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.