#PrimaryRocks review and my session

Thanks to all involved last weekend for setting up the brilliant Primary Rocks day in Manchester. What struck me straight away were the brilliant pupils from Medlock Primary School who greeted us so warmly at the door with our goodie bags, a smile and a welcome. They were fantastic representatives of their school community.

A day filled with fun, laughter and learning, expertly kicked off by my good friend Hywel Roberts:

Great to catch up with Tony Stark aka @HYWEL_ROBERTS today at #PrimaryRocks pic.twitter.com/0BrlQUHweb

— Mark Anderson (@ICTEvangelist) March 19, 2016

Before Hywel took to the stage, local MP and shadow education secretary took questions from the (somewhat feisty) audience on education, academisation and more. Whichever way you look at it, big thanks to Lucy for coming in and spending time engaging with those who are right at the chalkface – never an easy task:

"Primary is the beacon of our school sector" – @LucyMPowell #PrimaryRocks pic.twitter.com/O0L3wAMQWG

— Mark Anderson (@ICTEvangelist) March 19, 2016

With 8 different workshops going on at the same time it was always going to be a difficult choice for the 200+ teachers who had turned up to learn, laugh and share. Many thanks to the 199 attendees that came to my session.

My session focussed upon a number of tools that I have personal use of in the classroom where I’ve seen their impact. There was no ‘slide deck’ or ‘presentation’ which I presented from. For me this was all about practical, hands on, demonstration and involvement with the audience. With there being no presentation I promised that I would share again the different tools and ideas that I shared for both those who couldn’t attend and those who couldn’t write them down quick enough. All apps are free unless otherwise stated.

Mirroring for visualiser type work – try AirServer (£8.99)

Sharing and the impact that can have on agency and authenticity for children

MSQRD for wearing masks and explanations

Power of authoring and use of Book Creator (£3.99)

Whole school values represented through writing, video and audio

Action Movie FX and FX Guru for “talk for writing”

HeartCam for biological discussions and learning opportunities, plus “talk for writing”

iDinosaur app and book for learning alongside augmented reality

Google Street View and AirPano.com for breaking down classroom walls allowing children to explore and share their world

AFL with Kahoot, Quizizz and PingPong Spot Networking

Explanations with Yakit Kids and ChatterPix

Thanks to everyone involved in making the day so brilliant. It was great to catch up with so many new and old friends. Special thanks to Leah Sharp, Jenna Lucas, Rob Smith, Gaz Needle, Graham Andre, Sophie Merrill, Bryn Goodman, Ang Goodman, Tim Head and Rich Farrow for what was, for me, a grassroots event with a difference. Passion, heart and soul throughout. Thanks for allowing me to come along and share with you all.

Roll on the next one!