handy if I ever change theme.
Tag: WordPress
A Term on my Class Blog
I’ve now been running blogs with & for my classes since 2005. I still find them a really useful tool for teaching and learning. The focus and content has changed continually over the years.
Back in the noughties I was keen on having my class blog kept up by pupils (archive.org link).
I find this harder to organise now, not sure if it is my age, the demands of the curriculum or something else. Pupils in my class now post to their e-Portfolios1 and add pieces of work to the class blog which I collate into posts. I also pinch quotes from their e-portfolios for the class blog2.
Like my own blog here I still find my class blog a great resource to remember & review. Of course it is a curated view. Much depends on what I am finding most interesting at the time. I both enjoy reading back and use it as a tool when asked for feedback or a record of some sort.
I was somewhat cheered up by Matt Mullenweg’s birthday. Sometimes it feels like WordPress is focused on content management. Matt’s post show that blogging is still loved.
While content management is a main focus of Glow Blogs my love is blogging. I still think we are only scratching the surface of the use of WordPress in school3.
Posts Last Term (Oct 2023 – Dec 2023 on my class blog )
- Autumn Haiku
- HALLOWEEN MAGIC
- Banton Mill
- Arcade Fun
- Steady Hands Stage 1
- New Podcast out BBP episode 8
- Outdoor Learning Day
- Steady Hands Stage 2
- ScribbleBots
- Christmas Challenge
- Glow Blogs – WordPress blogs for Scottish Education ↩
- example of quote collection↩
- H5P for example ↩
Some news. I've been working with Automattic for most of this year on a new version of FeedLand that runs in their cloud. The advantage is it will scale like the most popular websites in the world do, as WordPress does. It's meant a lot of internal changes in the software, but at the same time, it still runs on a Digital Ocean server, and on desktops as well. The next FeedLand works at all these levels, for a person, a workgroup and the world. Obviously, lots more to say about all this.
This looks like really interesting news. I’ve been using FeedLand , for a while, even had it running on a Raspberry Pi until I got into a snarl with domains.
Looking forward to the lots more Dave has to say.
Is the Jetpack AI Assistant available for free?
Yes, the Jetpack AI Assistant block is currently available for free up to 20 requests. We encourage you to try it out and share your feedback. You can upgrade your plan to continue using the AI Assistant after the initial 20 requests.
I was quite interested in this, but not enough to pay £7.50 a month for it. The need for an account and payment also rules it out of Glow Blogs too.
I’ll continue to occasionally dabble with ChatGPT.
Just updated WordPress and I really like the Footnotes Block. I’d been hand rolling these here using TextMate.
I am beginning to like the block editor more. I’ve been testing on an updated for Glow Blogs. And started my class using it on their e-Portfolios today.
Really enjoyed listening (on Huffduffer for 30 days1) to Preparing for ReclaimPress from YouTube even though it is not really in my wheelhouse (maybe a link to my Glow Blogs role). The possibilities for WordPress keep on growing. Jim talks about moving DS106 to this infrastructure. I still think DS106’s WordPress setup (as is micro.blog) is a great example of how we should run educational community.
- I don’t really have the space on inclination to watch videos very much, I find using Huffduffer along with huffduff-video really useful. ↩︎
Life in Links 50

Classroom
The hour approaches…
- Which One Doesn’t Belong?
This is Which One Doesn’t Belong?, a website dedicated to providing thought-provoking puzzles for math teachers and students alike. There are no answers provided as there are many different, correct ways of choosing which one doesn’t belong. Enjoy!
- Solving word problems using tape diagrams – The Other Math
Tape diagrams are especially useful for modeling addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, and ratios/proportions.
might work in wel lwith Number Talks, or be a break from them. - Those Circle Things – Blue Cereal Education Nice way to start discussion, 4 things, which one is different… no right answer..
You probably figured out pretty quickly that there’s usually more than one solution to which one doesn’t fit and why. These aren’t multiple choice questions with one objectively “correct” answer. It’s the process of examining each item in comparison with the others that forces us to review what we already know, reinforces the information we use to argue whatever point we choose to make as a result, stretches our understanding of each item a bit, and lays the groundwork for actual analysis and argument should we eventually go there.
Maps
- overpass turbo
“…a web-based data filtering tool for OpenStreetMap”
HT Joe. I really like Open Street Map, this makes me like it more.
WordPress
- WordPress Playground
Experience a WordPress that runs entirely in your browser.
…WordPress Playground makes WordPress instantly accessible for users, learners, extenders, and contributors.And
Even more insane and amazing, Ella van Durpe used WordPress Playground as the basis for a new note-taking app for iOS and macOS. Blocknotes is a stripped down version of WordPress that lets you create notes like you would create posts in WordPress.
Fun
- Town Square
Town Square is a generative sculpture, animated with slow-paced movement. The work is code-based and runs live in the browser. A random seed was chosen by the artist, cementing the generative shape of the sculpture. A looping video file for exhibition purposes can be provided upon request. Made with html, css, javascript, and three.js. Creator Anna Lucia
I am often impressed with various html/css/javascript art ideas, this is a lovely one. I’ve occasionally taken baby steps, usually in response to the Daily Create.
- Garry Knight: “Using AirPods as a Hearing Aid…” – Toot.Cat. I might get some AirPods and try this, my hearing is getting a bit worse with age…
- Let Me Google That I recall an old flash thing that did this. Just need a silly question now…
I’m no super billionaire businessman, but to cut off the world’s largest web publishing platform from adding content to your product is— dumb ass to the nth degree.

A quick test of Jetpack’s AI assistant. I asked it about H5P because I’ve been using and writing a bit about it recently.
Bookmarked Building a Block-Based Microblog by .
IndieBlocks, which I am using to post this, is an alternative to the Post Kinds plugin that works with the block editor instead of classic.
I am still using mostly using classic on this blog as it seems the right tool for the job. But WordPress’s future seems to be blocks. I like the ui for bookmarks etc in IndieBlogs and guess I can ignore most of the blocks editor features.
I am a bit conflicted as to how switching approaches would work. For example Post Kinds adds an extra taxonomy for different kinds of post, IndieBlocks uses custom post types. I’ve got 7 years of post kinds posts here. I’ve also some styles based on the kinds.
I lean towards taxonomies over custom posts. This probably due to an over enthusiastic use of custom post kinds a few years back.
I think I prefer the incorporation of the link, author & quote into the main entry in IndieBlocks.
Good to have choices I guess 😉