Last term, as a temporary Support for Learning Teacher I found my iPhone surprisingly useful in many ways. Being a technophobe, I had not downloaded any additional “apps” but what came with my smart phone was surprisingly easy to use and helpful:
1) When going off-site the iPhone could be used when the radios didn’t work. The simplicity of the interface allowed me to phone classroom assistants with other groups of children, the school office and depute head teacher very quickly and easily compared to my old mobile phone. The touch technology is marvellous and so simple. Other phones seem clunky by comparison. Speed can be essential in an emergency and the iPhone rises to the challenge.
2) The calculator is big, clear and easy to use. By turning the iPhone horizontally, a scientific calculator appears. Thus this makes the iPhone especially useful for secondary school teachers outside. Trigonometry and trees, here we come!
3) The stopwatch and count down were great for sports day practices and activities which involved timing children or events and processes. I have used these functions on watches and mobile phones but the iPhone is a dream by comparison. No more frantic pressing of buttons several times to clear the screen and re-start.
4) The digital voice recorder is simple to use and can be used many ways by children and adults alike. It can act as a prompt when observing children, rather than making written notes. Children can record sounds heard outside, poems or descriptions of local places and events. The possibilities here are varied, open-ended and endless.
5) Children and adults find the touch screen great to use. The children really like and want to work with an iPhone. It’s a hook or motivator for learning – indoors or out.
6) The camera takes surprisingly decent photos and downloading them onto my MacBook is very quick and straightforward. My MacBook immediately allows the photos to be presented in a slideshow with accompanying music. That’s cool!
7) The daily weather forecast can be set for my local town – Inverurie. The children enjoyed this facility to work out what to bring for working outside in the week ahead.
Of course there are always minuses as well as pluses. First of all, iPhone’s are expensive. They do not like getting wet so using them outdoors in wet weather or near water is a risk. The Google maps facility is good in that you can locate where you are but Google Earth has to be installed to enjoy the satellite view. I’m still trying to work out how they can be used with a whole class rather than with individual or small groups of children in an outdoor situation. The “gather round and look here” approach is useless given the size of the phone (outdoor plasma screens here we come – for that purpose). Any ideas or suggestions are VERY welcome.
Friday, 24 July 2009
Saturday, 18 July 2009
A Step Too Far
Apparently watchers of the Lorraine Kelly show on weekdays have an average of 47 pairs of shoes in their collection. When I first heard this insignificant fact I felt it represented the height of our society’s consumer addiction. Being a healthy outdoorsy woman I felt righteously proud of my ability to walk past a Schuh or Faith shop without the need to dash inside and buy, buy, buy.
As part of the preparations for this camping holiday, I popped into the local outdoor shop in Inverurie. My innocent intention was to pick up some white gas for the MSR stove and check out the selection of maps, located beside the shoes.
Naturally my eyes wandered past the maps and into the racks of boots and sandals. It was a very hot day and my feet were crying out for a decent pair of walking sandals. Last summer our lab puppy ate my Ecco sandals. When the assistant wandered over and asked if I needed help my resistance melted and I asked to try on a couple of pairs. The Keen sandals never left my feet. Once they were on, that was it.
When I got home, I did a quick tally of shoes including the previously discounted outdoor footwear: 3 pairs of welly boots, rock climbing boots, winter hill boots, summer hill boots, my Sorrel boots for ultra cold conditions, Keen sandals, canoe sandals, ski boots, running trainers and hill trainers. To my horror I discovered that outdoor activity shoes make up half of my shoe collection. Whilst Jimmy Choo may not appeal to me, the outdoor shops know exactly how to persuade me to part with my money.
Still I felt marginally better when arriving at my sister's house. She promptly showed me her new Vivienne Westwood cream plastic shoes, which really did smell of vanilla and bubble gum and confessed she'd spent the first night sleeping in them. Clearly there is a genetic weakness in our family for shoes. Advice on our next step from here appreciated.
As part of the preparations for this camping holiday, I popped into the local outdoor shop in Inverurie. My innocent intention was to pick up some white gas for the MSR stove and check out the selection of maps, located beside the shoes.
Naturally my eyes wandered past the maps and into the racks of boots and sandals. It was a very hot day and my feet were crying out for a decent pair of walking sandals. Last summer our lab puppy ate my Ecco sandals. When the assistant wandered over and asked if I needed help my resistance melted and I asked to try on a couple of pairs. The Keen sandals never left my feet. Once they were on, that was it.
When I got home, I did a quick tally of shoes including the previously discounted outdoor footwear: 3 pairs of welly boots, rock climbing boots, winter hill boots, summer hill boots, my Sorrel boots for ultra cold conditions, Keen sandals, canoe sandals, ski boots, running trainers and hill trainers. To my horror I discovered that outdoor activity shoes make up half of my shoe collection. Whilst Jimmy Choo may not appeal to me, the outdoor shops know exactly how to persuade me to part with my money.
Still I felt marginally better when arriving at my sister's house. She promptly showed me her new Vivienne Westwood cream plastic shoes, which really did smell of vanilla and bubble gum and confessed she'd spent the first night sleeping in them. Clearly there is a genetic weakness in our family for shoes. Advice on our next step from here appreciated.
Sunday, 12 July 2009
Reading into the Outdoors
This past week I have been camping in Northumbria with my son, MJ. We found a lovely farm campsite close to Hadrian’s Wall with beautiful panoramic views to the north and east. MJ is now reading voraciously. The mobile phone lost its novelty several months ago. The Nintendo Gameboy is so out-dated, MJ would not be seen dead with it in a public or private place. The variety of games we brought are fine but MJ has decided that reading is the way to pass the time in camp. Alex Rider is his new best friend along with Angus who is helping him learn about thongs and full frontal snogging.
This interests me because MJ’s behaviour qualifies research undertaken which suggests that boys may well be more receptive to literacy activities outside. Pre-school boys are will mark make – the pre-cursor to writing outside and outdoor activities can be a motivator to recount, recall and undertake imaginative work outside. Certainly a small piece of research by Norfolk County Council suggests that forest school activities lead to enthusiastic follow-up writing tasks.
Reading outside is common on holidays. Think of the thrillers, chillers and bonk buster books consumed en mass by holiday makers lying in the sun. Airport bookshops do a roaring trade. One of my conspiracy theories is that these shops in cahoots with the budget airline companies to ensure that delays happen to their advantage. The 3 for the price of 2 deals become a necessity rather than a luxury for the tourist stranded at Luton or Stanstead airports.
In a school that is en route to outdoor learning enlightenment, making provision for reading outdoors is valuable. Whilst some may consider hammocks a little overboard, warm, dry, snug places to curl up and read a book in the cooler months and little sheltered havens of shade in the summer add value to outdoor areas.
Staff also appreciate deck chairs and a place to have a quiet lunch outdoors away from the hubbub of the staff room and other indoor social areas. Think of the sense of wellbeing and rest that can be generated here. Hmm..considerf the possible lines of development...nice little pool, cocktail bar, beautiful plants and being served lunch and drinks! We'd need to convert to the continental time system which means the school day started early and finished at lunch time. No teacher would be able to teach after such a leisurely lunch!
I think you can tell I'm on holiday!
This interests me because MJ’s behaviour qualifies research undertaken which suggests that boys may well be more receptive to literacy activities outside. Pre-school boys are will mark make – the pre-cursor to writing outside and outdoor activities can be a motivator to recount, recall and undertake imaginative work outside. Certainly a small piece of research by Norfolk County Council suggests that forest school activities lead to enthusiastic follow-up writing tasks.
Reading outside is common on holidays. Think of the thrillers, chillers and bonk buster books consumed en mass by holiday makers lying in the sun. Airport bookshops do a roaring trade. One of my conspiracy theories is that these shops in cahoots with the budget airline companies to ensure that delays happen to their advantage. The 3 for the price of 2 deals become a necessity rather than a luxury for the tourist stranded at Luton or Stanstead airports.
In a school that is en route to outdoor learning enlightenment, making provision for reading outdoors is valuable. Whilst some may consider hammocks a little overboard, warm, dry, snug places to curl up and read a book in the cooler months and little sheltered havens of shade in the summer add value to outdoor areas.
Staff also appreciate deck chairs and a place to have a quiet lunch outdoors away from the hubbub of the staff room and other indoor social areas. Think of the sense of wellbeing and rest that can be generated here. Hmm..considerf the possible lines of development...nice little pool, cocktail bar, beautiful plants and being served lunch and drinks! We'd need to convert to the continental time system which means the school day started early and finished at lunch time. No teacher would be able to teach after such a leisurely lunch!
I think you can tell I'm on holiday!
Saturday, 4 July 2009
Spot the Difference
This last week has been full of parties. I've attended a Chill Out Party at Ellon Primary School, a Rainbow Garden Party at Bervie School and a wonderful retirement do for Lorris, an iconic teacher at Kinellar school.
The reason for this party season is not midsummer celebrations. During the past year I have been a "RBS Supergrounds" adviser to a couple of Aberdeenshire schools. The Supergrounds project is interesting. The pluses include each school being given £4000 cash in installments and 4 days of my time to develop part (or all) of their grounds. The school also gets free Grounds for Learning membership for a year which gives them access to 100's of downloadable advice sheets on every aspect of grounds development imaginable. The main downside is the time factor. The schools have just six months to plan, implement and pack up the project. So any ideas have to be doeable in this time frame.
Both schools have worked extraordinarily hard to complete the projects and the parties were the culmination of their efforts. I've included photos from Ellon School so that you can play "Spot the Difference". There is something really satisfying about seeing a project come together like this. When I look back at my own time as a teacher, without a doubt the makeover of Achnasheen Primary school grounds is one of my very proud and happy memories. It's also very empowering when children are truly involved and their ideas, effort and participation take over.
So with a sigh of contentment, I start my summer holidays. This blog may be quiet for a few weeks.
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