One of the key findings from Ofsted inspections show time and time again the impact, consistency, clarity and routines have on students.

Our readers are made up largely of senior leaders and middle managers, so  this won’t be ground breaking information in the first instance but what I’m about to tell you will certainly help you improve homework and get support from parents.

As an aspiring leader myself, I know the difficulties we share of embedding new new policies, processes and tools. It’s certainly not easy within a school but do this right, the benefits can be incredible for your colleagues and for the learning experience students receive.

My tool, Show My Homework is being embedded into school policies as a must have for the provision of homework for over 33,000 students. If homework is important to your school and you want to improve it or get it to work the way you want to, it needs to be consistent,  tracked and monitored across the school. Can you do that right now? More often than not the honest answer is ‘No’. Its ‘No’ because its difficult, painstakingly time intensive and requires a lot of effort. This leads to situations where students can get away with not doing homework, teachers can get away with not setting it and opens the door for parents to complain at Parent evening about the lack of homework.

I’m really passionate about introducing classroom tools that work for me and work for my colleagues who teach, day-in, day-out.

If you’d like to find out more about Show My Homework, please read Horndean Technology College’s Case Study or visit http://www.showmyhomework.co.uk

If you find this post of genuine interest and would like to explore options to put in place consistency, clarity and routines with homework, please get in touch. 

I know together we can make an immediate impact.

(Source: showmyhomeworkblog.com)

When I joined Henry Compton school as the E-learning Director, one of my first jobs was to roll out Fronter, the London Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) of choice, and get everyone engaged to use it. Now there is no denying that Fronter is packed full of features, but Fronter is just one example of software and technology recommended to teachers by government officials and consultants who have become removed from the classroom. I believe teachers’ needs have been forgotten and ignored when it has come down to purchasing software and hardware. For years, technology has been chosen for them with an expectation that they will use it and benefit. But technology can be just as painful as beneficial if it is not fit for purpose and implemented with the end user in mind. Even today, most IT projects fail because of different interpretations of requirements and needs.

So how do schools choose technology that will really improve efficiencies? There is a plethora of information out there, and there is no denying that it is often hard to see the wood for the trees. This leads to the question, where can IT decisions makers go to get cutting edge advice? Advice that is going to focus on teachers and not on fat pockets?

This is a difficult one but the following two resources I have listed, may surprise you:

1. Twitter is a brilliant avenue for asking questions and sharing problems. More often than not, the best advice comes from your own peers that have found IT solutions themselves. Twitter is full of amazing teachers with cutting edge innovative ideas and knowledge to help you solve problems. Just recently, I came across a brilliant Science resource created by Google via Twitter, which looks at the Human Body in a creative way (http://bit.ly/fwxoxY). Students will love this resource so please pass on. If you would like to find out more about Twitter, please visit http://www.twitter.com.

2. Intel Education - I was pleasantly surprised to find out exactly how much Intel focus on teaching and learning. In fact, Intel do not actually provide solutions directly themselves but are a solid bank of information and knowledge when it comes to helping you solve problems in the classroom with IT. This is priceless for teachers. For example, two things on their website you may be interested include information about the ‘Intel World Ahead Program’ and the ‘Intel Learning Series’ who develop and deliver solutions locally. The Intel World Ahead Program is very interesting because it is focusing on making technology affordable and more understood by teachers in the classroom. In the current climate where ICT budgets are being slashed, this is incredibly important. Connecting millions of people to the Internet with high-speed wireless technologies is going to remove the boundaries for learning like never before. One of the many solutions Intel have worked on is a simple website called Skoool.com, that brings a high-quality award-winning free educational service. It’s definitely worth checking out. If you would like to find out more about Intel for Education, please visit http://bit.ly/mMUdj3.

I really believe we are moving fast towards a world where students are immersed in a digital world. Smart phones are ubiquitous and there are apps for everything. Traditional school planners and diaries no longer work. The role of the teacher is constantly evolving but the number one priority remains the same – where doctors look after the body and the police put away criminals, teachers are working relentlessly to nurture the minds of current and future generations. Unfortunately at the best of times, governments, IT decision makers and technology providers can sometimes lose sight of this. It is easy to forget, teachers are not commercial people, they are educators and seek trusted advisors to support them in leveraging technology.

As Spiderman says, with with great power comes great responsibility. The next time you have an IT decision to make, spend a few minutes to look at Twitter and Intel and find a solution that puts your teachers first.

(Source: showmyhomeworkblog.com)

Does this sound familar?

  This was a question I was often asked at Parents’ Evening. It’s natural,
  parents really want to know when homework is set so they can ensure the
  homework gets done and they can join in with their child’s school life.

  If a child is going through a parent-rejection stage, that child may well
  not want to co-operate and so may give no or misleading information about
  homework. The parent naturally wants to check if this is so, but if the
  child is the only person who knows what the homework is that’s where the
  problem arises.

  However, if the homework is on a simple calendar displayed on the school
  website, the parent can see exactly when homework is set and due for all
  subjects at anytime.

  Our unique approach makes homework a learning event rather than an
  administrative annoyance. By working successfully with 300+ schools, we have
  learnt through experience the steps necessary to encourage students to get
  into a routine with their homework with support from parents. This has lead
  to a higher level of completion and overall attainment.

  If you would like to learn more about our approach please visit:
  http://www.showmyhomework.co.uk

  Alternatively,please complete our enquiry form to arrange a visit to
  your school.

  http://www.homeworkdiaryonline.com/homeworkcalendar-arrangevisit.html

  With Kind Regards,

  Naimish Gohil
  Teacher and Founder of Show My Homework
  http://www.showmyhomework.co.uk

Who uses Show My Homework and what do they think of it?

  “We are going to use Show My Homework to improve our Ofsted report from Good to Outstanding by improving our homework policy and routines. Our teachers find it easy to extend classwork to effectively set and monitor homework. It’s fantastic to get parental support!” Katharine Lovell, Assistant Head, The Chauncy School

  “Hi Naimish, great site, I will be forwarding this to my daughter’s school!
  I have been testing it a bit this last week or so and kids are refusing to
  do homework unless it is on the homework site!” _Helen Doyle, St Joseph’s
  Roman Catholic School, Australia

   “If I don’t post homework on the site, my students are disappointed!”  Rod
  Fountain, HistoryTeacher, Fulham Cross Girls’ School

  “Think this is a super idea. Would save a lot of time and paper too!! Better
  as opposed to Fronter that requires you putting all the questions, tasks
  etc. Can’t think of any disadvantages, so I’m all for it!” Vishanee
  Naidoo, English Teacher, Henry Compton School

  “Hi Naimish, excellent resource! I will make it known to other teachers.”
  Margaret Gartside, Teacher, Kings Mac School

(Source: showmyhomeworkblog.com)

O2 wants to help connect people to great teaching. They’re building a video library of great revision lessons, from teachers across the country.

If you’re a teacher: film your best revision lesson, upload it to the site and share it with Britain’s biggest classroom. You’ll be in with a chance to win some great awards!

If you’re a student: watch the videos, rate them and learn from some of the best teachers in the country.

If you’re a parent: have a look around and pass this on to your child and their school.

The site is totally free for anyone to use and you don’t need to be an O2. Visit https://www.o2learn.co.uk

Two-week winners

Twice a month, the highest rated, most watched video uploaded that fortnight, wins an award. The teacher wins £2000, and their school wins £2000.

Then, over the summer of 2011, their panel of education experts will choose eight finalists from the group of 18 two-week winners (from 1/11/10 to 31/7/11). These 8 finalists will then be eligible for winning the big prize of £50,000 for themselves and £100,000 for their school. More details on the overall winners are near the bottom of this page.

Dear colleague,
Would you consider an alternative to Fronter? Show My Homework provides a simple VLE where teachers can post homework questions, attach worksheets, set deadlines and assess work online. Since Feb 2010 over 300 schools have installed Show My Homework painlessly. 

In the current economic climate it is worth looking at alternative solutions. Show My Homework is £4,000 less than Fronter and will provide a VLE that will work and transform e-learning at your school.

To learn more, please visit http://www.showmyhomework.co.uk

If you would like us to visit your school and talk about how you could use Show My Homework, please send an email to naimish@showmyhomework.co.uk with your preferred dates.

Many thanks
Naimish Gohil

http://www.showmyhomework.co.uk

PS. I am currently looking for teachers / ex teachers interested in earning extra money in 2011 to sell Show My Homework - Please get in touch!

This week is national anti bullying week! There are lots of good resources on the web. Below are some websites and videos you may wish to use during class and tutor time.

Sites
http://www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/ - official site

www.cybermentors.org.uk  - ‘The CyberMentors website uses a social networking model to allow young people at different levels to mentor each other.’   Very good site to make your students aware of!

Videos

You Tube beatbullying site
http://www.youtube.com/user/Beatbullying

Celeb’s voice beatbullying campaign.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keVe44R4jOQ&feature=channel

Ndubz anti cyber bullying campaign song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hEeflUzX_4

Aston from JLS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qT50vAO4d2k&feature=channel

Anti bullying Ad – This is quite hard hitting! You may want to check first to see if it’s suitable for your KS3 students.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wklre2_18BU&feature=related

Many Thanks to Graham Quantrell for providing these useful links!

@showmyhomework

http://www.showmyhomework.co.uk 

(Source: showmyhomeworkblog.com)