A Journey into Learning

New Horizon Special School film

Ben Annett — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 15:27:44 +0000

In February of last year I visited Ghana. One of the SEN schools I worked with was New Horizon School in Accra, who we now have an international link with. This film really encapsulates the spirit of the school. It’s in 3 parts.

Moving Windmills

Ben Annett — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 18:40:14 +0000

A heart-warming start to the new term.

A Fair Deal for Haringey Children

Ben Annett — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:45:34 +0000

Haringey’s schools are short changed because the government gives them less money to teach each child than councils with similiar costs.

Hackney – £6170
Camden – £6161
Islington – £5812

Haringey – £4987

Support the campaign. Read more here, and sign the petition here!

Primary and Literacy Strategies abandoned

Ben Annett — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:12:58 +0000

I’ve just read on the BBC website that the Numeracy and Literacy strategies are to be abandoned. This is big news indeed for educators. I hope that this will clear the way for schools and teachers to tackle the issues surrounding raising standards in more creative and localised ways.

DS Classroom

Ben Annett — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:12:37 +0000

Nintendo has unveiled the Nintendo DS Classroom. Looks like an interesting classroom application for the cheap, massproduced Nintendo DS. It enables 50 DS’s to connect wirelessly to a single PC.

Spotted here.

Presby La Haringey

Ben Annett — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 19:07:36 +0000

My mum, who is also a teacher in Haringey, recently returned from a trip to Accra in Ghana where she had been setting up a link between Haringey Sixth Form Centre and La Presbitarian in Ghana. With a little coaching she put together this movie (using iMovie). It really demonstrates the power of digital media to disseminate information.

2DIY Healthy Eating Games

Ben Annett — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 23:54:13 +0000

Checkout the healthy eating games my key stage 4 students created using 2simple’s 2DIY here.

I love this software.

Project Natal – XBOX 360 in the SEN classroom?

Ben Annett — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 10:37:26 +0000

Project Natal is a device announced today for the Xbox360. It’s a motion sensing device that allows you to control video games and Xbox 360 menus with your body instead of a peripheral controller. Natal gives you voice and full-body motion control over your on-screen avatar using an RGB camera, depth sensor and multi-array microphone.

I’ve written before about our use of the Wii Fit in our curriculum. It has been a fantastically motivating tool to help children develop their balance and coordination. Project Natal looks really exciting. This kind of technology be incredibly useful in the classroom.

Take a look at the preview video.

Healthy Eating Games

Ben Annett — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:58:38 +0000

I’ve been using 2Simple DIY to platform games with a Healthy Eating theme. We had great fun! The children downloaded pictures of “bad foods” from the internet, designed the level’s, created their characters, recorded the sounds and playtested each others games. Best of all – the games can be saved as a SWF file and can be easily uploaded to the internet which has got the kids more motivated than I have seen them in a long time. The project has reminded me of the power of ICT to enhance creativity and empower children. It rather reminds me of something I read recently:

For learning to take place with any kind of efficiency students must be motivated. To be motivated, they must become interested. And they become interested when they are actively working on projects which they can relate to their values and goals in life.

Gus Tuberville, President, William Penn College

Take a look here (KS3 GLD classes)! Also here (KS2 mixed GLD and ASD).

Pictopus image library

Ben Annett — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 13:55:48 +0000

If, like me, you often have the children look for images then you may find the Pictopus image library useful. E-safety is a always a hot topic in our school. As all the images are vetted by the Pictopus team you can be sure that there is no inappropriate material on the site and that all the images are copyright-free.

Thanks to Sharing Good Pratice for ictopus for this.