Are we human or are dancer?...

I love the Killers.  As a band they appeal to my musical taste and live they are amazing.  On top of this their song 'Human' seems to be crossing my path a lot at the moment.

I am a great believer in things coming across your path in life for a reason. So when I walk in and out of shops, turn on the radio etc... and find the same song I think 'What am I being shown here?'

So I listen and I look at the words.
My interpretation...as I say to my RE classes you can have an opinion...this is mine.

So the tag line from the chorus 'Are we human or are we dancer?'
Its how I feel right now.

Am I a free spirit with thoughts and dreams and hopes, with ideas which will drive me forward and things I want to achieve?
Do I have the right to think about my future in a way which allows me the freedom to develop and drive on to make something of myself and influence those around me...am I human?

Or am I directed by the invisible strings of someone else?  Am I led a merry dance by those who seem to think they have power and control over me because their paycheck is bigger or their title grander?
Am I a puppet dancing to the tune they play and always wondering what its like to cross over and be free, to cut the strings and step out and just be?

Its a question I want to find an answer to...and as long as this song keeps tapping away at me I will keep pushing doors to find the answer...

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Champions are made when no-one is watching....

How often do we as teachers end a lesson having spoken to all the members of our class?

There are always some who slip through the net and they are the ones who consistently do the work. Our time is taken with the behaviour issues and academic struggles but we miss the group of champions. Thats what they are...champions. They keep going when others have stopped and they stay focused when others are causing problems - yet we miss them.

Try and make sure you speak to all the students in your class - make them feel valued and welcome and your quiet champions will become vocal heroes.

The creativity of daily life...

I posted earlier on Twitter 'Is reality a block to creativity or an untapped catalyst?'

You see I have listened to many people talk about creativity over the past 3 years and read a lot as well and it seems that a lot of people out there seem to pinpoint creativity for them as being the point when they let go of reality. A point when all the stresses of the day are pushed aside and they can just think.

I agree to some extent but what if they are all missing a trick? I don't propose that I am better than anyone else or that I have more knowledge of this subject than those who are published and making money on speaking circuits but what if?

The world we inhabit and move through on a daily basis is full of opportunities for creative thinking and ideas. When we have a problem we look for a solution we don't drift into our happy place and wait for inspiration...well not always!

What we react and interact with each day - our environment - maybe the biggest source of inspiration for creativity. Let me give you an example. A little while ago the route I take to school wasn't possible because of road works. So I began to weave my way through the back streets until I reached my destination. I didn't sit down and plan it, or turn on my phone sat nav and have some Aussie surfer dude lead to my destination. Yet I just dismissed this thought process that had taken place without a second thought.

Looking back it could have been a cool class exercise. OK Mr Johnson (not me) lives here and needs to get here but cant - whats the quickest route?

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

That's just one example of what we do each day.

We are creative beings...I think we know that...we need to realise that it is something we ALWAYS are...be creative take risks live life to the fullest!

Time to take a risk...

When my Yr8 RE class came into the room today they found a single question on the board. After a period of general chatter they began to wonder why I wasnt saying anything and questions began to come out

'Do we copy that question down?'
'Is this for us?'

I responded by saying it was for them but they had to work out why it was on the board.

There was a moment of silence and then they began to talk about what they thought it was on the tables. After a period of discussion more questions.

'Can we use textbooks to answer this?'

I said they could and they started looking at the books eventually all the tables had the same book and were sharing information.

As the lesson went on they found out an answer and started to come up to show me.
I said to check it with each other so they went back and began to share info from their answers and add to the work they had done.

Eventually I took over and asked them what they had learnt.

What came out was that they had learnt how to find out their own answers and that working together was useful as they found out things from people they had missed and felt their answers were better after discussion.

Finally they created their own learing objectives linked into working together and taking responsibility for their own role in the classroom and the work they had produced.

Took a risk to do but very rewarding...

John Cleese pure genius...

I enjoyed this...a pick up on the weekend...

New starts sometimes need a jolt...

So coming back to school is never easy. The old joke of the mother talking to her son about the fact he had to go to school because he was the Headmaster is one I can relate to after the summer break.

However, sometimes all you need is a jolt to push you from a position of looking down to driving up.

If that is true for us as staff how much more is that true for the students we meet each day.

Target/challenge for you...

Give out praise to as many students as possible in your classes - and go overboard! Make them feel valued in your class and they will value your class!

Anagrams....

Found a great site for creating anagrams....and solving them!

Have a play...I found out the Peter Tatchell is 'Tell that creep'...quite subtle that one...as allegedly he is a creep!

I said allegedly!!


http://wordsmith.org/anagram/

Does anyone know...????

We always seem to get loads of people round the area we live knocking on our door for charities etc... so we are obviously a targeted neighbourhood.

If anyone has any idea when opportunity may be coming into our area and knocking could they let me know as I dont want to be out...

The night before the year to come....

So its the evening before the grindstone reopens and I have to put my nose back to it.

...maybe time for a change...seasons come and go its all about knowing when to jump as its the end of yours...

Summer rest.....

Ok so for all those people out there who think all we do as teachers in the summer is put our feet up, drink Pim's and laugh at those who are working I would like to dispel that myth.

So far first week off - preparing for decorating everyday, all day,as per wife's instructions...
A few days away next week - but so do a lot of people...
The next week is my one week free - I shall be resting up and may drink Pim's if I so wish!...
Final two weeks spent in and out of school preparing for next year - tidying up, preparing class lists, sorting out schemes of work etc...

Rant over...

A quiet goodbye...

I find it amazing how at the end of each school year the same routine happens. You have the excited students - except Yr11 who have realised that actually they didnt mind school and now want to stay! - the staff who are leaving and the foot being taken off the gas by those remaining who are knackered by this point!

Its a weird feeling. These are people you spend more of your year with than almost anyone else and now you wont see them for 5 weeks...not sure there is any other industry this happens in.

The end of the last day quietly winds its way to its conclusion with a few drinks and some speeches and then that awkward 'how long do we have to stay?' hanging around that happens.

Its been an interesting year. One of hope which ends in frustration and broken promises.

To any Yr11's who may catch up with this I wish you all the best. Each of you has the ability to be successful, chase your dreams and fight for what you want. May your successes all be large and more importantly you always be happy.

So I wish 2009-2010 a quiet goodbye and look towards year 2010-2011 hoping.

:)

Running to stand still...

Over the last couple of weeks I have noticed how the more I try and make something happen the more it doesn't. Its the old picture of the duck on the lake - calm on the surface and kicking frantically underneath!

I would compare some of the things I have tried to achieve as being as successful as attempting to row with one oar...round and round in circles and the only thing that happens when you add more effort is you go round faster!

What you need is the other oar! The journey wont happen without it and it will become more and more frustrating as you can see where you are aiming for but as you spin round it goes out of sight. A glimpse of success with no way of getting there is more frustrating than no potential for success at all.

This also rings true of some of the students in class. They are the ones who are reluctant to work with others...due to many reasons. I have worked hard to encourage all students to value each others opinion and work and be able to critically comment on others work - in a constructive way. This is building in them the ability to trust others and be open about what they and others need to do to improve.

Its about TRUST really. Who do you trust to hand over your work to and let them 'pull it apart' but in a way that will benefit you in the long term.

Until we can trust people (which relies on their honesty and willingness to have their work assessed) we will always be the spinning oarsman...running to stand still.

Watch and Learn...

So question for you this sunny Friday! How much do you watch what is going on in your classroom? 'Oh but I am always watching my students and checking they are on task'. Not what I meant.

How much do you WATCH what they are doing? Their interactions with each other, the promotion of students into team leaders roles, the way they react to situations, the response to an unknown element to the task etc...

You can learn so much about how your class works by really watching them in action. It gives an insight into how they are coping with tasks and where their strengths and weaknesses lie as a group.

From this you can then structure what you do in the future to address these weaknesses and continue to build on their strengths.

Watch and learn...!

Deep thoughts...

Descartes said 'I think therefore I am' and Popeye said 'I ams what I ams'.

Hmmmm.... most of my students dont think so does that mean they dont exist and are just a figment of my imagination?

When the dust settles...

So what happens when an enforced change is dropped upon you from a great height with no clear guidance or respect for what is happening/being achieved right now?

Think I know the answer to this one...you run!

By placing constraints on the teacher in the classroom, and removing the 'get out of jail' card they may wish to play if things get a little ropey with some of their students, the only outcome is removal of risk.

Its risk that keeps the interest in the lesson, that allows students to be released and try, that removes the cobwebs of conditioning and habit from teachers and allows the class to experience something that all parties will remember.

Remove the ability to take risks and when the dust settles the textbook is king...

So why should we unleash creativity in our classrooms?

Ok, so creativity is personal, unique, individual etc… overall it’s unpredictable.

So why should we unleash it in our classrooms when it’s so unpredictable?

Hold that thought.

We see our classrooms as our territory it’s our land that these students have come into too learn and we are the controllers. We decide what happens there and it’s our rules in our yard.

What I am saying is we need a change of perspective.

My classroom is an open door to learning. I have no idea what the students are bringing in and allow them to unload there in anyway they want to. The only real ‘rule’ I have is to leave having learnt something new. That could be a skill, a fact, a key term etc… but no-one should go out the same person they came in – me included.

Philosophy of Frogger

Life isnt always forward motion...sometimes to step forward you need to move sideways!

Conscientious Objectors

During any war you get those who see the act of war as a crime against humanity. They are the ones who in WW1 were given white feathers or in WW2 were assigned to jobs 'fighting' on the Home Front. As the century moved on they became, in many countries, the majority voice not the minority - yet their power is always tempered by those in charge of the country.

Think about your classroom for a minute. Do you have a vocal opposition against what you do? Probably not, the more likely scenario is that you have an underground at work, non-vocal more quality of effort based. Check students books and work are they on track, working at the maximum potential they can? If not - there is your opposition.

We all have classes where there are conscientious objectors...but what do we do with them? Do we carry on blindly with the 'our way is best!' mentality or do we bring them to the negotiating table and find out how we can appease them by incorporating some of their ideas and values?

Cloud watching

Daydreaming is one of the most underrated exercises you can carry out in your life. We are so busy with the order of our day that we don't give ourselves the time to just simply drift away. Its seen as a weakness by many affecting the productivity of us and impacting negatively on all we do or aim to do. Its seen that our switching off from the world will somehow destroy companies and impact a global market!

Yet we expect students to be creative and think outside of the box. We through around phrases like 'blue sky thinking' yet we never let them or ourselves get into a position where we can see the sky let alone know its blue!

The ability to daydream is not one I have had a problem with - in fact many would argue I am a master at it, but it is a skill which has allowed me to create some of my most pleasing lessons, a learning plan for independent learning and countless resources which have benefited students and other teachers.

So within my classroom I believe in daydreaming. Students need a chance to take stock of what you have told them and to chew over the ideas you are delivering to them at that point in time. We so often immediately hit them with a set of questions and take the focus off the potential that could be achieved if we just let them go and dream and put it straight onto our necessity for them to complete tasks 1 to 5...hmmm.

Who's to say that the child looking out the window isn't designing some new way of feeding the world or wondering what life really was like in the tranches in WW1?

Let them dream...the world will take the chance to do this all too quickly...

Finally....

Its taken a long time...too long but finally after many years of trying, heartache and disappointment SOUTHAMPTON FC HAVE WON A TROPHY!!!

Yes it has finally happened and I dont care about those who think its a small cup or a lower league trophy...how many of your teams will A) get to Wembley this year and B) win something!!!!

Well done to the lads - heres to many more successes!