The entire catalogue of 3500 Teachers TV videos was sadly taken offline recently as Teachers TV came to an end. However, the people who worked there have formed a new company called Teachers Media and they now have all of the videos back online. The site is still very new and they have lots of plans for future developments.

It’s great to see that these valuable resources are now back online. So, visit them at Teachers Media and view the videos there!

Estyn, the education and training inspectorate for Wales, has recently published a series of films for teachers showing best practice in the classroom. The videos share tried and tested ways of raising standards with all educational professionals. Each film looks at a different area of success within a provider and they feature interviews with staff, learners and parents. View the videos here.

In related news, Teachers TV (who had had over 3,500 professional development videos on their site) closed recently. However, the people who ran Teachers TV have formed a new organisation called Teachers Media. The new site aims to have the full archive of 3,500 Teachers TV videos online over the next few weeks.

Teachers TV have made a number of announcements about new projects and resources recently:

• Big Debate Live – With the government’s comprehensive spending review looming, Teachers TV wants to hear from teachers, teaching assistants, headteachers and governors on where the money should be spent, cut and saved. A live, interactive, online debate will be taking place on Thursday 21 October at 8pm. To register an interest, sign-up to the debate and put questions to the panel in advance of the discussion, go to www.teachers.tv/big-debate-live.
• Learning from the News – These videos are a series of short, topical classroom resources designed for use with primary and secondary pupils, based on the latest news. The videos are also accompanied by curriculum-based lesson plans, covering Key Stage 1 to 4.
• Great Children’s Writers: Anthony Browne - Children’s Laureate Anthony Browne visits a London primary school and talks to pupils about his books, ideas and inspirations. The programme is a useful resource for teachers wanting to capture the imagination of their pupils and bring them back to books.
• School Matters: Teenage Love and Relationships - South London teenagers together with PSHE consultants and teachers discuss the ups and downs of relationships, and the role schools can play in helping pupils prepare emotionally and practically for these powerful experiences.
• Primary Science – Mummification and The Big Stink with Deborah Herridge - Deborah reveals how a tomato can be mummified using a similar technique employed by the ancient Egyptians. Changes to the fruit are then recorded over the following weeks – covering the APP criteria for Observing and Measuring over time. The Big Stink recreates the challenges facing the Victorians and their sewage system – introducing a practical science investigation helping teachers to use the APP criteria for Gathering Evidence.
• Secondary Singing with Howard Goodall - After the hugely successful Sing-Up project in primary schools, this programme aims to give music teachers and senior management in secondary schools both the inspiration and know-how to get their pupils singing.

It has also been announced recently that the government has ‘pulled the plug’ on Teachers TV, so its future is currently uncertain. I’ve used many of the Teachers TV resources myself, so I hope that the sites and its resource stay online… have you used Teachers TV? How do you feel about this news?

Some of this week’s education-related news articles include:

• Announcements about improvements to the education of England’s poorest children throughout their time at nursery, school and university. However, “non-essential” education projects including youth clubs, after-school music and art activities and child safety projects are to be cut, to enable the government to meet this commitment.
• Ministers have agreed the schools budget for England and are to claim schools will be protected from across-the-board cuts.
• A report suggests that schools should open in shifts to make the most of scarce resources at a time of austerity.
• Psychologists and unions have claimed that teacher training courses do not cover enough ground on classroom management. Meanwhile, the Guardian has asked if parents are to blame for bad behaviour in schools. New research has also claimed that ‘children raised by single mothers are twice as likely to misbehave as those born into traditional two-parent families‘. In another report, MPs have warned that bad behaviour is ’caused by mixed ability classes’.
• The Department for Education has pulled the plug on Teachers TV, the online training site for British schoolteachers.
• More than half a million extra school places will be needed in the UK over the next five years as a result of immigration, a pressure group has said.
• School toilets have come under criticism with many children avoiding them ‘because they are dirty and occupied by smokers and bullies’.
• After Tom Daley’s success at the Commonwealth Games, this article comments on some of the problems that he has had to face during his time at a previous school.
• A school in Greater Manchester has banned GCSE pupils from using fountain pens so that they become more familiar with the ballpoint pens that are required for use in exams.

Image - I tend to scribble a lot

• Education chiefs are warning parents of the dangers of school trips to London after the Foreign Office alert level for European terror attacks was raised.
• The Guardian is celebrating the work of entrants to the Young Critics book review competition.
• History in schools is being put under threat as thousands of children are allowed to drop the subject at the age of 14 for “trivial reasons”, according to a leading academic.
• Ministers in Scotland are taking steps to strengthen rules designed to protect Scottish schools from closure.
• The business secretary, Vince Cable, has said that a free market in tuition fees would be unfair.
• Europe’s only troupe of boy cheerleaders have picked up a trophy at the National Cheerleading Championships.
• The BBC has produced an interesting report which outlines what universities of the future might be like.

Visit Teaching Events to find educational events to use in your classroom.

Teachers TV has launched a nationwide competition to find TAs with Talent. They are looking for the gems of the classroom to feature in a special programme to be transmitted in the New Year.

They want to know about inspiring Teaching Assistants and what talent or skill they bring to their classroom or school. Do they run a fantastic school club? Are they a captivating story teller? Maybe they are a gifted musician that has transformed the school choir or productions?

The competition runs from now until 7th December 2009.  The panel of judges will shortlist three finalists, who will be visited in their schools in January 2010. Teachers TV will make a short video of each finalist and upload it to the Teachers TV Facebook page, where the audience will vote for an overall winner. Voting will open on 27th January 2010 and shall close on 8th February 2010.

All the details and terms and conditions can be found on our website at www.teachers.tv/ta.

Image - kindergarten, in session

It’s ICT week on Teachers’ TV and there are a number of interesting new videos which will be useful for any teachers who have to use ICT as part of their teaching.

One new series of videos is called ‘Better Learning with ICT‘. There are currently five videos in the series and many of them feature some of the amazing educators who use Twitter to share ideas and support each other. The videos include:

• Video in the Classroom - A geography teacher uses video to enhance learning in class.
• Improving Your Presentations - A primary teacher uses ICT to aid her presentation skills (with some great tips from @joedale)
• Online Communities in the Classroom - A teacher learns the benefits of using social media in school (@lisibo shares her amazing experience)
• Computer Games in the Classroom - A primary teacher uses computer games to inspire her class (with some fantastic ideas from @dawnhallybone)
• Data Handling in the Classroom - A teacher overcomes her fear of data handling by using ICT (@cthomas18 shares some excellent advice).

Watch the videos online, download them to watch later and follow these incredible educators on Twitter. You’re bound to learn something new… I certainly did when I watched each video!

Teachers’ TV are offering CPD training workshops to support schools in making the most of Teachers TV as a resource for CPD. Tailored to the needs of different practitioners, the sessions are free and provide an interactive and informative learning environment.

Download this PDF leaflet to discover more or visit the Teachers TV site to find out how to book a session.