Hurray for common sense… March 26, 2006
Posted by Mark Tennant in : personal , add a comment
Certainly off-topic from the usual Exc-el post, but there’s little doubt on what will probably be the big talking point this weekend: the
smoking ban comes into force on Sunday! I’ll lay my cards on the table straight away: I think this is the best thing to happen in terms of healthcare for years. My personal hatred for ‘cancer sticks’ comes from losing three grandparents due to smoking, and it even playing a part in my father’s sudden death.
What pleases me most as a teacher however is that we are finally sending out a clear message to our young people in Scotland that smoking is dangerous, dirty and antisocial. I doubt there will be any huge change in the health of adults as a result of this legislation, but I am sure that the benefits will be seen in years to come as the number of young people taking up smoking declines rapidly. No-one wants to be associated with an act that forces you out of every public space in the country. That is why it is good news: it is purely peer-pressure that causes people to start smoking, not an ignorance of the concequences - even young children are well aware of the health risks.
I’ve been pleased this week to see our Headteacher,
Paul Raffaelli , do his bit to raise the profile of this legislation and encourage our students to think carefully about their own attitudes to smoking: he has spoken to all students at assembly about this.
It’s not often that I agree with the government but I take my hat off to them this time - a bold move, and one we will thank Jack and his friends for in the future. Now, if only they could find a good builder…
More Moodle! March 26, 2006
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Computing , add a comment
Well, I’ve now managed to spend a few hours experimenting with the
moodle software. First impressions are very good - the code (written in php) is stable, the database well constructed and thought out, and both the pupil interface and teacher’s editing tools fairly easy to use (certainly no more difficult than the Exc-el site!)
The next big problem will arise with testing the software more thouroughly. My initial thoughts on how to achieve this would be to set up an intranet server within school and simply let a few classes “try it out” If I do want to go ahead, hosting the site on the internet is also likely to be expensive, with many of the advanced web hosting features that moodle uses only available on “business” class hosting packages. If anyone has any thoughts on a hosting company let me know!
Ordering of the excellent
Content Generator software is also imminent: I now have a price for a site licence and I have been in contact with IT services about installing it. It looks like the software will be piloted at Dunbar Grammar firstly, though I am keen to get it rolled out to all East Lothian schools as soon as funds allow (not to mention IT being able to actually install it where required - no small task!)
Lastly, can I also plug the excellent
wikipedia resource. I’m sure you’ve heard of it by now, but if not, try it out!
Revision Games March 22, 2006
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Computing, Dunbar Grammar , 1 comment so farWith the S3 exams starting to creep up I have been spending some time with my class talking about revision techniques this week. I have found this a good opportunity to try out some of the interactive games I have been developing, particuarly the excellent
Content Generator software, along with old stalwarts like
Hot Tatties . :-)
I’ve also found a good (English) site that demonstrates the possibilities with this technology
- Although designed for the English GCSE, KS2/3 and
DIDA courses, some of the content is very relevant to the Scottish curriculum too. I’ll be encouraging my S3 to try the site out.
I’m also attempting to try out some online collaboration and course handling software called
moodle . Although a steep learning curve, it seems to offer lots of potential, as well as customisability. The real bonus is that it’s also available at my favourite price - free! I’ll keep you posted on how the experiment develops.
Anyway, this bottle of wine ain’t gonna finish itself (I’m avoiding pubs ’till Sunday to show my support for the smoking ban - I must be one of very many people in the country that will have their health harmed by this ban; I’ll spend more time in the pub!!!) I’ll leave you with two little games I made up for my S3s.
Tioraidh!
Shared Network Drives March 16, 2006
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Computing, Dunbar Grammar, East Lothian Council, Subject Support , add a commentGot some great news today courtesy of Rod (Adam?) at the IT department - he posted a response to my weblog entry regarding the shared network drives for each subject. Many thanks for taking this forward and updating us Rod. I am certain that the ability to easily share resources between schools will be a great asset to all subjects. I’ve quoted Rod’s entry below, in case you missed it first time around.
“A file server for this purpose has been in place for some time. An initial attempt at coming up with a structure and permissions for the server got caught up in committee hell. I have been trying to revive this with Rob Lewis who wants to use the server to share info with admin staff in schools. Im hoping that I will get the go ahead to let staff start using the Subject area in the next week or two, an email will be sent to all school staff when this is ready.”
Subject Support Group March 12, 2006
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Computing, East Lothian Council, Subject Support , add a commentWe had a productive meeting with the SSG on Friday afternoon. Many thanks must go to Carl Roderick at North Berwick for hosting the meeting and organising lunch. While the official purpose of the meeting being to discuss and review materials for teaching HTML and web design, many other topics were also covered in a relaxed and informal afternoon. Points for discussion included…
- The ability to share a network drive across all computing teachers is seen as a priority - come on IT deptartment! This is something I will be chasing up ASAP.
- The standard of commercial papers this year was not great - particuarly in Higher Info Systems. I suggested that we may have to go down the lines of writing an East Lothian wide paper for each subject in future, which is a shame: I have always been a supporter of commercial papers because of the amount of time it can save a teacher - time that can be much better spend on something else instead of re-inventing the wheel.
- Many felt that the high cost of bringing in an external speaker for only an afternoon CPD session was not wise. I tend to agree! There is enough expertise in the group to do much work internally before needing to branch out.
- The remaining money this year should be spent on videos and other material for the group to evaluate. There are particuarly good programmes available on DVD that cover computing issues, and these could be an area to develop.
- Money could also be spent on any books required by a teacher for CPD, if other funding sources were not available.
The next meeting of the SSG will be on the 5th May. This will be at the usual venue: the Old Clubhouse, Gullane. The next CPD session is on the 12th May and is likely to cover web-based teaching and learning. Dave Rawson and myself are both happy to provide this training, so we’ll organise something shortly!
Busy Sunday & reflections on homework. March 12, 2006
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Computing, Dunbar Grammar , add a commentWell folks, I’ve certainly been busy today! Managed to get woken this morning at 6:30am by the #@!&#$ beeper, only for the callout to be cancelled 15 minutes later (as I’m bundling myself, half dressed, a rucksack, boots and jacket into a car. That reminds me: really need to tidy it out. Anyway…)
Having got out of bed I decided I may as well do something productive. First task was to continue writing some new homework materials for the higher computing course. For the past two years I have been making do with various booklets and exercises in the public domain, as well as some past paper questions from the old higher computing course. I don’t feel this is doing the pupils justice and without doubt they have not had any settled homework routine in the subject this year.
I have always placed a great deal of emphasis on homework as a teacher. I firmly believe it can make a difference to the majority of pupils in what they attain. It gives them autonomy over their learning, develops a positive work ethos and teaches them to be self-disciplined learners. From the teachers’ point of view, it makes sure pupils are at least doing some level of revision each week and perhaps also taking topics further than would be possible in class.
Many teachers, I have no doubt though, believe they are simply swimming against a tide of apathy when they issue homework, with many pupils well aware we cannot legally punish them for not doing it. However consider this: In the past two years only one pupil in my two standard grade classes has failed to submit homework; in my current S3 class homework has been late from a maximum of two pupils per week, and on over half the occasions all homework was handed in on time. So how have I achieved this? It would be difficult to go into huge levels of detail in a blog, but here are some of the things I consider to have helped towards this.
- Pupils are told about my expecteations about the level of effort in homework at the start,
- We discuss the importance of the homework tasks they are given, and how they relate to their learning, and also what will happen if pupils do not do the work,
- Each pupil copies the expectations onto the front page of their homework book, including the requirement to seek help if stuck.
- Each pupil is given a large A5 sticker inside the ir book cover to chart their homework progress,
- Progress is recorded in terms of the effort made, with an “A” being Excellent and a “D” being poor. I maintain a database showing their awards, so that trends or issues can be spotted.
- Pupils recieve rewards at certain stages (e.g. getting two “A” awards will earn a positive referral),
- The homework is marked and returned within 3 days. Correct answers to any problems are written in by me, and a personalised comment on their effort and areas for development given at the end of every homework exercise,
- A small variety of tasks relevant to the time of year are given, such as ink exercises for revision, past paper questions in the months before an exam, informal investigations at the start of new topics, etc.,
- Amount of homework, the time taken and what the pupils feel went well or they had difficulties with is discussed frequently,
- Most importantly, homework is seen by the pupils to be given a high priority by me, and the pupil’s seem to respond well to this.
Of course, that is just a snapshot of what I’m doing to promote homework in my classes and the department. If you want to discuss these ideas further then please
get in touch .