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"Let me introduce you to Brian. Brian is a (fictional) primary school head teacher in England, UK. Well, maybe not fictional, as many working in schools will relate to the story created by Will Ryan in his 'Dare to be Different' book. Following the internal dialogues, reflections and incidents that Brian is faced with on a daily basis, the story unfolds telling how an individual can strive to take back ownership of what happens in the classroom and build vibrant curriculum with which to hook the imaginations of pupils. How? Will has cleverly inserted over 100 tips based on exciting primary practice, along with nearly fifty significant ideas to strengthen leadership, and accompanied a similar number of inspiring quotations throughout the story that encourages head-teachers to be brave and follow their own rules for what is best for that school community."

The UKEdChat communities nominations for great educators to follow on Twitter

"Teachers talk… a lot! As a teacher I have lost my voice many times, and still the talking continues. But do we say the right things in education. This session will explore how teachers, pupils, the community, educational leaders and outside professionals communicate, or fail to do so and why this might be."

"A number of challenges stand between schools and effective, valuable engagement with parents Schools can improve parental engagement by revolutionising the way they communicate with families via a cost effective app."

"Schools achieve amazing things everyday, especially when educators and students have the right resources and experience. However, with funding at chronically low levels in many education systems around the world, schools are looking for innovative ways to invest more funds into the classroom, beyond simply asking parents to make up the shortfall.  The idea of patronage for scholars and artisans by philanthropists is nothing new and has its roots in the ancient past."

"Researchers say findings provide opportunity to target resources at new mental health initiatives in schools and local communities in order to tackle self-harm"

"With a major focus on wellbeing and mental-health among many communities around the UK, staff and pupils at Bradford Grammar School are taking things one step further, with a 'Spotlight on Happiness' focusing on actions that can improve the mental resilience of all. In tandem with the England government's pledge of £1.25 billion to improve children and young people's mental health services, the Department of Health and NHS England published 'Future in mind', with a proposal to encourage schools to continue to develop 'whole school approaches' to promoting emotional well-being and mental health."

"Free, open source version of Minecraft. Enable 'Creative Mode' to let your pupils to build as their imagination and creativity allows. Download for Windows, Mac or Android devices. The game is supported by a community and a huge set of mods to modify the game for individual needs."

Free online educational magazine from UKEdChat

Free online education magazine to read or download (PDF) This issue has a 'Teacher Network' theme. Includes community nominations for best educators to follow on Twitter.

There is an assumption that persists in the educational community that more mature teachers are much more difficult and reluctant to be trained on the effective use of educational technology. To some degree, I think this assumption has been built on by the digital native vs digital immigrant myth. But as someone who has trained teachers of all ages all over the world I would say that, from my own experience, this hasn't been the case.

Open source online education magazine. This month's theme is home/school communication and collaboration

For anyone who has ever wondered how and why the Internet was created comes this extensive essay, "The Roads and Crossroads of Internet's History." With this document, users can follow the development of the Net from its early stages as a military communication system to the multimedia extravaganza we know today.

For anyone who has ever wondered how and why the Internet was created comes this extensive essay, "The Roads and Crossroads of Internet's History." With this document, users can follow the development of the Net from its early stages as a military communication system to the multimedia extravaganza we know today.

"Crucially, the outcome of being digitally fluent relates to issues of responsibility, equity and access. We all have the right to fully participate in a digitally-enabled education system and in an increasingly digitised society. If we work with fluency in the way we use technologies, we are able to keep ourselves safe online and take full advantage of life chance opportunities such as being able to apply for work, manage our finances, or be part of our local community). "In the years ahead, digital fluency will become a prerequisite for obtaining jobs, participating meaningfully in society, and learning throughout a lifetime. (Resnick, 2002, p. 33) [via White, 2013]" As more services - health, civil, safety, even voting - move online, it has never been more important to ensure citizens are not disenfranchised from accessing services that are central to the well-being of all."

Superb Apple and Android apps designed to improve home/school communication to inform parents about what their children are doing in school. Teachers can input simple lesson topics, or detailed lesson information for parents. Teachers can also assign badges for individual pupils.

"Ainsworth, Prain and Tyler  (2011) in a paper in Science argue that  drawing  can play a number of  important roles in learning:, namely: Drawing to enhance engagement - surveys have shown than when students draw to explain they are more motivated to learn compared to traditional teaching of science. Drawing to learn to represent in science - the process of producing visual representations  helps learners understand how scientific representations work. Drawing to reason in science - student learn to reason like scientists as they select specific features to focus on in their drawings, aligning it with observation, measurement and/or emerging ideas Drawing as a learning strategy - if learners read a text and then draw it, the process of making their understanding visible and explicit helps them to overcome limitations in presented material, organise and integrate their knowledge and ultimately can be transformative. Drawing to communicate - discussing their drawings with their students provides teachers with windows into students' thinking as well being a way that the peers can share knowledge, discovery and understanding."

The blog of science communicator Bill Nye. The site is full of science activities and experiments to try, with video demonstrations and things to download for your class.

Guide your character through an adventure from planet to planet, learning and using coding skills to navigate the world and complete progressively trickier missions. The site allows player to build their own worlds to play and classmates can even communicate and share their creations.

A great Android app which shows you the many readouts of the sensors on your device. Use them in science, geography and more.