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Today we put the Durham Branch of the Historical Association onto Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=333258392194&ref=mf

with eight members already it is looking good, it is an attempt to get younger members  to join, again more work for me to do.

http://durhamha.ning.com is the usual website, the Ning does everything Facebook does, but does not have the profile, also the Ning page is much more flexible, but it is an experiment, we will see what happens

Google Earth WWII images

I have done something similar with google maps and images of Dresden some four years ago, but I am pleased that this has been done, as it is very effective.

More details in the Tutor2U review: http://www.tutor2u.net/blog/index.php/history/comments/google-earths-wwii-aerial-images/

I also saw this on Doug’s blog, and used it almost immediately, yes spelling is important

hores

and lastly the 365 Project is still going, this can be found at: http://twitpic.com/photos/foxburg

Where have I been?

83909monkey_nerdI am aware that I have not posted something educational for some time now, and after all this is an EDUblog!

The reason is that I am working with a number of individuals, groups and intitutions on a miriad of projects, thus I need to co-ordinate any publicity with others before releasing my ideas to the world.

Another reason is simply that I have not had any really good ideas, well I have, its just that these ideas are being incorporated into the projects. I am also getting increasingly frustrated by decisions being made for and within schools. Some of the ideas being put forward by both political parties (sorry Lib-Dems) are simply ill-conceived, thus I won’t put forward my views here are I could write for hours.

I have been lucky this week, in that I am in a well run school and dong some actual teaching, and not only teaching but teaching in my subject of History. It has increased my confidence to be able to help students; rather than simply babysit 30 children whilst they try to avoid attempting the activities on a worksheet.

This experience has enabled me to clarify a number of ideas about the schooling. The main feature is the attitude of the students; firstly learning an only take place with co-operation, if a student is unwilling, or unable to co-operate then we are dealing with something different to teaching, the best lesson in the world will not benefit anyone unwilling to co-operate with the educator (think of all hours wasted on CPD planned by schools, when the staff don’t want to take part)

I can honestly say that I am a different person, now that I don’t need to employ all my experience and skill for classroom management, I can discuss with students, help students. So then next time I am inspected or observed I will remember back to this week and think about how little I have changed and how much the students have. This will allow me to consider how and when the students learn, making me less self-conscious, a fault the system has driven many, like me, to consider the one and only criteria upon which our worth (as teachers) is judged, what are we doing wrong, how are failing these children. I want us to look at schools like this one I am in currently and consider why it is successful, but not acknowledged as such.

SHP Regional Conference

LEEDS TRINITY UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

CPD COURSE

COURSE NO:    4/00901

Helping your students to become independent enquirers in history

A day of inspiring professional development for

secondary history teachers

Friday 26 February 2010

9.30-3.30

Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens

Course Fee: £160.00

(including lunch, refreshments and free admission to the Museum)

Course Leader: Michael Riley (Director, Schools History Project)

Historical enquiry, the constructive use of historical sources and creative forms of communication should form the bedrock of school history.  Michael and staff at the museum will use case studies of planning, activities and resources to show how you can help your students to develop enquiring minds and to think for themselves.

The training will support:

  • Firing students’ curiosity about the past
  • Helping students to ask good historical questions
  • Making source-work meaningful
  • Creating opportunities for independent enquiry
  • Helping students to communicate in a range of creative ways

CPD

LEEDS TRINITY UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, BROWNBERRIE LANE, HORSFORTH, LEEDS LS18 5HD

TELEPHONE:  0113 2837100                ext 379    Fax:  0113 2837216

Programme

9.30     Arrival, Refreshments

10.00 Planning for historical enquiry across the key stages

  • The key principles of enquiry planning
  • Planning for historical enquiry at GCSE and A level
  • Helping students to become independent enquirers
  • Real and creative communication in history

11.30   Coffee/Tea

11.45    Enquiry and artefacts

  • Firing students’ curiosity through the use of artefacts
  • Building enquiries around artefacts

1.00     Lunch

2.00     Making source-work meaningful

  • Motivating your students to use historical sources
  • Integrating sources into the enquiry process
  • Helping students to interrogate historical sources.

3.30     Finish

APPLICATION FORM

COURSE TITLE and VENUE:

Helping your students to become independent enquirers in history

at Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens

COURSE NO: 4/00901 COURSE DATE: Friday 26 February 2010
COURSE FEE: £160.00
I/WE WOULD LIKE TO ATTEND THE ABOVE COURSE

APPLICANT DETAILS

Title: (Dr/Mr/Ms etc.)

…………………

…………………

Forename(s)

…………………………………..

…………………………………..

Surname

…………………………….…….………….

………………………………………………

Address

Post Code

Tel No.

Email

(please print clearly)

SCHOOL DETAILS

School Name

Address

Post Code

Tel No.

Email

(please print clearly)

LEA Name

Independent School

Yes/No

METHOD OF PAYMENT

Cheque enclosed:  Self  – School            š Cheques should be made payable to Leeds Trinity & All             Saints
Please invoice:       Self  – School            š

Closing Date:

Wednesday 10 February 2010

Return to:

Liz Cairns

Education & Partnership Office (CPD)

Leeds Trinity University College,

Brownberrie Lane,

Leeds, LS18 5HD

Tel: 0113 2837100 ext 379

Fax: 0113 2837216

Email: e.cairns@leedstrinity.ac.uk

IMPORTANT

PLEASE APPLY DIRECT TO LEEDS TRINITY UNIVERSITY COLLEGE ON THIS FORM

(making sure that you have authorisation where appropriate)

Above you will find the booking form for Helping your students to become independent enquirers in history at Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens to be held on Friday 26th February 2010.


The ‘Job’ of a Teacher

Four years ago a friend of mine, who I had took up the profession of teaching straight from school, took a decision which disappointed me at the time, but which I understood. He left the profession and took up a new life on the other side of the globe.

This week he returns to the UK, and I can honestly say, I, today, fully understand why he made the decision he made, and in fact am seriously considering following in his foosteps.

This article : http://teacherleaders.typepad.com/the_tempered_radical/2009/12/teacher-retention-the-impossible-dream.html has reinforced my convictions.

I too am

fed up with a profession that openly ignores the changing nature of today’s workforce.

I am fed up seeing the mis-management of some wonderful schools, and the management culture promoted in some others, where the staff are treated as infants, and the students with deference. Gone are the days when I plan a ‘perfect lesson’;  a lesson which will motivate and inspire students, I look at the criteria for a successful lesson, promoted by educational consultants and think “where has all the enjoyment gone”, students should no longer enjoy learning, it is not a criteria in which teachers are measured.

teachers are overwhelmed by a dozen different change initiatives, the quality of their teaching suffers. We spend less time grading papers, less time planning lessons and less time contacting parents because we’re stuck in more and more meetings designed to improve our schools.

So is leaving the answer, well it is a distinct possibility, as an individual voice is no longer heard, and institutions such as the Historical Association warning about the death of History as a school subject are treated with contempt.

As a teacher I feel I have a moral obligation to help the children in my classroom grow toward becoming full human beings and to feel successful. Teaching cognitive skills is not enough…
— Jean Medick

sadly this is all we are allowed to offer.

ICT Resources

As a History teacher with an interest, and a little skill, in ICT, I take a keen interest in how ICT is viewed and taught in the schools I visit.

For three years I fought against a school system which restricted access to ICT and a few ‘elite’ teachers, this was in a Maths & Computing college. In theory all had access to the ICT rooms but, once the SLT decided to increase the number of ICT related qualifications on offer the number of hours the rooms became available were drastically reduced.

One option was to have ‘portable classrooms’, in reality classroom laptops. This again created the illusion of access, but as the number of students taking an ICT related subject outstripped the available rooms, demand exceeded supply.

One area of frustration then, and now, is that for a large proportion of the time, the students do not really need to be sat in front of a PC, and in fact the fact that they are, can sometimes mean that the students do not plan their work very well, resulting in poor quality work. For example I have asked students to “produce a powerpoint to promote your film”, now correct me if I am wrong, but who promotes a film using a Powerpoint presentation? Surely a trailer is much better, and can demonstrate similar skills. The students had produced a leaflet and a poster, and would later produce a website, surely this is just a lazy trawl through Microsofts products. This lack of context really gets to me, as I feel students are being let down, some students are doing meaningless activities for no logical reason, whilst others are desperate for ICT access.

So what do I suggest?         Simply scrap the ICT suites!

The money spent on designing and building ICT suites could be spent on a wireless network, and laptops. I was in a classroom with 10 students, who had access to a suite of 30 PCs, meaning 20 PCs were not being used for the hour. Now with a wireless network stdents could access their files from every classroom, every classroom has the potential to be an ICT suite, meaning all staff have access!

one flaw is the cost of Laptops, but do we really need top notch laptops for every lesson? Cheap wordprocessors for English, when students are simply ‘typing up’ ? Top notch for the cutting edge ICT lessons, and as well all know these top notch laptops soon become outdated, with this the school need only buy a new set, rather than invest in replacing every machine in the school, and hand down the outdated laptops.

another drawback would be printers, every classroom would need a printer, but would this really be a hardship,in fact staff would benefit, as it would help with photocopying.

Ok it may sound like an ideal which would be difficult to achieve, but why restrict ourselves and out students to ICT suites? After all how much easier would it be for students to share a laptop in a ‘normal’ classroom, meaning the students would see the computer as a resources, just like the textbook and the teacher, creating a balance.

This brings me to another idea, and this is all it is at the moment, an idea to get others thinking. How would I use laptops in a classroom? I would be as flexible as ever, if students are working in a group, then the group gets a laptop, OK i know at first students would fight to control it, but that is because they see it as a precious.

After time, once laptops have been made available all the time, I think students would come to use them as a tool, to enhance their learning, rather than something special and unique, which is the source of all that is valuable.

This is not too far away from reality, on a curriculum day, students did just that, groups of students had one laptop and a restricted printing total, thus students had to choose carefully what to print out, and what to include in a Powerpoint when presenting their research, the laptop was just another way to gather and present information, this can be done in a classroom, and would be no different to a normal lesson in which students research and then present their findings, this way they have a choice as to how to present their work.

I know this needs much more thought, and the planners would not really listen, there are far too many vested interests and schools are usually reluctant to engage in revolutionary thought when planning classrooms, after all classrooms have not changed much over the past century.

Foxburg on the Interweb

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