Wallace & Gromit are calling on people across the UK join The BIG Breakfast from the 20th -27th April to raise thousands of pounds for sick children in hospitals and hospices by enjoying a BIG Breakfast.

Research suggests that breakfast eaters have lower stress levels and better concentration than breakfast skippers yet 1 in 4 adults in the UK admit to regularly skipping breakfast, so Wallace & Gromit’s BIG Breakfast calls on the nation to wake up to a BIG Breakfast which not only helps everyone who takes part have a brighter day but also helps raise vital funds for sick children across the UK.

Could you hold a BIG breakfast for pupils and families at your school? For more information and to register to take part, call 0845 600 1924 or visit www.wallaceandgromitsbigbreakfast.org.

Don’t forget that you can find other educational events to take part in by browsing our Teaching Events site.

Get ready for the Big Schools’ Birdwatch! Schools can take part in the upcoming Big Schools’ Birdwatch from 16-30 January 2012, helping the RSPB to monitor UK bird numbers.

Run every year, the Birdwatch is a free activity for all UK schools and youth groups (brownies, scouts etc). There are different resource packs for each age group:

• Little Schools’ Birdwatch is for 3-5 year olds
• Big Schools’ Birdwatch is for 6-11 year olds
• Really Big Schools’ Birdwatch is for 12-14 year olds.

This simple activity is for all ages and abilities; it only takes an hour to complete and is rich in curriculum links. It’s also a great way to get to know more about the wildlife visiting your school grounds. If you don’t have school grounds, don’t worry! You can still take part by visiting a local park. Teachers and group leaders can find out more at www.rspb.org.uk/schoolswatch and to register for their free resource pack. The website also has lots of other activities to accompany the Birdwatch to download, including child (and teacher) friendly bird ID pages.

Don’t forget to explore other educational events that you can can get involved in at Teaching Events.

On Monday, the Telegraph published an education wish list for 2012. This includes the hopes and dreams of different people involved in education. Some of their ideas include:

• The abolition of school exams,
• Trusting teachers more, especially with the teaching of reading to younger children,
• Changes to teachers’ contracts and requiring them to show how they had improved things each year,
• More outreach and work experience opportunities for students,
• Month-long sabbaticals for teachers in leadership roles every seven years.

What is your wish for this year? How would you like to change things in your own classroom or school, or even for education across the country in 2012? Share your thoughts in the comments below…

So far this year, I’ve published 175 posts here on Teaching News. As the end of 2011 is approaching, I’ve added links to the most popular posts of the year. Did you miss any of them?

1) Royal Wedding Ideas and Resources
2) 10 Inspiring Youtube videos for Teachers
3) 10 Evernote Uses for Teachers
4) New iPod, iPhone and iPad Apps for Schools
5) Topmarks Education
6) Top Five Discoveries (17/6/11)
7) New Christmas Resources and Inspiration Posters
8 ) 11 Resource Sites for your Christmas Activities
9) 15 Remembrance Resources for Teachers
10) Favourite Resource Sites for the New School Year

This will probably be the last post of 2011, but I’m looking forward to sharing new ideas and resources with you in 2012!

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Mark

Youth & Family Gold Challenge is a new charity challenge, specifically aimed at schools, families, youth groups and 7-15 year olds. It aims to build on the excitement of London 2012 as all of the challengers take on Olympic and Paralympic sports to raise money for charity.

Those taking part can choose from three challenges (5 Sport Challenge, Family Activity Challenge and the 2012km Challenge). By joining the challenges, schools can also win a chance to run 100m in the Olympic Stadium watched by friends, family and a cheering crowd of 20,000!

There are currently over 20,000 registrations on the site and there is currently an incentive where for every 100 registrations, a school will receive 5 places in our Olympic Stadium Parade which will follow the route of the opening ceremony, and include charities, GB Ambassadors and celebrities. Find out more on the official site.

I often receive emails from developers of education apps, so I thought that it might be useful to share some of the fantastic applications that are being created to support learning:

1) Happi Spells - ”Happi Spells” is a crossword spelling game where children can practice spelling by dragging letter tiles on to 48 different mini crossword puzzles. Compete for “snails” and try to improve your own high score!

2) I Learn With – Languages! - A fun educational game to help children aged from 3 to 7 years old  to learn their first words and short sentences in a foreign language. Find out more in the video below:

Click here to view the embedded video.

3) DK The Human Body App – An amazing application with clear information and incredible illustrations which helps you to learn about the human body.

4) Sing your times tables with Percy Parker – I’ve used this app in school a number of times and the children love singing along and learning their multiplication tables with Percy!

5) Healthy Star - The Healthy Star is a short introduction for young children, to the world of affirmations and enriches them with positive thoughts. The story includes simple relaxation exercises.

6) Edmodo – Teachers and students can stay connected to the fantastic Edmodo system using this iPhone and iPad app.

7) How to Make Origami – This app includes step by step instructions with 3D animations of paper folding to help you learn how to create amazing origami!

8 ) Eggs on Legs – Primary Games make lots of great interactive whiteboard software which I use at school regularly. They are also now developing iOS apps which look great!

9) Jungle Time – Learning how to tell the time can be a difficult concept for some children. This app helps children with their understanding and it can test them too!

10) Formative Feedback for Learning – An app that allows students to receive feedback on their performances in a wide range of curriculum areas. Find out more in the video below:

Click here to view the embedded video.

11) Story Builder – Can your children finish these story starter ideas?

12) Math Formulas – A guide to Maths formulae with information and examples. The topics covered include algebra, geometry, calculus, trigonometry, probability and statistics.

13) Britannica Kids (Ancient Rome) – Explore the history of Ancient Rome with the images, games and activities in this iPhone / iPod / iPad app.

14) GeoGame World Series - An educational geography game with lots of different options and challenges. Find out more in the video below:

Click here to view the embedded video.

15) TED – The TED talks are always enjoyable and inspirational… they cover a wide range of topics and you can access all of them through this great iOS app.

16) Fishy Numbers – A fun game which is designed to help primary school children with their mental addition skills. Find more educational apps by this developer at www.primaryapps.co.uk.

Which iOS apps do you use in your classroom?

Did you know that the Guinness World Records is the third biggest selling book of all time. It’s also the most borrowed book from school libraries! Schools can currently enter a competition to win a visit from the world’s tallest man, Sultan Kosen. Guinness World Records officials will also visit the winning school to adjudicate a series of world record breaking challenges.

You can enter the competition on the Guinness World Records Schools page, which also has a selection of lesson plans and resources for you to use. There are also some free online ‘page spreads‘ which include 26 pages of facts from the book. Take a look!

Schools are invited to sign up for a charity world record breaking attempt for the most people signing and singing simultaneously. The event takes place on February 8, 2012 and it is being organised by SignHealth, the national healthcare charity for Deaf people.

The event is designed to raise awareness of deafness and the work of SignHealth, as well as acting as a fundraiser for the charity through sponsorship from businesses and a suggested donation of £1 for everyone taking part. Young people from all over the country and overseas will learn to sign a song, entitled ‘Sign2sing’, which has been composed especially for the event,

SignHealth, which provides health-related services for all Deaf people, will produce a DVD to show children how to sign the song, as well as a resource pack for teachers to use within the school curriculum. The event is primarily aimed at four to 11-year-olds, however other younger and older children and adults can join in if they wish. Find out more and register your school on the Sign2Sing site.

Will your school be taking part?

The Dahlicious Dress Up Day takes place on Friday 30th September and is a fun way for school children up and down the country to get creative and raise money for a fantastic cause by going to school dressed as their favourite Roald Dahl character.

From Oompa-Loompas to the BFG, The Twits, Willy Wonka, Matilda, Fantastic Mr. Fox and all those other characters from Roald Dahl’s stories, there are plenty of characters for children to choose from. Children are asked to donate £1 to dress up and wow their friends and teachers with their costumes, masks or face paint.

The money raised will go to Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity to help fund much needed specialist nurses, support and equipment for seriously ill children with lifelong and life-limiting neurological or blood conditions.

If your school isn’t already taking part, sign up for an event pack at www.roalddahlcharity.org/schools, email schools@roalddahlcharity.org or call 01494 890465 to speak to someone about getting involved.

Don’t forget that there are also lesson ideas and resources linked to Roald Dahl’s books on my Teaching Library site.

The new academic year has started for many schools here in the UK, with lots of other schools opening again next week. For those who are new to the teaching profession (as well as other more experienced members), I thought that it might be useful to make a list of some of my favourite resource sites. All of these offer free ideas and resources which you can use in your classrooms…

Teaching Ideas

I have to start by mentioning my Teaching Ideas site. It’s been online since 1998 and offers free lesson ideas, activities and resources. Lots of these have been contributed by teachers around the world and the site is organised by subject / topic to help you find things easily. Don’t forget to look at my other Teaching Websites too.

Primary Resources

Primary Resources is another popular resource site which was set up at the same time as Teaching Ideas, by Gareth Pitchford. The site is enormous and is one of the best places to look for content to use in your classrooms.

Communication4All

Bev Evans makes this wonderful site which is full of fantastic resources. You will find lots of great material to print and laminate here!

TES

The TES has a wide variety of resources, all contributed by teachers and other education professionals. They also host videos from the Teachers TV archive, which are a great source of advice and information.

TPet

TPet make resources of the highest quality. They have a wonderful selection of display resources and activities as well as a blog which is a great source of inspiration too!

Twinkl

The Twinkl site is growing at an amazing rate and they have a wide variety of resources. Take a look!

Teaching Search

As there are so many great resource sites, it sometimes takes a while to search through all of them. So, I created a search engine which searches a number of the most popular ones. It’s free to use and gives results from a special selection of top quality sites.

Primary Teacher Resource Centre Forum

There are a number of educational forums online, but my favourite is the PTRC forum. It’s full of lovely people who are always willing to offer advice and share their resources.

Twitter / Facebook

Don’t forget that there are also lots of great teachers using social networking sites to share ideas. Take a look at Teaching Ideas on Twitter and Facebook to get some ideas about who else to follow.

Are there any other great resource sites that I have missed? What are your favourites?