100WCGU #88 – eighteen year old promises

This week, the 100 word challenge was …parting is such sweet sorrow…

Thinking about the time of year, y11 and Y13 students going off into the world it seemed appropriate

***

and parting is such sweet sorrow

how could we stay after all that had gone before

and how could we go knowing all that was still to happen.

 

but part we must

the sorry moment was helping no one.

 

too many tears, too many fond goodbyes

knowing, deep down, that we were making promises

which could only be broken.

 

‘keep in touch’, ‘see you soon’

‘best friends for always’, ‘be there for you’.

 

once we’d gone our separate ways

all that remained was a year book, a shirt with messages on

a phone number.

 

and at Christmas we’d pass on the street like near strangers

STEM session 5 – naming parts of a plane

We had out last school based visit from our STEM ambassador today.

Building on all the work that we’ve been doing on flight, including how wings work, forces and the distances involved in travelling at great speed as well as making and flying paper aircraft, today we put together our own (plastic) planes and had to name the various parts.

Ken had prepared labels and is finally getting to grips with the low level of ability of our pupils. They tried hard with reading some very challenging words, and with the use of the models we were all able to name some parts of the plane and ‘fly’ it, showing what technical terms such as pitch, yaw and banking actually look like.

He’s now set us two challenges. The first is to complete a wall display about everything that we’ve learned over the year. We’ve started one and just need to add to it for this final session. The other is for me to work out which of the bits we’ve learned we are going to recap on when we go to the Air Museum down the road from school at the end of term.

It’s amazing how quickly an hour long session goes when you’re all engaged in what is happening!

Mr Gove

Paul Bernal's Blog

Mr Gove was extraordinarily arrogant.

Painfully arrogant.

He believed that he knew how everything should be done. He believed that everyone else in the world was stupid and ignorant.

The problem was, Mr Gove himself was the one who was ignorant.

He got most of his information from his own, misty, memory.

He thought he remembered what it had been like when he had been at school – and assumed that everyone else’s school should be the same.

He remembered the good things about his own school days, and thought that everyone should have the same.

He remembered the bad things about his own school days, and thought that it hadn’t done him any harm – and that other children should suffer the way that he had.

He got other information by reading newspapers.

The problem was, he read the wrong newspapers.

He read the ones that told stories that…

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Favourite or RT? That is the question.

cherrylkd

I’m a little alarmed! I fear that twitter may be losing its power for CPD! I say this with some dismay. I shall explain.

Yesterday I posted a Social Media Policy for my school on twitter. I posted it on my school account rather than my personal account. I did this because the school is named and I’m not allowed to name my school on my personal account. The newly composed policy forbids it. All was well. I was hoping for RT and most importantly comments. I hoped that some people would add to the ideas and tell me things I hadn’t thought of.

I sat back and waited. Most of the people who would read it are not the readers of this post. The followers on my school account are a different set of teachers to all of you. The post was favourited over 20 times by different schools…

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100WCGU Week #87

This week’s challenge was ‘…the hairs on my arms stood up…’

Sometimes, I scare myself with my writing!

***

The hairs on my arms stood up. There he was, walking into the room. It was years since I’d seen him, since that misunderstanding, since I’d said no and he’d heard yes. My blood ran cold and I shivered as if someone had walked over my grave.

I had two choices. I could turn and leave and let him spoil an otherwise amazing day, or I could face him, and lay that particular ghost to rest. He noticed me, and raised his eyebrows in greeting, the way he always had. He was heading my way. Heart pounding, I turned. Ran. Today was not the day for confrontation.