The meetings are always informal and it’s a useful opportunity to chat and share Geography ideas with a number of people, it’s a great source of professional development- and free…

The next meeting is 3rd of November 2011. Feel free to join us, all experiences and viewpoints are welcome.

If you’re new to the meets just request access on the front page, I’ll then give you permission and you can edit the meeting page and Wiki. All you then need to do is turn up… if you’re shy you don’t need to use a webcam or microphone, stay quiet or pass opinions/comments in the chat .

Had a play with the ShowMe BETA app this week. Great fun and can’t wait for this to develop.

Also arrange a new GeographyFM meet for the 5th of May, looking forward to some geographical chat with likeminded people. Hope you can join us.

Heard some sad news this week, Alan Parkinson is to leave the Geographical Association at the end of this year, more details here . A strange turn of events given that the subject is again under review.

I’m not being disingenuous when I state that Alan is one of the individuals who has had a huge impact on my own practice and I’ve seen the impact he has had on the GA as an organisation, particularly the developing of the social media arm, which has resulted in a huge number of new specialised communities of practice.  Those of you new to the subject community will no doubt be using ideas or structures that have in part been initiated over the years by him.

I’ve always been wary of any individual who leaves the classroom and then sets themselves up as a prophet to the rest of us slugging it out, but I’ve never felt this Alan, he has continued to develop resources and ideas, and has always been willing to encourage and spotlight new talent within our community- all at our favourite price.

On to good news, well done to David Rogers for his winning Dream Teachers video.

Massive amount of work to do still before a well deserved rest.

I thought my workshop session at the Leicester Regional Geography and History Conference went well, nice executive box setting.

Working on some topical ideas and teaching tips for Boardworks, first focusing on teaching about natural disasters.

Sorry for the lack of a recent Geography FM meet, these will begin again after the Easter break. Great last meeting with a number of familiar faces.

I’m currently working on implementing the use of GCSEPod across the College, some great Geography content. I’d be interested to hear from other colleagues and how they use it.

Currently being inspired by a range of colleagues on online, feeling old and jaded. New Geography blogs added to my RSS feed include John Sayers, this teacher is currently looking for a position, would be an excellent additional to any department, his work rate is intimidating! Also enjoying work by Max Rayner currently on this PGCE. Also blown away by David Rogers Long Shore Drift video…

Learning lots of Geography currently by purchasing a house… and lots of stress.

Hoping to share some resources over the Easter break.

A good Geography FM meet this week, discussed a range of issues including achievement, revision and mobile policies. A replay can be found here. Do join us for the next one. Great website from Noel Jenkins- listening to Los Angeles -considering how to get this into a lesson.

Spent part of the weekend preparing some resources about the development of the Olympic site in Newham for CCEA GCSE spec, I’m now less a fan of the 2012 games. Nearly finished the course though…

Of course, the major breaking stories was about the Japanese tsunami. Spent much of Friday watching the live feeds and answering questions. I think the images said enough. Some interesting screenshots from the QuakeZone IPhone app.

Huge cluster of tectonic activity on the day.

Magnitude of the foreshocks and aftershocks were quite intimidating.

Lots of geographical thinking going on from various geography colleagues about how to respond to such an event. great collation of a range of ideas from Alan Parkinson. I think it’s a little too early to get to grips with the huge implications of the disaster, but will be showing the BBC Japanese news special as an overview. Considering an emotional response to the event using a 100 word challenge, simple but effective technique.

We have links with Toyota schools in Japan, I hope all our connections are safe and well at this challenging time.

Also posted a response to a mobile policy review that is being conducted at my place of work on my personal pages, any response would be grateful.

Sorted our 19th Geography Flash Meet on the 10th of March, all are welcome to join us.

One area I had success with last week was looking at the Christchurch earthquake. I like the idea of floating topicality, it makes students realise that geography is a living subject. I do struggle though  with developing an appropriate response to such a recent tragic event. For Key Stage 4 it was a useful revision of plate tectonics, for Key Stage 3 I used a little strategy I picked up from Ian Murray. I first shows a clip in of the quake aftermath from the BBC, then explained the tectonic theory. I then read eyewitness accounts from the BBC website, as students actively drew what came into their minds.

It was interesting to see how students responded in a variety of ways, from artistic representations…

To storyboard accounts…

To images with associated quotes…

It was interesting then to discuss why they had drawn such responses and what key themes ran through the class set of images.

Also signed up for the RSS feed of a new Alan Parkinson blog about supporting geography teachers. Should be good… no pressure

The next meeting is set for Thursday 2nd of December.

Everyone is welcome. Just ask for permission to edit the Wiki or get in contact with myself if you require further information.

The next meeting is set for Thursday 18th of November.

Everyone is welcome. Just ask for permission to edit the Wiki or get in contact with myself if you require further information.

We’re now on meeting 11 and the last one of 2009.  It has been a great source of professional development. If you’re new to the meetings, you can view replays and associated resources in the Wiki archive.

All teachers of geography are welcome, irrespective of age, experience or responsibility, so please feel free to join us at the next meeting.

To register an interest in future meetings, or the present one, please request access to edit the Wiki, when permission is received, add your name to the attendees for the next meeting. If you feel brave and want to speak about a resource, topic or issue, please add to the agenda; alternatively add to future meeting suggestions. If you want to ease yourself in, just turn up and listen, no webcam is required. If you require any support, please let me know.

Thanks to those who have been supportive of this venture.

All teachers of geography are welcome, irrespective of age, experience or responsibility, so please feel free to join us at the next meeting. To register an interest, please request access to edit the Wiki, when permission is received, add your name to the attendees for the next meeting. If you feel brave and want to speak about a resource, topic or issue, please add to the agenda; alternatively add future meeting suggestions.

You can watch a replay of the last meeting here. Resources and links discussed during the meeting are archived on the Wiki.