#tmsciencebd10 5th July 2012 - Greengates Primary School

I am a relative new comer to the idea of Teachmeets, having attended 3, presented at 2 of them and hosted 1 of them. The speed at which I have become a firm favourite of teachmeets I believe is indicative of the power of a teachmeet.

IT’S ABOUT -

·                                            Teachers sharing good practice with teachers

·      Teachers sharing what has gone well in their classes

·      Teachers sharing innovative ideas

·      Fun informal CPD

 The evening started in a relaxed atmosphere around the BBQ, huge thanks to the staff at Greengates School for cooking and serving the food - it was greatly recieved and very much enjoyed. The food and drinks were sponsered by Masterplan Systems and Pudsey computers and again massive thanks go out to these companies for their support.


 Tim Bleazard (@idletim) and Andy Gaunt (@andygfarsley) hosted the evening with tech support from James Langley (@lordlangley73). First up to present was my 8 year old daughter Hannah demonstrating the easy yet effective iPad app - Pic Collage. She confidently talked about how she had used the app to create great fact files and posters to display her understanding of science. The app allows the user to grab photos from the web, ipad's memory or take photos then apply text and backgrounds to create very visual eye catching files.
I     I presented next on outdoor maths - the main focus of the presentation was think big and bold, swap counters for bean bags, multilink for hoops and paper number lines for 30 metres of rope. Outdoor maths enagages and stimulates children, it gets them out of their seats and head first into maths.

Copy of Outdoor Maths on Prezi

Simple games such as a variation on domes and dishes - throw a stack of cones onto the play ground and then ask questions - I've got 3 cones how many more to make 10? Collect a multiple of 3 cones between 20 and 30. Doing it this way allows each child time to think and solve the problem. Lay a piece of rope on the floor and ask the children to write a number between 0 and 30 onto a whiteboard then sort themselves into order - this also works with fractions, decimals,place value. Use the ropes to create huge venn or carroll diagrams and use the children to add the data ie who's got a cat or dog? who has a brother or sister? But what makes these activities work is quality questioning whilst keeping the children engaged.

Darren Martin @dmdazza A foundation stage teacher from Peel Park shared a couple of apps for the Ipad. Doodle Cast which he uses for speaking and listening skills across the curriculum and candy count a maths based app. He has used both apps effectively to enhance the speaking, listening and sharing in his reception class.

Claire Holt @amazingholt Claire presented on the Art of noticing - All too often we walk around with our noses stuck into a smart phone these days, well Claire was advocating ditching the tech and using our senses whilst walking in the countryside to smell, see and touch our natural environment and then write a comment in a little notebook - very retro! From this sensing she then wrote a beautiful poem. Even our resident geocaching, tweeting, facebooking techno guy @lordlangley73 commented on how much he had enjoyed walking about without tech - try it!  http://bradfordschools.net/blog/lac/2012/02/06/the-art-of-noticing/

Tim Bleazard @idletim along with his son shared an app called Sonic Pic. This app allows the user to record a voiceover onto a photo slide show. Tim and his son went on a minibeast hunt around his garden taking photos of the various minibeasts they found then record a commentary of their habitats. A very simple but effective app which enabled them to create a short film of their findings. Have a look at what they created!

Shadow puppets click to see app

Virtul Heart click to see app

Andy Gaunt @andygfarsley A nano presentation showcasing 3 IPad apps - all of which will support, embed or enhance science teaching.

Moon Globe -click to get the app

Catherine Odor - Year 1 teacher at Greengates Primary School
Catherine showed how she has used many curriculum areas in her outdoor provision. The following videos will give a flavour of how she has engaged her class by developing an inspiring, stimulating outdoor curriculum - Quote of the night "Outdoor learning Engages Children"



Alex Llewellyn @alexllew - Alex DH at Fagley Primary shared how she has been working on converting units of measurement using both metric and imperial units of measurement. This discussion led talking about golf in her classroom. She then developed this idea by taking her class outside to devise a golf course, play it and work out the measurements invloved.

Alex also shared Domo Animate, a web based animation programme, which she has used across the curricuulum