Wednesday at the Barbican

On Wednesday night, I will be at the Barbican in the evening for a concert by Pat Metheny which promises to be a one-off evening: for a start it's the only UK date for Pat, and for the other, it features him with his ORCHESTRION.

The Value of Nothing...

Image by Alan Parkinson - Kraft Creme Eggs ?

I spent part of today finishing off the redrafting of an article on FOOD for the Summer 2010 issue of 'Geography', following some comments from a peer review.
Thanks to Professor Peter Jackson from Sheffield University, I think it turned out OK in the end.

One of the resources I used for my article is a book by Raj Patel called: "Stuffed and Starved".

Raj's new book is also of value to geographers... Here's a little preview video for "The Value of Nothing"....



Follow the links from here to other videos featuring Raj Patel...

The Geography Collective at the Education Show

Check out this radical seminar at the Education Show in March.

Features Dan Ellison and David Rogers from the GEOGRAPHY COLLECTIVE.

Not sure what my plans are for the end of that week, but will try to make it...

Also worth noting that the GEOGRAPHY COLLECTIVE will be at the GA CONFERENCE too !!

Quality Geography Conferences - March 2010

Bookings are being taken for these events, which take place in March 2010
They are suitable for KS1, 2 and 3

There are 2 events

A keynote lecture will be given by Leszek Iwaskow, who will provide an OFSTED / HMI perspective of what is meant by "quality geography", followed by phase-specific workshops led by GA staff members who are responsible for the Primary and Secondary Geography Quality Marks.

ONLINE BOOKING is available, or you can contact Lucy Oxley at the GA on 01142960088

Growth isn't possible

A new report by the New Economics Foundation has been released.

It's called "Growth isn't possible"

Like all the other NEF reports it offers some intriguing food for thought...

What do we hope that learners are saying ?

Image by Alan Parkinson (taken on an iPhone don't you know...)

Post - it notes were used by John Lyon in our recent Regional Geography Conferences - the last of these for the time being will be held in Sheffield on the 9th of February.

One of the sessions asked the teachers who attended to suggest what they hoped that students would be saying as they left their geography lessons, or what they might be saying to each other.

These are the responses that we had from delegates at the London conference, as promised...

I can't wait till next lesson

That was fun

I can't wait to tell my parents what I learnt...

Guess what we learnt today in Geography ?

What can I do next ?

I love Google Earth

..that explains what I saw when I went to...

That was fantastic !

I want to go home and look at that web page

STIMULATING

Is that the bell already ?

I want to visit (place...)

IMPORTANT

RELEVANT

TAKING THINGS FORWARD

OPEN MY EYES

I'd like to go there one day...

Awesome !

Well I never knew that !

I want to do GEOGRAPHY

I hope I can make a difference to the world in a small way

..that links to what we were doing in Geography today...

Do I have to go to maths ?

TAUGHT ME SOMETHING NEW (SKILL)

WOW! I want more of that...

I want that app too !

I never realised that...

I get it now !

No ice in mine please...

I was intrigued by this BBC NEWS REPORT that Shackleton's whisky stash has been retrieved.

When teaching, we used to have a SHACKLETON SOCIETY, and I have a suitable bookshelf stuffed with polar tomes, and books on Tom Crean, Worsley etc.

I am also partial to the odd drop of single malt, so this story fascinated me on several levels...

Fairtrade Fortnight 2010

Fairtrade Fortnight is an annual opportunity to investigate the issues surrounding food production.

It's coming up soon, so time to download some materials and prepare....

Saferstreets

The Saferstreets BETA is now on the DirectGov website.

European Parliament

Had an e-mail today from Vera, to tell me about a new resource related to EUROPE.

"We are pleased to announce the launch of Euro Academy - the new Citizenship resource from the UK Office of the European Parliament.

EuroAcademy has been designed as a hub for free resources to assist teachers and students studying about the European Union and the European Parliament. To check out the site, visit http://www.euroacademyonline.eu

The focal point of EuroAcademy is a role-play game based on a disaster scenario called Crisis Point
Students have the opportunity to act out the roles of citizens, MEPs and European Commissioners. They will work together to save not just their school but also Europe from the threat of a pandemic.

Key facts about Crisis Point:

- Teaches about the European Union in a fun and engaging way - Aimed at Key Stages 3 and 4 students - Designed for use with a whole year group during a collapsed timetable day - Multi-media format (role-play, video and interactive features) - FREE to use!

If you're interested in using Crisis Point, you're free to download it from the website, or apply for a printed pack to be sent to your school (for FREE!)

We do hope you find this useful, and would be very grateful if you wish to spread the word about Crisis Point across the Citizenship teaching community!

Also, if you're planning to attend the Education Show in Birmingham on 4 - 6 March at the NEC do visit us on Stand No. M47 in Hall 6 where we'll be demoing EuroAcademy and Crisis Point."

In Michael Palin's footsteps

Image by Rob Morris

A busy week with a Regional Conference in Birmingham continued with a trip over to Shrewsbury School. The occasion was a lecture at the Alington Hall at the school, following on from the previous speaker in their lecture series who had been Michael Palin, an Old Salopian.

Had a chance to go down to Frankwell to see the new flood defences.

The venue was a grand hall on the campus of Shrewsbury School.

Thanks to those who came to see my presentation on the 2007 YORKSHIRE FLOODS, and particular thanks to Mark Ollis, who provided some personal stories from the more recent 2009 Cockermouth floods as a preamble...

That was followed by a long cross-country drive in the dark...

Big (and small) Barnaby Bear offer...

Head over to the GA ONLINE SHOP for a special BARNABY BEAR offer....

Buy any Barnaby Bear big book and get a selection of 24 little books absolutely free! Visit the GA shop for more details and to order.