I’m really pleased to announce a new iPhone application for teachers. The app is called TeachingUK and it’s available in the App store now! The application is a really easy way for teachers to find the latest news (from this Teaching News blog) as well as the most recent additions to Teaching Ideas.

You can also browse the Teaching News and Teaching Ideas sites within the app if you want to see the content in more detail:

The app also allows you to browse the most recent tweets from the @TeachingIdeas Twitter account (which now has over 2,000 followers). To install the app, just visit http://bit.ly/teachinguk or search for TeachingUK in the App Store.

I am planning a future post about other useful iPhone applications for teachers. If you use any great education apps on your iPhone / iPod Touch, please get in touch by email or by leaving a comment below. Thanks.

Following part 1 and part 2 of my ‘Favourite blogs for teachers’ posts, here is another collection of useful blogs to follow. Don’t forget to subscribe to their RSS feeds to get the latest updates.

• Technostories – This blog is a fantastic source of inspiration for using ICT in your classroom. Created by Bev Evans who also runs the wonderful Communication4All site.
• Inspiring Creative Technology – Simon Haughton shares his teaching experiences, including many brilliant ICT ideas.

• Digital-Teacher – Simon Widdowson posts regularly about lots of school-related issues. Some of these include his explorations of various online tools as his school attempts to set up their own virtual learning environment.
• Steps in Teaching and Learning – This blog, created by Kevin McLaughlin, is another valuable source of information for teachers, particularly those with an interest in ICT.
• Bits & Bobs – Nicola Stables is a regular blogger who shares her teaching ideas and experiences with this wonderful blog.

• I Learn Technology - Kelly Tenkely is a technology teacher who shares useful ideas and teaching links on this fantastic blog.
• Adventures in Learning – EBD35 only started blogging recently and has written some interesting posts already about the use of the Nintendo Wii to support learning in the classroom.

Many thanks to Steph Westwood (who has started her own blog recently) for suggesting some of these via Twitter.

Image – keyboard ~ blur

Last February, I set up Ideas to Inspire after creating a collaborative presentation about Inspiring Writing in the classroom. Since then, the site has grown considerably with lots of new ideas and presentations being added regularly. Over the Christmas break, the site passed the 1000 ideas mark which is a fantastic achievement.

www.ideastoinspire.co.uk

There are almost 50 different presentations on the site, offering:

• Ideas for using technology to support different areas of the curriculum
• Ways of using ICT hardware in the classroom
• Interesting ways of using software and online tools to develop learning.
• Collections of educational Youtube videos
• Recommendations of games to enhance learning and items for ICT co-ordinators to buy.
• Much, much more!

Many thanks to the people who have started the presentations and allowed me to share them on the site. Thanks also to everyone who has added an idea to the presentations. I update the RSS feed every week and it is wonderful to see so many people sharing ideas in such an effective way.

Last month, I wrote a post about a book that was being created by Doug Belshaw and other teachers using Twitter. Contributors were invited to share teaching tips, ideas and suggestions in 140 characters using a special tag.

All of these tweets have now been collated and the book is now available to download or buy.

The PDF is available for free download: http://bit.ly/movemeonpdf
The book is available at cost price: http://bit.ly/movemeonbook
A (cheaper) black and white version of the book is also available here.

It is a valuable resource for new and experienced teachers with a huge collection of useful ideas. It’s well worth downloading or buying a paper copy.

Digital Adwise offers teachers a tool to engage KS1 and KS2 students, and teach them about marketing communications. The interactive online lessons can be used by individuals or small groups on classroom computers. The lessons are tailored to teaching needs and are highly flexible for teachers to modify as they see fit. They aim to help children to identify and understand the commercial purpose behind online marketing techniques such as viral marketing, the use of social marketing sites and online games.

The lessons are now available for all schools to access online and free of charge at www.digitaladwise.mediasmart.org.uk

Carex have created a set of educational resources, called ‘Hands up for Hygiene’, which aim to teach children to understand the link between good hand hygiene and the prevention of the spread of germs.

www.carex.co.uk/hands-up-for-hygiene

The site has resources for pre-school, primary and secondary schools, as well as tips for helping children to think about hygiene at home. There are also songs to download and sing. You can even take advantage of a free service allowing schools to borrow a lightbox which can be used to inspect how clean little hands are!

Following on from my previous post about Christmas ideas and activities to try in the classroom, I’ve collected together another set of useful resources that you might be able to try in the final weeks before the big day!

All about Christmas

WhyChristmas answers lots of questions that you might want to ask about Christmas. The site is nicely organised, easy to use and it also has some interactive online activities to try.

Teaching Ideas

I have added a selection of new Christmas resources to the Seasonal section of Teaching Ideas. These include:

• Santa Welcome Mat (PDF) – Contributed by The Literacy Club, this file can be completed and coloured by younger children as part of their Christmas celebrations.
• Christmas Wordsearch (PDF) – A set of differentiated wordsearches… some of which involve recording co-ordinates and directions of the words in the grid. Choose the one that is most appropriate for the ability of your children.

The latest update to Primary Resources also includes a number of new Christmas resources that have been added over the past few days.

10Ticks also have a special Christmas page with lots of free resources to use at this time of year. You might have to register to download some of these, but registration is free.

Interactive Sites

I’ve also discovered a selection of fun Christmas sites via Twitter recently. These include…

• Christmas Reindeer – Play this musical game on your interactive whiteboard. To play the tune, you have to click on the reindeers’ noses!

• Portable North Pole – A wonderful site which lets you create personalised videos from Father Christmas. Great for sending messages to family and friends… although remember your Internet Safety rules about sharing personal information!

I hope that the last few days of teaching before Christmas are enjoyable for you, and that some of these resources are useful!

Doug Belshaw has started a wonderful new way of sharing teaching tips via Twitter. His idea, called ‘Move Me On’, involves teachers sharing a simple tip or idea in 140 characters by posting it on Twitter with the hashtag #movemeon. At the time of writing this, there are 490 tips in the collection!

You can read more about the idea on Doug’s site, or follow the rest of the ideas at TwapperKeeper. Doug is planning to publish an e-book containing all of the contributed ideas, so follow his blog to find out when this has been published.

Lots of schools here in the UK and around the world are preparing for Christmas. We’re putting up the decorations at my school this week, so I thought that it might be useful to share a selection of ideas, activities and resources that can be used as part of Christmas activities over the next few weeks. If you have any idea, why not add it to the comments at the bottom of this page?

Learn about Christmas…

The wonderful Woodlands Junior school site is a fantastic source of information for those who would like to learn more about Christmas traditions in Britain:

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/xmas/

The-North-Pole.com also has information about how Christmas is celebrated around the world.

Lesson ideas and resources…

Visit the Christmas sections on Teaching Ideas and Primary Resources to discover lots of lesson ideas and activities. Why not get your younger children to write to Santa… or make a class Christmas tree?

You could also try making an Origami Christmas tree. Thanks to Mister G for sharing this on Twitter.

The BBC also has a useful site giving information about Victorian Christmas activities, with videos showing how to try lots of different crafts.

DK.com has a selection of Christmas clip-art which could be used as part of craft activities, or to liven up your interactive whiteboard slides.

Sparklebox also has a large collection of Christmas resources to download and enjoy. Don’t forget to use TeachrSearch to find Christmas teaching materials on a selection of fantastic sites.

Christmas Music…

Listen Live has a selection of Christmas radio stations that you can listen to. Feels like Christmas has some free (and legal!) downloadable Christmas music. Don’t forget to try the Dancing Santa at Northpole.com too!

Interactive sites to try…

Visit some of these sites to find Christmas / winter games to use on an interactive whiteboard, or as part of children’s independent activities using computers:

• Make a Flake – make your own snowflakes onscreen. This could be used as a starting point for making your own snowflakes with paper and scissors.
• NorthPole.com – an enormous site with lots of interactive and educational Christmas activities.
  
• Snowman Maker – create a snowman by dragging and dropping the different features.
• Winterbells – Children in my classes have always loved this game. How high can you get the bunny to bounce?

Simon Haughton has also created a list of interactive sites which he will be posting to his school website each day. Take a look at the Kent ICT and Northumberland NGfL sites for even more useful places to explore!

Do you have a favourite Christmas activity / resource? I’d love to hear about it in the comments…

Here are links to some of the most popular ideas on Teaching Ideas over the past few months:

1. The Hundred Square (Maths) – Use the 100 square to find patterns by colouring in certain squares.
2. Story Plans (Literacy) – Two free worksheets which children can use when planning their stories.
3. Story Settings (Literacy) – A fantastic resource which encourages children to describe settings without telling the reader directly.
4. Millionaire Place Value Game (Maths) – A competition between the teacher and pupils which develops understanding of place value.
5. Feelings Flowers (Art) – A wonderful way of encouraging children to think about their feelings.
6. The Skeleton (Science) – A handy worksheet on which children have to identify different parts of the skeleton.
7. Place Value Clap (Maths) – A brilliant method of getting children to think about place value.
8. Decimal Number Lines (Maths) – Three number lines which children can refer to during their work on decimals.
9. Place Value Hats (Maths) – Use this excellent idea to develop children’s understanding of place value.
10. Fill in the Punctuation (Literacy) – Children need to put the correct punctuation into a piece of text.

What is your favourite teaching idea? Send your ideas and I will add them to the site as soon as I can. Thank you