graham.davidson

New term, new weans, new challenges, new buildings, new staff, new enemies. Where, oh where, did the holidays go to?

However, it’s back to the old grind, and it made me wonder what the coming year has in store, with particular reference to GLOW. Hopefully things will move along swiftly instead of drifting along slowly, and the more exciting times will be here sooner rather than later.

Came back from holidays. Tried to access the internet but Websense won’t allow it.

Ach well, back to IGear again!

We are currently “trialling” the new IGear - something called “Websense”. Apparently this is much better than the old IGear. My story so far:

Computer switched to Websense late on Friday afternoon.

Monday: tried to access internet - Every site is blocked by Websense. (and I do mean “every” site) Reported to technician. No faults found - settings the same as every other computer in the school. Even he can’t access internet. Reported to higher authorities. Solution - leave it for some time and try later????????

Tuesday - still can’t access internet, so have now returned to IGear.

I can access the internet on any other computer, but noone can access it from mine and the settings are all the same.

Moral of the story so far. The next time you feel like moaning about IGear - better the devil you know……………………………………………….

I, once again, had the pleasure of training some teachers in the use of Smart boards yesterday. They all arrived full of enthusiasm, and with a huge range of previous experiences, from the “I’ve never touched one before” to the “I have one in my classroom and use it every day”. Once they got started they all immediatley started helping and encouraging each other. It was wonderful to watch and a thoroughly uplifting day. Thanks to all who were there, and I hope your enthusiasm continues.

We have recently experienced one of the nastier sides of ICT and I post this as a warning to all teachers out there. Pupils using mobile phones in a classroom, in particular, the cameras on mobile phones especially without the teacher’s knowledge. Recently a small video clip was taken in one of our classrooms and then posted on the internet for the whole world to see. This has the potential to leave any teacher in a very vulnerable situation and I would advise that you be extra vigilant.

This morning was absolutely gorgeous - cold, clear and crisp. It is what winter should be like. As I was walking into the school, though, I noted to my horror the number of cars in the car park with small, what can only be described as postcard-sized, “clear bits” scraped from the windscreen to allow the driver to see out through the frost covered glass. Some others had obviously spent some considerable time scraping the frost away. But the worst of it is, all these people live within a comfortable walking distance of the school. They must have spent longer scraping the windscreen than they would have spent actually walking to work. And yet, we spend time educating students how they should be “saving the planet”, “cutting down on waste”, “recycling this”, “recycling that”, “we should be more eco-friendly”, etc..

Are we really practicing what we preach?

Having now been using the authoroties “Click and Go” for writing reports for the last few years, I was amazed to hear recently that some schools are only now beginning to use this feature of the system.

Personally speaking, I think it is brilliant. It makes writing the reports much easier as well as quicker. I have been playing around with the “Comments banks” which are a bit fiddly, but once they are set up, they can be used as a foundation for getting the report written.

Another big PLUS for ICT.

I was recently fortunate enough to be allowed to purchase a piece of software which allows you to make up good quality online test resources. I have placed an example here for you to have a look at. It was made using software from www.articulate.com which is very user friendly. I also have other samples available such as credit level, intermediate 2 and Higher Biology questions. If anyone would like more info, please feel free to ask me.

Is it just me, or is everyone else being inundated with colourful brochures from companies selling “interactive” software? This would seem to be the bandwagon to be on at the moment. £100 here, £250 there, etc. and some of them a lot more expensive than that. I would like to know who is actually buying this stuff and where they are getting the money from, because it is these people who are keeping the prices out of certainly my price range. I have no doubt that some of this stuff is very good and would enhance learning and teaching, but until the prices come down, we will just have to make do with what we have at present.

Ah well!!! Dream on!!!

A simple quiz for Christmas time. See how well you do!

xmas-things.xls

Merry Christmas, everyone!