Jan
27

Inappropriate ways to ask if someone is pregnant – option 2

“Is there a bun in your oven?”

Oldie but goodie especially if the person you are asking actually cooks (though as Tom pointed out the only bun in my oven would have frosting and be cooked by him).

This classic line was suggested by Heidi who does actually cook lovely food – see for yourself at http://mamacook.blogspot.com

Jan
26

What does my badge tab tell you about me?

Clair shared her badge tab a wee while ago and it got me thinking about what can it tell someone about of your Guiding life? I think it can tell you a lot, so I thought I might share mine to prove my point. Straight off you can tell the section someone works with by the coloured band on the top – mine is the one for a Senior Section Leader. Then you have the badges, what do I value highest among my Guiding achievements and moments?

My tab has evolved with me as I’ve grown as a Leader. My original tab had four badges – my Leader promise badge, my Baden-Powell award, my Gold DofE award and either the World Badge or the Girlguiding Scotland badge depending on what I was doing. More recently I’ve worn the shiny gold centenary Girlguiding Scotland thank you pin (for my work towards SS100) and the Scottish Chief Guide thank you badge (for my work as Scottish DofE adviser,a post I finished back in 2010). However, only one of all these badges is still on my tab.

Starting top left  - my shiny for managing the camp and holiday scheme (albeit just for Senior Section/ Guide residentials), my centenary promise badge (I can only wear that till the end of the year and then I need to go back to the dark blue promise badge), my 10 years service pin, Pax Lodge promise pin and my Gold DofE award (the only one I also had on my first leader tab).

While they are perhaps not the most exciting mix it’s a good view of my Guiding life and the fun times I’ve had so far. Every time I wear it I remember the good times. From the stupidity that was the Lones residential (India themed chaos), the Pax Lodge Trip (7 adults, 3 days and lots and lots of laughter), my current role as DofE leader (my memories of working on the award and my term in the Scottish adviser post), the highs that I had in the centenary year (from 100+ people all singing Edelweiss in a restaurant at SS100 to seeing my God Daughter make her promise as a Rainbow) and of course my ten+ years of being a leader (starting with Guides, moving to Senior Section and now with the Senior Section Lones). All good memories full of laughter and friendship.

So I realise you might not get all of that but I reckon you’d get the gist of it just by looking and if nothing else it’s a handy conversation starter when you meet other leaders to ask about the badges you don’t recognise.

Jan
25

Library Promotional Badges

I’ve a passion for library promotion and a fondness for library pin badges from my past. When I came across a badge maker at school I seized the opportunity to make my own promotional badges (well that was the professional reason, the fun reason was simply who doesn’t want to make badges?). I opted for a few that I could wear to help promote a display theme;

Then I decided to do a jokey one based on a slogan I’d seen online;

and finally given my love of Dr.Who (and as David Tennant comes from the County of Scotland where my school is based) I went with the classic quote from the episode Tooth and Claw.

You want weapons? We’re in a library! Books! The best weapons in the world! This room’s the greatest arsenal we could have – arm yourselves! ”

I’ve discovered I have rather a lot of vintage library badges (I’ve a crafty plan for what to do with them so it’s not totally pointless) but since some of the slogans might inspire I’ve decided to blog one a week, every Sunday until I run out or I actually complete the crafty project.

Jan
24

Save money and read

The Times are running a series of pull outs called “How to give your child a private education without paying a penny.” Today the subject up for grabs is Secondary School English and it came as no shock that the way get a better education in English is to read.

Despite this obvious point (and one much laboured by English teachers and Librarians in all schools) the article had at least one interesting thing- the modern definition of an educated person. Apparently this is “someone who reads fiction before lunch“. On a personal note I might well be in danger here since fitting in my book before I start work would probably kill me (I really do need 7 or 8 hours sleep) – I do, however, read when I wake at weekends so perhaps that will count.

Clarissa Farr (a ‘High Mistress’ at one of the public schools in the article) said “There is no doubt that those students who gain most from the subject – and who do best at it- enjoy reading for its own sake.” In fact she makes a number of excellent points about having a wide reading list and using the texts in school as a jumping off point. I liked her quote:

“Reading is what helps to form us as people and the books we read at school, especially those we study in detail, remain part of our internal landscape for life.”

So true! The scars from reading ‘Death of a Salesman’ and ‘The Crucible’ by Arthur Miller will never be fully healed. I have clear memories of a few of the set texts we did including ‘Flowers for Algernon’ by Daniel Keyes (a depressing tale) and Romeo and Juliet (which I got to study 3 times! Meaning that even now I can quote chunks and I could almost regurgitate an exam answer).

Of course the most obvious point she makes is that your kids will read if you read,  telling them to won’t work if they see don’t see you read. I’d go further and suggest books should be part of the house, found in every room (I can totally tick that one). “But what books should we read?” cry those parents reading the article – fear not The Times provides two reading lists to help. One provided by author Alexander McCall Smith and the other the list of books that Clarissa Farr’s all girls school sends out as recommendations. I have two issues with these lists.

  1. The list from the school is meant for girls (it being a girls school) so what about those boys looking for something to read? (though a number of titles will work for either)
  2. McCall Smith’s list is 10 classic books and none date past 1960.

 

McCall Smith’s list is interesting reading in itself he suggests that the ’10 to read by 16′ are:

  1. Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
  2. Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
  3. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
  4. The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
  5. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
  6. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
  7. Short Stories by W. Somerset Maugham
  8. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
  9. Collected Shorter Poems by W.H. Auden
  10. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Of which I’ve read three, seen the movie version of three others. Perhaps my life is poorer for not having read them (I might still read them) but I can’t help but feel there are perhaps more interesting books to have read by 16. I don’t know what 10 books I’d choose and his picks are in the main as good as most. It is hard to suggest books everyone should read and not be swayed by the current popular titles but I’d argue that a few tweeks might make the list more useful to parents hungry for recommendations.

First off ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ is a much more enjoyable Shakespeare play to self study than ‘Merchant of Venice’, especially as an introduction to him without teacher support – the story is easy enough to follow and some of the banter is excellent.

If you are choosing only one poet Auden does have some excellent stuff including the famous ‘Funeral Blues’ (that the one that starts ”Stop all the Clocks”).  Though I’d probably suggest Roger McGough or John Hegley if they weren’t poetry readers to get them going.

I’m not totally sold that Tolstoy and Maugham are essential reading in life, having never read either I think I’m doing ok. (Though what do I know, maybe if I’d read them before 16, I’d be waking up at dawn to get in some fiction reading before work). What I do know is that the list is missing any fantasy or Science Fiction work and while I dare say Tolstoy is a good meaty choice, I’d replace Maugham with the likes of 1984 by George Orwell or ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ by Douglas Adams or ‘The Hobbit’ by J.R.R.Tolkein depending on how serious they wanted to be.

The comment is made in the article that “reading should be enjoyable, so book choice should reflect not just ability, but also interests.” Yet the reading lists are full of worthy titles that aren’t the best in the cannon of work by that author or ones the young people might have heard of. For instance they suggest ‘The Magician’s Nephew’ by C.S.Lewis rather than the much more readable ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’. I’d argue if introducing them to an author choosing one to get them hooked would surely make more sense.  Certainly if they read all 31 titles suggested in the school’s list they will have a varied read though I’d be surprised if many teenage boys found many of the titles ‘interesting’. (It shouldn’t be a surprise that boys aren’t the intended audience).

On the upside for those parents looking to get recommendations for their teenagers there is one sure fire way to get persoanlised reading recommendations without parting with cash – by hitting the school library (or local one for that matter) and asking a librarian for help. How much cheaper can you get than borrowing the books and getting free advice from a professional who’s job it is to know all about teen reading? Shame the article never managed to mention that as a way to improve your education without paying a penny.

 

Jan
23

Faeries Don’t Believe in Humans Either

The fairy image came from Twinkl (a primary school resource site) printed off. We then taped a simple folded card concertina to the back to make them a bit more 3D. The fairy wings came simply by printing the image out (I used this one from Drawbot) on coloured paper and mounting some coloured card.

 

Jan
18

Inappropriate ways to ask if someone is pregnant – option 1

“Is there a bat in your cave?”

Appropriate for bat lovers or Batman (and of course Batgirl) lovers.
(thanks Clair)

Jan
15

Hoxton Street Monster Supplies

All parcels are exciting but few were as great as this one from Hoxton Street Monster Supplies.

For starters there are all the stamps around the outside;

(Do Not Expose To Holy Water)

But the best stamp was this one

I really wish the ‘Flying Monkey Tracking Service’ was real.

So the outside was pretty damn exciting. The inside didn’t disappoint;

It was cursed with bad luck;

and as I lifted out the packing I gave out a scream as a cockroach dropped out the pile. Underneath was the stuff I’d ordered - Creeping Dread and Zombie Fresh Mints! Absolute genius.

Jan
11

Bowtie

There was one other piece of festive crafting – a bow-tie for my hubby. He wore it with pride at his works night out, Christmas dinner and New Year’s Day. He won’t however let me publish a photo of himself in it (don’t know why I think he looked great) so instead I can just share this bow-tie close up.

The pattern came from Martha Stewart but something I didn’t think about when I started was that one size won’t fit all as guys necks aren’t all the same size. So having made a lovely perfect bow-tie I had to cut it in half and insert an extra length of fabric! So that is something worth checking on before sewing.

Jan
10

CPD23 – Thing 23!

So I’ve finally got to writing up Thing 23 – reflection – what next? To sum it up in six words – Exploration develops renewed passion for librarianship.

It has been an interesting journey and one that has provided me with lots of ideas, resources and food for thought. I’ve a few things I am now doing, a few I’m still doing and some I’ll be saving for later (or possibly the right query). I think the next step is integrating this stuff into what I do and applying my newly acquired knowledge and skills. For instance the podcasting I enjoyed back in Thing 18.

I’ve done a second podcast – 5 min appears to be about the max I can talk for before the file is too big. I’ve started hosting them on one of my Glow blogs (that Scottish Schools network thing). I created this blog last year, decided not to use (as it couldn’t import my blogger library blog) but couldn’t seem to delete the damned thing. Anyway it’s all worked out as now I have a wordpress blog I can use that isn’t my personal blog so that’s a win.

The latest podcast is all about banned books as that is the current external display. I’m thinking podcasts linked to the external display is probably a good way to go as I do them monthly so that’ll fit together nicely.

As for a personal development plan – that is part of my job anyway. We do an annual plan and mine closely links with the library development needs. I find my CPD plan tends to focus on the bits of the job I want to develop or the school wants me to develop. I’m not going to share it (most of it is rather dull) but this years did include increased ICT use in the library and learning to make better use of my SMART board. I think I can tick the ICT development but the SMART board is still on the cpd list (maybe the Easter holidays will provide a chance). I also think development of my teaching skills is the next logical step in my school librarian CPD. As a school librarian I do find myself ‘teaching’ a lot despite this not being part of my training, so improving this aspect of my work will hopefully provide new inspiration for lessons and a better understanding for the pupils learning styles etc.

So that’s CPD23 done, finished, completed. Now why didn’t they make a badge for that?

Jan
08

Orkney Library Visit

So what is a holiday without a quick trip to a library? I’m like a homing pigeon for the things and our latest Orkney trip was no different. You might be familiar with Orkney Library thanks to the very amusing Orkney Library and Archive facebook and twitter feed.

The library is a new build and is really lovelyThe inside was light and open feeling despite the fact that it was quite a small library compared to what I have locally (least in terms of main book stock).

What it did have was a self service issue desk! I would love one of these for the school library but like a fingerprint scanner the budget will never stretch.

Something they did have that I could add to the library was a book of the day (I’ve seen these posh display stands before they are done by Opening the Book Furniture). Alas the official units are a bit out of my price range but I do have some more basic ways I could make this happen. What I did like was that the humour that I love about the twitter feed was present in the book selection.

A book of hangover cures seems very appropriate for just after New Year :)

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