David Rogers

A return to the classroom today after a mega event: the Partners in Learning UK Innovative Teachers Forum . The event brought together like minded teachers and other professionals who have a love of learning. I was also impressed to see some students in one of the workshops. I was there to talk about my Pirates and Social Networking . There was a lot of interest in the project. I wish to clarify though, that the project is not about invading the social network that learners inhabit. Instead, the project uses a teachers Personal Learning Network as a model and data collection tool. The conference also had plenty of time to network. This is what a lot of similar events lack, instead relying on an almost relentless procession of keynotes and workshops. I really enjoyed having the time to reflect upon the workshops and conversations with others. This time to ponder means that it is more likely that ideas will be integrated into our Geography curriculum. There is a real buzz back at school ...

The picture above shows the GPS tracker unit iside the BBC box. A group of pupils and myself headed to the BBC's Television Centre to welcome the box back home! I'm not going to say much more than that, apart from it all started by getting the department involved in the School Report project . If you're going to get involved and need some tips - give me a shout! Output from the pupils include: Pirates and the High Seas Welcome home The young people were also interviewed live on BBC Breakfast and a number of the BBC's local radio stations. All in all, a good day! Strict rules for the return of shipping containers.

Just been sent the live link to my pupils work on the BBC Box webpage. The BBC came in to see how the box is being used in geography classrooms. The Slideshare below was used during the lesson and gives the basic structure: Declaration Of Interdependence View more documents from geogrocks .

This post is being set up for a lesson tomorrow. Year 8! Use the comment function below to leave your thoughts and ideas on the following questions: 1. What do you want people to know about modern day piracy? 2. What issues need to be considered when producing information to share on the internet? 3. How could the information be presented while maintaining the geographical information? Image created using http://www.wordle.net and used through a Creative Commons License

Teachers TV are popping in on Thursday morning to talk about and film Twitter's use in the classroom. Wanting to avoid a recreation of the Cheese on Toast experiment, I will be using a more profound question linked to Year 8's work on Interdependence and Piracy. The idea of using Twitter is to provide a fresh perspective that reaches beyond the classroom and an opportunity to handle real qualitative data. I'll be tweeting a question later on today. I'm also going to tap into my Facebook network. It's a big ask - but it would be great if you could find the time to tweet / comment an answer. The question is: 'What are the first 5 words that you think of after hearing the term 'pirate'?' You can find me on Twitter here .