I would like to introduce you to a very useful blog called Box of Tricks.
At first glance this Educational blog does not look anything special. It's not overly appealing to the eye, looks a bit boring and wouldn't appeal to children. Take a closer look however and you will realise it's designed to make teachers lives easier. With so many websites available today it takes a lot of time to sift through the bad ones to get to the good ones. This website does it for you.
It was set up by the head of Modern Foreign Languages at Nottingham High School. Jose Picardo highlights the importance and usefulness of emerging technologies to help keep the classroom interactive and transform teaching and learning. This shows how important technology has become across all subjects, after all, who would have thought technology could be so useful when teaching Spanish?
Box of Tricks reviews useful websites and Apps that may be used in education. It gives ideas and tips on how and when to use them, as well as giving you a bit of background on why. If there is a charge for downloading a recommended App or for using a website then it tells you and recommends a free alternative if available.
The latest post is about an App called Wordfoto, which uses graphics to show words. As you can see below, this word creates an image in your head which is not easy to forget and helps children to remember it.
There is an extensive list of approved websites listed on the A- Z tab, giving you lots to explore, including ideas to add to your own blog. Although the blog reviews haven't been updated for four months, this list was last updated on the 5th January 2013, so clearly the author is still actively using the site.
Comments can be added so you can give your own reviews and you can email Jose direct with questions. There are various links to Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites giving you more options to contact him or gather more ideas from people. This is not a man who is lurking in the shadows and instead seems very proud of his website.
I have gathered some great ideas from this website already and will be having a good scan through these recommended websites for more.
