Parents Evening

Year 8 parents evening on Monday was a real blur. It was good to see so many students and what was even better was how many of you were really keen on taking Geography at GCSE which is fantastic. If you have any questions regarding GCSE Geography please make sure you talk to Mr. McCrae or myself and we can point you into the right direction. I was especially pleased that you are thinking about careers that might use geography in the future.


http://healingschoolgeographydepartment.synthasite.com/taking-gcse-geography.php



Mr. Still

My experiments continue...

Deep Zoom as I mentioned earlier works really well and I hope to add some onto the blog over the holidays. Powerpoint plex is another tool that worked really well. The students loved this as they could see all the work they had done in the unit but it also made the conventional powerpoint lesson a lot more interesting. See the video file below.





Through my short journey in teaching one issue has bugged me for a while and that is learning objectives, learning aims, learning outcomes, to be able to... (Your school may have a different name). I appreciate they are very important and that we should share what we want our students to learn but in my opinion the way they are put across is often very boring and the students also find this dull. While I will never claim to have the answer to any teaching related point I did find that this worked well last week.


Thanks to Ollie Bray of http://olliebray.typepad.com/olliebraycom/ I came across this website - http://www.lingo2word.com/translatetxt.php?tosearch1=ILY+mor+thn+wrds+cn+dsciB+%7E%3Ao+%21&searcher1=lingo - the website translates normal English into text speech. I tried with some of the classes this week and it worked really well. See the powerpoint below. I showed the objectives in 'text speech' to my year 7 classes and they really liked them and made them engage with the learning objectives.


A couple of other really useful websites:


You will have heard of social networking but give social bookmarking a go. The site is a place where you can store all your bookmarks/favourites in one place. This means you can access your personal favourites from any computer in the world. This saves a lots of hassle as you would usually have a different set of favourites on your different computers, I know I do. Also you can look at similar websites about Geography or any other topic using the tag system.


http://delicious.com/


Bloglines is really useful if you follow a lot of blogs and websites. Once you have signed up to an account you can add all the URLs of the blogs you follow. The website when you log in checks the different blogs and shows you when they have been updated. This saves a lot of time as don't need to check all the different blogs for updates yourself!


http://www.bloglines.com/


Mr. Still

Photography Competition Deadline

Mr. McCrae and myself have been really impressed with the standard of entries so far. It is not too late to enter your photographs. Make sure you hand them to one of the Geography teachers by the end of Thursday.

Mr. Still

This week in the Geography department

Year eleven

Only 7 lessons left till your exams and revision is coming along nicely. I have been very impressed with the revision resoucres you have created. Hopefully they will help you to improve your final grades. We will look at managing resoucres and also look at rocks and landscapes this week. It is important that we get our exam tecnhnique as polished as possible particularly on case study and physical geography - 'describe the formation of.....' type questions.

Year ten

We continue looking at industry and particularly some of the reasons for the globalisation of it. I intend to approach this through the study of two different mysteries. Materials for which can be found on the Healing School Geography Department Website. A link can be found at the end of the post.

Year nine

As mentioned before life is about experimenting and that is what I aim to do this week. I have used wikispaces before with some year 8 classes as blog type exercise. However, I have decided I want the students to create some vert simple webpages to aid their studies particularly with Sustainable Development and how we can tackle global warming. See a post next month about the success or failure of this idea.

Year eight

The trading game has become my favourite lesson of all time. I decided I would use twitter to run the game. You could just use a word file but I thought it would detach me from the students even more and allow them to really get into the games finer details. It worked really well and I hope to try and find more applications for it in the classroom.

Year seven

I am loving the Long Way Down topic and the feedback I have been getting from you guys has been really positive. Last week we started looking at famine and I tried a few new things see a later post and you all seemed really keen on them which is great. All powerpoints and materials can be seen on our website from Tuesday morning. You will perform your news reports this week and hopefully we can record them.

Mr. Still

ICT in classrooms - life is about experimenting!

The more observant among you will have noticed that I have been trying out some new ICT tools in the classroom. Obvivously you will have seen the blog and Geography department website. I hope you have looked at them and used them.

Another tool is Deep Zoom - very exicting tool - I have talked about this in an earlier post. This tool can result in the 'wow' factor with students.
Powerpoint plex - this is a lot of fun and very useful for revision with year 11 but also for having all your previous powerpoints and resources from one unit in the same place. You can also embed word files and excel spreadsheets into the presentation. See next weeks posts for an example of how it works in class.

Photosynth - amazing photographic tool - log onto the website - some of the photos are fantastic - we in the geography department will be using it later in the week.

Later in the week I shall add more ideas and tools for use in the classroom including blogging (mirco-blogging) and wordle. I know that none of these ideas are particularly ground-breaking but rather just my experience of trying them in the classroom.

Mr. Still

Teaching....it's a funny old game!

Far better, more inspiring and talented teachers have coomented on this issue many time before. The idea of using games to teach students a whole variety of topics. Well this week it is my turn to have a go as it were. I started researching the idea of using different games and simultations in geography. Well there are quite a few that could be used. This is more of a working list.

I think everyone has heard of the trading game from Christian Aid. A lot of fun to teach but can lead to some quite fierce arguements. There are other games from Oxfam involving Chocolate and Bananas as part of fair trade. There are also different ideas relating to trainers and cotton.

Of course there are also things like who wants to be a millionaire, blockbusters and play your cards right (there are also many more) all very useful in lessons.

Another useful tool are simulations on the internet:
http://www.unesco.org/education/tlsf/TLSF/theme_c/mod16/www.eduweb.com/ecotourism/eco1.html - a game simulating ecotourism in South America

http://www.daversitycode.com/ - useful murder mystery showing biodiversity

http://simcity.ea.com/play/simcity_classic.php - sign up free to play free online

http://www.simsweatshop.com/ - very useful trainer game

Mr. Still

Deep Zoom

This got me very excited this weekend. Deep Zoom is an application which allows you to zoom in really close on photographs and add other photos in to tell a story. I thought of at least 20 different applications over the weekend. I will use a couple in school this week. The first one is done as a little clip in moviemaker.

You can download the application here:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=457b17b7-52bf-4bda-87a3-fa8a4673f8bf&displaylang=en



Hard Rock Cafe - Deep Zoom example - click, zoom znd explore!

http://memorabilia.hardrock.com/

Mr. Still

Year 11 revision materials...

A very useful website Mr. McCrae and myself found the other day - click on the link below:

http://www.bishopbarrington.net/pages/subjects/geography.html

On the website are podcasts, revision videos and another downloadable revision booklet. This is all very useful stuff for you to use for YOUR revision.

Mr. Still

What on this week....

Year 11
Well only 8 lessons left till you start study leave. The plan is very simple - over the next 8 lessons we will try to cover as much material as possible. We start with coasts on Monday and half of Fridays lesson and then do a little bit on Rocks for the other part. That will then give us six lessons to cover the other three topics. If you have any questions please speak to Mr. McCrae or myself. Also exam papers can be downloaded from our website. Follow the link below:
http://healingschoolgeographydepartment.synthasite.com/exam-papers.php
(right click on the relevant paper and 'save target as' this will reduce download time)

Year 10
In industry we are carrying on with our case studies on Thursday. On Tuesday we will be looking st Globalisation and the effect that has on industry and people around the world.

Year 9
We continue with our look at changes in resource use over the planet and then reasosn why this happens. Also we will look at China and how that is developing in terms of industry and the environmental probelms that causes.

Year 8
This weeks lessons focus on why countries are poor and the barriers which stop them from achieving a devent standard of living. This will include a mystery lesson and starting on the trading game.

Year 7
This week for most of you CHarley and Ewan ride into Ethiopia. We stop and look at famine by solving a mystery becoming news repoters for a lesson.

Mr. Still

The Crazy Wombat

Sustainable Development is a key buzz not only in Geography but in politics. This little clip from the Crazy Wombat explains some of the main principles behind Sustainble Development

Mr. Still

A few important updates

I blogged about this site two weeks ago. Most of the time the camera looks at Gowrie waterhole in South Africa. However during 4am-7am, 14:00-17:00 and 18:00-21:00 the guides at the camp located near by go on game drives to look for the stunning wildlife. This is the time when you are most likely to see it live!

The letters year 8 students sent off to different countries have been sent and hopefullywe should have replies as soon as possible.

The Photography competition is still running. The deadline for the photographs are the last week of term.

Mr. Still

What's up this week....

Year 11

Only 12 lessons left (scary). It does not need to be said that we are up against it. It is imperative that you attend revision sessions as this will be the difference between a 'C' grade or 'D' grade. We look at Glaciation; landforms and human uses of glaciated areas. See the website for the powerpoints and material used in this weeks lesson. Mr. McCrae is doing the revision lesson this week on Managing Resources.

Year 10

We continue moving solidlily through industry this week and mainly focus on case studies primarily on heavy and hi-tech. We will also look a little bit at what Governments have done when industry is no longer profitable.

Year 9

What a lot of hot air, its wind power continued this week. A decision-making exercise and then a look at how and why resource and energy use has increased over time.

Year 8

The development unit is developing nicely and we look at how we can measure how developed different countries are. This will invlove looking at different indicators and playing blockbusters and a generation game conveyor belt flag type game. Also we will play development trumps later in the week. Next week is the week of games!!

Year 7

We continue following Charley and Ewan's journey down through Africa. We stop off in Sudan and Ethiopia this week. In Sudan we create our own animals which have to be specially adapted to live in the desert. In Ethiopia we investgate why the country is so suseptible to famine. We examine the role of drought and human factors.

Mr. Still

Geoparks

Over recent weeks in year 11 we have been talking about National parks in both the UK and abroad in Kenya and Gambia. Well the next development from National Parks are Transfrontier National Parks and new Geoparks.

Simply a National Park protects one area of a country in a particular country, like the Lake District. A Transfrontier National Park is one that covers many different countries. For example the Great Limpopo Transfrontier National Park. It covers large areas of South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. This new park aims to be at the forefront of conservation and sustainability. Also by covering more than one country larger areas of land can be protected.

http://www.greatlimpopopark.com/

In Europe, Geoparks have been set up to protect geological heritage and sustainable ways to develop it. The aim is to promote the areas for tourism and make sure that there is scope for sufficent economic development. Look at the website, you can use the information to create a case study for your exam.

http://www.europeangeoparks.org/isite/home/1,1,0.asp

Mr. Still

Something a little bit different....

This is something I have been following for a while. Basically it is a webcam that peers into the African Bush. At different times of the day qualified guides go out on drives to show people about the African bush. You can follow stories about the Mapogos, the Sandy Patch Lioness, Karula and her new Leopard cubs, Ovo and the Judge. There are many more characters to meet.



Enjoy, Mr. Still

Geography Matters!!

Globalisation resource Year 9 and 10

Globalisation

View more presentations from John Barlow.

Geography Right Here, Right Now!!

What's on this week.....

Year 11

Only 14 lessons left till you go on study leave. So make sure you go to the revision sessions on a Thursday after school for about an hour. This week we take a romp through glaciation particularly landforms and their formation. Make sure you complete your revision material homework. Also I have put some of the past exam papers onto the website. Make sure you right click on the link and 'save target as'. This will be quicker in terms of download times.

Year 10

Well you have studied four units of your course already. Three with Mr. McCrae and myself and one with Mr. Strange and Miss Jones. The next unit is industry. Look at the later psots for some useful material on this topic.

Year 9

Globalisation is a funny unit as we now move onto look at energy and different sources of it. We have finished off looking at NICs and will start looking at energy on Thursday. Next week we will complete a decision-making exercise on wind power in Cumbria

Year 8

Lots going on this week. Two groups will explode their volcanoes this week. Others will finish their Ghana brochures and hopefully present them to the rest of the class.

Year 7

We continue following Charlies' and Ewans' journey down through Africa in the Long Way Down. We arrive in Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia looking at issues surrounding water scarity and the River Nile. Other groups will look at life in the Desert and design your own animal or plant especailly adapted to live in a desert environment.

Mr. Still

Geography+Music - whats the link?

Bono, Bon Jovi and the Beatles are all linked - through Geography of Course!!

If you think about it the spread of each of the artists music across the globe is definiately Geography. Lets take Bon Jovi (some of you may of guessed I this these guys are awesome!!)

The band originates from New Jersey and started playing bars and gigs in New Jersey. Following the hit single 'runaway' the band got more airplay. This was then spread all across America through the radio. The band started to play more and more gigs across America. This led to a spread of popularity. Over time the band spread across the world now playing in many of the major stadiums across the world.

There is a Geography here:

1. You can map their spread across the world - all years
2. The ideas surrounding globalisation - which is the spread of ideas across the planet - year 9
3. Issues of rich/poor, levels of development - year 8

Hopefully we will have a few lessons looking at these ideas somewhen over the next few weeks.

Rock on, Mr. Still!!

Life or something like it...

Well, its World Book Day tomorrow. It may some to a great surprise but there are actually many books you could read to help you with your studies!!

The Coram Boy – Jamila Gavin (Slave Trade and Ocean travel)
The other side of truth – Beverley Naidoo (Immigration set in London and Nigeria)
Journey of 1000 miles – Ian Strachan
The long way Down - Charley Boorman and Ewan McGregor
The long way round - Charley Boorman and Ewan McGregor
Dominoes and other stories – Bali Rai (What it is like to be living in Britain today told through different cultural voices
Caught in the crossfire – Alan Gibbons (Life in a northern English town for a Muslim boy after 7/7)
The Lost World – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Lost in the Jungle – Yossi Ghinsberg
Kingdom Come – J.G. Bullard
Fearless – Tim Lott
Comfort Herself – Geraldine Kaye – Set in Kent and Ghana – good descriptions of the difference in lifestyle and expectations even though this set in an England of the 1960s. Comfort is a child mixed marriage
The Pearl – John Steinbeck

This is just a small sample. Enjoy!

Mr. Still