Prometheanlearning.com helps science teachers blow kids' minds
John Brennan, Science Teacher and Career Education Guidance (CEG) Coordinator at De La Salle School in Liverpool
De la Salle is a specialist humanities secondary school in Croxteth, Liverpool. It has 30 Activclassrooms, including Activboards, Activote sets, Activtablets and Activwands. John Brennan is a Science teacher and Careers Education Guidance Coordinator at the school. He has completed Level 1 Activstudio version 3 accreditation on Promethean Learning, and is now working his way through Level 2.
THE CHALLENGE
John had no experience of interactive whiteboards before they were installed at the school a little under two years ago. “As I’d never even seen one before then, I spent the initial training like a small child in front of a magician,” he said. “I’m the type to always read the manual, so when I heard about Promethean Learning I signed up without a second thought. I decided if I was going to learn how to do this then I wanted the accreditation too.
“I found the course really manageable. You can go at your own pace, and I was able to find 20 minutes here and there to complete Level 1 quite quickly.
The assessments themselves are very simple.” Promethean Learning is self-guided study with a grade at the end, a format with which teachers are comfortable. The course is delivered online and there is no time limit to complete. This approach ensures teachers at all levels of technical literacy find out how to use every aspect of the software. “What you learn stays with you, making it easy to apply in a variety of situations,” continued teacher John. “If you are unsure of anything, the online support is excellent. The tutors are very helpful and experience and they get back to you straight away – there’s no waiting two days for a reply.
SUCCESS STORY SHARING WITH COLLEAGUES
“After completing Level 1 I did a short presentation to the rest of the staff and called it ‘Things I Wish I Had Known.’ They absolutely loved it, and I feel proud that I’m able to share what I’ve learned with my colleagues – it’s another great way to contribute to the growth of the school.” The school is now pooling resources. For example, although John teaches science first and foremost, as CEG coordinator, he is pioneering a virtual careers department. “We’ve put together interactive teaching materials in conjunction with other local schools, and we’ve been able to share animations, ‘drag-and-drops’ and flipchart lessons. We deliver the CEG curriculum through Personal and Social Health Education (PSHE), and all the tutors now have shared resources on their laptops. It’s a paperless careers education.”
THE NEXT LEVEL
Enthused by what he has learnt, John has moved on to Level 2. “I’ve learned some more
complex tricks such as converting video we’ve filmed as a class to MPEG and incorporating it into flipcharts. We had a great practical a few weeks ago where we made up a balloon of hydrogen and oxygen, which is highly explosive. When these things go off, the windows rattle on the other side of the school. The kids were howling with laughter, and videoed it on their mobile phones. They blue toothed it over to my laptop, and I now use it in flipcharts. It’s good for showing to the other classes – you can pause it before the end and have a class discussion about what they think is going to happen before letting them have a go themselves. It drums up enthusiasm. I’m also hanging on to it for revision. Knowing how to do that sort of thing has really brought lessons to life for the kids. “I’m just looking forward to finishing Level 2 now and moving on to Level 3!”
