Clicker 5 December 7, 2009

I have long promoted the use of Clicker 5 to support independence in reading and especially writing. But I have reluctantly decided to abandon advising its use. Crick Software claims that,
Clicker is the proven reading and writing tool that helps pupils of all abilities to achieve success in reading and writing. Clicker is used on [...]

Spot the Book Child! November 12, 2009

Can you doubt this little one’s devotion to learning? She seems more of a writer than many school age children I know (see below). Perhaps that’s because she is writing to Grandpa and she is highly motivated to tell her news about a trip to the park. And she’s not yet two!
So often writing comes [...]

“Sometimes you can’t look up the correct spelling of a word in the dictionary because you don’t know how to spell it” September 17, 2009

 
What do we know about spelling?

The ability to spell easily and automatically enables us to become more effective writers. The less energy and thought we have to put in to thinking about spelling the more thought we can put into what is being said.
Spelling is only one aspect of effective writing. But it’s important to [...]

It’s a damn poor mind that can think of only one way to spell a word! Andrew Jackson September 17, 2009

When introducing newly qualified teachers to the Dyslexia Support Service recently, I asked them to decode the definition of dyslexia we use (along with most other authorities I think):

 We discussed what strategies they employed to read the partly encrypted sentence. Some worked at the phonic level, using prior knowledge to identify the symbols in one [...]

Writing and spelling were always terribly difficult for me. My letters were without originality. Agatha Christie September 15, 2009

I have only just discovered this lovely wee gadget. 
 This intuitive and robust digital voice recorder enables pupils to capture good quality voice/sound/music recordings on the move, enabling them to become roving reporters. The device includes a built-in microphone and speaker, with intuitive controls for recording, playing back, and skipping files. Recordings can be captured directly [...]

My spelling is Wobbly. It’s good spelling but it Wobbles, and the letters get in the wrong places. A. A. Milne September 14, 2009

 
 

 What does this spell? Answers on a (virtual) postcard please.

Spelling causes all sorts of problems, not least for teachers. In an increasingly complex world and with the advent of a new curriculum, we need to re-evaluate our methods of teaching literacy. We all know that language learning is holistic and develops in relation to the [...]

Boosting literacy and numeracy June 25, 2009

The Scottish Government has announced the launch of a new learning resource which will help people training for vocational careers boost their literacy and numeracy skills.
The Work Skills Academy CD ROM has been developed by The Big Plus, the Scottish Government’s adult literacy and numeracy awareness raising campaign. It has been specifically tailored to help [...]

luv is all around June 5, 2009

I read of some fascinating research into comments on MySpace which show that emotion is central to online interactions. (The team was unable to access the more popular Facebook because of more stringent privacy procedures.) Professor Mike Thelwall of the Statistical Cybermetrics research group at Wolverhampton University  reports on interactions on MySpace which have a [...]

Down behind the dustbins May 21, 2009

Ascension Day was traditionally used by many landowners to impress boundaries on children before maps were common. They used such memory aids as dunkings in cold ponds and streams, tree climbing and hazardous rooftop scrambles. Another method of making the children remember the delimitations was to beat them with thin rods: [...]

Industrial vs Information Age? May 20, 2009

My, was I grumpy when I wrote my last post.
I realise that my tirade about digital technologies was sparked by insecurity after reading lots of stuff for the Education2020 unconference.  (I was definitely in the Anger mode of the Grief/Change cycle and am now moving on to Bargaining!).
I fully embrace the notion of [...]