Quadblogging is a great way of getting your children involved in writing and responding to writing by others around the world. If you haven’t heard of it before, read this description, taken from the Quadblogging blog:

‘Imagine four schools that had a partnership/agreement that would mean that for a four week cycle, each school’s blog would be the focus for one week out of four. Each school in the Quad would spend some time visiting the blog of the school for that week, leave comments etc. After that week, another one of the four schools would be the focus and this would be repeated for the four week cycle and then repeated. It wouldn’t take the pupils long to work out that during their week, they would get a boost in visitor numbers and comments. This would give a real focus to have posts online ready for this bulge in visits. During the other three weeks, pupils get to visit and comment on other blogs in their quad. Pupils being pupils, they would also venture out of the quads and visit other blogs that are linked.’

Here’s a video explanation, created by schools who have taken part in quadblogging in the past:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The next ’round’ of quadblogging starts in January 2012 and schools are being invited to sign up now. Complete the form on the site to get involved!

Here are five of my favourite online resources that I’ve discovered recently:

1) inudge (shared by Jill Summers) – This is a music generator that has simple controls and is really easy to use. You just use your mouse to draw on a 16×16 grid to make short loops of audio. There are options to have up to eight tracks (with different instruments) as well as the ability to adjust the volume and audio pan. Any music that is created can be shared and embedded. Here is one of the most popular tracks on the site at the moment:

2) Pixlr-o-matic (shared by Simon Haughton) – This fun tool lets you add a variety of effects to your photos. It has a really simple interface and you can preview the effects immediately and compare which ones you prefer. There are options to use photos from a web cam and upload pictures from your computer, so don’t forget your e-safety rules when deciding which photos to use

3) Well Done – Show Mr. Mitchell - This is a wonderful blog, set up by David Mitchell, as a way of sharing the wonderful things that the children at his school do. When children come to see him, he posts photos and audio comments to publish the children’s achievements on the blog instantly. It’s a great concept and it’s very easy to set up. Watch this video to see how David’s blog works:

Click here to view the embedded video.

4) Triptico (shared by Dai Barnes) – This free software currently offer 19 fantastic tools which are great for interactive whiteboard users. The tools include count-down timers, stopwatches, random pupil pickers, magnetic words, scoreboards and more. The program is updated regularly with new features and I highly recommend it!

5) ICT Planning – Ian Addison has created this great guide to ICT for teachers. It has sections for lots of different types of ICT, with information, web links and suggested resources within each section. There are also references to expected levels that children should reach at different age / year groups.

Have you discovered any new resources recently?

Technology Bits, Bytes and Nibbles is a wonderful blog from Cyndi Danner-Kuhn. Cyndi works at Kansas State University and does lots of technology professional development in K-12 schools. Her blog started as a way of sharing resources for her colleagues but it is also extremely popular with other educators around the world.

Cyndi posts regularly and she shares some wonderful technology resources that teachers can use. You can follow her blog via RSS or by email too, so it’s easy to keep updated. Take a look!

Do you go outside as part of your lessons? Do you take advantage of outdoor learning? Juliet Robertson is an outdoor learning consultant who runs a fantastic blog where she shares her ideas and experiences about outdoor learning.

It is a wonderful place to discover new ways to use the outdoors as part of your lessons in all areas of the curriculum.

creativestarlearning.blogspot.com

You can also follow Juliet on Twitter. Thanks to Kevin McLaughlin for recommended Juliet’s blog on his ‘In 30 Seconds’ video posts.

2Simple have been busy over the summer holidays making lots of great resources for schools to use:

• New blog – 2Simple Talk is a new blog which is a place to find the latest 2Simple updates, as well as free ideas for using their tools in your classroom.

www.2simpletalk.com

• Back to School resources – The team have created new apptivities which can be used at the start of a new academic year. These include Pupil Profiles, School Lists and Summer Holiday reports.
• New presentation – A new collaborative presentation has also been started, allowing teachers to share their ideas for using the Purple Mash tools in the classroom. The presentation is available on Ideas to Inspire.

What’s your favourite 2Simple resource?

Lots of primary schools in the UK use software by 2Simple. They offer a wide range of ICT tools which are incredibly simple and easy to use, whilst offering lots of creative opportunities. The company have just set up a blog which is worth following if you use their software.

http://2simpleblog.wordpress.com/

The blog has examples of the programs being used by children, ideas for activities to try, as well as sneaky peeks at up and coming developments.

Here are links to the most popular ‘Teaching News‘ posts for November 2009 in case you missed some of them the first time around:

1. Fireworks – Ideas and links to help celebrate Fireworks night.
2. Remembrance Sunday – Useful links for activities related to Remembrance Sunday
3. Competition – Win DK Books – This competition has now closed. The winner will be announced shortly!
4. Blank Top Trumps – Unfortunately, these Top Trumps files are no longer available on the site. I’ve contacted the creator but he no longer has copies either. If you have a copy of the file, please email me and I’ll upload them so that others can use them too. They’re obviously very popular!
5. Communication 4 All – Have you explored this wonderful site yet?
6. Competition – Where do you like to learn? – Did you enter Dell’s competition to win a tablet PC / netbook?
7. Numeracy Helper – A useful site with free Numeracy resources.
8. Skoolio – PSHE and Classroom Powerpoints – Have you downloaded any of these fantastic Powerpoint presentations yet?

Here are links to the most popular ‘Teaching News‘ posts for October 2009. Which ones were most useful for you?

1. Top 10 Teaching Ideas (Sep ’09) – A list of the most popular ideas on Teaching Ideas.
2. Free Stuff for Teachers – A fantastic site with free resources for teachers to use.
3. Superclubs Plus Free Trial – Sign up to Superclubs with our offer, now extended until 30th November 2009.
4. 100 Best Open Source Apps for Education – How many of these apps do you use?
5. Communication for All – Download lots of top quality resources on this great site.
6. The Potato Story – A wonderful site to support work in Science lessons.
7. New Ideas to Inspire – Have you discovered the new presentations on Ideas to Inspire?
8. Staying Organised – How do you manage all of the jobs that teachers have to do?
9. The Art Classroom – Visit this wonderful blog and discover lots of art ideas and student work.
10. Cool Tools for Schools – An amazing directory of tools that schools can take advantage of.

The Art Classroom is a wonderful blog about art and design in secondary schools. It is run by David Dunlop and shows the day to day workings of an art classroom.

There are lots of examples of student work, as well as unit plans and ideas for other schools to try. Take a look and leave some comments about the work that is shared.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Twitter is a fantastic way of discovering new ideas and resources from people with similar interests. Here is a random selection of sites that I’ve discovered from my friends and followers on Twitter recently:

• Fun Science Games (from @dannynic) - This blog post from Sciencebase shares a number of fun and educational Science games which can be used with pupils.
• Keyboard Climber (from @2sparkley) – An entertaining game, in which you have to help a monkey climb a tree by typing letters. Great for improving children’s keyboard skills.
  
  
• Free copy of Songsmith for UK teachers (from @simonhaughton) – Registered members of the UK Innovative Teachers Network can download a free copy of Microsoft’s Songsmith software.
• 2Assess – Anthony Evans gives a first look at new ICT assessment software from 2Simple Software.
• Storybird (from @tombarrett) – An online tool that allows friends and families to make short, visual stories. How could this be used in the classroom?
• Cartoonster (from @olliebray) – Fun, interactive tutorials which teach children how to draw and animate.
• Get Signed Up! (from @simonhaughton) – A list of free tools that can be used for educational purposes in the classroom.

This is just a small selection of the tools that I’ve discovered via my Twitter network. Have you found any new and useful sites recently?