allsorts

I don’t generally do much of the “things they’ve said in the classroom” stuff, but I am so thrilled by this that I have to.

The background is that one little boy in my P5 has become very disturbed lately because of what’s happening at home..hiding under tables, hitting himself on the head and body, biting his limbs, unable to keep still, unable to talk to anyone far less work with them….you know the sort of thing…let’s call him Calum because that’s not his real name.

Anyhow, we’ve been doing a thinking skills block and to set up thinking partners for an activity I asked some of them to choose a partner they thought they’d work well with. When I asked Aaron - that is his real name - to choose a partner, he considered for a long time. Eventually I said, “Is it difficult to decide?”

“I’m thinking.” he said. “Would you like to know what I’m thinking?”

“Yes please”

“I’m thinking that I could choose someone who would help me with the writing part of this task, because my dyslexia makes that very difficult for me. Or I could choose someone that I could help, because I know I have good ideas.”

“Difficult choice”

“Well this is how I’m going to make it. Last time I chose Daniel and he helped me a lot with the writing, so this time I’m going to choose someone I think I can help, because I know what it’s like to struggle with things, and it’s going to be Calum.”

I could have cried. I’m so proud of him. What a treasure!

It’s amazing the circles that get completed when you’re surfing.

Last night I was gigging in Edinburgh, for this charity (v good cause). I’m pleased with my relatively recently acquired electric violin

Finished around 1, got to bed around 2.15 so had a quiet morning with my laptop.

Though not intending to do anything work-related, I started at Teacher Tube, and watched a video where a physics professor totally failed to exploit the resource he had available. He made one, maybe two teaching points, but briefly and the rest of the video was Mark Wood demonstrating what a viper violin can do which was interesting as I’d not seen one before.

Even crazier than mine!

But then I got to thinking, maybe there are some equally crazy electric cellos that would interest my guitar-obssessed but cello-proficient 17-year old. So I searched for that and came up with this really cool cello band who combine metallica covers with cello sounds. I watched their fab video - I’m not a metal rock fan, but this is exciting by any standards.
And all excited, I told the rest of the family about it when they emerged…and yes, you already know, they are Apolcalyptica and they were the entertainment on the Eurovision Song Contest last night which I was completely unaware of, as I’d been playing hard myself, and so hadn’t seen any of it. How spooky is that?

A good deal of my browsing this morning was inspired by my reading of Building Design a weekly paper described as the “Architects’ favourite”. I’d say its articles are of interest to more than just architects, though.

For example there was a link to the Human Scale Education group, where lots of the research about small schools which I previously gathered myself from disparate sources, is collected, with much more. I also learned about very interesting ongoing HSE projects in England which I can follow up in the future.

But on their front page is this picture

Well actually not this one because for some reason their website is down today, but it’s the same view of this chapel in a field.

When I first looked I had my usual reaction to concrete towers plonked in the middle of rural settings. Not good. But it is by Peter Zumthor,

so it may have something to recommend it. But for a chapel?

“The 12m-high structure was built by local farmers using a technique the architect terms “rammed concrete”. A wigwam-like structure of tree trunks was erected, with the walls formed around it. Every day for 24 days the farmers poured 50cm of concrete. The logs were then burnt out, leaving a charred and richly textured internal finish.
An oculus lets in light and rain at the point where the tree trunks converged and further light is admitted through the unfilled holes left by the shuttering ties. While the interior remains extraordinarily dark, the available light reflects off a floor of poured lead.”

It’s not sounding great is it?

But when I found out more I was entranced by the effects that have been created within the space and the involvement of the community in building it. He wanted to have silver on the floor but had to be satisfied with lead instead. Think of the lighting effects with silver both with the pools of water and when dry.

It doesn’t have a very religious feel to me, and the building process seems more than a little un-environmental. But it’s definitely thought-provoking and even inspiring and the photos do make me want to go and see for myself.

I’ve just read two blog posts that came together in my mind, as blog posts will, with a resounding crash.

Don’s led me to explore the Milgram’s fascinating six degrees of separation theory, which basically confirms what your mother always told you - just watch how you behave out there -people know who you are.

Ollie’s led me to the mind-blowing shifthappens presentation, showing how vast the world is, how skewed our perceptions of it are in the so-called west, and yet how connected we are, and increasingly might soon become through the supercharged advance of technology.

But only if you’re living in the right place at the right time, apparently. (I suppose Glow might give Scottish children the wherewithal to catch some coat tails in this race!)

I came home from voting yesterday saying “That felt like an exam!” Not only the complicated instructions, but the tense atmosphere of the officials and the cheat-proof booths, made it a nerve-wracking experience. But I managed, maybe because I’m a teacher and I’m used to filling in over-complicated forms which seem to be designed to prevent us achieving the desired outcome - the support our pupils need, for example, or the CPD we’d find useful.

But I’m also familiar with the glazed look that comes across the faces of a good third of any class when they are asked to complete any sort of official looking form. They usually need one instruction at a time, general hand-holding, the opportunity to compare notes with their next door neighbour, a pencil not a pen and a good rubber. Even then there will be those who’ve put their name at the top, not where it says “name”, have crossed when they were asked to tick, and have missed out the questions on the last page, despite their attention being drawn to this before they start.

So I’m only surprised that it’s a mere 100 000 who didn’t manage to negotiate the election exam successfully.