educators

A great HTML5 animation suite with a professional feel. The platform uses a similar interface to Adobe Animator. Learn how to animate with tweening. The free starter version should be all schools and educators need.

A wonderful game for learning Java Script Coding. Battle with coding opponents, either against the computer or friends. The game contains some superb graphics and a manageable learning curve.

A superb collection of coastal erosion & other resources from the University of Sussex.

Following the weekly #UKEdChat poll on Twitter (see results here), the topic of this #UKEdChat session is, "The impact of tablets and apps in education".

Displays can take up vast areas of wall space and many hours of adults' time, therefore teachers and leaders must be sure of the impact that they are having on learning so that what is on display is justified and not simply a waste of time and space.  Put simply, before a display goes up, we must ask: What will this display do to improve outcomes for children?  For this to be answered with any sort of reliability, the question must be framed within a sound knowledge of how children learn and what learning is - a change in long-term memory...

Swift Playgrounds, an innovative new iPad app from Apple that makes learning to code easy and fun for everyone, is now available on the App Store. With Swift Playgrounds, real coding concepts are brought to life with an interactive interface that allows students and beginners to explore working with Swift, the easy-to-learn programming language from Apple used by professional developers to create world-class apps.

It's probably one of the most commonly used strategies evident in classrooms around the world, but researchers from the University of Liverpool have concluded that group work can actually harm memory. In a joint study, psychologists from the University of Liverpool and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) have revealed that collaborating in a group to remember information is harmful...

Inspired by UK Parliament debate secured by @karlmccartney MP - Click here to read tweets from the debate - the #UKEdChat poll this week established that the discussion will focus on the Educational Performance of Boys.

In my first post in this series - Getting students' attention - I mentioned the use of backchannels. This post should give you more information about the use of backchannels within the classroom.

If you are working in a classroom where your students have internet connected devices, either through wifi or their mobile phone, using a backchannel can have a transformative impact on the way you can use technology with your students...

Simple Machines

From September, I am starting a new role. I am going to be a year group leader for year 5. This has come about relatively quickly since my return from mainstream and so I have spent some time over the summer reflecting on my practice and how I am going to develop and inspire the people I work with. One of those people is an NQT. My sister is also starting her first post as an NQT in another school. After speaking on the phone for half an hour this morning, I realised that some of the stuff that I was saying to her is probably some of the stuff that I will be saying to the NQT I will be working with...

I used to be a massive advocate of using mobile phones in lessons; the ways they could be used are just endless. I had students use them to research topics; find the answers to a question we didn't know, even as voting devices. I used them just rarely enough that students didn't take it as a given and rarely tried to use their phones for uses other than I intended. I even use them to avoid printing off sheet after sheet of homework, instead having students take a picture on their phone (with the added bonus that they can't lose the sheet).

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...

Join the #UKEdChat discussion on Twitter at 8pm(UK) to discuss planning and teaching resources.

Parents who excel at maths produce children who excel at maths. This is according to a recently released University of Pittsburgh study, which shows a distinct transfer of math skills from parent to child. The study specifically explored intergenerational transmission-the concept of parental influence on an offspring's behaviour or psychology-in mathematic capabilities.

As much as possible my wife and I try  and engage our children in as many different activities as we can; whether it be rock pooling on South Wales beaches in the rain, feeding the animals at a local farm or watching the fantastic Balloon display at Bristol Balloon Fiesta...

There is so much publicity and marketing around for the 'Back to school' push, and here in the UK it starts back in June as retailers grapple to win custom. But students are not the only ones returning to school after a pro-longed break, so we asked teachers what their essential items are to buy, before returning back for another school year. Here are the top 15 items, in no particular order, and you can see the responses in the Storify summary...

Never has the theme of wellbeing been so much in vogue! And it's really no surprise why. The presence and prevalence of the wellbeing 'movement' is growing fast among the teaching profession and beyond. As teachers, we have one of the most privileged and fulfilling roles - to nurture, engage, inspire, and motivate the children we teach. It's a profession full of dedicated, talented people who commit so much of themselves striving to make a difference, to have an impact.

One good are is student wellbeing though more can always be done.
http://www.textbooksfree.org/Child%20and%20Youth%20Well-Being.htm