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| Article | Page | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Articles | ||
| The Blue Skies Project (cover disk) | 4 | Blue Skies Project co-ordinator Paul Bonsor explains about the CD-ROM attached to this magazine and the Blue Skies website which is up and running. The article outlines what has happened so far and how the project is going to take on a life of its own after the launch. |
| Graphs, tables and charts | 7 | Wendy Pallant, Teacher of the Deaf, Preston has collected together information about handling data which includes producing and interpreting information in tables, graphs and charts. Classifying and being able to identify and focus on the most important information are areas that many deaf children find difficult. She provides brief comments on software and web-based resources that have been used successfully with deaf children to support learning across the curriculum but particularly in Numeracy, Science, History and Geography. Traditional methods of presenting data in graphs and charts necessitated that pupils spent most of the lesson actually making the table or graph. Using software such as those listed below minimises the time needed to produce a graph or chart and maximises the time available to help pupils develop the skills necessary for interpreting data. |
| Getting communication going | 10 | Jane Frew reminds everyone about home-school books and the benefits of digital photography. |
| Easy to make cloze | 12 | Sue Stevens, ICTC, explains how the Cricksoft programme 'Clozepro' can make everyone's life less tedious and much more fun when producing Cloze text. |
| Becta update | 14 | Terry Waller summarizes some of the current work of Becta in an article that provides an overview of the work Becta is undertaking on the use of ICT to support teachers in developing their inclusive practice. |
| The signing communication aids project | 16 | Jackie Barker, SLT; Fil McIntyre, IT Tutor; Rob Phillips, Educational Psychologist of Royal Schools for the Deaf and Communication Disorders describe how the school has been working with DCCAP and Sensory Software to develop a communication aid that can sign as well as speak. |
| Free downloadable interactive numeracy programmes | 18 | Karen Jacklin encpourages ToDs to visit the DfES website for the Numeracy strategy to access free software. These free downloadable interactive numeracy programs, from the National Numeracy Strategy, are a must for anyone who is teaching numeracy. They are aimed primarily at KS1 and KS2 but could be used with older pupils as they are simply presented. The saying, 'a picture paints a thousand words', is definitely true. |
| Logitech ioPen | 19 | Ann Underwood describes her new 'toy' and ultimate gizmo - the ioPen from Logitech. The pen writes to a special paper and each hand-written page has a set layout which includes a header line - eventually this becomes the title of the download file. The Logitech pen stores whatever you write or draw - up to 40 pages worth to transfer to your computer later! |
| Wordshark 3 | 20 | Wendy Smith, Nottingham explains how to enhance learning spellings and make the task fun with Wordshark 3. |
| ICT at Thomasson Memorial School | 22 | Thomasson Memorial School has built the use of ICT into its philosophy. Its mission statement says 'To endow all our children with the confidence and motivation to use any ICT equipment that will make their lives easier, happier and more fulfilling.' This article describes how this is done. |
| Sign bridge to literacy project | 24 | Thelma Petty and Robert Clyde explain about thier new project. In January 2004, the Scottish Executive Education Department announced the award of a �200,000 grant to a consortium led by Stories in the Air. The funding will support 'Sign Bridge to Literacy', a three-year, three-stage project to produce a software resource to assist deaf children aged 5-8 to acquire English language skills. The software will use BSL as the medium of instruction. |
| Making a visual record | 27 | Bill Wilson, Head Teacher, Thomasson Memorial School describes the continuous electronic record of pupil achievement (on CD) that is possible using Pinnacle Studio software. |
| Drop-downs in MS WORD | 28 | Karen Jacklin, visiting ToD, Humberside, explains how ToDs can create interesting electronic worksheets with programmes that they already know... in this case 'Word'. A 'drop down' is a list of words which 'drops down' from a worksheet prepared in Word on the computer. The pupil chooses the appropriate word from the list, clicks on it and it stays in the box. The page is 'locked' so the pupil can not alter or type anything else. |
| Developing self-esteem and peer awareness | 32 | S Gabain and C Statham are trying to develop ways of helping deaf young people in mainstream schools to take ownership of their hearing loss and its implications. One of the most successful ways has been to ask them to develop a presentation on their hearing loss. This has been successful with pupils at all the key stages and many have made several presentations, as they progress through their school career, which have reflected their changing interests. Pupils often take the initiative by asking to do another presentation when entering a new class or new school. |
| IT opens new avenues of communication | 33 | Most of the pupils at Elmfield School in Bristol are taught using British Sign Language. Now, ICT is opening up new avenues of communication for them. Cath Scott, the ICT coordinator uses email and computer-generated text to provide the pupils with another choice in how they communicate. It is non-confrontational, non-judgemental and easy to edit. |
| The BATOD website | 34 | Paul Simpson, BATOD Secretary and Ann Underwood, Website Manager describe the website which BATOD uses to communicate news and information to its members and also the 'outside world'. |
| Creating �Big Books� with ICT | 36 | Eric Dell, Alessandra Iantaffi and Joy Jarvis School of Education, University of Hertfordshire use ICT when training teachers. Using ICT to create �big books� has many advantages. Teachers can develop materials that relate to an individual child's interests and that use language appropriate to their linguistic ability. Children can develop texts for themselves and others, using their own language and developing this in response to feedback. The article is an overview of a session undertaken with Teachers of the Deaf at the University of Hertfordshire, in which big books were created using Clicker4 (www.cricksoft.com). |
| Learning styles and strategies | 58 | Andrea Baker attended the Midland Twilight conference when Jeff Darby shared ideas about learning styles used at his beacon school - Kingshurst Junior School. The school's focus is on learning rather than teaching and a firm belief that all learning problems have a solution. Rather than attempting to categorise individual 'Learning Styles', as has become the vogue in many schools today, the school encourages learners to use all their senses - kinaesthetic, tactile, visual, aural and olfactory - as naturally as possible, with weaker areas supported by synthesising a variety of different approaches. |
| Regular items and general information: | ||
| Advertising Rates | 15 | The Magazine costs are met in part by advertising. Getting information to a dedicated audience of Teachers of the Deaf and associated professionals means that adverts can be focussed - our rates are value for money. |
| ICT Newspage | 25 | Sharon Pointeer provides an update and overview of equipment, meetings and initiatives of specific interest to ToDs. |
| Book review - Between a rock and a hard place | 30 | Sheila Smith reviews the book from the Deaf Ex-Mainstreamer's Group. |
| International Page - Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) | 38 | Catherine Raynor outlines the work of VSO and explains VSO's role in professional development and teacher retention. Teachers participating in the research generally said that volunteering reminded them about why they went into teaching in the first place. For many teachers the professional development opportunity VSO offers was a consideration when they applied. VSO teachers often hold positions of greater responsibility than in the UK and gain experience of a wider variety of roles. They return to the UK with greater proficiency in policy making, management and training, a wider range of teaching styles, an enhanced awareness of global issues and better team working skills. |
| Diamond deaf friendly schools pledge | 45 | Sarah Brown, Public Relations, NDCS draws attention to the Diamond deaf friendly schools pledge. As part of its Diamond Anniversary celebrations this year, NDCS has launched a Deaf Friendly Schools Pledge, which will encourage awareness of the needs of deaf children within mainstream schools, including primary, secondary and nursery. |
| Deafness and Education International | 45 | Clare Gallaway, Editor of DEI is pleased to announce two exciting developments. First, it will appear quarterly, giving authors more chance to publish and taking another step to establishing it as a significant international journal. Second, after negotiations with BATOD and Whurr Publishers, the journal of AATD (the Australian Assocation of Teachers of the Deaf) will be joining forces with DEI. AATD members will receive DEI, as do BATOD members, and the British editorial team will be joined by the Australian Editor, Margaret Brown, and members of the Australian board of editorial consultants. She explains about the Journal content and encourages submissions to share good practice and research findings. |
| This and That | 48 | Items from the postbag and e-mail inbox that could be pinned on the noticeboard for you to read! |
| Abbreviations in this issue | 52 | A life saver - the page that every ToD turns to when confronted with a set of meaningful uppercase letters! |
| Noticeboard | 53 | Details of forth-coming meetings and courses. |
| Deaf children�s mental well-being | 54 | Matthew James, explains how SIGN had been working on the Haringey Children's Fund project trying to examine how deaf children in Haringey can be supported. |
| Ovingdean - School of the Year | 54 | head teacher Pauline Hughes was delighted to win the Argus �School of the Year� Achievement Award at the end of May. |
| 4th SCRIP/SERSEN conference | 54 | The Sout East Region SEN Partnership have a ocnference coming up which will interest Teachers of the Deaf. |
| Changes for DCCAP | 56 | DCCAP reports on the recent changes in its staffing and plans. |
| A healthy and effective profession GTC Conference | 62 | Ted Moore attended the meeting. GTC convened this event to bring teachers together with policy makers and partners in education to �participate in creating a collective understanding of effective practice, both now and in the future�. |
| Association Business: | ||
| ....and moving on | 1 | Carole Torrance is still moving on... rthis time she discusses 'life laundry', the need to change and not keep hanging onto the familiar. Carole also discusses the concerns about training for Teachers of the Deaf and the challenegs that are faced with the age-profile of trainers being similar to Teachers of the Deaf themselves. If the courses are struggling to recruit new lecturers to deliver the courses, then we really need to be proactive NOW in seeking a way of ensuring a robust format that can continue to train Teachers of the Deaf. We are in a dilemma as, without the course providers, there are no new Teachers of the Deaf and without qualified and experienced Teachers of the Deaf we have no supply of people to become course providers. Perhaps this is a time when we need to stand back and try to examine the problem as if we were starting from scratch. This is not a dilemma for one or other course provider - it affects them all. So, hopefully, all those currently involved in this provision can work together to create a viable solution. |
| What went on at NEC on Saturday 19 June | 2 | Alison Weaver takes up her pen temporariliy to keep members informed aboyut discussion topics at NEC. The regular precis of meeting business to keep members informed in outline until the minutes or more detailed reports appear. |
| Representing you | 3 | Between the NEC meetings, members of BATOD attend various meetings that are of particular interest to Teachers of the Deaf. This list is not exhaustive as some reports have not yet been received or meetings reported on, some are meetings booked for the near future. |
| Tripartite meeting | 40 | Each term BATOD, NDCS and RNID meet to look at common issues and developments. This is essential so that, especially for major campaigns and productions, these key associations are aware aqnd can support each other. |
| Minutes of NEC Meeting on 7 March 2004 | 42 | Confirmed Minutes of the previous NEC Meeting |
| BATOD UK | 46 | Representatives from the seven areas of BATOD report to the NEC. The reports are published here so that members can follow what has been going on in their region/nation. |
| NCPA | 50 | David Hartley reports on the meeting of the National Committee for Professionals in Audiology. |
| SEN Association meetings | 59 | Tina Wakefield was the BATOD Representative at this meeting and she has provided a brief report. |
| NHSP meeting | 59 | Nicky Ereaut continues to represent BATOD at the meeting. The role of members of the group is to inform developments in relation to the Newborn Hearing Screening Programme. The issues discussed are multi-agency: health, education, social services and voluntary groups. Protocols are reviewed and information is gathered. Updates from each of the agencies involved are provided. BATOD's role is to help inform the executive of issues around the teacher of the deaf role post diagnosis (referral, cover, level and availability of qualified support etc.) |
| Meeting with HMI | 61 | Ted Moore; Lucy Leith met with Eileen Visserand discussed areas of mutual interest within Ofsted and issues about Inspections. This is a report of that meeting. |
| Subscription Rates 2004-2005 | 63 | Annual Membership subscription rates apply from 1st August. |
| Have you moved? Change of address form | 63 | Reading a colleague's Magazine? Wondering what has happened to your copy? If you are not receiving your BATOD Magazine and Journal perhaps it is because we have no record of your current address. Put this right by completing the form and returning it to Bev McCracken, or simply email him from here. Treasurer & Membership Registrar |
| Calendar | ||
| Meetings to know about | 64 | Advertised courses and meetings which are of interest to BATOD members. Contact the Magazine Editor to add a FREE one line entry to this valuable page and the website version or pay for a small advert on the Noticeboard. |