Mastering the art of teaching appears to be easier for some colleagues than others. Some teachers just seem to have a presence, gaining respect and credibility from students, colleagues and parents alike. Did they undergo some mysterious, magical training that wasn't covered during your teacher training course? Well, no. They just have mastered how to manage their working relationships, using their personalities to generate rapport, which is respected by students of all age. It's not rocket science - it's far more complicated than that. Personality and behaviour clashes in classrooms are inevitable, but looking at all the different elements of daily interactions can help you gain respect from students and colleagues alike...
This is a fabulous and fascinating YouTube channel where all sorts of science ideas are explored and explained in a friendly and engaging way. The topics range from near Earth Asteroid to dung beetles. The videos often cover science stories that are currently in the news.
http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Science
Children are influenced by everything around them, the way their parents act, what their parents say and do, and increasingly as they spend more time ‘with’ celebrity figures how these role models act.
A study by the Royal Economic Society, to be presented this week, finds that parental effect on test results is five times that of teachers' influence. This comes in the wake of warnings by Sir Michael Wilshaw last week that teachers were unable to properly do their own jobs because parents were expecting them to cover their own parenting skill shortfalls and to become surrogate family for the students.
It all happens well before school comes into the equation. If a child grows up in a literature rich, engaging environment with adults that spend quality time giving opportunities for great learning experiences in the world, the worst teachers still can't decoy that child's enthusiasm for learning. He can always learn at home. But if the child grows up neglected, not nurtured with rich learning experiences ( and I'm not talking about helicopter parents spending every waking moment ramming study down their throats - just quality conversation and hands on experiences )l doesn't get read to or taken out to shop, teachers are fighting an uphill battle with a disengaged individual. Parents, don't wait for school teachers to teach your kids. Start straight away..
A cool interactive map of the Roman Empire. A great tool to experiment with different modes of travel, over different routes, different seasons, etc. through the Roman Empire.
ORBIS: The Stanford Geospatial Network Model of the Roman World reconstructs the time cost and financial expense associated with a wide range of different types of travel in antiquity. The model is based on a simplified version of the giant network of cities, roads, rivers and sea lanes that framed movement across the Roman Empire. It broadly reflects conditions around 200 CE but also covers a few sites and roads created in late antiquity.
Resources for teaching Plagiarism from Rutgers University, shared by Gretchen Schroeder in Spring 2009, with the following caveat: "There are a couple of things in the "Quiz" video that are not precisely accurate e.g. they don't cover common knowledge quite right."
The guideposts are a useful assessment tool based on how individual guides integrate the Four Roles/Resources of the Reader.
The guidepost indicators may be used to monitor student learning. However, use the guideposts flexibly. While the guideposts do cover each of the Four Roles/Resources of the Reader, teachers may choose to focus on one or two roles or fewer indicators for each role. Teachers may also find that there are other learning outcomes which they would like to focus on and which reflect the particular needs of their students.
This site covers history across the range of human history and in places around the globe. It offers a vast number of links, resources, games, lesson plans and printables for students ranging from Primary school right up to college. It is a must for any history teacher.
http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/History
The State of Tech is a bi-weekly podcast covering educational technology. The show is designed for anyone in education (from teachers to principals to technology directors) wanting to explore how technology can be used to improve teaching and learning.
Download free textbooks online: Bookboon's free online textbooks for students are focused and to the point. They are all written by highly respected professors from top universities in the world and cover topics such as economics, statistics, IT, engineering and natural science.
A periodic table of podcasts from Royal Society of Chemistry covering most elements. You can download or listen online.
http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Science
Reading Bear, a project of WatchKnowLearn.org, is the first free program online to teach beginning readers vocabulary and concepts while systematically introducing all the main phonetic patterns of written English, all using innovative rich media. We spent an enormous amount of time developing 50 presentations, covering even more phonics principles and illustrating over 1,200 vocabulary items. There is nothing else like it, free or otherwise.
A beautifully designed and wonderfully useful number line resource for whiteboards. Choose the increments and starting point of the sequence and cover up numbers for the class to guess.
http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Maths