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.