No Change Of Heart!

Classic example of the knock-on effect. For years my daughter has been banging on at me to let her have a pet. Now, for several reasons, I have absolutely refused to give in to her pleas, no matter how desperate. These are:

• They make a mess
• They're destructive
• They smell
• They will die
• I will end up having to feed it
• Pet food smells too

I could go on and on. Basically, I can think of no other reason for getting a pet other than that becasue my daugter wants one, and believe me she has tried. I've had pleas for; a dog, a cat, a rabbit, a hamster, a gerbil, all sorts. Up until now there hasn't been any major problem in simply refusing her a pet, but what have her friends parents gone and done? They've only bought a bloody kitten. So, my daughter is playing at her friends after school today, and we have to drive over and drop off a change of clothes. Out comes the kitten, "look at the lovely kitten!", "isn't it cute?", "why can't we have one?"

You see, my duaghter's a sensitive soul, she even cries when someone dies in Emmerdale. I know that if she had a pet, it would die and she'd be broken-hearted. I'm probably only postponing the inevitable, but she can wait until she has a boyfriend before she suffers such emotional turmoil, which hopefully won't be for a long time yet. Maybe I can prevent her from having one of those as well!

Disruptive Elements Will Be Forcibly Removed!

I had the sensational experience of witnessing some 1st year classes in action today. Three very different classes, that ranged from the sublime to the horrendous. The first class was moderately well behaved, but the second wasn't behaved at all. Just like in the photo above, one lad had to be removed from the class, he was so disruptive and he was creating this area of disturbance around him. I observed that he was not able to do the work at all, and supect that his behaviour was largely borne of frustration with himself. Even when he had been removed though, there were still some individuals pushing their luck. I thought the teacher showed a great deal of restraint with them. I'm not sure I could have.

The final 1st year class that I observed were impeccably well behaved. It was a fairly large class, but they worked away in almost complete silence. They got loads of work done, and demonstrated alarming skills for 12 year olds. When the lesson ended, they pushed their chairs in and stood behind the chairs, until given permission to leave. I couldn't believe it. I've seen 4th year classes this week that were many times worse discipline-wise.

My observation period is now drawing to a close, but the teacher has assured me, that upon my return in 4-5 weeks, I will be thrown to the lions, so to speak. Meaning, I'll be taking classes pretty much form the off. I can't say that I don't feel a degree of trepidation, who wouldn't? I'm sure though, that once I've overcame those initial nerves and just get on with it, I'll be alright!

Let's Negotiate With Reptilian Hominids!

I hear that Halo 3 is released today and everyone's talking about it, much as they were about Bioshock a few weeks back, and yet I am unmoved. To be honest, I don't see what appeal those types of game have. Shooting aliens, zombies, whatever, can only hold someone's attention for a very limited time I would have thought, or am I missing something? I find it quite disturbing, how kids can get so much enjoyment out of virtual killing. Medal Of Honour, now that's a differnet story, the killing is justified. I've yet to meet an alien or zombie that was anything other than amicable and courteous.

I may have mentioned it before, but I've been playing Final Fantasy XII for a while now, on and off. It's a fairly massive game and a certain level of character development is required before more difficult areas can be completed. Also, much time has to be spent in combat, in order to acquire items which can then be traded for weapons, armour, spells or potions etc.

I think I've covered the decline of gaming in general here before, so I won't mention it again, only to say, I wish the developers would put a bit more need for thinking in there. Killing all the aliens won't bring about universal peace, we need to get them round the table and analyse their thirst for human blood. For instance, would some sort of plasma substitute provide enough succour for them, or could we broker some sort of deal where we exchange vagrants for technology? There may be other options, but simply obliterating every reptilian hominid with a raygun, obviously isn't the answer is it? And, they shoot back with more accuracy in real-life! On account of the multiplicity of eyes that they have developed!

Back To Basic!

Back in school today. Rumour had it that I might even take a lesson, which fortunately for me didn't transpire. I don't think I'm quite ready for that, as of yet, although I have no qualms about going around the pupils and seeing if I can lend assistance. I have no problems whatseoever with what most of them are doing, but I did get a bit of a surprise when I saw one lad's VB code, and on first appearances it looked fairly alien. On closer inspection however, I quickly got a grasp of what the program was trying to do. More to the point, after a few attempts I managed to locate the source of his difficulties.

I think I'll probably want to give myself a bit of a VB refresher. It is difficult though approaching a bunch of code without even having seen what the program is intending to achieve. I don't really have any problem with the coding concepts, at least not those I'll be dealing with day-to-day. VB is a great piece of software on which to learn basic programming, hence the "basic" in the name I suppose. I'm hearing that Java is being mooted as a possible classroom replacement for VB, but I suspect that there would be major difficulties selling Java to Standard Grade level pupils.

Even though most programming languages have a bunch of similarities, what makes VB such a useful tool for learning programming, is the visual element. Each item has code attached to it, and this compartmentalisation makes it so much simpler to learn. Well, that's my theory and I'm sticking to it!

A Point Of View!

I'm spending the whole of this week doing what they call classroom observation. Basically, I go into the school, or more specifically, in with a computing teacher, and observe all of their lessons, noting everything from behaviour management to the types of question they ask! I'm making lots of notes and asking lots of questions. But, I do have a list of specfic things I need to focus on.

What I'm realising is just how big a job being a teacher is, and it's not only in terms of subject knowledge that a teacher stands or falls. There are 101 other things that they have to deal with daily. There's the constant threat of a visit form the HMI (Her Majesty's Inspectors), tracking assessment scores and coursework, using feedback from pupils and assessment scores to evaluate own teaching performance and pinpoint areas for improvement. Take into consideration the fluidity of computing as a subject, (is there any faster moving subject in the curriculum?) and you can easily see the enormity of what I'm getting myself into here!

I cannot however fault the teacher I'm in with, he's outstanding, and I don't think I could have been placed with anyone more helpful had I hand-picked them myself. He offers advice freely when asked for, and is completely transparent about every aspect of his work. Not only that, but he slung me copies of many of the course textbooks and said I could keep them, along with a pile of other teaching materials. I was going to buy those. He said, "Never buy anything in this profession!" An attitude with which I intend to do my utmost to comply. Words like laudable and commendable spring to mind. The school also has some amazingly cheap sources for computer components and peripherals, which I may well be tempted to call upon given the opportunity!

Orbiting the Dance Floor!

I was at a a wedding dance last night. The wedding actually took place a while back, but for certain reasons, which I know nothing about, the dance was held off until yesterday. Anyway, on this occasion the kids were staying with their granny, allowing us free reign to consume copious amounts of alcohol, which we (I at least :-}) proceeded to partake of! In fact I probably drank more last night than I have anytime for several years.

So was I ill? Not at all! Was I drunk? Well, oddly I felt more drunk when I got up this morning than I did last night! So, all in all, it was a good night. I probably chose the wrong day to do this, but today I've been trying to set-up a digi-box I got from someone, because our old one had started playing up, freezing and getting stuck on certain channels. It was becoming a pain! So, I've got the new box in, but it looks as though I have to move the dish, because the card that came with it is for a different sattelite. My dish is conveniently located about 12 feet up the side of the house, so I'll need a ladder for that! I did buy a special little tuning gadget several weeks ago, having forseen this occasion well in advance. It was £3 from Lidl. I don't like Lidl, but sometimes they have some interesting things on sale.

To be honest with you, I am starting to get a small hangover, but nothing a spot of lunch won't remedy. I might have to call a man with a ladder in this afternoon to assist in repositiong my sattelite dish, but hey, that's what daddies are for right? Of course he'll want it reciprocating in some way that will mean he gets more out of it than I do, because that's how he operates. No doubt, there's some small painting job at the parents house, with my name on it!

Who Started This?

This week's theme seems to have been "Nostalgia". I apologise for that. I wasn't necessarily feeling very nostalgic, just that I was very conscious that me prattling on about Uni all the time would ve annoying. However, after spending a whole day at Uni, the only thing I can actually think about is Uni, so be grateful for my seeming nostalgia, such as it is!

I've decided to move on to a much more serious and sobering subject today. I read in the paper how some British General was appaled about the way British soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, are being treated. Basically, the public are not supportive of them. I don't think this would come as a surprise to anyone really. His actual words were more along the line of, "The public are not supporting our troops, in a war that they instigated". Hmmm, I don't recall instigating any war. I didn't thinkt it was a good idea at the time, since or ever will.

The suggestion that British troops are in Iraq and Afghanistan, because the British public want them there, is frankly ludicrous. I don't know anyone who wants then there, or believes they should be there. In fact, like me, many are wondering, "Why the hell are our troops there in the first place?" The fact is that our government wanted this war, despite massive public opposition. They wanted us signed up to an EU treaty, despite massive public opposition, and they will no doubt bring in ID cards, despite massive public opposition. The threat of terror is the stick with which they keep goading us. I would suggest to you, that the only reason there is any credible terrorist threat, is because British troops are in Iraq and Afghanistan. That threat is largely from homegrown terrorists, who deeply despise our military actions.

Having said all of that, British troops should not be treated harshly by the British public, they're only doing their jobs, and following orders. I'm sure most of them don't want to be there, and probably wonder just like us, what the long-term objectives are. This is clearly demonstrated by the number of soldiers quitting the forces. They're leaving in droves. This only exacerbates the situation, as our forces on the ground are becoming increasingly stretched. There's also that age old problem of knowing friend from foe. The peace-keeping role isn't what soldiers want to do, they want to see the enemy and engage them in combat. That's what keeps soldiers happy!

Sugar-coated 70's Sweet Nostalgia!

Maybe I'm getting old, but when I discuss the sweets of yesteryear with the lads at Uni, they look at me like some kind of nostalgic fool. They have never sampled the delights of:

• Spangles (Square Boiled Fruit Sweets)
• Pacers (Square Mint Flavoured Chews - White with green stripes around them)
• Texan Bar - See Above, lovely chocolate

Just as the food in the 70's was rubbish, the sweets were brilliant. At least that's the way I remember it. I do consider the possibility though, that they were only brilliant because the occasions on which I had any were so few and far between. Was I deprived? Nah! Money was tight right enough, but it was the same for everyone. When you got a sweet, you savoured it. It's true what they say, "You can have too much of a good thing!"

Our sweets are all Americanised now, and while some of them (such as M&M's, the peanut kind) are OK, in general I would say that sweets were better back then, it was the golden age of the Britiish sweet. Plus, they put way too much sugar into sweets nowadays, it wipes out the flavour. It's a disgusting practice which I condemn with all my vigour!

A Long Forgotten Ancestral Punch-up!

I sat down last night to watch some telly, and I said to the wife "Remind me to watch "Who Do You Think You Are?" tomorrow night, because I missed it last week". Just as I said this I turned over the channel and started reading a book, when I heard the unmistakable voice of Griff Rhys Jones coming for the box in the corner. I realised straight away that "Who Do You Think You Are?" was already on and a day earlier than expected.

Even though I'd missed the first 20 minutes it made riveting viewing. Griff had been brought up to believe that his Gt Grandfather had been a engine driver killed in a rail crash. The reality was very different. He had been killed in a drunken punch-up outside a pub, which he may well have been the instigator of. I think it's really important that people have a sense of where they've come from and what's gone into making them who they are today. Every family has secrets and it's so much better to have them out in the open.

Of course, my peers will recall Griff from "The Not the Nine o'clock News" and "Smith and Jones" shows, which to my mind were incomparable in their day, apart from Monty Python perhaps. Griff and Mel had and still have I believe a great friendship, which made their act work all the better. I've had some of their stuff on this blog before, check this video for instance. That's just a small glimpse of their material.

I'd Rather Eat Now Than In the 70's!

I had Macaroni cheese for supper! So simple to make and yet surprisingly delicious. I realise that I have a bit of a penchant for food of Italian origin, but not the sort that Keir eats. Silvio isn't putting any of his man fluids in my grub thank you! Taking Tikka Masala out of the equation, my next favorite foods are lasagna, canneloni, macaroni, pizza and so on ad infinitum. I'm procrastinating yet again in making my point clear, so I'll get to the point shall I?

If you are of a similar age to myself (36... cough), then your childhood memories certainly won't involve any of the meals listed above. My abiding supper-time memories are of:

• Mince & Tatties
• Fish Fingers, Frozen Peas and Smash
• Cullen Skink
• Tatty Soup
• Beef Stew

Gladly, the variety and tastiness of meals has increased dramatically since the 70's. I feel like Oliver Twist when I think back upon what we had to eat then. In all probablility the vastly improved nature of the British diet is to contribute for the fact that most kids are way taller now than what they used to be in days of yore. Most kids are over-taking their parents height wise nowadays, and before they get to High School in some cases.

I don't think that the ready availability of delicious grub at present is the only cause of obesity in this country. The reason there weren't so many obese people back then was because nobody could really afford snack-foods, and ordinary grub was simply crap, however you dressed it up. People were willing to starve rather than face Fish Fingers again. They were a rubbish convenience food that mothers up and down the land embraced simply because it was quick and easy to cook!