Travelling to Teach is an exciting summer travel programme aimed specifically at teachers interested in volunteering and teaching abroad. The project is currently looking for dedicated teachers who would like to use the opportunity to volunteer abroad to really change lives teaching English, Maths, Science, Art or Drama.

What’s involved?

The Travelling to Teach programme works with a number of charity/community schools in India, Nepal and Tanzania which provide education to children from some of the poorest backgrounds.

This is a three week long trip which will see selected volunteer teachers visit and work in a school in India, Nepal or Tanzania educating the local children and working with the existing teaching staff. The aim of the volunteering programme is to provide interactive and interesting lessons to the children, bringing amusement to their classes.

Here is a video where teachers share their experiences from previous trips.

I came across Anithings at a visit to BETT a few weeks ago. It is a fantastic piece of software which allows children to create their own animations on screen. They can design their own characters and backgrounds or use the ones provided. Recording the animation simply involves pressing the record button and then animating the characters by moving them around.

Here are some demonstrations of how to use the software. The first shows how to make a simple animation:

This video shows some of the more advanced features, such as drawing tools, storyboards and speech bubbles.

Any animations created using the software can be posted online and then embedded into school websites or VLEs.

UPDATE – This offer is now closed.

The team at Anithings have kindly offered visitors to Teaching Ideas and Teaching News a 10% discount on any orders of the software during February. To receive this discount, simple quote ‘Teaching Ideas‘ or ‘Teaching News‘ when you place the order. Schools and teachers using either of these codes will also receive a pack of 90 Anithings stickers featuring characters from the program… great for a display or as a reward for children who create amazing animations with the software!

The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and Partnerships for Schools (PfS) are running an exciting new initiative to get Energy Display Meters provided and installed into English state-funded schools, absolutely free. The meter provides real-time information about your school’s electricity use in an easy-to-understand format which can be used as a teaching and learning tool.

www.energydisplaymeter.co.uk

The device is linked to your school’s PC networks, enabling you to raise energy awareness amongst pupils and teachers. It is also an excellent customisable teaching tool. Register your interest on the Energy Display Meter site and you will be informed as soon as applications are open.

Do you know a teacher who’s gone the extra mile and really changed lives?

The BBC is looking for an inspirational teacher, an unsung hero who has somehow made a real difference, someone whose story deserves to be told.

Perhaps they have brought new and innovative methods to the classroom, with outstanding results. Maybe they have thrown away the rule book, only to prove their way does actually work. They may have transformed a school, a class, or perhaps simply touched individual lives.

It might not be a teacher – we’re interested in hearing stories of outstanding classroom assistants, school supervisors and other education professionals as well.

For an informal chat please contact Gemma Collins on 02920 322572 or email gemma.collins2@bbc.co.uk

Image – China_155

The Blue Cross has volunteer speakers around the UK who are able to visit primary schools to talk to the children about responsible pet ownership, the needs of pets and how to be safe around dogs. These talks are free of charge.

www.bluecross.org.uk

To date, The Blue Cross have seen over 100,000 school children with this programme. If you are interested in finding out if there is a speaker in your area, please email education@bluecross.org.uk or visit www.bluecross.org.uk.

The Journey Journal is a special passport sized book that encourages young people to (re)think the places they visit. It has been written for use during holidays, school trips and to support the transition between primary and secondary school.

The Journey Journal site explains that “going somewhere new is a massive opportunity to discover and make sense of the cultures, environments, issues and alternative ideas. The Journey Journal is a clever little interactive book that is packed with things to record, think and do. Using the Journey Journal encourages critical and creative thinking, helping the traveller to see their world in new ways.

Copies of the Journey Journal are usually £4.49 incl UK P&P) but you can get a copy for just £2.50 (with free P&P) by using the code ‘SAGT’ when you order in their online shop.

UPDATE – This offer has now ended.

Don’t forget that our offer of an 8-week trial of Superclubs Plus is ending soon. This fantastic social networking site is a wonderful resource for children providing them with a safe place to communicate with others online.

Read more on our previous post, or simply register with the site at www.superclubsplus.com. This offer has now ended.

The Potato Story site is a great place to learn about life cycles, healthy eating, growing food and much more. The site has videos, games and quizzes for children to use, as well as resources for teachers and parents.

The site allows for cross-curricular links through ICT (Exploring simulations), literacy (with VAK opportunities including drama) and numeracy (measuring, collecting and presenting data).

There is also a ‘Potato Story’ bus which is available to visit schools to help them learn even more. If you would like to invite the bus to visit your school, enter your details on this form.

Do you love baking cakes? Or making bread, cookies or other tasty food? If you do, get involved in National Baking Week from 19th to 25th October 2009.

The National Baking Week site is a wonderful resource for schools, containing recipes, teaching packs for KS1 and KS2, baking tips, a free baking booklet and online games. There is also a national competition running where schools can win £350 worth of Pyrex equipment for their school.

As featured on the Kent ICT blog recently, Sherston have an amazing deal which is only available until 30th November 2009.

They are offering over 100 of their best multi-award winning software titles for £1099. All titles come with full site licences so you can install them across your entire school networks. Visit TAG Learning to find out more and to take advantage of the offer.

If you work at a school in Kent in the UK, read the Kent ICT blog to find out how you can get this deal for £799 (but you have to order before 23rd October 2009).