Week 7 - Presentation and Reflection Time

And so...our final session has commenced and it was presentation time.  All in all I felt that I did well on the presentation.  There were obviously elements I would like to have improved on, like my presentation's visual appeal.  I coloured the background yellow with blue writing to be more suiting to dyslexic children but upon seeing my peers work with their colourful backgrounds, I think I would like to do the same as text could still be read.

I carefully chose my font to make sure that the correct 'a' and correct 'g' were used in the whole presentation.

I was excited to find that whilst it was roughly 5 weeks since out Interactive Whiteboard session I could still apply the knowledge and skills to my presentation.  This showed me what a benefit was made from that session, allowing me to use these IWB techniques in the future. 

 I used the Magic Tunnel and Magnifying Glass effect which I felt would be suiting to a Year 3 class.  One major benefit of the blog was that I could look back at my sessions if I had forgotten how to do something and there it was! 

I felt relatively comfortable doing my presentation with my peers but was surprised at the pang of nerves I still felt deep down.  I did however feel that this was good as it spurred me on to impress them!

So many skills in so little time! It's been an emotional journey, thanks for reading. Keep up the good work.

Miss L x

Week 6 - Dance, Learn, Revolution

Welcome back you!

This was a fun session! Actually, every ICT session has been pretty fun, we've just learnt something new each time and it's been very exciting learning about all the possibilities.  We learnt more about computer programming and learnt to create our own 'world' in a programme called Kodu.  You can create your own world or play the game that has already been created.  This is another game that focuses on procedural commands.  KS2 children love the opportunity to create world of their own and it really introduces them to computer programming at a young age. You can edit the keys to be the different controls and get Kodu to move around and eat fruit.

Now, something that I never thought of for educational purposes but manages to encourage learning through fun activities is the dance mat! The program called Dance to Advance sets the different controls on the dance mat to the correct answers on the game.  Take a look at the example below. It was done with times tables and you have to click the correct answer.  It's very easy to do yourself and you can set the topic to anything you like.

These are downloadable programs.

Are there any games that I don't have to download and can play online?

Why yes, yes there is. Check out the Kent Trust website for games where children are challenged.  There are many physics games, programmable games as well as modelling and simulation. These range in age suitability and include games such as a Parachute game in which you change the size of the parachute and hole in it to get to a designated spot, taking into consideration the wind speed.  There is also a Roller Coaster simulator in which you control the track to make a roller coaster suitable for people to ride on without to much G-Force (because that will knock them out and you don't want that!).  All these games are educational while enjoyable encouraging computer skills as well as science in the two just spoken about and any given subject in Dance to Advance.  Check out Learn4Good too for other exciting simulation games. 


But Miss Lynch, what if I really want to make an animated face that looks like me to talk and introduce things online?

Well student, look no further. A Voki can help to inspire children, give them instructions when coming into the room, introduce new ideas and also excite children, they are always fascinated by the unknown and you can program your voki to be personal to the children in your class which will in turn inspire them further.  If you are doing mythical creatures in Literacy, why not create a voki that can talk to them and answer their questions.  Pretend to be an animal and tell the children you've left clues around the room for them to find out more about their habitat for further cross-curricular learning. 

Speaking of Literacy...

Check out this video! 

Research shows that boys struggle in Literacy to find inspiration and are more likely to fall behind.  This video shows that boys just need the right motivation to help their writing.  Through introducing gaming into the curriculum boys have been much more able to write with 'wow' words, structure more exciting sentences and use fantastic adjectives to describe their surroundings in either storytelling or recounting events (such as their game play).

How can I jazz up my words though, Miss Lynch?

Wordle! Wordle, wordle wordle! I love wordle and have been using it for years. It is a fantastic way to create word clouds, spider diagrams of ideas, jazz up displays or topics, other ways of saying certain words (for example instead of 'said Miss Lynch' after speech in a story have 'exclaimed', 'whispered', 'shouted' etc.)

And finally..

What is this M-Learning I've heard oh so much about?

M-learning is the new e-learning.  We all know that the 'e' in e-mails, e-learning, e-books means electronic and we're all so used to these now that we don't give these terms another think when using them. M-learning refers to mobile learning.  The introduction of iPads, iPod touches and tablet PCs in the classroom is becoming more and more used in the classroom and excites children and allows them to get on with their work in a multisensory, interactive, personal way.  Children as young as two are becoming accustomed to m-learning and it excites me too as any way to get children more excited about learning is beneficial and encouraging as a (future) teacher.

That's all from me folks, toodles!

Week 5 - Computer modelling and programming

Welcome to the wonderful world of computer modelling.  But, what is it? To Google!

Define: A computer simulation, a computer model, or a computational model is a computer program, run on a single computer, or a network of computers, that attempts to simulate an abstract model of a particular system.

So where do these two come into play and what do they mean?

Modelling is great in the real world for these things but what about in school, how does this help then? It really helps put a child's idea into action, the 'what happens if?' question is so relevant for in computer modelling because children are given the opportunity to test and see if their idea can work.  For example, design a fantasy car on paper and knowing you won't have the chance to actually make it but computer modelling programs allow you to build a 3D car and actually test it to see if it could actually work! How exciting. This will aptly prepare children for the real world of designing cars or houses or toys or games, its useful for architects, doctors and for building rockets (!), so many ways that these skills learned in primary school can be applied later on in life. You get to test it to see if it works!

What can you use to make these things then? 

• My Modelling Tool kit 

This is a program in which children have the opportunity to explore everyday basic scenarios.  There are opportunities to dress babies or find the missing teddy.  Here you can also design your own bedroom and even make a scary monster too.  Plenty of opportunities for cross-curricular learning in these activities too; English, write a story about how the monster got here, Maths, how many chair legs are in the bedroom? Lots of potential with this program.

• 2simple

This program is where children are really allowed to use their imaginations to create stories or take part in little science experiments or paint pictures. 2simple also includes 2design in which you can make the cars (amongst others, see below!) and you can also create and explore other 3D objects too.

2design also links you to a website called Purple Mash.

• Purple Mash 

Now for this you do need to have to buy a login but if it is bought through your school you will be able to get more than your monies worth from it! There are so many opportunities with this including making your own maze and then playing it.  You can set your children challenges such as 'you have to have a 3 quadrilaterals in your maze' or 'you have to have 2 sums of 4 made with apples'.

That's not all you can do though, check out the website to see more opportunities to play, learn and create! There are games that fit into English, Maths and Science as well as many foundation subjects, there are themed design products around Hallowe'en and Christmas. Lots to play around with. 

How about the less able children or those who are EAL or SEN?

Well, the TES provides a great range of games for SEN children and poissonrouge is great for both EAL and SEN as it is all visual.

Now what is this computer programming?

We've looked a little at this when the beebots took over but now we're looking at computer programming on an actual computer that stays on the computer, not machines as before. It is however another piece of software that helps you build on procedure techniques.  I was really excited when I rekindled the ol' flame of WinLogo! Back in my day it was a little turtle that moved but things have progressed since then and the turtle is no more (maybe the kids are too cool for him these days!) but an arrow has replaced him.  Logo essentially teaches children to list commands and control a make a design. There are commands such as forward (FD) left (LT) right (RT) pen up (PU) pen down (PD) etc and you can get your little turtle (arrow) to draw shapes and designs. Once you introduce 'repeat' you can get it to do some pretty amazing shapes and patterns.

'Scratch' is your next fill of computer programming! More for key stage 2 but here you will create your own interactive stories.  You can download the software for free by clicking the name there ^ and its where you will choose a character, background, sound and animation and you can make your character do virtually anything, a treasure hunt, a maths hunt, re-enactment of a topic.  Another great tool that is cross-curricular and can be topic based.  You can share these online too so children can see each other's work.

These programs are great for a child motor skills and as mentioned previously, great for cross-curricular learning and will enhance and solidify their understanding of their topic.

Au revoir!