Planned activity for Greenfield observation

Just to keep you up to date with my plans for the observation.

I have created a spreadsheet on Google docs and spreadsheets and invited my class as contributors. I have asked them to record the number of pieces of fruit and vegetables they eat each day and the number of minutes of exercise they do each day too. This links to our Healthy Eating Science topic.

They can then input their data in the relevant cells. Google docs and spreadsheets is excellent for collecting data because all children can access and update the same file (even at the same time).

With this real and usable data, I intend to cut and paste it into Excel or Openoffice as Google does not have auto-fill which is a very useful feature for filling the formula of a number of cells at the same time.

I'll illicit questions we can ask about the data and look at ways of getting the answers. They probably won't be exclusively data handling or formula based. We'll wait and see.

I've sent you an invitation so you can have a look at the data as it arrives and so you can laugh when some mischievous child deletes it all. Thankfully I'll be able to both tell who it was and go back to a point before the deletion- which is handy.

Brigshaw/Kippax Triage Meeting 21.05.07

In response to this meeting held at Brishaw High School, arrangements were made for a lesson observation to be held on 27.06.07. This lesson was to be taught by K. Avery at Brigshaw School, its title being " An introduction to using simple equations and calculations in spreadsheets". Unfortunately this date is not possible, but I am asking if the morning of 28.06.07 could be an alternate date.

New community.

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Find it here. If you'd like an invitation to join leave your email in a comment.

Clarification of project objectives

From the minutes, we have decided that the use of spreadsheets is our primary focus.

To help me (and perhaps others), I was hoping we could clarify the objectives of the project.

How about we have a go at completing the following statement:

You can do anything in this project as long as ...

Minutes of 20.03.07 meeting

Leeds NCETM KS2/3 ICT group
Notes from meeting of 20 March

Present: Peter Hallam, Patricia George, John Monaghan, Tony Staneff, Richard Street, John Threlfall, Rich Wayman
Apologies: Karen Avery, Greg Perry, Tony Shepherd

We welcomed RS who teaches years 5 & 6 at Killinghall Primary and will be in the triad with PH and TSt.

JM quickly recapped the financial position – contact either JM or PG if you are not clear on this.

We recapped the discussion at the end of the last meeting and asked – do we go for spreadsheet work or something more? A full discussion ensued, the outcome of which is – we go for spreadsheet work this year. Having said this it was hoped that the group would continue well beyond this calendar year and there is nothing to keep us to spreadsheet work in future years.

The main part of the meeting discussed the forms this work may take. It was decided that each triad would do something in common and something different. The ‘in common’ activity was data handling. It was recognised that the way this was done would vary even within triads. However, a shared focus is likely to be the way in which spreadsheets open up possibilities for inverting the usual relationship between data and graphs, for example how to duplicate a given graph on a spreadsheet, or determining the data that would generate a given graph.

Other matters
1) JM has a resource, the Shell red box, which is a useful source of ideas for the interpretation of graphs and which may be borrowed.
2) JM can probably (90% certain) find some extra money for bussing pupils between schools.
3) It was agreed that we would, whenever possible, video lessons but anyone at any time has the right to say ‘no’.
4) There will not be another whole group meeting until, at least, the end of the school year.
5) PLEASE inform Patricia well in advance of any meetings or lessons.
6) PH, TSt & RS produced a grid of ideas (see PDF for table here).