ClassDojo

ClassDojo is an engaging and attractive method of tracking student behaviour and learning skills during the day. It’s an online method with children being awarded points when they respond positively to the rules we've drawn up. Negative behaviours are also recorded. However those children making an effort to modify their behaviour can have them reduced. Each child is represented on screen by an avatar and they can see their points being awarded in real time. It is an excellent reminder to them of how to behave in the classroom and assists them in taking responsibility for their behaviour.

 I have been using ClassDojo for almost two weeks now and already I can see its benefits keeping students focused on their work and helping to build positive learning habits.

 ClassDojo also has a feature that allows me to send parents behaviour and skills report every week by email. Parents wishing to avail of this feature should contact the school with this information or put their email addresses in their child’s journal.

Dublin FlightFest

Tens of thousands of spectators turned out in Dublin at the week-end to view a fly past of almost thirty planes. It was a historic event as planes representing almost every decade of Irish aviation flew as low as 800 ft over the river Liffey. The planes represented the Irish Air Corps, Irish Coast Guard, Spitfire ML407, Flying Fortress, C-130 Hercules, Hawker Hunter. Commercial airlines were represented by Aer lingus, Cityjet, Ryanair, British Airways, Ethiad  and FlyBe.The highlight of the day was the flypast of the British Airways new double-decker superjumbo the Airbus A380

Spectators were amused at the special message from Ryanair painted on the undercarriage of their plane.

Papier-mâché Owls

The inspiration for this project was an article and set of instructions in a recent issue of Burda Craft magazine. In the accompanying photos the finished owls looked awesome and I immediately thought that my students would love to recreate them. However the article gave no indication of the mammoth task. Now that we've finished we're delighted with the finished product and think that it was worth the effort.

If you are interested in trying this project you may be interested in the following suggestions.

• Blowing the balloon up half way will give you a more manageable owl.
• We found that making the legs, attaching them to the bird and then getting the owl to stand were the most challenging parts of the project.
• The top of the legs is similar to a paper clip and is inserted into an empty space. It is essential to reinforce that bottom of the bird to make it strong enough to support the legs.

Many thanks to Adrienne for her time and patience assisting with this project and to Bill for recycling old coat hangers into amazing legs.

Inspired by Matisse

     

Woman in A Purple Coat by the French artist Henri Matisse was used as inspiration for these pictures.
The original is  a complex painting full of decorative patterns and abstract designs.  It demands a high level of concentration to reproduce.

Fingal Schools League 2013 Final

Some of the team members.

On Tuesday the 11^th of June Scoil Eoin Junior Boys’ Gaelic team reached the final of the Fingal League in Parnell Park. St Vincent’s were the opposing team. Two students from our class were on the team.

There was great excitement around Scoil Eoin. Some classes made buntings and they were hanging up in the link corridors. Some of the children had their faces painted. The parents made plaited wristbands in the team colours. We had  three buses one for the team and two for the fans who was coming to cheer the team on.

Before the match we were all waiting on the steps beside the pitch. We were feeling a bit nervous because all our supporters were cheering and we didn’t want to let them down.

Ten minutes into the match Scoil Eoin went ahead with a point but St.Vincents came straight back and scored a point back. Then Scoil Eoin scored two more  points but St.Vincents came straight back and got two points back. At half time it was St.Vincents 0-03 and Scoil Eoin 0-03. When the second half started Scoil Eoin started to play better football. Ten minutes into the second half Scoil Eoin scored 2 goals and 3 points and then St.Vincents scored a point back but it wasn’t enough to win.

The final score was St.Vincents 0-04 Scoil Eoin 2-06.

We were very excited that we had won and we ran over to our supporters in the stand and skidded before them. It was the first ever time the Junior Boys GAA team has ever won the Junior Fingal Schools League.

The 1913 Lockout

Graffiti Art commemorating the 1913 lockout Memorial Garden Marino College  Dublin

This year is the centenary of the 1913 Lockout. A hundred years ago  Dublin was a very poor city and many people lived in tenements. Many families shared the same tenement building and these were very run down. Jobs were scarce and most people lived on tea and bread. One quarter of the children that were born around that time in Dublin died before their first birthday. 

The graffiti shows the lock being broken but poverty and hunger drove the workers back to work without benefiting from the strike

James Larkin  was a union leader who came over from Liverpool.In 1913 he encouraged the people to go on strike in order to get an increase in their wages.The employers locked the workers out. 
What started as a strike ended up with thousands of workers going without pay for many months.This meant that a lot of people suffered starvation  because there was no money. Ships brought food from England to help the strikers.
The people suffered great hardship and in 1914 many of the people who were locked out returned to work even though they didn't get any more money

There is a statue of James Larkin in O'Connell Street. When the strikers returned to work he left Ireland and went to live in the USA.

How to Make a Scoop

I recycled an old plastic milk container and made a scoop to lift the compost out of the bag.Watch my movie to learn how to do it.