same time understandable stories was that of healthy eating, something that if we as adults can’t get right then there is little hope of passing the “good behaviour” onto our children.
Millions are ignoring the advice given on healthy eating e.g. 60% ignore the advice provided in a supermarket, 20% ignore the advice of ‘an apple a day’, with a quarter of people not trusting the advice on red meat and alcohol.
This is understandable as there is much conflicting advice out there, one day we are told not to eat this but that is ok in moderation and then the next day we are told actually we have no idea what this does to you and that shouldn’t be eaten EVER. What advice should we follow, they say we are ignoring the advice; maybe we are following some different advice, the one given yesterday not today. However our country is becoming overly obese and this is something we can’t hide from. We all need to promote healthy eating and a healthy life style, the specialist should set the example and we can follow leading our children in to a fitter future.
Thursday, 1 November 2007
News Update Continued 2
Thursday 1st November 2007
The week is beginning to draw in and the news today only mentions children/education twice and very briefly.
The first story was of a 7-year-old girl on holiday in the Yorkshire Dales with her family, she became stranded on some stepping-stones and was safely rescued.
The second story mentions the battle that children face when moving to secondary school. Many can’t settle when they move schools, playing a large part in their performance, whether academic or behaviour.
One of the schools I have visited held a productive assembly where the children talked about what they were happy, scared and sad about moving to a new school. It highlighted that they shared the same concerns and eased some of the apprehension that could have built over the summer. They also received a book that was bright and colourful, with places to write their timetable, contact phone numbers, funny poems about teachers, some doodle pages etc. A few days after the assembly I spoke to some of the children and their discussion showed that some of their major concerns had changed, for example before the assembly they were worried about making friends and getting lost in the new school. After the assembly the concerns focused more on having more homework and so not having much time to play in their X Box!
Moving schools, especially from a small local village primary school, can be very stressful for children and as perspective primary teachers we should try to ease as many of these concerns before they leave. Some children come from a school where the teachers and parents socialise together in the tight nit community, where everyone literally knows their names. They then move to the bottom ranking year (in terms of pupils..year 7 is obviously at the bottom) where they don’t know the other students, no one knows them, students or teachers.
For anyone adults and children starting a new job/school can be very daunting and the ability to make a smooth transition is a life long skill that will help carry them through.
The week is beginning to draw in and the news today only mentions children/education twice and very briefly.
The first story was of a 7-year-old girl on holiday in the Yorkshire Dales with her family, she became stranded on some stepping-stones and was safely rescued.
The second story mentions the battle that children face when moving to secondary school. Many can’t settle when they move schools, playing a large part in their performance, whether academic or behaviour.
One of the schools I have visited held a productive assembly where the children talked about what they were happy, scared and sad about moving to a new school. It highlighted that they shared the same concerns and eased some of the apprehension that could have built over the summer. They also received a book that was bright and colourful, with places to write their timetable, contact phone numbers, funny poems about teachers, some doodle pages etc. A few days after the assembly I spoke to some of the children and their discussion showed that some of their major concerns had changed, for example before the assembly they were worried about making friends and getting lost in the new school. After the assembly the concerns focused more on having more homework and so not having much time to play in their X Box!
Moving schools, especially from a small local village primary school, can be very stressful for children and as perspective primary teachers we should try to ease as many of these concerns before they leave. Some children come from a school where the teachers and parents socialise together in the tight nit community, where everyone literally knows their names. They then move to the bottom ranking year (in terms of pupils..year 7 is obviously at the bottom) where they don’t know the other students, no one knows them, students or teachers.
For anyone adults and children starting a new job/school can be very daunting and the ability to make a smooth transition is a life long skill that will help carry them through.
Wednesday, 31 October 2007
News Update Continued
Wednesday 31st October 2007:
Briefly at the beginning of the news bulletin they mention the Madeleine McCann story in that there are no further leads, but that the first and only suspect (other than the McCann’s themselves) is being re-interviewed again.
A heavily featured story was that of Mr Parry. Two IRA bombs were set off in Ireland in 1993 killing innocent 12-year-old Tim and 3-year-old Jonathon. Tim’s parents have since worked tirelessly to achieve peace in Ireland, so that something positive could come of their tragedy.
A Parry and Ball youth centre has been set up in Ireland (Foundation for Peace charity), this is open to all children of any race or religion. This was opened on the 7th anniversary of the children’s death. The parents still had unanswered questions as to why Warrington was chosen.
Examples of posters, that those that didn’t want to be involved in Halloween would have up tonight, were shown to increase awareness.
The main story that dominated the news regarding children and or education regarded Brown’s pledge to end failing schools.
The idea is that schools should all be achieving a minimum of 30% of their children receiving 5 good GCSE’s (including English and Maths). The schools have 5 years in which to accomplish this before being closed down.
The steps are as follows:
· Failing school
· Improve it – if improvement fails…
· Change the management – if management change fails…
· There will be a take over – if the take over fails…
· The school will be closed.
Although this may seem drastic Brown quite rightly suggests that the public don’t want to send their children to failing schools, and why should they? The space of a failing school could be used for many other projects, including those that support children, for example an area for an extended school or a safe play ground that children can access after school and keeps them outside.
He also commented on the fact that schools should be encouraging parents to become more involved. However, the harsh reality is that some parents just aren’t interested. Those that are get involved, those that aren’t don’t. And there are those that want to but can’t, and more “encouragement” is going to change the reason, whether it be a job, childcare etc, that they can’t be more involved in school life.
Who knows if this will work? But at least it is a step in the right direction.
Briefly at the beginning of the news bulletin they mention the Madeleine McCann story in that there are no further leads, but that the first and only suspect (other than the McCann’s themselves) is being re-interviewed again.
A heavily featured story was that of Mr Parry. Two IRA bombs were set off in Ireland in 1993 killing innocent 12-year-old Tim and 3-year-old Jonathon. Tim’s parents have since worked tirelessly to achieve peace in Ireland, so that something positive could come of their tragedy.
A Parry and Ball youth centre has been set up in Ireland (Foundation for Peace charity), this is open to all children of any race or religion. This was opened on the 7th anniversary of the children’s death. The parents still had unanswered questions as to why Warrington was chosen.
Examples of posters, that those that didn’t want to be involved in Halloween would have up tonight, were shown to increase awareness.
The main story that dominated the news regarding children and or education regarded Brown’s pledge to end failing schools.
The idea is that schools should all be achieving a minimum of 30% of their children receiving 5 good GCSE’s (including English and Maths). The schools have 5 years in which to accomplish this before being closed down.
The steps are as follows:
· Failing school
· Improve it – if improvement fails…
· Change the management – if management change fails…
· There will be a take over – if the take over fails…
· The school will be closed.
Although this may seem drastic Brown quite rightly suggests that the public don’t want to send their children to failing schools, and why should they? The space of a failing school could be used for many other projects, including those that support children, for example an area for an extended school or a safe play ground that children can access after school and keeps them outside.
He also commented on the fact that schools should be encouraging parents to become more involved. However, the harsh reality is that some parents just aren’t interested. Those that are get involved, those that aren’t don’t. And there are those that want to but can’t, and more “encouragement” is going to change the reason, whether it be a job, childcare etc, that they can’t be more involved in school life.
Who knows if this will work? But at least it is a step in the right direction.
Tuesday, 30 October 2007
News Update
There are two main stories in today's news regarding children.
Tuesday 30th October 2007:
6 months on and the police have taken on a new strategy in trying to find missing Madeleine McCann. The news reports suggest that Madeleine was abducted through her window and they say that it could have happened within a minute.
There has been a second Crime Watch appeal, with a reconstruction of Rhys Jones' last movements before he was killed. As a result of this a new witness from the car park has come forward and they are appealing for the female driver of a red car that drove past at the approximate time of the murder. The police have taken a new line of enquiry involving current technology. They plan on using blue tooth (on mobile phones) to contact people within a 100-mile radius of the pub where Rhys was killed (although this will only work if people have their blue tooth switched on). All these people will receive a text message in the hope to find more witnesses.
26 Schools have been praised for their teaching abilities.
A sideline story was that of trick or treating, how to have a good time, types of costumes and above all BE SAFE!!! Children held up signs saying, "go with an adult", "be polite", "knock once" and "stay in well lit areas". Good advice for tomorrows holiday.
Considering yesterday's news suggesting that we live in a perceived dangerous world it is a little concerning that today's news follows with a story of a child abducted whilst on holiday and another about a boy shot dead by another boy after playing football in the park. Granted these are not new stories, but they are still very much in the forefront of our minds and our thoughts can only be with the families who have suffered.
There is little support for Halloween in England, but it is something that children can enjoy, dressing up and going out, spending time with the adults in their lives away from the TV and video games. Isn't this what we want? Maybe we should embrace the idea of Halloween to some extent. The Scottish have a slight different angle on Halloween where children tell a joke or sing instead of "free handouts" of sugar, tooth decay and E numbers!!!
Monday, 29 October 2007
Today's News
I have taken to watching the morning news (before I go to school) and noting down how much children are mentioned in the news for various reasons, just to see what the "publicity" surrounding children actually is. (“They” refers to the news program)
Monday 29th October:
Are children too "over protected"?
A debate on this morning’s news as to whether we, in society, are too protective of today’s children? It stated that maybe we just perceive the world as being more dangerous than the world used to be. That most of the fear has come from scaremongers, and that children are losing their freedom. For example abductions are no more common today than they were 30 years ago or even 60 years ago.
(They then follow this story by saying that a serious offence involving knives occurs every 24 minutes. That in the past three months there has been 5,500 incidents involving knives. This was shortly followed by a story on GAP clothing, where some of their lines have used child labour to produce the clothing…)
People were interviewed on the street, most agreed that we are too protective of our children, whilst one woman commented that although she agreed she would too, be over protective of her children. You only have to look at the Madeleine McCann or Jamie Bulger tragedies to realise that maybe we aren’t being protective enough, even if society hasn’t really changed.
They commented on the fact that we should be making society more accessible to children for example their freedom to use public transport (by emailing in…using ICT people could comment!!). But (for example in the Madeleine McCann instance) people are too quick to turn on the parents, to blame them, and maybe it isn’t always their fault, but can you ever really know? Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells had the freedom at age 10, they went out together during the day and that was the last day they saw… An expert on the news suggested that age 10 was approximately the appropriate age that children could be granted more freedom, but as many parents tell their children, “I trust you, but it is everyone else out there I don’t trust” and don’t you think Holly and Jessica’s parents wish they had been more protective?
They said that society/parents and schools should work together to be less protective over the children in today’s world, but can we really take that risk? If a school was more relaxed, maybe they weren’t as strict about checking who were picking the children up and making sure they knew the families, but in that case who would get the blame if anything happened? The school. And there would be distraught parents, quite rightly. But the most important thing is that there would be children with their lives in danger…for what? Just so a child could have the freedom to walk home from school? Is it really worth it? Should we risk the safety of our children?
Monday 29th October:
Are children too "over protected"?
A debate on this morning’s news as to whether we, in society, are too protective of today’s children? It stated that maybe we just perceive the world as being more dangerous than the world used to be. That most of the fear has come from scaremongers, and that children are losing their freedom. For example abductions are no more common today than they were 30 years ago or even 60 years ago.
(They then follow this story by saying that a serious offence involving knives occurs every 24 minutes. That in the past three months there has been 5,500 incidents involving knives. This was shortly followed by a story on GAP clothing, where some of their lines have used child labour to produce the clothing…)
People were interviewed on the street, most agreed that we are too protective of our children, whilst one woman commented that although she agreed she would too, be over protective of her children. You only have to look at the Madeleine McCann or Jamie Bulger tragedies to realise that maybe we aren’t being protective enough, even if society hasn’t really changed.
They commented on the fact that we should be making society more accessible to children for example their freedom to use public transport (by emailing in…using ICT people could comment!!). But (for example in the Madeleine McCann instance) people are too quick to turn on the parents, to blame them, and maybe it isn’t always their fault, but can you ever really know? Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells had the freedom at age 10, they went out together during the day and that was the last day they saw… An expert on the news suggested that age 10 was approximately the appropriate age that children could be granted more freedom, but as many parents tell their children, “I trust you, but it is everyone else out there I don’t trust” and don’t you think Holly and Jessica’s parents wish they had been more protective?
They said that society/parents and schools should work together to be less protective over the children in today’s world, but can we really take that risk? If a school was more relaxed, maybe they weren’t as strict about checking who were picking the children up and making sure they knew the families, but in that case who would get the blame if anything happened? The school. And there would be distraught parents, quite rightly. But the most important thing is that there would be children with their lives in danger…for what? Just so a child could have the freedom to walk home from school? Is it really worth it? Should we risk the safety of our children?
Sunday, 21 October 2007
Ghost School
I read in recent news about a "ghost school" in Germany that has recently been discovered. Parents taught in a relaxed classroom environment hoping to make learning fun. Children were taught and moved to secondary school with forged documents.
A minister for Bremen said although it was clear the pupils had received a solid education, she would not support the concept of parents going it alone. "This is an elite concept and we cannot indulge it."
The head of the Free School Bremen said "We're in favour of a more varied education, a more open approach to learning and letting children organise themselves more,"
I am enthused that there are people who are so passionate about their, and others children's education that they are willing to defy the law and set up a productive school, teaching the way they think their children should be taught and the way they wish they had been taught.
Although I can see why the government wouldn't approve of this type of school maybe we should be taking something from it? If the children enjoyed the learning that happened in the "Free School Bremen" and they did actually learn and have successfully moved through secondary school and ended up either at university or with good jobs, then maybe there are key tips that we as trainee teachers can take from it.
New ideas that allow for creativity in teaching and learning is all the rage, instead of condemning them we should praise them for their success in providing "fun" education and follow their lead within government approved schools.
For the whole article: Ghost School
Friday, 19 October 2007
I Saw it on the Tele!!!
I saw on the news (channel 5) today a short clip on being able to add video links etc to let them know what is going on with you, there was a clip of a child at school sitting at a computer with a web cam. The child explained that this was where they did their video conferencing, talking to schools all over the world including China.
I was impressed to see what we have been talking about in lectures is actually happening and working out there in schools today. That there are teachers who are confident enough with ICT to allow the children some freedom with these types of projects, at the same time they are informing the world this is what they do by advertising it on the news.
Great stuff!
I was impressed to see what we have been talking about in lectures is actually happening and working out there in schools today. That there are teachers who are confident enough with ICT to allow the children some freedom with these types of projects, at the same time they are informing the world this is what they do by advertising it on the news.
Great stuff!
Tuesday, 16 October 2007
Blogging Mania!
Out there in the blogging world.....found this AMAZING blog but don't know where to go next?
Click the links below to find some other fantastic blogs:
[ Becky Jules ] [ ICT Reflections ]
Get blogging people!
Click the links below to find some other fantastic blogs:
[ Becky Jules ] [ ICT Reflections ]
Get blogging people!
Monday, 15 October 2007
Variety is the Spice of Life
Hello and welcome to the blogging world once more... so what is new in the world you ask?
After doing some reading for ICT and literacy etc I have found that there seem to be two main extremes of teachers around, there are those that are "digital immigrants" and seem to remain that way, they barely use ICT and when they do it is very basic and limited. However, the other extreme and not necessarily better are those teachers whether "natives" or "immigrants" are confident (rightly or wrongly) with ICT and throw it in at every point almost to prove that they can use ICT and it can become over-bearing, children can become desensitised to teaching methods often resulting in boredom.
The key as with EVERYTHING in life is variety, they say it is the spice to life and maybe they were onto something?
Click here to link to Kate's Choice
Tuesday, 9 October 2007
Howdy People!I have been an official blogger for exactly 11 minutes and 32.8 seconds.....ok well longer now. This is my very impressive Blogging wall type thingy and I am very proud of it!!! I am not 100% convinced about blogging as just something to do, although I do have a lot of opinions and thoughts about the world from politics to fashion, from noisy freshers to GHD's! And I suppose if this is an outlet for those thoughts and opinions then why not!
I think blogging in the classroom is a really good idea that can help children to take control of their own learning, and I think it is something you can let them have basic control of and they would really get into it.
So watch this space, there is no telling what sort of exciting comments, reflections and thoughts I may have.........
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