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

I am forever promoting the app " Apps Gone Free ," the daily feed of apps that for a limited time only, are free. The aim for the developers is that it draws people in to try the app with the view to build a bigger fan base. When you are working within a tight budget in schools, trying to find the best free apps to keep the cost of the iPads down means that this app is crucial in providing some amazingly useful apps. Today (19th August) I have found a gem, an app that would really inspire and ignite the children's imaginations and link really well to a lot of cross curricular activities. Now I don't know how long this app will stay free however even at £1.99 is seems a bargain! Pocket Zoo is a virtual zoo which links to live webcams from Zoos all around the world. Children are able to browse the virtual zoo, click on different animals and either look at pictures, listen to sounds, read information or watch a live feed from a Zoo around the world. Logging it ...

I am currently sitting on a plane flying home from a week away, reflecting on the past academic year. It has been an unforgettable year really, and one that has completely changed the direction of my career in a way I never thought possible.  This time last year I was feeling very apprehensive about the role I was taking on, coming out of the classroom to cover PPA across the whole school. Panicking about teaching in EYFS and KS1 for the first time, worried about other teachers and their perception of my role as I managed to dodge reports, parents evenings and levelling 35 long pieces of writing every other week. I am not going to lie, that aspect made the role very appealing however there was a fear of not having the same connections with children that you have as a class teacher and not having that responsibility for a class and see them develop and excel as learners and people. You can read more about the role  here. Would I change it now? Not at all, I learnt a ...

Sat next to my Stepson while he does his homework which happens to be writing a story, "How can we describe the monster?" I say. "Big," he replies. "Ok, but I can think of some better words to use...what about gigantic, enormous, colossal???" I ask. "Big is fine," he answers. It got me thinking, how can I get him to see the value of more effective vocabulary? So many children are happy to put words regardless of how effective they maybe. They have no reason or incentive to try and improve or choose better words. Some just don't see the value to it. Well what if bigger words could defeat aliens, monsters and other ghastly demons! One of the children's favourite maths games is Math vs Zombies.  Having to apply their quick mental calculations in order to change zombies back into humans. It has them completely engaged and give their learning a purpose - the quicker they are with their maths the better score they will get on the game. L...

When it comes to learning new knowledge and facts relating to a topic, it can sometimes be tricky to find tasks that help children share their learning so that they retain the information. I have seen many lessons and work in books that just seem to involve research and simply copying it into books. I always question how much knowledge the children can recite from this approach. The iPad is now transforming the way children demonstrate their learning. Recently, I have been working with a class of Year 2 children, where we have been using different approaches relating to the same topic of 'animals in the Savannah' to show how usingthese activities are make our new found knowledge stick. We first started by generating questions that we wanted to find out: What?..... Where?..... Why?..... How?.... We had to finish those sentences and share with others on their tables and with the class to build up a list of questions that we wanted to answer. As a class we decided to fi...

Thanks to the people over at @appsgonefree  I stumbled across the app Easy Studio , a week or so ago. Usually £2.49, this app was free for a limited time and so like any teacher having to work on a budget, I snapped it up as soon as I could. Sometimes these apps can be hit and miss and I tend to only go for apps I have seen being used in the classroom. At the beginning of our iPad journey, I downloaded endless amounts of apps with some being a complete waste of time. Now I am much more selective and really need to see something in practice before considering rolling the app out to every iPad. This app, Easy Studio, is a real gem!  The app is a stop start animation app using shapes. Children can create animations by creating shapes, photographing them, moving them, taking another photo and repeating the process so that when all the pictures are played in a sequence an animation is created. The app has two sections; an easy and expert mode. The reason that this app is fantast...

I have found I use iPads in two major ways within the classroom: as a tool to engage and as a tool to create. In most of the projects I have completed with the children this year, I have tried to combine both these elements to get the best work from the children. Firstly, using the iPad to provide a focus to use in lessons has had a massive impact as far as engaging children, motivating them and leading them into a "false sense of learning." I recently attended and presented at a Speed Learning event as St Silas Primary in Liverpool. I provided a staff inset at the school where I shared different ideas of how I use the iPad to get the children engaged and then to create. I am always pleased to see some of those ideas being used. You can see the great work the school is producing on their school blog -  http://stsilasblog.net/ . It was during the keynote presentation from  @digitalroadtrip  at the start of the Speed Learning event that the phrase "Camouflage Learnin...

When I was younger, I was an avid fan of simulation games. From Championship Manager to Sim City and from  Tamagotchi to Theme Hospital. Many hours spent immersing myself in these fantasy worlds. Imagine my delight when I stumbled across an app of one of my old favourites - Theme Park.   Theme Park allows you to run and build your own theme park, adding rides and different attractions to make money and keep customers happy. As always I looked at this game thinking of ways to use it in class to engage the children - following the idea of Camouflage Learning. The app is free however lures you into those dreaded in app purchases, so making sure these are disabled is a must. The app allows you to build your park in very small steps over days or even weeks. I didn't really allow the children play the game as it is intended, instead used the Master Theme Park that the children can roam around and see all the different parts, rides and attractions.  As a focus for ...