Day 1:
Monday morning: I arrived at Cheltenham College at 11:15 am after leaving Chilham, Canterbury, at 7:30 am. I drove and was surprised at how quickly the journey passed.
On arrival, I found the College rather easily – well, it is beautiful and huge.
Parking posed a challenge but I bumped into the Bursar of the College who showed me an appropriate place for my car to sleep until I need her again on Thursday.
I registered and found my way to the dorm which would be ‘home’ for the next few days. It was basic but adequate. Sharing a bathroom with a number of other people was a little unusual.
After registration everyone went to the cathedral like dining room – complete with stained glass windows. Lunch consisted of a starter, roast, choice of salads, desert and fruit. The breakfasts, lunches and evening meals were all of a high standard and encouraged me to over-indulge!
Our first session was a welcome with presentations by Big Classical. We were given snapshots of Apple technologies that we would be using. It was exciting and innovative. I was really looking forward to trying out the software.
Our first group activity was an informal session on using iMovie to create a piece on a particular topic. My partner and I were given the topic of ‘Change.’ Here is our finished product. It had to contain 12 images taken that day by ourselves, a quotation, music and had to last for 1 minute.
We were rather pleased with result. We managed to include 12 images, music and were one of the few who managed to time it exactly to one minute. It was useful to do the first task in pairs and in an informal environment. Our piece was one of 16 to be show cased that evening which made me feel rather pleased with our efforts.
The day finished at 9:00pm.
I went straight to bed as I had, had a long journey and had an early start the next day.
Day 2:
Day 2 began with 4, ten minute presentations by Big Classical. We were introduced to Garage Band and shown some of its possibilities. I didn’t know if I could use this software but was later to find it easier to use than it seemed at first. We also pre-viewed Keynote and its use as a planning tool. This looks more professional than other visual software I have used. It is also much more simplistic.
My first activity of the day was ’Using iPod Touch in the Classroom.’ It was a useful beginners guide to using the iPod Touch. However, I would have liked to have been given many more examples of particular Apps and their educational use. Specific examples and subject specific examples would have been beneficial and useful to take back to school.
For activity 2, I selected, ‘Creating Simple Apps for the iPod Touch’. I found this 3hr session extremely hard going. We had to follow our instructor step by step. There were quite a large number of students in the class, each of whom had a range of difficulties – generally with software issues and compatibility problems. I got lost a number of times, despite taking notes as the instructor progressed. I was very grateful to another delegate who was sat next to me as without her help I don’t know if I would have managed. I did manage to complete the task and create an App. I was surprised that I managed it – even with support. I don’t think that I will be able to create one alone and/or quickly enough to make it time effective during a teaching week.
My third activity, which took place in the evening, was a much more simplistic tool to use. I learnt how to create Podcasts using Keynotes and Garage Band. This was definitely something which I felt I would be able to use within my teaching. I also feel that when I become more confident with Podcasting, I will be able to pass on my knowledge to others within my AST T&L role. I enjoyed the session, partly as it was much more accessible to me.
Day 3:
Day 3 was another successful day. I worked on a project with another delegate. It was fun and provided a good opportunity to consolidate my knowledge and new found skills. Toby and myself planned our project after quite a bit of deliberation and changes of direction. Toby was much more proficient than myself. I felt a bit bad until he pointed out that he is and ICT teacher and I am an English teacher.
We had fun using Garage Band and Keynote recordings. I had to send Toby out of the room whilst I recorded as he kept making me laugh. (I’m sure in class, we’d be telling our students to be much more sensible and mature!)
Our final presentation had to last for two minutes. Toby and I managed to hit the two minute guide time exactly. It was roughly guesstimated initially, but we were spot on first time and couldn’t believe it. We didn’t need to edit our work at all! Fluke or talent? (Clue: Begins with F and ends in e.)
On reflection, I will need to practise using the software to become much more proficient and efficient. I then intend to teach other staff how to utilise the Apple Macs.
Matisse Martin
English Teacher
AST Teaching and Learning