As I settled into completing my plans for SESE for 2014 the gale force winds and rain hammered the windows of the house. The rain and the flooding got me to thinking of the floods surrounding our school in Harolds Cross, Dublin in 2011. I was wondering how I would acquire enough maps for the […]
Our school is very lucky, in that it has been very well resourced throughout the last few years. We have Interactive Whiteboards in every classroom, visualisers, a set of laptops and pride of place, our shiny new set of 12 iPads. We have received whole school training through NCTE, as well as in-house training delivered
Encouraging Use of IT Across the Whole School Read More »
For the last couple of years I’ve being out of the mainstream classroom and thus had fallen out of touch with using the IWB for whole class teaching. I soon got back into the swing of things and recalled how helpful Folens Online and CJFallon’s Digital Hub are in having the curriculum books available for
Whole class teaching using IWB Read More »
Roughly 80-90% of Irish primary classrooms have an Interactive Whiteboard, (IWB). However, now that they are part of the furniture in most Irish classrooms, what have we learned? When IWBs came out, I spent a lot of time reviewing them and finding out which board offered the best value and service. I was convinced that
IWBs – Time to dismantle the Trojan Horse? Read More »
We have had the pleasure of updating our primary school history policy recently and we used ICT in a number of ways to create resources that may be used within the classroom. We found ICT particularly useful in creating a bank of resources on the local history of Harolds Cross, Dublin where the school is
Using ICT to create resources for history in the primary classroom Read More »
Everyone in education is talking about tablet computing. The days of comparing the various quirks of Interactive Whiteboards has ended and teachers are looking at the next big thing. At second level, tablets are an ideal technology resource, even if they simply just replace the textbook. However, at primary level, where we’re not so stuck
Tablets: Is the future Microsoft? Read More »
It’s not too long to Christmas and while the shops have been full of the spirit since September, I generally wait until as close to the end of the term to mention the “C” word in school. Here are some ideas to integrate technology in your classroom for the festive season. Christmas Carol Video Conference
Going Digital this Christmas! Read More »
Having spent many years teaching in a main stream primary classroom I returned to school this year with the exciting challenge of teaching children with special educational needs [SEN] as a resource teacher. The Down Syndrome website provides an excellent list of free and commercial software that you may use within your classroom. A site
Visual Schedules for Special Education Needs [SEN] pupils Read More »
Class Dojo (www.classdojo.com) is a real-time behaviour management system for teachers who have an internet-enabled computer and a projector or IWB. You start by creating an account and setting up a class by typing in the names of your students. Avatars for each student are automatically generated during this process. In class, you select a
Behaviour Management With A Little Digital Help Read More »
Brainstorming and mind mapping are very popular teaching strategies and methodologies that can be used across a variety of curricular areas. Many will use the blackboard/whiteboard for a mind mapping/brainstorming session but what about a digital alternative? Let me introduce you to Mindmeister. Mindmeister.com is an online mind-mapping application. Users can create simple or complex
