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August 2014 Issue 8
Supporting the Educational Community
Ideas
Guide
Inspiration
Pedagogy
Finding gold with Minecraft in education
Ten techie things to try this academic year
Encouraging children to read something different
Holding students back with differentiation
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Issue 8: August 2014 Subscribe by email for free at bit.ly/ukedmagsub
Pedagogy & Skills
Discussion & Guides
4 New Beginnings
7 BYOD in Schools
Catherine Steel explores ideas to try in your classroom for the start of the year.
Thinking of asking students to bring their devices to class? Ed Whittaker take you through what you need to consider.
17 Try IT this year A guide to ten techie things to try this year to improve your teaching and knowledge.
24 Questioning History A guide to ten techie things to try this year to improve your teaching and knowledge.
25 Advice for coordinators and HoDs A range of writers from the UKEdChat community offer their advice for new subject coordinators and heads of department
Contributors Catherine Steel @TaffTykeC Ed Whittaker Adam Lawrence @lawrence_ad Andy Knill @aknill Martin Burrett @ICTmagic Lesley Munro @LesleyMunro4 Paul-James Merrell @pjmerrell Lorraine Abbott @Lorraineabbott7 Maryse Dare @allthingsmaths Angela Goodman @goodman_ang Richard Rowland Matt Roberts @Mroberts90Matt Stuart Dyer @stuartrgdyer
10 From Courtroom to Classroom What did you do before teaching? A growing number of people are switching careers to move in to teaching. But how do they compare?
14 Moving On Starting at a new school after the school holidays? Andy Knill is too and offer us some advice for doing it right.
21 Minecraft in Education We explore how this gaming phenomenon is being used in schools across the world to delight, engage and inspire students to learn.
26 Expectations of Differentiation Matt Roberts discusses his insight into differentiation and asks whether it is always of use.
28 Having a Hoot around the UK Join Richard Rowland as he sets out on an educational adventure around the UK coast
30 Broadening Horizons with Book Week Stuart Dyer shares his experience of encouraging wider reading starting with Book Week.
Regular Features
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13 Reading Corner
Many images have been source under a Commercial Creative Commons License. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/2.0
19 Recently on UKEdChat.com
Cover Photo Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/namoscato/8297366194 by Nick Amoscato used under Commercial Creative Commons 2.0 License.
Mersea Mick and the Great War
20 Bookshelf Playground Duty 32 ICTmagic Websites
From the Editor It’s the summer holiday’s in the UK and teachers are getting a well deserved rest, but as August marches on, thought inevitably turn to the start of the academic year. This issue has a ‘start the year off right’ theme and it is full of tips, tricks and ideas for making your year start, and hopefully continue, with a bang. Catherine Steel tackles the theme head on and discusses ideas for our classroom in the coming year. Ed Whittaker discusses thinks to consider when starting the encourage students to bring their own devices to school to use in lessons. Adam Lawrence writes about the thousand of people who have switch from other careers to teaching. Andy Knill has made his own move to another school and he offers advice for other teacher who are also moving on. I write a beginners guide to using more technology, both directly and indirectly, into your teaching. On page 13 we look at a enchanting book for young readers with links to World War One and on page 20 we review the wonderful book Playground Duty by Ned Manning.
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In our UKEdChat feature we explore the many ways schools are using Minecraft across the curriculum to learn and engage. Lesley Munro writes about how she and her school have developed questions and projects to move this historical learning forward. A range of writers offer advice for newly appointed subject coordinators and heads of department to ensure a productive and successful beginning. Matt Roberts shares his observations that differentiation may not always be productive and he explores alternatives on page 26. In our final two articles Richard Rowland shares his up coming adventure around the coast of the UK, while Stuart Dyer tells us about an adventure through literature and Book Week at his school.
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New Beginnings By Catherine Steel Here we are again - the summer holiday. I can already hear the groan from teachers watching countless TV adverts full of back to school promotions before they have even had chance to unload the car of countless resources! Teachers across the country are currently enjoying a glorious summer break. That’s more than 40 whole days free from marking, playground duty, staff meetings and assessment. However, I suspect that this is really not quite the case. I know that many teachers will be going in to set up their new learning environments, planning for the new school year or raiding Poundland for all it has got. Why then do we do it to ourselves? I know of many fellow professionals in the world of education who want to inspire children and encourage them to be the best they can be. A lot of schools have a caring and aspirational ethos, which nurtures children as they make their way along their learning journeys. Schools and educational facilities become environments whereby it is safe to make mistakes and learn from them. From September, educators in England will use the new National Curriculum, while other areas of making revisions to their frameworks. We recently learnt that there has been a change of Secretary of State for Education from Mr Gove to Nicky Morgan. As this change within the Cabinet is made, I ask the question: is change always a good thing? I’ve often heard the phrase ‘it’s a vocation’, which as clichéd as that sounds, seems to be the case for
Catherine Steel is currently a teacher at Bowling Park Primary School in Bradford and a freelance educator with a keen interest in using technology to enhance l ea r n i n g . Read her blog at catalystforlearning.wordpress.com and on Twitter at @TaffTykeC 04 UKED Magazine
a lot of educators. Being part of any team means being responsible for the personal, social and emotional well-being of all children in your care. I know that it’s one of the main reasons I enjoy the job so much and can’t imagine doing anything else. As with all public sector jobs, there are certain documents to abide by and the routine checks by authorities, including Ofsted or your equivalent inspectorate in your area. As the rules and expectations are handed down from Governments, headteachers become increasingly under pressure and we’ve all felt the blind panic as an inspector walks through our door. I think it is character building and we ALL learn from mistakes no matter how old we are. Change seems to be an inevitable part of working in a school, but I want to explore how change and transition happens in schools and whether change means improvement. Year in, year out, staff change roles, children move classes and we plough on through yet another academic year. Most teachers will have uttered the words each July, ‘I think this class is ready to move on now’, thus meaning that children and teacher alike are tired and ready for a change of pace. The summer holiday often allows teachers opportunities to recharge their batteries ready for their transformation into a more experienced practitioner. And to think that only the children like Transformers! In September we are all often refreshed and have a new found confidence to be the facilitators of learning that we aspire to be. Perhaps a change of mindset is in order so that you can find that elusive ‘work-life’ balance. As for the children, a change of classroom, teacher, or indeed school, can be exciting and offer opportunities for a fresh start. Image credits: https://www.flickr.com/photos/andreanna/2837855969 by Andreanna Moya under Commercial Creative Commons 2.0 License. https://www.flickr.com/photos/jlhopgood/6795353385 (modified) by Jlhopgood under Commercial Creative Commons 2.0 License.
However, sometimes change is not necessarily a good thing. Think about the child with Aspergers who will need support to adapt to new routines, the new Y7 children who are finding it hard at Secondary School or the move away from using levels for grading work. Time will tell whether this will lead to a change for the good but one thing we can be sure of is that September is approaching fast! Along the theme of making a fresh start and new beginnings, perhaps this time of the year really is the best time to reflect. What are you good at? What would you like to be better at? How will you get there? This year may be a good time to consider varied teaching methods or make use of new tools. Recently, I delivered training to NQTs about phonics, but demonstrated the use of technology throughout the session. Using what I know and passing skills on to others is how we can best develop the quality of education for the young people we serve. One of the best ways of sharing ideas and developing as a practitioner is through the use of Twitter. From 1st - 7th September, @ukedchat and ▼ Has constant change got you in a spin? You may not be alone.
@batttuk are hosting the ‘Educator Networking Week’, with the aim of encouraging more teachers to engage in the world of Twitter and realise the potential for ongoing CPD. @batttuk stands for ‘Bring a Teacher to Twitter’ and has an evergrowing community of educators simply sharing good ideas so check it out. Only recently, there was a #ukedchat special about the ‘Pros and Cons of using Twitter for Professional Development’ bit.ly/ uked14aug01 and is well worth a look, if not for your own use, then to share with others.
Many tips and tools that I personally have found useful have included: •
the power of having and using a blog as a way of sharing work with a wider audience
•
behaviour management tools including online gems such as classdojo.com
•
homework tasks and quizzes through Zondle.com or ShowMyHomework.co.uk
•
Padlet.com to collect thoughts and ideas in one place
•
Incredibox.com to inspire budding musicians and beatboxers
The list is endless and there is a multitude of resources online and offline that do similar things. It’s about deciding what suits you and / or your class. By sharing ideas with colleagues and supporting each other, we can all learn new things and realise that we are not alone. There’s a whole wealth of resources and ideas out there so go and find them, build on them and share them! Without further ado (after reading the rest of the magazine), switch off and relax, enjoy the summer holiday. As Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. Go and be at the cutting edge of all things new, inspire young minds and make the difference. UKED Magazine 05
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BYOD in Schools How safe is your data? By Ed Whittaker The rise in the popularity of BYOD in schools raises a number of data security issues for school leaders to consider. What is BYOD? There has been a huge rise in the popularity of hand held and tablet devices in the last few years, and some schools may allow staff to use their own personal devices to access school systems. This is commonly known as Bring Your Own Device, or BYOD, and there are advantages in allowing staff to provide their own IT equipment. However, the use of personal devices to access school systems raises a number of questions regarding the school management’s duty under the Data Protection Act (DPA). This is particularly so if the device is used to access the school MIS (e.g SIMS) or to hold any kind of staff or pupil information. It is important to remember that the school, as data controller, is still responsible for the security of the information; regardless of the ownership of the device used to access or process the data. The Risks – the BYOD device is owned and maintained by the user. This means that the school has little or no control over how, where or when it is used. Before permitting BYOD use in school, there are several things to consider: - the type of data to be accessed via the device; - whether any data is going to be stored on the device; - how secure is any data transfer to and from the device; - whether there is any potential for data leakage; - blurring of personal and business use; - how secure the device is; - what happens when the device owner leaves; how to deal with the loss or theft of the device. Image credits: https://www.flickr.com/photos/103454225@N06/9965173654 by Elco van Staveren used under Commercial Creative Commons 2.0 License.
Under the 1998 Data Protection Act, the school must take appropriate technical and organisational measure to prevent loss or unlawful processing of the data the device holds. This does not necessarily mean that schools should impose a blanket ban on the use of BYOD, as there can be some benefits; including: increased work efficiency and flexibility and job satisfaction. What is does mean is that schools considering the use of BYOD should first make sure they have a robust and well thoughtthrough BYOD policy. BYOD Policy – a good place to start would be an audit of all the types of device likely to be used by staff in the school. Then consider which, if any, personal data should be accessed by those devices and which should be held more securely. It is important that users are made fully aware of their responsibilities for keeping the any data safe and secure. This can be done by drawing up an acceptable use policy for BYOD. The policy should make it clear which data can be accessed via BYOD and which cannot. You may also wish to consider whether use of BYOD might conflict with any school policy on the use of social media. It is important to determine how and where any personal data might be stored; on the device itself, on the school network or on externally on a public or private cloud. Regardless of where the information is stored it is still the school’s responsibility, as data controller, to take appropriate measures against unauthorised access or loss of data. Be aware that some devices have removable memory cards, so loss of data may not be apparent for some time. UKED Magazine 07
Some security steps which could be taken include: - using a password to secure access to the device; - using encryption to protect the information; - ensure that the device is locked if incorrect password is entered too many times; - ensure the device locks if left inactive; - maintaining a clear separation between school and personal data, e.g by using different apps.
Your BYOD policy should also consider how data is transferred, as the transfer process can present risks. For maximum security, ensure all data is transferred via an encrypted channel and treat any public cloud-based sharing or back-up facility with extreme caution. You should also consider whether to insist on the disabling of interfaces such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. Finally, the BYOD policy should facilitate compliance with the data protection act. Although security of the device might be the primary concern, care should be taken to ensure that data is not processed for any purpose other than the one for which it was originally collected. Users should be informed of their responsibilities to use the data strictly for school business. Also, if the data is stored on different devices there is the possibility of it becoming out of date. There is also the possibility that the data is stored for longer than necessary. There might also be some difficulty in responding to the right of the data subject to know how and where their information is stored. BYOD raises a number of data protection concerns due to the fact that the device is owned by the user rather than the data controller. However, it is crucial that as data controller the school ensures that all processing of personal data which is under its control remains in compliance with the DPA. In the event of a security breach, you must be able to demonstrate that you have secured, controlled or deleted all personal data on a particular device.
Ed Whittaker is a secondary school chemistry teacher of 28 years experience at the in the classroom and as behaviour manager. He is co-founder of Adaptsoft which supplies custom information management solutions to schools. 08 UKED Magazine
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Taking the Stand From Courtroom to Classroom By Adam Lawrence Last year I made the increasingly popular decision to hang up my legal gown and replace it with… a teacher’s gown. After a total of eight years studying, networking, training then eventually practising as a solicitor it was finally (some might say prematurely) time to leave the courtroom for the classroom. Why are so many people following this trend and changing careers? After the blood, sweat, toil and tears to qualify for a profession, is it a sign of weakness or strength that more and more professionals are leaving their calling for an altogether new vocation in teaching? Troops to Teachers With the Government’s range of incentives and funding to re-train as a teacher, it is becoming more accessible to change career; the Department for Education’s website bit.ly/uked14aug02 describes life as a teacher as “challenging, varied and highly rewarding”, so it is no surprise why people are leaving their desk jobs behind. The recent Troops to Teachers programme is a prime example of the Government’s drive to transferring skilled professionals from other careers into the classroom. The recruitment material (troopstoteachers.ctp.org.uk/skills-qualifications) advises troops considering the move: “You know how to handle a situation”. Does the Government consider a soldier or indeed another professional to be better equipped in a school than a teacher who pursues the traditional route of university and teacher training?
►It’s not just the children who are swapping uniforms — Thousands of people are making the switch into teaching.
10 UKED Magazine
Courtroom to Classroom I’m often asked by former colleagues: ‘is teaching really as hard as teachers make out?’ Or another favourite of mine: ‘do teachers actually work in the school holidays?!’ The differences for me have been varied. Whilst I was, at times, working in what felt like highly pressured environments, whether it was a high value commercial contract negotiation or appearing before a judge in court, there is nothing quite like being stood in front of a class of teenagers waiting to be taught. The reality is that whatever work experience you have acquired, nothing truly equips you to perform as a teacher aside from subject passion and a desire to work with children. The stresses of the job manifest themselves in different forms: solicitors are constrained by court deadlines, hearing dates, financial business pressures or demanding clients; teachers’ time is filled with reports, marking, lesson preparation, parents’ evenings, extra-curricular commitments, emails and that’s not forgetting actually teaching. If you have a passion for your subject and for working with children, you don’t resent working late and cancelling that long overdue catch up with old friends, although ask me in ten years, I may have changed my tune by then! Curtain Call Other professionals are on the bandwagon too. At my school we have five ex-lawyers and a wealth of other professionals from industry. I asked a colleague, Oliver Pengelly, what made him leave professional acting: “… the stability and recognition I was beginning to crave. I also suspected that my professional experience would be invaluable within an education establishment, which (I hope!) has proved the case”. When asked what similarities he noticed between the stage and school: “You are always on show. The hours are long and you often take work home. Preparation is essential (the “audience” know when you are bluffing it)”. The luxury of taking your final bow at the end of a performance and appearing on stage the next night to a new crowd doesn’t feature in teaching until the
end of a very long year! I asked Oliver which career is harder: “You have no script to follow. You are responsible for what comes up out of your mouth and making sure that it is purposeful and interesting. That is a lot of pressure to deal with, multiple times a week. Tough!” Year End Accounts Which is tougher, teaching or working in the so-called real world? I asked another colleague, Victor Fung, a chartered accountant turned Economics and Business Studies teacher. His response: “Teaching is not as difficult on a technical basis nor is there pressure to go out and find work… but the volume and stamina at times is more difficult”. Teachers may not have the most technically challenging job. However, we are faced with the physical and emotional trials that working with children brings. Work Life Balance There is no escaping the fact that while teachers work hard, we do so for a significantly smaller fraction of the year than many other professionals. I often hear the phrase ‘work life balance’ from teachers (suggesting a lack of it). Well, folks, the summer holiday is here. This is it – enjoy! As teachers across the country wind down and gear up for the start of a new year, there are those out there in industry questioning whether to quit what they’re doing to teach. My advice is to go for it! You won’t regret it.
Adam Lawrence is a Religion and Philosophy teacher at Berkhamsted School. He is a former solicitor and was In-House Counsel at a leading international financial services business and subsequently Legal Counsel at a global IT company. You can find him on Twitter @lawrence_ad
Image credits: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronmacphotos/8704611597 by Ronnie Macdonald used under Commercial Creative Commons 2.0 License.
UKED Magazine 11
Collaborating with other educators enriches our teaching and improves us in a myriad of ways. Social media now allows educators to collaborate with each other from across the globe. Devote just one hour to networking with other educators online and see just how much you will learn and how much inspiration is out there.
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http://ukedchat.com/networking 12 UKED Magazine
Reading Corner
Mersea Mick
Author: Veronique Eckstein Review by Martin Burrett One hundred years ago this month the Great War began, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers heading to the battle fields of Europe and beyond. We remember their sacrifice each year for most of the intervening years, but tackling this sombre topic with younger children can be problematic. Mersea Mick, a story based on the lives of real soldiers offers a colourful and appropriate resource with which to look at this tricky topic. The story is set on idyllic Mersea Island in the East of England. A place by the rolling north sea, where the wash and tide sets the place of life of its inhabitants. The story begins with two brothers playing on the shoreline, when they discover something unexpected on the beach, leading them on an adventure which leads them to follow the lives of Percy and Edger, two local soldiers who went to the front and the dog, Mersea Mick. Following their adventure and piecing together the historical evidence bring the characters and story and the history to life. The author’s dedication to research and accuracy is clear. Part story, part historical record—the narrative explores some of the everyday experiences of soldiers during the First World War. Both the young boys and the soldiers are based on real people from Mersea Island. To supplement the book, the author has gathered together a range of WW1 memorabilia and is available to visit schools and talk about the war and the lives of Percy and Edger. School children can also visit Ivy Farm, near to where the soldiers live, to experience daily life on an Edwardian farm and age appropriate soldiering activities. Visit mersea-island-tales.co.uk to purchase the book at £8.99* and find out more about the history behind the story and details on school visits to Ivy Farm and Author visits to your school.
*Correct at the time of publishing
Moving On... by Andy Knill The dilemma of moving schools. How should I prepare? What needs to be done? When should it be done? Simply, there is no one solution and many of us will tackle this in many different ways. For me, September 2014 will see me move to my 5th full time post in a career spanning 26 years so far. Do I have a set routine? No, but also, I am more relaxed about it because the process of change is one I have gone through before. I have seen colleagues this year moving on for the first time and for whom it is a different experience. So what advice can I give to make the transition as smooth as possible? Saying your goodbyes For most this will have happened at the end of term before you read this article. You will have chosen who and how you wish to say goodbye. It is a personal decision, similar to when you announced that you were moving on in the first place. Some will return for the August results days when you are still employed, yet feel disengaged from planning and talk of “In September …” Decide for yourself when that “formal” handover takes place in your own mind as the new post will require your focus. ▼ Teachers are famous for hoarding, but choosing what to take when moving on can be a challenge.
14 UKED Magazine
Clearing out If you had your own main teaching room, there may have been end of year regulations and expectations that you adhered to. Do you take any of your own property home at the start of the holidays or wait until the end of your contract? This can also depend on when you were asked to hand in keys, passes, school laptops and so on. My clearing out was completed as far as I could by the end of term. Results day will be about the Year 11s and their GCSE results - I am there as an interested supporter having seen them go through 5 years at the school. What needs to stay? Is there anything that is mine? When will it go? Where will I store it? Should I just leave it where it is? Visits pre September You are entitled to a one day visit to your new school. I was lucky that my new post is not far to travel and so I was able to pop in a few times before the end of the summer term after my school day commitments were completed. Schools policies and culture vary about being in buildings during the holiday period. I will try to mirror what has become an annual winding back up ritual for me, where I spend some of the final week of the holiday getting my room and mind ready for the start of the new term. That is my personal routine and the new schools may have expressed preferences. Plus there are other considerations – your holiday commitments for childcare or holidays away. If the new building is complex, you have display expectations that you need to do before term starts do you know when access is available? Ring the school if there is a site team extension – they will know when the building is open to staff, and importantly, they have the keys - Always an important factor! Preparation How much you can prepare will depend on how much information you have been provided with. I have been very fortunate this time to have a working school email address and web portal access already, so that I can review documentation before my arrival. Others may have been given this information in paper format or have been told to wait until September. You have a summer holiday / break, REST because you are going to be teaching, learning new names of staff and pupils and whole new systems in addition to national changes with the National Curriculum requirements.
Some are better at resting than others – I am not a good example in some ways as I continue to run education based Twitter networks, blogs and write articles such as this, but it is a personal choice. Be honest with yourself. How tired were you by July break up?
Strike a balance – you are new, ease yourself in as you want to be perceived. Remember first impressions will count – one of the reasons I go in early is to learn a few faces and personalities before I start. Be realistic - you are going to be facing information overload. Have some form of note taking sorted before you arrive. You are going to have many questions of your own. Record them beforehand. In conclusion, I could probably write many more headings. REMEMBER they appointed you for this post. Be prepared (the scout motto was always useful), but most of all be prepared to learn new things and pace yourself, as you cannot learn it all in one day. There should be some induction for new staff. Make sure your calendar is updated and know when and where it is and use each session to help your needs.
September – Your first formal day Your first day at your new school will probably consist of an INSET day for most of us. Do not be late on your first day – plan your new route carefully, be aware of traffic / transport issues. Some of us will have full details of the programme. If you are unsure where to go, report in at the school office, as you may not have school ID yet to show who you are to other site users.
Andy Knill is moving across the London Borough of Havering to be a Head of Geography at The Albany School, Hornchurch. He tweets at @aknill and blogs at mishmashlearning.wordpress.com. https://www.flickr.com/photos/fudj/4667151614/in/photostream/ by Paul Lim used under Commercial Creative Commons 2.0 License. https://www.flickr.com/photos/124961070@N02/14561581102 by James Lee used under Commercial Creative Commons 2.0 License.
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Try
this Year
Ten Techie things to try this academic year By Martin Burrett If you are a regular online educator, I’m sure that you already be doing most of these things already. But if you are just starting out on your digital learning journey or know someone who is, I hope these with show you a little of what is possible. 1) Build your Personal Learning Network Imagine a place where you can ask for a childfriendly video about the Battle of Hastings at 2am on a Thursday morning and five people point you in the direction of a perfect resource. This is your personal learning network (PLN). It’s like that teacher in your school with all the best, shiny and useful resources locked in their stock cupboard, but your PLN is not just willing, but eager to share with you. A collection of handpicked educational professionals with more resources, ideas, advice and CPD opportunities than you could ever use. If you are reading this online, there is a good chance that I’m speaking to the converted and you are already reaping the benefits of interacting and sharing resources with other educators. Twitter is a popular platform on which to build this group, and if you are not using it yet, or know educators who are not, see ukedchat.com/networking for tips on getting started. Teachmeets are like a real life version of your PLN, where educators come together to swap ideas, resources and advice in bite size presentations. Anyone can attend and present that these free events and attendees often get a goodie bag and can win prizes. See the Teachmeet website at teachmeet.pbworks.com for more details.
2) Design a Space Online In the past creating and designing websites was the preserve of IT professionals or technically minded enthusiast and too many wet weekends. No longer! Today’s web tools allow you and your class to make beautiful, media rich, and fully functional websites in a few minutes with the same level of skill as making a PowerPoint. There are lots of free sites out there to choose from. A few of my favourites are wix.com and sites.google.com. Find more on my Tech and Computing page bit.ly/uked14aug03. A variation on a website is to create a wiki page which can make collaboration easier. Your page could be about the activities you are doing in class. The tools are simple enough for most older primary aged children to use independently. 3) Get Social Children learn best when they are learning together. Collaboration and communication form the cornerstones of the modern classroom and social networking and blogging are becoming an important part of daily life. Explore social media in a secure and safe way with free tools like twiducate.com, which is a service similar to Twitter, which can only be seen by the class. Students can upload images, videos and write text in various fonts and styles. Another free tool is kidblog.org which has all the functionality of a regular blog with videos, text and images. But you can choose to have a closed blog which only the class can see. Alternatively, you can have a public blog, but all posts are moderated by you. You can set it up so you receive an email every time your class submit something for you to take a look at. Both tools shouldn’t take to more than an hour to set up. Many other blogging sites are available.
Your PLN is not just willing, but eager to share with you
Image Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/thebarrowboy/7636075480 [Cropped] by thebarrowboy used under Commercial Creative Commons 2.0 License.
UKED Magazine 17
4) Work with Another School You could work with a school down the road or with a school on the other side of the world. Video chat tools allow you communicate and collaborate almost as easy as working with a class on the furthest side of your own school. Activities can start with simple things like swapping work. Over time you will have ideas which will blossom into projects and collaborations. There are many good websites to find schools who want to find international partners. Try the sites at bbc.co.uk/worldclass and quadblogging.com to find suitable partnerships. 5) Do IT outside The days of the computer suite are numbered and going mobile has become commonplace, first with laptops and now with tablet computers and mobile phones. Wireless technology allows educators to get out of the classroom and into the environment. If you have a wireless network in your school, you should be able to find network coverage for your laptops in an outdoor area, although you may need to wander around like Mr Spock with his Tricorder to find it. “It’s broadband Jim, but not as we know it!” If your network doesn’t reach outside, you may still be able to be connected your devices to the web when outside. Most modern mobile phones and tablets, have the ability to use their data connection with other devices to make a mobile hotspot. Once outside you have so many possibilities. Science and geography activities can take on new meaning for your class and you can even play a high tech game of hide and seek, called Geocaching (see geocaching.com for more information).
▼ Go outside and many thing will become clearer.
6) Head in the clouds First there were giant tapes, then they went floppy, later there were CDs and sticks. Storage continues to evolve. Cloud computing refers to applications, resources and files that don’t physically sit on your computer, but are run or stored on the web. This has been with us for a while now and web email, for example, has been with us for well over a decade. But the idea has been gaining traction recently and more and more services are beginning run online. Drive.google.com and dropbox.com are two of my favourites. These are like hard drives on the web. You can add and edit documents and files and access them on most web enabled devices. With Google Drive, you can also create documents and edit them collaboratively in real time with others. 7) Get Sharing Now that you’ve entrusted the cloud with your documents, why not share them with your PLN? One of the advantages of cloud storage is that you can share your documents easily. By sharing resource, how every you do it, lessens the work that others have to do. If each of the hundreds of thousands of teachers in the UK only shared just their one best homemade resource, the teaching community and schools would be awash with amazing classroom materials. Try the resource sharing pages at ukedchat.com/resources where you can find teaching materials across the curriculum and you can add your own. 8 Broadcast We all take TV, movies and radio for granted these days, but the skills involved to produce good quality videos and audio will become more valuable in the years to come. In has become really easy to do using mobiles and tablets. Much of the skill these days is in the editing, so that a few clips of video or audio are put together into something beautiful. Allow some editing time to improve your productions. 9) Experiment Don’t worry about breaking the Internet (Cynics would say that it’s broken already). The Web is a fabulous place to explore and experiment with online tools and teaching resources. Where did your student learn to use digital devices so well? They played with it to see how it to see how it works. Find sites that look interesting and see how they could be used. Ask your ready and willing PLN what tools they would use for a particular topic. Then play, tinker and explore without fearing the technology.
18 UKED Magazine
10) Have fun… It won’t byte!
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Bookshelf Bookshelf
Playground Duty
Author: Ned Manning The lessons and wisdom from teachers who have been in the profession for longer than they care to remember are often scoffed upon, especially by politicians who scorn attitudes that don't respect their latest educational policy whim. "We've seen it all before..." can usually be heard from these experienced teachers who have mainly seen it all before - with very little surprising them. Indeed, many young entrants into the profession can learn more about their profession by listening to stories and tips from experienced colleagues, who mainly are there to support and advise, but it can seem that older colleagues are fascists, meanspirited, not all warm and fuzzy but one thing is for certain most teachers simply want their kids to do the best they ▲ Go to http://bit.ly/playgroundduty to view this book on Amazon. possibly can. In fact, Ned Manning is yet to meet a teacher who wants their kids to fail. In his reflective, autobiographical book, Manning takes us on a journey (starting with a school trip to China); a teaching journey through his early teaching experiences in Australia giving us great insights to experiences which help define the experienced educator he - and many others became. Observations such as kids having the most amazing bull**** barometers; how legislation cannot stop a lot of things going on in schools because school are populated (mainly) by human beings; or how staff rooms are not conducive to work - being noisy volatile places. Manning's journey of his teaching is an insightful, inspiring read, but it's the observations so eloquently made that make you stop, think and relate to your own experiences - it's a celebration about teaching... "Teaching takes you into people's worlds in a way few other occupations can. You see a lot and hear a lot...It's often intense and you see side to [students] that no one else sees. You see private moments when they're in their own worlds...Often you are all but invisible to your students". Yet, teachers are undermined and undervalued in many societies, and the systems promotes it - yet Manning shows how, without any doubt whatsoever, teaching is one of the best jobs in the world. This is what can happen when you embrace the world of the unexpected. The world of teaching. This witty, easy-read will resonate with experienced teachers, but also be of value to early career colleagues who will enjoy how Manning guided his students with directional nudging and empowerment – supporting their journeys of self-discovery, skills, talents and passions hidden within. Playground Duty by Ned Manning is published by Newsouth Publishing available on Amazon Kindle at bit.ly/playgroundduty at £18.21* and on iBooks at bit.ly/playgrounddutyuk (UK) at £12.99* and bit.ly/playgrounddutyaus (Aus) at $19.99* *Correct at the time of publishing 20 UKED Magazine
UKEdChat Feature Article
The Minecraft phenomenon looks like it’s here to stay – and isn’t that great? The game just keeps giving, with the recent updates to the mobile platform revealing even more adventure, creativity and opportunity – children and adults alike get enthused with the creative aspect of Minecraft – something educators are starting to tap into to support learning within schools. So what’s it all about? Comparisons are regularly made to LEGO, and it’s easy to understand such an appraisal both are openended, offer creative creations, and share the essential ‘blockiness’. The main, huge and significant difference in comparing the two is the lack of any instructions from the Minecraft creator. Buy some LEGO, and you are given guidance on how to create your model, but with Minecraft the virtual world is yours to discover – with hidden nuggets, tips and knowledge all secreted within the platform. In fact, for those who want guidance or inspiration, there are a plethora of books, wikis, galleries, YouTube videos or online threads which can encourage – but what’s the point? There are PC/Mac, game console version of the game, or (Minecraft Pocket) apps which support portability for Android and iPad/iPhone. Two modes are available (Pocket edition), with our main focus for this article based on the ‘Creative Game Mode’ for tablets*. Within the game you can build, destroy or grow using the tools and blocks as you command the main character, Steve, using blocks programmed within the game.
That’s all very well, but why is it relevant to education? Encourages Creative Thinking Encourages Problem Solving Encourages Dialogue Encourages Story-Telling Encourages Logical Thinking Encourages Learning through Play Encourages Planning Encourages Individuality Encourages Concentration Encourages Engagement Encourages Design Thinking Encourages Cross Curriculum Opportunities Minecraft is also very popular with children, so the kudos gained by using the game as an impetus for learning should not be overstated. Thinking creatively, there are opportunities to add Minecraft into many subject areas: mathematics (for example: size, symmetry, adding, multiplication); literacy (for example: creative story writing, instruction writing); Design & Technology (need we say more?). In fact, with the development of 3D printing, it is possible for designs to be actually ‘printed’ out, so pupils have something to show for their design work (see our article at bit.ly/uked14aug10) using PrintCraft technology.
UKED Magazine 21
Some schools have embraced the idea of using Minecraft as a cross-curriculum stimulus for creative topics. Staff at a primary school in Northamptonshire showcased the work of their pupils when the whole school embraced on a Minecraft inspired project called ‘Bridgecraft’. The cross curriculum element was explained by teacher Stacey Ramm: “I’d been doing some training with the University of Northampton in an area called STEAM, which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths – so we felt we’d be looking at those subjects with something that the children had been trying to teach me about – Minecraft. So we wanted to see how we could incorporate something that the children were already engaged with and hijack it for learning in school.” See UKEdChat article at bit.ly/uked14aug11. Isn’t Minecraft Just a Craze? Well, if it is, it has been going for quite a while now. With the updates and further developments promised, there is little chance of the game stagnating. Maintained in Sweden by founder Markus Persson the game was released in 2011 and estimated to have sold tens of millions of copies since. It is possible to get fully immersed in the game, with some dedicated Star Wars fans recently creating part of ‘A New Hope’ from within the Minecraft platform (see bit.ly/uked14aug12) – the options are endless.
22 UKED Magazine
Minecraft Pocket is available for: iPad/iPhone at bit.ly/uked14aug13 Android at bit.ly/uked14aug14 Initially, we were sceptical about the potential that Minecraft has to offer for education, but once you get to play around with it, start creating, and look at how engaged children become with it, you can soon get captivated, working out the possibilities of your own creativity. *The full version of Minecraft, on PC and Game Consoles can allow for online collaboration with remote players, therefore teachers have an opportunity to talk about the Internet Safety issues that this raises. Collaborative play is allowed on the Pocket Edition (Tablets), but only with users on the same Wi-Fi network.
Image Credit: http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130604003019/p__/ protagonist/images/thumb/5/52/Minecraft-steve_12.png/500pxMinecraft-steve_12.png [Cropped] used under Commercial Creative Commons 2.0 License. http://pixabay.com/static/uploads/photo/2013/07/12/19/25/ minecraft-154749_640.png used under Commercial Creative Commons 2.0 License. https://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/8685688223/ by Cory Doctorow used under Commercial Creative Commons 2.0 License.
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Questioning History By Lesley Munro
Using the Projects to encourage students to think and write like historians.
What to do with year 9 when KS3 was compressed into two years? We tried teaching GCSE for examination in year 10 for a few years and, whilst our results were good and the C/D borderline gap did close, we felt the most able were not achieving their full potential by a grade. We could have chosen to go back and continue to teach the KS3 programme of study but four years ago I decided to introduce the project qualification. This would give the students an opportunity to build on their historical skills and for their only time in their historical learning choose what history they wanted to study. At the end of year 9 they would have a qualification. As GCSE history is open to all students that are interested in history, whatever their ability, we offer Level 1 (G-D) and Level 2 (C-A*). Students must choose an area to study and create an enquiry question and complete a project proposal form outlining their objectives, give a timeline of activities and resources they will need. Then they research their enquiry question; write up their findings giving supporting arguments and alternative viewpoints or interpretations. They also must use a range of different sources and at Level 2 evaluate the reliability of their sources and draw their own conclusions based on their research. Throughout the project they have to keep an activity log recording what they have been doing, including problems encountered and how they have overcome them. Finally, they must share their work with an outside audience and then write an evaluation of their own learning and how they have tackled it. Really, it’s like a mini dissertation and we try to ensure the academic rigour for history is driving their project forward. We start by showing students Ron Berger’s ‘the story of Austin’s butterfly’ and we discuss that is okay to get things wrong and the importance and value of hard work and redrafting in order to produce a piece of work that they can be genuinely proud of. Getting them to create a really good historical enquiry question is the next step. Riley has discussed the importance of history teachers creating enquiry questions that will provide “purposeful learning” and “rigorous historical thinking”. This can be problematic for teachers, so getting students to do it would be a challenge. We list some possible topics they might be interested in researching. Most chose topics that they knew something about and had studied at primary school or at KS3. We provided stacks of history magazines to get them to find topics they knew nothing about and to pique their interest in something new. Their first attempts at enquiry questions were pretty dreadful e.g. what was fashion like in 1900? Or was Henry a good king? As they need to give alternative viewpoints or interpretations we gave them some sentence starters to get them thinking e.g. How significant was …, how important were the consequences of …, how have interpretations of ….changed?
Over the last four years students have created some fantastic questions, such as Did Catherine of Aragon fail to have any male heirs because she was anorexic? This was based around an article the student had read by Tremlett (2010). The student had seen Tremlett’s article in a Sunday Magazine, bought and read his book and did a huge amount of research, both historical and around the science of pregnancy and anorexia – no mean feat for a 14 year old. She got an A*. Other examples ranged from “did Richard III kill the princes in the tower?”, “Should Derek Bentley have been hung for his part in the murder of PC Sidney Miles?” (Level 1 student) to “who made the biggest impact in the medical industry during the 1800s?” The first year was difficult as we struggled with the concept of 30 students studying 30 different topics. However, we learned from experience. Once the students are up and running with their research they work independently and the teachers have individual learning conversations with them. Students must set their own learning objective for each lesson and assess whether or not they have met it at the end. This is recorded in their activity log. We intersperse this with whole class teaching on subjects such as evaluating the reliability of sources, how to write a bibliography or how to write a good conclusion. This qualification has been a success in our department. Apart from the good results (approximately 90% pass rate over the last 3 years – waiting on this year’s results), the students have gained a great deal. They have learned historical content and skills. Their literacy improves and they learn independence and resilience. Perhaps not least of all, they have increased enjoyment as they have made their own choice of study. Bibliography Riley, M. (2000) ‘Into the Key Stage 3 history garden: choosing and planting your enquiry questions’ Teaching History, 99 Tremlett, G. (2000) ‘Was Henry VIII first wife anorexic? Catherine of Aragon’s secret problem’ Mail on Line
Lesley Munro is Head of History at Homewood School & Sixth Form Centre in Tenterden, Kent. Find her on Twitter at @LesleyMunro4
Image Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/brizzlebornandbred/5063962403 by Paul Townsend [Cropped] used under Commercial Creative Commons 2.0 License.
Advice from the Community
Being a New Subject Coordinator or Head of Department I think the best advice I could offer is that there is a very thin line between 'leading by example' and deskilling your department. It's great to take on all the hard, dirty and unpleasant jobs, but make sure that you don't leave your department twiddling their thumbs. It's great to feel you are making lives easier, but colleagues will want to feel you can trust them to do the tough jobs too. Paul-James Merrell @pjmerrell - Head of English, London As a new head of RE, don't go in looking to change and revamp the department immediately. Take the first half term to get to know the department. Take on one element to really work with your team on keeping student progress at the front of your mind at all times. RE should be the most exciting, engaging and subversive subject on the curriculum as it encourages questioning and reflection - make sure you share your vision for the department with all stake holders. In small steps help the department to move towards that vision. Consider working towards gaining the REQM as an external indicator of the quality of your department on a national scale. During the year be prepared to hold your ground on issues of staffing and teaching hours. If necessary refer to new Ofsted inspection focus on RE and national guidance. Enjoy the challenge you have taken on! Lorraine Abbott @Lorraineabbott7 - Head of RE, Surrey It's a challenging job so don't forget to look after yourself. Sleep, exercise and good food will stave off the effects of stress and allow you to look after your department and students better. Maryse Dare @allthingsmaths - Ex-HoD of Maths (just!), Surrey As a general coordinator I would suggest familiarising yourself with the subject as it stands in your school initially. I would draw up a timetable of book monitoring, pupil voice, planning monitoring, lesson observations and attainment. Ofsted subject guidance helps to focus your monitoring. I also found it useful to select a group of children from each year group to track, for example Pupil Premium or G&T. I have found this particularly helpful for tracking progression across the year. Joining subject associations helps to keep abreast with current pedagogy within the subject as well as providing a helpful resource for staff regarding curriculum changes. Specifically to science, the Primary Science Quality Mark process has been incredibly supportive, and I would recommend it to coordinators new to the subject. Finally, connecting with other local coordinators enables you to discuss your subject with other specialists and to visualise your school within a wider context. Angela Goodman @goodman_ang - Science Coordinator, Tameside In some primary schools there are a great deal of coordinators and only so many subjects to go around. At times an element of competition can arise as each professional wishes to promote the profile of his/her own subject.It can be tempting to use short term strategies to assert one's subject. I remember leading a staff meeting when History coordinator and convincing everyone to use a different type of Learning Objective in topic lessons. They were all on board...for about three weeks! It's important to learn exactly what is required of you as a subject leader in terms of the National Curriculum and your school's policy. Identify the most important things that need to be done - monitoring progress, ensuring schemes of learning are effective, stretching the gifted and talented - and then see if there is time for anything extra. Teachers don't appreciate being forced to squeeze new initiatives into a crowded curriculum unless there is a significant, measurable benefit to learning. Stuart Dyer @stuartrgdyer - Maths coordinator and Assessment coordinator, Bristol
What advice would you offer? Add your thoughts on Twitter using the #ukedchat hashtag UKED Magazine 25
Expectations of Differentiation By Matt Roberts
Group A â–˛ Children never come with a pre-determined differentiated grouping. Are we selling children short by expecting a particular outcome?
Differentiation is expected in today's Initial Teacher Training. Simply you are not an 'Outstanding' teacher unless you differentiate learning in the classroom. You're not even a 'Good' teacher unless you begin to deploy differentiation techniques. On top of that, differentiation is cited as a necessary skill in the most recent Teachers' Standards in the UK. However, could it be questioned that there are times when differentiation is not appropriate? When we set differentiated tasks we are making assumptions from evidence, past experience of the child’s engagement with similar tasks and their conceived ability in the learning area. Despite this careful analysis by teachers, is this expectation always correct? I suppose my biggest doubts around the focus on differentiation had arisen from my supply teaching. Obviously, as a supply teacher I do not have access to data on children's 'ability' in subject areas or even experience of working with them so I can differentiate accordingly. So, am I expected to have differentiation in my lessons if 26 UKED Magazine
I'm called upon to provide my own learning experiences? Some would argue yes. Some would argue that it is counter-productive and impossible. It would require dozens of versions of the activity in order to cover for every possible need in the classroom. Now, it is possible I'm being a little pedantic no, obviously I cannot plan for every eventuality, but a three or five tiered differentiated task would be possible. In any of my supply posts, has it been necessary? No. In every class I have gone in every child has been included and involved. Admittedly the occasional child has struggled, but with assistance they have, according to the evidence, made progress toward the learning objective. Each child has been able to participate and learn without personalised learning as I did not know their personal learning needs. It has not only been my experience whilst supply teaching that has raised my doubts about the necessity of differentiation, but also an experience in my final placement. I was teaching a Year 3/4 'lower ability' maths class and had taught them a series of lessons on metres. It
was time for me to try and convert that knowledge to kilometres, including that 1000m=1km. I decided, from a certain group's previous assessments on metres, that it would be necessary to initially reinforce their knowledge of metres before moving on to kilometres. However, I had them sit in on the introduction to kilometres. In the discussion, one child from the group who had struggled wanted to answer. I had an initial reluctance as I felt that I needed to make sure they were sure on metres, but decided to have him share an answer as I always try to create an ethos in the classroom where all ideas are valued, even when they might not be 'correct'. That child showed excellent understanding of kilometres and converting that unit into metres. Not only that, but so did a number of the group! This could have been down to a misinterpretation of assessment, or that the introduction of the kilometres helped put metres more into context for the children. Whatever the reason for the children's ability to work with kilometres and metres, what was clear to me was that the differentiated activity I had planned would have held back the children from the learning potential they had in that lesson. That led me to question - how often have I inhibited the learning potential of children by trying to differentiate learning when it may have not been appropriate, just to show my mentor that I could indeed differentiate learning activities? Image Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nosha/2433029770 by Nathan Siemers [Paper in picture changed] used under Commercial Creative Commons 2.0 License.
Now, of course, it would be foolish to suggest that learning should never be differentiated. This statement is not validated by evidence that I have, but by the need to provide inclusive activities for all. This is applicable to children who need support and extending. In fact, if a teacher does not differentiate an activity for a child who needs extending, then they are inhibiting the learning potential of that child by their lack of differentiation. I think, as with most issues in education I'm finding, there is not a clear cut answer to whether differentiation is a support or barrier. Most likely, it depends on the context of the learning and all those involved. I would suggest that to say every lesson should have evidence of differentiation would make it a barrier, for the learners and the teacher. However, differentiation is a necessary tool that all teachers should be effective at implementing and the best teachers will know when and to what degree each task should be differentiated. In order to support and extend children with special educational needs and gifted and talented children, it will be necessary to consider.
I am Matthew Roberts. I just graduated from my Initial Teacher Training course at Manchester Metropolitan University this July. I have been working as a supply teacher for 2 months in the Manchester area and am embarking on a full time position at a growing, vibrant school in South West Manchester as a Year 6 teacher. You can follow me @Mroberts90Matt and read my educational blog at mroberts1990.wordpress.com
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Having a Hoot Exploring the coast of Britain By Richard Rowland
Owlbut's World of Learning is a two year educational project providing schools with a virtual experience of travelling around Britain's Coast. It will follow me and my two young colleagues as we travel the coastline along with 'Owlbut', our mascot, and we post regular updates on our website. Experiential learning has been around since the hunter/gatherer days, when boys would follow their fathers on a hunt and girls would stay with their mothers, learning to cook and other skills. In those days this learning by doing concept allowed the learner to use the experience of someone older while still understanding, and feeling, the problems they may come across and the skills they need. You might think that in our modern world, with all its intricate technology, this method of learning has been made obsolete and yet, all that technology actually allows a form of experiential learning to continue. This is exactly what Owlbut’s World of Learning will do, and its predecessor Project Coastline did. We will take children on a journey, a second-hand journey its true, of discovery and adventure. A learning journey of which they can feel a part. A journey that will, we believe, motivate them into wanting to find out more as each week they wait for the latest set of updates. The information they get will not be encyclopaedic; it will not seek to give answers. It will relate experiences, discoveries and some facts, but most of all it will seek to create an infectious desire to learn among young children. They will gain knowledge from our journey but we want them to develop the intelligence to ask the right questions too. We want our followers to find out answers for themselves and begin to discover their own world around them. We will seek to couple that 28 UKED Magazine
infectious desire to learn with a natural inquisitiveness. But, most of all, we will show them that learning can and should be fun. Samuel Johnson said that, “The use of travelling is to regulate imagination by reality and, instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are”. In his day the only way he could share that was by writing a book some years later about what he had seen. Now we can convert imagination into reality almost immediately, showing things as they are now and explaining or encouraging web browsers to think about how that came to be or how it might be in the future. The material we upload will not be prescriptive and teachers and parents, because some of the material can be shared at home too, can use it how they see fit. It will be both visual and in text and picture form. It will undoubtedly encourage literacy, but in its first year it will also tell children more about the geography and culture of their own country as they follow this real journey around their nation’s coastline. In year two, following a similar format, they will be taken on a historical journey. The history of the UK did not happen progressively around the coastline and so material will be built up over the journey and then collated into some sort of chronological order to make history more understandable. But we also want you and your school to be a part of this learning process. We would like our followers to create an “Owlbut’s World of Learning” part of their own school website and upload information from their own area. We will design some projects for them to do so that we can get an equivalent picture from different areas and hopefully even from some schools overseas. We will then link to these websites from our own. School can submit their details for this purpose, but anyone can still follow us.
▲ Owlbut and his human compainions will share their travels with schools around the country via the Internet.
Finally, returning to my opening theme, the team carrying out this project will also be crossgenerational. I have done this journey three times before and I have written about it as a learning resource before. My two young colleagues have never set out on this journey and I know how much they will learn on their travels. They are both incredibly enthusiastic and we hope that this enthusiasm will prove infectious. Furthermore, our audience will know that the people they follow, or at least two of them, will also be on a journey of discovery and it is that experience they can share. With both experienced and fresh eye exploring the coastline, it will be fascinating to see what has change in the 29 years since I first made this journey and what new insights my two young companions will make. Marcel Proust said, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes”, while Francis Bacon proclaimed that "Travel, in the younger sort, is a part of education; in the elder, a part of experience”. What more could you want to enhance your classroom next year, cover parts of the new curriculum and have a resource which will actually have its own personality to add to the one you already inject into your teaching space. The site is free, providing we can find the sponsors we need. Details about how you can get involved and much more at www.owlbut.co.uk. I hope you and your school will join us on this journey. Image Credit: The images have been provide by Richard Rowland and Martin Burrett
Richard Rowland has been involved in education for over 30 years. After an initial 12 years working in London as an actuary, he began teaching in 1982 and since then he has worked in many different sectors of education ranging from high-level management training to working with primary children with emotional and behavioural problems. He has written or contributed to around a dozen educational books. In 1994-95 he ran a forerunner of this project when 50 primary schools followed a similar journey through weekly 12 page newsletters accompanied by 6 or 7 photos. In 2009 he met up with some teachers who had used the 1994-95 resource, was convinced to repeat it using the internet. UKED Magazine 29
Broadening Horizons The benefits of a whole school Book Week By Stuart Dyer
As a new subject leader for reading in a high performing junior school, in September 2013 I investigated the levels of enthusiasm for reading throughout the school. I was encouraged by the responses: “I love reading. I’m always taking books home from school.” “My teacher really encourages me to read. She’s always giving books to my mum.” However, scratching beneath the surface, I noticed pupils’ reading habits were rather uniform. Empty spaces on the library bookshelves could invariably be found under D for Dahl, M for Morpurgo and W for Walliams. A desire to broaden our pupils’ reading horizons was swimming round my head one afternoon when a colleague asked me, “Have you thought of a theme for this year’s Book Week, yet?” My idea was Book Week 2014… Try Something New. This was a departure from previously successful Book Weeks at the school. With no focus on one particular author or genre, pupils would instead be encouraged to read as much as possible from all different genres. To spark interest, we produced a goofy video, featuring teachers swapping their fairy tales for Horrible Histories, adventure novels for encyclopaedias and ‘chick-lit’ for dictionaries! I immediately noticed positive reactions from the children. We had made the idea of reading something unusual seem silly and fun and I was confident that they would all be happy to try it themselves; once. The challenge would be to encourage pupils to depart 30 UKED Magazine
from established reading habits and choose from a range of genres more frequently. This was the objective of our Book Week and to attain it we implemented a number of strategies. Dress-Up Monday Pupils dressed as any book or character they chose, however, they also had to prepare a ‘walking blurb’ - a short synopsis of the book upon which their costume was based. Having seen our promotional video on the school blog, parents were enthusiastic and many of the costumes were fantastic! An assembly at the beginning of the day celebrated the best efforts and rewarded the most impressive ‘walking blurbs’. Giving Choices On Monday morning, each teacher laid out all their reading material on pupils’ tables. Books, encyclopaedias, magazines, newspapers, comics… instruction manuals for Lego! The array of literature was made available for pupils throughout the week and a book sale took place in the school hall each evening. “Whoosh” a book Teachers based their literacy lessons throughout the week on a classic book or tale that most pupils would not have read, such as 5 Children and It or The Selfish Giant. Lessons started with a ‘Whoosh’ (see bit.ly/uked14aug15) – a drama activity that allows all children in the class to
learn a whole story through drama activities. One of the authors of the ‘Whoosh Book’ was invited in to deliver some of the activities herself and led an assembly. Lunchtime Reading At playtimes, all covered areas were reserved for children who wanted to read. The lunchtime supervisors were equipped with raffle tickets that rewarded any pupil who was reading and could answer the following questions: What are you reading? What do you normally read? How is this different? At the end of the week, a raffle was held with a selection of books as prizes. Visitors and Assemblies I was eager to invite visitors from diverse professional backgrounds and to promote the importance of reading in all walks of life. I emailed, text, telephoned and tweeted everyone I thought might be able to come in and share their experiences and expertise. I was surprised by how many people were willing to help (many for no cost). Visitors ranged from a teenage sports coach to the local Member of Parliament! We also invited Bristol City footballers to come and share their skills and favourite books and a theatre producer from Bristol’s Old Vic, who taught pupils comedic skills based on A Comedy of Errors. At the end of the week, parents brought in their favourite books and children shared with them all the new things they had read. The Impact Pupils showed great enthusiasm for what they had read, what they had learnt and who they had met. More impressively, however, was the longer
term impact upon able readers. Teachers noted how, even at the end of the year, able readers were challenging themselves to try different books at home and in school. Those who require pupil progress data as proof of success will be interested that the school’s attainment and progress in reading was outstanding throughout the year. The effectiveness of our Book Week was in convincing pupils to broaden their reading choices and to choose more challenging material. This was achieved through a range of enjoyable activities that encouraged engagement in and discussion about literature. I would argue that these are more effective methods for affecting reading progress than repeated scrutiny of assessment foci and comprehension questions. After all, dressing up, sharing books and acting out stories are a much more fun way of learning to read! Read the school Book Week blog post at bit.ly/uked14aug16. Stuart Dyer teaches Year Four at a junior school in Bristol and is Assistant Headteacher and Reading Coordinator. He has been teaching for seven years and, before Reading, led ICT and History at his school. He often shares his pupils’ learning via elmleajunior.blogspot.co.uk and @stuartrgdyer. UKED Magazine 31
Image Credit: http://www.clker.com/clipart-23631.html by Mohamed Ibrahim All other images provided by Stuart Dyer
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ukedchat.com/eduapps 32 UKED Magazine