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My Scoop it page

I have now created my own Scoop.it page and have put RSS feed to my Google Reader.
This could be a great tool for students to create pages about their inquiry topic.

Followed a tweet from Jacqui Sharp to get this collection of articles about i-pads in education from a variety of sources.
My grand daughter uses my i-pad to play the piano, create art works, write stories and play educational games, she listens to music and stories and this is all on my i-pad first version so when I update she will have a lot more functions and apps to use.
I think it would be fab to have a set in any classroom - there is so much you can do! 

Found this on pininterest, I like it and might use it in a classroom for plenary discussion time.

Source: bbc.co.uk via Rebecca on Pinterest

Recording and sharing info and ideas

This is a great tool for students to make quick recordings to share. Download the app and use on class trips or sports events.

New but old ideas

I remember years ago using Alice to introduce chn to programming animations - the newer and revised Alice is still a great tool for chn to problem solve and create. It is a great tool to get them thinking - could be a maths tumble activity.

I can't believe it's already 10pm and I've been on Facebook for so long! What a time waster! Had my last day at the Herald Office on Friday so this is my first real day off, apart from edit my book I have done nothing and it was very easy to do.

Social Media Core-Ed workshop

Becky and I went to this workshop with DK from Core-Ed last week. It was a bit of fun, DK was really interesting and it was refreshing to hear from someone who was from a different background to teaching. I liked his sense of humour and laid back style. The school was amazing - all collaborative spaces and unlike any other school layout I have seen. I loved the way students lay back on bean bags while listening to the teacher. I bet the kids love it.

Looking through my old slideshare presentations and thought this may be useful for some people.

Online Learning Resources2

View more PowerPoint from anjistar

At Social Media workshop with DK from Core Ed at Hingaia School. An amazing school with collaborative learning spaces all new Look forward trying out some of the social media sites I haven't used such as ISSUU and like the idea of using booktrack app with my kindle books I wonder if that works together.

ICT PD journey

An ictpd cluster journey

View more presentations from Angie Simmons.

Facebook idea

Hi great day today in Whanga - I saw an interesting idea when I was reading Interface  mag - there was a secondary teacher who was using Facebook as a discussion board and learning tool for studying Shakespeare. All the students in the class were friends, the settings were private so just the class used it. It sounded a great way to utilise the students' love of social media!

Great to be back at Marist School

I spent a day at Marist School in Herne Bay last week as I will be working with the teachers in an ICTPD role again after three years out teaching. It was great to be back in this role and work with teachers again. It made me aware that I need to update my resource web site for teachers so there will be new things happening on that site.

Sad news

On Monday we were given the news that the NiE programme which has been published in NZ for the last 25 years is to close. What a shame as so many schools and students from all over NZ have enjoyed all the learning activities and it has been a valuable resource for teachers. I have only been there a short time and just lately I was working on an Olympic Games resource kit which will not be printed. We will be working till the end of term 2 so will publish the pages and web activities till then - all the work I put into the Olympic resource kit will be put into the published activity pages.
A beautiful crisp autumn day here on the coast and the sea is sparkling so not all bad in my world!

New look to blog!

Now I am no longer an ICT facilitator and also have no classroom of my own I have decided to change the ICT emphasis of my blog. I am still interested in latest happenings in the world of technology and will post any new ideas I come across but it will not be the focus of this blog as it was in the past.
I have just completed a page about local government and the consultation process for council draft plans for the NiE page and still working on more books for Essential Resources. Am working one day a week at the local school teaching dyslexic children, it is a great programme (Steps programme) and it is 1-1 teaching so better results and something the children do not get in their classroom.
Check out this site about local government in NZ - hover over the map and select your area to find out more and link to council in your area. Good for looking at in classroom now as all councils reviewing the 10 year community plan and up for consultation - young people have a voice too.

Online Interactive Curriculum Planner

A wonderful new online interactive curriculum planning tool has just been released. i had the opportunity of seeing it in action today and was really impressed with the ease of use and practicality of it. You can set up your class and groups for planning, all of the AO's are there to link to and you can add your own learning intentions and experiences. It really is very comprehensive and too much to tell about here. Have a look at it and use the videos to show how it works. I particularly liked the way you can set up lessons for groups and the fact that plans can be stored and used by other teachers too. As it is all in the cloud you can't lose it and can access anywhere.
It will be shown at the Learning at School Conference later this week and if you are lucky enough to be there ask Jo at the Essential Resources stand to show it to you. She is taking a workshop there but it may be full already. While you are there check out my latest book - Assessment for Learning!

2012

Well back to the real world - holidays over and my days as full time teacher are over for now too. I said farewell to my lovely class at Sherwood and all the great teachers there. I have now started back at APN and go into the NZ Herald office 2 days a week and work from home writing for a day. I am working on a literacy resource for teachers until end Feb when we start the activity pages and web site again. The resource is free and is called Dive in and Read. Unfortunately only the regional papers around NZ publish it but we are working on having a more comprehensive and interactive web site which teachers in Auckland will be able to utilize. At the moment anyone can register and use the resources on the site but the resource pages are only included in the regional papers.
The Spotlight on Sport resource will of course be the Olympics this year.