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.
Friday, 23 October 2009
Wednesday, 21 October 2009
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.
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.
Monday, 19 October 2009
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?
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?
Saturday, 17 October 2009
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!
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!
Thursday, 15 October 2009
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.
Monday, 12 October 2009
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!
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!
Sunday, 11 October 2009
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!
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