America
‘2020 Vision’ or ‘America (with due and profuse apologies to Ginsberg)’. A Personal Perspective…. America, have you not had enough time? America, why, after a full three years and then some, have you yet to come even remotely close to your senses? When will your ‘2020 vision’ kick in so you can look your unpalatable, wind-sown truth full in the face and see it for what it is, warts and all while we the world over are reaping your whirlwind? Will it take an even more sad and shoddy, second session to tell the tale, to learn the lamentable lesson? America; once he was a joke (even for you and you know it in your heart of hurts),...
Teacher’s Revenge!
In an article on this site more than ten years dated now, I wrote about some of the teachers who dramatically affected my learning, my life and may career…. I now find that I need to update this in the light of current events. The eyes, by the way, are my eldest daughter’s … another teacher…. my mum, me, her….. First of all, I have been looking to find details of my old German teacher from school some 40-odd years ago: one Maurice Gent. I haven’t found any. Not too much of a surprise as he must have been about 40 when he was teaching us – he’d be well into his 80s by now if he is...
Common Sense
OK, that’s my Mum in her 20s I guess – she came loaded with more ‘Common Sense’ than anyone has a right to have. I’d like to think that she passed some of that on to me – but that’s for you to judge! I read an article this morning on the BBC News website where Professor Richard Betts of the Met Office Hadley Centre was commenting upon the dramatic Australian bushfires and suggesting that, with a 3°C warming, this sort of thing may become less exceptional and more commonplace. In relation to why this might be so, researchers suggest that natural weather patterns are the underlying cause, but that it was ‘common sense‘ that ‘human-induced heating...
Chances of Avoiding BREXIT
Copie Blanche
Why no photo? Why the white space above???? Q. Why is the title in French? A. Because in English it doesn’t exist… OK, I’ll get to the point…. You have no idea (unless you are a prof) quite how much pain one feels to be invigilating a resit exam (where students are being given a second chance to pass) and to see, in some cases, half of the students not bother to turn up and to discover that, of the half seated before you, 50% have not the slightest intention of writing more than their name on the attendance sheet and exam paper (so as not to be disqualified from receiving the grant award, I...
Inspirational Video Clips
OK, the picture is inspirational, but only really for me and my wife, as it is a Tuscan view from our honeymoon hotel …. but there is a connection in the sense that over a few years I have found myself showing or referring to the same brilliant, short, subtitled videos in class or with colleagues. So I thought it about time I started a list of them together for easy access. Due thanks too, to the students who have sometimes recommended video clips to me…. Education: what’s wrong with it (it kills creativity in the young) and what we should do about it… Videos by Ken Robinson Do schools kill creativity? (Over 50 million views –...
About Me
Here is the link to my professional site personal profile if you are that desperate to know a bit about me, my career and life and thoughts in general! Surprising how many actually read it!