Had a blast putting together this brief intro to GPS for my first year IGCSE ICT class. Feel free to use & share!
Lesson resource: how GPS works
L
The National Curriculum Review: first thoughts
T
There has been an understandably frenzied response to the initial findings of the National Curriculum Review expert panel report that was released earlier this month, particularly from ICT teachers who are facing the prospect of their subject being marginalised, or others who think it will be removed altogether. But are the report findings all bad news for ICT teachers?
What would your curriculum look like?
W
In September I moved to the beautiful island of St Helena in the South Atlantic. I recently started work on revamping the ICT curriculum, and am currently looking at a blank piece of paper surrounded by piles of reading material. What would you do?
Designing a scheme of work
D
Aside from pontificating at the front of a classroom, hands down my favourite thing about teaching is developing schemes of work. I find there’s something extremely satisfying in developing a project that forms part of a larger whole, knowing its place within that whole, and knowing what else is needed in order to guarantee a good coverage of skills.
Assessing Pupil Progress
A
Assessing Pupil Progress was introduced in 2010 to supplement the level descriptors for ICT, and I like it. I'd never, ever print out A3 copies of the assessment criteria and give them to the kids, but as a tool for planning out a curriculum, APP is great.
Key questioning: don’t skip steps
K
When I was training to teach, one of my tutors had a section on his lesson plan proforma entitled "vocab". At the time, I wondered what possible reason there would be to have a vocab section for an ICT lesson plan - the kids know the vocab, right?
Pupil speak level descriptors
P
The requests for ICT level descriptors in pupil speak continue to pile up on the TES forums, so I thought I'd make mine available for download. Personally, I think they make a lot of sense, and cover the array of ICT skills we ought to be covering in high schools very well, but at first glance seem inaccessible, particularly for assessing pupil progress.
Resources: lesson plan proforma & Bloom’s taxonomy for ICT
R
I posted these a while ago on Twitter, but I think they deserve a repost. During my training year, I saw lesson plans as a hurdle to jump before teaching a lesson, but over the course of this year I’ve come to appreciate the value of an in-depth lesson plan. I put together a new proforma for our department earlier in the year, and it helps me form my thoughts when approaching a new subject...