Norah Colvin

Live Love Laugh Learn … Create the possibilities

Tag: thoughts and ideas

  • Finding meaning

    ‘Always look on the bright side of life’ is a philosophy to which I aspire. Many think I have achieved it but they don’t know how hard I struggle. I do try to find the good in people and situations, but it’s not always my first and instinctive reaction. When I realise I’ve reacted negatively I try to change or hide my negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones. But it’s not always easy to convince myself, regardless of whether I convince anyone else or not.

    It reminds me of a quote on a laundry bag which has stayed with me in eight different homes in three different states and for well more than thirty years. After all this support I have finally thought to seek out the source of the wisdom and found it to be UK poet and playwright Christopher Fry.

    bag

    I feel the quote represents me quite well; doing what I can to hold it all together and keeping those negative instincts in check by ‘nipping them in the bud’, all the while fearful of one day just losing it and letting it all out in one mighty swoosh. I guess the expectation of fewer years remaining in which I will need to keep myself contained makes me a little optimistic. (Always look on the bright side!)

    I like to think I’m more of a hopeful realist than either a Pollyanna or a negative realistic. A discussion about optimism and pessimism followed a previous post in which I asked How much of a meliorist are you?  But meliorism is more a belief that the world can be improved by the actions of humans than an optimistic or pessimistic expectation of the outcome.

    I believe that humans have an amazing potential for improving our world (i.e. every aspect of it). That makes me a meliorist. Recognising what is happening in the world now makes me a realist. A belief that human actions will make improvements in the future makes me an optimist, but not one without some pessimistic fears. While stories of terrorism, climate change and violence fuel the fears, stories like this TED talk by Tasso Azevedo show that improvements can be, and are being, made.

    I am an education meliorist. I believe that education is a powerful agent for change and has an enormous potential for improving lives. My optimism that education will impact positively upon individual lives as well as the collective human situation outweighs my pessimism about the outcomes I see in current systemic trends and leads me to seek out educators, like Ken Robinson, Chris Lehmann , Michael Rosen, Barbara Arrowsmith-Young and Rita Pierson who share my vision of what could be.

    A quest to improve my own life and the lives of others through education has been a long time passion. Ensuring that my own children experienced the benefits of learnacy, though I hadn’t heard of the term at the time, as well as literacy and numeracy was of great importance to me. I encouraged them to question, to create, to think critically, to read, to learn, to wonder . . .  There is so much we teach our children the list goes on. It is very rewarding for me to see that they have a love of learning and are passing that same love on to the next generation.

    Having, sharing and fostering a lifelong love of learning perhaps in some ways contributes to giving meaning to my life. But it also leads me to question life and its purpose in ways that many others don’t.  This questioning can lead to a sense of unease, of lacking fulfilment, of needing to do and achieve more. I know others who better accept the way things are, accept each day as it comes, and are content in their existence. Sometimes I envy their complacency.  Other times I want to shake them and make them realise that there is more to life than this.

    But am I wrong? Is there actually less to life than this? It is sometimes said that there is no point in accumulating wealth and possessions as you can’t take them with you when you go. But is there any point in accumulating a lot of learning and knowledge? After all, you can’t take it with you when you go either; but like wealth and possessions, you can leave it behind for future generations. If we lived only for what we could take with us, would there be a point?

    I guess what matters is what helps each of us reach that level of contentment, of being here and now in the present moment because, after all, it is all we ever have.

    I often think about life, existence, why we are here and the purpose of it all, constantly wavering between seeing a point and not. A recent discussion with a friend about her feelings of emptiness and needing to find more purpose and meaning in life disturbed my approaching, but elusive, equilibrium again. Will I ever reach that blissful and enviable state of contentment: knowing and accepting who I am, where I am, where I am going and how I am going to get there? Who knows? But I can have fun figuring it out. I am determined to enjoy the journey. I don’t think there will be much joy at the end!

    Which is all very timely with the current flash fiction prompt set by Charli Mills at the Carrot Ranch who talks about actions that we take to reach our goals and challenges writers to In 99 words (no more, no less) write a story that describes a moment of being.

    I hope you enjoy my response.

    Being, positive

    “It’s positive,” he said.

    She smiled. She knew. She only needed official confirmation.

    He wanted dates. She supplied.

    But she knew the very moment an unexpected but welcome spark enlivened her being with its playful announcement, “Surprise! I’m here!”

    She’d carried the secret joy within her for weeks, never letting on, keeping it to herself, waiting. No one would have believed her without proof. But with her whole being she knew.

    Finally, after nine inseparable months, she held the child, distinct and individual. She marvelled at the tiny creation whose existence breathed purpose and meaning into hers.

    Thank you

    Thank you for reading. I appreciate your feedback. Please share your thoughts about any aspect of this post and flash fiction.

  • Reflect and refine

    The end of a year is often used as a time for reflection, reassessment, and redefining goals. This week at the Carrot Ranch Charli Mills is talking just that: reflecting on the year that was, assessing her achievements and failures and redefining her goals for the next part of her journey. Charli admits that she didn’t achieve all she had hoped but acknowledges that those shortcomings were more opportunities for learning than failure as such. While she learned more about herself and her abilities she was able to recalculate her goals and redefine her vision.

    In education, failure is recognised as integral to learning.

    Willingness to

    • have a go
    • try something new
    • seek alternate solutions and ways of finding solutions
    • persist and not give up
    • recognise that success does not always come with a first attempt;

    these are effective characteristics of learners, innovators and creative people.

    Thomas Edison, after many unsuccessful attempts said,

    “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

    There is no failure in a failed attempt; there is only failure in giving up.

    Again, to quote from Edison,

    “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

    C.S. Lewis is also quoted as saying,

    “Failures, repeated failures, are finger posts on the road to achievement.”

    He says,

    “One fails forward toward success.”

    The-greatest-glory-in Ralph Waldo Emerson

    What helps that ability to rise again is a sense of where we are going, of what we are aiming for and what we want to achieve. This is often referred to as a vision, and it is a vision that Charli Mills has challenged writers to include in a flash fiction piece this week: In 99 words (no more, no less) write a story that includes a vision.

    Having a vision of the future and working towards that future is essential to effective teaching.

    As explained by Vicki Davis in her post Thank You Teacher for Your Presence on the Cool Cat Teacher blog, teachers are constantly preparing students for more independent and resourceful futures.

    Through learning from a mentor teacher Jackie Catcher was able to refine her vision for effective teaching, which she shared on Three Teachers Talk :

    “I learned that to lead students into our subject, we must make them feel valued within our community. We must work to acknowledge their strengths and show them that we are all equals when it comes to developing as readers and writers. We must praise their hard work and determination far more than their failures, and we must make ourselves available both in and outside of class to have meaningful conversations and connections. In the end, we are never too old to change our outlook and education. After all, one teacher can make the difference.”

    I constantly share my own, and others’, views about and vision for education on this blog.

    I-had-this-dream-Chris Lehmann

    Some of those posts are:

    Visioning a better school, a better way of educating

    Talking interviews

    Whose failure?

    Imagine that!

    Child’s play – the science of asking questions

     

    I have also referred to an alternative to traditional schooling that I “failed” to establish in the 1990s. The vision for that alternative was:

    “A dynamic centre of learning opportunities

    for children, families and communities

    which focuses upon the development

    of self-esteem and positive attitudes

    in a nurturing environment

    in which individuals are appreciated

    for their uniqueness and diversity

    while fostering the commonality of their human essence.”

    The-best-questions-are

    Which brings me to my flash fiction piece for this week. In it I attempt to draw together many threads from views expressed over the year and finish with an optimism for the future.

     

    The power of “No”

    It was grey.

    For as long as anyone could remember.

    They moved about, comfortable in the familiar, avoiding the unknown.

    Shadowy shapes beyond incited fear: a threat to all they knew?

    Lives lacked definition, blending to sameness, conforming to rules.

    “But why?” The tiny voice shattered the stillness.

    All eyes turned. Bodies stiffened.

    Whose was this unruly child?

    “Shhh!” the hapless parents failed to hide their offensive produce.

    “Why?”

    Again! No one moved.

    “Because!” was the parents’ definitive reply.

    They breathed. “Because!” they confirmed in unison.

    Defiantly the child pressed the dust-covered switch and flooded the world with light.

     

    The-principal-goal-of education - Piaget

    Thank you

    Thank you for reading. I appreciate your feedback. Please share your thoughts about any aspect of this post or flash fiction.

    I wish you success as your vision takes shape in 2015.

    HappyNewYear_by_Rones

  • It’s not fiction

    Most of my current writing is non-fiction with a strong focus on education. The two blog posts I publish each week generally address educational issues or share my thoughts about learning.

    In my ongoing work-for-self I develop educational materials and resources for parents, teachers and children. Some of these are available in my Teachers Pay Teachers store, and are listed on the Teaching and learning resources page of this blog.  My goal is to set up my own website on which all the resources I produce will be available.

    During my work-for-pay hours I am also involved in writing resources for teachers. Most of my published material, listed on the Writing – interest and publications page, is also educational.

    That is not to say that I am not interested in writing fiction. Over the years I have enjoyed writing in a variety of other genres including stories for children, short stories and poetry; and still do. They are just not my main focus at the moment. That may change in the future. Or it may not.

    One opportunity for writing fiction that I am very much enjoying at the moment is the weekly 99 word flash fiction challenge  set by Charli Mills at the Carrot Ranch.

    Initially my responses to Charli’s prompts were unsystematic. However it was not long before I was incorporating them into longer posts which maintained the educational focus of my blog. A recurrent theme is the importance for schooling to target the particular needs of individual children.

    Soon a character emerged: Marnie — a young girl, from a dysfunctional family, for whom school would be a threatening and meaningless experience without the support of a passionate and caring teacher. Sometimes, as with this week’s, the prompt inspires immediately and I write a story in which I hope that the message is strong enough for it to stand alone, without the support of a lengthier post explaining my thinking background.

    Here is this week’s response to Charlie’s prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less) write a story about rare gems. I’d love to know how successful you think I have been.

     

    glitch, trophy gem http://goo.gl/VEQVxM
    glitch, trophy gem http://goo.gl/VEQVxM

    Uncut gem

    She examined the new arrival, assessing the possible effects of integration into the existing collective. Would the group be enhanced or would this newcomer disrupt the established harmony?

    From every angle the edges were rough and uneven. The years of obvious neglect obscured the potential from any but a trained eye.

    Fortunately her eyes were keen. A bit of encouragement here, a little adjustment there, an opportunity to sparkle and display unique and positive attributes.

    She smiled. Experience had shown what could be achieved with a little polish and care.

    “Welcome to our class, Marnie,” she said.

     

    Thank you

    Thank you for reading. I value your feedback. Please share your thoughts about this post and flash fiction story.

  • A cute angel

    This week at the Carrot Ranch Charli Mills has set an angel prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less) write a story that features an angel.

    Usually I include my responses to Charli’s prompts in longer posts sharing some thoughts about education.

    This week I’m going to leave it as a stand-alone, without the padding I usually provide. I am hopeful that the educational issues I have alluded to will be as obvious to you as they are to me. I’d love to know what you think.

    A cute angel

    Thank you

    Thanks for reading. I appreciate your feedback. Please share your thoughts about this flash and what you consider its message to be.

     

     

     

  • How do you connect?

     Many of you may recognise this song from Sesame Street: One of these things is not like the other.

    Finding the one that doesn’t belong sounds like a simple activity, but which one did you choose? And why? Did you choose the rubber boot? I didn’t. I chose the shoe with laces. Does that make me wrong?

    The items had some obvious similarities: they were designed for wearing on the feet, and they were similar colours. Differences in size and style were also obvious.  Just what made the rubber boot “not belong” any more than any of the others, I’m not sure. Does that mean I am not as smart as a pre-schooler?

    Rather than simply providing children with an answer as happens in this video, I would prefer children were provided opportunities to explore and discuss similarities and differences and would invite children to explain why a particular shoe might be selected.  I think there are valid reasons for each to not belong, and there are also many reasons for them to be grouped together.

    The ability to make connections between new and established information, including by identifying similarities and distinguishing differences, is an important contribution to learning. Adults can aid in the learning process by making explicit the ways in which objects are similar and by discussing ways in which they are dissimilar.

    Young children very quickly learn to notice obvious similarities between e.g. different breeds of dogs, a variety of drinking glasses and cups, or construction items. However adults can assist and challenge children to think creatively and in new and innovative ways by encouraging them to make connections between seemingly disparate objects.

    Many innovations have been developed as a result of creative thinkers making links that didn’t previously exist between apparently dissimilar objects or situations. George de Mestral’s invention of Velcro, involving the application of an observed phenomena to a very different situation, is perhaps one such example.

    Playing games is a good way of encouraging children to think creatively. It is not necessary to purchase pre-packaged games. Many games can be played with items from around the house or in the toy box, or using picture cards from early childhood games like ‘snap’, printed clipart, or cut from magazines. Here are just a few suggestions around which you can construct your own ways of taking turns, playing and having fun:

    https://openclipart.org/image/800px/svg_to_png/178912/tweedles.png
    https://openclipart.org/image/800px/svg_to_png/178912/tweedles.png

     What’s the same?

    Display two pictures e.g. a duck and dog, a bus and a boat. How many ways are they the same?

     How are they different?

    Display two pictures and explain how the items are different. The differences could be obvious e.g. a duck and a dog, or more subtle e.g. two different breeds of dogs, or a male and female bird.

    Which one does not belong?

    Display three or four pictures. Discuss similarities and differences, and then decide which one doesn’t belong, providing reasons.

    Sorting

    Provide children with a larger number of items e.g. construction blocks in different sizes, styles and colours or pictures of a variety of objects or animals. In the beginning it is easiest to sort by one feature e.g. is yellow/is not yellow. Encourage children to look for similarities between particular items e.g. colour or shape and ask them to group all items with that characteristic. They will then have two groups, one with the feature and one without.

    Once children can confidently sort in this way they may be able to sort by two characteristics e.g. size and colour. They may even begin to make decision about how to deal with items that fit into two groups.

    What else?

    Show children a common everyday object and discuss its use. Encourage them to think of alternate uses for the same object e.g. a pencil could be used as a flagstick, a mast on a toy boat or to identify where seeds were planted in a garden.

    Link the story

    Display pictures of any two items e.g. a beach ball and a pencil. Ask children to create a story that involves both items. I immediately think of a family making plans for a holiday at the beach. The child wants a ball to play with at the beach and uses a pencil to add “beach ball” to the list of items to take. Your thoughts are probably very different. I’m sure someone will have the beach ball impaled on the pencil!

    Making up stories like this can be just as much fun for adults as it is for children. Charli Mills at the Carrot Ranch has challenged us to make it so this week with her flash fiction prompt to:  In 99 words (no more, no less) write a story using two objects, people or ideas that don’t go together. Charli allowed us to choose the two items. I decided to explore a little more of my tormented Marnie and her unicorn. I’d be pleased to know what you think.

    Unicorns and coffee

    People crammed in, around and in front of the small sidewalk cafe, reminding her of the fairy-tale pageant that had bypassed her radar. She couldn’t move now. Her coffee fix, too hot to sip, had just been served. So, as always, she retreated within.

    Cocooned in thoughts flittering across years and experiences, she barely noticed the cacophony of the crowd or passing parade.

    The sudden shout of “Unicorn!” penetrated, startling her.

    She was six again, cowering with her unicorn, avoiding mocking stares.

    But this time pitying and unbelieving stares watched the spreading stain of scalding coffee.

    Thank you

    Thank you for reading. I appreciate your feedback. Please share your thoughts about any aspect of this post or flash fiction.

  • Talking interviews

    BITE SIZE MEMOIR

    Lisa Reiter is writing her memoir and sharing her stories on her blog. She also invites others to join in and share their memories through her Bite Size Memoir prompt. Her prompt of the moment is “Interviews”.

    In my role of teacher over the years, I have conducted many parent-teacher interviews, each with varying degrees of pleasure and stress. And that’s just for me! I have also sat on the other side of the desk attending interviews to find out about the progress of my own two children.

    I mostly worked with children in their first year of school.

    When conducting interviews with parents, particularly at the beginning of the year but at any time, I always invited them to talk first; to tell me their impression of how their child was going, to raise any concerns they had and to ask any questions they wanted answered.

    There are a variety of purposes for beginning an interview in this way:

    • It gives the parents a voice and acknowledges their importance in the child’s life and education.
    • It ensures that any concerns parents have are raised and discussed first, and not left until the end or even missed out in the short time allocated to each interview scheduled on a parent-teacher night.
    • It provides an insight into the child’s life and how the attitudes of the parents may affect, or be reflected in, the child’s attitude to school and learning.

    Often times I have found that parents share my concerns, and discussing them is easier when raised by the parent. One of the most difficult things is raising and discussing an issue of which the parent is unaware.

    Over the years I have found that what parents most want to know is:

    Is my child happy?

    Is my child well-behaved?

    Does my child have friends?

    How does my child’s progress compare to that of others?

    Prior to the interviews I would make a checklist of things I wished to discuss with each parent, including responses to the queries listed above and any other issues I wished to raise or anecdotes I wished to share, ensuring the positives always outweighed the concerns. I would gather samples of the child’s work to show and have at hand suggestions for ways the parents could continue to help with their children’s learning at home, which generally meant reading to them, talking with them, playing games together and possibly involving them in daily activities such as setting the table, writing shopping lists etc.

    But I digress. My purpose in writing this post wasn’t really to talk about parent-teacher interviews, it was to list 10 memories about interviews in response to Lisa’s prompt. Like the parent-teacher interviews, many of them have a link to education.

    www.openclipart.com http://goo.gl/EY7z5L
    http://www.openclipart.com http://goo.gl/EY7z5L

    I remember interviews

    15073-Briana-web

    School days

    • I remember brushing up on my conversational French for an interview as part of my final exam. I remember the interviewer laughing at something “funny” I said. I’m not really sure if he was laughing at what I meant to say, or at what I did say!

    Employment

    • I remember not having an interview for my first teaching position. I was awarded a three-year teaching scholarship which, in return for my training and a small living allowance, “bonded” me to the Education Department for three years.
    • I remember agonising for hours over written responses to selection criteria but being unsuccessful in the interviews; and going without preparation to other interviews and scoring the job!

      bad taste party
      Would you employ this woman? Bad taste fundraising function at school.

    Police

    • I remember being interviewed by a policeman after hitting a pedestrian on my way to work one morning. I was horrified to see the teenage girl bounce off the bonnet of my car. Fortunately she wasn’t hurt as I had only just pulled away from traffic lights, but we were both rather shaken up. She was only a few metres from a pedestrian crossing (also with lights) and the policeman said if anyone was to be charged it would be her. I wish she hadn’t been so impatient. I still worry about the unpredictability of pedestrians on the side of the road.
    • I remember being interviewed by police after our car was stolen. I was so upset I couldn’t remember the registration number. After it was stolen a second time, we got rid of it!

      stolen car
      Our beautiful car – stripped!
    • I remember being interviewed by the police after our house was burgled and giving them a list of items that had been stolen. The most surprising one was a big screen TV. Big in 1999 is not the same as big in 2014. It went as far out the back as it did across and weighed a ton. How they got it out of the house and down the steep driveway without being seen I’ll never know; or even why they did, as newer technology  was on its way and it wouldn’t have been worth much to resell.

    The media (Note: You are neither expected nor required to watch any of the videos included in this section. They are simply for my amusement and learning.)

    • I remember being interviewed by the local paper when offering sessions to assist parents help their children read.

    Satelitte 17.06.92 (2)

    • I remember being interviewed on Radio on the morning of the Family Day Picnic for the year of the family in 1994.
    • I remember being interviewed on a local community television station. I was invited to talk about the alternative school I was setting up. (I haven’t found the footage yet, but below is a response given to a question about self-esteem at a publicity meeting. Apologies for the amateur quality.)
    • I remember being interviewed at school about keeping butterflies in the classroom, twice: each time for different programs and different television studios.

     

    Just as an aside, at about the same time that I was being interviewed about butterflies for the program “Totally Wild”, Bec was also being interviewed at school for the same program. She is proud to say that the times she appeared on that program numbered three to my one! Not long afterwards she appeared on the news a couple of in anti-war rallies!

    Bec on "Totally Wild"
    Bec and friend Elise talking about heating on “Totally Wild”

    Of course, not all interviews occur face-to-face. Interviews can take place online too. During the 15 months that I have been blogging I have passed on a number of awards asking people to answer questions. This post is a compilation of the answers given to my interview questions by my first nominees.

    Thanks, Lisa, for this opportunity to take a walk down memory lane.

    Thank you

    Thank you readers. I appreciate your feedback. Please share your thoughts about any aspect of this post.

  • Which is your favourite thinking room?

     

    Do you have a quiet place at home where you like to think?

    do not disturb door

    Some people I know like to think in the toilet. (I’m not one of them. I prefer to not be in there long enough for that!) They see it as a quiet place where they can sit and think, undisturbed, for as long as they like. If they are “in the can”, “in the dunny”, “at the loo” or “out the back”, or whatever other euphemism you can come up with, their position is unassailable and their sanctuary respected. Mostly, anyway. Parents of young children may vehemently disagree with that!

    A couple of weeks* ago Anne Goodwin reminded us of World Toilet Day and how lucky we are to have access to toilets and sanitation. Most of us take what used to be the smallest room in (or out) of the house for granted, not giving its use a second thought as we flush away our waste.

    But not everyone is so lucky. It seems that more of the world’s population have access to a mobile phone, and or to the internet, than to a toilet. Visit Anne’s blog for many links that explain why a day for toilets is important.

    WaterAidAustralia explains that

    “The day was created to raise global awareness of the struggle faced by the 2.5 billion people living without access to sanitation. It is also used to explore some of the healthy, emotional and psychological consequences people endure as a result of not having a proper, clean toilet.”

    An article written by Nicole Arce and published in the Tech Times cites the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the information that 2,200 children around the world die every day due to diarrhoea. Proper sanitation would prevent most of those deaths.

    Arce writes that the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set 2019 as its target for “total sanitation”. However, as also suggested in Anne Goodwin’s flash fiction piece “Culture Shock”, the problem can be attributed to cultural as well as monetary issues.

    Charli Mills at the Carrot Ranch followed Anne Goodwin down the toilet path and extended the discussion to include the effect that poor sanitation has on education, particularly of young girls. The link is not as tenuous as it may first appear as explained here and here.

    Charli decided to use her flash fiction challenge to “spread awareness that toilets matter.” She invited readers to “Help spread the call for human dignity and basic sanitary health” by linking to UNICEF when responding to her prompt: In 99 words write a story that includes the toilet.

    I have decided to do just that, as have many others. Check out Charli’s post at the Carrot Ranch to read all responses.

    Toilet sanctuary

    “Miss. Marnie’s locked herself in the toilet and won’t come out.”

    “What now?” I thought, scanning the troubled face pleading for assistance as much as to be absolved of blame.

    “Okay,” I reassured Jasmine. “Let’s go see what’s up.”

    As we hurried to the toilet block Jasmine reiterated her innocence, she hadn’t done anything, she didn’t know what was wrong (it wasn’t her fault).

    “I know,” I smiled. The toilet cubicles had frequently been Marnie’s sanctuary. But not for weeks.  Jasmine’s kind-hearted friendship had seen to that.

    “She’s got her unicorn again,” Jasmine whispered.

    “Oh,” I said.

     

    *I apologise that this post may appear out of sync with World Toilet Day which was now ten days ago. Unfortunately I have been without internet access for 12 days and unable to publish although I had the post written. Fortunately I still had access to a flushing toilet, and if I had to choose between that and the internet, I’d go for the toilet every time! Though World Toilet Day has passed for this year, the message remains important every day!

    Thank you

    I appreciate your feedback. Please share your thoughts about any aspect of this post or flash fiction.

     

     

  • The Question X Revisited

    Tomorrow, 20 November 2014, is UNESCO’s World Philosophy Day. Celebration of the day “underlines the enduring value of philosophy for the development of human thought, for each culture and for each individual.”
    In recognition of the day I am reblogging a recent post from The Philosophy Foundation which discusses the differences between open and closed questions and explains the greater value of The Question X.
    The importance of encouraging children to ask questions has been a recurring theme on my blog (here, here, here and here) , as has the need to encourage them to think for themselves rather than to become experts at regurgitating force-fed information (here and here).
    The discussion of The Question X gave me a lot to think about. Maybe it will do the same for you.
    Happy thoughts and thinking on World Philosophy Day 2014!

    philosophyfoundation's avatarphilosophyfoundation

    We read this blog ‘Closed Question Quizzing, Unfashionable Yet Effective‘ by Andy Tharby the other day. The virtues of closed questioning are well known to The Philosophy Foundation as they are central to our philosophical questioning approach, so we wanted to share this extract taken from a chapter entitled ‘If it, Anchor it, Open it up: A closed, guided questioning technique‘ that Peter Worley has written for the forthcoming book The Socratic Handbook ed. Michael Noah Weiss, LIT Verlag, 2015. Some of these ideas were first written about in The Question X published in Creative Teaching and Learningand available here: The Question X. In this blog Peter has developed some of the ideas written about in The Question X.

    Plato’s Socrates asks many closed questions – questions that elicit a one-word or short answer such as ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘Paris’. Dip in to any of the dialogues…

    View original post 2,461 more words

  • What do you bomb at?

    According to my online sources, including internetslang.com, bomb can mean “something really bad” or “something really good”.

    The urbandictionary.com states that before 1997 it meant “something really bad; a failure”; and that since 1997 it has referred to something excellent, and if preceded by the word ‘the’ it means the best!

    My use of the word “bomb” fits neatly into the pre-1997 definition. Perhaps it’s not surprising since I lived most of my life so far pre-1997! Hopefully, should I live long enough, half of my life will be lived after 1997 as well, but I’ve a while to wait to see if that happens!

    In my day the word “bomb” was often used to describe an old beat-up car. I bought my first car when it was ten years old. It may have been described by many as a bomb (it burned oil and smoked terribly amongst other things) but I loved it, adorned it with flower stickers and even named it “Ziggy”.

    car Ziggy

    Nowadays cars seem to last a lot longer before they earn the title of bomb. Dare I say our 1997 car has only in recent years earned that title, and really only after it became unsightly due to hail damage and deterioration of the paintwork. It has been replaced by a car we might call “the bomb” but it still sits in the front yard and gets an occasional outing, too precious for someone (other than me!) to part with.

    magna

    The most common use of the word as a verb was to refer to failure, particularly with regard to exams. After what felt to be a particularly dismal attempt at an exam, various students would bemoan its difficulty saying, “I bombed”. I have talked about failure in previous posts including my “failure” at singing here, and the failure of some aspects of schooling here. The word ‘bomb’ doesn’t appear in either of those posts.

    It was Charli Mills of the Carrot Ranch who got me thinking about bombing with her Nov 12: Flash Fiction Challenge to In 99 words (no more, no less) write a photo bomb (serious scene interrupted by something absurd or unexpected).

    Now Charlie was talking about photo bombs which she described as an “earnest photograph interrupted by the unexpected”, but I thought I would tackle video bombs. I knew I had made quite a few of those!

    In an effort to learn more about making videos, which has been on my to-do list for ages, I also decided to make a compilation of video bombs to accompany my 99 words, while endeavouring to meet both Charli’s criteria and mine:

    Charli:

    99 words

    bombing

    Me:

    99 words that make sense (always a priority)

    find videos to match the 99 words

    make a compilation video

    record the video and words

    My attempt is quite experimental and rather rudimentary at best but I learned a lot in the process. Since my blog is about learning, I decided to share it with you as a checkpoint on my learning journey. I know it’s definitely not “the bomb”, but I hope I haven’t totally bombed.

     

    In the words of C.S. Lewis,

    “Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement.”

     

    Video bombing

    Are you a video bomber?

    Ever tried making a video but

    the subject won’t cooperate,

    or turns its back to you,

    or perhaps it even disappears Poof! It’s out of view.

    You shoot upside down or to the side,

    the focus you can’t get right.

    You shoot with the camera supposedly off,

    then close-up your fingers when on.

    You record to capture a photo,

    or snap when it’s action you want.

    If your answer is ‘Yes” to just one of these

    come join the vid-bombers club.

    We’ll commiserate

    And then celebrate

    When your video capture’s “the bomb”!

    Thank you

    I appreciate your feedback. Please share your thoughts about any aspect of this post, flash fiction or video.

  • Whose failure?

    I think about education. A lot. You could say it consumes me. It has been my lifelong passion, and although I am not currently in the classroom I don’t stop thinking and reading about how we learn and how learning can best be encouraged. My discontent with how schooling often is and my optimism for what it could be has been a recurring theme on my blog and a driving force in my life. You would not have to open too many posts to find at least one expressing that view.

    education-is-2

    My poem “Education Is” sums up the differences I see between education and schooling. Some schools do education really well. Some professing to be educational institutions school, very badly. What I consider to be one of the major differences is that education encourages a love of learning that lasts a lifetime; while schooling attempts to force-feed content in such a way that learning is neither enjoyed nor viewed as anything other than what one is forced to do in school.

    In traditional schools assessment often takes the form a test which requires students to regurgitate information that has been thrust upon them, whether they like it, or are interested in it, or not. This occurs across all subject areas. I have written about it before in relation to writing tasks in these three posts: Writing to order – done in a flash!  Writing woes – flash fiction  and Who tests the testers?

    I contrasted my choice of responding to Charli Mills’ flash fiction prompts to the lack of choice students have in state- or nation-wide writing tasks. In Writing woes – flash fiction  I suggested that it would be difficult for me, on a given day, with a restricted amount of time, under the watchful eyes of supervisors, to produce my best work in response to a prompt about which I may have little experience, knowledge or interest.

    www.openclipart.org http://goo.gl/Ep1vK6
    http://www.openclipart.org http://goo.gl/Ep1vK6

    In my flash fiction responses I introduced a unicorn as a symbol of escape from the confines of the classroom or other oppressive situation, into the space where one is free to truly be oneself. It wasn’t a deliberate or premeditated choice, simply a response to Charli’s prompt. However I am happy to adopt it in my flash fiction as a symbol of playfulness and imagination unleashed; the basis for all great inquiry and innovation. Thank you, Charli, for the prompt!

    I introduced the unicorn in the post Of rainbows and unicorns – Part 1 – Fantastic creatures and magical realms and used it again in What do you have in mind? , I’m too busy to be tired! And Reading is all it’s cracked up to be: 10 tips for an early childhood classroom

    I have returned to both these themes again in response to Charli’s most recent prompt to In 99 words (no more, no less) write a story inspired by your muse. I’m not certain who my muse is, but I am certain that it would be very difficult to call upon a muse to assist when writing in a test situation such as that expected of students in school.

    My piece is titled ‘Failure’, but this is the question I have for you: Who really deserves the “F”? Whose failure is it really?

    Failure

    She spluttered out the splinters of pencil: no longer tasty, never helpful. The assessor’s steely eyes pounced. She wiped the last vestiges from her mouth; staring blankly, as blank as the paper in front of her.

    Outside the sunlight danced like fairies on the leaves, beckoning. Below, in the shade, the unicorn pranced and called her name.

    “Why do I have to do this stuff? Who cares anyway!”

    She grasped the broken pencil and scored a large “F” on the page.

    Then she closed her eyes and was away, riding to freedom and joy on the unicorn’s back.

    What do you think?

    Thank you

    I appreciate your feedback. Please share your thoughts about any aspect of this post or my flash fiction writing.

    If you are interested in reading other of my flash fictions pieces, I have collected them all together on one page which you can access here or click on the Flash Fiction tab above.