Now into its ninth year, Seomra Ranga has attempted to keep teachers up to date throughout the year with issues pertaining to the world of education in Ireland, with a special emphasis on primary education, as well as providing lots of educational resources to use in the classroom. The following is a month-by-month summary of some of the education stories that we covered during 2016.
January
As well as posting lots of resources like Dolch Loop Cards and Making Bingo, we brought news about the CESI Annual Conference, the Saol Faoi Shráid television series on TG4 and the South Sudan Drama Resource from Goal Global.
February
We were in General Election mode in February, so there were resources like Election Phrases Word Mat and Political Parties. We conducted a General Election Poll, links to the Education Policies of the Political Parties and interviews with most of the Education Spokespersons. There was also an article about the Teaching Council Elections which took place this year.
March
Resources posted this month included a Tráth na gCeist for Seachtain na Gaeilge and Receptive Language Cards. We held our 5th Signs of Spring Twitter Project.
April
Articles posted this month included ones on Digital Art Week 2016, Census 2016 Resources and links to Gaeilge Resources on the internet.
May
This month brought articles on the commencement of Statutory Vetting, the new Dublinia Interactive Resources website and the Excited Digital Learning Festival. There was a Guest Post on the DabbleDoo Primary Music resource.
June
June was a more quiet month. New resources posted included Oxford Reading Tree Character Flip Flop Matching, a 120 Square for Maths and a new Comprehension Book.
July
We carried an article on the proposed Coding in Primary Schools, the Dúchas website and the new Hospital Video Resource for young children who may have to go into hospital for an operation.
August
We posted articles on the annual Dates For Your Diary (compiled as always by Ciara Brennan), Post Office Resources and Roald Dahl Day Resources.
September
Lots of new resources were posted including Mobile Phone Numbers, 300 Square Patterns and Materials Bingo. There was a large workpack on the novel “George Speaks” and an article on Instagram for Your Class/School.
October
New resources posted included Mouth Exercises, Animal Homes QR Codes and the extremely popular Maths Mats. October also marked the first Hallowe’en Twitter Project which proved to be an unexpected hit with teachers.
November
Resources posted during this month included a Powerpoint resource on Pangrams, Make 10 Cards and Cloze Sentences. There was also an article on the new Cúla 4 App.
December
Following on from the successful Hallowe’en Twitter Project, another was organised, this time the Christmas Twitter Project. Again, this was a huge success with lots of schools taking part. There were articles on the Seesaw App, the Adobe Spark App and Con Tutti (a Music Education Resource For Pupils With ASD). There was also an article on how to conduct a Live Streaming Session On Twitter.
