aagh, a 'poem' for January

Identity.

Morality.

Society.

History.

Culture.

wyse & jones: play time

1.)
a picture of Stephen Fry. If you are feeling vexed or stressed, just look at his lovely big face.

2.)

Quote of the day:

It is far too simplistic to imagine that play is something that only happens pre-school, or only during the early years of primary. The reality is that play is a vitally important aspect of literacy at all levels, including for adults. Professional writers understand this: novelists, dramatists and poets are regularly praised for their ability to play with language... playing with words is a creative act and it teaches us a great deal about the language and its structure.

3.)

I'm thinking of getting back into poetry.

Enjoy the snow everyone!!

Steve

Haworth / Turner: Lesson plans

1.)
An epic picture of Bleeding Through. 'Sister Charlatan' is keeping my sanity atm.

2.)

No one yet has produced the perfect, all-purpose lesson plan that suits everyone. And thank goodness for that. Planning is something that has important idiosyncratic aspects to it, because we usually do it ourselves and the plans will, to a greater or lesser extent, express something of our professional individuality. However, there are some essential features, namely:

clear learning objectives

clear teaching objectives and strategies

a sequence of lesson activities (what the teacher will do, what the students will do)

use of variety: pace, activity, learning styles, teaching styles, resources

a rationale for the sequence that connects with understandings of the ways pupils learn

consideration of resources, materials and technolgy

planned assessment and monitoring opportunities

a chance for students to reflect on their learning

a record of homework set

reminders / 'memos' of teacher activities

considered and reflective lesson plan evaluation

hmmm.

It would seem that I have a long way to go.

S.

Words on teaching

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYBODY!!!!!

2 teaching/teacher blogs I have found particularly interesting & refreshing at this particular time of things: 'Mildly Melancholy', 'Learn Me Good'. Thank you.

In terms of the teaching I feel that I am making progress; I am surviving day by day but also learning and learning from my mistakes as humbly as I can. Thank you.

Thanks to all my pedagogue pals for the love and support given to me thus far; the kindly emails, the trips to the pub and comforting stories of struggle, reward and hope. Thank you.

Much love to my brothers and sisters who are aware of my present struggles. Your love, kindness and prayers are, and will always be, greatly, greatly appreciated. Thank you.

This will be all for now. S.

Eblow part 2: Christ as a teacher

I was reading my The Best of Charles Spurgeon today and the passage was this:

As Jesus sat at the table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, 'Why does your Teacher eat with the tax collectors and sinners?' When Jesus heard that, He said to them, 'Those who are well have no need for a physician, but those who are sick ... For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.' Matthew 9:10-13

Good, encouraging stuff.

So what can we learn from this? What can we learn about how teachers interact with their students?

I'm not one for sweeping statements, so more forts later.

Amanda Palmer: Readers of Her Blog and the News

"Dude, WE WENT TO THE MOON. Seriously, we can pretty much do anything, once we stop talking ourselves out of it."

John C Welsh, from Amanda Palmer's blog

Finally ...

I'll tell you about it. First thing that happened was I read Peter Dray's blog (Scribblings from My Desk). He was commenting on Ed Clowney's The Message of 1 Peter: The Way of the Cross -- the quote was basically saying how we need to be both 'Bible people' and 'experience people'. "Interesting," I thought.

And then it actually happened. I was in church and PJ was preaching on Acts 4: 23-31 -- a passage which I love anyway as it reminds me fondly of Ridge Lane prayer meetings.

It is not just a case of "looking for God". God is looking for us all, waiting with arms wide open. He has made himself known in the Bible, in the presence of Jesus and through experiencing the Holy Spirit, as Peter and Ed point out.

Today was a combo of the two: the word and the experience of God saying "Yep. This is me."

Just what I needed. It has taken me a long time to get here though. Recognising who God is who he says he is in the Bible, who Jesus says he is, and the Spirit (see "worshipping in spirit and truth", John 4). I had to be exposed to God, He had to show me who he was over days, months, years.

So there we go. One day, a lot to think about.

Cheers.