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Roy Huggins

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About Roy Huggins

  • Birthday 07/10/1969

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  • Yahoo
    hugybear2000@yahoo.co.uk

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  • Location
    Doncaster
  • Interests
    Fell Walking, rock climbing, beer and the company of beautiful women!

Roy Huggins's Achievements

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  1. Hi Guys, I think that you are both right. The problem with any tool is that its only as good as the person who is using it. I've seen some briliant uses of IWB as well as some pretty poor ones. At the end of the day it comes down to giving proper training and advice to people, which is of course one of the main purposes of E-help is meant to help facilitate. Kind Regards Roy
  2. Hi Andy, Well done on getting the funding for your research. Please feel free to incorporate the ideas in this thread.. You may also want to include some of the resources / feedback that have been made about the new History in Progress series published by Pearsons / Heinemann in your research. The above ideas have been successfully used in the new CD / VLE pack for the whole KS3 series. The key concept was to create an interactive textbook which included IWB activities that could also be linked into a teacher's markbook. Students could then complete them on laptops, PDAs, IWB slates as well as their home PCs or other media devices. Initial sales figures are very promising as the new CDs have already broken their sales targets! I'm also currently working on the new AQA & OCR interactivities for the new GCSE specifications which should hopefully be released in the Spring of 2009. If you use these on a trial basis with one of your classes you should then be able to do a controlled test against nationally assessed exams. However, if the 'free market' is a good indication of success then the interactive teaching styles championed in this thread have been a success. Once again,many thanks to e-Help for the support and help provided in promoting interactive teaching styles using ICT. Kind Regards Roy
  3. Hi Guys, I would just like to add my shock and surprise for the dreadful way that Richard has been treated. Like Simon above, I met Richard for the first time at the international conference at IST in 2006. I have always found him to be a highly committed professional who cares passionately about his subject. Its a real shame that the board of governors at IST have taken this course of action. I would like to add my support for Richard and his family at this difficult time. The truth will ultimately prevail and justice will be done! Roy Huggins Head of History Mexborough School England
  4. Hi Andy, So how do you hook and engage the disengaged working class children from deprived areas like South Yorkshire so that they become active rather than passive learners? How do you teach them the higher order thinking skills so that they can research and become the active learners that you've described? I walk the talk every day, I find IWBs useful but they are not the only tool that I use in my classroom. The purpose of this thread is to discuss the ways that teachers can use IWBs practically on a to day basis and to try and win their hearst and minds to encourage them to experiment with different learning styles. We can't all run before we can walk! How do you use your IWB? Roy
  5. Hi Simon, The Ben Walsh CD resources are great as they will allow you to transfer the information to Word or Powerpoint so that you can create your own resources. I had an amighty argumeny with Heinemann over whether they should use SmartNotes or EasyTeach. My central argument was that EasyTeach is neither easy or ultimately useful to a classroom teacher - baring in mind that I believe that folks should be given the opportunity to customise! I believe very passionately that all the VLEs and wonderful websites on the World Wide Web, that you can never replace the artistry of a good teacher who can adapt resources to suit the needs of their students and weave a good olde fashioned yarn about blood, gore, death and destruction, with a little hint of sex! Kind Regards Roy
  6. I am inclined to agree. Most of what I have seen in my subject area, produced by companies such as Boardworks and the big publishers of modern foreign languages coursebooks, is all presentation and no interaction. It's a return to the teacher as a presenter/animator - creating more work for the teacher rather than less work. I always thought computers were designed to help reduce our work load. Hi Guys, I would broadly agree with you both, but to be fair to boardworks they have tried to incorporate more flash style drag and drop activities in an attempt to create more interactivity into their presentations. The problem with any downloaded or purchased resources is not their content, but how they are used. They were never designed to be used as off the peg PP presentations, but resources that were supposed to be customised to suit the individual needs of the class being taught. Its a case of the bad artist or craftsman blaming his tools! Along with several other members of this forum I have produced a lot of history resources for boardworks. They were designed so that other professionals could change and adapt them for their own purposes. To be honest I would be horrified if someone used my PP on the Long Term Causes of the English Civil War in a lesson long presentation, even with the interactivity. It would be a case for the war crimes tribunal for death by PowerPoint! The problem comes down to the key issue raised above and is related to poor CPD which leads to some hard pressed teachers viewing ICT or IWBs as a form of visual chewing gum to keep the class occupied. If you use any of my downloadable resources from www.schoolhistory.co.uk or from boardworks or Heinemann, then you should customise it, rip bits out of it and use your artistry as a teacher to make it relevant to your own students. The only possible exception with the boardworks or Ben Walsh stuff, is if you are going to use the ICT resources as a virtual text book that is then tied into other text book or classroom activities. ICT is a tool, a meduim for the two way communication of ideas, facts and skills that need to be adapted to suit the individual needs of the students / classes that we teach - within the practical time constraints that real teachers face at the chalk face! Kind Regards Roy
  7. Hi Graham, Many thanks for the links, I shall investigate them further. Please find attached another useful graphic organiser called the Pro & Con Organiser. It can be used a sa planary or starter or as the focus for an investagation that can then summarised on the IWB or simply using a data projector You setup a key question in the middle and once the students have completed their investigation they can then feedback onto the board. Whoops I've run out of space! I'll have to ask Russell for a greater allowance. Kind Regards Roy E-mail me if you would like a blank copy that you can import or if you would like a smart template file that will install all of them to your PC.
  8. Hi Anders, You've made some excellent points about IWBs. Our school is contantly being inundated with new initiatives and people become tired of yet another new idea. However, nearly everyone gets excited about the potential of IWBs. As has been thoroughly discussed above, this can lead to an overuse of the IWB and a lttle too much teacher direction, but if you can harness this enthusiam you can always train people who to use them correctly whilst at the same time introducing some new ideas. For example, when we first started being equipped with IWBs I think that it is fair to say that there were a lot teachers at our school who were into chalk and talk or auditory teaching. By combining IWBs with the latest ideas on VAKing I was able to introduce people to other teaching and learning strategies. The one thing that I learnt from this experience is that if you combine ICT with other initiatives you can really bring about some big changes. Four years down the line we now have a lmahority of teachers VAKing their lessons, using graphic organisers, contend generators and being not just open minded about change but more willing to embrace it. Another great thing about using SmartNotes as Simon refered to baove is the ability to reload last lessons work or even share it will colleagues. I have a very annoying habit of saying: 'Hey guys just did a brilliant lesson on ....... you should try it' - I get very carried away and excited sometimes, but ICT as a tool can get people excited and sharing ideas in a way that passing around photocopies of worksheets and pink bander sheets in the 1970s never could! I've suddenly realised how I can upload some graphic organisers after having looked at your last post! Now Watch this space! The second graphic organiser called comparison alley. I have some blank copies that you can have if you e-mail me. Any questions about how to use them? Roy
  9. As Chris Jones said in the title of his seminal article in System in 1986: "It's not so much the program; more what you do with it I totally agree on all the points that you gave raised Graham. I use my IWB/ data projector for making a high impact point with video clips or software with the kids. Its all abou creating relevant memorable eduactional experiences for the kids that ten years later they stop on the street and say sir - you were a right good teacher I'll never forget the lesson ............. Have you ever experimented with getting kids to make their own pod casts using the target language? If you use windows media player for your CD / DVDs there is a really nice feature called SRS which can help to boost your sound output.. If you select the comapct skin mode and click on the menu at the bottom you can click through several settings until you come up to a graphic equaliser mode. In the top right hand corner you will see SRS. Tirn it on. If that does not boost your sound settings push the graphic equalisesr to the top and you will notice a big difference when playing back sound files. Kind Regards Roy
  10. Hi Russell, Now who is posting off topic! LOL Has anyone got any practical rather than theoretical questions on IWBs? Kind Regards Roy
  11. Hi Graham, Have you tried the foreign langauge versions of GameShow Presenter? Its available in both French and Spanish. You can make some pretty cool starters and plenaries. The only disadvantage of the software is that you can not convert it into a HTML like Andrew Fields Content Generators. Our foreign Languages department use them all the time. I also have a really useful flash generator for blockbusters. You just type in the letters and it creates the grids automatically. You can then form the kids up into teams or groups to test their knowledge of key words etc. The teacher or student then has to move the correct coloured square over the letter that the class correctly identifies using either the mouse, IWB or tablet PC. Again, this is a simple, practical tool that can save time and help to inject a little bit of pace, reinforcement and fun into a lesson. Sounds like you had some fun back in the 1960s. My earliest memories are from the 1970s - awful bell bottom trouses, bad dress sense and platform shoes. Its amazing how some fashions come full circle! Now the 1980s - that was a time to live, but not to go to school. I went to one of those awful secondary moderns that churned out disaffected kids who didn't have any qualifications. Then again there were one or two good teachers, but one of the main reasons why i became a teacher, after I done an access course via the local college, was to fight against the sort of mediocre teaching that I had experienced as a kid. Kind Regards Roy
  12. Hi John, I suppose the key question is how often or frequently in the course of a week or a day? Obviously, over a period of time you can build up a bank of resources that you can reuse, but how sustainable have you found these strategies in terms of your day to day classroom practice and workload? Did you also employ or fall back on other more traditional methods where you assumed the role of the teacher 'expert' model? I'm also a great customiser of resources and believe very strongly that ICT can never replace the true artistry of a good teacher. For example, I rarely download resources and use them off the peg with my own students. I like to adapt them to suit their educational needs and tastes. How far do you believe that web based lessons can provide the individualised learning experiences that can meet the needs of all main stream students? Kind Regards Roy
  13. Hi David, Many thanks, I shall take onboard your advice! One of the features of the SmartBoard software bundle that often goes unnoticed is the Smart Video Recorder. What the software basically does is to create a film clip of whatever is happening on your desktop or IWB - minus the sound! So why is this useful? Well you can use it to capture DVD film clips (Without the Sound) or use it to record the showcasing of piece of software or an interactive lesson that can then be uploaded to a VLE or network and downloaded later at home by students to replay. Its not a brillant piece of software, but it can be quite useful. For example, I've used to create simple step step movies to show my students and staff how to use quizz editors or edit film clips using Windows Movie Maker. You could also use it to summarise or record the debate surrounding a particular graphic organiser. Another useful piece of software is the spotlight feature, which I briefly demonstrated at the E-Help Seminar. The spotlight feature basically blanks out whatever is on the screen except for a small spot light. So you can use it as a starter or a plenary to cover up an image or historical picture, then move it around using either your mouse or IWB until the class can correctly identify the historical personality or image. Its simple, practical and effective as a low maintaince starter or plenary. Roy
  14. Hi Guys, Any one fancy chatting about how to use IWBs or want to share resources? Kind Regards Roy
  15. Hi John, Good teachers have always shared resources because they are committed to pushing back the boundaries to help their students. ICT has helped to revolutionise the sharing of resources and ideas. Unfortunately, then as now, only a small proportion of teachers are prepared to do so. Challenging this culture and opening the minds of teachers to new ideas and concepts is an ongoing battle that is far from won. The fact that you think it already over shows that you are operating in a vacuum created by the Internet, which has allowed you to meet like minded people. The reality at the chalk face is that things are changing very slowly and won't change unless you address the CPD needs of teachers and win their hearts and minds. Like you I am passionate about education and about trying to make a difference. Throughout the trip to Toulouse and my threads I have sought to find common ground. United we stand, divided we fall against the forces of mediocrity. However, you are not the only person who has been let down by the education system during their life. I suffered at the hands of the 1970s ideologues who through their well meaning policies sacrificed the education of a generation of students. Surely, the lesson that we can learn from that period of history is that no matter how good an idea we may think we have, you should never pursue it exclusively to the detriment of all other ideas in a fanatical attempt to impose your own view on education. There is a lot to be gained through diversity and variety in the classroom. Not all kids are the same, nor are all teachers! I respect you point of view concerning IWBs, but respectfully disagree. ICT is a tool, a medium for communication and it can never replace the artistry of a good teacher or achieve on its own the goals that you have expressed in your own threads. Concerning Toulouse, yes I did have a wonderful time. I enjoyed the intellectual debate, the good company, the food and the chance to exchange resources with some of the most outstanding teachers of our times. I look forward to a future when we can forget our petty disagreements and work together to push forward the agenda of making history the best taught - and learnt - subject on the curriculum. I made a leap of faith by attending Toulouse and I was not disappointed. I just wish that you could treat my views with the same courtesy and respect that I have yours. Call me olde fashioned, but manners maketh the man, especially when you are trying to win peoples hearts and minds and effect real change. Respect is a two way thing and at the heart of being a good European and a dam good teacher. In the interests of sharing good practice I will keep on popping back into this thread to answer peoples questions on IWBs, seek common ground, share resources and help further the vision of E-Help. Kind Regards Roy
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