Oh lookie it's me!
More videos to come!
Friday, 15 March 2013
Raspberry Jamboree Videos
Steve Furber giving the keynote speech at the Raspberry Jamboree Saturday 9th March 2013:
Oh lookie it's me!
More videos to come!
Oh lookie it's me!
More videos to come!
Wednesday, 13 March 2013
Raspberry Pi Jamboree in Manchester
Raspberry Jams are a gathering of Pi enthusiasts who share ideas on all things Raspberry Pi. The story goes that Alan O'Donohoe had the idea for Raspberry Jams in the bath! This weekend saw the biggest Raspberry Jam in the form of the first ever Raspberry Jamboree in Manchester to celebrate a year since the release of the Raspberry Pi.
For anyone who does not know Alan (and I cant think why you do not! @teknoteacher) I should probably explain that is ultimate ninja skill is in bringing people together. Last year, he very kindly invited me to this gathering that he was planning. I had no idea then just how big it would turn out, or that I'd be speaking at it!
I've come a long way since my first Raspberry Jam in June (which you can read about here) both in my work to get girls into tech and the maker culture surrounding it through my project Geek Gurl Diaries and getting Raspberry Pis into my school to teach programming concepts to KS3 using music. I therefore thought I'd actually having something relevant to say to teachers about Rasp pi and I think the talk went down a storm. Even Steve Furber was at the book of the room listening to me. (This isn't going to be the only name drop in this post!) I hope there may be a video soon that I can post here.
One of the highlights of the weekend for me, was meeting and spending time with people I speak to online about Raspberry Pi projects like Paul Hallett @phalt_ who talked about how you can crowd fund class sets of Pis, @Rob_Bishop, Andrew Robinson (PiFace) and Alex Bradbury @asbradbury who talked about how you can manage class sets of pis especially when it comes to imagining large numbers of SD cards.
I also made new friends in the form of my current favourite author Chris Roffey, who was talking to me for a good 15 minutes before I realised who he was. If you are new to Python I really recommend his Coding Club books.
It was a real pleasure to meet Paul Beech from Pimoroni who design and make the Pibow cases which in school have been really good. The Pis have been really robust in them and the students can still see all the components. They are incredibly easy to label with numbers for a class set too!
My continuing 'will I, won't I meet Maggie Philbin' saga continued too as the lady herself was in the same building as me, but we again failed to meet in person. I did get a nice tweet from her tho.
Many of the talks and discussions on the day did indeed center around education. I particularly enjoyed the panel discussion with Clive Beale (Raspberry Pi) and Christine Swan and I think more discussions like these should be happening at Jams everywhere.
Finally, the most engaging and interesting talk was given by teenage girl called Amy, about her enjoyment of computer science and her Raspberry Pi project based on Conway's Game of Life. She proved the point that girls can be switched on and get excited by computing. It is using an idea that will hook them, and letting their creativity shine by taking the project further.
Me, Amy and Ben Nuttall - Photo taken by Pete Lomas no less!
My advice, if you are a primary teacher worried about the new program of study or a computing teacher, get yourself to a Jam. It is where the magic happens. It is like hanging out with family.
For anyone who does not know Alan (and I cant think why you do not! @teknoteacher) I should probably explain that is ultimate ninja skill is in bringing people together. Last year, he very kindly invited me to this gathering that he was planning. I had no idea then just how big it would turn out, or that I'd be speaking at it!
I've come a long way since my first Raspberry Jam in June (which you can read about here) both in my work to get girls into tech and the maker culture surrounding it through my project Geek Gurl Diaries and getting Raspberry Pis into my school to teach programming concepts to KS3 using music. I therefore thought I'd actually having something relevant to say to teachers about Rasp pi and I think the talk went down a storm. Even Steve Furber was at the book of the room listening to me. (This isn't going to be the only name drop in this post!) I hope there may be a video soon that I can post here.
One of the highlights of the weekend for me, was meeting and spending time with people I speak to online about Raspberry Pi projects like Paul Hallett @phalt_ who talked about how you can crowd fund class sets of Pis, @Rob_Bishop, Andrew Robinson (PiFace) and Alex Bradbury @asbradbury who talked about how you can manage class sets of pis especially when it comes to imagining large numbers of SD cards.
I also made new friends in the form of my current favourite author Chris Roffey, who was talking to me for a good 15 minutes before I realised who he was. If you are new to Python I really recommend his Coding Club books.
It was a real pleasure to meet Paul Beech from Pimoroni who design and make the Pibow cases which in school have been really good. The Pis have been really robust in them and the students can still see all the components. They are incredibly easy to label with numbers for a class set too!
My continuing 'will I, won't I meet Maggie Philbin' saga continued too as the lady herself was in the same building as me, but we again failed to meet in person. I did get a nice tweet from her tho.
Many of the talks and discussions on the day did indeed center around education. I particularly enjoyed the panel discussion with Clive Beale (Raspberry Pi) and Christine Swan and I think more discussions like these should be happening at Jams everywhere.
Finally, the most engaging and interesting talk was given by teenage girl called Amy, about her enjoyment of computer science and her Raspberry Pi project based on Conway's Game of Life. She proved the point that girls can be switched on and get excited by computing. It is using an idea that will hook them, and letting their creativity shine by taking the project further.
Me, Amy and Ben Nuttall - Photo taken by Pete Lomas no less!
My advice, if you are a primary teacher worried about the new program of study or a computing teacher, get yourself to a Jam. It is where the magic happens. It is like hanging out with family.
Friday, 1 March 2013
Westminster Forum - Thoughts of an ICT Teacher on implementing the Computing Program of Study
The Westminster Forum met at Whitehall on Thursday 28th February to mark the day that the Pope retired review the new computing curriculum, and amongst the delegates consisting of Teachers, Borough Advisors, Industry Representatives, Ofsted, MP's, and (I only counted one) Lord, was little Miss Philbin, ICT Teacher. When I started my teaching journey, I did not expect to end up speaking at Westminster along side my heroes @IanAddison, Genevieve Smith-Nunes @Pegleggen and Miles Berry @Mberry.
It was with a sense of bewilderment that I made my way to Whitehall yesterday, and was instantly relieved to be see Genevieve in the foyer when I arrived, shortly followed by Ian Addison. The keynote was given by Ian Livingstone, Co-founder of Games Workshop and advocate for the Games Industry. I'd never heard Ian speak before and as I have no real knowledge of the games industry (apart from playing games and attending LAN parties when I was younger).
I still question the real value of learning through games in some instances. From my own experience when teenagers play games to learn, I find they are impatient and will always to try to cheat the system or skip a question/activity. They may be engaged, but learning is not always taking place. Creating their own computer games using Scratch, Pygame or even now programming Minecraft Pi seems to have more value on multiple levels as literacy and creativity are involved.
Anyway I was surprised to see my Geek Gurl Diaries logo appear on a slide towards the end of Ian's keynote and then hear him reference the good work I have done trying to engage girls. Achievement unlocked: recognition of my work by leading expert.
Next up, Miles Berry, Chair Naace and Subject Leader ICT Education at University of Roehampton and all round super trooper for my subject, and Phil Bannister, Team Leader for Computing at the Department for Education spoke together and independently of each other, on the draft programme of study and the process involved in its development. I still think it is sad that so much is missing on the new Computing program of study in comparison to the draft programme produced by the working party.
Following the well planned and executed agenda, the first panel assembled to give 5 minutes each on their take on the content of the programme of study. Ian Addison was the first to speak, and I'm so glad he did. Finally a teacher got their say. He made it very clear that the interpretation of Key stage 1 and 2 could be the downfall of creativity with tech in primary schools, and that the word 'data' should have a footnote to explain that data can be video, images, and so on. The teacher delegates attending the review were clearly delighted to have Ian voice their own fears and concerns, as they applauded his every slide. I think the teachers on this panel, both Ian and Genevieve did a great job representing our profession and could really speak from experience. Genevieve in her talk, explained that she had offered a training course for primary teachers before November and had no one sign up. She offered the course again after the Computing programme of study went online, and now has two sessions of 40 teachers fully booked out. She went on to remind people that the 'fear factor' will see people leaping onto courses and looking for resources so as a community we teachers need to make sure that we work together.
After a break, David Brown HMI, National Adviser for ICT, Ofsted, gave a talk on what he advises school inspection teams to be looking for in terms of ICT. He described an outstanding lessons at all key stages and said something which I've been fighting for, that school networks should allow students freedom of the internet and freedom to create programs. I really want sites unblocked at my school. E-safety is about teaching students to be responsible, so that they can make informed choices. It is not stopping them from using youtube which if used correctly can be such a great tool.
A new panel was assembled where by every speaker was female, including yours truly. The speakers before me all talked about schemes being created and run. By talk number three I was beginning to feel like I was definitely in the wrong place. I was pleased to finally meet Clare Sutcliffe from Code Club however who spoke so well about Code Club and the fantastic work they are doing to encourage children between the ages of 9 - 11 to code. I think if primary teachers need a place to start, getting involved with Code Club is a great place. I winced when she said that "ICT lessons are boring" because I knew this was coming up in my talk.
So finally I could not escape the inevitable, and I stood up to speak. I started with "Hi I'm a teacher" and in my head said "just to remind you what one looks like". Ian gave me a cheer. I realised it was going to be one of those talks where tumble weeds were going to roll past. I've put my presentation here if you are interested in the points I touched on. Remember I only had 5 minutes, so I had to focus on implementing the programme of study and not what is actually on it.
I think Genevieve raised a really important point, that the fear factor will see teachers signing up for all types of courses based, in some cases on a poor interpretation of the programme of study. I think a 'Python 101' half day course is not going to help any teacher develop their subject knowledge. I think it is really important that teachers look to the CAS Master Teachers for guidance as they are best suited to train teachers how to understand and deliver schemes of work that will engage and further students. It's more important that computational thinking, and concepts of programming are understood by teachers before tackling any kind of major programming language. Teachers should also be working with developer communities who have helped me develop my poor skills over this last year as I teach myself. I think we as computing teachers should also have to demonstrate our engagement with coding communities by having en e-portfolio or blog to demonstrate CPD and development of new schemes of work and good practice. Perhaps even a git-hub repository which was suggested to me recently. Finally a new wave of computer science trainee teachers who are enthusiastic and innovative need to work with existing communities like CAS, BCS, and Rethinking ICT to share skills.
Of course time is a major issue in all this. Teachers need time on their timetable to be able to dedicate to continued professional development. Very few teachers (no work life balance people like me) will spend all their free time continuing their development.
Time is also a concern when we are consistently told that Computing is the 4th Science. I heard that expression used in multiple talks that very morning. If it is the fourth science, then why do I only have 1 lesson a week at KS3, when science and maths have 5? If this new programme of study is important to the future of our children and out country then perhaps more weight needs to be given to it on timetables.
Lastly in my talk, I had to speak on the topic closest to my heart, that of engaging girls in computing. I spoke about Geek Gurl Diaries of course, but also Computing At School's sub group of which I vice chair along with Laura Dixon @CodeBoom Master Computing Teacher extraordinaire as projects that prove that you do not need to make every device pink, or fluffy, with rainbows glitter and eye shadow for girls to want to engage in ICT class. Role models, and schemes of work that give children the freedom to use their imagination and creativity are the best way to engaged students of both genders.
When I sat down, I noticed that the chair of my panel, Lord Lucas of Crudwell and Dingwall had the Geek Gurl Diaries website open on his ipad, so I feel I had some success.
It was with a sense of bewilderment that I made my way to Whitehall yesterday, and was instantly relieved to be see Genevieve in the foyer when I arrived, shortly followed by Ian Addison. The keynote was given by Ian Livingstone, Co-founder of Games Workshop and advocate for the Games Industry. I'd never heard Ian speak before and as I have no real knowledge of the games industry (apart from playing games and attending LAN parties when I was younger).
I still question the real value of learning through games in some instances. From my own experience when teenagers play games to learn, I find they are impatient and will always to try to cheat the system or skip a question/activity. They may be engaged, but learning is not always taking place. Creating their own computer games using Scratch, Pygame or even now programming Minecraft Pi seems to have more value on multiple levels as literacy and creativity are involved.
Anyway I was surprised to see my Geek Gurl Diaries logo appear on a slide towards the end of Ian's keynote and then hear him reference the good work I have done trying to engage girls. Achievement unlocked: recognition of my work by leading expert.
Next up, Miles Berry, Chair Naace and Subject Leader ICT Education at University of Roehampton and all round super trooper for my subject, and Phil Bannister, Team Leader for Computing at the Department for Education spoke together and independently of each other, on the draft programme of study and the process involved in its development. I still think it is sad that so much is missing on the new Computing program of study in comparison to the draft programme produced by the working party.
Following the well planned and executed agenda, the first panel assembled to give 5 minutes each on their take on the content of the programme of study. Ian Addison was the first to speak, and I'm so glad he did. Finally a teacher got their say. He made it very clear that the interpretation of Key stage 1 and 2 could be the downfall of creativity with tech in primary schools, and that the word 'data' should have a footnote to explain that data can be video, images, and so on. The teacher delegates attending the review were clearly delighted to have Ian voice their own fears and concerns, as they applauded his every slide. I think the teachers on this panel, both Ian and Genevieve did a great job representing our profession and could really speak from experience. Genevieve in her talk, explained that she had offered a training course for primary teachers before November and had no one sign up. She offered the course again after the Computing programme of study went online, and now has two sessions of 40 teachers fully booked out. She went on to remind people that the 'fear factor' will see people leaping onto courses and looking for resources so as a community we teachers need to make sure that we work together.
After a break, David Brown HMI, National Adviser for ICT, Ofsted, gave a talk on what he advises school inspection teams to be looking for in terms of ICT. He described an outstanding lessons at all key stages and said something which I've been fighting for, that school networks should allow students freedom of the internet and freedom to create programs. I really want sites unblocked at my school. E-safety is about teaching students to be responsible, so that they can make informed choices. It is not stopping them from using youtube which if used correctly can be such a great tool.
A new panel was assembled where by every speaker was female, including yours truly. The speakers before me all talked about schemes being created and run. By talk number three I was beginning to feel like I was definitely in the wrong place. I was pleased to finally meet Clare Sutcliffe from Code Club however who spoke so well about Code Club and the fantastic work they are doing to encourage children between the ages of 9 - 11 to code. I think if primary teachers need a place to start, getting involved with Code Club is a great place. I winced when she said that "ICT lessons are boring" because I knew this was coming up in my talk.
So finally I could not escape the inevitable, and I stood up to speak. I started with "Hi I'm a teacher" and in my head said "just to remind you what one looks like". Ian gave me a cheer. I realised it was going to be one of those talks where tumble weeds were going to roll past. I've put my presentation here if you are interested in the points I touched on. Remember I only had 5 minutes, so I had to focus on implementing the programme of study and not what is actually on it.
I think Genevieve raised a really important point, that the fear factor will see teachers signing up for all types of courses based, in some cases on a poor interpretation of the programme of study. I think a 'Python 101' half day course is not going to help any teacher develop their subject knowledge. I think it is really important that teachers look to the CAS Master Teachers for guidance as they are best suited to train teachers how to understand and deliver schemes of work that will engage and further students. It's more important that computational thinking, and concepts of programming are understood by teachers before tackling any kind of major programming language. Teachers should also be working with developer communities who have helped me develop my poor skills over this last year as I teach myself. I think we as computing teachers should also have to demonstrate our engagement with coding communities by having en e-portfolio or blog to demonstrate CPD and development of new schemes of work and good practice. Perhaps even a git-hub repository which was suggested to me recently. Finally a new wave of computer science trainee teachers who are enthusiastic and innovative need to work with existing communities like CAS, BCS, and Rethinking ICT to share skills.
Of course time is a major issue in all this. Teachers need time on their timetable to be able to dedicate to continued professional development. Very few teachers (no work life balance people like me) will spend all their free time continuing their development.
Time is also a concern when we are consistently told that Computing is the 4th Science. I heard that expression used in multiple talks that very morning. If it is the fourth science, then why do I only have 1 lesson a week at KS3, when science and maths have 5? If this new programme of study is important to the future of our children and out country then perhaps more weight needs to be given to it on timetables.
Lastly in my talk, I had to speak on the topic closest to my heart, that of engaging girls in computing. I spoke about Geek Gurl Diaries of course, but also Computing At School's sub group of which I vice chair along with Laura Dixon @CodeBoom Master Computing Teacher extraordinaire as projects that prove that you do not need to make every device pink, or fluffy, with rainbows glitter and eye shadow for girls to want to engage in ICT class. Role models, and schemes of work that give children the freedom to use their imagination and creativity are the best way to engaged students of both genders.
When I sat down, I noticed that the chair of my panel, Lord Lucas of Crudwell and Dingwall had the Geek Gurl Diaries website open on his ipad, so I feel I had some success.
Thursday, 28 February 2013
Tuesday, 5 February 2013
BETT 2013 & Teach Meet BETT 2013
I had high hopes for the BETT show this year as it moved from Olympia to Excel (which for me is way easier to get to after school) and free CPD opportunities were high on the agenda, giving more of an education conference feel rather than a trade show vibe.
My BETT began when I arrived on Thursday around lunchtime in preparation for speaking about Eportfolios & badges using Google Apps for EDU. I was extremely lucky to have @predacomDom as my guide to the "good stuff" in the short time I had. Before my talk I was able to attend the 'Lady Geek' talk where I bumped into @CodeBoom. Laura did a fantastic job speaking about @CASinclude and @GeekGurlDiaries and I was really excited to finally meet her in person after all our Google hangouts. I was a little disappointed that the Lady Geek speakers did not present some strategies for teachers, I felt they merely highlighted concerns that the attendees already knew about. Lot's of interest about CAS #include from the room however, which is good news.
I arrived at the Google stand to see the end of @OliverQuinlan's talk. I was surprised to see him wearing his Google in Education t-shirt over his shirt. I was fixed up with a microphone 'Madonna' style which was great as I could use both hands to flick between windows to demo my eportfolios live. I tried to keep my Google talk short and sweet, and I hope the audience got something from it. Was great to see my fellow GCTers in the crowd too especially my team mate @ICTmarc. A handful of the audience queued to ask me questions about my setup using GAFE which was great. I really hope some teachers got something from my brief talk.
@predacomdom took great delight in telling me that whilst I was chatting to some teachers, some ladies walked passed and one said to the other "That's ICT with Miss P" and pointed at me. Stuart Baggs would be so jealous if he knew how easily I'd become a brand.
Thursday also involved catching up with everyone from the Raspberry Pi Foundation. I was really glad that I had the opportunity to thank Rob Mullins for allowing me to work on a KS3 scheme of work with the foundation. It has been a truly rewarding experience and I hope when it is ready other teachers will find it useful.
I'm really looking forward to taking a better look at PiFace for a @GeekGurlDiaries episode. @fourtyfourmu has some great project ideas that I can not wait to sink my teeth into.
Another highlight was seeing Johnny Ball on the same stand! Achievement unlocked: Meeting childhood hero Jonny Ball!
I also got to meet the wonderful Mr D. Feher of Google, who I hope will help me to record a fantastic @GeekGurlDiaries hangout with female Google developers. She (yes, she don't be fooled by the name) was very enthusiastic about the idea (even when jet-lagged) and didn't mind me being really eager.
I was terribly excited about attending my first teach meet at BETT, as all my favourite teachers, Google, Twitter, and personal friends would be in the same place discussing what I love most about my job, teaching and learning. It was inspiring and fun. @digitalmaverick did a great job organising the evening, and everyone who helped out were superb. I had a great time.
Video of the meet: Part 1 & Part 2
Highlights for me were:
The day of my BETT talk was here. I was super nervous about this talk, and arrived at Excel (even without the DLR working) at 9.15. I was allowed into the show before the public and had my pass upgraded to 'speaker'. This is what LEarn Live Theatre E looks like without people in it:
I managed to get a good crowd between the show opening and starting my talk at 10.15. By the end of my talk it was full, and even some of the exhibitor stands nearby were watching. I had lots of feedback afterwards from the audience which was really positive. I'm glad I found the courage to do it. The most surreal part is having your audience take pictures of your slides every time you go to a new one.
After my talk I decided to take some 'me time' by finally meeting @clivebeale at Raspberry Pi, and attending the BETT Arena talk by Sugata Mitra a personal hero of mine. He discussed his "hole in the wall" project, and research on how children can learn without guidance with encouragement and from each other.
@Oliverquilan and @NightZooKeeper were in the Dell Think Tank all day. I managed to catch a brief chat with them before I went home. I'm really excited to watch the video to see what was discussed. Finally I submitted to BETT fatigue and went home. I sadly missed meeting up with @STEMettes and @pegleggen.
Thursday:
My BETT began when I arrived on Thursday around lunchtime in preparation for speaking about Eportfolios & badges using Google Apps for EDU. I was extremely lucky to have @predacomDom as my guide to the "good stuff" in the short time I had. Before my talk I was able to attend the 'Lady Geek' talk where I bumped into @CodeBoom. Laura did a fantastic job speaking about @CASinclude and @GeekGurlDiaries and I was really excited to finally meet her in person after all our Google hangouts. I was a little disappointed that the Lady Geek speakers did not present some strategies for teachers, I felt they merely highlighted concerns that the attendees already knew about. Lot's of interest about CAS #include from the room however, which is good news.
I arrived at the Google stand to see the end of @OliverQuinlan's talk. I was surprised to see him wearing his Google in Education t-shirt over his shirt. I was fixed up with a microphone 'Madonna' style which was great as I could use both hands to flick between windows to demo my eportfolios live. I tried to keep my Google talk short and sweet, and I hope the audience got something from it. Was great to see my fellow GCTers in the crowd too especially my team mate @ICTmarc. A handful of the audience queued to ask me questions about my setup using GAFE which was great. I really hope some teachers got something from my brief talk.
@predacomdom took great delight in telling me that whilst I was chatting to some teachers, some ladies walked passed and one said to the other "That's ICT with Miss P" and pointed at me. Stuart Baggs would be so jealous if he knew how easily I'd become a brand.
Thursday also involved catching up with everyone from the Raspberry Pi Foundation. I was really glad that I had the opportunity to thank Rob Mullins for allowing me to work on a KS3 scheme of work with the foundation. It has been a truly rewarding experience and I hope when it is ready other teachers will find it useful.
I'm really looking forward to taking a better look at PiFace for a @GeekGurlDiaries episode. @fourtyfourmu has some great project ideas that I can not wait to sink my teeth into.
Friday:
I rushed to BETT after another day of teaching for my Stone Computing Stand talk on Assessment through Badges. The wonderful @tonyparkin took over the a section of the stand and put together a really great lineup of talks including @SheliBB whose talk on Digital Leaders we managed to catch. I'm not sure what I was doing on that list. Sadly at 5pm the bet show seemed pretty empty, so I started to give my talk to Tony, Andrew Robinson and @jennyfer37 (like chatting to friends). This did not last however, as the audience grew the more I talked. Again some very lovely people stopped to chat to me afterwards to discuss how I created my badges and use them for assessment.Another highlight was seeing Johnny Ball on the same stand! Achievement unlocked: Meeting childhood hero Jonny Ball!
I also got to meet the wonderful Mr D. Feher of Google, who I hope will help me to record a fantastic @GeekGurlDiaries hangout with female Google developers. She (yes, she don't be fooled by the name) was very enthusiastic about the idea (even when jet-lagged) and didn't mind me being really eager.
Teach Meet BETT 2013:
I was terribly excited about attending my first teach meet at BETT, as all my favourite teachers, Google, Twitter, and personal friends would be in the same place discussing what I love most about my job, teaching and learning. It was inspiring and fun. @digitalmaverick did a great job organising the evening, and everyone who helped out were superb. I had a great time.
Video of the meet: Part 1 & Part 2
Highlights for me were:
- meeting up with @jennyfer37 and listening to all her cool ideas for ICT (she really needs to blog them, because they are epic)
- meeting @nightzookeeper for the first time and giving him a rose.
- chatting to @knill.
- winning @ianaddison's book on the raffle.
- stealing @MrLockyer's drinks vouchers.
- @ActionJackson (need I say more?)
- Being drawn on the Teach meet visual minutes wall:
Saturday:
The day of my BETT talk was here. I was super nervous about this talk, and arrived at Excel (even without the DLR working) at 9.15. I was allowed into the show before the public and had my pass upgraded to 'speaker'. This is what LEarn Live Theatre E looks like without people in it:
I managed to get a good crowd between the show opening and starting my talk at 10.15. By the end of my talk it was full, and even some of the exhibitor stands nearby were watching. I had lots of feedback afterwards from the audience which was really positive. I'm glad I found the courage to do it. The most surreal part is having your audience take pictures of your slides every time you go to a new one.
After my talk I decided to take some 'me time' by finally meeting @clivebeale at Raspberry Pi, and attending the BETT Arena talk by Sugata Mitra a personal hero of mine. He discussed his "hole in the wall" project, and research on how children can learn without guidance with encouragement and from each other.
@Oliverquilan and @NightZooKeeper were in the Dell Think Tank all day. I managed to catch a brief chat with them before I went home. I'm really excited to watch the video to see what was discussed. Finally I submitted to BETT fatigue and went home. I sadly missed meeting up with @STEMettes and @pegleggen.
Saturday, 29 December 2012
People of 2012 Who Changed my Life
This year began as the worst year of my life. I was not sure at the end of January how I would be able to pick myself up and move on. At school, a friend said to me that you have to keep occupied. You've got to keep working at something. As a self confessed workaholic this was not a hard instruction to follow. I started by applying and being accepted for the Google Teacher Academy, and it sort of snowballed from there.
At google I met @Jamestsanders and @predacomdom who opened my eyes to a world of creative possibilities in teaching. You are both, super inspiring, don't ever change.
Through Google Certified Teacher status I also met @IanAddison @ZoeRoss @OliverQuinlan @Stevebunce all leading the way in innovative teaching in the UK. (If you are a teacher and do not follow them on twitter then there is something wrong with you!)
@Chrisleach78 Innovator of one of my favourite conferences ever, RethinkingICT. Anyone who invites over 100 people to their school to discuss the future of ICT education in the UK deserves a medal, but to do it in such a way to truly bring people together to really make an impact is worth a mention. Your conference opened my eyes, I am not alone!
@tonyparkin sat in the same room as me at RethinkingICT and has since become one of the people I most value the opinion of. He is a Yorkshireman so says what he thinks without mincing his words, which is right up my street. He probably thinks I am stalking him, the number of times we've been at the same events this winter.
This year I've spent much of my free time (as if such a thing exists) working on @GeekGurlDiaries and through this work I've met some fantastic people. If I had not met @SophDareE I'm not sure I would have continued in this endeavour. She is forward thinking and a credit to ICT education. Technocamps should be paying her double. Every teenage geek girl must want to be like Sophie. I know I do!
One of the first women to be interview for Geek Gurl Diaries was @ZoeFCunningham who supported my idea, and her company Softwire employ female software developers and testers who were also interviewed. Without women working in the tech industry it would be difficult to inspire young people to take a second look at those subjects in school.
@kimxtom was very quick to get in touch with me from the United States to share ideas and practices as we found we were working on the same kind of stuff. Girls in IT is a global problem, and Kim invited me to speak at the online global education conference to highlight this. Kim is forward thinking, fun, and an inspiration to me.
@traveller_123 otherwise known as Claire (another Googleoid) changed my summer for the better when she helped me spend two sporting weeks attending the London Olympics. I will forever be grateful for the closing ceremony ticket she got for me. You are awesome, FACT.
@tecknoteacher aka the Raspberry Jam Man! I admire any teacher who gets out there and does something rather than just moans about the state of education. Alan goes above and beyond this. I first met him in person at a London Raspberry Jam where we discussed the use of Raspberry Pi's and computing in general. Alan has an easy manner, and great skill at bringing people together. I hope one day to be able to teach programming like him.
I first saw @phalt_ speak at a Raspberry Jam that I watched online. I was struck by his Raspberry Pi project and his interest to bring it to schools. I was also annoyed by his statement that ICT Teachers were lame. (I may be paraphrasing here) so I contacted him to tell him so. For a university student this may have seemed really odd. In fact to anyone really, but Paul and I very quickly had an understanding. He introduced me to @Sponsorcraft to help fund some equipment for GGD for which I am eternally grateful, and we even met at PyConUK. He is one to watch world of ICT Education, I warn you. Hope to see more of him in 2013!
Through my work getting girls in IT, I met @codeboom and together we worked to develop @CASinclude, an arm of the Computing At School group. Laura is one of the nicest people in education that I've ever met. She has worked tirelessly on the Cas include website, wiki and on the CAS forum whilst being a full time teacher. I hope next year to work more with Laura as we take #include to the next level running a hack day.
I cant talk about hack days and not mention @Pegleggen. Gen is a charismatic computing teacher who introduced me to @Appshed and who is driven to improve education. I was fortunate enough to meet her at MozFest this year and I hope to work with her more in the future. She is experienced in running workshops for teens and I imagine has a fantastic relationship with all her students. I aspire to be half as good at my job.
One of the first people to attempt to teach an old dog (me) new tricks (Python) was @ntoll at PyConUK. No mean feat! I think together we highlighted issues with computing education for the Python developer community that could really benefit both parties of we work together. Thanks Nick for teaching me, marking my code, and pointing me in the right direction.
@Viacaput otherwise known as Sue Street has attempted through mentoring to open my eyes to my strengths as a teacher. I still doubt many of them, but I thank her for seeing something in me to nurture. I've been very lucky to spend time talking about my career with Sue and I hope to continue the discussion in 2013.
I was fortunate enough to encounter @asbradbury from Raspberry Pi Foundation at PyConUK where he gave a keynote talk on the Pi. He, like many of the cast and crew of the foundation were very open to my ideas for teaching using the Pi. We kept over conversation going, and with his help I met and worked with @samaaron to produce a KS3 scheme of work. I'm excited to trail it in the new year! Alex and I continue to work on ideas for school and GGD but I'm still not sold on the robot arm Alex, sorry.
There are so many more people I could mention, but I think I'd be here forever. Thanks to you all for changing my life for the better. I am a very lucky girl to have met you in 2012. I hope 2013 is half as good :)
Here is my list of 'People who changed my life in 2012':
Through Google Certified Teacher status I also met @IanAddison @ZoeRoss @OliverQuinlan @Stevebunce all leading the way in innovative teaching in the UK. (If you are a teacher and do not follow them on twitter then there is something wrong with you!)
@Chrisleach78 Innovator of one of my favourite conferences ever, RethinkingICT. Anyone who invites over 100 people to their school to discuss the future of ICT education in the UK deserves a medal, but to do it in such a way to truly bring people together to really make an impact is worth a mention. Your conference opened my eyes, I am not alone!
@tonyparkin sat in the same room as me at RethinkingICT and has since become one of the people I most value the opinion of. He is a Yorkshireman so says what he thinks without mincing his words, which is right up my street. He probably thinks I am stalking him, the number of times we've been at the same events this winter.
This year I've spent much of my free time (as if such a thing exists) working on @GeekGurlDiaries and through this work I've met some fantastic people. If I had not met @SophDareE I'm not sure I would have continued in this endeavour. She is forward thinking and a credit to ICT education. Technocamps should be paying her double. Every teenage geek girl must want to be like Sophie. I know I do!
One of the first women to be interview for Geek Gurl Diaries was @ZoeFCunningham who supported my idea, and her company Softwire employ female software developers and testers who were also interviewed. Without women working in the tech industry it would be difficult to inspire young people to take a second look at those subjects in school.
@kimxtom was very quick to get in touch with me from the United States to share ideas and practices as we found we were working on the same kind of stuff. Girls in IT is a global problem, and Kim invited me to speak at the online global education conference to highlight this. Kim is forward thinking, fun, and an inspiration to me.
@traveller_123 otherwise known as Claire (another Googleoid) changed my summer for the better when she helped me spend two sporting weeks attending the London Olympics. I will forever be grateful for the closing ceremony ticket she got for me. You are awesome, FACT.
@tecknoteacher aka the Raspberry Jam Man! I admire any teacher who gets out there and does something rather than just moans about the state of education. Alan goes above and beyond this. I first met him in person at a London Raspberry Jam where we discussed the use of Raspberry Pi's and computing in general. Alan has an easy manner, and great skill at bringing people together. I hope one day to be able to teach programming like him.
I first saw @phalt_ speak at a Raspberry Jam that I watched online. I was struck by his Raspberry Pi project and his interest to bring it to schools. I was also annoyed by his statement that ICT Teachers were lame. (I may be paraphrasing here) so I contacted him to tell him so. For a university student this may have seemed really odd. In fact to anyone really, but Paul and I very quickly had an understanding. He introduced me to @Sponsorcraft to help fund some equipment for GGD for which I am eternally grateful, and we even met at PyConUK. He is one to watch world of ICT Education, I warn you. Hope to see more of him in 2013!
Through my work getting girls in IT, I met @codeboom and together we worked to develop @CASinclude, an arm of the Computing At School group. Laura is one of the nicest people in education that I've ever met. She has worked tirelessly on the Cas include website, wiki and on the CAS forum whilst being a full time teacher. I hope next year to work more with Laura as we take #include to the next level running a hack day.
I cant talk about hack days and not mention @Pegleggen. Gen is a charismatic computing teacher who introduced me to @Appshed and who is driven to improve education. I was fortunate enough to meet her at MozFest this year and I hope to work with her more in the future. She is experienced in running workshops for teens and I imagine has a fantastic relationship with all her students. I aspire to be half as good at my job.
One of the first people to attempt to teach an old dog (me) new tricks (Python) was @ntoll at PyConUK. No mean feat! I think together we highlighted issues with computing education for the Python developer community that could really benefit both parties of we work together. Thanks Nick for teaching me, marking my code, and pointing me in the right direction.
@Viacaput otherwise known as Sue Street has attempted through mentoring to open my eyes to my strengths as a teacher. I still doubt many of them, but I thank her for seeing something in me to nurture. I've been very lucky to spend time talking about my career with Sue and I hope to continue the discussion in 2013.
I was fortunate enough to encounter @asbradbury from Raspberry Pi Foundation at PyConUK where he gave a keynote talk on the Pi. He, like many of the cast and crew of the foundation were very open to my ideas for teaching using the Pi. We kept over conversation going, and with his help I met and worked with @samaaron to produce a KS3 scheme of work. I'm excited to trail it in the new year! Alex and I continue to work on ideas for school and GGD but I'm still not sold on the robot arm Alex, sorry.
There are so many more people I could mention, but I think I'd be here forever. Thanks to you all for changing my life for the better. I am a very lucky girl to have met you in 2012. I hope 2013 is half as good :)
Thursday, 15 November 2012
Guest Appearance on Skirts & Ladders Website
I am always slightly baffled when companies and websites ask if they an feature me and my work, as I'm not sure I'm doing or saying anything revolutionary. "Girls need to represent." Nothing new there then.
This week Skirts & Ladders have featured this article on their website about me. I'm not sure that I really promote becoming an ICT Teacher on a careers website very well. It's a great job! Do it! You'll love it! Might be more appropriate.
This week Skirts & Ladders have featured this article on their website about me. I'm not sure that I really promote becoming an ICT Teacher on a careers website very well. It's a great job! Do it! You'll love it! Might be more appropriate.
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