I had an email today from Mark Hewlett (AdEd Head of Quality Improvement and Contracting) which shared a link to an incident report which made me shudder.
As the original email, forwarded by Mark, said:
"I’ve not sent this out to you all to shock or upset but more to highlight the fact that this case proves that even when the task/activity appears to be straight forward, the lack of awareness and Risk Assessment has resulted in horrific injuries.
This was a simple classroom activity which should have been fun and enjoyable but the outcome so avoidable!
It may be worth sharing with those in your organisations (in particular large organisations like colleges where classroom activities are so varied) who doubt the need for health and safety, the appreciation of the importance of Risk Assessments, the need to communicate these risks to those who need to know and the potential consequences of failing to tell Learners! It may be an eye opener to them?"
Read the report yourself here
Thoughts and comments would be welcome.
Thursday 22 October 2009
Monday 19 October 2009
I have recently bought my own dongle after trying out one on loan from AdEd kit. I could immediately see great benefits in this neat bit of equipment - not just for teaching but also for fun. However, so far I have not been able to get it working. I must admit I have not had time recently to spend long on this latest challenge. I wondered if anyone has any tips that I can pick up before I try again.
Wednesday 14 October 2009
voice recorders
just to share something really simple that has made a real difference in our community choir.
Many of the members do not read music, so learning complex songs with 4 parts can be very time consuming, and 3 parts often sit in sessions while the 4th part "note bashes".
This time I've recorded the different parts on the Olympus digital recorder - some sung or hummed, some playing the lines on the piano, using a new file for each - my husband did the bass lines, so a variety of voices! and with some songs we recorded a quartet of us, so the whole effect of the song could be heard!
Once uploaded on the computer each of these files can simply be burnt on to an audio cd as a new track (straight on, no need for any complicated conversion software) the tracks listed, and the resultant CD can be copied. Once the files were ready the Cd took about 20 minutes to compile.
(We sold it to members at 50p a time, with all the term's music on it, which more than covered the cost)
The result has been dramatic! No more sitting around listening to others learning their part, only polishing up and focussing on the hard bits.
The speed of learning has increased not just for the individual but for the whole group, as the song can be put together so much more quickly.
It's not for everyone, but I know several members who have played it over and over at home or on the car cd, and it really offers an alternative learning style. The gain in confidence of the "I can't singers" has been tremendous!
Many of the members do not read music, so learning complex songs with 4 parts can be very time consuming, and 3 parts often sit in sessions while the 4th part "note bashes".
This time I've recorded the different parts on the Olympus digital recorder - some sung or hummed, some playing the lines on the piano, using a new file for each - my husband did the bass lines, so a variety of voices! and with some songs we recorded a quartet of us, so the whole effect of the song could be heard!
Once uploaded on the computer each of these files can simply be burnt on to an audio cd as a new track (straight on, no need for any complicated conversion software) the tracks listed, and the resultant CD can be copied. Once the files were ready the Cd took about 20 minutes to compile.
(We sold it to members at 50p a time, with all the term's music on it, which more than covered the cost)
The result has been dramatic! No more sitting around listening to others learning their part, only polishing up and focussing on the hard bits.
The speed of learning has increased not just for the individual but for the whole group, as the song can be put together so much more quickly.
It's not for everyone, but I know several members who have played it over and over at home or on the car cd, and it really offers an alternative learning style. The gain in confidence of the "I can't singers" has been tremendous!
Friday 2 October 2009
A few links to share
It's easy to tell when I should be doing something else...I start following links on websites! There were some goodies to share today:
Finally, I'm not sure that the ability to make a balloon starfish qualifies as an essential life skill but who knows when such a skill could come in useful? The 5 min website has plenty of displacement activities, most of which take slightly longer than the name suggests.
Hmmm...I wonder if learning to make a balloon starfish would count as CPD? I'm off to reflect on that right now.
Aviary tools looks a useful place to find web based programs which can be accessed anywhere
I'm not a language teacher, so can't evaluate LiveMocha objectively, but it looks a pretty useful site which might interest your learners, as does Xlingo . Another language site which might be worth exploring is italki, especially the facility to communicate with a native speaker. I might exercise the usual internet cautions with that one however, reminding myself of some basic internet security advice before beginning a conversation!
Finally, I'm not sure that the ability to make a balloon starfish qualifies as an essential life skill but who knows when such a skill could come in useful? The 5 min website has plenty of displacement activities, most of which take slightly longer than the name suggests.
Hmmm...I wonder if learning to make a balloon starfish would count as CPD? I'm off to reflect on that right now.
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