A few weeks ago I went to my 1st Teachmeet. If you haven't come across these yet, then you probably haven't been on Twitter enough. The idea is that teachers get together informally and swap ideas, tools and resources. As it seems to run through the internet it does tend to be dominated by IT teachers - which is great for me as that is an untapped resource as far as I am concerned.
I came away with tons of ideas - the first of which is edmodo. This is a brilliant free website which acts as a social network for teachers and students. As the teacher you set up groups for the classes you teach - it gives you a code which the students use to log in. You can upload resources and web links to it, send them messages and, most importantly, they can contact you.
I have been using for the last 2 weeks with my Yr 10 and Yr 11 GCSE History groups and it has been brilliant. The kids really like it and find it easy to use as "it is just like Facebook".
Just this weekend, 3 students have posted specific questions about homework or coursework. It took me just a few minutes to type in a reply which will really help those kids to get great grades and move on. I used to think that things like this would intrude on my private life and get in the way but the technology now allows this to be really easy and within my control. There is even an App for edmodo so you can access it on the Iphone.
Give it a try - I heartily recommend it. Go to www.edmodo.com - it takes less than 5 minutes to set up.
If you are already using edmodo - let me know what else you are doing with it.
Look out for Teachmeets - they are the best CPD I have seen in years.
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