Blog

Back to School Preparations

I always feel the children coming into me are such 'babies'. The 5th class children that I have just said goodbye to are matured and ready for 6th class, where as the children coming into me are little 4th class children. "They can't do anything! Last year's class weren't this bad", are a few of the complaints my fellow staff members will have to listen to from me for the first few weeks. We'll get into the swing of things soon enough hopefully!I do try and switch off for summer as I find teaching takes up all my time during the year. I'm a divil for getting lost in a rabbit hole of Twitter and Pinterest ideas about teaching. So I'm slowly beginning to wean myself back on in preparation for my new band of kiddies next week.I'm a stickler for organisation, so I make sure that in terms of classroom prep I have all drawers/trays/areas labelled in my...
written by
Filed Under Teacher Articles

Group Work and Noise

Group work and active learning, buzzwords and they will always be buzzwords and so they should be! Group work has an integral part to play in the Irish classroom. It is one of the key methodologies of each Curriculum subject but how do we do it?My first advice is to establish some ground rules…Why? Because, things can and will get out of hand in a pretty vocal and disruptive way that prevents the children from learning and also prevents the teacher from carrying out the lesson objective. What type of rules would benefit group work? They will no doubt be personal to you as a teacher and also personal to your classroom. It depends on if you have the “noisy but hard working” class or the ” quiet and unmotivated” class… Noise is fine but noise is not fine if it leaves some of the children and adults in the classroom with a headache and...
written by
Filed Under Teacher Articles

CowCow.com Stamps

I recently shared some images on my Instagram and Facebook accounts about stamps I have designed and purchased from cowcow.com. I had a lot of interest from followers about these and people were asking about my designs. I originally designed and purchased these stamps back in 2016 and they are still going strong! I am now teaching in a school where I am called Múinteoir XXX so the original stamps don't have the same effectiveness. I also wanted ones that give more constructive feedback to save me from constantly writing the same comments over and over. I have found the children respond quicker to stamps (well at least they read them!)I contacted cowcow about sharing these designs. The only way was to set up a store. After a bit of time, googling and editing, I managed to put something together. Check it out here. One of the offers I availed of...
written by
Filed Under Teacher Articles

Guest Post: Edit Column Long Term Planning for the Class Teacher

Long Term Planning for the Class Teacher This month we have a special article from our top seller on Mash.ie: Top Teaching Resources. This article explains how to work at long term planning with the new Primary Language Curriculum. Enjoy! Top Teaching Resources One of the biggest jobs that a class teacher can do over the summer to prepare for September is to get their long-term planning started. The requirement for written notes for primary teachers has been in place for a long time. Rule 126 of the 1965 Rules for National Schools states that teachers are required at the beginning of the school year to prepare a definite and detailed scheme of work in each subject suited to the needs of their pupils. However, the demands in terms of level of detail and complexity of these plans seems to be ever increasing, and...
written by
Filed Under Featured Seller

Interview Preparation

We're delighted to welcome Top Teaching Resources for her top tips for job interviews. Here are her thoughts. The summer means school holidays, but it also means interview season for teachers looking for their first job or for those looking to change job. While job interviews can be stressful, there is a lot you can do in advance to make sure you are prepared and that you give yourself the best chance possible at getting the job. The following are 10 tips that should help you put your best foot forward and make sure you impress the interview board. Punctuality - Make sure you leave yourself plenty of time to get to your interview, particularly if it is in a location you have never been before. If possible, it would be a good idea to go to the school the day before to check where it is if you are unsure. Arrive at least 10 minutes...
written by
Filed Under Featured Seller

Realise your reading potential with the ExamReader

This is a guest post from ScannerPen who sponsored our recent competition. Nurturing reading independence has been a leading goal of Scanning Pens since its founding. With the co-founder of the company, Jack Churchill, having dyslexia, support for reading difficulties has been a personal passion of his and Scanning Pens. Over one and half decades of aiding students and everyday people, we’ve learned just how important literacy skills can be to someone’s confidence and life quality. Children are found to often either act out, or seclude themselves when they are having issues with their school work, and this is even more true during the exam period. It can be incredibly frustrating for students that can’t understand exam questions; even if their subject comprehension is high, they aren’t able to give clear answers if they...
written by
Filed Under Mash News

Review: C-PEN ReaderPen

The C-PEN ReaderPen is a portable scanner that reads aloud any text in a natural voice. As its name suggests, the scanner is shaped like a pen and is roughly the length of an ordinary pen. It is wider than a pen which gives a nice amount of space for a small screen. This small screen displays what is scanned by the user and this can be read out or stored. I am reviewing this product for the purposes of primary school use. (If you want one, you can enter our competition at the bottom of this review) A photograph of the C-PEN Readerpen First things, first - is it any good at its job? The quick answer is a definite yes. It simply works. All you do is push the pen down and slide it over a line in almost any book and the pen reads it out. However, there's more to this pen than that and in this review, I'm going to go through some of its...
written by
Filed Under Mash Reviews

Top Searches: May 2019

Every month we display the top 5 keywords that you searched for on Mash.ie. Here they are in order:

  1. Summer (146 searches - 118 results)
  2. Report Comments (132 / 7)
  3. Caitheamh Aimsire (108 / 68)
  4. Siopadoireacht (87 / 44)
  5. ASD (57 / 107)

written by
Filed Under Searches

Thematic Teaching

Our final guest blogger of the year is Múinteoir Grace. In this article she talks about thematic teaching. My name is Grace and you may know me as Múinteoir Grace from my Mash.ie store https://mash.ie/store/gracewithloveresources/ Grace Today I wish to share my love for animals and appreciation for thematic teaching in education with you readers. Thematic instruction is an educational methodology whereby a teacher plans their lessons centred around a common concept/ topic. Examples of themes suitable for primary school children include myself and my family, school, sports, food, animals, toys etc. The Irish Primary Curriculum strongly advocates an integrative approach to learning especially to reinforce learning for younger children. Language Development Oral language, reading, writing and vocabulary development are essential...
written by
Filed Under Featured Seller

Review: Lizzie and the Birds (Prim-Ed)

You could win a copy of Lizzie and the Birds worth €100 by simply entering your email address at the bottom of this review. The competition is for a 10-pack of readers and a Teacher's Guide. A big thanks to Joanna for reviewing this series for Mash.ie. A random entry will be selected on 26th May 2019. Lizzie and the Birds is a really well-thought out literacy programme which ticks all the boxes of the new Primary Language Curriculum. This programme is clearly written by teachers for teachers. It lends itself to plentiful opportunities for cross-curricular lesson integration while developing the key literacy skills in an integrated and meaningful manner. The scheme is based around a little girl called Lizzie who has moved to a new house with her Dad. Lizzie befriends a diverse flock of birds and the story lures us into their adventures...
written by
Filed Under Mash Reviews
Copyright © 2008- Mash.ie