For this week’s MIEE TV blog we’re going to take a look at what some of our Expert Educators have been up to in the last couple of weeks through the stories that they have sharing with each other over Yammer. We’ll also be getting to know one of our Expert Educators a little better as we continue to work our way through the interviews found on the MIEE TV YouTube channel.
So what have our MIEEs being doing to keep things fresh for their students lately? Marie Renton, Deputy Head Teacher at Lochhead Primary has been getting to grips with using Skype in the classroom to give students exposure to many subjects at once:
“Took part in my 1st ever Mystery Skype today. This is a fantastic way to teach ICT, Modern Languages and Geography in a real context and in a highly engaging and motivating way. Thoroughly recommend it if you haven't tried it yet. We connected with a French class from Montpellier, via a connection I made at E2 Microsoft Global conference in Seattle. It's the start of a great partnership between our 2 schools.”
James Protheroe, ICT leader at Darran Park Primary School in Wales has been capitalising on his students’ love of Minecraft. Children from schools in the Ferndale and Cymer clusters discovered posters had been mysteriously put up all around their schools. Each poster featured Steve, the main character from Minecraft, in a different setting. Each poster contained a question, such as: “Where is Steve?” The children investigated, looking for clues in order to locate him. The pupils from the Tonypandy cluster received the posters of Steve through mysterious emails.
Learn more on James’ blog…
Over in Northampton, Simon de Senlis School teacher Charlotte Coade has been making use of portability of the Surface on a Y2 trip to the Leicester New Walk Museum. See what the children learned about the dinosaurs that used to roam the earth…
Out and about with the Surface tablets – Year 2 trip to the museum
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Our MIEEs are great at staying in touch and sharing ideas with each other over Yammer, and they also meet up in person via Teachmeets, which are open to all teachers local to the area where they are held. MIEE Fellow Ian Stuart recently hosted a Teachmeet in Glasgow, which is summarised nicely in this Sway created by Marie Renton, one of the teachers who presented on the evening:
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With our MIEE TV blogs we like to help you get to know our Expert Educators a little better by including a short video interview with one of those featured in the post. This week Charlotte Coade from Simon de Senlis explains how she became involved with the Microsoft Innovative Expert Educator programme: