In the well

Just discovered that my great-great-great grandfather died when he fell down a well and drowned.
Didn’t expect that – but then , don’t suppose he did either.

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Day 2 – High Blantyre Viaduct

What started me off on this hunt? Can’t remember exactly. I think I was trying to find out where the Calderwood Castle railway station had been, saw an amazing photo of a viaduct in Blantyre (which I can’t find now), and that got me researching. This is only a couple of miles away from where I grew up.
Spoke [...]

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What I’m reading

Hi, I’m Jen and I have a reading problem.
Nothing fictional appeals to me. I can’t find anything decent, nothing I can sink my teeth into.
Am I asking too much to want every book I read to be excellent, exciting and encourage my mind to wander in new directions? I don’t think so. But more and more [...]

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A day in the worklife: period 1: mindmapping

Sometimes the most innocuous comment gives you a gentle nudge to look again at your most familiar work.  Like, mindmaps. I love mindmaps. They match my grasshopper brain and help keep its output under some kind of control. Lots of people don’t love mindmaps. And yet, when I show pupils how to put a mindmap together, very few seem [...]

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The Single Shelf Inspection

Tried out an idea with a couple of classes this week, following on from the previous Random Books idea. A common problem in the library is to actually persuade pupils to look at a book in some depth.
So, to introduce the Single Shelf Inspection, I first mimed a person in the library: tilt head to one side; slow walk [...]

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How random!

Tried out an experiment this week. Talked to classes about how stressful it can be to walk into a bookshop or library specifically to find a book that I can read and enjoy. Expected amazement ensued, but they agreed. So I asked them to choose a book they hadn’t read which would then be passed on [...]

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Herring at Dunfermline

Excellent training with James Herring today. Fun on two counts: firstly, I know about and am using lots of what he was talking about. Therefore I felt quietly smug (on the inside) but got to help lots of folks who haven’t delved yet. Can’t help helping – it’s like breathing. More importantly,  James provided a lot [...]

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Terror and the Cake Fairy

Did my good deed on Monday night, delivering birthday cake around darkest Lanarkshire, leaving friends about 11.30 to head home. Travelling along the Clyde Valley I get that horrible feeling: there’s something behind me…
(Not behind me inside the car you understand, but following me on the road. I hate it when that happens.)
~Don’t be daft, [...]

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Opening my eyes

Back at uni this week, and a session on specific learning difficulties.
I found out what certain kinds of hearing impairment sound like, which really opened my eyes (if you’ll pardon the mixed metaphor). I discovered, through wearing adapted glasses, that tunnel vision is extremely scary. While I could still see, and still read, [...]

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It all starts with a railing

Started off with a fabulous presentation by the Heritage Education Forum along with a fabulous inspirer of young minds, Mairi MacIver, and some of the minds in question (I am always in awe of kids speaking at the Festival.)
Taking a simple concept and developing it into a cross-curricular extravaganza is my bread and butter – except [...]

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