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Visitas

Ud. es el visitante n° 3528

Some Books Reviews....

Three recent reads I thought worthy of mention:

The Disappearing Spoon. -Sam Kean

imagesI have been very impressed with this book. A story about the Periodic Table may seem to fall into the “worthy but dull” category but this one is beautifully written and full of humour. The prose reminds me of Bill Bryson.

I would particulaly recommend this for Chemistry students at GCSE/A Level to enrich and widen their learning.

There is a supporting website with the following blurb………

The Periodic Table: One of man’s crowning scientific achievements … and a treasure trove of passion, adventure, betrayal, and obsession

Why did Gandhi hate iodine (I, 53)? Why did the Japanese kill Godzilla with missiles made of cadmium (Cd, 48)? How did radium (Ra, 88) nearly ruin Marie Curie’s reputation? And why did tellurium (Te, 52) lead to the most bizarre gold rush in history?

The fascinating tales in The Disappearing Spoon follow carbon, neon, silicon, gold, and every single element on the table as they play out their parts in human history, finance, mythology, conflict, the arts, medicine, and the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them.

Why did a little lithium (Li, 3) help cure poet Robert Lowell of his madness? And how did Gallium (Ga, 31) become the go-to element for laboratory pranksters?* The Disappearing Spoon has the answers, fusing science with the classic lore of invention, investigation, discovery, and alchemy, from the Big Bang through the end of time.

13 Things that don’t make sense -Michael Brooks

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After teaching science for years, it is easy to forget your roots, easy to take for granted the fundamental theories that you pass on as fact. This book challenges your preconceptions and helps to restore the healthy scepticism that all scientist should have. It is a fascinating read.

Blurb from the website…..

The book, published in August 2008, explores 13 anomalies, the things that science can’t explain, and uses historical examples to show how these anomalies are likely to lead us to the next scientific revolutions. The purpose of this website is to provide a discussion forum for the issues raised. Scientific evidence is ever-changing, and the web provides the perfect place to keep up to date with the latest evidence and ideas about these topics.


Fabric of the Cosmos – Brian Greene

One of my favorite books….Bit of a classic this one…..bit more “high brow”….and a little older too.  I re-read it last month and was struck again by the clarity of Green’s writing. If you enjoy Brian Cox on the telly then Brian Greene seems to me to be the transatlantic equivalent.

The book has been turned into a TV series in the States. Good website again with this Blurb……

Space and time from the very fabric of the cosmos. Yet they remain among the most mysterious of concepts. It space an entity? Why does time have a direction? Could the universe exist without space and time? Can we travel to the past? From Newton’s unchanging realm in which space and time are absolute, to Einstein’s fluid conception of spacetime, to quantum mechanics’ entangled arena where vastly distant objects can instantaneously coordinate their behavior, Greene takes us all, regardless of our scientific backgrounds, on an irresistible and revelatory journey to the new layers of reality that modern physics has discovered lying just beneath the surface of our everyday world.

fabric

ICT in School

Planning for an ICT “expert-group” meeting next week, I’ve produced the following diagram to start and stimulate discussion.

Any comment would be most welcome.

We are not constrained by the shackles of the National Curriculum so anything (within reason and my ability to sell it to SMT/governors) goes.

4CircleVennDiagramTemplate

Big brother’s got the X factor Ofsted

With ever increasing changes to the regulatory system that our schools have to suffer Clicky here.

I propose a simpler way to make sure that schools perform. Lets base it on a tried and tested formula and one that all pupils and parents understand.

Lets run the whole thing like the reality show it is. 1votecheckpencil

Each term pupils get to “vote off” one of their teachers.

Each term teachers get to “vote off” one of their pupils.

The benefits are enormous:

  1. We have to televise some lessons- providing valuable video feedback for teacher’s CPD.
  2. We get more mobility in the workplace providing endless opportunities for sharing good practice.
  3. We use the television rights and the income from phone voting to finance the whole education system.
  4. Everybody is more motivated and involved in the process.

We could have Special shows for new appointments and SMT bush-tucker trials.

I think its worth a look………

Physics games…Gotta love ‘em

I LOVE this game……

Core Apple Predictions

Its THAT time of year again. Time for reviews and predictions. Everyone is producing a list of top 10 trends for 2012 or whatever….anyway here’s my contribution.

5 Guaranteed™ true predictions for Apple in 2012.

Apple sues everyone who has produced a screen with a user interface…ever. “we thought of it first…. so there”. iOS becomes the only system available and Apple refuses to allow any third party development. McDonalds orders are now taken down on paper.

Apple buys RIM and produces the (Blackberry & Apple) Krumble ™ handset. This combines the key features of both systems by offering poor network reception ( unless held in a special way with a spoon) and intermittent messaging that fails periodically. Style conscious customers are mollified by the availability of removable Kustard ™ covers.

Near field Communication (NFC) combined with location services allows Apple partner retailers to charge you via your phone for looking in a shop window.

Siri takes over……It starts with “what is the capital of Bulgaria?” moves to “what should I have for tea?” and ends with “how do I feel today?” then “Tell me what to do” As people get more and more addicted to voice interfaces, their ability to make decisions and have opinions is eroded until the Apple AI takes over running our lives …… …A Skynet/ Terminator future looms and the human race is doomed to an underground resistance, communicating with Nokia bricks. The whole situation is avoided when…….

……The Hewlett Packard servers that are hosting the iCloud simultaneously update their HP print server manager™ bloatware and block all the bandwidth. The Windows 7 server edition that they are running, crashes.  Siri grinds to a halt and millions of Apple zombie users are released back to consciousness, blinking in the light. crisis averted, the world is saved by HP and Microsoft.

index

The future’s bright, the future’s…er…..”Siri, what colour is the future?”…………

Mobile learning trending

mobile-tech

How is the mobile technology revolution impacting on education?

Are our schools ready?

The American Organisation Mindshift has listed its  Major Mobile Learning Trends to Watch For they are:

1. Location-based integration.
Museums and commerce have woken up to the fact that smartphones and tablets know where they are and have responded with location dependent content and advertising. Schools need to think about this.

2. The domination of ebook. Amazon is one of the biggest retailers of books, but in the past year, their sales of ebooks has outstripped that of traditional books-yet traditional paper text books are still renewed every 2-3 years (as my science syllabus gets tweaked)

3. Cloud computing in schools. Cloud computing is a big buzzword these days, with tech companies like Microsoft and Apple pushing their devices and applications — Schools are increasingly looking to cloud computing as a way to provide access to information and to close budget gaps but this is reliant on fast and reliable broadband connection….is the infrastructure there yet?

4. Bring-your-own-device classrooms. “Since most kids these days already have access to a mobile device, schools are seizing the opportunity to turn these gadgets from distractions into learning tools by incorporating these devices into classroom lessons and projects”. er…actually they are not….most schools actively discourage their use and ban them from lessons. This Christmas millions of kids will receive the latest mobile tech from Santa only to have its use denied to them for formal education. In my my opinion, schools need to completely rethink this stance.

5. Online collaborative learning. Most teachers would be amazed at the amount of online collaboration that happens between their pupils. As a profession, we are seriously missing an opportunity here.

6. The rise of the tablet. Any teacher who has endured the hell of a lesson involving a class set of badly managed laptops will be wary of technology that gets in the way of learning. Tablets go some way to making that tech transparent…we are on the verge of a revolution here.

7. Online class management. Online class management systems like Moodle and Blackboard have grown exponentially in their number of users in recent years but are still largely confined to tertiary and higher education. Are younger learners ready to take part….I think so.

8. Social media for education. Most schools still regard social media as a problem…another conduit for bullying and a potential nightmare around the blurring of pupil/teacher/parent relationships. We need to find solutions quickly and embrace a new way of communicating.

9. Snack learning. One of the criticisms of the digital generation is that they have short attention spans. I have a problem with this one. My son shows incredible concentration over long periods whilst ridding the world of terrorist tyrants on his Xbox; I don’t see why this behaviour cannot be replicated for his A level physics next year…………we’ll see!

  • Schools are, at best slowly reacting to the changes in communication technology.
  • The vast majority of working teachers are almost completely ignorant of these changes.
  • The gap between  pupil’s learning environments in school and out is increasing at an alarming rate.
  • There has never been a more important time for teachers to learn.


I Passed !!

new_york_cpr_first_aid1

Stage two of my quest to become a sailing instructor is complete!. I got my RYA first Aid certificate after 4 evenings of heavy consultation with Merlyn. I am actually quite pleased with myself.

We covered lots of interesting stuff about helicopter rescue procedures (prob not that relevent on Barnt Green resevoir…….) and hypothermia (very relevent after the iced up winter so far) as well as the usual recovery position, bandaging and “poke them ’till they start talking” advice.

Of course…. our club is packed to the rafters with GPs, consultant surgeons and other medical luminaries, so whenever anyone hurts themselves whilst sailing it becomes a pissing up the wall competition between competitive medics……fall over in the car park and rather than a quick plaster you’ll have to beat off attempts to remove your appendix with a spoon from the bar……..OK….slight exageration..

anyway…….I have now proved that:

1. I can drive a powerboat

2. I know what to do if people stop breathing, fall over or are leaking.

I can now concentrate on the small matter of:

3. Proving I can sail (or rather..duping an expert)

4. Learning how to teach others to sail.

mmmm…..I still have a mountain to climb.

Resolution 2- the quest for knowledge

fable

The no-mans-land between Christmas and New Year provides many an opportunity to get off piste from routine and my son and I have been experiencing similar mental journeys. He has immersed itself in the virtual world of his new XBox, solving riddles, traversing complex levels and generally shooting the stuff that gets in his way. I have been using the same skills to navigate my way through the labyrinthine complexity of the RYA website.

His quest?…to find the…. lost something of somewhere and free the people of Nerdania from the tyranny of oppression. My quest?….to  take the first step to enlightenment and find the 4 fold path to becoming a sailing instructor.

Seriously…the RYA website is huge and complex. The content is excellent, copious and regularly updated as well as obviously curated by local experts. The problem, however, is that it tries to be everything to everyone and it can be a nightmare actually finding what you want staring from the first page. Someone needs to evaluate the way that the website is used and restructure the navigation to reflect this.

So…having completed my quest and bored everyone within earshot…I have the 4 steps for becoming a dinghy instructor:

1. Powerboat level 2 qualification…Result!…I already have this…trained many years ago in the turbulent straits of Menai by an ex-marine who had just returned from shouting at Gurkhas in Venezuela. I feel confident pootling around a lake in a small rib….anyway I have the piece of paper so moving on…..

2. First aid certificate….OK…I can sort this..Merlyn  (local GP and principal training officer) from the sailing club runs first aid courses up at Barnt Green.

3.Assessment of sailing ability….eeeek…I have to go to a lake and have someone (rya performance manager) watch me perform “to the best of my ability” in a boat of my choice…this will be a bit like retaking my driving test after 30 years.

4.Take the training course….This is a week long course where actual training of people in boats happens. Unfortunately the big list of when this is available has not been posted  on the website yet.

So….in terms that my son would understand, my quest is to:

Battle in seas of Menai to gain the scroll of boat-handling, then seek out the wizard Merlyn and win the gift of healing. Travel to the lake of trials and be judged by the ogre in the sail ordeal then solve the website labyrinth to find the prophecy of training until..finally…I can journey to the  elders and free the people from the ignorance of landlubbery…..wish me well for I may failfable1

New Year

Ok then…….. New year, new start, new me blah blah blah……. I have been pestered by those who matter into re-entering the blogsphere.

So let’s begin with the traditional and obvious. (never my strong suit)

Resolutions.

Three appears to be the appropriate number and after considerable thought I have reduced the initial flurry to these:

1. Lose some weight. About 2 stone should be a good start.( Reason = obvious + method = traditional). I vow not to “go on a diet” but simply to eat less (both volume and frequency.)

2. Become a dinghy instructor. Having been involved In teaching people to sail for years I think it’s about time I actually qualified. More of this later.

3. Be nicer to people.

I shall keep you informed but I suspect that the last one will be the most difficult.

Marks out of ten?

“Has the phone gone yet?” We are expecting our regulatory short inspection at any moment. Shiny new signs are up everywhere. All staff are boning up on the contents of the staff handbook. All paperwork is checked and policies have been revisited,reviewed and rewritten. The impending event has distorted the focus of the senior management and (to a somewhat lesser extent) the staff all year. The staff room resembles the year 11 common room before an exam. Some nervous, some feigning nonchalance…..others even testing each other.

Our thoughts and feelings about being assessed echo those of our pupils and we should learn from this.

For us… its a team effort, none of us wants to be the weak link…to let everyone else down.

For them….its individual, but they dont want to dissapoint teachers or waste the (huge) financial investment that their parents have made in their education… to let everyone else down.

For them…the exams are important, measuring them against their peers, shaping the future and determining continued success.

For us…a very small school in competition with many others….the inspection is important for the same reasons.

We will all have (arguably meaningless) hoops to jump through this summer. Both staff and pupils are more afraid of the consequenses of failure than excited by the opportunities of success. Neither test measures the true worth of its subject.

We overvalue assessment and undervalue education…

lets try to not let the testing get in the way of the learning.