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Hi Sean
Welcome to the course and thanks for sharing your thoughts of the use of the video. It is important to ensure that the learners are familiar with the vocabulary prior to watching the video to ensure they get a good grasp of the different concepts outlined in the video. This would also give the learners the opportunity to use the vocab in a meaningful way when using the Teal tool. I like how you are providing options for the learners to display their learning from the Teal Tool with posters, or data such as pictograms. Older classes could use trend graphs for comparison too. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Lorraine,
Welcome to the course. Stellarium is a fantastic resource and my class loved it when we explored it during the year. You can pick a time later in the day and show the learners what to look for in the night sky when they are at home. I think sharing the resources with parents is a great homework idea as it is something different and all members of the household can participate it some way. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Emer,
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on developing the school biodiversity plans. I like how you have planned to incorporate more plants for nocturnal insects to support biodiversity in the established school garden. I also like that you have suggested an audit regarding the lighting in the school groups and how this can be adapted to further support biodiversity for nocturnal species.
Hi CJ
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your mapping activity from your Green Team. What a fantastic idea to use digital technologies to explore mapping the school environment. Creating a digital map allows for lots of critical thinking and discussion as you have mentioned, comparing the digital map with previous years would also show progress in supporting biodiversity. Such as great idea and one I might try myself with my own class next year.
Hi Katie,
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this module. I agree that as teachers we need to give the learners lots of opportunities to explore new concepts through hands on practical tasks and inquiry based learning. While we can give them the information and discuss the concepts, practical exploration allows them to make sense of it and apply their learning. I hope you enjoy the other modules across this course.
Hi Michael,
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the video and the Teal tool. I agree that using the video allows for knowledge of the concept and then the Teal tool provides for practical exploration of the tool and also critical thinking as they make connections with the content of the video and the results of the Teal tool exploration. Learners can also consider the consequences of the rising temperatures. It is great to integrate this with maths also through the real life use of data.
Hi Niall,
It is a lovely idea to allow the learners to compare the night sky from two different areas as you have suggested. This will allow them to make critical comparisons and then discuss the reasons for difference and even to identify changes that can be made to reduce light pollution and the importance of these changes. I also like how you plan to get families involved in observing the night sky and also contacting other family members to compare the night sky in their own area. This will also raise awareness among the school community.
Hi Kevin,
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on light pollution. It is important for the learners to explore their local area initially and then to compare to images from the Dark Sky Reserve to allow for comparison, critical thinking and to introduce the concept of light pollution. As you have said it would increase learners’ awareness and empower them to take action. You could consider a survey of the school grounds or area around the school regarding the type of lighting etc to further enhance their understanding and support them in identifying strategies to reduce light pollution in the school, at home and even in the wider community.
Hi Paddy
Welcome to the course and thanks for your feedback on the resources in this module. They would support your plan to develop a school based weather station. As you have mentioned learners could record the data using instruments or digital tools. You could also consider asking the learners to make weather instruments to give them ownership of their learning. Have you considered how the concepts of weather and climate could be developed using the weather vs climate resource?
Hi Clodagh.
What a great learning opportunity for your class to research Alice Perry and her legacy. What a trailblazer she was to graduate from university as a civil engineer at that time. I also like how you are planning to establish links with history as you explore the timeline of Alice Perry.
As you are exploring civil engineering, there are lots of activities to explore in the class such as bridges that you have mentioned. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Marguerite.
Welcome to the course. It is great to hear your feedback from this module and that you are looking forward to using the resources from this module with your own class.
I am interested to know more about the JDO project and it sounds like it links to practical use of Google maps to allow for development of skills. I must look into the Take a Walk lesson and JDO further.
I also hope to use the GeoHive resource more effectively in my class this year. We are a rural school but it would be interesting to see how the land has changed with housing and also new roads and to also make more use of the biodiversity maps which would also link with Green Schools.
Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
H Clodagh.
Welcome to the course. I really like how you are planning to use storybooks to explore the concepts of maps. I love picture books and Rosie’s Walk or The Jolly Postman are fabulous picture books that allow for map making and discussion about maps.
I also like how you are planning to walk around the school to encourage the learners to observe and record what they can add to their map. It would be interesting to see what are the important landmarks for each learner. Great ideas to link with digital technology too. Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Rachel.
Welcome to the course. It is great to hear your feedback on this module and how you will apply this to your teaching.
Having taught infants for a number of years, I agree that the wondering and exploring concepts from the Curious Minds Framework are easily linked to the junior classes. We can focus on teacher led or demonstrations in the infant classes but as teachers we need to focus on the child-led inquiry and even facilitating this in child-led play. For example, having magnets available during play time. I agree that the rainbow spinner is a great opportunity for integration and I like how you plan to identify the colours as Gaeilge freisin.
Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Paula,
Thanks for your feedback. As teachers we can often look beyond the local area when exploring topics in science and geography. This course reminds us of the beauty of our own local environment and how we need to support and protect the biodiversity and heritage of our local area. And I agree we need to draw the children’s attention to this also so they don’t become oblivious. I had a little giggle at your Hairy Mary comment, where I’m from we called them Hairy Molly! But must keep a look out for them all the same.
Hi James
Welcome to the course. I am delighted to hear of the practicality of the resources in this module. The Curious Minds framework provides a clear structure and as you have mentioned the focus is on answering questions and not just telling the facts. It allows for lots of critical thinking and discussion and child-led investigating too. It is great to hear that the framework will help you in planning for teaching and learning and keeping the class engaged. I hope you enjoy the other modules and enjoy the course.
