Tuesday 25 August 2015

#niedcamp Apps R Us

This is the powerpoint of my talk from #niedcamp which I made in case the technology failed me. I actually used http://www.popboardz.com/ on the day and then did live demos of Tap Roulette, Decide Now, Plickers, Padlet, iAnnotate, Kahoot and Nearpod.



Tuesday 18 August 2015

#niedcamp 2015 Trailblazers



With the cancellation of the annual RTU summer camp, a group of 14 teachers got together and said 'We can do this and we'll do it our way' And so we did. Today saw the exciting culmination of two+ months of very hard work and planning. It went better than we could have thought possible, going by the tweets with the #niedcamp hashtag. There were freebies galore from our generous exhibitors, a yummy lunch funded by GTCNI and Kainos and fab prizes for the Teachmeet. 
The feedback about all the talks has all been extremely positive and we've been left with an exhausted but contented warm fuzzy feeling after spending a day with like-minded educators who gave up the nicest day of the summer to come and learn more, to talk to others and to take all the new ideas back to the classroom. Here's to us all!

#niedcamp Teachmeet presentation

This would have been my presentation for the teachmeet at #niedcamp had I been selected by the random name selector.

Monday 17 August 2015

#niedcamp 2015


It started with a tweet (or 10) and now here we are, it's #niedcamp eve. The presentation is on my beloved iPad and backed up in powerpoint on a memory stick, I've a 'just in case' Teachmeet preso and I've two chargers, two VGA cables and several extension cables. @curriculumni has my t-shirt and lanyard and the alarm is set for 6.30am (bleurgh) It's taken hours of my life and precious summer time, but it already feels like it's worth it and that's before we even get there. 

Why do I do things like this? Because, like the rest of the #niedcamp team, I am not only passionate about teaching and learning, I'm passionate about sharing and collaborating. And I'm not ashamed of that enthusiasm. The day I stop feeling enthusiastic about my job is the day I need to think about doing something else. 

#niedcamp is about a bunch of enthusiastic teachers and those associated with education coming together to share ideas and get inspired for the new school year. The takeaway resolution I have already made before I even get there is to blog more, if only to gather my own thoughts but hopefully to share ideas with other educators. 

Tomorrow we have one day to make a difference. Are you with us?