School Theft

I've found school swap really valuable as it has put me in touch with things again and given me a bit of a boost. Sometimes you only end up looking at the details of things and don't get too see the wider picture - I think that visiting all the schools and seeing all the work has really made me reflect on how far everybody has moved in the last 3 years. This is on every level but the most interesting and exciting level is teachers and pupils engageing with the program in a meaninful way. Plus it's been great to work with a small group of students in a focussed way and they have all been great. From Elliots story of having to taste rhubarb to Reese asking mr Wood how old he was.

How Do I Follow That?

Not sure how I follow Steve's last entry...

The tree and its carving brought me up short - this was not what I was expecting! It made me think about how quickly I get whisked up in the 'getting things done mode' and often forget the value of thinking and reflecting space - a good reminder for me: that is where my most creative ideas take root. I suppose if School Swap can make us look at things again and differently, challenge our perception of how things might be done and offer the opportunity for friendship and fun then we are onto a good thing.

Not much else to say now but will post again when new developments with the School Swap Project arise.

Blogging

So how do we make a blog work as a reflection tool. The problem is not everybody would think to use them. When I first got invited to join a Blog I had to pretend I new what one was as I'd not even heared of them. They are however very interesting as they are a bit like a shared dairey and people can make comments which are more general and rounderbouty. I think there is a real misconception that we come up with the best ideas if we are clear and focussed about what we aim to achieve when if we are honest it's the idea that pops into our heads from a percieved nowhere which are often the best. Anyway as I'm pretty sure most people won't read this I thought I'd Stick in a Photo of some carving on a tree we found while walking the dog in the woods near Cob castle. It had a big impact on all of us especially the kids and I thought that they learnt so much talking about it and imagining stories about how it got to be there - they owned the experience so were able to build on it - I don't think this relates to school swap or maybe it does as first hand experience of something in context is very different to learning about something in the abstract.

1914-1918

We the dead

Short days have lived

Felt dawns

And watched

sunsets glow

School Swap

Welcome to the school swap BLOG I'm not sure whether this will work at all and because non of us have any time I think it probably will not but I thought it may be a good thing to do anyway - we can make it so only invited people can post but it's a public site so no images of children from any of the schools please. I thought that the site may become a bit more useful when the rest of the visits get up and running. If your interested and not used to using a Blog I suggest a quick check once every couple of weeks can make it a useful forum for sharing thinking - it's also good to look back on at the end of a project