another something

last ep series 5

2012-01-27T20:54:00.001+10:00

tense.

When it comes to evil...

2012-01-27T13:45:00.000+10:00

... we are ambidextrous.

Micah 7:3.

watching the West Wing.

2012-01-26T10:27:00.002+10:00

Season 4.

On Australia Day.

Find Life - John's gospel for kids

2012-01-25T22:39:00.001+10:00

I've been working on this for ages.

I'm reasonably happy with it - still a few typos to fix, but this is basically it.

It also comes in a younger kids and little kids version and with drafted scripts etc. But I can't be bothered uploading them right now.

Have I mentioned how much I love my job?

2012-01-25T17:39:00.003+10:00

Having fun.

Aussie flag flyers more racist: survey

2012-01-24T22:38:00.000+10:00

Aussie flag flyers more racist: survey

The World Today

By David Weber

Updated January 24, 2012 15:17:27

PHOTO: The researchers said not all flag bearers were racist. (ABC News)

MAP: Australia

People who fly Australian flags on their cars have more racist views than the rest of the population, a new study has found.

Many flag flyers also support the now-defunct White Australia Policy and are afraid the Australian culture is under threat, researchers from the University of Western Australia say.

Researchers surveyed 513 revellers among the 300,000 gathered to watch the Australia Day fireworks in Perth last year.

One in five of those surveyed said they had attached Australian flags to their cars.

WA University anthropologist Farida Fozdar says those flying the flags expressed more racist opinions on a number of issues.

"People who had flags on their cars, 43 per cent of them believe the White Australia Policy had saved Australia from problems that other countries had experienced," she said.

"Fifty-six per cent of those with flags on their cars feared their culture and its most important values were in danger compared to 34 per cent of non-flag flyers."

Professor Fozdar says of the people surveyed who do fly flags, the common factor was fear.

"You can't actually ask outright a question about 'do you feel fearful?' I guess the question that I asked that was closest to that was the one about fearing the loss of one's cultures and most important values," she said.

"Certainly 56 per cent of people with car flags agreed with that statement, but there was definitely a feeling of, I guess, being under siege."

back to school!

2012-01-23T07:12:00.001+10:00

Yeah. I'm excited.

10 things I love about this stage of parenting (this stage = minimum effort, maximum reward)

2012-01-21T21:19:00.004+10:00

1. They don't take much looking after.

2. They are all very touchy at the moment. Cuddling me and holding my hand when we're out are popular. I like it.

3. They have good taste in music, which makes driving long distance fun. We put 6 cds into player and then take it in turns to choose a song to listen to. Current faves are Cold Play (track 10 Mylo Xyloto), Greenday (Viva la Gloria), and Tim Freedman (You Weren't in Love With Me). When a nice metaphor comes along, we talk about it.

4. They love having me at school with them. I'll teach Nathan and Joel again this year, but not Micah. (He feels a bit left out but is happy that his classroom is closest to mine. How sweet!)

5. They are great to hang out with. Interesting conversationalists etc.

6. We talk quite a lot about the bad-dog-things that our pups gets up to at night after we go to bed. (We know that she goes out places at night because she sleeps most of the day.) She has a thing for casinos and she spends a lot of time at the pokies. We are disappointed that Andrew's Wilke's reforms won't be coming in. Arry's bad-dog habits are getting expensive.

7. Nathan (#1) and Micah (#3) are now sharing a room and finding joy in each other. They talk about sporting trivia, play Ticket To Ride, play backyard cricket, and listen to ABC radio. This delights me.

8. Joel now has his own room. It is his pride and joy. He keeps it perfect and stays on his bed reading for hours a day. Long time readers will rejoice with me in this!

9. I love it when Micah plays cello. I love that I can accompany him.

10. I'm paying Joel to me origami Ninja Stars to decorate my classroom. 20c per star. I love that he still sees this as a good deal. I need 30-50 stars...

The joys of renting.

2012-01-21T20:45:00.001+10:00

My mum bought a steam cleaner and cleaned her 30 year old carpet. It looks amazing.

I borrowed my mum's steam cleaner and cleaned our <30 year old carpet. It looks like damp rental carpet.

I tried.

work work work work work

2012-01-21T07:53:00.003+10:00

I've just finished 3 pupil free days at work.

At the beginning of the year you want the whole school to look just so. Classrooms fresh and bright, grounds clean, everything organised. Not so for us this year. Our main administration building - formally a feature of the school - is without a roof and many of it's walls. There are security fences up to keep the kids (and parents) out of the construction site. There are Q-build guys moving around shifting stuff. Our school hall has been turned into an admin area and staffroom with dividing boards and furniture that doesn't match. Teachers have done a good job in their classrooms but the carpet hasn't been cleaned (no one was allowed on site over the holidays because of the asbestos risk) and there is still a slightly smokey smell hanging around. We had no internet at all until yesterday (and it is still not school-wide (the server room was destroyed)), so everyone's been working off photocopies of photocopies. We start teaching from the national curriculum on Monday, but many are having trouble accessing the resources.

I'm more organised than I've ever been before, but I feel stressed. Just want the kids to arrive so we can get on with it.

holidays over

2012-01-18T06:03:00.001+10:00

Back to work.

my current favourite song

2012-01-17T08:36:00.005+10:00

Eternal youth is a landscape of a lie
the cracks of my skin can prove
as the years will testify

Viva La Gloria, Green Day.

Burnt school

2012-01-16T17:52:00.001+10:00

Kids are back next week.

how on earth...

2012-01-16T15:31:00.001+10:00

... do I write a set of criteria by which I can select a small group of 10-12 year olds to write a musical with me? I need to be able to show parents that I've been FAIR in choosing some kids over others.

Here's what I'm after:

-Kids who want to do it
-Kids who are willing to work hard and commit to this project
-Kids with fresh ideas
-Kids who understand how metaphor works and who naturally think in metaphors
-Kids who know cliche for the smooth and silent killer that it is. (I'll explain, but not all will understand.)
-Kids who can analyse plots and characters and see connections both within a story and to wider themes in their own experience and that of others.
-Kids who can write - lyric writers and dialogue/narration writers needed.
-Kids who can write music. (Not all kids need to fit this one.)

So how do I phrase my selection criteria so that I get what I'm after?

HOW?

Okay parents, how do you think I should go about this? It's tough because kids will miss out - including mine - but what I'm trying to do here is give an opportunity to kids who think outside of the box and whose needs aren't being met by regular classroom activities.

Anthony - ideas? You live so far away from the box that you don't even know what it looks like. How would 11 year old you have responded to something like this?

teaching plans

2012-01-16T09:08:00.002+10:00

This year I hope to be teaching classroom music to year 4 (4 classes), year 6 (3 classes) and year 7 (2-3 classes). I'll also have some littlies. Year 4 is recorder (delight!) and year 6 and 7 are ukulele. I see each class for half an hour a week. The year 4s I may nab some extra time with.

Here are my plans.

Year 4 Recorder
I'm writing a graded recorder program called Recorder Ninja. Kids will move from Green Star level (easy) to Black Star level (really tricky). The trouble with differentiating kids on recorder is that it is easiest (least painful on the ears) if everyone is at least trying to play the same song. But that would be boring... So here's what I'm going to do.

The bulk of the class will be at the same level. I'll work with them for 2/3 of the lesson then send them away to do the written work for their level. During that time I'll work with the kids who are more advanced - perhaps seeing them briefly individually or in pairs to teach them the new notes etc. They practice at home, record their songs on mum's iPhone and email them to me. I email back with comments and tell them when they are ready for the next level. Similarly with their theory stuff.

The kids who get quite advanced will get a brief lunchtime lesson in composing using Sibelius (a computer program). They'll be given a composition task to work on during class time or whenever they want. Or if they prefer, they can move from descant to treble (alto) recorder and I'll group them and give them duets to play.

Year 6 and 7 Uke
Ukulele is not a difficult instrument to play. Bright kids who practice learn quite quickly and find it satisfying to choose their own songs and work out how to play them. This is all fine and many take what I've taught them in class and advance themselves at home. But what to do in class to push them further? While most of us are learning to play melodies (like Ode to Joy or something similar) I could put them onto the computers and get them to make up an upper or lower harmony part, learn to play it and put it with the class' melody. Sometimes I'll put them on the drum kit or piano to play along with the class while we're practicing our chord progressions.

But I want to do more than this.

Here's my grand plan.

I want to get a group of 6 or so kids in years 6-7 and get them to write a musical. From scratch.

What do you think?

blogger has just changed the comment form

2012-01-15T23:00:00.001+10:00

you can now reply to people's comments specifically.

gifted education

2012-01-15T17:08:00.001+10:00

I've spent the last few days reading up on gifted education. I've worked my way through 6 modules of the ed qld pd course at specialisation level so I figure I now know more than most teachers. But I still know precious little.

Here are some thoughts.

- the main issue here is equity. Each child deserves to be taught at a level appropriate to them. Parents spit at the thought of other people's kids getting special treatment because they are bright, but we all need to get over that way of thinking. The aim is that each child works at a level that is challenging (but achievable) for them. This will mean a differentiated curriculum.

- An undifferentiated curriculum will mean significantly worse outcomes for gifted children socially, emotionally and academically.

- Grade advancement is being shown to have great outcomes for gifted kids.

- Many kids who are intellectually advanced are also emotionally and socially advanced - though they may not look it. They may appear to be loners but it is possible that they feel they have nothing in common with children their own age. Different things interest them and they may be looking for a poor-our-hearts-out-to-eachother friend while their peers are really just looking for someone to kick a ball to. It can be really satisfying for gifted kids to hang out with kids a few years older. This should be encouraged.

- Gifted kids who aren't adequately catered for in the school system have a much greater chance of depression etc later on. And gifted teenagers are already likely candidates for depression.

- Perfectionism is a blessing and a curse. Need I say more?

- Identifying gifted kids can be tricky. Some models say kids with IQs in the top 15% are gifted (but then introduce categories of gifted within this - mildly gifted, gifted, ? gifted, profoundly gifted...), others limit it to the top 3%. I'd be happy to run with either model if kids arrived at school with IQ scores... The trouble is that gifted kids often go under the radar. Some perfectionist types decide early on that's it's safer to go undercover and bludge their way through school. Other kids' abilities are masked by disabilities (these kids are called 'twice exceptional' and basically, no one knows what to do with them!), or by anxieties.

- Most teachers (according to studies) are profoundly uncomfortable with giftedness. They would prefer to teach students more like themselves, who think in a straightforward way, who won't challenge them. Gifted children sense this and learn very early on not to share the fact that the theme in x children's book was developed much more interestingly in Boethius' Consolations of Philosophy.

- If my classroom is to be a place where gifted kids can work and thrive, I need to make changes. In another post I'll outline my plans.

To Do List on kids' iPod

2012-01-12T19:40:00.000+10:00

1. Go to computer
2. Press power button
3. Click start
4. Go on minecraft
5. Poison creeper
6. Have fun

Christian encouragement

2012-01-11T22:22:00.000+10:00

Al is thinking about encouragement. I think his sermon series needs a graphic like this.

Yes. I know.

2012-01-11T18:58:00.003+10:00

Two posts down. Pity party.

What's worth blogging about.

2012-01-10T22:23:00.000+10:00

My friend, who would dearly love to join us and become a blogger, just asked how I choose what to blog about. Here's the careful process I go through to select blogging fodder for you, beloved reader.

1. Wake up computer
2. Click on my blog
3. Hit 'new post'
4. Start typing
5. Ask myself if what I've written is worth posting
6. Hit 'publish' anyway.

Basically, if I'm thinking about something, I'll blog about it.

Whether it's worth reading or not, is another question.

Just do it, Chris. Blog.

moving.

2012-01-10T14:26:00.001+10:00

We've spent the last 4 days with our friends who are leaving town. Saturday and Sunday we spent unpacking boxes at their new house. Yesterday and today and tomorrow they are staying with us while cleaning up their Brisbane house. Their kids are melting here with ours.

Moving sucks in so many ways: the filth you find under the fridge, the earth destroying amount of stuff you have to put into boxes at one end and then pull out of boxes at the other end, the sweat of lifting, the heartbreak of unpacking one house, then having to go back to he old house to clean up, the endless, horrible goodbyes, the long hours without a proper internet connection, the emotional upheaval, the exhaustion...

All this for the (probably short lived) buzz of a new situation.

The only thing worse than moving is being the ones that stay put. All the pain*, no buzz.

*Can't complain too much though. I haven't had to go without internet.

It is just too hot

2012-01-10T14:08:00.002+10:00

Building projects

2012-01-10T09:05:00.001+10:00

Treehouse and A-frame doghouse.

What I read on the holidays (post Janette Oke)

2012-01-09T13:25:00.001+10:00

Twilight - vampires + aliens = I Am Number Four and The Power of Six.

A young guy (alien), coming into his legacies (alien adolescence when super powers develop), getting his first girl-friend, leaning to control his legacies (stop his hands from glowing when he's excited), dealing with school yard bullies AND saving the world.

YA Sci Fi. I love this stuff.

Part 3 isn't released until September. How will I survive till then?

Yep. Back from holidays.

2012-01-09T12:56:00.001+10:00

Let 2012 begin.

7 thoughts on parenting

2012-01-09T12:55:00.002+10:00

Anyone who knows me and my kids knows that I'm no expert. My children misbehave in Sunday School, get occasional detentions at school and yell and sulk as much as the anyone else's. But I've been reflecting on parenting lately. Here are some thoughts. What do you think?

1. There's a fine line between assuming right responsibility for raising our kids and feeling overly responsible. If we cross the line we'll soon become disheartened, proud or controlling. (There's also a line in the other direction separating irresponsible parenting from appropriately responsibility parenting. Let's talk about the issues on that end of the continuum some other time.)

2. Our children are separate human beings to us. Just like we can't change our spouses or our friends, we can't change our children.

3. The nature vs nurture debate has been raging for decades, but everyone concedes that genetics plays a very large role in things. Much of ourselves is set from conception.

4. The best parents I've seen in action are great parents because they embrace their children for who they are. Their bookish kid is a bookish kid who they love - and they help their bookish kid to work out how he can be a bookish kid who loves Jesus and lives for him.... not trying to make him less of a bookish kid in the process.

5. Troubles can come when we try to live through our kids - either by giving them opportunities that we didn't have or didn't exploit (imagine the worst ballet mum) or by trying to re-write our own history and personality through them (we see in them bits of ourselves that we hate and try to beat it out of them.)

6. After the age of... maybe 7? ... on the spot kiddy discipline doesn't really cut it anymore. Smacks, naughty chairs, electronics media restrictions... The child will still be unrepentantly angry/defiant/disobedient etc until they choose not to be. We need to ask what is really going on and address that.

7. Our best allies in helping our child overcome their weaknesses (through the holy spirit, of course!) can be their strengths.

In case anyone missed it...

2011-12-30T23:49:00.000+10:00

... here is the final part of the Queen's 2011 Christmas address. I think it's beautiful.

"Finding hope in adversity is one of the themes of Christmas. Jesus was born into a world full of fear. The angels came to frightened shepherds with hope in their voices: 'Fear not', they urged, 'we bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

'For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour who is Christ the Lord.'

Although we are capable of great acts of kindness, history teaches us that we sometimes need saving from ourselves - from our recklessness or our greed.

God sent into the world a unique person - neither a philosopher nor a general, important though they are, but a Saviour, with the power to forgive.

Forgiveness lies at the heart of the Christian faith. It can heal broken families, it can restore friendships and it can reconcile divided communities. It is in forgiveness that we feel the power of God's love.

In the last verse of this beautiful carol, O Little Town Of Bethlehem, there's a prayer:

O Holy Child of Bethlehem,

Descend to us we pray.

Cast out our sin

And enter in.

Be born in us today.

It is my prayer that on this Christmas day we might all find room in our lives for the message of the angels and for the love of God through Christ our Lord.

I wish you all a very happy Christmas."

Lessons from Janette: #1 - Wifely Submission

2011-12-30T23:41:00.000+10:00

Book - When Comes The Spring

Page - 63

Context - Newlyweds Elizabeth and Wynn have their first (and only) fight. She wants to go hiking in a skirt. He wants her to wear an unbecoming (but safer) pair of men's trousers. Elizabeth spends some time praying, then realises she was wrong not to submit to Wynn. This is their make-up discussion.

“There will be times, Elizabeth, when we won’t agree about things. Times when I will need to make decisions in our future. ... I might have to ask you to do things you will find difficult, things you can’t understand or don’t agree with. Do you understand that?”

I nodded again. I had just been through all that in my talk with my God.

“I love you, Elizabeth. I will try to never make decisions to satisfy my ego or to show my manly authority, but I must do what I think is right for you - to care for you and protect you. Can you understand that?”

I searched his face and nodded again.

“This time - the pants - it would be too dangerous on the trail in a skirt. I know the trail, Elizabeth. I would never expose you to the possibilities of a bad fall. I-”

I stopped him then by laying a finger gently on his lips. “It’s all right. I understand now. I’m glad you love me enough to fight my foolish pride. I mean it, Wynn. Thanks for standing firm - for being strong. I needed that. I’m ready to let you be the head of the home. And I want you to remind me of that as often as necessary - until I learn it well.”

When Calls the Heart

2011-12-28T21:31:00.004+10:00

We're staying in a denominational holiday house for our holidays. There's a bookshelf full of suitable reading material for manse families. I'm enjoying a series of Jeanette Oke prairie romances.

Elizabeth is a beautiful, godly, 21 year old teacher. She's from a rich city family and has decided that marriage is not for her. She feels a strange discontent with her perfect life and when her half brother suggests she move 'West' to teach, she takes that as God's leading. While building her new life out West, she draws great comfort from her devotional reading of Nehemiah. She meets Wynn, a handsome, competent Christian man, who has decided that he must be single to fulfil the role God has given him as a mounted policeman. After several misunderstandings, they fall in love and on the last page of the book, decide to marry.

It's quality stuff. I'm up to the sequel When Comes The Spring. So far we've explored issues of wifely submission and race relations. Deep and edifying stuff.

off on holidays

2011-12-26T10:48:00.001+10:00

back in 2 weeks.

I may blog while we're away.

helicopter

2011-12-25T14:18:00.001+10:00

As predicted, it's broken.

Joel had one successful flight, then Andrew had a go while Joel was off getting dressed.

Much sadness followed.

Christmas

2011-12-24T23:53:00.002+10:00

We did the Christmas thing with my family on Tuesday. Full meal, all the family, lots of presents... Since then, I've felt like Christmas is done. It's seemed strange that everyone else is still anticipating it.

But tomorrow (today?!) is the real thing. We'll have a pretty quiet day - mostly just by ourselves. (Andrew's family is gathering next Sunday.) I think I've done pretty well choosing presents for the kids. I can tell you what I've gotten them, because they'll have opened them by the time they get to spy on this.

Nathan gets a pretty nice ukulele. It's a tenor one with a pickup (Boulder Creek, Riptide.) He needed a uke for school (his mother wrote the booklist!) and we both agreed that if we were to buy another one, we wanted it to be a decent one. (I'll use it at work 2 days a week.) It has two sound holes and sounds delicious. I read reviews of just about every uke available in our price range. This one didn't get excellent reviews, but it was the one that both he and I liked the sound and feel of best. Amazing the number of $200+ ukes that haven't been set up right and are out of tune on the second and third frets.

Joel gets a remote controlled helicopter (I know. It will break in 3 hours. But he's been asking for one for most of his life.) He also gets some more wood for the treehouse he's building and a couple of tools. And he gets another book (which he can read - yay yay yay!) and a smiggle book light.

Micah, bless his little third born heart, gets an iPod nano. He want to listen to more children's music and less ColdPlay. I've had my day with kids' music. Just can't do Bobby and the Bonsters any more. Yes Micah, you can have your own iPod. With headphones.

This all seems very extravagant. And it is. Nathan knows the point at which I'm weakest* and he attacked me there. Joel asked for a bass clarinet, but I was strong and said no. (The $2000 price tag and his lack of practice helped me stay resolute.) Apart from last year's trombone (school requirement...), I've not spent this much on them at Christmas before.

You?

*mmm. Music shop.

John's gospel comics

2011-12-24T23:26:00.000+10:00

As I've mentioned before, I'm writing a unit of Sunday School material on John's gospel for our network of churches to use in term one 2012. I hoped to be finished by now, but I'm nowhere near done!

Trying to find interesting things to put in the booklets. Kids do worksheets all week at school and are jack of them come Sunday. For the big kids, I want the booklets to prompt discussion. To try and facilitate this, I've been working on little comics to go with each lesson. I've posted the first few below. What do you think?

Riddle #1

2011-12-24T23:21:00.001+10:00

Riddle #2

2011-12-24T23:20:00.002+10:00

After the 5000 were fed...

2011-12-24T23:18:00.004+10:00

Jesus and Nicodemus

2011-12-24T23:15:00.002+10:00

Happy Christmas!

2011-12-24T23:06:00.001+10:00

dear potential school arsonist,

2011-12-22T22:35:00.000+10:00

If you splash some petrol around and then start a fire in a wooden building, the building will burn. If it takes more than a few minutes for the fire to be spotted, then there is a good chance that you will cause millions of dollars worth of damage.

Please don't say you didn't know.

Yours,

Simone

16 year old charged with arson

2011-12-22T21:00:00.001+10:00

Here.

Didn't take too long to find him.

Wonder what will happen from here.

Two new babies!

2011-12-22T17:55:00.002+10:00

Praise God - Sophia was born to Nathan and Robyn this morning and a much prayed for little girl was born to Dave and Petrina this afternoon.

Wii Fit

2011-12-21T21:03:00.002+10:00

My sister got us a Wii Fit for christmas. It's pretty cool. My mii has a wii age of 45 which is a little unfortunate. She needs to lose 8kg to have the best BMI for illness avoidance. I'm keen that she lose the weight, so she's working on it with her Male Trainer.

So far she's done a short step session, which was about as energetic as watching TV. She also ran for 12 minutes. She needs to burn about 500 calories a day. Less if she stays off the chocolate.

Anyone else got one? Use it?

How many nerf guns does one household need?

2011-12-19T08:46:00.002+10:00

Apparently eight isn't enough.

Warning: Supernatural Themes

2011-12-17T15:50:00.001+10:00

What's with that?

Please warn me if a tv show doesn't have supernatural themes so I won't bother watching it.

Philip Jensen on church

2011-12-17T09:36:00.000+10:00

I enjoyed this article What is Church for?

It's a challenging read. Our thoughts on church growth etc are so much compromised by ego for those of us in ministry (or married to ministers).

You should read it. A couple of things that have come out of it for me:

Belonging vs believing.
PDJ argues that the current church growth theories that tell us to get people into church first, let them belong first, and then believe later, are wrong. The church doesn’t give us the gospel; the gospel gives us the church. The church is built by people coming to faith.

This was certainly my experience. I came to faith in Christ (through a SU camp) and immediately felt I was part of the church. So I set out to find a congregation to attend and be a part of. It was natural - and things like size and musical style didn't matter. I was looking for people who believed to learn the bible and pray with.

In the last ten years I think I've had much too much a focus on getting people into (my) church. Belonging has been what I've been aiming at, hoping that believing would follow. And there's been quite a few people who have come along. How it's generally worked (with exceptions) is that they've come along for a while (a year or two even). People have tried to make them feel welcome but eventually they've drifted out. And I've beaten myself up because I mustn't have made enough effort to integrate them. But there was no hunger for God's word there. They were not part of the church because there was no faith in Christ.

I need to do better with this.

Our church uses a connect, grow, serve model for how things are meant to work. It's tidy but flawed. Conversion is hinted at and hoped for somewhere between connect and grow. And also, what did we train for at theological college? To be socially lubricating people who can build a group of people around ourselves?

Of course there's nothing new here. But I need to refocus.

Church planting
"There’s any number of people who are very keen to plant churches, but they’re not actually planting churches; what they’re doing is founding their own church, which they are going to stay in for the rest of their life as it grows bigger and bigger into a megachurch."

Ungenerous? Truthful? What do you think?

Building my church vs building the church
Accordingly, we shouldn’t be too concerned about which local or earthly gathering is ‘built’ by our efforts. If I evangelize someone and (by God’s Spirit) he is gathered into Christ’s heavenly assembly, it doesn’t really matter which earthly assembly he ends up in (so long as it is one in which he will continue to be built). Or if I pour time into someone to help them grow and develop and mature, and they take their gifts and do their building work somewhere else (not in my church), what does it matter?

Yeah. I think that this is where a ministry like AFES is at advantage to us in suburban churches. With uni ministry you only expect to keep people for a few years. We expect to keep them and so our desire to see God's kingdom increase is muddied with our desire to see our church increase. Teaching RE is good for me in this. It's a ministry that I can pour myself into, praying for increase in God's kingdom without having any expectation of short term increase in my own church.

Did you read it? Any thoughts?

just noticed...

2011-12-16T18:26:00.000+10:00

The three ELO songs I posted below. Eldorado, Shangri-La, Xanadu. A common theme.

It wasn't on purpose.

Want to go there now. It's been a big day. The school burnt down this morning and I visited my very ill grandmother this afternoon. Tried to talk to her about our Shangri-La.

school in the news

2011-12-16T13:55:00.000+10:00

Here.

My school.

2011-12-16T07:18:00.001+10:00

Burnt.

ELO feast

2011-12-15T21:17:00.000+10:00

Last minute gift ideas?

2011-12-15T20:41:00.000+10:00

Not that it's the last minute yet. Not even close.

It was Micah's birthday yesterday. He loves Ticket To Ride (Europe) so we got him the Nordic Countries version. I was organised and ordered it from the US (along with some other games) and it cost us about $50 (including postage). It will cost you much much more if you buy it in Australia. But Ticket To Ride is a fabulous game and worth it.

One of his friends gave us Rubik's Race. We're loving it. Andrew is sitting at the table practicing it now (He went down big time tonight!). Great for ages 7+. I imagine it doesn't cost too much.

How to find something

2011-12-14T14:46:00.003+10:00

1. Assume that you will be able to find it. Using words like 'nowhere' and 'impossible' will not help. It is somewhere and finding it is quite possible.
2. Make a list in your head of all the obvious places where it could be.
3. Look properly in each of these obvious places.
4. Retrace your steps. Think about when you had it last and think what you did with it then.
5. Tidy your room. Properly.
6. Ask mum*.

* Note well. Don't ask mum where it is until you have completed steps 1-5.

How to get me disproportionately worked up.

2011-12-14T12:35:00.002+10:00

Write a post about what introverts are like.

Every time.

I fume.

Andrew listens.

S - They're saying that introverts THINK and REFLECT more than me and overall are more INTELLIGENT than me. So unbearably SMUG!

A - Who wrote it?

S - Some random I've never read before.

A - Um... Overreaction? Why does it matter?

S - IT JUST DOES.

A - Maybe they are just trying to compensate for the awkward and difficult lives that they lead. Let them think they are more thoughtful and clever if it helps them in their misery.

S - GRRRR.

Here's the thing. I think I might actually be an undiagnosed introvert. While still being an extrovert.

I hate small talk and social pleasantries - let's get down to the real stuff. What's keeping you awake at night? What will the new creation be like? I like large wads of time by myself. Four hours a day is no where near enough time to read and think and reflect. I hate noisy parties where I can't easily hear what people are saying. I'd much rather hang out with a couple of friends than with heaps of people. After I've been socialising I want to go off by myself. I don't get excited at the thought of speaking to strangers (unless they are interesting strangers and are willing to speed through the introductory stuff)...

Maybe I get cross reading introvert stuff like this because I feel like the post is saying that I am not like I actually am. That I can't have certain characteristics because I'm an extrovert.

Maybe psychs will do more research and find that the introvert / extrovert distinction is flawed and they'll come up with something else.

friends?

2011-12-12T22:56:00.001+10:00

This video is doing the rounds at the moment.

It's fun.

It's got me thinking again about friendship.

What is a friend, anyway?

friend (frɛnd)

— n
1.	a person known well to another and regarded with liking, affection, and loyalty;
2.	an acquaintance or associate
3.	an ally in a fight or cause; supporter
4.	a fellow member of a party, society, etc
5.	a patron or supporter: a friend of the opera
6.	be friends to be friendly (with)
7.	make friends to become friendly (with) According to this definition, there is no reason why men and women can't be friends. A man may fight alongside me for a common cause. He may, through the course of life, become well known to me. I should regard him as a friend. The question is, whether sexual desire trumps and nullifies all else. The men in the video thought so. I don't. Sexual desire inevitably complicates a friendship (and it lurks in pretty much all male/female interactions), and puts (often annoying) boundaries on how far it can rightly progress... but, hey, in this fallen world, all friendships are complicated. What about the envy and competitiveness I feel while doing lunch with the school mums? And what about people with homosexual desires? Are all warm human interactions impossible for them? Has lust drowned out all else? No. But of course I'd say that. I'm female.

Excited!

2011-12-08T16:36:00.001+10:00

I get to keep my job next year! Yay!

having a little cry...

2011-12-07T16:50:00.001+10:00

... writing goodbye notes to my favourite students.

One is moving to Melbourne.

Others are going to high school.

I wish I could make goodbyes illegal.

Why can't everyone just stay where they are?

Academic Awards Evening.

2011-12-06T22:30:00.001+10:00

The year 7 song was epic. Parts were good. It was heaps of fun. My band was great (considering that they were 12 year old boys.) One of them will be a rock star.

But I think that the evening will be remembered because of our guest speaker. He was a student at the school 70+ years ago. Here's a blurb about him:

Professor Graham Cooksley is Professorial Research Fellow in the Discipline of Medicine at the University of Queensland, Royal Brisbane Hospital and is a herpetologist in the Department of Gastroenterology at the Royal Brisbane Hospital. His major research interests are in pathogenesis and treatment of chronic hepatitis. He specialised in internal medicine and completed a research doctorate on protein metabolism in the liver. He did post-doctoral work in the UK. He was Senior Lecturer, then Associate Professor in Medical Biochemistry at the University of Queensland with his research interests centred on hepatitis. In 1981 he worked at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, USA. He was appointed Director of the Clinical Research Centre, Royal Brisbane Hospital Research Foundation and was the inaugural Secretary of the Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver. Professor Cooksley was Convenor of several International Meetings on Hepatitis C and Hepatitis D. He has more than 200 publications in international literature, has given numerous presentations at scientific meetings and has given over 180 invited lectures at national and international meetings. He is still working today.

Yep. Just the kind of old boy you want speaking at your awards night. His speech was incredible - incredible in that he managed to offend just about everyone in the room! After he had said all the stuff you'd expect him to say, he offered everyone some advice. We should understand science. If we understand science we won't believe in stupid things like horoscopes, alternative medicine, acupuncture or chinese medicines. He went through each of these, one by one, poking fun at them and showing how if you understand science, then you won't believe in any of them. The highlight came when he gave the example of Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs had cancer and needed an operation. But instead of having the op he chose to try natural therapies. He talked to his cancer and ordered it out of his body! Steve Jobs paid the ultimate price for his stupidity. By the time he asked for an operation, it was too late and he died. Let that be a lesson to us all. Science, kiddies, science!

I've bitten off more than I can chew...

2011-12-06T15:46:00.001+10:00

Year 7 graduation song tonight.

Maybe we should have just done one song rather than seven...

The hardest bit is the guitar re-tune needed after Eye of the Tiger (they play it in drop D). Needs to be fast and silent. A tall order for 12 year olds.

NMR, NMP.

2011-12-04T20:50:00.001+10:00

My new policy.

Children, expect to hear it repeated regularly for the next couple of months.

Lost your book, you schoolbag, your iPod, your togs?

NMR, NMP.

Not my responsibility. Not my problem.

Sort it out yourself.

socialism in the classroom

2011-12-04T20:03:00.001+10:00

I got sent this last night:

Classroom Socialism
When the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.

(Allegedly & without prejudice)
An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that Obama's socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.

The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan". All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so no one will fail and no one will receive an A.... (substituting grades for dollars - something closer to home and more readily understood by all).
After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.

The second test average was a D! No one was happy.

When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.

As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.

To their great surprise, ALL FAILED and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.It could not be any simpler than that.

Remember, there IS a test coming up.
The 2013 elections.

It's been doing the rounds for at least the last couple of years. This time I received it from a committee of my denomination that regularly spams us with right wing American nonsense.

I wrote a fairly direct email response to the man who sent it to us, but then changed my mind and sent it to Nathan instead. I still need to get it off my chest.

A few thoughts.
1. This is a bad analogy. Try this one instead.
2. Reforming health care so that the most vulnerable have access to hospitals etc does not make Barack Obama a socialist. He may be further left than you are, but that's mostly because you are a far right self seeking greedy capitalist.
3. Why are you sending this to me, anyway? Do you think I'm on your side? To tell you the truth, I find this kind of alarmist email much scarier than Obama's alleged socialism.
4. What does this have to do with us here in Australia? Nothing!
5. What does this have to do with Jesus or living as a Christian? Absolutely nothing! So don't spam our whole denomination with it!

Yeah. I'm annoyed.

march 2012

2011-12-03T08:51:00.001+10:00

I'm speaking at a women's conference next year. I'm pretty excited about it. I get to do three talks in a SERIES! Guys, I know this is normal stuff for you, but it's pretty rare that a woman gets asked to do any straight expositional talks (not specifically evangelistic or topical) let alone 3 in a row. I'll be working from John's gospel - John 3, 6 and 11. I have evangelistic talks on John 6 and 11 already (I did Lazarus last night) which I'll work up some more. I'm pretty into John 3 (Nicodemus) at the moment and I think it will make a good intro to the set.

But I know how this will go. When I actually sit down to write, it will all be bad and I'll remember how terrible I am at writing talks. I'll say that any success I had in the past was just a fluke and that I'd prefer to pull out my toenails, one by one, than to keep going.

gingerbread #4

2011-12-02T21:56:00.001+10:00

All over now.

Tonight was our church's event. I had some friends come along. And I did the talk. And it was a pretty full on talk.

Half way through I was freaking out. I knew what was coming next and I didn't want to go there.

But I did.

Hope my friends are still my friends.

Next year someone else can have the job of gingerbread queen. I'm done.

Amazing news

2011-12-01T11:45:00.001+10:00

Praise God! Praise God! Praise God!

Haven

2011-12-01T07:08:00.001+10:00

My new favourite TV show. It's fantastic. Beautiful scenery. Beautiful actors. A romance that should drag out for at least a couple of seasons. And supernatural violence.

Love it.*

*Find it all on youtube! And some of it on iview.

The Star of Christmas

2011-12-01T06:58:00.001+10:00

Copied Catriona's very cool design. The lips go up and down when the star talks.

Sleeping dog

2011-12-01T05:45:00.001+10:00

It's hard when it's hot.

I'd write some thoughtful post

2011-11-30T22:02:00.001+10:00

If I had any thoughtful thoughts.

But I don't.

'tis the season...

2011-11-30T21:47:00.001+10:00

... for endless concerts and events.

Gingerbread continues (one more!). Speech night next Tuesday (with our epic year 7 graduation song). Carols in a nursing home on Wednesday.

On Sunday afternoon we have Micah's first cello concert. He's had four lessons now, so it's time he performed! Micah is an independent little fellow. Unlike his older brothers, he practices without whinging (imagine that!), and by himself (!). Mummy, you don't need to tell me what the notes are. I don't know what all of them are called, but I know how to play them. On Sunday he's playing Tap Dancer (open strings and first positions, featuring his favourite bit in the middle where you tap the cello with the bow), Mary Rocks (can you guess how it goes?) and Hot Cross Buns. Classic songs.

You?

RE over for 2011!

2011-11-30T16:35:00.001+10:00

Yay!

We had our end of year do yesterday for all the RE kids in the school. I made a star puppet (like this very cool one that Catriona designed) and we did a little skit... You can imagine how it went. The star says 'I am the Star of Christmas', Lenny the puppet says, 'No you're not... Jesus is.' Stars says, 'No, I'm the Star of Christmas'. Lenny still doesn't understand etc.... Then we told the story of the wise men and king Herod (showed the sand bible version first) and Andrew gave a little talk about the man who wanted to be the star of Christmas. You can imagine. I had my band of awesome playing christmas carols and everyone rocked out.

I had a few kids come up to me afterwards and say how much they liked Joy to the World. They asked if I wrote it. [I wish!] Have they not heard it before?!

Gingerbread house #3 end view

2011-11-27T08:48:00.001+10:00

Gingerbread house #2 end view

2011-11-27T08:47:00.003+10:00

Gingerbread house #1 end view

2011-11-27T08:47:00.001+10:00

Gingerbread house #3 side view

2011-11-27T08:46:00.001+10:00

The boys built an extension. I'm told it's a shed.

Gingerbread house #2 side view

2011-11-27T08:44:00.001+10:00

Gingerbread house #1 side view

2011-11-27T08:43:00.001+10:00

Gingerbread house #1 top view

2011-11-27T08:42:00.001+10:00

Gingerbread house #3 top view

2011-11-27T08:41:00.003+10:00

The boys came along and made this one.

Gingerbread house #2 top view

2011-11-27T08:41:00.001+10:00

5 advantages of monastic life

2011-11-26T17:13:00.001+10:00

1. It is life in community. There would be lots of people around all the time. I like this.
2. I could take a vow of silence for 6 hours a day. Bliss!
3. Enforced prayer times.
4. Lots of community singing.
5. No gingerbread house events.

I'm thinking of becoming a nun

2011-11-24T21:04:00.001+10:00

I'll go off to some place. Leave all this behind. No more marking. No more school politics. No one will speak to me for a few hours each day. Someone else will cook. I can be on a wash-up roster.

Maybe I could be in charge of music. I'll sit by myself most of the day and write a bit and choose cool songs for us to sing. Then my nun choir could sing them well. How many times a day do nuns do corporate singing? Five?

Good times to be had in a convent.

Who wants to join me?

[I'll have to make sure I find a convent that's good with me going off to the movies to see Breaking Dawn 2 next year. I'm also after one with body pump classes each day, a 25m pool and good internet access. Know any?]

final list for year 7 graduation medley

2011-11-24T15:56:00.001+10:00

Intro - start of something new
year 1 / 2005 - Eye of the Tiger
year 2 / 2006 - Forever Young
year 3 / 2007 - How to Save a Life
year 4 / 2008 - Viva la Vida
year 5 / 2009 - I Got A Feeling
year 6 / 2010 - Count on Me
year 7 / 2011 - Someone Like You

Good times.

Also...

2011-11-23T07:37:00.001+10:00

Edward never sparkled. Despite being outside in goodish weather.

Breaking Dawn, Part 1.

2011-11-22T22:44:00.001+10:00

What was that?

Comedy? Romance? Horror?

Strange.

It was like the producer read the book and thought, Oh man. What do I do with this? I can't produce something this sentimental and still respect myself. Maybe... these lines were meant to be funny... Yes, that's it! Comedy! And there were some lovely comic spots that provided nice relief from all the syrup. I wanted them to continue.

Then there were moments of horror. Like the cake made out of corpses. I quite liked that. And I had no problems with the blood bits at the end either.

The romance really was a bit hard to take. So corny. But laid on nowhere near as thick as the book, so I shouldn't complain. The nervous Bella walking down the aisle was tough for us all.

The werewolves were better done than in the past. Still not good, but almost scary at a couple of points. The wolf dialogue scene was really bad. Embarrassingly so.

Rosalie - the incarnation of beauty - was not. At points she kind of looked masculine.

Did you notice how pieces of music from the other movies came back in this one? It was good at first, then became a bit much.

The main odd thing about this movie was that the narrative wasn't nicely shaped. There wasn't really a climax. They tried to make one with some wolf conflict, but it was all resolved a bit fast. Then they tried for a volturi cliff hanger half way through the credits. They needn't have bothered. We'll all be back for more next year anyway.

Yeah, I enjoyed it. 2.5/5? 3?

good things today.

2011-11-22T19:29:00.001+10:00

1. I gave out 60 tuned up ukes to kids who ordered them at school. I felt like Santa. They were happy. I was happy.
2. Finally got the year 5s singing consistently well at RE. It's been our project this semester. The trick? They need to own it. Have year 5s song leading and playing. Give the kids out the front microphones. And choose cool songs.
3. Micah had his third cello lesson. He's doing well. Hot Cross Buns and Mary Had A Little Lamb this week.
4. I'm off to see Breaking Dawn right now.

gingerbread

2011-11-19T16:00:00.001+10:00

I've made a few gingerbread houses in my time. I've got it down. The trick is to not fuss. If you fuss, your house will collapse. I can chuck one together and decorate it in under fifteen minutes. Then I wait, bored, for the next two hours while everyone else painstakingly builds their houses. Sometimes I help out by rebuilding the houses of those who have fussed.

For the last couple of years I've put no effort into decorating my houses. Because, let's face it, they all look fine when they are covered in lollies, dusted with icing sugar and wrapped in cellophane.

But I'm going to four gingerbread house making events in the next couple of weeks. It's time to change my attitude. This year I will put in effort. I think I'll have a different theme for each house. No time to buy anything special for tonight's, but next week...

A spooky theme?

going to Mackay for the weekend

2011-11-19T05:22:00.001+10:00

Seeing a friend, giving a talk and making my first gingerbread house for the year. Should be fun.

39 episodes of Sea Change watched...

2011-11-18T16:05:00.001+10:00

... Now back to real life.

today I had the most brilliant idea.

2011-11-17T20:38:00.001+10:00

An invention.

Something every kid needs in summer.

Would make me rich.

Marco Polo goggles.

I was going to patent the idea.

Unfortunately, I wasn't the first to think of it.

A shame.

loving...

2011-11-17T20:04:00.001+10:00

... Tim Freedman's cover of You Weren't In Love With Me. It's fun.

You can't out-tragic the original, so I'm glad he didn't try.

beach day!

2011-11-17T08:04:00.001+10:00

Skipping school today and going to the beach with friends.

I've just made a mix cd for the trip. Some good stuff on it including Tim Freedman's cover of You Weren't In Love With Me and some new Cold Play. Life is good.

things should be wrapping up at work...

2011-11-16T06:44:00.001+10:00

But they're not.

Quite the opposite.

Who'd be a music teacher at the end of the year?

assessment found

2011-11-15T17:38:00.001+10:00

Phew.

I've lost all the testing I've done for an entire class

2011-11-15T15:29:00.001+10:00

Reports due tomorrow. No idea what I'm going to do.

Why am I so hopeless?

Year 7 Leaving Song

2011-11-14T15:57:00.001+10:00

This is going to be fantastic. Finally sorted what we are doing. The kids are super keen and so am I. Three weeks before the end of primary I've found a bunch of year 7 boys who sing well and want solo parts... D'oh! Remind me to do something like this earlier next year.

Anyway. Here's what we've got. A medley of songs. One representing each year of primary school - I tried to choose a song that charted well in each year...

2005 - Eye of the Tiger (remember? Lee Harding (Idol finalist) did it.)
2006 - Forever Young
2007 - How to save a life
2008 - Viva la Vida
2009 - Love Story? I got a feeling?
2010 - Fireflies? Hey Soul Sister?
2011 - Firework

I'll play piano. I'm putting together a band of awesome (Band of Awesome is the name I give to any group of kids I work with. Some are more awesome than others.)

wasabi peas

2011-11-13T19:45:00.001+10:00

Yum.

I'm going to eat them till I have no tastebuds left at all.

yeah.

2011-11-12T21:40:00.001+10:00

Between the 25 episodes of Sea Change I've watched this week, I've also been trying to write a song picking up theme's from John's gospel. My last attempt didn't amount to much. This week's attempts have been consistently rubbish - so in my depression I've retreated into more YouTube...

This is what I'm up to now. Interesting metre - 10 10 12 6. It needs a chorus/bridge/refrain/something and another verse.

There is a life that can unlock the grave

A power great beyond all earthly laws

A love so fierce it reaches into death to save

then holds our hearts secure

There is a stream where thirsty souls can drink

A place the weary rest amidst the strife

There is a table laid with wine and living bread

Where seeking souls find life

sar 2011

how many episodes of sea change is too many?

2011-11-12T12:33:00.001+10:00

I've just finished the second series.

a lame excuse

2011-11-10T15:33:00.001+10:00

I walked past the swimming pool at school today. Micah's teacher called me over. She was very unimpressed. Micah was sitting out of swimming. His excuse, "I have to do my homework this afternoon and if I go swimming now I'll be too tired to do it."

Um.

No.

It's 3.30 and Micah has just finished his homework. Five minutes ago he asked Andrew and I to go away and leave him alone so he could work.

Again, no.

We feel we're in uncharted territory. Not had a child defiant in this particular way before.

Abide with me.

2011-11-10T08:03:00.004+10:00

Rememberence day tomorrow. I can't forget it because I'm a music teacher. I have a small ensemble (Joel - bass clarinet, Nathan - trombone, a sax, a eupho and a few trumpets) playing Abide With Me. Today I have to source an adequate trumpet player for the last post. If I can't get a kid up to speed, I'll have to play it myself.

My boy can read!

2011-11-10T07:59:00.000+10:00

Which is good, because he's 10 now. I wish I could give 2008 me (or even 2010 me) a snap shot of Joel now. For the last month he's been reading the Percy Jackson books. He's not a fast reader, but he is reading for hours every day. I have to take his books off him at meal times. This is amazing.

Some history. It took us weeks in year 1 to teach him the alphabet and simple words like 'the'. In year 2 he still couldn't read at all. The G.O. did a full assessment (which was very interesting - (97th percentile for higher order stuff, 16th percentile for processing speed)). She said that a kid with his profile would learn to read when he wanted it badly enough. He would have to learn in his own way. Even though the G.O. suggested it would be a waste of time, he was withdrawn from classes for lessons in how to sound out words. [Basically, Joel reads with his right brain. The left side is the side that sounds out. The right brain cannot sound out.] He hated it and still cannot sound out words. But he's taught himself to read anyway. He's getting the meaning of the stories completely correct, and most of the words right - except proper nouns. These are consistently wrong - but who cares?

He's reading. I'm now looking forward to year 7 naplan. In year 3, Joel did the comprehension task without reading the text at all. In year 5, he looked in the text for the answers. Perhaps in year 7 he'll start by reading the text! [But maybe not. I was a good reader and never ever wanted to read the boring text on a comprehension task.]