Creativity gone mad

It's funny how when you get enthusiatsic about something, you see so many more opportunities than before. For example, after talking to colleagues about how we could use gaming to inspire writing.



The Gaming Writing Club. I thought about how we could influence writing using games consoles. I thought back to when I was younger... How I used my old Atari, then my Spectrum 48K, then the Amiga, then SNES, then my PS2 and now the Xbox 360. I could pick out different times of my life simply by relating them to different games machines.

I though about how I could use Gaming technology to inspire children to write stories about the games. But in what context? Then I remembered when I was a child and I used to read a comic called Scream. It had an amazing story about a boy who played computer games and then actually lived the game and took part in the challenges which would mean life or death if he won or lost respectively. So could I bring that to school? And that's where the "cloud" precipitated forming snow which then "snowballed". Each week we would play games and then afterwards the children would take home books and then write an on going journal about how they lived in that game.

But I wanted more ....

How about if the chldren published their stories? No! What about if they kept an on line journal... a blog of their time in the club.

There lies my idea. Lets see how it goes.

Conception of an idea

It's funny how somethings snowball.  What started as a simple idea involving webcams has now turned into an amazing project involving web cams, blogging, websites and video.  

The initial idea was thus...   Focussing upon a small group of children, Mrs Gillings (year 1 teacher) would split the children and make a video involving one group dressed as aliens and the other dressed as astronauts and scientists.  

We had a brainstorming meeting to "flesh out" the idea and then POW!!!!  We came up with an immersion session with the alien group reading Beegu and the Human group reading Bob The Spaceman.  Then Fiona said why not blog?  Year 1's blogging????  Wow!  They can then write on line diaries of their interactions.   

Next day I was being asked continuosly abot the video projech which started last year...  But I simply didn't have the time....   Then over a ridiculously strong coffee it occured to me I can involve another group of older children who create videos and then prepare them for the younger children's blogs.  IN FACT!!!!   This idea is coming to me as I'm typing...

...Why not get the older children to work with the younger children when they are writing their blogs???

This the first stage in the development of the project.  And yes,  I am very excited!!!

Here's a picture of Samuel having a picnic in his pram in Bishops Stortford.

A new direction for my blog

A new direction?  A detour?  I don't know....

What I do know is this...

I am a teacher who wants to better.  I want to teach better...   more creatively...  more personally.  I want to get to know the children and understand where they are in their learning.  What do they think of it?  

I don't know where I'm going to go with this blog.  I might become this guru who people seek out for sage advice.  Alternatively I could end this blog really abruptly...  I don't know.  But here's where I want to start from... 

Oh and by the way, I'm still gonna include some lovely pictures of my family.  They're precious to me and my inspiration for me continuing with this.

I went to an Inset session where I openned my eyes to how we can be creative.  I thought about this afterwards and thought about how I was as a child.  I remembered when I was at school how I day dreamed a lot and how I sometimes sat on the side of the class on my own table.  That table... by the window... with the withering plant.  Then I thought about how I would often revise for exams by pacing around in my bedroom.  I then thought about how now when I am stressed I think (sometimes overthink) things through when I am standing or doing something.  I then questioned whether I was a kinesthetic learner.

During this creative session I was learnt that the best ideas often come from one stimulus.  My stimulus is the term the kinesthetic learner.

I'm going to start with a concept map to map my ideas.  I found this lovely software called Thoughtmuse.  It's free and visual andhopefully will help me to sort all the ideas that bumping into each other in my head.

So lets start off then...

And that's where I am going to stop.

By the way, here's a gorgeous picture of Samuel in the leaves at Audley End, Essex during half term.

First Blog

This is it! My first ever Blog. I'm not sure what I should be writing but I'm gonna start from basics...





I live in Essex and work in a school in London. I'm married to the ever lovely Nicki and have an amazing son called Samuel. What makes him amazing? He's so much better than any other 6 month old that I know. No he cant sit up yet... no he cant talk... but he has the cutest smile I have ever seen. As the ever lovely nicki once said "considering he came from me and you, he really is a lovely looking baby.

Not entirely sure why I'm doing this... I suppose as a diary which I can remember some of the things when I'm older, greyer and wearing ridiculously high trousers.