Mr P's ICT blog - Tech to raise standards!

I regularly receive messages from teachers saying that they would love to attend one of my CPD and Inset sessions, however, due to one reason or the other (location, school not allowing them to go etc) they can't make it. I have been thinking for a while about trying to create some sort of online platform where teachers can access more detailed CPD content. I have and always will share content for free through this blog and my social media pages. However, I always need to strike the right balance as to make sure I don't give too much away for free as this often backfires in loss of work in schools and also a number of people who then take the ideas, rip them off and make money on the back of it. About a week ago, Facebook introduced Fan Subscriptions. Followers of my facebook page can subscribe for £3.50 a month and receive exclusive content. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE I've decided to give this a go, to hopefully support more teachers in their journey to utilise tec...

I think music is one of the most powerful yet underused tools in the classroom. If you've joined me on my training, you will know how I use it in class to support different areas of the curriculum. There are plenty of examples on this blog which demonstrates the power of music. You can see them here.  BBC Teach  Supermovers is a brilliant and FREE resource which gets your pupils moving, singing and remembering! This video explores the Supermovers resource: I was very excited when they asked me to get involved and make a video for their website. You can watch it here - 

In Year 4, we have been inspired by the latest Greenpeace Advert - There's a Rang-Tan in My Bedroom. The advert tells the story of Rang-Tan, a young Indonesian orangutan that has been forced out of her home by humans. It is a beautifully animated video with a very powerful message: We decided to look at the text used in the advert in more detail: There's a Rang-tan in my bedroom and I don't know what to do. She plays with all my teddies and keeps borrowing my shoe. She destroys all of my house plants and she keeps on shouting 'oo'. She throws away my chocolate and she howls at my shampoo. There's a Rang-tan in my bedroom and I don't want her to stay, So I told the naughty Rang-tan that she had to go away. Oh, Rang-tan in my bedroom, just before you go, Why were you in my bedroom? I really want to know. There's a human in my forest and I don't know what to do. He destroyed all of our trees for your food and your shampoo. There...

Since the update Keynote received over the summer, which unleashed a wealth of creative possibilities, I have been desperate to give it a go in class. In Year 4, we decided to create our own self-portraits to get used to the drawing tools. Although we had an issue updating a few of the iPads (Keynote is a big app) we had a good go and I was really impressed with some of their efforts: I've created a step by step guide for how to do this activity with your class. You can watch it here: This will be an app I will be exploring a lot more this year in my school so stay tuned!

I've just seen the new Nike advert and was blown away. It has such a powerful message. The advert has been in the news and faced a backlash because of the narrator - Colin Kaepernick. The NFL star was the first athlete to kneel during pre-game anthems to protest against social and racial inequality in the US. I was, however, impressed with the advert as I believe it has a very powerful message. See what you think: Here is the text from the ad: If people say your dreams are crazy If they laugh at what you think you can do Good Stay that way Because what non-believers fail to understand is that calling a dream crazy is not an insult It's a compliment Don't try to be the fastest runner in your school Or the fastest in the world Be the fastest ever Don't picture yourself wearing OBJ's jersey Picture OBJ wearing yours Don't settle for homecoming queen or linebacker Do both Lose 120 pounds and become an Ironman after beating...