tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12724774902080919582024-03-12T20:33:13.110-07:00BG BlogBrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206093259176791543noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1272477490208091958.post-67672198835673169432022-04-17T02:10:00.001-07:002022-04-17T02:10:19.033-07:00Using Prompt Words To Embed Routines And Remember Key Knowledge<p><br /></p><p> <b>Embedding Routines</b></p><p>I recently attended some training about helping children to remember more which got me thinking about how to embed everyday routines in my classroom in a more efficient way. </p><p>The slogan during the pandemic - Hands-Face-Space was a clever way of prompting people to remember key information that could help to keep them safe. Behind those three words was quite a lot of information:</p><p>Hands : Wash your hands for at least twenty seconds, Use soap. Wash both sides of your hands including in between your fingers. Wash your hands regularly during the day etc</p><p>Face : Cover your face with a face mask when you are in a shop, on public transport. Make sure the mask is washed/replaced regularly. Make sure the mask covers your mouth and nose.</p><p>Space - Stay 2m apart from others in public, at work, in school. Then all the scientific reasoning behind this which I can't remember.</p><p>As we had already been told all of this information, the quick prompt of those three words helped to trigger the recall of it in an efficient way. I feel it is important to emphasise (particularly if we are thinking about the use of this strategy in a classroom context) that the information must be carefully taught for the use of the three word prompt to become effective.</p><p>Having thought about this for a while, I considered how I could use this strategy to embed routines in my classroom. I had already spent considerable time at the start of the year training the children in the key routines I wanted to deploy in my classroom so the teaching of the information part was shorter than it would otherwise have been.</p><p>I decided to focus on the lining up routine. I chose this because in primary schools, children line up for all sorts of reasons : going out to play, assembly, going into the dinner hall, going swimming, going out to PE etc etc. Firstly, we reviewed the expectations for lining up (the key information behind the prompt words). Next, we practised the routine. Then I explained each of the three prompt words I was going to use to remind them of my expectations if it became necessary. Finally, periodically, I will ask the children to explain the information behind one or more of the prompt words to check they have retrieved it effectively. This approach has been very successful so I am going to widen it to other routines. I have an excellent trainee working with me at the moment and one of the targets she has identified for herself is to improve her classroom management. Therefore, we are going to build our prompt words for other routines together.</p><p><b>Remembering Key Knowledge</b></p><p>This year, I have been fortunate to lead some staff development around retrieval practice. I was inspired last summer having read the excellent books written by Kate Jones (@KateJones_teach). Her books demonstrate the power of retrieval practice and the research evidence behind it. I won't try to go into that here as Kate does it a million times better than I ever could. </p><p>Anyway, at school, we have implemented some retrieval practice strategies successfully. I wondered whether the idea of using three prompt words could be a useful way to help children retrieve key knowledge. Obviously, the knowledge would have to be effectively taught in the first place. Maybe then it would be possible to distill that key knowledge into three 'trigger or prompt' words that would enable the children to retrieve the knowledge at a later date. This idea is very much at the thinking stage for me but I intend to give it a try next term. A question I have about it is whether it would be better for me, the teacher, to decide what the prompt words should be or whether it would be better to build them with the children. We could even display them on the display for that topic. I will update this post once I've tried it. Thanks for reading my ramblings.</p><p>All the best </p><p>Bryn</p>Brynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206093259176791543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1272477490208091958.post-72642309663849016022020-10-03T11:36:00.001-07:002020-10-03T11:36:18.570-07:00Using Guided Reading To Teach Foundation Subject Content<p> </p><p>The idea I have been thinking about is in no way revolutionary or even original. It just came about as a result of some recent Twitter conversations.</p><p>I have recently been appointed Science lead at school. This week I had a handover meeting with the previous Science lead who shared with me the superb work she had been doing to lead the subject. She told me that her next step for her curriculum work would be to assign famous scientists for each of our Science units of work. </p><p>As this is a work in progress for us, I thought I would ask Twitter science folk for suggestions. Thankfully, lots of people replied offering help, advice and resources which I am incredibly grateful for. Then I saw a tweet from @missshooes this morning where she said that at her school they sometimes look at famous scientists during guided reading sessions.</p><p>I thought that this sounded like a great idea. Maybe we could take it even further as a way of easing our already overcrowded curriculum especially at the current time when there are many gaps to fill. I wonder whether much of the foundation subject content could be explored through guided reading sessions (or whole class reading if that's what you prefer). I know I am guilty of an over-emphasis on fiction in guided reading sessions. Much of the content we teach in geography/history/RE and science could be explored in reading sessions. </p><p>The children would get guided instruction of texts containing subject knowledge for foundation subjects while at the same time teaching reading objectives - obviously! It would help to create a better balance of non-fiction and fiction in reading sessions therefore exposing the children to a greater range of text types as well as developing their knowledge of the foundation subject topics. It might even help them with tackling the KS2 reading SAT which some argue is a test of knowledge as much as a test of reading ability.</p><p>It could be useful for pre-teaching foundation subject content too as pre-teaching is a great strategy for enabling SEND children to approach the foundation subject lesson with greater confidence. For example, if you have planned to teach a lesson about the Ancient Greek gods/goddesses in history, you could use a text about Ancient Greek goddesses in guided reading sessions earlier in the week. This could also mean that you can explore topics in greater depth during the history lesson as the children already have obtained some prior knowledge during guided reading sessions.</p><p>I'm going to give this a try in my own classroom and will update this blog when I know how it has gone.</p><p>Like I said, nothing ground-breaking but maybe worth a try.</p>Brynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206093259176791543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1272477490208091958.post-52650752878971993172019-08-25T02:14:00.001-07:002019-08-25T02:14:16.333-07:00Welcome AboardThis past week on Edutwitter, I have seen a few posts about advice for newly qualified teachers. There is a lot of sensible advice out there which is great. I thought I'd like to write a post from the other side of the coin so to speak. During the course of my teaching career, I have met many newly qualified teachers and obviously was one myself! I have been thinking about some ways that us more experienced teachers could help newly qualified teachers settle into life at their schools.<br />
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All NQTs should have a mentor and if you are a mentor, hopefully you have already been in contact with the NQT you are mentoring in whatever way suits you both.</div>
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Show the NQT a friendly face on day one.<br />
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Bob down to their classroom and say hello.<br />
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Ask them if they need anything.<br />
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Offer to make them a brew.<br />
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Make an effort to talk to them in the staffroom. Include them.<br />
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Find them a mug if they don't already have one.<br />
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Check any NQTs are familiar with school routines such as assembly times, duty rotas etc. It will be one less thing for them to stress about.</div>
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At the end of the first day/week, ask them how it went. See if they need help with anything.Sometimes, people can be reluctant to ask for help so it may be useful to offer it first.<br />
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I was lucky that as an NQT and in other schools I have been new to, I have been treated very kindly and I try to pass that kindness on when I see new staff joining the school where I work.</div>
Brynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206093259176791543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1272477490208091958.post-12458611365969794762019-06-09T13:14:00.001-07:002019-06-11T13:29:05.290-07:00Teachers I'd Like To See TeachEver since the very early days of my EduTwitter experience, I have connected with teachers who I would love to see in action.. I have learned so much from them online. EduTwitter is often a great place to pick up ideas and resources thanks to the many people who generously share.<br />
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When I began attending CPD events, I began to have lots of interesting conversations about how different teachers approached their practice both in a practical sense and in their teaching styles. The Primary Rocks phenomenon has increased my learning in this respect exponentially. The other week, I started to think about specific teachers that I would love to see in action in their own classrooms. The following are just some of those. There are many others.<br />
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Sophie Merrill @MissSMerrill<br />
I would love to see her deliver an art lesson. Her ideas are truly inspirational with incredible outcomes from the children. Another good thing is that I feel that other teachers would go away from the lesson thinking 'I could have a stab at that'.<br />
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James Theobald @JamesTheo<br />
I have really enjoyed reading James' blogs for a while now. Expertly written and often with a dash of well-timed humour, they always make me think and have regularly challenged my thinking. I am sure I could learn a lot for my own teaching of English by being in his lessons.<br />
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Rhoda Wilson @TemplarWilson<br />
Rhoda is the first person I came across who was teaching whole class reading. Her ideas and resources that she has shared freely long with her knowledge of books is something to behold. I have used her resources in my own lessons but I would love to see them delivered by the expert.<br />
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Paul Watson @Glazgow<br />
I met Paul at Primary Rocks in 2018 after his epic train journey from Glasgow. What he doesn't know about primary Science teaching isn't worth knowing. He is also a very humble, generous and all-round lovely fella. I would love to see him in action. I can imagine him having the children eating out of the palm of his hand.<br />
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Ben @bbcTeaching<br />
Ben is a music expert and this is a subject that I am not very confident teaching. Therefore, I would love to see it taught by somebody like Ben who I know would do it justice. I am sure I would pick up lots of ideas.<br />
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Graham Andre @grahamandre<br />
Graham is someone who I just enjoy being around. His sense of humour and joy for life is fantastic to see. The children he teaches clearly adore him and he cares about every single one of them. He has regularly shared masses of resources for free for a long time now.<br />
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There are many teachers that I would like to see teach computing lessons so it is impossible for me to choose just one. These would include (this is not an exhaustive list) : Lee Parkinson @IctMrP, Tim Head @MrHeadPrimary, Colin Grimes @MrGPrimary and any of the rest of the amazing 20 goto crew - you know who you are!<br />
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Throughout my own education, Geography was my favourite subject and it is what my degree is in. Therefore, I would love to watch Mark Enser @EnserMark teach Geography lessons as he is a true expert. He even wrote a book about it.<br />
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Finally, my good friend Rich Farrow is a man who knows the history curriculum inside out and I just love listening to him talk about history so I would definitely like to see him teach it!<br />
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There are many, many more teachers that I have connected with that I would love to see teach and I am sorry to those that I didn't include. I do believe that we can learn so much from each other if we are open to it.Brynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206093259176791543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1272477490208091958.post-76094268719147082082018-09-02T11:58:00.002-07:002018-09-02T11:58:43.652-07:00Using The CPA Approach In Subjects Other Than MathsWhen I first started teaching, there were some excellent maths teaching resources that came with the National Numeracy Strategy. These included the supplement of examples which is an excellent document. Another, was the Models and Images. This provided examples of how you could represent mathematical concepts in different ways. Therefore, when I first became aware of the CPA (Concrete-Pictoral-Abstract) approach to the teaching of maths just over a year ago, it reminded me of documents like Models and Images. Having worked on applying the CPA approach in my own teaching over the last year or so, I have really seen the benefits with children being more secure in their mathematical understanding across the ability range.<br />
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This got me thinking earlier this summer about a CPA approach in other subjects and what this might look like. Anyway, if you are interested, here are some of my ideas (I don't claim any of them as original - just the musings of my barely adequate mind).<br />
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<b>Science</b><br />
Concrete : Conducting a practical experiment.<br />
Pictoral : Look at images/video of an experiment and discussing results/conclusions.<br />
Abstract : Looking at data/results from an experiment and drawing own conclusions. Or planning an experiment that has been devised to answer a given scientific question.<br />
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<b>History</b><br />
Concrete : Visiting a site on a school trip or having a person/company in to do a workshop in role.<br />
Pictoral : Looking at images from the time period studied to learn about it, draw conclusions etc.<br />
Abstract : Reading texts about a particular event or talking to the children about it.<br />
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<b>Geography</b><br />
Concrete : Visiting places e.g a river.<br />
Pictoral : Studying maps, looking at images/videos that demonstrate geographical processes e.g. rivers<br />
Abstract : Reading texts about rivers or talking to the children about them.<br />
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<b>PE</b><br />
Concrete : Playing the game/sport<br />
Pictoral : Watchng videos/images of how the game/sport is played.<br />
Concrete : Planning own games/activities.<br />
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<b>RE</b><br />
Concrete : Visiting a place of worship<br />
Pictoral : Watching videos/looking at images of places of worship/religious practices.<br />
Abstract : Talking to the children about them or reading texts about them.<br />
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<b>Writing:</b><br />
Concrete : Drama, Mantle of The Expert investigation, attending/observing real-life event.<br />
Pictoral : Using images/film to inspire<br />
Abstract : Using texts to inspire writing, giving children text openings to work from, completely independent writing.<br />
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<b>Anyway, just a few ideas that may be useful.</b><br />
<br />Brynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206093259176791543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1272477490208091958.post-81430941055830043532018-06-24T12:42:00.002-07:002018-06-24T12:43:11.264-07:00SATs - What Is All The Fuss About?I have been thinking about writing this post for a while. Year 6 SATs are a massive deal for primary school - the results are used as one way of judging the effectiveness of a school by people such as OFSTED. It seems that a lot of schools are also making them a big deal for children too. This has led to worrying stories about Year 6 children getting stressed and anxious about them. As I am sure anybody would agree, that isn't good.<br />
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Where does this stress come from? Is it something that is filtered down from the teachers because they are feeling the pressure. They know the impact a 'bad' set of results could have on their own performance management (if that is one of their targets). They also know that the results matter for the school. It could affect what category OFSTED put the school in and all the ramifications that come with that.<br />
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Is it pressure from the media? There's usually a few stories about SATs on the television news or in the papers.<br />
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Is it pressure from parents because they want their child to do well because they have been given the impression by someone or something that it will affect the life chances of their child?<br />
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Is it pressure created by the school due to all the pre and post SATs events such as booster classes and after SATs parties and trips? What about the other year groups that work just as hard but don't get a trip/party? Does a Year 6 child really work harder in SATs week than in a normal teaching week?<br />
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Imagine a child that was feeling the pressure from ALL of these places. That is a lot for a child who is eleven to handle.<br />
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What about if we didn't tell them? What if we just gave them the tests on the day and didn't mention any kind of significance. I like what @shinpad1 (Sinead) said on Twitter about how they call them puzzle books with their children. No big deal. Just do them and move on. If the children receive high quality teaching throughout KS2 then there should be no need for booster classes. I realise this may be an ideal world but are we going about things the wrong way?<br />
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I'm not advocating a particular stance but I do worry about the pressure that SATs puts on our children and whether we can alleviate it by going about things in a different way.<br />
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Thanks for reading and I'd be very interested in your thoughts.<br />
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<br />Brynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206093259176791543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1272477490208091958.post-56469888192019024912018-02-17T07:49:00.001-08:002018-02-17T07:49:23.431-08:00The Power of Pre-teaching<br />
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The Power Of Pre-teaching</h1>
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Differentiation can be a thorny subject amongst teachers, SLT and inspectors. There is not enough of it, it's not really matched to the abilities of the pupils, we shouldn't be doing any at all. This post is not about a rationale for differentiation, more about a technique that I have found useful to support the less able.</div>
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By pre-teaching I mean teaching a one or a groups of children the concept to be taught in an upcoming lesson before they encounter it in said lesson. This may be done just before the lesson, say during assembly time or it may be done the day before. This will depend on the concept and the children who are involved.</div>
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Essentially, the idea is that it gives children who are not as confident with the subject matter a bit of a headstart when the lesson happens for the rest of the class. It is different from flipped learning in that the concept is taught before the lesson rather than the children being exposed to the concept through a video or other resource that they access themselves.</div>
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I have seen it work wonders for children's confidence. Only last week, a Year 5 pupil who struggles with an aspect of grammar was taught the concept half an hour before the lesson started in a small group situation with the class teacher. When this child was faced with the work in the lesson itself, he literally and mentally rolled his sleeves up and powered on with it.</div>
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Obviously, pre-teaching can't be done all the time but it does offer another way of helping those children who may find it difficult to master certain concepts. If nothing else, it should give them the confidence to approach the lesson feeling that they have a chance to succeed.</div>
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</article>Brynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206093259176791543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1272477490208091958.post-35873076546775007562017-10-30T12:48:00.004-07:002017-10-30T12:48:43.528-07:00Top Ten Tips For Being A Playground Hero(ine)Playground duties are probably not high on a teacher's favourite things to do list. Well, they are certainly not high on mine. Maybe it's just me. However, they are a useful opportunity to observe the social skills of children in your school. If you are lucky, you may see all ten of the following top tips happening. If you don't see any or only a few, start searching TES for job adverts. Or instead, think about how you could help the children in your school display more of them. I believe that if these seemingly simple things are happening in a playground near you, your school is likely to be a happy place.<br />
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1. If you see someone wandering around on their own, go and ask them to join in a game you are playing.<br />
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2. Wait patiently for your turn to use any climbing equipment.<br />
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3. If you are hit by a flying object, give the person who made it fly chance to apologise.<br />
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4. If someone is hurt, help them to get help.<br />
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5. Take part in group games but be clear about the rules before you do.<br />
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6. Speak to everyone you come across kindly.<br />
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7. If someone bumps into you, give them chance to apologise.<br />
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8. If you cause an object to fly and it hits somebody, apologise.<br />
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9. If you bump into somebody, apologise.<br />
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10. Share the space you are in so everyone can play their games.Brynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206093259176791543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1272477490208091958.post-73670901984469767972017-08-06T13:52:00.003-07:002017-08-06T13:52:50.398-07:00Getting Ready For SeptemberEdu-Twitter and teacher Facebook groups are awash with photos from teachers' classrooms that have been prepared for the new academic year. While I admire their dedication, I do worry about when they switch off. Having said this, I have seen several very useful ideas on Twitter and far be it from me to tell anyone how to spend their summer. I am barely coming out of the end of term fog that descended on me as I crawled to the end of the summer term. I also realise the irony of wondering about when teachers switch off while writing a blog post about teaching.<br />
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For what it's worth, I wanted to share how I intend to prepare for the new year in September in case it may be of use to anyone else.<br />
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<b>Routines</b><br />
I spend some time in the summer holidays thinking about what routines I need to put in place with my new class at the start of the year. These don't vary much but I think it is important to reflect on them and tweak them as it is such an important thing to get right. In the first few days of September, I will try to get these firmly established as it saves so much time later.<br />
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<b>Organisation</b><br />
This is something that I think about a lot. I have tried various systems for organising resources and seating. I have tried rows, groups, pencil pots, having nothing on the tables at all. Which method I have used has often depended on the class I am getting rather than just using the same system every year. I try to aim for minimum movement and minimum distractions in order to maximise lesson time. This year, I am going to try having plastic zip wallets for each child with all the resources they may need. I'm also going to make bound booklets of resources for children to help themselves with their writing. Both of these ideas were ideas I saw on Twitter.<br />
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<b>Displays</b><br />
My displays will be minimal to start with. I will add to them as we do the work in class. I am not a fan of word walls. Often the words are too small for the children to read anyway unless they go up to them which goes against my minimum movement ethos. Secondly, if they are single words out of context, they are pretty useless anyway. I have seen word walls with lots of conjunctions on them that are of little use as an aid for the children as it doesn't have them in context. If a child wants to use 'because' from the wall and you have to explain how it is used then it defeats the object of it being an independent resource. All of this is why I prefer the bound booklets of resources as the children have them to hand and they can read them. You can also differentiate them if necessary.<br />
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<b>Books</b><br />
I am going to spend time reading both children's books that I want to use in class and one or two 'teacher' books. It is my choice to do this and I enjoy doing it.<br />
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Apart from a short meeting with my year group partner at some point, that is all the preparation I intend to do for September. I would like to start the year re-charged and ready to go. We all prepare in different ways, do what works for you.Brynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206093259176791543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1272477490208091958.post-34828957989879942017-07-27T06:36:00.000-07:002017-07-27T06:38:02.163-07:00How To Create A Reading Culture In Your ClassroomWhen I was a young(er) teacher, I found the teaching of reading quite difficult. I was trained when the National Literacy Strategy was first introduced. Everybody was using the carousel and big books. I never felt completely happy that I was getting it right. Some children read at home, some didn't. Significant groups of children that passed through my hands never seemed that bothered about reading, they saw it as just another lesson.<br />
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Having reflected over the years and tried to refine my approach to the teaching of reading, I have come to realise that for it to be really successful, it is a good idea to try to create a reading culture in your classroom. A culture where children are excited by books, where children know about books, where children are eager to discuss what they read including playing around with vocabulary they find in books. This blog post is my way of explaining how I have gone about creating a reading culture in my classroom.<br />
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<b>1. Moved from a carousel approach to whole class reading. </b><br />
I know this can be a contentious issue but I just find whole class reading works better for me. This has been heavily influenced by reading 'Reading Reconsidered' by Doug Lemov. In my teaching of whole class reading, I have used techniques from this book successfully. While there are some fantastic novel studies on www.literacyshedplus.com, this can create a resourcing issues as even enough books for half the class is costly. I agree with Ashley Booth (a children's literature expert) that extracts can often be the way to go, downloaded from places like www.lovereading4kids.com (which is unfortunately disappearing at the end of July) as this means every child can follow the text as it is read. The film VIPERS on literacyshedplus.com would also help with this issue as would any film-based reading. Anyway, I am not going to preach the case for whole class reading here. Just to say that it seems to work well for me and the children I teach.<br />
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<b>2. Early Finish reading.</b><br />
On each group table in my classroom is a basket of books that the children have chosen from the classroom library. It is there so the children can easily reach for their book if they have a spare 5 minutes after finishing a piece of work or at the start of the day/after lunch or any other time when they are not being directed to do something else. This is a book they have chosen because they like it. I don't control their choice other than to try to keep my classroom library stocked with good quality books. To go with this, they have a plastic wallet where they record the books they have read with a simple star rating review system and space for a short comment if they want to. This has to be kept an eye on initially to stop those children who flick through a few pages and then change the book. However, once the expectations are established, this doesn't tend to happen.<br />
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<b>3. Reading to the children</b><br />
I read to my class every day. I can't over state the impact that this has had. Children tell me it is their favourite time of the day (even better than playtime - ok, maybe not). When I read the first Stitch Head book by Guy Bass, the children loved it so much, many of them went to their parents and demanded that they purchase the entire series. It has also led to children sharing books with each other and in some cases, donating books to the class library. It is a great way to discuss vocabulary that comes up and sneakily hit other comprehension objectives.<br />
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<b>4. Home Reading Chart</b><br />
Like many classes when they reach Year 4, the amount of reading done at home varied a lot with my class. I had a chart on my wall where the children were given a star if they read a book at home. It didn't have to be one from the reading books they take home from school as long as their parents signed to say it had been read. There were no fancy certificates, I just use as a way of the children being able to see hoe much they are reading and to celebrate those that are reading lots.<br />
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<b>5. Extreme Reading</b><br />
This is where the children send in photos of themselves reading in unusual places. It is a bit of fun but I use it as a way of encouraging the children to be thinking about reading and books as much as possible and for them to appreciate that reading is an enjoyable activity.<br />
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I know none of this is ground-breaking but it has all contributed to making a class of fairly reluctant readers into a class that, in the majority, are enthusiastic about reading and have made excellent progress in their reading.Brynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206093259176791543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1272477490208091958.post-90205053301621929192017-03-20T11:54:00.001-07:002017-03-20T11:55:17.894-07:003-0 Down With Five Minutes To GoOn Saturday, I attended the second annual Primary Rocks Live event at Medlock Primary School in Britain's greatest city. Actually, I am privileged enough to be part of the organising team. As a result, my experience started on Friday afternoon. This involved a few hours setting up 200+ chairs, shifting thousands of musical instruments and being told what to do by the legendary Sophie Merrill. The event itself from us in the organising team felt like a roaring success. This may seem arrogant but I attribute that success in the most part to the people that came to learn, to speak and to network. Us organisers merely provided the platform.<br />
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For many reasons that I won't bore you with, teaching has become a very challenging job to be in at the moment. In the past, it was challenging but in more positive ways. If teaching were a football match, sometimes it can feel that you are playing for the team that is 3-0 down with only five minutes to go and desperately trying to find a way to claw yourself back to a respectable draw.<br />
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So, at 9.30am on Saturday 19th March, we were 3-0 with five minutes to go. Then Gaz Needle stepped up and delivered his battle-cry. This definitely rallied the players and we were all suddenly up for the fight.<br />
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Next, was Paul Dix who smashed one into the top corner with his wonderful presentation about how to aim for adult consistency when tackling behaviour. 3-1 Things were looking up, there was a chance we could do it!<br />
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Up stepped the first round of speakers in their workshops. The corridors emptied at lightning speed as people dashed to make it to their first choice of workshop. All the rooms were crammed full of eager people soaking up the ideas. 3-2<br />
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In the afternoon, after a hearty lunch (yes, I used my access to the kitchen to snaffle an extra muffin), the workshops began again. Jungles were built. Ofsted's National Director arrived and was led to his room by a barely comprehensible me, trying to make small-talk. Gaz Had sent me with him as his tech support. Yet it was he who found the button to turn the Smart board on! I rapidly retreated, mumbling something about there being muffins and ice-cream downstairs. Another great round of workshops rounded off with a brilliant keynote by Michael Tidd about marking and feedback. 3-3<br />
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After Rob Smith had closed the day, there was a rapid clear-up session (much quicker than putting it all out on Friday) due to all the people that stayed and helped. Then we headed for the pub. This was where we started to network, New friendships were made. Old ones re-ignited. Positivity was everywhere. Like an extra-time header at the far post. 3-4, game won. The spark was back. Thanks to everyone that came, see you next year.Brynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206093259176791543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1272477490208091958.post-85980272235730583002016-10-27T11:20:00.001-07:002016-10-27T11:20:06.423-07:00Beyond The Crib Sheet - An Idea For Low Stakes AssessmentI was thinking about the panel discussion from Primary Rocks Live 2016. The dreaded KS2 SATs was mentioned. Jon Brunskill suggested that we should have SATs every year. Jon is someone whose opinion I respect enormously and I found myself agreeing with this idea. It got me thinking about how this could be drilled down to low stakes assessment on a regular basis in the classroom. Recently, I saw a post on Twitter about a marking crib sheet. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the teacher who initially shared it but I thought it was a great idea. I thought, why not do a combination of the two. A quick system for assessing while marking that would act as a form of low stakes assessment which in turn would inform teaching and learning for the following week.<br />
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Anyway, I am not suggesting I am inventing anything original. In fact, I am using great ideas from other people (such as the afore mentioned teacher). This has led me to come up with simple assessment grids for English and Maths (see links below). I intend to use them weekly as a way of gathering data quickly following some form of assessment activity carried out by the children. In English, this might take the form of a long write/short write based on some form of stimulus and include elements of SPAG that you have been working on as part of the success criteria. For maths, I would ask the children to complete a weekly skills check in whatever form suits. This will include work covered that week and previous weeks.<br />
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When I collect the books in, I will then complete the English Weekly Assessment and the Maths Weekly Assessment. This will enable me to adjust my plans for the following week if necessary.<br />
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<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jkNWlDwx_ZJtjav2TILXJ0VUKV0baxj5S64EDwte_wM/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">English Weekly Assessment Grid</a><br />
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<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1W0uEfKNqoSRfjbBmCmCiRB16ADpqyvxeEyRDipFHVqo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Maths Weekly Assessment Grid</a><br />
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The 'Extra Mile' children mentioned in the grids would be the children who have exceeded/gone into greater depth or whatever you want to call it.<br />
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The 'Star Models' would be examples of vocabulary, sentences that you would like to share with the class in the following week.<br />
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Please bear in mind that this is my first attempt at this so it may need adjusting. However, I am going to give it a try next half-term. By all means feel free to use the grids in your classrooms.Brynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206093259176791543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1272477490208091958.post-17959068058957947582016-08-26T02:33:00.000-07:002016-08-26T02:33:31.076-07:00Primary Teacher ReadsI'll be honest, before I became involved with Twitter, I rarely if ever, read 'Teacher' books. However, in the last two years, I have come across and read some excellent books. I thought it might be useful to share some of them as these are books that have had an definite impact on my practice. They are in no particular order.<br />
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1. The Secret of Literacy by David Didau - This book is a very engaging read offering lots of sensible advice about the teaching of literacy. It was through this book that I first came across the concept of Slow Writing which I have used in the classroom many times since with great results.<br />
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2. Oops by Hywel Roberts - This is a funny, practical book full of ideas about how to engage children in the curriculum using drama techniques and looking at things a little differently. Having met Hywel a few times, this book is a perfect embodiment of his personality. A wonderful book written by a wonderful bloke!<br />
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3. Teach Like A Champion 2.0 - This is written by Doug Lemov and is a collection of techniques that Doug observed the best teachers using. The best thing about this book is the way it provides ideas that you could use in the classroom the next day. There are also links to examples of resources and videos of teachers demonstrating the techniques. Although aimed at the American secondary audience, many of the techniques could be used in the primary classroom.<br />
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4. A Beginner's Guide To Mantle of The Expert - this is written by the wonderful Tim Taylor. It describes a concept first designed by Dorothy Heathcote in the 1970s. It is a brilliant book, explaining the theory and application of the technique along with resources to help you implement it in the classroom.<br />
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5. Making Every Lesson Count - By Andy Tharby and Shaun Allison. This is the best teacher book I have every read. It offers a wealth of sensible advice and practical strategies. It should be recommended reading for all teachers. The book identifies six key principles for effective teaching and learning and provides advice and ideas for delivering each.<br />
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If you start with these five, you can't go far wrong.<br />
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As well as these five, there are numerous teaching resource books I would recommend. For example, anything written by Mat Sullivan or Alan Peat will be extremely useful when preparing lessons.Brynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206093259176791543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1272477490208091958.post-32984048198952249742015-08-09T10:15:00.001-07:002015-08-09T10:15:36.089-07:00Piet MondrianPiet Mondrian was a Dutch painter who lived between 1872 and 1944. He was a contributor to the De Stijil art movement founded by Theo Van Doesburg. He developed a form called neoplasticism. This is a white background with a grid of horizontal and vertical black lines and the three primary colours.<br />
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He began to produce paintings in this form in 1919 while in Paris.<br />
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Here is a link to the painting for this week's Painting Talk discussion. It is called Composition II in Red, Blue and Yellow from 1930. The series of compositions to which this painting belongs has been used in lots of other areas of culture such as fashion and even a Katy Perry music video. (Thanks Mike Watson)<br />
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<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Piet_Mondriaan,_1930_-_Mondrian_Composition_II_in_Red,_Blue,_and_Yellow.jpg#/media/File:Piet_Mondriaan,_1930_-_Mondrian_Composition_II_in_Red,_Blue,_and_Yellow.jpg">Composition II in red, Blue and Yellow 1930</a><br />
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I have always liked pattern and order which is why I think this style of art work appeals to me. I like the contrast between the black and white grid and the bold primary colours. I like the apparent simplicity of it while at the same time being an impressive visual image.<br />
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<br />Brynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206093259176791543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1272477490208091958.post-6775866299908082032015-02-17T12:02:00.002-08:002015-02-17T12:02:52.061-08:00The Problems With Peer and Self AssessmentSelf and peer assessment is very fashionable and has been for a while. Ofsted seem to like it, teachers seem to like it and SLTs seem to like it too. Having used a variety of types of methods of peer and self assessment in my teaching career, I am yet to be convinced of the impact they have.<br />
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As teachers look for ways to cope under the crushing weight of complicated marking and assessment policies, peer and self assessment can offer a helping hand. If the children mark the work then the teacher doesn't have to. Crazily, I know teachers who mark it themselves as well. Why would you do that, defeats the object surely. This brings me onto the first problem with self/peer assessment. Teachers, who are under massive pressure to prove they are doing a good job, are scared to leave any piece unmarked by them. This means that the marking by the pupil during peer/self assessment becomes largely irrelevant.<br />
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Secondly, there is the issue of time. Time has to be taken from lessons to complete self/peer assessment tasks. With the raised demands that come with the new curriculum, there is simply no time to waste. Ten minutes taken from a lesson to self/peer assess could be ten minutes used to further master the learning objective of the lesson.<br />
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Teachers have spent a lot of time training to be a teacher, they are professionals with a sound understanding of the subjects they teach. They are best placed to make decisions about whether a child has achieved a learning objective and what the next steps should be. I would argue that a pupil is not capable of making these decisions effectively or efficiently. A pupil can tell you whether they have found a particular activity easy or difficult. Does this matter? Does it tell you anything about their achievement? If you are teaching a child something they have not come across before, how can they decide whether they have learned it? Surely, this is judgement that must be made by a well-trained professional. Children can find evidence in their work to show they have met certain 'success criteria' but they cannot decide whether this means that they have achieved the objective.<br />
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Peer/self assessment forms part of a larger issue around pupil voice. I am not a fan of pupil voice even though it seems to be fashionable. In terms of assessment, that should be done by the teacher as the professional or if you really want to involve pupils as a discussion between pupil and teacher with the teacher explaining to the pupil what their performance in an activity means with regard to their achievement/progress.Brynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206093259176791543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1272477490208091958.post-91863936778471652152015-02-09T10:25:00.000-08:002015-02-09T10:27:24.574-08:00Using F.E.A.R. As A Stimulus For PoetryThe song F.E.A.R. by Ian Brown has long been a favourite of mine. I thought that the structure of the song would mean that it would be good to use as a stimulus for developing poetry writing in the primary classroom. For those of you that don't know the song, thee verses and chorus all spell out the word FEAR e.g. Fantastic Expectations Amazing Revelations. The idea is that the children could replicate this in their poetry by generating their own words to fit FEAR. Also, it is a pretty cool song!<br />
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The lesson went something like this, with Year 4.<br />
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First of all, we listened to the song and I asked the children if they noticed anything about the lyrics. We quickly established what I mentioned earlier. Then we listened to the song a second time with the children jotting down on whiteboards any of the verses (or chorus) that they could pick out. Some of these were then written on the board as a scaffold. Next, the children generated their own four line verses to match F.E.A.R. This led to some silly attempts e.g. Fat Elephants Are Red. This in turn led to a worthwhile discussion about the mood of the poem and how we would try to choose words that would match the mood of the poem/song.<br />
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Once this had been established, the children came up with some fantastic choices e.g. Find Enemies and Ruin. The children put their ideas together to make a poem of several verses interspersed with the chorus from the song (For Everything A Reason). This could be extended by giving the children other words e.g. love, hate, excite etc. Some children performed their poems and filmed them, creating a movie in iMovie.<br />
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All in all, the vocabulary generate by the children was better than they had produced before and I think the structure and mood of the song helped with this. They also developed a better understanding of creating a mood in their writing.<br />
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A word of warning. If you are going to use the official video to the song, stop it after about 2 minutes as there is a dodgy bit after that. There are also videos made of the song where the lyrics are displayed on the screen. You may or may not find this helpful.Brynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206093259176791543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1272477490208091958.post-50297015475907419482015-02-06T13:03:00.000-08:002015-02-06T13:03:04.938-08:00There's An App For That.There is much debate as to whether schools should spend large amounts of money on buying iPads. Some schools have 1:1 devices while others have very few devices at all. This post is not about making the case for iPads in school, rather it is written with the intention of providing some hopefully useful ideas. <div>
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Having used iPads in the school where I teach for a couple of years now, I have been able to experiment with a range of apps. My aim has always been to use iPads in order to complete tasks that could not be done without them rather than copying a task that could be done with pen/pencil and paper.</div>
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A comment made by a presenter at the Google stand at BETT recently made me reflect on the apps we use in school. He said that rather than looking for a Science app or a Geography app, we should look for apps that can be used across many subject disciplines. To me this makes sense for at least two reasons. </div>
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First of all from a purely financial point of view. You would buy one app that can serve many purposes instead of a whole myriad of subject-related apps that may only be used within that subject. Secondly, subject-related apps tend to tend us and children into 'consumers' of technology rather gazn really using it to enhance learning and achieve what I stated earlier was my aim. Having said this, there are some very useful 'consumer' apps such as Battle Times - a free times table app. Times tables are probably best learnt through regular practise and testing. This app enables you to do this with a competitive element. Indeed the are also certain subject specialist apps that can be used to enhance learning effectively.</div>
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Going back to my aim, I have put together what I think would be an ideal gathering of a few apps that could help to enhance learning across the curriculum and allow our pupils to complete tasks that, if used thoughtfully, could not be done without such technology. My collection is by no means exhaustive but will hopefully be useful to those starting out on the iPad journey. </div>
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I must note hear that all the apps below are apps that have been recommended to me by people such as Lee Parkinson (@ictmrp) and Mark Anderson (@ictevangelist) both of whom write excellent blog posts about using technology to enhance learning. Here are five apps I have found very useful.</div>
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1. Explain Everything - A superb app that is very versatile. It is a bit like having an interactive whiteboard on your device. Many, many used across all subjects.</div>
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2. Book Creator - Can be used to create books incorporating sound, images and video. Books can be added to iBook store. Very easy to use.</div>
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3. Comic Life - Creates eye-catching comic style documents. Can be used ina variety of ways in many subjects e.g presenting research of key historical figures. </div>
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4. Minecraft - This app has so many uses it is impossible to list them all here. It also taps into children's interests as many play it at home anyway.</div>
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5. Tellagami and iMovie - These are both brilliant film-making tools. Free version of Tellagami only allows 30 second recording so iMovie can be used to collect a few of these together which can them be edited into a film.</div>
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If you have these apps on your iPads at school you will certainly be able to make a start on your journey into iPad use.</div>
Brynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206093259176791543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1272477490208091958.post-20761536032143925342015-01-25T13:43:00.001-08:002015-01-25T13:43:13.721-08:00BETT 2015 - My experienceOn Friday I attended the BETT show for the first time. Staff from the school where I work had been in previous years and I was looking forward to going. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect.<br />
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Entering the show, I was quickly accosted by a rep from a major IT company, badgering me about managed printer services or something. He then told me in hushed tones something that he said he shouldn't be telling me but... No doubt, he had probably told the same information to thousands of people over the previous two days. It turned out that the 'secret' information was the fact that a new model of the firm's printers was due to be released. Great.<br />
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Continuing my walk around the dizzying array of exhibitors, I continued to be approached/accosted by reps. It reminded me of an 18-30 holiday I went on in my early twenties when reps would try to entice you into the 'best bar in town'. At BETT this phrase was replaced with 'the market leader'. I adopted the same approach I did on that dusty road in Corfu, I shuffled along with my head down trying not to make eye contact with anyone.<br />
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Some of the products/ideas I saw were fascinating and a smaller number could even prove useful in our school. In fact I jotted down quite a few app ideas from <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/114457003568078999344" target="_blank">+ICTEvangelist</a> during his presentation. There was also the ubiquitous range of companies promising to solve the problem of assessment after levels. All of these seemed scarily complicated to me and I consider myself quite good with assessment. I would imagine they weren't exactly cheap either even if they were the market leaders.<br />
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The BETT arena was a sectioned off area of the show where a quick-fire programme of presentations took place. These were compered by someone who gleefully told us he was the voice of Siri in the UK and had been the voice of the Weakest Link for 11 years. The presentations were too short to be of any real value considering the large issues being discussed in them. I left each presentation I sat there for feeling a little cheated as I wanted to know more. The presentations taking place in other areas of the show were more useful as they were more specific and included ideas to be used directly in the classroom.<br />
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I was glad that I didn't have any school money to spend as it would have been easy to be taken in by the shiny, precious things. Having said this, I did enjoy my visit to BETT as I saw enough ideas that I liked and will hopefully return next year.Brynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206093259176791543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1272477490208091958.post-53956699482709620542015-01-03T11:47:00.000-08:002015-01-03T11:47:17.908-08:00Homework: What's the point?Having read some comments and discussion around the piece in The Telegraph quoting Tom Bennet's article about most homework being pointless, I thought I would write about my thoughts on the subject.<br />
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When I was an NQT our school had an OFSTED inspection. Some parents duly filled in the parent questionnaire. One thing many of them asked for apparently was more homework. In response to this, my very experienced year group partner promptly printed off masses of homework sheets to send home the following week. This pile of work would have taken most adults a week to complete never mind 8 year olds! Did it have any positive impact on the children's learning? No, not one jot. Parents also began to complain that their children were getting too much homework!<br />
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Therein lies the crux of the matter. Homework is in many ways a no-win situation. Set too much and parents, teachers, children buckle under the strain. Set too little and parents, OFSTED think you aren't doing your job properly. So what to do?<br />
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I recently read Harry Webb 's (@webofsubstance) blog post about preparing the children we teach for the future. He argues, quite correctly in my opinion, that we should teach that children "that which endures" rather than trying to second guess the knowledge that children may need in the distant future. I think this approach could be applied to homework. In primary this could be just asking the children to work on reading, spelling and times tables when at home. These are key skills that are the foundations for learning. This is the approach taken at the school of Angela Bell (@bell111_a) as she was determined to look for a way to reduce teacher workload without having a negative effect on learning.<br />
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Then I started to consider something that Rob Smith (@redgierob) of Literacy Shed fame said about homework. He suggested that any activities that get children and parents discussing learning in some way must be beneficial. I have to agree with this. The problem comes when 'project' homework becomes a competition between the parents. One way round this is maybe not to mark the project homework but instead give children equal credit for handing it in. Another alternative, which is used at my wife's school is to give the children a range of suggested activities that they can choose from. Therefore, cutting out the competition over one project.<br />
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The danger with setting times tables and spellings for homework is that teachers will rely on this as the children's main method of learning these things. For it to be effective, the homework needs to be practise of skills taught in class. After all, it is our job as teachers to teach this stuff. That is what we are paid for.<br />
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In conclusion, I don't think there is an easy answer to the homework conundrum. Avoiding pointless tasks is certainly a must. Also avoiding making homework an onerous task for parents, teachers and most importantly, children is also a must.Brynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206093259176791543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1272477490208091958.post-27084209274961573152014-12-28T11:29:00.001-08:002014-12-28T11:29:36.762-08:00#nurture1415I have read a few of these posts over the last few days which started to make me think about my year which has certainly been eventful professionally and personally. As per the guidelines, I will write about 5 positive things that happened this year and then 5 wishes for 2015 (if I have this wrong, apologies).<br />
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<b>Positives in 2014</b><br />
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1. <u>Coming Out of Hospital</u><br />
In late January, I started to feel unwell. After visiting my GP for blood tests, I was sent straight to hospital. This led to nearly three weeks of tests and investigations including CT Scans, liver biopsy, lymph node biopsy, ultrasound as the consultants tried to decide what was wrong with me. They still don't know although one nurse suggested that I may end up in a medical textbook! The day I was told I could go home was one of profound joy and relief as it was putting a massive strain on my wife (her horse died while I was in hospital) and the ward I was on was pretty grim to say the least. I am still under investigation but I am also still here so that's good.<br />
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2. <u>Our School Performing Well During OfSted</u><br />
I am lucky enough to work with a fantastic team of people. When our school was placed into RI las February (2013), the whole team decided that we didn't want that and we worked incredibly hard on the things that mattered right up until the next inspection this June. It was great to see everyone's efforts rewarded and have our school recognised for having made such rapid progress by OfSted. HMI now send other schools to us as an example of how a school can move quickly out of RI.<br />
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3. <u>My Son Being Allowed to Go To China with School</u><br />
My son is in Year 5. He struggles with his behaviour. When we applied for him to go to China with school, I was told by the Deputy Head that his behaviour would have to improve massively if the school were going to take him. Fair enough, as far as I was concerned. To Ewan's credit, he has made a massive effort to improve his behaviour and on 16th December, the Deputy Head told me that he had improved enough to go. His behaviour is not perfect and we still have a lot of work to do to help him with it. It will be the opportunity of a lifetime for him and he is beyond excited. He goes at the end of March 2015.<br />
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4. <u>Getting Involved With Twitter</u><br />
This started properly in January after attending the Literacy Shed Conference where I first met Rob Smith , Lee Parkinson and Mat Sullivan in person. I was introduced to the power of Twitter at this conference and have not looked back. I have written a separate post about how Twitter has changed my professional life which you can read if you have time. It has been a revelation for me and I am sure it will continue to be as great resource in 2015.<br />
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5. <u>Working With Alan Peat</u><br />
I have attended some of Alan's courses throughout my teaching career and have always found his work incredibly useful. This year I have had the opportunity to work with him which has been very exciting and rewarding professionally. I have also bee luck enough to get to know him and consider him a friend.<br />
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<b>Wishes For 2015</b><br />
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<u>1. To Stay Healthy</u><br />
In 2015, I intend to make some changes to my lifestyle in an effort to ensure I don't return to hospital and so that I feel healthier. I am going to start playing football again regularly (I am not very good but I love it). I am also going to explore the beautiful place in which I live more thoroughly. Finally, I want to learn to cook as this will help my wife with her work/life balance.<br />
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<u>2. Continue to Work On Projects That Interest/Excite me</u><br />
I hope to be able to continue to work with Alan on a variety of projects. Also I have a couple ideas for a book that I would like to get on with.<br />
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3. <u>Achieve ICT Mark For Our School</u><br />
Hopefully, I will be able to make some serious headway into this as I believe that the process will help our staff members become more confident in using technology to enhance learning.<br />
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<u>4. Organise A Teachmeet </u><br />
I would like to organise a day long teachmeet where teachers can come to discuss and share ideas for delivering the new computing curriculum.<br />
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<u>5. Learn Italian</u><br />
Italian is a language I have always wanted to learn so 2015 seems as good a time as any to start now that I have a less stressful work role.<br />
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That's it from me. I hope 2015 is a happy, healthy and successful year for you too!Brynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206093259176791543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1272477490208091958.post-22355258917570389612014-12-19T14:10:00.000-08:002014-12-20T01:00:36.706-08:00Foreground and Background RetentionHaving read the fascinating blog post by David Didau (@LearningSpy) <a href="http://www.learningspy.co.uk/learning/revisiting-lost-learning-gerald-haigh/">Revisiting Lost Learning by Gerald Haigh</a>I started to think about learning and retention and how the retention of new information can differ depending on the length of time after it has been initially learnt.<br />
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This led me to the idea of foreground and background retention.<br />
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Foreground retention is where information is easily retrievable from the brain. Foreground retention would occur immediately after learning something. One example is in the classroom where the teacher teaches a new concept to his or her class. This concept is in foreground retention while the students practise during that lesson. It could still be in foreground retention for a while afterwards. Another situation is when students are cramming for exams. They place information into foreground retention for long enough to enable them to succeed in their exams but not for very long after. I suppose the key for teachers is to attempt to keep as much information and skills in foreground retention as possible.<br />
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Once information/skills have left foreground retention, they move into background retention. This is a situation where as David puts it, people 'know they know it' but are unable to retrieve it easily. This information is not lost, it is sitting dormant, waiting to be brought back into foreground retention. In order to bring skills/information from background retention into foreground retention, it has to be directly re-visited in some way. As Haigh explains, it can be re-learnt quicker than if it were being learnt for the first time.<br />
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Many people say that information they learnt to be able to pass exams was forgotten pretty much as soon as they had finished the exams. In fact Michael Rosen said as much when commenting on a blog post by David Didau. I would suggest that what is happening is that this information being learnt for the purpose of exams merely moves from foreground retention to background retention once the exams have finished.<br />
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I am not suggesting that I am breaking any new ground here. I am merely trying to make sense of what is a fascinating concept which has been, as always, eloquently examined and explained by David Didau.Brynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206093259176791543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1272477490208091958.post-7731286276348370422014-12-15T11:44:00.000-08:002014-12-15T11:44:00.402-08:00Fun Not IncludedThere has been some debate on the Twittersphere as to whether children should have fun in their lessons. My feeling on the subject has always been that fun is a happy by-product in a lesson but the prime focus must always be on learning. If the children have fun and learn nothing then what is the point of employing a professional teacher to teach them. If the children's learning is moved forwards and they have some fun then great. If the children's learning moves forward and they don't have fun - so what - our primary job is to teach them things.<br />
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One of my worries with the fun thing is that it is exhausting to maintain. It is not humanly possible to plan 'fun' lessons every day of every week. Sometimes children need to just get on with something and/or practise quietly. Planning of lessons should always start with the intended outcome. Then activities should be planned that are the most effective way to deliver these outcomes.<br />
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Also, defining fun is a tricky issue. To some children charging around the classroom in groups, writing things on posters is a fun lesson. To others, using an iPad or other device is fun. To others, working quietly on their own practising something that has been explained to them well is very enjoyable. Which of these approaches is best? Well that comes down to which one has the biggest impact on the children's learning.<br />
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The British Army is the best trained and possible most effective fighting force in the world. However, I am not sure that the new recruits going through basic training would describe it as fun. Yet they most certainly learn a lot. This was brought home to me in the recent TV series about Royal Marine training. It is tough, uncompromising and I would never describe it as fun. However, the Royal Marines are extremely highly regarded around the world for their skills.<br />
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Jackie Chan, the famous actor and martial arts expert, attended the China Drama Academy which was set up to prepare children for life in the Peking Opera. This involved lots of acrobatic skills including martial arts as well as singing and dancing. If you asked Jackie whether he had fun while studying there, I am sure that he would reply in the negative. Discipline at the school was very severe and students were regularly beaten or given other physical punishments if they made mistakes.<br />
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Footballers such as David Beckham and Eric Cantona used to stay behind after training to practise and perfect free kicks. I doubt that they would see this as fun but it was the best way for them to improve their skills.<br />
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Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that I am not worried about whether children I teach are having fun. Rather, I am worried about whether they are making enough progress over time. As a result, my opinion on fun is changing. Now I am not sure it matters at all.Brynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206093259176791543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1272477490208091958.post-6197951520525757832014-12-10T11:42:00.004-08:002014-12-10T11:45:06.529-08:00Teaching E-Safety From A Parent's PerspectiveI had a discussion the other night on Twitter with @FarrowMr about the importance of teaching computing in primary schools. He is of the opinion that the only really important aspect to teach is E-Safety. While I don't agree about the lack of importance of other areas, I do agree that teaching children about E-Safety is vital. This was brought home to me in a very real way recently.<br />
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Previously in our school, E-Safety was something that was taught to the children once a year for an hour in a fairly dry manner using the same video from the ThinkYouKnow website. The video is a useful resource but it had become like chewing gum for too long as far as the children were concerned.<br />
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This year I have taken on a new role which involves leading computing as well as teaching it to all the classes in KS2. The thought of watching this video another eight times makes me want to stick pins in my eyes! As I am lucky enough to have been given some autonomy regarding how I deliver the new computing curriculum, I decided to change the way I approached the teaching of E-Safety.<br />
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First of all, I have changed the frequency that it is taught. To me, it is a little like teaching maths in real-life contexts as in it shouldn't be taught as an add-on at the end of a week's work. Instead it should be something that is taught as an on-going process so that the children practise the principles of E-Safety whenever they are working on-line. I now teach half-termly E-Safety sessions focussing on different aspects of E-Safety. However, whenever the children are working on something that requires them to be online, I will do a short reminder of that half-term's focus. This helps to embed the message.<br />
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With Year 6, I decided to take a slightly different slant on E-Safety this half-term. The focus was cyber-bullying. Rather than come at from the usual 'What would you do if you were being bullied?' angle, I decided to flip it by asking them to imagine that they were the parent of a Year 5 child who they thought was being cyber-bullied. To spark discussion, I showed them a short animation from the website www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/ To my delight, a very mature discussion ensued with all manner of practical suggestions ranging from 'asking my child's friends if they had noticed anything' to 'I would look for changes in how they behave, like if they became sadder'.<br />
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The children really took the idea onboard maybe because I had given them a sense of greater maturity by asking them to act in the role of a parent. This discussion led us into designing a 'Parent's Guide To Cyberbullying' using an app of their choice. The results reflected the quality of the discussion. For resources for teaching e-safety try the following :<br />
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1. www.childnet.com<br />
2. www.digizen.orgBrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206093259176791543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1272477490208091958.post-20643288299390435362014-11-19T13:09:00.001-08:002014-11-19T13:09:34.265-08:00Teachers Are Doing It For Themselves - Teacher-led CPDI am sure there has been at least one occasion where your headteacher has decided to send you on some course or other that they think you need. Sometimes this is useful, sometimes it is waste of your time and the school's finances.<br />
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Since becoming active on Twitter, I have received lots of CPD which has been exactly what I need, delivered by people who are 'walking the walk' every day. If there is something I wish to know more about, I can ask someone who I have connected with on Twitter and I can get responses very quickly. This is much better than spending a whole day out of class (having to deal with a range of issues when I get back) and only finding about 10 minutes of it useful. This is not the case for all all-day courses, I have been on some excellent ones. The best ones, like the responses I get on Twitter, are those where I leave with ideas I can do the next day in class. Using Twitter to access instant, targeted CPD is a very efficient model.<br />
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Tonight I was lucky enough to attend a teachmeet in Stockport organised by @mediashaw and hosted by @IctMrP. This was my first experience of such an event. What a great idea. It involved a range of teachers, yes everyday teachers, sharing ideas and projects that had worked for them. I am sure that everyone in the room tonight will have left with lots of ideas to try tomorrow. The credibility of the ideas shared tonight was increased by the fact that they have all been tried out in class and are not the brainchild of a distant academic. In the US, there are whole day (or even longer) Teachmeets called Edcamps. Maybe this is something that would work here. I would attend and it wouldn't cost our school a thing as all the presenters share their ideas willingly and for free. Like somebody said about tonight's event, it's great to see so many teachers giving up their time to get better.<br />
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Us teachers have got a lot to offer and between us we have a wealth of expertise and buckets of creativity. Let's share it with each other.Brynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206093259176791543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1272477490208091958.post-21023137023920514352014-11-14T13:36:00.002-08:002014-11-14T13:36:23.271-08:00Developing Subject LeadershipThe school where I teach was put into Requires Improvement in February 2013. One of the areas that required improvement was subject leadership. As a team of staff we worked extremely hard on this and the school was awarded 'Good' when OfSted revisited in June 2014. In this inspection, the team commented on the strength of our subject leadership. I'd like to share a few ways in which we set about improving the effectiveness of our subject leadership.<br />
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As a staff team, we decided on some key tasks that would make our subject leadership more effective with the main focus always being how to raise standards in our subjects.<br />
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1. Attending Local Cluster Meetings - luckily there are 6 primary schools within a short distance of our school. This enabled us to meet termly to discuss and share ideas. These meetings were not attended by headteachers which allowed staff to speak freely. They proved extremely useful as we were able to set our own agendas, focussing on what we needed most.<br />
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2. Regular and robust monitoring - All our coordinators undertook regular monitoring of outcomes in their subject. We didn't bother monitoring planning (what's the point?) or doing lesson observations (again, what's the point?). Where standards were good or better, that staff member will not be monitored for an extended period of time. Where there is an issue, follow up monitoring focusing only on the specific issue takes place 2 weeks later. This was difficult for some staff at first but soon became easier when the realisation that it was happening in all subjects, dawned.<br />
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3. Improving our own subject knowledge and knowledge of good practice in the subject we were leading. As subject leaders, we took it upon ourselves to seek out ways to improve subject knowledge and practice e.g. OfSted subject pages, subject association memberships, becoming active on Twitter. The cluster meetings also helped with this.<br />
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4. Interviewing children about our subjects. This provided valuable information and changed the way many staff approached the teaching of some subjects.<br />
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5. Closer examination of in-school data - this was most relevant for Maths and English Coordinators. We use a data tracking system called iTrack which as coordinators we had to become very familiar with this. It raised lots of questions that could then be investigated by coordinators. Termly analysis of such data enabled coordinators to have a clear picture of standards in their subject across the school.<br />
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6. Raising the profile of our subjects - as coordinators, we worked hard to find opportunities to enrich the curriculum. For example, our Art coordinator organised for an artist to come in and work with our Year 6 children, with excellent results. Our Science coordinator achieved PSQM Gold in only one year. Our school has recently won a national award for its international links.<br />
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7. Useful action planning - We limited our subject action plans to one side of A4 (with the exception of Maths and English). This was to make sure they were focussed, manageable documents that could be reviewed quickly as the year progressed. The objectives for these was decided from the previous year's subject report. The action plan would then be used to devise a calendar of actions for the year. This ensured that we were undertaking regular coordinator activity. As we worked on leading our subjects, we kept activity logs. This meant that when OfSted talked to coordinators, they had lots of evidence to draw on and the conversation was often led by the coordinator rather than the inspector.<br />
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There is no magic answer as there never is in our job. However, starting with some of the things mentioned above will help to make an impact.Brynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206093259176791543noreply@blogger.com0