We are very priviledged to be part of this project. It was initiated by Silvia Tolisano of Jacksonville, Florida. Three of our children who stay at school late for after care will be Skyping the children in Jacksonville on Thursday 4 June. They are very excited. The children will be writing a post in this blog about their experiences. I have to report that their teacher is very nervous! LOL. Each step in the world of technology is a step to the next. I’m prepared to live dangerously.

Tour of Smart TAble Video clip by Tom Barrett.

I have just been watching Tom Barrett’s video tour of the Smart table in his classroom.  Here at Cotswold School we are so happy to have an Internet connection for the learners for the past 8 months and we bought our first data projector in October last year. Things are looking up for Cotswold but the mind boggles at the range of technology out there and it increases exponentially just about every week!  Most of our learners only have access to a computer one hour a week at school – nothing at home. They are so stimulated and motivated when they come to the computer lab and I have to be sure that they have optimum learning opportunities whilst they are there.

I’m not a great advocate of teaching ICT skills step by step as some programmes offer. I’m a just in time learning advocate and often children will learn intuitively so what’s the point of wasting their precious hour a week teaching them how to open Word etc. My dream would be to have two or three computers in each classroom and teachers who are enthusiastic about incorporating technology into lessons. There is so much one can do in a home room that I cannot do in the computer lab because I only see each class once a week for an hour. I sometimes think I’d like to go back to classroom teaching to try out new ideas with technology in situ but then I think of all the assessments and admin that is presently killing teaching stone dead and I think I’d rather stay where I am – and I’d love some new gadgets to play with.

Well, we’ve made it through term one and I haven’t done much about this blog. I have photos and my intention has been to upload them but it hasn’t yet happened so here’s a photo of one of our mini cricket matches during the term. The boys play mini cricket in the first and fourth terms and they play soccer in the second and third terms. They enjoy both sports but sometimes their exuberance is trying to the coaches – especially when one of the fielders starts doing cartwheels during the match!

The girls do netball all year round but they seldom play matches against other schools whereas the boys play a match most weeks.

This blog has been started as a space for Cotswold Prep School. It will be administered from the computer lab and will be used to post news, learner work and comments. It is hoped that in the new school year it will become a dynamic space for interaction with the whole school community.
For now the computer teacher is just learning about blogs and their possible uses.
I did try to add the school logo so I’ll have to take a look when I publish this post. If it’s not there I still have a lot to learn.

It’s almost the end of our school year and I find it’s often a time when I plan ahead and get some new and creative ideas. This year this is one of them. It’s an exciting new innovation for our school and I look forward to developing it. Watch this space!