Sunday 29 December 2013

Back to work!!;-)



I'm back to work, today!

And it's no hardship to be going to my place of work as I love my environment,

where so much learning takes place.






For a smallish room, I have always tried to provide something for everyone

to enjoy and feel inspired. I know that I feel inspired, 

which in turn makes me a better teacher; I am certain of that!

Anyway, I love my workplace, I've had a good 'tidy up' and I am raring to go!





In my room there is a good mixture of old and new because that's

 what I believe in and that's how I work, picking what I think is the best

from today and yesterday.





You can read 'Swallows and Amazons' and any of the books in that wonderful series.

You can read Enid Blyton because she was and still is a valuable

 part of children's literature.

You can read Harry Potter; Holes; War Horse and an endless amount of Roald Dahl!

You can enjoy poetry and even a smattering of history!

I have Ladybird books alongside Anthony Horowitz  and 

I have Horrible Histories alongside Michael Morpurgo,

Malorie Blackman and Rupert Bear!






I even have a school inspector breathing down my neck...

but no more about that apart from to say that I remember my very first encounter

with a school inspector in Surrey. A very nice man he was too!!

He oversaw my probationary year in teaching and the most important words he said to me

(and I remember then well) were, ' If you can truly justify what you are doing

in the classroom, then that's fine by me.'

So that's what I always try to do. I am also constantly questioning

what I do. I talk to myself rather a lot!!

Enough said!!

;-)







So ... welcome to my working world!!




  
And please enjoy a browse!




If you ever come for lessons, this is where you'll sit!!;-)




My other chairs are usually covered with books or games!











Have you noticed, 'Moonfleet'?

One of the best stories written, I was delighted to see the television

adaptation!  Books like this live on and on!

Superb writing!













I have 'War Horse', alongside 'The Little Wooden Horse'!

I love reading these with children.










Slates, satchels and an old university scarf (my dad's)...

all part of the fantastic history of education in our country.






And here I sit, waiting patiently for my first pupil!






You can find me here:







Friday 13 December 2013

Crazy!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/10516149/Flagship-free-school-to-close-over-inadequate-teaching.html




OH DEAR ME!! WELL WHAT DO YOU EXPECT?

IT'S AN INSULT TO THOSE WHO HAVE QTS! CRAZY!


‘In its response to a Freedom of Information request by the NUT  earlier this year,  Discovery New School  revealed that of the school’s five teachers, just two had qualified teacher status (QTS). This did NOT include the Head teacher who similarly did not have QTS.  The school added that it had two associate teachers, only one of which had QTS. So here we have an unqualified Head leading a staff team in which half the teachers were unqualified. This perhaps provides a clue to the unacceptable standard of education found by Ofsted.


******

Wednesday 11 December 2013

Deluded!

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/all-seven-and-14yearolds-must-take-exams-says-ofsted-chief-sir-michael-wilshaw-8997816.html

This man is having a laugh.
7 year olds don't need Sats tests. They never did! Sats tests are the worst thing that ever happened to
a 7 year old! ( and their parents!)

The trouble is that,nowadays, too many people think that if you throw a test at something,it'll be the cure. How wrong they are.

Throwing a Sats test at the reading problem in our country,is not the answer! And think of the money wasted.

A good teacher knows her children inside out. A govt test does not. And the sooner as those in power
start thinking differently, the better.

I will tell you what is needed to improve children's reading. It's easy.
Make reading TOP PRIORITY. Hear children read, daily. It's as simple as that. Show me a teacher who does that nowadays!

As a classroom teacher in various schools, that's exactly what I did.

As a private tutor,reading takes top priority. I may not be able to hear my children read daily
but I try to get over the importance of this,to their parents.

I have children  ( struggling readers) who come to me and they hardly read to anyone at school. Maybe,they get to read to their teacher once a week, if they are lucky. Sometimes ,they only read to a parent. This isn't right either because they are struggling; the hearing of reading  is a teaching situation as far as those children are concerned.
Yet , they are expected to make progress ! Goodness knows how!

You can throw as many Sats tests at 7 year olds but it's not going to help their reading progress one little bit.

Better that you concentrated on the cause of the problem,Mr Wilshaw!!!




Thursday 5 December 2013

Teach Shakespeare, properly!! ;-)





I wonder ...would you appreciate a piece of music if someone were to place some sheet music
in front of you and tell you to read it and then imagine the tune?

It sounds crazy, doesn't it?

But for many years, in a similar way, that's exactly what we have been doing in our schools when it comes to teaching Shakespeare. No kidding!

We put his famous plays ( well two or three of them , as hardly any school explores anything beyond
Romeo and Juliet , Macbeth or A Midsummer Night's Dream!) in front of our children and we get them to annotate until they are beside themselves with boredom.

Occasionally, we might give them a smattering of a film...sometimes it's  a modern version which
bears no resemblance to the original play. Occasionally, a teacher might just show both an older version and a modern one. Rarely, there might just be a theatre production of the said play at a theatre
in the area...but that's rarely!

Shakespeare was written to be watched. Simple as that. It was the entertainment for the people at that time.  Shakespeare's plays certainly were not written to be picked to pieces...but sadly, that's what's been going on for far too long.

And it's not just Shakespeare! I am horrified that, in GCSE English Lit, we teach certain plays in the very same way. Last year I was helping someone with 'An Inspector Calls' and I noticed that there was a theatre production not too far away, The year before that,I was studying Blood Brothers with a pupil and I noticed that it was being performed at a theatre close by to where I live. Neither school
chose to use these resources.Ok, so money would be the main factor but surely there is a case for trying to negotiate a deal...maybe a matinee performance for all pupils who are studying the plays?
It just doesn't make sense to me that plays have to be studied but cannot be watched. Utter madness!
I am convinced that making use of such a resource would raise these pupils' grades, significantly.


And so I was very heartened when I noticed the article ,below, which is all about the introduction of  Shakespeare workshops . I hope that this idea catches on throughout the country. I really do.

In my opinion,you shouldn't have something on the curriculum if it can't be taught properly.
Let's properly teach Shakespeare, for once and for all!

In the words of the great bard himself:

'Pleasure and action make the hours seem short.'

Contrasted with the tedium and monotony of annotating this great writer's words, I reckon this quote is very apt.

Long live Shakespeare!

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/plays-the-thing-globe-theatre-wants-learning-shakespeare-to-be-fun-not-a-chore-8976039.html

Tuesday 26 November 2013

The three Cs



This is a very interesting article !

When I read it, I was reminded of Floella Benjamin's words when she spoke at the Exeter University graduation ceremonies, which I attended for my son's B.A. And M.A. Awards.

She is a brilliant speaker and I have never forgotten her words. 

She said:

Practice the 'three Cs' daily.

What are the 'three Cs' ?

Consideration ....Treat others the way you wish to be treated, with dignity and respect.

Contentment.... Be happy with your lot; that way, the more will come to you because you are open and ready to receive, rather than grabbing what is not meant for you.

Confidence.... Love yourself and believe that you are worthy, so that you can love others unconditionally.



I think,as parents and teachers, we can help to nurture these things in our children, and that they are very much intertwined with the six things mentioned in the article.

Have a happy day :-)





Saturday 9 November 2013

Pre-reading.

Why do so many children struggle to read? 

We are constantly reading in the press that too many children are struggling to read.
The 'so called experts' then come forth with reasons why...and the government of the day's answer is to devise a test of 'non words'...because governments have always addressed such issues with, 'Let's throw a test at it. That'll sort it out! ' WRONG!

In my working life, I see so many children who are struggling to read and it's not because they have a problem of any sorts! I meet many parents with the word 'dyslexia' hanging off their lips (because at least if they can use a label like this, they feel a tad better.) And, I meet many parents who are at their wits end and are very worried because their child has not made a start with his/her reading. They don't know what to do, they are not trained teachers and they feel helpless.

I love teaching children to read. Why? Because it is the best gift that you can give to anyone.

Children's reading has always interested me and whilst I was training to be a teacher, we spent
a whole term studying this very subject. I doubt anyone training to be a teacher, nowadays, would
be given a term's worth of lectures and seminars on children's reading!
I also doubt that they would be well instructed on the subject of 'Pre-reading' as I was at my college.

'Pre -reading' is something that rarely happens in schools, nowadays. It appears that it is something which is very much ignored, yet it is the foundation on which to build children's reading. Thus, many children have no firm foundation on which to build and develop as readers. There are too many teachers who will happily give a child a first reading book and a tin of words to accompany it, without doing the groundwork...the 'Pre reading'. Not good.

You might well ask what is 'Pre-reading'? 'Pre-reading' includes activities such as visual discrimination (discriminating between picture, shapes and then of course, and word shapes letters); auditory discrimination ( discriminating between sounds) and left to right activities (to encourage the eye to move in the right direction, because we read from left to right). In addition to this, there are other important issues such as developing a love of books; developing the ability to use the spoken word; helping children to concentrate... and so on.

'Pre reading' is the vital element of learning to read which is being ignored by too many and only when a child has covered this preparatory stage and his skills and abilities are sufficiently developed, will he be ready to move on to the next stage. And all children are individual and develop at different rates...thus they will not all reach the stage of 'reading readiness' at the same time.

Reading does not just happen!
The teaching of reading is a very skilled task. More skilled than people realise.
It's about time that the government realised this and addressed the proper issues rather than devising tests of made up words... gobbledygook!  Start at the beginning...take a look at Pre reading.
All of the best houses are built on good, solid foundations...reading is no different!







Saturday 12 October 2013

Private tutoring! ;-)




Well, it seems that private tutoring is all the rage, nowadays, as many people - teachers, students and even those unqualified - are jumping on the 'tutoring band wagon!'

I felt mildly irritated when I answered the phone, recently, and after a lengthy conversation, the prospective customer said, 'Well, you are more expensive than another tutor I rang. He is half the price (yet a mere university student and an unqualified teacher at that!)  and with him, I'll get more lessons for my money, won't I?
'Fine,' I uttered, 'Goodbye'.
'Half the price will get you half the service that I give!' I muttered to myself as I put down the phone.
( 'Have a nice life, dumbing down!!' ;-) ;-)

Anyway, this week, I read this article, with interest:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/secondaryeducation/10364395/Ive-called-in-a-private-tutor-to-give-my-child-a-chance-in-the-academic-arms-race.html

And, when I had finished reading it..I read it again!

Yes... a very clever title to draw in the reader! Not one that I particularly like though. It has connotations which don't sit well with me.
But then, what really got me, was the reference to pizza!!
That made me hoot! When I think of all of my lovely customers, I am pretty sure that they would hardly
put their children's lessons on a par with a weekly visit to the local Pizza Express.
(I love it when journalists try to get clever with their opinions too!)
Neither do I like the reference to private tutoring, 'operating completely underground and spoken about
with embarrassment by those who use it.' (Another use of 'opinion' being put forward as 'fact'!)
Ask any of my customers - they are hardly embarrassed about using my service!

And then the article goes on to say that someone has set up an association for tutors.
Well..initially I thought ok, not a bad idea...until I looked at the fee that they want and the list of, 'I understand... and I undertake to...etc etc. And that got me thinking...hang on a minute..I do all of that anyway. I don't need to sign up to a group and pay them a subscription just for them to dictate to me the things that I already know... and do automatically in my working life as a tutor. I have exceedingly high standards; I do a very good job and I am confident in my own abilities to show this to any prospective
customer.

I moved on and read about the 11+ 'circus' which now takes place in this country!

This really is a BIG one to debate! And I mean BIG!
I have to say that I am thankful that, although I do tutor for the 11+, I am usually too full up
with either GCSE English students or younger pupils who are struggling to read and write, to take on
too many prospective 11+ pupils. Three or four pupils a year is enough for me, thank you very much!
I agree with pushing children, if they are very capable... but in my very honest opinion, in my own area
we have some excellent comprehensive schools to which many children are better suited. Sometimes, parents forget that! If I don't think that a child has a chance of passing, then I say so. 

I've been tutoring for a good many years now and before that, I taught for a long time in state schools. I have always enjoyed teaching and I love my job. I am all for private tutoring if it is done well and if it is done by qualified teachers. When I started private tutoring, there were very few others doing
the job. Nowadays, there are thousands of private tutors, who have sprung up all over the place!
I have to say that I am a bit worried by this and I do wonder what sort of service some of these tutors offer. It has taken me a long time to build up my business; build up a wealth of resources and build up a good reputation. So, when I read articles about the private tutoring 'industry', as it now is, I am always interested...especially when the writers do not work in the ' industry' yet are very good at offering their own opinions. I would challenge any of them to visit my workplace and see what my customers get for their money... oh and my children do get a drink, occasionally a biscuit...

but never any pizza! ;-) 



Saturday 5 October 2013

Stin, flods, splaw and words of that sort!! Grrrrrrrr!!!


And so... a third of six year olds are struggling to read!

We know this because a new govt screening test says so...

so this must be true!!   ( Hmmm I lied!)

Here's an example of the type of test that the children might be given:




Well, as a teacher of English and an expert in teaching children to read

 write and spell ...words fail me!!


If that's the best that the govt can come up with, then it's a pretty poor show

and quite frankly.... RUBBISH!!


And if I was a parent of any child who has supposedly 'failed'

such a test, I would take little notice of it.


I use assessment tests in my work and I am 100% sure that they

give a much better guide to children's reading attainment

 than this ridiculous and absurd 'new' test.


Better that the govt had spent the money investing

 in reading resources for infant classrooms than to come up with this tripe.



Any experienced teacher will tell you that to test a child

at such a young age will usually give inaccurate results anyway.


Quite frankly, this new test is laughable!!


To read the article in The Independent

                                                                       
                                                                           Click here






Tuesday 17 September 2013

A rare and beautiful man.




I was very sad to read about the passing of Seamus Heaney, recently.
I have loved teaching his poetry, over the years. 
Yesterday, as I drove down our lane, one of his poems came into my mind!


                                     Blackberry-Picking
Late August, given heavy rain and sun
For a full week, the blackberries would ripen.
At first, just one, a glossy purple clot
Among others, red, green, hard as a knot.
You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet
Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it
Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust for
Picking. Then red ones inked up and that hunger
Sent us out with milk cans, pea tins, jam-pots
Where briars scratched and wet grass bleached our boots.
Round hayfields, cornfields and potato-drills
We trekked and picked until the cans were full
Until the tinkling bottom had been covered
With green ones, and on top big dark blobs burned
Like a plate of eyes. Our hands were peppered
With thorn pricks, our palms sticky as Bluebeard's.
We hoarded the fresh berries in the byre.
But when the bath was filled we found a fur,
A rat-grey fungus, glutting on our cache.
The juice was stinking too. Once off the bush
The fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour.
I always felt like crying. It wasn't fair
That all the lovely canfuls smelt of rot.
Each year I hoped they'd keep, knew they would not. 

Thursday 5 September 2013

Children and Creativity ;-)



I've been really disappointed... for quite some time!

Rarely do I teach children who can actually write creatively. 

Once in a blue moon, a child who really can

write well, comes along; the pen flows across the page and hey presto!

I am transported to a place, away from my desk, 

simply because of that particular child's imagination.

However, that is very rare and it hasn't happened for quite some time!

I find it so very sad. ;-(


I often think back to my days as a young teacher, where we taught

'project style'... enthusiasm was rife and creativity was 

in abundance...well in my classroom it certainly was!


My 7 year olds (or top infants as we called them)

 could write the most amazing stories!

Nowadays, children seem to have any suggestion of creativity

sucked from them. Even the majority of 10 year olds who come to me for

11+ tutoring, cannot write creatively and that's a fact.

GCSE pupils struggle to write essays.


Why is this, do you think?


Well, I think it is a combination of many things, including

the fact that nowadays there is far too much teaching to the test;

children are given far too much access to TV screens, iPads etc etc, at home; 

teachers are maybe not as imaginative as they once were;

the curriculum is overloaded etc etc etc.



Here's  the most wonderful talk, to which all teachers and parents should listen!




I listen to this talk, every now and again...it's good to revisit!


I'm also reading this and thoroughly recommend it.












Tuesday 20 August 2013

Favourite poets




Do you have a favourite poet?

John Betjeman is one of my favourite poets!



;-)





Sunday 11 August 2013

How shallow is the soul of the Minister for Exams? ;-)








Minister for Exams


When I was a child I sat an exam. 
The test was so simple

There was no way I could fail.


Q1. Describe the taste of the moon.

It tastes like Creation I wrote,
it has the flavour of starlight.

Q2. What colour is Love?

Love is the colour of the water 
a man lost in the desert finds, I wrote.

Q3. Why do snowflakes melt?

I wrote, they melt because they fall
onto the warm tongue of God.


There were other questions.
They were as simple.

I described the grief of Adam when he was expelled from Eden. 
I wrote down the exact weight of an elephant's dream.

Yet today, many years later,

For my living I sweep the streets

or clean out the toilets of the fat hotels.


Why? Because I constantly failed my exams.

Why? Well, let me set a test.


Q1. How large is a child's imagination?

Q2. How shallow is the soul of the Minister for Exams? 



Brian Patten 1996


***

Many a true word!!!! I love this poem!!


It's going to be at the top of my agenda over the coming months!!!;-)


***


Today, I was looking at the new spec for the English Lit GCSE exams
from 2015... for both AQA and Edexcel. I noticed that the pupils have to 
study even more poetry than before; now included is a list
of poets, from which they have to study one poem written by each poet.

That's an awful lot of poetry!

Furthermore, I question who selects these poets. 

For instance, the AQA list contains Brian Patten, a brilliant poet
who made his name as part of the Liverpool/ Mersey poets...the others
being Adrian Henri and Roger McGough (neither are included in the list.)


If I'd had my way, then Adrian Henri and Roger McGough would
have been there too, in that list!

The main aim of the Mersey poets was to make poetry immediate and accessible for their audience. Their JOINT anthology, The Mersey Sound (1967) has been credited as being the most significant anthology of the twentieth century for its success in bringing poetry to new audiences.


I think someone has missed a trick in their selection and hasn't thought about this widely

enough... which brings me right back to the poem above, really!


;-)



The painting, below,hangs in The National Portrait Gallery.


Entitled 'Liverpool Poets', it was painted in 1985 by Peter Douglas Edwards.