🙊 Perpetual Puppet Presentations 🙊

Four digital leaders were picked to go to the University once again to show off the work they done with the YR2!
Ryan, Nicole (me), Kessiwah and Linda were allowed to have a wonder about… And eat biscuits!
Our goal was to impress the adults that attended the meeting, Teach-meet.
After a few presentations, it was finally our turn.
Me and the others read our scripts and showed a movie, then after all that, we went back to have a wonder.
!

We checked out a plasma ball, spent a while with the light up Tetris and finally, the thing Ryan had been waiting for… Oculus Rift!!!!!
We were controlling him as he played around in the world of “MINECRAFT”

Overall, it was a VERY fun trip and we hope to hear from you soon!
By Nicole

Busy, Busy, Busy!

It has been a busy week for our Digital Leaders and they have more than met the challenges that have been set for them!

At the end of last week we took 4 to the BETT Show at Excel. They had the opportunity to look at a range of software (and get a lot of freebies) and they really enjoyed it. They came back really excited and hopefully it will be an experience that inspires them to continue with their excellent computing skills.

Following this we used all the Digital Leaders for a teaching session in Year 2. Before the session the children in Year 2 wrote short stories using characters from the Fairytale Section of Puppet Pals HD. This fitted in well with their topic of Imaginary Worlds. 

The Digital Leaders were then tasked with turning the stories into a puppet show using the app. It would be easy just to say that the learning was that the children would be the use of the app for the children but with the Year 6 children it reached much deeper than this.

                                    

We did see the Y2 children developing their computing skills from watching the DLs to using the app with greater independence. As expected, the engagement of these children was really high and they loved seeing their work displayed on the screen.

However, the pleasing things to see was the interaction between child and DL and the way that the older children conducted themselves. I heard lots of suggestions for stage movements within the app and the language acquisition and development was stunning. The DLs were able to pass on their own writing expertise in a non-threatening environment for the younger children.

Sometimes with younger children they can find speaking and listening a daunting task. Even the less confident in this group were taking on the role of their characters and using their own voices to bring their characters to life. The personalised experience of having a DL with each pair of children really did pay dividends.

The next step for this work is for it to be discussed at the Teachmeet in Northampton on Wednesday 4th February. This should be great fun and another great experience for the DLs.

After this then we will be busy getting ready for our next project! As ever, watch this space!

Mr Chalmers

Digital Leaders – next phase

Tomorrow we are taking four of our Digital Leaders to the BETT Show in London. This will help the children develop their skills further in the role and will allow them to bring back lots of ideas. They will be sharing this information with the other DLs when they get back!

Following on from this we have a teaching session we will be doing in Year 2 on Monday. The children in this year group have already written their outlines for a story and they will be using an app called Puppet Pals to produce it, adding speech and movement of characters. This will be brilliant when it is done.

Following on from this, we will be taking some of the Digital Leaders back to University of Northampton to present what they did in front of around 40-50 teachers at an event called Teachmeet. This will be really exciting and daunting for the children but I am sure they will cope just superbly by following the B in our BEST motto!

Of course, as ever, we will be taking lots of photos and films and posting them online! Watch this space for further news!

London travellers!

On Friday the 23rd of January,4 digital leaders are off to London to go to a BETT show about technology. These digital leaders are Tyler,Laila,Toma and Sadie. They have been chosen to go on a train with Mr Chalmers and Mr Carter on the way to London. These are the Digital Leaders.

New year, new projects!

Our Digital Leaders ended the year with a great visit to University of Northampton thanks to Helen Caldwell (@helencaldwel). They absolutely loved the experience of seeing how such a big educational establishment works. Not only does it show the value of their work in their own school but it also gives them aspirations for the future. We want all our children to go to University and fulfil their potential. Ideas like these can only enhance their prospects.

What struck me and Mr Blight most was the confidence the children showed. Not only with the technology (which I had no doubts about) but also when dealing with people a lot older than themselves. They were an absolute credit to our school and they made me and Mr Blight really proud. The press release and the brilliant work they created can be seen here http://www.northampton.ac.uk/news/university-of-northampton-s-stem-champions-welcome-pupils-from-standens-barn-primary-school-for-an-interactive-afternoon-of-filmmaking

We are planning lots more opportunities for these children which will not only benefit the children involved in the Digital Leader program but also other children around the school. For example, we are hoping to be working with @tiffybum at Bridgwater Primary. They have produced some stunning computing work and the collaborative learning that we hope will take place will be excellent for both schools.

We are also planning some more internal learning as the Digital Leaders will be leading another teaching session. Watch this space!

That is it for now. We do have some more news to share but I think I will save that for next time! 🙂

Mr Chalmers

Digital Leaders Week 1

The newly-appointed Standens Barn Digital Leaders have already been busy in the first week. Some of them have already been given jobs and they have added the successes and areas of improvement to their folders. People who have done jobs this week include;

Sadie, Ryan and Nicole – Working as iPad experts in Year 1 to support the teacher in using Book Creator

David – Set up and acted as IT support for our Chair of Governors in a meeting

Shakeer – Advertised the blog around the school using posters and QR codes

The Digital Leaders will be doing much more next term so watch this space!

They are already doing a great job. Next term they will be starting to think about starting up their own club. Also, watch this space as we will be re-launching Standens Barn Radio which they will be supporting.

Mr Chalmers

Teaching year1

On Tuesday some of the digital leaders were helping the year 1s use the iPads. The app they used was Book Creator and they used this to make instructions of how to eat a jelly baby. The children had a lot of fun and enjoyed watching their creation on the iPads. Here are some pictures of them enjoying their sweets.

New Digital Leaders

Following a rigorous application process, that included a written application and formal interview, the new Digital Leaders have been chosen for our school. Those chosen will be responsible for maintaining our computing equipment, researching new apps, providing in-lesson support and meeting with other digital leaders in the country both face to face and electronically.

Congratulations to the children that have been chosen. They are as follows; Ryan, Emily, Prashani, Keeley, Tyler, Kessiwah, Toma, Shakeer, Nicole, Sadie, Linda, David, George and Anastajica. Their first task will be to meet with myself to discuss the way forward and their responsibilities.

Watch this space!