Thursday 9 July 2009

An Eventful and Inspiring Week


The picture of my beautiful almond tree has inspired me to write up this post. The past week I have been busily teaching groups of well-motivated primary school teachers from around Europe. I have had a lot of fun and when appropriate, have been using technology in my sessions. I lacked confidence before but now, I am trying things out and the prospect of seeing my lesson materials on a huge screen at the University of Oxford Said Business School has really encouraged me to be adventurous. Of course, the prospect of failure in front of so many teachers is a bit scary but without experimenting, how would I learn?

A Visit to a Special Primary School
On Friday I went to Windmill Primary School for a guided tour with my teachers. It was a fantastic experience. The school is a very impressive place and the headteacher, Mrs Lynn Knapp, gave us a wonderful tour around the school and its facilities. We were all left amazed by the friendly and relaxed atmosphere. The children looked motivated and engaged in their various activities. There was a joyful and positive buzz around the school. The pupils seemed to be having great fun but at the same time were learning the essential core values such as respect, which is at the heart of what is taught across the curriculum. The abundant creativity which was all-pervading was a truly inspiring sight. Thank you very much Mrs Knapp and all the staff and pupils for welcoming us so warmly into your delightful school!

Respecting Values


My primary school days at Headington Quarry School in the 1960s were so different (no technology at all!) but yet so similar in terms of the morals and high standards which were imparted to us, especially by my headteacher Mr Reagan, who I will remember forever. ... We were also taught the values of respect, kindness, politeness, generosity towards our peers and elders. These have stood me in good stead throughout my life. Mr Reagan once told me "Janet-You can achieve whatever you want as long as you want to do it". How true his words were! Basically his words boiled down to "No desire, no gain". We are all of us capable of achieving our dreams, but we need to strive hard to reach the pinnacle of success.

12 comments:

popps said...

A good head teacher is really important,though when i was a pupil i don't think i understood that.

popps said...

I know you have seen this blog but this particular post seems to be something that would interest you.

http://kalinago.blogspot.com/2009/06/what-advice-would-you-like-to-give-new.html

Janet Bianchini said...

Thanks so much for thinking of me!

I actually wrote about this subject on 5th July on my blog but I can't seem to create a back link to it from here, like you have done in your comment post. Can you tell me how you do it?
Cheers!

popps said...

the way i did it, which might not be the "right"way is to start a new post, write the web address, highlight it, click on add link, then copy everything (the code etc) and paste it into the comments page.
If my instructions are not clear let me know.

Janet Bianchini said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Janet Bianchini said...

Thanks for your advice. I have followed what you said so here is the link...

http://civitaquana.blogspot.com/2009/07/blog-carnival-kalinago-english-advice.html

popps said...

Hmm, the link is not live so either my instructions are incorrect or you execution thereof.

Janet Bianchini said...

I believe my execution of the task must be incorrect...I tried everything but to no avail. Help!!

popps said...

Open a new post page
paste the link into it
highlight what is now on your post page
click on insert link icon
paste the same thing as before into the box that opens
click ok
on your blog post page there should now be the link surrounded by code
copy and paste all of this into the comments

http://civitaquana.blogspot.com/2009/07/blog-carnival-kalinago-english-advice.html

Janet Bianchini said...

Testing...testing!! Here is a link to my previous posting.

Fingers crossed!

http://civitaquana.blogspot.com/2009/07/blog-carnival-kalinago-english-advice.html

Janet Bianchini said...

It's worked! Allelullia!!

Popps-Thank you for enlightening me.

popps said...

There you go, easy.
I think the problem is that it is really difficult to write instructions that are infallible, and that allow for the different way we read them.
I tried following this recipe yesterday and ended up with pieces of puff pastry everywhere.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/mar/25/beetroot-goats-cheese-tart-recipe
Should there be two, four, one?
And where do they all end up?