Theatre review

‘Loving April’ by Melvin Burgess, was published in September 1996. It is currently available at Amazon from £0.01 upwards. Giles Croft adapted the novel for the Oxfordshire Theatre Company who are currently on tour. I saw the 2 hour play at Chipping Norton Theatre on March 23rd.

‘Loving April’ stars Sarah Thomas-Lane (Outside Edge, Cat and No Mouse, The Emperors Clothes) as April, a deaf and dumb girl who is mistreated by boys in her village. This ‘mistreatment’ includes sexual abuse (including rape). It doesn’t matter that April can just about make noise – no-one is listening. Brilliantly played by Sarah, the pathos, the humiliation, the sadness is conveyed to the audience. In the final few seconds we even suspect that the tears shown by April are also the tears of the actress playing her, such is her commitment to the role.

To counter-balance April we have Tony, the rich boy. Admirably played by Daniel Naddafy (Snow Dragon, A Tourists Guide to Terrorism) we meet someone else who needs a friend.

But a friend from the same class, not the daughter of a char-lady.

As their relationship deepens so do prejudices surface until finally……no, I’ll not say any more.

Go and see the play – wherever and whenever you can. Read the book, immerse yourself in the story. Experience the strict social setting, imagine the beauty of April’s swan and feel repulsed by the attitude of some of the characters played by Jack Hughes (Stovepipe, Easy Virtue) and Tracey-Anne Liles (Und, Hanako, 4:48 Psychosis.)

Special praise too, to Helen Barford (Salome, ad campaigns for Tesco and Actimel) as Mrs Piggott.




Using this play as a yardstick, also go and watch Vertigo and Handful of Henna.

Distorted Mirror

It's called Reflections in a Distorted Mirror.


FRIDAY NIGHT!

THIS WEEK

You should all go to the Oxford Fringe!

Here is the site.....





These are the plays I am going to:

The Big Bite-Size Soirée

The Big Bite-Size Soirée

Reflections in a Distorting Mirror

What is the truth about Wikipedia?

Teaching Higher Order thinking

It's one thing for educators to teach to tests that offer learners certification that proves they've mastered key facts and concepts that panels of experts deem necessary for an 'educated' person to know.

It's another thing altogether to help learners exploit their native curiosity and continuously improve their higher order thinking so they are able to solve the endless stream of complex problems that everyday life delivers. It's true, as Tony Karreer says, life is mostly an open book test.

For many years, Bloom's Taxonomy has offered teachers and learners some useful distinctions that help break down complex tasks into structured learning experiences that allow people to build on their success.

The early taxonomy began with knowledge, understanding, and application as lower level skills and cast higher level skills as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

However, getting learners engaged - and keeping them engaged - in the increasingly busy and 'noisy' information environment of the 21st century seems to be presenting new challenges.

In 2001, Anderson and Krathwohl adapted Bloom's model to fit the needs of today by employing more outcome-oriented language, workable objectives, and changing nouns to active verbs.

Most notably, knowledge was converted to remember. In addition, the highest level of development is now called create, rather than evaluate.

Recently, Barbara Clark (2007) provided an adaptation of Bloom's work to facilitate active learning.

This circle is called the Cognitive Taxonomy Circle:




I find Clark's tool useful when I need to respond to learners' needs directly, actively, and specifically. I use it to help me meet learners of all ages - and all abilities - where they are in their personal inquiry, not where I am, or where I think they ought to be.

When I'm able to do this, engagement seems to take care of itself.

Konrad's homework

A Farmer – let’s call him ‘Farmer Richard from Germany’ is concerned about his prize cow, Doris. He is worried – the good times may be over.

“Alles hat ein Ende, nur die Wurst hat zwei.” He thinks.

He is so concerned that when his dairyman tells him that Doris is in the field, happily grazing, he says he needs to know for certain. He doesn't want just to have a 99 per cent idea that Doris is safe, he wants to be able to say that he knows Doris is okay.

Farmer Richard (from Germany) goes out to the field and standing by the gate sees in the distance, behind some trees, a white and black shape that he recognises as his favourite cow. He goes back to the dairy and tells his friend that he knows Doris is in the field.

At this point, does Farmer Richard really know it?

The dairyman says he will check too, and goes to the field. There he finds Doris, having a nap in a hollow, behind a bush, well out of sight of the gate. He also spots a large piece of black and white paper that has got caught in a tree.

Doris is in the field, as Farmer Richard thought.

But was he right to say that he knew she was?

Karma

What have these three got in common?

TWO OF THEM did extra essays for me - which I marked.

The other one did a daily blog.

So what did they all do?



WHAT THEY WERE TOLD TO DO.

And they all got grade A !

Only one other person got grade A - and he taught Economics!

Ten Days Out

1. Lunch in Madrid
Same day return flights from London Stansted to Madrid with Ryanair cost £32.48 in mid-May, giving about four hours in the city from noon. That should leave enough time and Euros for a lunch in the Plaza Mayor, plus some shopping or a look at the highlights of the Prado (pictured), one of the world's great galleries

2. Luxury in London
In London, your money will stretch to breakfast at The Wolseley (full English and a double espresso, £17), an exhibition such as Painting History: Delaroche and Lady Jane Grey at the National Gallery (adults, £8), a snack lunch, afternoon tea at The Ritz (£38) and supper at Zilli Green in Soho (about £25)

3. Spa day in Bath
Visit Bath's Spas Ancient and Modern package gives you a two-hour session at the Thermae Bath Spa, a ticket to the original Roman baths and a three-course lunch at the Pump Room for £59. Throw in a cream tea at The Royal Crescent Hotel (£12.50) and advance return train fares from London (£19)

4. Parisian chic
Return tickets from London St Pancras to Paris on Eurostar start at £69. Arrive late morning to wander from the station to the Latin Quarter for a "prix-fixe" lunch (about 15 Euros, with wine). Then catch an exhibition such as Yves Saint-Laurent: 40 years in the making at the Musee des Beaux Arts (11 Euros)

5. Cool Berlin
You can buy return flights from London Luton to the German capital in mid-April for less than £50 with Easyjet. Either take a full day to explore the city (with Libeskind's Jewish Museum a must) or arrive mid-afternoon for a cheap supper and a shabby-cool night out in Mitte before crashing at a hostel

6. Dublin's fair city
With a bit of notice, you should be able to find day return flights from London to Dublin with the budget airlines for about £30 to £60. Spend the day in the Georgian city centre or take a tour into Co. Wicklow to visit the ancient monastery of Glendalough (up to £30) in its spectacular lakeside setting

7. The Thames Valley
Return train fares from London Paddington to Henley start at about £26. Take a five-mile cab journey from the station to have lunch at The Crooked Billet (about £40), rated one of the country's best and most scenic country pubs. Return to Henley to explore and have tea at one of the riverside tea rooms (about £10)

8. Foodie Whitstable
Head to Whistable on the Kent coast (Return rail fares from London Victoria from about £25), where the Michelin-starred The Sportsman has a £55 nine-course lunch tasting menu. Walk that off on the beach before having half a dozen Whitstable oysters straight at the historic Wheelers Oyster Bar for £4.25

9. A castle in Krakow
Return flights from London Stansted to Krakow with Ryanair start at about £50 in mid-summer and allow for a full day in Poland's old royal capital. On arrival, you should head straight to Wawel castle (17 Zloty; £4) to beat the queues. Then on to the old town and Jewish quarter for lunch and an afternoon wander

10. Stately Norfolk
Take a train from London King's Cross to King's Lynn (£36.50 return), then a Norfolk Coasthopper bus on to Holkham (£5.90 return). Enjoy lunch at The Victoria (about £20) before visiting Holkham Hall (£11), considered one of the England's finest stately homes. Spend any extra time on Holkham's vast beach

Lex!

http://www.tutor2u.net/blog/index.php/business-studies/comments/buss4-toolkit-june-2010-publication-date-update/?utm_source=MailingList&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Business+BUSS4+Update

?

£90 book for free

Check amazon....

...then download for free...

Advice from the Conservatives

Exercise

..it's a myth...

Targets

This may be interesting for maths students.

This is a target to beat - especially for Oxbridge applicants!

Watch this

Jamy Ian Swiss at Gel 2009 from Gel Conference on Vimeo.

The winners St Clements!

Latest developments

This might appeal to some...

Born to Hope

Social Enterprise

Worth Watching!

NLP

Serious students should do this

Innocents

Warning

WARNING.....

Free economics worksheets etc

A2 and AS....

Best teachers in films

In life, there are good teachers and bad ones. The same goes for the movies. After all, there’s no comparison between Robert Donat’s exquisite Mr Chips and Paul Gleason’s boorish Mr Vernon, the principal, and Saturday detention setter, in the Breakfast Club.

But who is the most inspirational teacher you've seen on the big screen, and which teachers from the movies would you actually like your children to be taught by? Here’s the School Gate top 15.

1) Charles (Mr Chips) Chipping in Goodbye Mr Chips
The original, and the best. Robert Donat’s Oscar-winning performance (he beat Clark Gable for Gone With The Wind) portrays a teacher who learns so much through teaching generations of boys. As the years pass, they become his family.

2) Glenn Holland (Richard Dreyfuss) in Mr Holland’s Opus.
Somehow even thirty years of band practice doesn’t detract from the truly special teacher Mr Holland turns out to be. We still get a tear in our eye during this one.
Watch his first band practice.

3) Mark Thackeray (Sidney Poitier) in To Sir with Love
This teacher makes a different not just in the classroom but to his pupils’ personal lives too. A brilliant performance by Sidney Poitier.
Watch this emotional clip, as Sir is serenaded (by Lulu, no less).

4) Remus Lupin (David Thewlis) in Harry Potter
Yes, he does turn out to be a werewolf, which is not always the biggest plus point when it comes to the classroom, but this defence of the dark arts teacher is brave and brilliant.
Watch this Lupin tribute.

5) Annie Sullivan (Anne Bancroft) in The Miracle Worker
Sometimes tough love works.
Watch the final scene when Helen speaks and understands. It's remarkable.

6) Louanne Johnson (Michelle Pfeiffer) in Dangerous Minds
This English teacher takes on a tough inner-city school and proves a huge success.
Watch a clip.

7) Dewey Finn (Jack Black) in School of Rock
He may not actually be a proper teacher, but the kids wouldn't complain. And lessons would be so much fun.
Watch a clip.

8) John Keating (Robin Williams) in Dead Poet’s Society
Yes, Robin Williams can be incredibly annoying, but in this Oscar-nominated performance as an out of the ordinary English teacher, he’s also incredibly inspiring – except to the school’s staff, who sack him!
Watch a clip.

9) Jaime Escalante (Edward James Olmos) in Stand and Deliver
Now this is teaching. Jaime Escalante aims high and gets his apparently hopeless bunch of students to understand maths for the first time.
Watch the "What's calculus?" clip.

10) Richard Dadier (Glenn Ford) in the Blackboard Jungle
The magnificent Glenn Ford plays yet another English teacher. This one finds his ideals challenged when he joins a rough school. Eventually he earns the respect of the juvenile delinquents he's supposed to be teaching. A great film with excellent performances (including a young Sidney Poitier).
Watch a clip of Ford meeting Poitier

11) Rosemary Cross (Olivia Williams) in Rushmore
Williams is a delightful first-grade teacher, and an insightful friend too. It's easy to see why anyone would have a crush on her...
Watch an uncomfortable dinner date.

12) Yoda (Frank Oz) in the Star Wars films.
The greatest teacher of all time? Possibly. Decide you if is he.
Watch a clip of some Yoda fight scenes.

13) John Kimble (Arnold Schwarzenneger) in Kindergarten Kop
You're right, this shouldn't work, but somehow Arnie's performance as an undercover cop working in a pre-school does. Perhaps it's the kids and the way Arnie interacts with them, while showing his softer, comedic side.
Watch a clip from the film.

14) Professor Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgard) in Good Will Hunting
Lambeau goes beyond the call of duty to help Will (Matt Damon) discover his fantastic mathematic ability.
Watch a clip.

15) Paul Verrall (William Holden) in Born Yesterday
The magnificent Holden is the journalist brought into tutor dumb blonde Judy Holliday. They get on so well, that Holliday turns out not to be quite so dumb after all.
Watch a clip.