About

My name is James Penstone.

My twitter profile summary currently reads:

Dad of 2, international teacher, head of KS 3, bangkok, economics, geography, TOK, edtech, open-source ed, leadership, prof dev, productivity, and much more…

That gives a flavour of what this is/ I am about, but I have only recently added this ‘About’ page and plan to update it more fully soon. For now, just a little more info …

Opengecko?

Open bit is explained under the tab ‘Open’ on the header.

Gecko … Geography Economics Computers [as in educational technology] Knowledge [as in Theory of Knowledge, an IB diploma subject which has its roots in philosophy] Other …

These are main categories of my online professional interest (Other is a convenient ‘catch all’ as I am interested in a lot of stuff from an educational perspective).  The same categories appear on the links on the header of this site – click on them to access resources relevant to each of them.

Since 1999, I have taught 8 subjects to Secondary-aged students (in the UK system that is 11 to 18 year olds). I have taught in the UK and currently teach in Thailand. Back in the UK, the last responsibility I held was Head of Geography. Here in Thailand, I am Head of Key Stage 3 which is predominantly a pastoral responsibility having an overview of student welfare for our students aged 11 to 13.

I have always enjoyed opportunities to incorporate computer technology into students’ learning (now commonly referred to as educational technology or #edtech). I also enjoy helping other educators to do the same. Hence ‘Computers’ (or “edtech”) will have a big emphasis on this site.