Reading as a subversive activity.

Schoolchildren 'failing to read books' - Telegraph  27th March 2010

Best-selling author Alan Gibbons joined the NUT in speaking against the trend to deal in extracts rather than whole texts.

Speaking before the conference, he said: “Schools use extracts to spot the metaphor or the simile, instead of allowing children to read whole books.


“We have seen a real increase in the technical dismantling of literature with the specific aim of hitting targets and doing well in exams.”
He added: “One of my daughters came home to tell me she was doing Great Expectations as part of her GCSEs.
“It turned out that all they were doing was reading chapter one, when the character Magwitch first appears, and then skipping to chapter 39, when he reappears, to compare the two scenes.Speaking before the conference, he said: “Schools use extracts to spot the metaphor or the simile, instead of allowing children to read whole books.

It is a frustratingly familiar picture. Pressures on teachers to fit so much into the year, and a climate in which having students 'merely reading' could be criticised as a lesson  lacking  in 'pace', having insufficient differentiation, a lack of activity or insufficient interaction is making sustained reading a subversive activity. Think I joking?  It would be a brave teacher who included a  period of sustained reading in a Performance Management or Ofsted observation.

First reactions Blogger vs Posterous

Yesterday's training session was a first introduction to blogging for a few people. I was there to see how this compared with Posterous. I must say that I like the look of Blogger, and there seems to be a good amount of flexibility in settings, appearances and control. Like everything else, the first few minutes become a little disorientating (made more so by doing the session using unfamiliar Macs) but the basics seem very straight forward. Will I transfer from Posterous? Too early to tell. For now I think I'll add this on as well with a different focus to give myself time to understand it.

So how easy is it to add media?

Let's start with an image:
What about embedding something?

From tiny acorns

S3atlarge was the original blog devoted to applications of new technology for the classroom. This one is intended to look at productivity and methodology.