TeachMeetChester
#TeachMeetTarporley
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On Thursday 16th March 2017, 25 colleagues attended the TeachMeet at Tarporley CE Primary School. We had a great list of presenters and presentations lined up to share good ideas for enhancing teaching and learning. Resources and links from the presentations are below. The #teachmeetchester team thank all who participated in the TeachMeet and Kerry and her staff for hosting the event. Comments and feedback about the presentations and the TeachMeet as a whole can be found on Twitter - search using the #tmtarporley hashtag.
The TeachMeet began with a presentation by TeachMeetChester regular, Stuart Rathe, from Shakespeare Schools Foundation. Once again he shared an activity to engage key stage two children and help them to access Shakespeare's enhanced and figurative language. The senses and sensations of a passage from Henry V were brought to life with Post-It notes and a little imagination. Thanks, Stuart.
Next up was Sarah Bazley, from Chester Zoo Education Service, who shared some of the free teaching and learning resources now available on the zoo's website to support visiting schools and enhance the curriculum. The range of materials she shared was eye-opening and impressive. This is clearly a timely and important learning resource for all schools, which can be accessed via a simple, searchable interface.
Eileen Pollard, from the University of Chester English Department, shared her ideas about 'Live' pedagogy - a concept which aims to engage learners through interactivity, questioning, participation and physical activities. This reflected a theme about memorable learning, which reappeared in other presentations. It also gave us all the opportunity to 'Laugh like a Pirate'!
Henri Grice, from Cheshire and Stockport Science Learning Partnership, raised awareness of resources for learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) available via the www.stem.org.uk website. She had brought along copies of the STEM Learning magazine to share and also mentioned the work of STEM Ambassadors in schools.
John Duffty, from mathsticks, presented on the topic of teaching and learning about time. Starting with a flexible number line, he demonstrated a clear progression in developing understandings about time conventions, time terminology and reading an analog clock face. Apparently, you must always look at the hour hand first. A new and innovative approach, which demonstrated a another use for pipe insulation!
John Sutton, from Creative Blogs, started with some thought-provoking anecdotes about his experiences in schools in relation to digital literacy. There were also some startling statistics about current and future trends. He used Steve Wheeler's model of digital literacies to outline the skills needed by children (and teachers) to engage competently, confidently and safely online. Needless to say, blogging is a key way for these skills to be developed. John's blog post about the TeachMeet is here.
Kate Harland and Jonathan Nash, from West Cheshire Museums, gave an overview of museum sites, services and resources for schools. Kate also linked to the theme of memorable learning by demonstrating the power of objects and artefacts to engage an audience.
Finally, the TeachMeet shared a short video, created by Si Poole and Nicola Haigh, about the soon-to-open Storyhouse Arts Centre in Chester. Si and Nicola described their roles in Storyhouse and Nicola outlined ways in which schools can get involved: as an audience, hiring spaces or working with the education team to create a bespoke curriculum day.
Raffle prizes for the TeachMeet were generously provided by EdTechTeamUK, Reflective Thinking and Twinkl.
All photos on this page by Barbara Pickford.
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