Word Link and Word Bounce

APOLOGY – not really ICT based as my usual content on this blog is but is very much about teaching and learning.

These are two quick and easy activities for developing the use of terminology, consolidating understanding, applying knowledge and making synoptic links that I use with my A’level group.

AIM OF BOTH:

• Increase familiarity with key terminology
• Develop and consolidate understanding of the meaning of the key words
• Develop the ability to apply understanding by showing that understand how the word and its meaning fits into the wider glacial topic
• Can be used to help develop synoptic links and help students identify synoptic links more quickly if using vocabulary or named examples from across the spec.

The example below is Glaciation based (after the first few weeks of introducing the topic) but can be used at any time in the course and with any topic. It is good for checking as you go that students can see the links between the knowledge they are developing and is good for revision at the end of a topic.

It is really flexible – only involves writing words on board (so little prep needed) can be done with any topic – physical or human AND a variety of words from across topics to get the synoptic links going. (We are particularly focusing this year on trying to build student capacity to make links within and between topics throughout the A Level course). 

First you need a set of words – either on the whiteboard or given to students – for example..

WORD LINK
– can just be done in pairs or teacher led asking individuals.

How does it work:
Either:
(i) give students any two words and they have to make a sentence which links them
e.g.   Accumulation and Equilibrium   – e.g. “when accumulation and ablation are the
same, equilibrium occurs.”

OR

(ii) Students have to choose two words that they are going to make a link between in a sentence.

WORD BOUNCE
– done in a team – could do as a whole class or split into groups depending on class size (similar concept to Word link – but have to keep the chain of words going ‘bouncing’ between students….)

How does it work: Students to make a sentence with any two words on the board (so starts like work link) – e.g.

Student 1 “A cold based glacier is also known as a Polar Glacier.”

The next person has to start their sentence with the second word that the student before used so would start with Polar Glacier and link to another word – e.g.

Student 2 “Polar Glaciers move by internal deformation”

Next students has to start with internal deformation e.g.

Student 3 “Internal deformation includes processes such as Laminar flow”

Student 4 “Laminar Flow does not occur in Temperate Glaciers”

Student 5 “Temperate glaciers are found at high altitude and are also known as warm based glaciers”

etc.

The challenge for the student becomes how to then link to another aspect – so the next student could change the focus from types of glacier to mass balance by then saying “Warm based glaciers will be in retreat if there is a negative mass balance“.

So basically students are ‘bouncing’ a word to the next in team to make a link between and build a sentence with – I have found that this can become very competitive as the aim is to keeping going from person to person for as long as possible without stopping – you could do it where they can use the same word twice in a different context – OR to make it harder – give them a copy of the key words and they have to tick them off as they use them so those words can’t be used again.

 

 

Using Technology in teaching KS4/KS5 Geography

I haven’t posted for a while due to the hectic nature of preparation for the new GCSE and A’level courses. Back in November however I gave a talk in London looking at Utilising Technology in Teaching KS4 and KS5 Geography and thought I would share the resources on here.

The handout can be downloaded here and has lots of direct weblinks and advice to support geography teachers in following up the ideas discussed.

The presentation given is below. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Using new technologies in Geography

Back in January I ran part of a training session for a local network of Geography teachers. The main session was taken by Jason Swale from ESRI UK looking at the fantastic ArcGIS and the ways in which it can be used to successfully integrate GIS into the curriculum, particularly in light of the new GCSE and A’level specifications. Prior to this I did a short 30 minute session exploring some of the ways in which new technologies can be utilised in the teaching and learning of Geography, drawing particularly on some of our experiences in the ways we use it in my department at St Ivo School. Here is the presentation summarising the key ideas discussed during the session.

In case it is useful you can download the handout of links I gave out on the evening here to help explore some of the ideas covered in more detail.

Beginners Guide to Blogging

Blogging is a fantastic tool for supporting teaching and learning as well as for personal professional development and reflection on areas of particular interest. With many online blogging sites available such as wordpress.com you don’t need to be a computer expert or understand .html to set up your own blog. If you are interested in keeping a blog or using blogging in the classroom check out http://startbloggingonline.com/ an excellent beginners guide on how to set up a blog by Mike Wallagher – very user friendly and everything you need to know! With the new academic year not far off maybe a blog is part of your new years education resolution!

Edynco – Interactive Learning Maps

I’ve recently come across Edynco which I’m hoping to try out over the next couple of weeks. I think this could have really good potential for helping students with revision and linking concepts and key ideas to support recall. Edynco enables simple mind-maps to be turned into interactive learning maps with the addition of other resources and links such as attached documents, audio, video etc.

There is a short introductory video here:

Formative – free student response / online formative assessment tool

Formative is an online student response system / online formative assessment tool which is made by teachers from across the US and is free for teachers and students. The tool enables a range of responses including multiple choice, numeric, text, drawing and taking pictures. Assessments are shared with students via a quick link or access code and student responses are sent to the teacher in realtime so that early intervention and tracking of student responses can be undertaken.

This video provides a useful overview of the tool.

There is also a useful tutorial video which shows you how to upload and convert a .pdf into a digital formative assessment. This video helps to show you the potential of the tool for setting online assessments as homework or classwork. As student work is completed it can be monitored in realtime.

I really like the potential of this and hope to give it a go with one of my exam classes over the next term. Have any of you had any experience of this already or have any ideas to share?

The Padagogy Wheel – v4

The excellent padagogy wheel v4. poster by Allan Carrington is a must for teachers interested in the use of iPads. Fundamentally, it’s creation looked at how pedagogy can drive the technology and not the other way.  The most recent version, published this month, has links to 122 of the latest and most popular educational apps.

The poster itself has a number of direct links to other supporting online resources. It is ideal for printing and sharing with colleagues in schools and colleges. The wheel helps to clearly show the links between apps, learning objectives, cognitive development actions etc. and has great potential for use in the creation of learning courses making best use of iPads – essential for any school looking at the truly effective integration of iPads in learning.

There is a very useful audio presentation here published by Allan Carrington which looks not only at the development of the padagogy wheel concept but also how it can be used.

Further links to Allan’s work and the Padagogy Wheel include:

The Padagogy Wheel v4 – the next generation
The Padagogy Wheelhouse

Timers for the Classroom – Vol 2!

Back in 2009 I wrote a post on Using timers in the Classroom. Things have moved on a lot since then, some of the ones on the old post are no more and I have just found a few other great timers so I thought I’d do a quick update with a new post.

I hadn’t seen this timer before but this is from the fantastic Classtools.net – it is brilliant! I love the fact you can add multiple timers and you can either run them all at once if you have different groups being timed in different ways, or they can run in sequence! I am looking forward to using these to help my Year 11s practise their timing when completing exam questions. You can also add tunes and youtube videos to your timers! One of my favourite features is the fact that you can save weblinks to your customised timers so you can set things up in advance and have a range of timers set up and saved for a variety of purposes.

Here are few links to some other timers as well:

• Countdown Timer 
• Rocket Timer
• Candle Timer
• Visnos Classroom Timer
• Balloon Pop Timer (this is an updated link to the one that has now broken on the previous post)

Emaze – an alternative to PowerPoint?

Emaze looks like a potentially useful tool which can be put to good use in education, whether it is for students to create online presentations for homework or assessment purposes, or for teachers that want to create a presentation with a different look to PowerPoint with stunning visual effects for added impact, either in the classroom, or for creating CPD presentations for training purposes.

Emaze is also said to have  animation facilities which surpass those available on Powerpoint. It is a cloud based technology so you can access your presentations from anywhere. Another benefit is that it is multi-device so that it can be viewed and edited on PCs/ tablets / smartphones etc. There are also ready made templates and slides which can be easily edited.

Whilst Emaze wont replace my use of PowerPoint and SMART notebook in my teaching I can certainly see the benefit of having another tool in the toolkit when wanting to make a particular impact with a presentation, for example I am quite keen to try it out for creating an options presentation for KS3 into KS4 with a different look to the standard PowerPoint overload. With more and more students making use of digital media to present homework tasks I can also see some of them putting the free Emaze account to good use. There is also a presentation template designed specifically for education.

Whilst there is free account option there are premium plans for those that want to do more, including a special education plan at a reduced rate which includes all the features of their premium plan. With the pro version there are additional options, including creating video presentations which can be shared on blogs etc.

Here is a useful Emaze demonstration which gives an overview of what it offers…

New Review Game – Connect Fours

The brilliant Russell Tarr from Classtools.net has created a great new review game called Connect Fours. As with all the fantastic tools on the classtools.net website, they are free and can be hosted on blogs, websites etc. and require no password or signup. The game consists of a wall with 16 clues which then need sorting into 4 rows of connected items. A sample game can be tried out here.

There are many good ways to put this to use as a little starter or plenary activity on the IWB to check understanding and to act as a stimulus for class discussion. I am going to try it out as a starter for a forthcoming Year 12 revision lesson to practise categorising landforms in cold environments.

Richard Byrne from Free Technology 4 Teachers has created a short youtube clip showing how to create a review game using Connect Fours.

Classtools.net also has a fanpage on Facebook with frequent useful updates and is worth a follow!