23+32=110!

And I can prove it. All you have to do is convert your brain to the joys of base five, which is what we spent an hour or so doing in our maths class this afternoon. Although it caused initial consternation among some, I think we generally got the idea in the end. Indeed, I quite enjoyed the challenge of adding and subtracting in this strange mental universe where the next number after 14 is 20. I'm just glad we didn't have to do any long division...

Our English session was fun too. People had been asked to bring in favourite picture books, so we had fun looking at some of those. I took Where the Wild Things Are, incidentally the book I credit with having got me onto the course in the first place [1]. It's a fantastic tale with apparently simple illustrations which, as we saw, have more in them than one might notice at first glance. I'm a bit excited about the new film of Where the Wild Things Are - not sure when it comes out here but I think it's some time soon. I'm kind of pleased that such a short picture book is being made into a film - but kind of sad because it's bound to put a very particular interpretation on events which children will be likely to stick to tenaciously if they view it. Amusingly, parents have been criticising Maurice Sendak for the scariness - the wildness! - of the book and of the film [2]. He didn't care. In fact he was rather rude.

[1] I chose it for my interview task and managed, on the spur of the moment, to relate it in a playful manner to numeracy, PE and PSED as well as literacy. This went down well.
[2] This also happened when the book was first published in the 1960s. Apparently it was banned from libraries for being too scary! Sendak merely asked the bristling, protective parents why, if their children disliked the book, they continued reading it to them.

Rain

It's a shoes-stuffed-with-newspaper kind of evening here in Scarborough. I've had a good day at school, and I'm happily sitting in the (relative) warmth of my flat, thinking wistfully about hot chocolate...

I'm glad it's raining. I like it when it rains. I couldn't quite say why, but I think it's something to do with the way it proves that we don't have complete control over nature. When it rains, we get wet! That's kind of exciting. I get the same sort of feeling when I look at the sea, or stand on top of a mountain and hear that strange silence you get up in the hills, and feel the strong wind.

We used to have a great picture book when we were little. It was just called Rain, and there were no words inside, but beautiful illustrations of two children whose mum puts them into their wellies and raincoats and sends them out for a wet walk. At the end they come back home and have a steaming hot bath. If only I didn't have an assignment to write... today would be a fine day for just such a walk! But, alas, to educational theory I must turn.

Hmm, maybe I'll go and make that hot chocolate first.

Gravypeas!

This evening I have managed to create...

1. A giant mess in my kitchen

2. A giant Yorkshire Pudding

The first item on the list is almost disposed of (only the mixing bowl remains, soaking in the sink, in what used to be washing up water but is now, essentially, very diluted gravy...)

The second item is half disposed of, having been consumed for my tea (with mash and onion gravypeas, it goes without saying - except I seem to have said it). The other half is destined for tomorrow's lunch, although I can't quite decide what to put into my lunchbox with it. But I think it needs something. It'll be lonely on its own, poor Yorkshire Pudding.

I have also enjoyed a mug of hot chocolate whilst watching Emma (I'm rather enjoying the latest BBC adaptation, although I guess some parts of it are a little overdone... but then, it is Jane Austen!), and endeavoured to get to grips with a definition of play. This latest, despite excessive quantities of reading, feels something of a fruitless endeavour: the more I read about it, the less certain I am what it is.

Ah well. Whoever said that certainty made for a good assignment?

Amusing, interesting or exciting?

I would write about something amusing, interesting or exciting, but nothing particularly amusing, interesting or exciting has been happening over the last few days...

Oh well, I suppose it was kind of amusing that I ended up dripping wet and completely lost on my way back from Uni on Friday, having attempted my usual seashore route only to find it blocked off by some very determined waves...

As for interesting - the assignment I'm doing on play is actually quite interesting (although most subjects will lose their appeal after several hours of solid study). At the moment I'm thinking that I could use the entire 4,000 words just trying to satisfy the introductory objective of defining play. I've been looking at the status of play historically too, and I was surprised to find that as early as the 1600s education "through the door of the senses" was advocated for young children instead of rote-learning. But it all went wrong when the government started to take over! I thought SATs were bad enough, but apparently in 1862 an Act was passed which meant that the amount of funding received by schools was to be determined by the number of children deemed proficient in reading, writing and arithmetic!

And something exciting? Perhaps it would be wisest to pay heed to The Railway Children and, far from wishing something exciting would happen, be glad that it hasn't!

School Days

Yesterday was our first day in school. Claire (my placement partner) and I spent the day getting to know the children and the setting. In the morning we were shown around the classroom by a helpful lad who also demonstrated where to find the dustpan to sweep sand off the floor. We had numerous 'cards' made for us, mainly by the same boy, who liked to glue up the edges of them so we couldn't open them. After break we went for outdoor play. 

I was surprised that the children in the class are obliged to spend one of the three daily sessions outside. However, there are loads of excellent resources - bicycles, scooters, wheely boards, big felt tips and giant paper, investigation kits, giant building blocks - and a large sheltered area in case it rains. The children spend a lot of time scooting about, balancing on the beams, arguing over the trailer-bike and, today, hiding in cardboard boxes. The class is made up of loads of interesting characters - great as individuals, but kind of hard to settle as a group. Perhaps this is why they don't really have much choice about going to play outside!

I spent most of yesterday afternoon kneeling down at the sand tray, being taught to make 'cakes' by four-year-old girls who then adopted me as their baby and insisted on feeding me sand pizza, soup and porridge. They wanted to play the same game today but, alas, I had been given a task by the teacher and had to call them over one at a time to make bear masks.

I'm exhausted now! I think that's mainly due to not sleeping much last night, but school seems quite tiring too. Not to mention the fact that I'm also meant to be working on my first assignment!

On the whole it's been a fun two days and I'm looking forward to going back next week.

Giraffabulous!

Today we had Show and Tell, so I took Geoffrey and Felicity to Teacher School with me.

For those of you who haven't met them, Geoffrey (a very down-to-earth, gentlemanly sort of elephant) and Felicity (a charming if somewhat highly-strung giraffe) are the best animal thespians I know. They met years ago [1] at the zoo where they both lived, and decided to form their own theatre company. They've been travelling ever since, performing various shows (both traditional and original) all over the world. Or so they say. Their version of Romeo and Juliet [2] is particularly to be recommended. They've both been living with me since Christmas, when my dear brother Edward introduced them to me. In short, we've taken rather a liking to each other, and I wouldn't be surprised if they stay.

My classmates were, I believe, pleased to meet them. And it's always fun going around for a day knowing you've got a giraffe and an elephant in your pocket. I almost took along Vince, the one-eared giraffe Noah brought back from Zambia, but I didn't want him to get hurt. He's quite a delicate creature.

Anyway, all this talk of giraffes (combined with one or two references on facebook) provoked a comment or two about my liking for these elegant yellow creatures. So whilst I'm on the subject, I may as well tell you about Ola Helland's project to collect one million giraffes by 2011. I can't remember how I stumbled upon the website [3] but I thought I'd draw a giraffe or two in order to contribute and, as Claire, Matthew and Simon will attest, it developed into something of a phase...

The only rule is that you're not allowed to use a computer to make your giraffe (and you have to make it yourself - you can't just go buying or photographing one). So when you have a moment, go and visit onemilliongiraffes.com, have a look at some of the charming creations on display, [4] and send in one of your own!

[1] Noah could tell you precisely when
[2] Performed in conjunction with Al the Alligator, and detailing the sad history of the feud between the Montaphant family and their sworn enemies the Capuraffes
[3] Actually, I think I may have been using StumbleUpon...
[4] There's a search link at the bottom. Search for 'Kate' and you'll get some that were, and some that were not, created by me... see if you can tell which ones are which!

Sleeplessness

Why is it that one good night of sleep, followed by an entire day of feeling awake and not tired, almost always results in insomnia the following night? I finally managed to wake up this morning (after ten hours asleep!) without feeling that the thing I most wanted to do was to crawl straight back into my bed and curl up under the covers. I had an entire day of not feeling tired! I did some work and took my library books back, and bought about a million file dividers. In the evening I went out for a while with some PGCE people. It was nice to see everybody, but there was a lot of alcohol... so I sloped off quite early and came home to talk to Noah. Then, feeling pleasantly sleepy, I headed to bed. But alas! It was an illusory somnolence! Here I am a couple of hours later, wide awake, drinking hot chocolate and trying to write something coherent about Vygotsky. It's not fair!

Friday

The first lecture this morning began with an interesting practical learning point. We were all required to go to the wall and stretch up with our hand to see who could reach the highest. Our respective hand-heights were marked with our initials. Then, just as we'd all got safely back to our seats, the lecturer requested us to go and have another try, and this time we all had to beat our first attempt. The point, very well demonstrated, was that most people can do better at something on their second attempt than on their first. We were exhorted to put that second-try amount of effort into our work in the Early Years.

Maths this afternoon was also interesting. We got to use Cuisenaire rods [1], read some stories, sing action songs [2] and make up a tea-party in the role play area. There was also a video to demonstrate some problems that can occur with learning to count. In the average room of students, a video with cute children in it might elicit one or two exclamations of 'awww' from the more sentimental individuals [3]. I love the way that on the Early Years PGCE any video or photo that is even slightly cute will, almost without exception, result in a chorus of 'awww' from the entire assembled gathering.

At the moment I'm supposedly attempting a comprehensive definition of 'play' for the first assignment, whilst trying to avoid drowning in a sea of almost-relevant legislation. But I did find some good reading in the library earlier and today has, on the whole, been a good day. Only it's hard not to compare this evening's occupation rather unfavourably with last Friday's!

[1] I haven't seen them for years, but I distinctly remember Luke utilising our set to turn entire swathes of carpet into multicoloured car parks for his matchbox cars
[2] I had to be a little speckled frog, sitting on a speckled log. Oh, those grubs were most delicious!
[3] Yes, myself included. Of course!

Second Week

Despite feeling preposterously busy, there hasn't actually been much going on to write home about... we've had some lectures and given some presentations, and I've spent quite a lot of time sitting on the floor surrounded by a pile of paper, trying to work out what to put in which file. I went to cell last night (we looked at gifts and callings, and prayed a lot, which was nice) and I've just been for a walk with Michaela to find our first placement school, which is only just down the road from my house.

I'm disappointed to say that I've not been for a walk by the sea since Monday. I used to walk home that way every day, but this week I've been fortunate enough to walk home with other people who live near me. It's really nice getting to know people a bit better - but I miss walking by the sea!

This evening I'm off to Ebenezer for the third session in the Alpha course we're running. Again it's nice to get to know people there, and to have a bit of a chat after watching the videos, but I have to confess that I've always struggled with Alpha. I don't know why. I guess I don't like the way it tries to package God up neatly in a smart green booklet [1], and I don't find the videos at all inspiring. But I have enjoyed the discussions afterwards. I'd appreciate some Alpha-related prayer!

[1] If Noah were here we could take a break for him to tell you all about McDonaldization

Jumping Beans

This afternoon we had PE! We were told to turn up in our PE kits (that is to say, loose/comfortable clothing and trainers), tie back our hair, and remove our jewellery. Then we all had to run around the hall playing Beans and Traffic Lights and Stuck in the Mud. That was ok. But then we progressed to throwing and catching skills, the difficulty of which increased quite rapidly. There are big windows in the doors of the hall where we do PE, and I'm fairly sure that 20 postgraduate students running about the room in random directions trying to throw and catch tennis balls with their weak hands [1] must have been an amusing sight to passers by.

Then it was back upstairs for yet another mass information session. It doesn't feel like I'm doing this PGCE, but more like the PGCE is something which is happening to me! I think we all felt we were getting to grips with things at the end of last week - we produced display boards and presentations, and had managed to assimilate at least some of the information they'd thrown at us. But the last two days have felt like chaos to me. I think it would be ok if I had a clear way of classifying all the different tasks, advice and guidance in my head - but I don't. It's all just sitting there in a big mental heap, not dissimilar to the big physical heap of information right here on the desk.

In fact it's rather like the PE lesson. All the different things we've been told are careering around inside my head in different directions, trying to catch runaway tennis balls... and I haven't a clue how to organise them! But I'm beginning to think that, clueless or not, I'm going to have to make an attempt. The heap on my desk must disappear. It's time for a little administrative trial and error!

[1] "That's the hand you don't colour with"

Surprise!!

Crouching in a nook outside Milford Baptist Church, listening to the excited chatter of the departing Cruisers, I began to wonder how Noah would react to my unexpected presence. I hadn't really planned to surprise him but, after a busy morning of bear impressions, we had been released from university unusually early. And I've been missing him even more than usual over the past week. And there was that diary I needed to give to him... the opportunity seemed just too good to ignore.

Five hours and 350 miles later, I had plenty of time to ponder as I sat, half-hidden by Suzi, Noah's car, intently averting my eyes from all passers by so as not to attract their gaze. I was surprised, actually, that nobody saw me - one lady even walked within a metre of me and didn't notice me sitting there in the dark.

The Cruisers went home. I began to get a little chilly and quietly got out a jumper. After some time, the other leaders came out and drove away. By now I was shivering, and not a little anxious that the trip might have been misjudged - what if my arrival merely caused an inconvenience? Aaaah!

But eventually, Noah appeared. I saw him come over to his car, hesitate, and pick up the diary, which I had left under the windscreen wiper. He looked around but didn't see me at first. So I alerted him to my presence. I have to say that he appeared disappointingly unastonished, but he has assured me that he wasn't expecting anything. And he did seem happy. We went out to look at the stars, and to dance in the light of a moon so bright it cast our shadows, which danced as well.

Exhaustion!

People told me I was going to be tired... and they were right! Four days in and I'm exhausted. Today was actually a bit more relaxing - we spent most of the time in our groups rehearsing for our presentations. In my case this involved helping to write, type and rehearse a rhyming script about a bear looking for food in the forest; and making a giant slug out of shiny material [1].

Today I have also joined three teaching unions, bringing the number of free diaries in my possession up to four. That beats the total of free cloth bags, which is only at three - the NUT copped out and gave us plastic ones. However, their diary looks the best, and they also gave us a CD-ROM about behaviour management, so that's currently the favoured union among the Scarborough students.

Anyway, in my exhausted state I think I ought to go and read a little more about Reggio Emilia (which, in my limited knowledge, sounds fantastic!) before I collapse altogether. We've got the luxury of a 9.30 start in the morning - presumably they want us well-rested in order that we put on a good display tomorrow afternoon, when we bounce around the room dressed as woodland animals.

I love early years!

[1] I was about to comment about how very different this sort of thing is from the last degree I did... but then I remembered the Clemoes Reading Prize!