An absolutely enervating, yet totally energising, day at the Kent ICT Conference & Exhibition 2009.

Well done to everybody today! We got there, despite all the huge hurdles, technical and creative!

This blog post will be  a bit delayed as we have to attend to Mr Rylands leggies.

The leg that survived this remarkable day, has gone on strike. It looks rather unfamiliar in shape and hue! The blog and the myriad of links promised will be a little bit tardy until the bald bloke is back on two “normal” legs, rather than a leg and, appropriately for a day where we sent children on a safari, an elephant’s limb!

Photos of the workshops:

Photos of main presentation :

Meanwhile, thankyou for all the buzz and feedback. Be brave and leave a comment. Thank you to Mark Warner, Sonja Weed, Johnny, Michelle and Louise for your superb contributions to the “Emerging” presentation.

We will attach a Rockyou of SOME of the slides of the presentation, with SOME of the tools mentioned.

WE WILL ADD THE LINKS AND REFERENCES A.S.A.P.

e.g. thanks to Kevin McLaughlin, for his Voicethread on the use of Myst in his classroom in Gran Canaria. Have a safe return to the UK Kevin, and see you soon perhaps.

Thank you ALL for getting us through to the end of an action packed day!

Leave your thoughts now and we’ll be back. More to follow… a lot more. Promise!

If you're a new arrival, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed and so be notified when the blog is updated. Thanks for visiting! Cheers Ta!

A return trip to the SWGfl Regional ICT Conference held at The University of the West of England. The conference was entitled “Expanding Horizons”.

As ever, a SUPERB and professionally organised event with some inspiring speakers. The opening keynote was delivered by our dear friend Andy Hutt. Andy’s talk was titled “Reasons to be Cheerful” looking at the way that new tools can be used in and out of the classroom to make lessons more engaging and life a bit easier.

Typically, And delivered his presentation in a warm and human, realistic and experience based style. Certainly a reason to be cheerful in his own right.

Today we, too, looked at the power of blogging and other “web2.0″ technologies.

I am very grateful to Ed Sherwin, of St Joseph’s Catholic Primary school, Fishponds in Bristol, for sharing some of his experiences with blogging, since our visit to help them set it up more than a year ago.

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Brilliant time - we made the front page of The Glastonbury Festival 2009 Website ….  OK, ‘Day Two in Pictures’  page, but at the top!

Our favourites were The Ting Tings, Script, Jason Mraz, Jamie Cullum and Newton Falkner - fantastic.

Fantastic weather and company, sadly cut a little short due to a sollow knee, but hay ho, three days in hospital sorted it out. Now feeling refreshed and ready for the week ahead. Tomorrow, we’re at the South West Regional Conference in Bristol then on to Kent for their conference on Thursday, finishing the week at Hillview School for Girls in Tonbridge.

Well, we may be incommunicado for a few days, as we are partaking in the annual Pilton pilgrimage, to the Glastonbury Festival.

Inevitibly, as it is Glastonbury AND Wimbledon, it will rain, but, hey ho eh?

Last Year, the weather was much kinder than expected, and we a had fun!

2 years ago turned into an endurance test of enjoyment, but we still had FUN!

Check what is piling down on us (whether the weather is snow, hail, rain or sun) with the link above.

We are looking forward to SO many acts this year: Jason Mraz being one of the top slots, and The Script. But, in reality it is the “people watching sushi bar” element, seeing so many varied slices of the spice of humanity, that appeals to us most.

See YOU there perhaps?

We will be back to taking phone calls from Monday the 22nd.

Will we be diluted or sunburnt I wonder?

This morning was visited Ysgol Sir Thomas Picton to work with Year 7 pupils, teachers and, again, visiting teachers. A delightful bunch of people, prepared to ’stand still’ for absolutely ages, exploring the virtual landscape.

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The start of Wimbledon, the throne of tennis.

Try a few online games of tennis here, here and here

Or get some good coaching videos for young players HERE

For tea love?

Whatever the weather (!) I like this quote from one of the great men of tennis:

“You’ve got to get to the stage in life when going for it is more important than winning or losing”

Arthur Ashe

Back in Pembrokeshire. What a treat! Yesterday we were invited to a family BBQ on St Brides’ beach by Eva and Mark John, and their two daughters, Ellie and Lily, (photos posted at the bottom of this post).

Today we’re in Ysgol Glannau Gwaun Primary School in Fishguard working with pupils, teachers and visiting teachers. Lessons with Y1, Y2, Y3, Y4, Y5 and Y6 explored the imaginary landscapes and the people ‘who lived’ there. Each class was up for the challenges and produced some stunning pieces of writing.

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Amazing…