Technology Teaching Tidbits

Recently I had a comment from a colleague from University that has made me stop and think. For the past three terms I have been working in a team of four teaching a fluctuating 90-110 children. I mentioned that I was making the Christmas gifts for all of the children in the studio and her response startled me. Her first response was "Why? Shouldn't you be each doing them for you own kids?" Recently as a team we have been talking about how we teach and work together and what we can change around this. We have spent this year setting up routines, adjusting to the environment (it's a new school this year) and finding our feet. Somewhere along the way we fell back into the routine of key groups are priority which is something we want to change but in some aspects this is already in effect. It's funny that when I first applied for my position I was nervous of the space and how it functions as I have never been in an environment such as this yet quickly I saw the bene...

In May I started teaching in my first classroom. It has been a big change as I have gone from training in single cell classrooms to a studio with 3 other teachers and 102 children. One of my main focuses has been how to support my learners with specialist needs who are engaging in technology. One great find I have is Monster Math. On top of being able to set multiple accounts and adjust the style of questions you can also get emailed updates on your learner's progress. Check out the examples below. This app runs as a story mode, practice mode and multi-player where kids verse each other and can have different level of difficulty in the competition. Overall this app is engaging and allows learners to engage as well as learning. Welcome window (of the free version) Skill selection pages for setting learners specific learning needs.   Story challenge page. Learners tap the candies that equal to 5 without being jumped on or hit by the bad monster.  Emailed...

During the writing of this blog I was reflecting a lot on the technological tools that are available online to use with learners but I did very little reflection on the resources available for teachers through technology that may not be for use on technology. After Graduating I began to explore the different websites and resources that are available through the sharing of teachers and building a library of resources for my own use. Websites such as Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT) have become a regular part of my day to day life as I started to build my resource tool kit. As well as paying to get large packs of resources from other Teachers including planning to go with the resources. One of my most recent finds is a mathematics activity that uses QR code within the activity. All of these resources are made by teachers making them more valuable with in the classroom as they are designed by other professionals who know the participants. All too often we become accustomed to keeping our own...