TouchDevelop lets you create apps on iPad, iPhone, Android, PC,Mac, Windows Phone. Our touch-friendly editor makes coding fun, even on your phone or tablet! Teaching with TouchDevelop Creating Interactive Apps can not only contextualise learning but also offer a huge stimulus for students and teachers in achieving learning outcomes. What is TouchDevelop? TouchDevelop is an online app creation tool from Microsoft Research. Originally designed to develop Windows Phone 7 apps, TouchDevelop has recently been updated as a web app and now allows you to develop Windows Store apps suitable for Windows 8 touch screen devices. TouchDevelop is easy to use and works with several web browsers. https://www.touchdevelop.com/ Lesson Plans & Tutotials http://touchdevelop.weebly.com/td-challenge.html Attend the 9th annual Outstanding Secondary Learning and Teaching conference and take away practical, proven strategies to embed high-quality learning and teaching throughout your school that effectively deliver sustained pupil progress. Catch my session on 'New Technologies' which explores proven innovations that improve pupil engagement in class and measurably raise the Quality of Learning and Teaching. for more info click on the PDF file below;
TeachMeet is an organic movement of educators who are passionate about ICT and technology; Mark started this local group to reflect the exciting developments happening in education - and in Tech City. What is a TeachMeet? A TeachMeet is an organised but informal meeting for teachers to share best practice, practical innovations and personal insights in teaching with technology. You can either join us to 'watch and learn', present for 2 minutes (nano), or present for 7 minutes (micro). Best of all, it's free! Sign Up Now! Click Here START TIMES: TeachMeet Tech City: 6pm - 7.15pm Sponsored drinks break ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Edmix: 7.45pm - 9pm Edmix is hosting a demo session inviting edtech entrepreneurs to showcase their business and innovations, and to explore some of the challenges they faces in growing their business. If you run, or are part of an edtech company and interested in presenting your business - and crowd-sourcing your business challenges to a warm audience of 100+ investors, educators and fellow entrepreneurs - please drop edmix a line on: [email protected] Sign Up Now! Click Here ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 Tips: Back 2 SchoolGetting ready for the New Academic Year? You must be thinking about your top priorities. Well let me give some practical advice and resources to get you started! 1. The Big Clean UpThe big clean up is the most important part of the new academic year and setting the foundation for innovative & creative class environments. The first part of the big clean up is getting rid of any old resources (i.e. books, worksheets & out dated equipment) in your classroom. The aim is to create a learning environment that is new and current. The second part of the big clean up is your Home Drive & Shared Area on your computer. If you're like me, randomly saving things and putting documents all over the place, it might be a good idea to create a folder from the previous year and dump all your resources as an archive. Top Advice: The Aim is to make sure your resources are current, up to date & relevant for the new year ahead. 2. The Mini TrackersTracking students' coursework, homework, behaviour or progress is an important part of your practice. Over the years I have wasted countless hours going over the top, data capturing student's information and storing it effectively. My recommendation is to keep it simple at the start and build as you go along. Top Advice: If you're finding it hard to maintain your tracking system then you are doing something wrong. Make sure it's simple and easy to populate. Click on the link below for a Free Tracking System to get you started. Free Tracking System (Homework, Assessments, Interventions & Behaviour) 3. Keep Your Resources Current!Keeping your practices current is one of the best ways of keeping on top of your teaching and becoming an awesome teacher! It is important you keep your Homework, Worksheets & Schemes Of Work up to date so students are engaged, inspired and prepared. Click on the link below for a Free Welcome back presentation to get you started Free Welcome Back Powerpoint Presentation Top Advice: Sometimes recycling PPT slides, Worksheets, Internet Resources can hinder your practice. Keep your resources up to date! 4. Develop Yourself or Get Left BehindIn order to grow, you need to increase your skill sets & willingness to learn new things! Then exciting things will happen in your teaching. One question I ask myself everyday is what can I do to enhance my teaching or make my teaching job easier. Since I have embedded this philosophy into my practice, I have been more open to learning new things and sharing my resources with others. As a result this has helped my teaching and relationships to become more stronger and relevant to others. Another great way of learning new things is visiting other departments in your school, joining twitter (follow #ukedchat #edchat #sltchat Hashtags) or going to your local teachmeet.com Top Advice: "You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them." - Michael Jordan 5. Time to Get Passionate!When was the last time you were passionate about something in teaching. You couldn't wait to get into the classroom to teach? Well it's time to embrace passion and your enthusiasm about your subject! This is because passion is contagious & can spread rapidly through your students and colleagues. The hidden secret to excellent teaching is to care more and taking more risks. As a result it will enhance your relationships and teaching output. So my advice is to keep calm and show some passion for your subject. Top Advice: "Work hard and cultivate relationships. New opportunities will present themselves to you." - Unknown |