Things that caught my eye… 25th April
Sunday, May 1st, 2011Rested from the previous marathon term, worrying that I’ve missed something, possible down to the fact that we’ve now finished writing the new GCSE course, C.A. is complete and revision notes are done. So a week of running, biking and reading…
Had a play with the ShowMe BETA app this week. Great fun and can’t wait for this to develop.
Also arrange a new GeographyFM meet for the 5th of May, looking forward to some geographical chat with likeminded people. Hope you can join us.
Heard some sad news this week, Alan Parkinson is to leave the Geographical Association at the end of this year, more details here . A strange turn of events given that the subject is again under review.
I’m not being disingenuous when I state that Alan is one of the individuals who has had a huge impact on my own practice and I’ve seen the impact he has had on the GA as an organisation, particularly the developing of the social media arm, which has resulted in a huge number of new specialised communities of practice. Those of you new to the subject community will no doubt be using ideas or structures that have in part been initiated over the years by him.
I’ve always been wary of any individual who leaves the classroom and then sets themselves up as a prophet to the rest of us slugging it out, but I’ve never felt this Alan, he has continued to develop resources and ideas, and has always been willing to encourage and spotlight new talent within our community- all at our favourite price.
On to good news, well done to David Rogers for his winning Dream Teachers video. 
I’ve been playing with a couple of IPad apps this week, I’m not convinced at the moment about the educational value of using them in the classroom until there is a low student to IPad ratio, but that’s another discussion…