ThomasJPitts' Web Activity

Work, work, work... - HSX's Blog Thing

2010-06-09T10:48:19Z

I know it's been forever since I updated this. I feel very guilty. Not pleased with the quantity of work I have to do at the moment. 'Tis the report writing season and so my head is swamped by them. But alongside this, I have all my usual class based things to do. On top of that, my sister recently got married and that took up a huge amount of time and I made a big decision about my future.

So, sorry for not writing more, but I am still very much alive and I will write more regularly when things settle a little later in the month. Hopefully.

Ancient Greece: Greek Gods - Mr Pitts @ Millbridge J, I & N School

2010-06-08T07:29:49Z

Look at the different Gods and explore this website.

In your curriculum books, I want you to do a drawing of one of the Gods and make a fact file.

After this, create a God for modern day - God of Texting, God of The Internet etc. Draw it and then create a fact file.

2010's Martin Kyslun: Meet Godfrey Spickernell - HSX's Blog Thing

2010-05-18T07:31:12Z

Back in 2005, I wrote about Martin Kyslun. I fully expected to see his name among the election results when they were finally published. However, I did not. This is the reason why. Sorry, belatedly, to hear of his passing.

Martin famously received 5 votes in 2005 - and now that I'm older I can appreciate better his reasons for standing in the first place.

This year, Godfrey Spickernell received the least votes in his constituency of Chelsea & Fulham, gaining 17 votes for his Blue Environment Party (Source: BBC News). Now, given that the Green Party until this election had never won a seat, the desire to replace the Green Party was somewhat ambitious. However, I admire him for trying, even though I certainly do not agree with all that is written on his comprehensive website.

Gilles Villeneuve - HSX's Blog Thing

2010-05-08T09:30:51Z

While I wasn't alive to see him race, I've read about and seen enough of his career to know how fabulous Gilles Villeneuve was.

Today, 25 years ago, Formula One lost one of its greatest ever exponents, a man whose modest record belied an impact on the sport so profound that his memory lives on today. He combined the best qualities of Michael Schumacher, Ayrton Senna and Juan Pablo Montoya - a dazzling talent, an unquenchable spirit and desire, and a magnetic charisma that attracted millions of fans. He also possessed an honesty and honour from a bygone age - traits which were to be contributing factors in his death.

That man was Gilles Villeneuve, whose brief but glorious career was ended on 8 May 1982, in a horrific accident during qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder.

This review of his life sums up just what made him a great driver. (BBC Sport)

Primary Lesson Starters - Video Clips - Useful Teaching Links And Tools

2010-05-04T06:07:12Z

Find short starter clips for use on interactive whiteboards in your classroom, covering primary maths, science, French, history, and literacy here.

Link: Teachers TV: Primary Lesson Starters

Interactive Fraction Tools - Useful Teaching Links And Tools

2010-05-03T22:49:51Z

Link: Fraction Wall - A wonderful interactive fraction wall. Can show fractions, decimals, percentages and ratio.
Link: Fractions of a circle

Let Them Sing It To You - HSX's Blog Thing

2010-05-03T22:22:07Z

This is brilliant: enter anything and it will sing it to you.

Pollen Park Challenge - Mr Pitts @ Millbridge J, I & N School

2010-05-03T22:19:06Z

Investigate plant life cycles here!

How To Write Badly Well - Useful Teaching Links And Tools

2010-05-03T21:29:19Z

A fabulous blog showing ways to write terribly. Could be used at the start of a big writing session to show pupils how not to write...

Link: How To Write Badly Well

Body Image - How magazines alter photos - Useful Teaching Links And Tools

2010-05-03T09:15:03Z

For girls especially, body image can be an issue. This site takes a photoshopped image and shows you 12 ways in which it has been altered for magazines.

Link: Girlpower: Retouch

Ancient Egypt Web Links - Useful Teaching Links And Tools

2010-05-03T08:52:29Z

Duke Papyrus Archive: Look through ancient texts and drawings in this amazing digital collection housed at Duke University.
Theban Mapping Project: This site is an excellent place to visit if you're looking to learn about the Valley of the Kings and Egyptian burial practices.
Egyptology Resources: Use this site to find even more resources and information about ancient Egyptian culture.
Mark Millmore's Ancient Egypt: From hieroglyphs to lists of kings and queens, this site offers a wealth of information on this ancient culture.
Egypt's Golden Empire: On the website of this PBS special, you'll be able to learn about the height of Egyptian civilization during the New Kingdom.

Original Links: Associates Degree

Ancient Greece Web Links - Useful Teaching Links And Tools

2010-05-03T08:46:36Z

Perseus Digital Library: Tufts University Library maintains this online collection of hundreds of works of Greek playwrights and philosophers.
The Ancient City of Athens: This site contains a large number of photographs that document the archeological remains of the ancient city of Athens.
The British Museum: Ancient Greece: The British Museum has an amazing collection of Greek artifacts, a good number of which you can see on this site. Visitors will also get a chance to learn about Greek culture like markets, festivals, daily life and more.
The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization: The website for this PBS special offers a great timeline of Greek civilization as well as numerous informative links and stories.
The Ancient Greek World: Visit this site to see an online version of the Greek art collected at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

Original link: Associates Degree

Plants In Motion - Useful Teaching Links And Tools

2010-05-03T08:41:15Z

Plants in Motion is a site aimed at much older people than primary children... However, their page about sunflower germination has an incredible video that would be of use at upper Key Stage 2.

E-Safety: Parental Controls - Useful Teaching Links And Tools

2010-05-03T08:19:57Z

A few sites to allow parents to control what children see.

K9 Web Protection is very popular parental control software that is free to home users. It has many protection features like blocked web categories, time restriction, website exception and more. (k9webprotection.com)

We-Blocker is a free download from safefamilies.org that allows parents to control how long their children use the computer, and for what tasks. (safefamilies.org has produced the following download form)

With so many kids using chat clients, Chatshield for Windows Live Messenger is a must-have as it automatically checks all instant messaging and stops any unidentifiable contacts making a connection. The software is free for home users. (chatshield.com)

All links via BBC Click's Kate Russell

A Good Bit Of Maths - HSX's Blog Thing

2010-05-03T07:38:11Z

Those that know me well, know I love a good bit of maths.

The New York Times has been publishing columns by the wonderful Steven Strogatz for a good while now. They are thoughtful, clever and very well written - as you'd expect:

Steven Strogatz is a professor of applied mathematics at Cornell University. In 2007 he received the Communications Award, a lifetime achievement award for the communication of mathematics to the general public. He previously taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he received the E.M. Baker Award, an institute-wide teaching prize selected solely by students. "Chaos," his series of 24 lectures on chaos theory, was filmed and produced in 2008 by The Teaching Company. He is the author, most recently, of "The Calculus of Friendship," the story of his 30-year correspondence with his high school calculus teacher.

Unfortunately, I can't really see any of the newspapers in this country doing anything like this in the near future - but while Steven's articles are available online, I won't be worrying too much about this country's lack of numerical knowledge.

Link: New York Times - All Of Steven Strogatz' posts