I suppose there is something to be said for
the computer in education.
The kiddiewinks are now all in front of
their machines and tapping away with two, or sometimes daringly more fingers
getting their thoughts down on paper. I
am not sure that there is any planning about what they are doing but they are
relatively quiet and that, considering that we live in an imperfect world, is
all that matters. Especially on an
overcast day when there is no gleam of healing sunshine to make things look
positive.
The rain has now set in and Barcelona has
disappeared under a soft white gauze of wetness. The soft slap of water spilling from clogged
pipes is surrounded by the pizzicato of falling raindrops splashing onto the
tiled terrace – and I’m pissed off with it all!
We have had too much of this (perfectly seasonal) rain and I want it to
stop and I want summer here now. If not
sooner.
How can I salvage something out of the
wreckage of my Essay if I am constantly staring morosely out of the window and
not seeing sun? And the days are ticking
down to the cut off time. Still a week
left, and I can concentrate a little more now that the sets of examination
marking are out of the way.
The rain has continued relentlessly all day
and we have been accompanied by gurgles and tricklings and splashes wherever we
have gone. Traipsing from building to
building has been a very unpleasant experience hopping inexpertly from puddle
to puddle and hoping that my recent assiduous polishing of my shoes has made
them truly waterproof.
Today was the day of the start of the
Credit of Synthesis in which various connected projects are loosed on the kids
and they work in groups to get their various tasks done. I was hurriedly drafted in to take the first
lesson for one group mainly because they were using material that I had written
last year. This was from a unit of work
on the concept of the Hero.
I have to say that I rather enjoyed the
lesson and found revisiting the old stuff stimulating. The kids had to research a list of names and
then give them a mark for how heroic they thought they were – and most
importantly be able to justify their judgements.
There were a few glitches. Typing the name Jason into the computers did
not lead with information about the Classical Jason, he of the Golden Fleece,
but rather the Jason from a slasher horror movie! Similarly Jesse James appears to be some sort
of sports star rather than the infamous Western outlaw!
The project based learning will go on for
the rest of the week and next and will end up with the kids giving
presentations in their groups of what they have learned during the week. All good clean fun which should take us up to
the end of term and the start of the Easter holidays and a long awaited rest!
January, when I came back after Christmas
seems an awfully long way back in distant history and June seems equally
distant in terms of the future! But it
will come round soon enough and I will be truly retired at last! Hooray!
Meanwhile, I will do the referencing work
on The Essay this evening and attempt some restructuring.
And try not to think about the rain.
At all.
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