Whilst attending the exhibitions we walked into an exhibition by the tour company taking us to Iceland in 2013 (http://www.discover-the-world.co.uk/). They had just won an award for a study guide of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano. A guide that we will be using when we visit next year. The exhibition was also giving away free packs of "volcanic ash" that will be shown to Year 8 classes when studying tectonics at the start of the year. It was also a great chance to look through the current literature available for the topics we study. However, in terms of revision guides we still think the ones that we have created for GCSE are in far greater depth and detail than those available elsewhere.
The GA conference included 'teacher-to-teacher' sessions which were innovated 20minute sessions that offered a unique opportunity for conservations about classroom practices. Mr. Simmons was selected to deliver a session based on "Developing Creative Geographers at Key Stages 3,4 and 5". The session was showcasing the work we have done in the department over the last term.The importance of developing creativity will be discussed in the next post in greater detail, but just two photos shown here can give you a quick taste of how creativity can be used. To the right is a solar cooker designed by a group of Year 9 students out of scrap materials they found from home. Students could see the importance of utilising the energy produced by the sun in a UK context but more importantly could infer about how life saving this could be in the least developed countries.
The photo to the left shows a skills based starter that we used with Year 8. Students were given the task of using the contents of their pockets to design something. No other instruction was given, but it was great to see how creative the students could be.
The session was attended by approximately 30 educators ranging from PGCE students and NQTs to experienced teachers, PHD students and retired ITT tutors. Delegates came from all over the country and even some from other countries as far away as Singapore. All delegates were engaged with the topics shown and seemed really impressed with the creativity that the Arthur Terry students had shown in the work showcased.
In the afternoon, Mr. Simmons attended a workshop by the GA Assessment and Examinations Special Interest Group about setting 'good' examination answers and has been invited to attend their group in the future. This should mean that Arthur Terry Geography can keep an up to date handle on the changing shifts of assessments within Geography, in particular the uncertainty of the future when National Curriculum levels for Geography are disbanded.
The trip to the GA Conference has proven to be very fruitful, raising the profile of Arthur Terry Geography nationwide by sharing good practice and more importantly relishing opportunities to develop taking another step towards becoming a world class department. Bring on the conference in 2013!
