Creative Collaborative Learning

It's been a while but I am back blogging again... first chance to breathe since going back to school in September...

I always hoped that I could find a way to help my Year 7 students ease their way into their very first ever History essay on 'Why did William win the Battle of Hastings in 1066?' During the holidays I came across a website called http://ietherpad.com/ which would allow teachers to set up a secure area where students can edit a word processing document together whilst having a chat function to support each other's learning. What I particularly liked about etherpad was the fact that I could be part of the whole process without actually having to show myself online and offer subtle guidance whenever neccessary...

The effects of using Etherpad for the first time with students has been a really pleasing one and conversations with the students has revealed how much they have also enjoyed the experience. I am marking their assessment tasks over half term and it will allow me to evaluate whether it has made a great impact on their achievements...

Now the key to why this is a great Web 2.0 learning tool is the fact that you can link to the exact URL via the VLE and it ensures that all students get the help that they need from peer support. 

Happy blogging and good fun collaborating...

Godsend at A2

If I really do look back in time I can remember one of my best friends at university, who was studying alongside motherhood, almost failing her final year because she had overly utilised (polite word for plagiarism) one textbook during her last essay and only passed by 1%. This was a stark warning to all of us on the course and many of us hastily reviewed our dissertations that night...

This incident sprung into my mind last January when my delightful Year 13 History class had to start writing their A2 Personal Studies. Being limited, damn it, on the support that we can offer them I needed to drill into them the dangers of plagiarism and overly utilising textbooks. Whilst researching study methods and ideas for use in the classroom I came across the website www.paperrater.com. Whoop my prayers were answered (and I even used it myself for my own MA studies).

This site is great. I linked to it from my VLE and the students were able to paste in their written work and it checked for plagiarism, spellings, grammar and even suggested some improvements. An absolute Godsend when you consider that teachers have to sign that limited support has been given... no AQA the website did that for me...

Take a look and have a go yourself with students...

Happy blogging!

Heraldic Homework

One activity that I love setting my students is to design a heraldic shield that represents them as either a person or as a family. The students can do this in a number of different ways... we have had huge posters, small clay models and papier mache covered cardboard which has then been painted. Last year a student of mine did hers online using a section of the VA website which can be accessed here.

I liked her entry that much that the class all had a go at making their own in an ICT suite... I wasn't too surprised that in an all girls school quite a few of them decided to use the male shields as well as the female one (their argument was that it was much bigger). This is a homework task that I shall be repeating this year and hopefully we will get some ICT driven ones that are as good as the two student ones I have uploaded onto this blog post...

Happy Blogging!

Terrific New Timelines

Yes... I know... timelines again... but if I like an online tool then I share it...

This is a quick one today... and one for teachers probably to prepare and demonstrate in school before the lesson.

There is a website called www.capzles.com. You simply need a number of photographs for an interactive timeline. The example that I use in school is for my first proper homework on personal timelines. I registered with the free website, download some personal timeline photos, edit the info and hey presto a timeline to demonstrate to the students...

Just think of the possibilities... timeline on Hastings, English Civil War, WWI and WWII... there are lots of different possibilities here. The great news is that the website allows you to create and edit HTML code which can be embedded on blogs, websites and VLEs.

Happy Blogging...

Arguing in the Classroom... yes please!

Let's face it... our students know what connectives and linking words are.. the reason? They have them drilled into them at primary school but the moment they walk through those new doors at the start of Year 7 there is clearly an invisible machine the wipes out their prior skills and makes them a blank slate again... just great for us...

How many times have you stood in a room and asked for a student to explain why they have a certain point of view only to get the answer... 'because'. Likewise, most of our students feel that full sentences, using connectives and backed up with evidence... not a neccessity in their books. Uh no... we're not having any of that...by the time students get to KS4 and KS5 they need to be able to explain their points of view and what better way to drill it into them that by rote (yes I went there with that word). Only my rote involves the computer and a nice piece of online Web 2.0 tool called www.amap.org.uk.

This website actively gets you to argue in favour or against (woah concept of bias here as well - sweet two birds with one stone) a point of view. I'll be honest since I am from the Northwest I usually demonstrate first of all with the classic Everton/Liverpool clash of supporters...

Using this website I enter a general statement, i.e. Everton or Liverpool? and then literally form my arguments around it. The students pick up on this really quickly and understand both the software and concept quite easily.

Like most online websites, and similar to Prezi and Zoom.it you can move the presentation around to see the rest of the arguments that you, or the students write, about the argument.

Students can do this individually or collaboratively as a class when you 'invite them' to take part in your debate. This is great for developing student confidence in their own answers as well as getting them to construct full sentences.

Though I have to say that in a North West school and being a confirmed Evertonian, for my sins, a lot of the first half of this lesson is taken up with cat calling and explanations of how wrong my football choice is... yeah right... 

go on the Moyes...

Happy Blogging people!