Who

Jjbva2

I am John Johnston a class teacher at Sandaig Primary in Glasgow. I was born in 1958 so if there is an age based digital divide I am on the wrong side of it. I've been teaching since 1991 and been at Sandaig since 1993, this hints at a lack of ambition. Before completing my pgce I worked for 6 years as a Carnivore keeper at Glasgow Zoo (now defunct).

Prior to working at Sandaig I had never used a computer. At Sandaig I became interested in HyperCard, this lead me to create learning materials for pupils, discover mailing lists and develop a website to contribute to the HyperCard community and try (not with a lot of success) and sell some shareware.
My interest in HyperCard developed into an interest in SuperCard and blogging about Supercard. My interest in web design lead me to create the school site, blogging lead me to starting the children blogging. At SETT I saw radiowaves and though, 'we can do that', so started Radio Sandaig.
I play with web 2.0 and ict in the classroom nearly every day including weekends and holidays. (I have also created and maintain a few other websites).
The picture is lifted from the bva website with permission

What

My two main themes are what I do with ict in my class and what I mess about with in my spare time.

I don't usually stray far out of my class and steer clear of educational theory.

I also spend a fair bit of time playing with web technology, simple flash and php, mashing up web services. Some of these have potential for using on the children's blogs, I've built a flash video player for Sandaig Television, mp3 players and slideshows. Other toys play with and mashup existing services for example:


Much of this is never used in anger but it amuses me and occasionally shows the use of technology in a useful way.

Sometimes I've contributed to a conference or inservice about what I've been up to and I usually post links and information to go along with any presentation I've given.

Why

I started blogging to practice using blogging and to keep a record of what I was doing with educational technology. I've pretty much kept to that pattern.

How

In term time, unless I am really excited I probably blog once or twice a week, this can rise in the holidays when I have more time to play. My comments are open, I am not controversial so don't expect a fight. I sometimes get corrections which are very welcome.
I don't have any plan to my blogging, it is mostly thinking aloud. I do not make much of an effort at writing well, just keep the typos to a minimum. I use lots of links as I seem to 'think in links'.

Audience

Hopefully this blog will be useful firstly to teachers using Web 2.0 in the class or interested in trying it out. It may give others an insight into a primary school classroom in a real school. If you like the new web tools and toys you might see an interesting link or use.

What Makes This Blog Unique

I've been using blogs and podcasting continuously in my teaching for as long as anyone else in Scotland. I started the first primary blogs and podcasts for pupil use in Scotland. So I have a fair bit of practical classroom experience.
I like to play, so you might pick up a tip or tool or two.

Why You Should Subscribe

Well only if you want to;-)
If you subscribe to this blog rather that just read it you will know what is going on in my class, you will see some ict in action. If you subscribe to my RSS feed you will get some interesting educational and web tech links from my del.icio.us links.