Category Archives: Links

118. App of the day

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Do you ever play the numbers round from the TV programme ‘Countdown’ in class?

I was on a training course the other week and whilst chatting in a break Sarah – a fellow delegate, introduced me to the free android Countdown app. It is so easy to use a 6 yr could (and does) use it.

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There are quick rounds, full games and practice mode. If you choose the number practice mode, you can randomly select numbers and it will even show you the solution. So you can use Countdown as a starter without scribbling numbers on a bit of paper and only being 10 seconds ahead of the class.

Download it from the android store by searching for ‘Countdown for Android’.

114. Pin Up Ideas

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A quick resource idea for you today:

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If you are not familar with Pinterest, it’s basically a digital pinboard of images, which usually have extra information or weblinks. There is a whole channel of education ideas – you can ‘Repin’ other people’s ‘Pins’ or upload your own. You can have several pinboards that are either public or private.

Go to Pinterest to browse the public boards. There are also official smartphone apps available from the appropriate stores.

111. Gadget of the day 4

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If you are one of the many teachers who can’t stay late at school to do your marking, then this is for you. No more soggy books on a rainy day, split bags spilling books everywhere, collapsible crates that collapse half way across the car park or welts on your hands from carrying heavy bags with narrow straps.

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This is the Hi Gear folding picnic basket. It has a double ended zip that goes around three sides of the top forming a showerproof lid, padded metal handles and it folds down flat. I can fit a class set of books in half of it, leaving space for more books or essentials such as your lunch, raincoat, excess paperwork and a big cake. It is just the right size to fit in the boot of a car (mine is tiny and it fits).

It costs between £7.99 & £15, depending where you get it from. There are also several colour versions.

Stockist
Go Outdoors

109. Bright vs Gifted

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Is that girl bright? Is that boy gifted?

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How can you tell? What is the difference?

This is one of those tricky areas that gets lumped together under the title ‘Gifted & Talented’. But what do we mean and how can we offer the best educational experience for them?

If you type ‘Bright Child vs Gifted Learner’ into Google you will find many websites listing the same characteristics. The bright children are easy to spot, the gifted learners can hid their talent behind disruptive behaviour and social awkwardness.

I don’t believe there is a ‘one size fits all’ definition of bright or gifted, but I do think it is worthwhile discussing their characteristics. I have made a discussion resource based on the varied resources available.
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You could just print out the lists and discuss. You could ask people to pick out characteristics of a particular pupil and see if they consider them bright or gifted. You could do a simple card sort. However you do this, the process of thinking, reviewing and discussing is always useful.

Click here to download the resource.

108. Sumlock

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This has got to be my geekiest purchase from an antiques and collectors fayre:

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It is a working decimal comptometer from the 1960s. To be specific it is a Sumlock model 912/s sterling currency comptometer. It measures 330mm by 315mm by 135mm and was made by the Bell Punch Company. The maximum total it can display is £1,500/17s/11d. This is pre-decimal British currency.

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I’m fascinated by old maths and science tools and books. I have an old maths instruction pamphlet from the 19th century with a chapter entitled ‘Mathematics for idiots and women’! So this comptometer is just my kind of thing. When my mother-in-law saw it, she told me about their use in offices. She worked with a comptometer operator in the pay office. Comptometer operators had to be specially trained and earned more than your average ‘office girl’.

I’ve been doing some research and found a rather marvellous website: The Vintage Calculator web museum.

The Sumlock Mechanical Calculator page explains all about this machine. It includes pictures of the internal gear mechanism.

There is also a section on ‘Operating a comptometer’. The processes and algorithms that an operator had to learn were quite complicated and they still had to use mental arithmetic – nothing like modern calculators.

I’m sure there is an arithmetic lesson here somewhere…