2013 - term 2 - good teacher magazine

Good Teacher Magazine Term 2 2013 1

“The best teachers don’t give you the answers...

They just point the way ...

and let you make your own choices.”

Term Two 2013

2 Good Teacher Magazine Term 2 2013

Disney is looking for people like you to teach English to children in China. Here, you’ll use our award-winning curriculum, innovative technology and storytelling techniques to educate young minds in a way that only Disney can. This is a once-in- a-lifetime opportunity to join a world-renowned company and share your passion with the people of China.

• Participate in a 12 to 15 month contract• Work with children ages 2 through 12• Discover an exciting, new and rich culture

Immediate openings for July, August, September

Learn how you can join us as a Foreign Trainer at

DisneyEnglish.DisneyCareers.com

Give the giftof language

Join us as a Foreign Trainer in China

http://disneyenglish.disneycareers.com


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Index 3

Your Soapbox 4

13 Year Old Closer to Crowdfunding Goal 5

MOTAT heats up for the Steam Fair MOTAT 8

The Woman destroyed –The feminist’s place in society Rachel Williams 10

Schools find a solution to the needs of 11 to 14 year olds 12

Alphabet Wordplay for able students Elaine Le Sueur 20

My Letter to Treasury Laurie Loper 24

Kiwi students hold their own census 27

When does tagging become graffitti, become street art, become valued and priceless? 28

Holiday Adventures Amie Waters 40

Pursuing Change Michelle LaBrosse 46

One Man’s Dream and the Ruben Jane Neil Adams 48

Queenstown company wins national landscape architecture award for new school 56

Complementing Fine Arts: Folded Book Sculptures by Luciana Frigerio 60

Rogers Rant 63

is produced in the first week of each school term and uploaded to http://www.goodteacher.co.nz

The magazine is freely available both in New Zealand and Internationally.

ed-media publications

Front Cover: A gem amongst the tagging in a council approved area.

Back Cover: Corporate Street Art... Gull petrol tank at Mount Maunganui.

Good Teacher Magazine would like to acknowledge Barisa Photography for much of the Urban Art article’s photographs...the balance of the pictures were from Rachel Williams and internet sources.

Please keep a duplicate of text and illustrative materials submitted for publication. ed-media accepts no responsibility for damage or loss of material submitted for publication

NOTE: The opinions expressed in TeacherMagazine

Good

are not necessarily those of ed-media

publications or the editorial team.

Disney is looking for people like you to teach English to children in China. Here, you’ll use our award-winning curriculum, innovative technology and storytelling techniques to educate young minds in a way that only Disney can. This is a once-in- a-lifetime opportunity to join a world-renowned company and share your passion with the people of China.

• Participate in a 12 to 15 month contract• Work with children ages 2 through 12• Discover an exciting, new and rich culture

Immediate openings for July, August, September

Learn how you can join us as a Foreign Trainer at

DisneyEnglish.DisneyCareers.com

Give the giftof language

Join us as a Foreign Trainer in China



If you want to have YOUR SAY please email your offering to: [email protected]

Your Soapbox!

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Everybody’s Talking about a New Way of Talking...

I feel curmudgeonly. It’s a great feeling to vent one’s dislike with impunity. Spring has sprung, Sumer is Icumen in and people are enjoying themselves, so why not be perverse and swim against the current?

My current peeve is against young women. To be precise, the way some of them speak. No, I’ve already ranted about the use of the word ‘like’. That’s old hat - another perfectly good word has been downgraded to the lexicon dumpster but that’s life. I’m like, over that. No, I am reacting in true, fingernail –down- the- blackboard style, to the recent phenomenon of vocal fry. It’s ubiquitous: teenagers do it, young women do it, let’s do it…do the FRY!

For those who are ignorant of this phenomenon, or, horror of horrors, have the temerity to think I’m making it up, you’re welcome to verify its existence via the services of Madame Google or BoobTube or whatever it’s called.

It’s not a mangling of the Queen’s English (by God, is she really??) but the sound these young people make when uttering their pearls (cultured, of course) of wisdom.

To be a fry-adept, first gargle with pumice then yodel that Muppet song Mahna Mahnam. Then phone a friend and manouevre your vocal chords so your voice pitches about 3 octaves below middle C. Then pretend that you are mimicking the sounds of an opening door with very rusty hinges. If that fails, listen to Lee Marvin singing Wandering Star and imitate ad nauseum.

I don’t care if Britney Spears does it-it is irritating. Why can’t young women aspire to be Kiri te Kanawa and aim for a honey-

filled, dulcet-toned upper register which flows around one’s ear drums like a breeze on a balmy day in Wellington? Is it asking too much?

Young lady, I guess if you want to sound like a muted pneumatic drill then that’s your business but consider

the listener.

Enough already.

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13 Year Old Scientist, Poet, and Marketing Mavin8th Grader is Close to Crowdfunding Goal

Josie Baudendistel is only 13 and might be the first 13 year old to create a successful crowdfunding project.

With the help of her dad, Tommy Baudendistel, PhD, she filmed one of the most creative videos imaginable by personally writing and performing a crowdfunding rhyme. It includes all the important aspects of her project and is a real charmer. She has successfully marketed her project through social media and youthful persistence and has nearly achieved her goal. She even designed a FundaGeek tee shirt to wear in her video.

The money Josie receives will allow her to purchase a new camera to convert to UV and IR sensitive light as well as software to analyze the pictures from her Opossum scavenging pattern study. For the past two years, this Dayton Regional STEM School student has been studying forensic scavenging patterns for her science fair projects in conjunction with Dr. Eric Benbow, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Dayton.

Because she is under the age limit for posting a project on FundaGeek, her dad set up an account and helped her build her project called Possum Vision. As dad Tommy says, “The reason we chose FundaGeek was that it looked more open to non-traditional type projects and seemed to be able to hand-hold us through the process. Now that we are into it, we are sure we made the right decision.”

Josie and her dad are an inspiration for parents to work with their underage teenagers to build crowdfunding projects for personal, school, or community causes.

Every now and then something slightly offbeat and remarkable comes to light ... this fits that category!

About FundaGeek LLC

Through crowdfunding, a mechanism utilizing the power of crowds, project owners can use social media to solicit personal donations to fund the budget for their projects. The needed funds are raised by offering Rewards in exchange for Pledges. Think of pledge drives where a large number of donors pledge small amounts in return for simple rewards. Unlike most crowdfunding sites that use the “all or nothing” funding model where funding is provided only if the goal amount is met, FundaGeek is different. Projects receive whatever funding they have attracted by the end of the campaign. There are no up-front fees to use FundaGeek. FundaGeek has entry portals specific to scientific research, inventions, technology, education, software, and community support.

For more information on FundaGeek go to the company’s website: www.fundageek.com.

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Anyone can have access to Josie’s research study’s progress simply by becoming a sponsor at: http://www.fundageek.com/project/detail/786 Possum-Vision--UVIR-Visual-Scavenging-Signals

About The Project

My name is Josie Baudendistel and I’m an 8th grader at the Dayton Regional STEM School in Dayton, Ohio. Over the past 2 years, I have been studying forensic scavenging patterns for my science fair projects in conjunction with Dr. Eric Benbow, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Dayton. Due to these activities I have been a co-author on three conference presentations. During this research, we have observed interesting scavenging patterns within different seasons and different scavengers. However, additional studies are needed to test novel hypotheses about mechanisms of scavenger activity patterns in nature. One of the more obvious patterns observed in my past studies was that the opossum scavenged mainly at night due to their nocturnal habits. This begs the question of whether or not they detect visual cues using a larger portion of the light spectrum than humans.

Impact

During a preliminary literary review, I found two papers revealing that the North American Opossum has both long and short wavelength sensitive light receptors in their eyes (1&2). This brought to my attention the question of whether or not the Opossum uses ultraviolet or infrared light wavelengths as scavenging signals. For this year’s science fair project, my hypothesis is that there may be both UV and IR light wavelengths signals to the opossums signaling when to scavenge. My proposed process for this project is to set three pig carcasses along the edge of a field where previous activity has been observed. Each carcass will have a tripod with a webcam placed over it that will send images to a website. Each carcass will also have a trail camera placed near it to capture scavenging activity. In addition, I will also go to each carcass site and take pictures through a filter that senses UV light as well as IR light to observe any visual changes in the carcass twice a day during the research period. I will then compare the observed visual signals with opossum scavenging activities. If visual signals can be identified, there is a possibility they can be used during forensic investigations.

What We Need & What You Get

For the proposed project, I will need webcams, trail cams and 3 pig carcasses which will be supplied by UD. I will need tripods that my family will supply. What I need help with is purchasing a new camera to convert to UV and IR sensitive light as well as software to analyze the pictures.

Josie’s Proposal

Below is a breakdown of my costs:

Canon 60D Body $ 500.00

Full Spectrum Conversion $ 225.00

Hotmirror Filter (58mm) $ 70.00

IR Fiter (590nm) $ 65.00

IR Fiter (665nm) $ 65.00

IR Fiter (720nm) $ 65.00

IR Fiter (850nm) $ 65.00

Lense 28-105mm (58mm) $ 60.00

Photshop (Ed Ver) $ 250.00

Shipping $ 25.00

Total $ 1,390.00

If you choose to sponsor me on this project, I will set up an FTP site to upload pictures I’ve taken using the camera. I will also add updates of what results I have found during my project.

Other Ways You Can Help

There are two other ways you can help if you can’t donate money.

1) Spread the word - this is easy. Just tell your friends!

2) If you have any of the about equipment that you can donate, I would be very appreciative!

1. Jacobs GH, Williams GA. “Cone pigments in a North

American marsupial, the opossum (Didelphis virginiana)..” J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol.. (2010): 379-84. Web. 1 Apr. 2013.

2. Deeb S. S., Wakefield M. J., Tada T., Marotte L., Yokoyama S., Marshall Graves J. A. 2003 The cone visual pigments of an Australian marsupial, the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii): sequence, spectral tuning, and evolution. Mol. Biol. Evol. 20, 1642–1649.

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MOTAT HEATS UP FOR THE STEAM FAIR

On Sunday 26 May visitors will experience an out-of-sight spectacle of steam power at MOTAT’s inaugural Steam Fair.Set amongst MOTAT’s spectacular steam collection, which includes the beautifully restored Pumphouse and a series of authentic steam locomotives, engines and rollers, visitors will love learning about steam power in all its forms with a series of hands-on activities and special displays.The MOTAT Steam Fair will be a celebration of New Zealand’s steam history suitable for all ages, so come along and discover the magic of steam power with MOTAT. Date Sunday 26 May 2013 Location MOTAT - Great North Road, Western Springs, Auckland. Costs MOTAT’s Steam Fair is free with normal admission to MOTAT: $14 adults $8 students/children 5-16 yrs $7 seniors $free children under 5 $35 family pass (2 adults, 4 children) $65 MOTAT Mates Annual Family Pass (2 adults, 4 children)

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MOTAT HEATS UP FOR THE STEAM FAIR

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In this essay, I aim to identify the key issues outlined by Simone de Beauvoir’s feminist theory taking into regard ‘The Second Sex’ and I will demonstrate the interaction between such theories and the textual detail of ‘The Woman Destroyed’1 by Simone de Beauvoir. I will look at the relevance of her theoretical works in relation to her literary work and if there is correlation.De Beauvoir emerged as a key influence on second wave feminism, provoking debates and controversy. ‘She occupied a unique position in relation to the intellectual discourses of her time, she also became the greatest feminist theorist of our century.’2 Her own attitude towards feminism however, is somewhat ambiguous and she claims she didn’t become a feminist until after the publication of the Second Sex where she witnessed the effect the book had on other women. She is far from clear of her own feminist agenda, yet draws attention to significant notions that are still relevant in today’s society.One of the main notions de Beauvoir emphasizes is how woman is potentially subject to her biological functions. ‘[B]iological considerations are extremely important [...] But I deny that they establish for [Woman] a fixed and inevitable destiny.’3 There is a traditional historical view of women as ‘womb’ and de Beauvoir in fact, somewhat paradoxically, implies that having a womb doesn’t necessarily make you a woman. The interest of woman’s biological functions as well as this notion of woman as ‘womb’ is highlighted within the text’s graphic descriptions of the interactions between the men and women: ‘crotch to crotch’4, ‘c**k against c**t’5. The opening line ‘The tits’6 gives the reader an insight into the character and the underlying issues that the text will bring out. It seems within the passage, similarly to what is suggested socially at the time, women’s only purpose is a reproductive one; and to fulfil their purpose will go to any length, or ‘betray their best friend’7. This has always been a point of debate to feminists – the debate over the impact of women’s bodily functions 1 Simone de Beauvoir, The Woman destroyed, extract booklet2 Simone de Beauvoir: the making of an intellectual woman, Toril Moi, p3, Blackwell Publishers, 1994, Oxford.3 The Second Sex, 654 Simone de Beauvoir, The Woman destroyed, extract booklet5 Ibid6 Simone de Beauvoir, The Woman destroyed, extract booklet7 Ibid

on their abilities, on their abilities and the conceptions of womanhood and the affects that maternity, pregnancy and childbirth menstruation actually have.

The approach to sexual revelation within the extract is very direct, ‘the fellow’s got his end up’8 for example – no phatic symbols quite express the situation so thoroughly and clearly imply the masculine approach, and in turn highlight this ambiguous, illusive quality of femininity. The notion of what is said to be feminine: ‘Having qualities or an appearance traditionally associated with women, especially delicacy and prettiness’9 are extremely opposed within the extract in relation to Murielle, the protagonist. The colloquial language such as ‘sods’, ‘shit’, and ‘creeps’10 she uses to describe men was only associated with being used by men in the 1960s, when the piece was set. The social construction of women has been traditional point of attack for anti-feminists. As soon as women deviate from the prescribed domestic role, they are then accused of being unnatural, and in some ways no longer women. We continue to have this idea of feminine that is socially and culturally constructed. ‘Some of them slap rubber gloves on and act like the lady of the house; I wouldn’t put up with that’11: we see that the protagonist within the extract disregards any social expectations of woman and in a somewhat problematic, anti-feminist approach, de Beauvoir continues the story to make this woman, who disregards social intentions, unhappy and unsuccessful and in doing so suggests that the feminist woman will continue to stay oppressed and ‘othered’ within society.

This notion of woman as other that de Beauvoir highlights in ‘The Second Sex’ is somewhat implied by Section II of the extract where Murielle compares herself to the moon ‘I used to love the moon, it was just like me, and now they’ve mucked it up’12. At this point in history, there had been an unmanned moon landing, but it was still very much a mystery to people; similarly women were foreign to men. De Beauvoir interestingly describes a woman’s body as alien – not to a man, but to herself. ‘It is during her periods that [woman] feels her body most painfully as an obscure, alien thing’13 It suggests not only that woman is compliant in the construction of woman and willingness to take on the role of other, but she also

8 Ibid9 Oxford English Dictionary10 Simone de Beauvoir, The Woman destroyed, extract booklet11 Ibid12 Simone de Beauvoir, The Woman destroyed, extract

booklet13 The Second Sex, 61

The Woman destroyed –The feminist’s place in society

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becomes other to herself, Murielle becomes unfamiliar with who she is because of her surroundings and society’s manipulation. This notion of woman as alien complicates the idea of ‘other’ more generally. It is not simply a matter of patriarchal structures creating this idea of woman as other, and man as absolute, but women because of their biological functions become other to themselves. As well as Murielle’s negative descriptions of the moon ‘a dusty grey pathetic thing, for any old sod to trample on’14, women’s oppression is highlighted towards the end of the extract, ‘trampling all over me, ‘he tortured me and then he practically beat me up’, ‘I am at his mercy.’15 ‘[T]he relation of the two sexes is not quite like that of two electrical poles, for man represents both the positive and the neutral [...] whereas woman represents only the negative’16.

While the protagonist is attempting to deny the expectations of society and overcome the authority of men, particularly her husband, the later part of the extract where she seemingly becomes more rational about her situation, she also shows that it is easy to succumb to social pressures, and given the choice would want ‘some dignity: I want my husband, my son, my own front door just like everyone else’. Just like everyone else is the key in this extract, it shows that she knows nothing other than what every other woman does, so in some ways, this is Murielle (and potentially de Beauvoir approving the social norms. De Beauvoir suggests ‘No woman should be authorized to stay at home and raise her children. Society should be totally different. Women should not have that choice, precisely because if there is such a choice, too many women will make that one’17 This is problematic, as it seems to be authoritarian and almost anti-feminist with the notion that choice is unimportant, it is a reaction to Freidan’s argument that women should be able to chose to take on the role of wife and mother. To prevent men oppressing women, it is suggested ‘To emancipate woman is to refuse to confine her to the relations she bears to man, not to deny them to her; let her have her independent existence and she will continue none the less to exist for him also: mutually recognising each other as subject’18. So women and men can exist together, but as two separate entities, not needing to collaborate or understand one another. Even when being put down 14 Simone de Beauvoir, The Woman destroyed, extract booklet15 Ibid16 Introduction to The Second Sex in Humm, p.4717 de Beauvoir, Interview with Betty Friedan, Saturday

Review, June 14 1975, p.18,18 The Feminist papers: from Adams to de Beauvoir, Alice S. Rossi, Northeastern University Press, p.704, 1973

by the porter for example, he is able to use ‘fancy words’19 showing that however strong minded feminist women are, they are still uneducated and so will not be on the same level socially as the low class men.

In conclusion, Simone de Beauvoir’s theories highlight interesting notions that can be related to many beliefs and literary works throughout history; however her intentions are very unclear and are somewhat problematic. The text, ‘The Woman Destroyed’ is also very problematic as it is almost suggestive of her beliefs being somewhat anti-feminist as this destroyed woman is a prime example of one who goes against social and cultural construction, and supposedly stands up for these beliefs. In this text, written by a leading feminist theorist, the Feminist is defeated by society, allowing the reader to question the relative worth of any feminist theory.

Rachel Williams

19 Simone de Beauvoir, The Woman destroyed, extract booklet

The Woman destroyed –The feminist’s place in society

Simone de Beauvoir

Simone de Beauvoir

Rachel Williams

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Schools find a solution to the needs of 11 to 14 year oldsFinding an enriching and engaging learning experience for 11 to 14 year olds; one that is practical for the school to deliver, inspiring and relevant for the student, and prepares them well for the next stage in their learning, is a challenge for any school to achieve. However, a number of schools around the world think they have found the answer with the International Middle Years Curriculum. One of those schools is The UCL Academy in London, England. Finding a successful solution at The UCL Academy

For The UCL Academy, the move to adopt the International Middle Years Curriculum (IMYC) saw almost immediate impact as Headteacher, Geraldine Davies explains. “At the end of the very first IMYC unit, the staff were shocked at how much understanding the children had gained from their learning.” Assistant Principal, Thomas Bowen agrees: “We were amazed at the engagement and the work produced. It’s so exciting. The children get it immediately.”

For students, the IMYC is a curriculum that helps them find connections across all their subject learning and makes links to a conceptual theme for a period of six weeks per unit.

Each unit guides students to make meaning of the conceptual theme (what the IMYC calls the ‘big idea’) through a personal and global perspective. Within each unit there is a learning process designed to engage and inspire teenagers, helping them to become confident, independent learners.

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Schools find a solution to the needs of 11 to 14 year olds

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Taking a forward-thinking approach to learning

Tom Bowen explains why the academy chose to take such an approach with the learning for its 11 to 14 year olds: “We’re a brand new school, we’re an academy that wants to make a difference, we’ve had the chance to take a whole new and forward-thinking approach to the learning and to the way our students are making meaning of their learning. We’re focused on developing the whole student and the IMYC curriculum supports that extremely well. There are no isolated learning sessions; all the learning is connected as a result of working with the International Middle Years Curriculum. Our aim is to create the best learning environment to achieve an actively involved and motivated student, providing opportunities to learn both collaboratively and independently.” The academy calls this learning environment ‘the nature of learning’ which came about from collaboration with the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London (the academy’s sponsor). It involves the students working in SuperStudios (open learning areas enabling group learning), and in learning sets (a group of six who stay together within each learning session).

“Everything is evolving together very well,” says Tom. “Having the IMYC big idea as a theme across all curriculum areas has proved to be very successful,” he adds. “It’s a benchmark to support students in developing their understanding within all their learning. The students are seeing the links in their subject learning before the adults do. They can identify connections in their learning in ways that we teachers don’t always see and they are understanding exactly how to use the big idea to help them find relevant links. We hadn’t anticipated the students’ ability to make the links so effectively and what’s most interesting is that it’s a very personal thing for each student; they can find connections in very different ways.”

Examples of the IMYC’s 30 big ideas include ‘Things are more stable when different elements are in the correct or best possible proportions’(the big idea of the IMYC Balance unit) and ‘Facing up to, or overcoming, problems and barriers increases possibilities in our lives’ (the big idea of the IMYC Challenge unit). Each big idea provides the link for all subject learning as well as personal and international learning too.

Meeting the needs of a teenage brain

Most adults, across all cultures - from teachers and parents to scientists - recognise that adolescence is a difficult time and that adolescent students struggle in many ways. One researcher whose work influenced the IMYC, Harry Chugani (a neurologist at Wayne State University in Detroit, USA) encapsulates this experience perfectly: “Adolescence is a time when brains are absorbing a huge amount, but also undergoing so many alterations that many things can go wrong,” he says. “The teenage years rival the terrible twos as a time of general brain discombobulation.”

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During this time, teenagers find themselves struggling to deal with their developing brain which is often the cause of poor executive function, a need for independence, a desire to find meaning and purpose in what they do, an increase in peer acceptance, and an impulse to take risk and seek pleasure. The International Middle Years Curriculum was designed around these specific needs. As a result, it is providing an enriching learning experience for 11 to 14 year old students says Tom: “The learning process of the IMYC is central to how we’ve developed our planning, our teaching and how we’re utilising our space.”

Supportive learning process and structures

Tom explains the IMYC’s learning process; “An entry point at the beginning of each unit is the hook to help the students make sense of the big idea and to engage them. A knowledge harvest helps us to identify what the students already know and what they need and want to know which informs our planning. Research and recording tasks create opportunities for a wide range of investigation and exploration, and encourage teachers to facilitate the learning rather than to take a didactic approach. This more self-directed approach to learning may take some time for students to acquire; they haven’t got a teacher looking over their shoulder the whole time, but the students know the outcome and they have the choice of how to achieve the outcome. A big part of the learning is working out what the best way of achieving the outcome is. Sometimes the best learning happens as a result of making a mistake during this process.”

Tom explains the learning structures within the IMYC that support the development of understanding: “Through journaling and blogging students reflect on the big idea and what it means to them (drawing on their subject learning but then taking it to a personal perspective). Once they’ve done all their subject learning for the unit, the concept can then be crystallised and distilled into something personal (a media project which students present to their classmates), enabling the students to show their understanding of what the big idea means to them personally.”

Student-led learning

The media project not only encourages differentiation and personalisation of each student’s interpretation of the conceptual theme (the big idea), it also enables students to learn, develop and regularly practise presentation skills and techniques. As the students share in the presentations of their peers, so more new learning occurs, as one student, Carolina explains: “At first everyone did the same sort of presentations – PowerPoint’s and we realised it was boring. Now we try and think of new ways so that our presentations are interesting. Some people have done newscasts, movies, interviews, someone did a song. It makes you want do it well and be creative because you know you’re going to be presenting to all your friends. Watching what everyone does, the most creative presentations, they help you learn more too.”

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Making an impact at The UCL Academy

The impact the International Middle Years Curriculum is having at The UCL Academy is significant says Tom. “The joy of the IMYC is that it can produce a very individualised learning response to a challenge that’s set. It fits very well with our vision; where learners learn to think for themselves as wholly educated human beings. It’s a research-led, engaging curriculum helping us to have ultimately happy, motivated, engaged students and enabling us to make links with the international community.”

The students of The UCL Academy have already shared learning experiences with IMYC students at the International School of Bremen in Germany and are currently linking with some of the British Schools of America.

The International Middle Years Curriculum is now being used by national and international schools in over 25 countries around the world including Qatar, Indonesia, Costa Rica, Kenya and the Netherlands. More information about the IMYC is available at www.greatlearning.com/imyc

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All photographs are of learning in action with the IMYC at the UCL Academy in London

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Alphabet Wordplay for able students

As I sat down to write this article, a quotation from Richard Price came to mind. He observed that writers spent years rearranging letters of the alphabet, and it caused me to reflect on the increasing importance that we all place on just twenty six symbols in these days of digital technology. It seems to me to be a pity that many of today’s digital natives will simply take this tool for granted once they have learned the basics of literacy and there is so much more fun to be had.

‘Each letter of the alphabet is a steadfast, loyal soldier in a great army of words, sentences, paragraphs and stories. One letter falls, and the entire language falters.’

Vera Nazarian

What do you think? Do you agree/ disagree ?

Is it time for a critical analysis of todays’s alphabet?

Should we lose X?

If we take X away then how will we let people know that we love them when we text? (Girl,aged7)

Without X we won’t be able to use the delete shortcut on the computer and it will take longer to write stuff. (boy, aged 7)

I love the way that these responses reflect the current technology trends of my students.

What about Q? Since it it is always followed by U to create the sound that could just as easily be represented by kw?

What about Quentin and other kids whose names start with Q ? He might lose his identity by having to change the way his name is spelled.

An online April Fool’s joke from 2010 (http://www.dailywritingtips.com) announced that the English Language Central Commission (ELCC) had come to the conclusion that the letter ‘Z’ should be removed from the English alphabet to unify the American and British spelling of words such as analyze and visualize. The proposal was for words that began with the letter ‘z’ would in future start with the letter ‘X.’ This is a great article to share!

‘Will the internet change the alphabet of the future?’ What do you think?

I posed this question to a group of 7 and 8 year old gifted students and was somewhat surprised by their thoughtful answers (although by now I shouldn’t be!)

It probably will because people in the future will borrow new words with new sounds from other languages and if you want to do that then you might need to have new letters for the new sounds. (boy, aged 7)

The internet might affect the ways that people communicate with each other and they could stop talking to each other so the sounds won’t be as important as the symbols that they use. (girl, aged 8)

If someone invents a new sound and then needs a letter to represent it then the alphabet could change

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Alphabet Wordplay for able studentsElaine Le Sueur

but it wouldn’t be the internet that caused it. It would just be a good way to let everyone know about it if it went viral on Youtube. (girl, aged 7)

I don’t think the letter Y will change because it has already been changed from the symbol representing that sound in medieval English. I found a quote about that. It was clever. Did you know that Y is the only question that is important enough to have a letter of the alphabet named after it? ha ha. (boy, aged 8)

As our language has grown, some of the original alphabet letters have been discarded. Have you heard of thorn, wynn, yogh or eng? They are just four letters representing sounds that have been replaced as old English texts evolved into the alphabet that we use today.

Our modern English alphabet comes from a Latin alphabet initially consisting of twenty letters with the addition of 3 letters from the Greek alphabet. The last three letters, J, U and W were added in the Middle Ages.

Further information about the development of the Latin alphabet from ancient Rome to today may be of interest to gifted students and can be found at: http://www.omniglot.com/writing/latin.htm, http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/more/1007/ and http://www.mentalfloss.com article/31904/ 12-letters-didnt-make-alphabet

Challenge #1

A text that deliberately excludes a particular letter of the alphabet is called a lipogram. Ernest Vincent Wright’s novel ... ‘Gatsby : Champion of Youth’ published in 1939 is an amazing example of this. It is a story of more than 50,000 words with no letter ‘e’ in the entire manuscript. What a great challenge to present to gifted students, since the letter ‘e’ is the most frequently used letter in the English alphabet.

Here is an 8 year old boy’s response to the challenge... (no prizes for guessing his passion)Did you know that Tyrannosaurus had fifty fangs? It could snap up about a fourth of a ton of food. It had snacks of ankylosaurus and paradurolophus soup. It was almost as high as a tall building.

Lipograms are not restricted to eliminating the letter ‘e’ though. Students can select another popular letter, write a short paragraph omitting it, then challenge a partner to work out the rule that was used to create the writing.

Challenge #2

‘Tomorrow’s Alphabet,’ by George Shannon is a great book for gifted readers. I sourced mine from Amazon.com. It is an alphabet that requires the reader to think about cause and effect over time and is more of a riddle to be solved than a regular alphabet book. E.g. A is for seed. No it’s not, is it? Seed starts with S. Oh, no wait... Seed is tomorrow’s apple. You have to think ahead and decide what the relationship is between the two. It’s clever and gifted students may enjoy the thinking involved in creating a tomorrow’s alphabet of their own. (Idea from http://questparadox.edublogs.org)

M is for oranges ... Tomorrow’s marmalade

O is for acorn... Tomorrow’s oak tree

R is for sunshower... Tomorrow’s rainbow

E is for hen ... tomorrow’s egg

Challenge #3

Challenge your students to write four word sentences where each word starts with the next consecutive letter of the alphabet.

e.g. A-B-C-D Andrew built colourful dioramas.

However, you don’t need to start at A. One the rules have been established and understood then challenge the students to write longer and longer sentences using consecutive alphabet letters.

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More Extension Menu Challenges :

THE ALPHABET Choose activities that spark your interest to develop further independently. Aim to complete three in a row (either vertical, horizontal or diagonal). If you wish to complete more or less than this then please negotiate with me’ The centre square is left to student choice so that you can use your creative skills in a way that best suits your learning needs. Letters of the alphabet are found everywhere in our lives. Create a photographic alphabet to suit a theme of your choice. E.g. gymnastics...

O A T

Cryptanalysis refers to the study of ciphers with a view to finding weaknesses in them and breaking the cipher. Create a code using alphabetical and numerical symbols. Teach it to some friends and use it to write secret messages to each other. The simplest one of these codes is A=1, B=2, C=3 etc but this code is easy to crack. Can you improve on it?

‘Lost for Words’ are scenes created entirely of words by Cecilia Russell, a New Zealand artist. Your challenge is to create an original word picture in her style. E.g.

Find 10 interesting facts about the alphabet and present them using a digital technology.

STUDENT CHOICE

Conduct a survey of at least 10 people in response to the question ...‘Will the internet change the alphabet of the future?’ What do you think? Analyse your results for patterns and trends and present them to an audience.

Find out more about the origins of print fonts and how they have changed over time then create your own original font and give it a name.

AAAA

Koko is a lowland gorilla. She communicates in sign language, using a vocabulary of over 1,000 words. She also understands spoken English, and can respond in sign to questions asked in English. She is learning the letters of the alphabet, and can read some printed words, including her own name. What makes humans different from animals? Are we different? Investigate this further.er own name.

Carry out an alphabet scavenger hunt related to your school environment and take photos of the objects found. Collate the results and create an alphabet frieze for the juniors. Remember that it is important to focus on the phonetic sound of the letter in an alphabet frieze.

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As a group we developed the alphabet scavenger hunt further, sparked by a chance comment from a colleague with a year one class.

She was looking through a catalogue for an alphabet frieze to use in her classroom and it occurred to me that it was an opportunity for my group of year 5 students to engage in an authentic learning activity that would benefit both groups...

Why not create an alphabet frieze based on the school and its environment?

Why not, indeed?

What I had not bargained on was the time that it took to complete the project, but we got there.

Outline of the skills that we covered...

• Interviewing the clients (class teacher and junior students) to ensure that we are able to understand the brief and provide appropriate to the student needs.

• Rules for brainstorming

• Developing a range of options for selection

• conducting student surveys

• Analysing data

• Use of digital cameras to take photographs of the selected options.

The Final Brief:

• Individual elements of the frieze to be A4

• Lower case letters to be used.

• Letter at the top and picture underneath.

• Itemschosenmustreflectthephoneticsoundof the letter.

• Students to produce draft samples to be discussed by the year 1 team teachers for signing off before production.

• Whereithasnotbeenpossibletofindasuita-ble letter/picture combination, then we will use commonitemswithaNewZealandflavour

In keeping with the importance of involving those with a vested interest, the year 5 students then worked with junior students to get ideas in addition to those that had already been collected, and to cross off any suggestions they already had that the year 1 students didn’t understand.

Session ended with a debriefing to discuss what had gone well, what had not gone so well and to plan for the next session.

I was really surprised at the knowledge that some year 1 children have already. I was working on the letter W with my group and one of the students said George Washington. I didn’t have to do anything because one of the others said that some kids would be confused because it was g and not w ! (aged 9)

There was some good problem solving going on...

I am not good at spelling so I drew pictures instead of words for the students as they gave me ideas. (aged 8)

What a great idea!

I had to demonstrate some of my words to help my group to picture the word. (aged 9)

Another good idea!

It made things easier if the kids could see for themselves instead of just talking about it so I took them outside to find the things on my list. (aged 8)

Feedback comments reflected that it was hard work doing what the students initially thought was going to be an easy job! I am really proud of the mature way they coped. And we all agreed it was fun.

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My Letter to Treasury

Not that long ago I wrote to the new Secretary of Treasury, about an article I came across that he wrote on education on 27 March 2012 . More recently similar views were contained in an advise paper he provided Government with. In both he spelt out Treasury’s vision of what New Zealand needed to do to reach its full potential. He obviously sees education as playing a key role in developing that potential.

The one thing I’ve noticed that all policy makers do when seeking to get better returns from education is they accept without question the traditional beliefs and practices all educators hold about learning. So it came as no surprise to see how the new Secretary followed that scenario to the letter in his advice to Government about how to create improved educational outcomes.

As he tells it, these days Treasury has as its main concern the welfare and living standards of everyone nationwide. He views education from the standpoint of its role in securing better development of individual potential, hence contributing to a better economic future for New Zealand and better living standards for all. Being an economist at heart, though, his is a ‘more-market’ view of education.

He said that if his arm was to be twisted, he’d say education is the main lever he’d want pushed under his watch. But in sifting through the detail of how he expects education to muscle up in this regard, I found those age old myths about learning are still lurking there unchanged. His suggestions vary only in detail from countless others that have failed to bring about significant across-the-board improvement. Essentially he’s a tweaker, his views fit comfortably into the genre that says that sprucing up the existing way teaching is done, and the way in which education is delivered, is what it’s all about.

He has of course no awareness that the assumptions he’s buying into about learning and how it works – especially in classrooms – have been with us virtually since the appearance of humankind on the planet or that they’re as untrue now as they were then. He has no awareness either that this is because myths and erroneous beliefs are what all learning practices are based on. He has no advisers with the necessary institutional knowledge bearing on the matter to persuade him otherwise, for throughout the entire Public Service no such specific wisdom exists that might lead him to consider an alternative view.

He’s also oblivious of the fact that learning process in which he seemingly places his complete trust is “inherently inefficient” to the point it rules out the possibility that the existing process can be significantly improved upon. He has no way of knowing that persisting with it cannot be a serious option, or that replacing it is the only way that significant across-the-board improvements in educational achievement can be expected. For the believers, though – like him – tossing it out isn’t an option.

Were he to know that most every student has a “remarkably similar” capacity to learn and that the

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Laurie Loper Psychologist

“inherently inefficient” learning process is taking at least half of the capacity to learn of our nation’s young out of circulation, I wonder what his attitude would then be?

Well, now he does know all those things, or I think he does though I have not heard back from him and have no way of knowing if he actually received and read my letter. I have only heard back from, his Communications Manager. In her reply on the Secretary’s behalf, she of course felt constrained to follow the Secretary’s line and so said some things that I’ll discuss shortly. She did however pass my letter on to Treasury’s education team, though none of them have thought my Nuthall-based views warranted a response.

In her acknowledgement email mentioned “teaching quality and innovative teaching practices are the key to mobilising every child’s potential”. I pointed out that if that meant helping teachers get more out of “best practice” and/or meant helping them to somehow use innovation more to raise the efficacy of that flawed teaching model – upon which teachers rely exclusively – I didn’t like her chances.

She also said “We consider that in particular the use of data can help improve outcomes by enabling teachers to evaluate and address children’s performance and to help them identify and adopt innovative teaching practices that consistently add value.” I countered by questioning the sense of relying on data that’s being generated in an

“inherently inefficient” learning regime that, as Nuthall’s learning rule shows, deals the whole time in learning that’s improperly processed. I suggested that in this instance the wrong issue was being targeted.

I likewise took her up on her contention that the ‘questionable’ data teachers, by virtue of the situation

they work in are forced to rely upon, could “add value”. She of course has little inkling of how dubious much of the oft glibly-spoken-about data is. Nuthall has convincingly shown that there are many problems associated with the means used to generate and collect this data – particularly that which has to do with all learning involving understanding and sense making. Of the time it’s taking to do all this data gathering that’s patently adding to the learning-manager role of teaching – hugely implicated in causing that role to be “inherently inefficient” – there’s nary a word.

But even more telling here is the fact that the whole concept of “added value” is so much tangled up with factors like the uniqueness of an individual’s knowledge base, the uniqueness of an individual’s understandings in relation to the topic being learned, and what teachers don’t know about each individual students accumulated knowledge base and about the individual uniqueness of each student’s learning responses. Not surprisingly Nuthall found that teachers knew little about what added value had occurred in respect of any particular student.

Talk about added value, must largely be just that – talk. Especially where the learning involves understanding and sense making, teachers, nor anybody else, can’t know about, let alone measure, added value. Not until a means is found to down load the contents of that part of a student’s brain that houses the knowledge base will that be possible.

Given the matters just discussed, I wonder how long it’s going to take for the penny to drop that the currently used input-output computer-type concept of learning will not provide a theoretical basis upon which significantly improved across-the-board educational outcomes will be achieved. The only hope of improvement ever happening will be when what we now know about the learning process – from

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the likes of Nuthall and those he has inspired – becomes what guides us.

That just about concludes my account of my attempt to communicate with the new Secretary of Treasury. The only thing I need to add is that I asked that my response to the Communications Manager’s email be passed to Treasury’s education team. Getting information into the hands of key policy makers isn’t something that an ordinary citizen can expect to do. Anyone who tries to defy the odds be warned, you’re in for a fight. I have tried many times, with little success. Luckily I have other strategies upon which to call.

Nuthall was nothing if not a realist. He knew his discoveries would occasion denial responses of mega proportions. In the more than a decade I’ve run an advocacy campaign in support of making use of his discoveries, I can attest that little has changed in that

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regard. In times when evidence-based decision making is considered de rigueur, I’ve used that world-acclaimed evidence to mount cogent argument for change. But the result is just about always the same. The irony here is that it’s the consistent unwillingness to even consider Nuthall’s high calibre evidence that’s the impregnable barrier. That makes the penetration of the bureaucratic hierarchies of the Government departments concerned and the infiltration of the ideologies of political parties, just about hills too far, especially for this ageing advocate to climb.

Policy makers especially please note: what needs to be foremost in our understanding here about underachievement is that there’s a major human right injustice involved. It’s hard not to get the sense that it’s going to be one of the very last to be consigned to history.

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What are Kiwi kids’ most common food allergies? What time do they go to sleep at night? How long can they stand on their left leg with their eyes closed?Thousands of students aged between 10 and 18 (Year 5 to Year 13) are due to start answering these questions – and a host of others about their lives – when the online CensusAtSchool 2013 begins on Monday, May 6, the first day of the new term.So far, 466 schools have registered to take part. Co-director Rachel Cunliffe says that teachers will administer the census in class between May 6 and June 14. The 32-question survey, available in English andMāori,aimstoraisestudents’interestinstatisticsand provide a fascinating picture of what they are thinking, feeling and doing.

“A good way to engage students in mathematics and statistics is to start from a place that’s familiar to them – their own lives and the lives of their friends,” says Cunliffe, a University of Auckland-trained statistician and owner of several internet enterprises. “Students love taking part in the activities and then, in class with their teachers, becoming “data detectives” to see

Kiwi students hold their own census

what stories are in the results – and not just in their own classroom, but across the country.”

Students are being asked for the first time about food allergies to reflect the lack of data on the issue, says Cunliffe. “Students will be able to explore the dataset to compare the prevalence of self-reported allergies for different ages, ethnicities and sexes.”

CensusAtSchool, now in its sixth edition, is a biennual collaborative project involving teachers, the University of Auckland’s Department of Statistics, Statistics New Zealand and the Ministry of Education. It is part of an international effort to boost statistical capability among young people, and is carried out in Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, the US, Japan and South Africa.

Andrew Tideswell, manager of the Statistics New Zealand Education Team, says our statistics curriculum is world-leading, and CensusAtSchool helps teachers and students get the most out of it. “By engaging in CensusAtSchool, students have an experience that mirrors the structure of the national census, and it encourages them to think about the need for information and ways we might use it to solve problems,” he says. “Students develop the statistical literacy they need if New Zealand is to be an effective democracy where citizens can use statistics to make informed decisions.”

Westlake Girls High School maths teacher Dru Rose is planning for about 800 Year 9 and 10 students to take part. She’s keen to see the data that will emerge from questions about how many hours of homework students did the night before and how many hours sleep they had. “It’s real-life stuff,” she says. “We’ll be able to examine the data and see if there are any links.”

Rachel Cunliffe

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When does tagging become graffitti, become street art, become valued and priceless?

Shoreditch Street Art Trail

We’ve all seen it: weird, wacky, political, cute, funny and sometimes just plain rude. That’s street art.

But you may be surprised by how much you’ve missed. So we’ll helpyoufindit.FromBanksytoInvader,ScavagetoStik,thisistheideal hunt for anyone who wants to see what they’re all about.

Health warning! As street art is an impermanent art form pieces may change or be altered (if it moves you can skip the clue). All feedback appreciated.

Start location: Jaguar Shoes

Start Time: Tue-Sun midday to 3.30pm.

Duration: 2.5-3.5 hours including two 45 min breaks (1.5 miles)

Difficulty:Easy-medium

Local knowledge required: None (and no street art knowledge required) - just bring an A to Z.

Street Art Scavenger Hunt in the United Kingdom

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When does tagging become graffitti, become street art, become valued and priceless?

Art is no longer the preserve of art galleries and murals no longer fulfilthebriefofartonthestreet.

Whether it is there to make a statement, political or environmental, to amuse the creator and entertain the community and casual passersby, or intended to be temporary, to challenge and make the audience think, and freqently unappreciated by inconsiderate councils, street art is here to stay.. and what a venue and audience the urban environment offers!

Any part of the environment can be turned into a canvas or art space and frequently it is the only art some people will have an opportunity to see.

That said, the effect of unthinking tagging can not only ruin the appearance of attractive buildings but can also downgrade neighbourhoods and make them appear threatening unattractive and uninviting

The question becomes ‘What is tagging? What is ‘Street Art’ and how do we decide what we apprecaite and embrace and what we deride and despair of. Is it a contrast between creation and destruction, statement, pride and bravado and who decides which is which?

Some councils have decided to offer spaces for use by artists...these tend to have a variety of initial tagging, more developed letter tagging/art through to illustrations like the one on the front cover of this magazine.

Other art is sanctioned as a cover for an unsightly wall, while humour is often now extended to ‘yarn bombing’ and the use of ‘street art’ for commercial purposes. All have a genuine place in the extended art world.

Over the next few issues we will take a journey around the world and on the way we will see the differing styles of art which have a remarkable similarity no matter where they are from.

Starting with the step where tagging becomes illustrative lettering.... followed by the humour of repurposing what is already there...

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Add together... a set of mischevious twins and their wonderful older sister... add into the mix the holidays and a black sanded beach complete with tunnels, caves, sand dunes, driftwood and wild bubbling surf... and you have a recipe for holday adventures... where hills become mountains, driftwood becomes an ancient sailing ship and children’s imaginations know no bounds...

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All photography Amie Waters... Hamilton NZ Back to index>


Pursuing Change

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word “change”? For many of us, words like “anxious”, “overwhelmed”, or “unknown” pop into our head. Why is it that changes and transitions bring on so much negative energy? One hypothesis is that we may be wired to fear change. Imagine our ancestors in nomadic times as they assessed their surroundings for any sign of change and possible danger, as the two most often went hand-in-hand. Perhaps our DNA is to blame for associating “same” with safety and “change” with danger.

Change is a hot topic for PMs right now. Agile takes a different look at change from traditional project management. Instead of simply managing change, Agile aims to pursue and embrace change, using change as a source of strength throughout the project lifecycle. Another change element that is on the minds of PMs this year is the changing of the PMP Exam (from the PMBOK Guide Fourth Edition to the Fifth Edition), which starts on July 31.

To thrive in business and in life, we must learn to not only embrace change, but to pursue it and learn to capitalize on it. When we pursue change rather than running away from it, we can proactively stay

engaged, habitually question the status quo, and ensure that we are staying on top of our game. Here are the top five ways that you can use to help you to let go of your fears and pursue change with abandon:

1. Love Uncertainties - I am a risk-taker, and some even consider me to be a daredevil (while driving around on my Harley, I sometimes feel like one). And while I love uncertainty, I make sure I’m prepared for the risks that I may encounter. For instance, before I bought my Harley 1200 CC Sportster, I gradually worked my way up to driving such a big machine, starting out with a small 200 CC scooter, then graduating to a 500 CC scooter. I also took a motorcycle safety class to help me make the transition from an automatic scooter to a manual clutch motorcycle. When I got the Harley, I also bought the best gear so that I could protect myself in case I took a dive. This still didn’t protect me when my 600 pound Harley fell on me in a simple slide out as I was leaving a parking lot, but I learned and put engine guards on the bike so that it would not fall right on me again. Every time I go out on my Harley, it is an adventure. While I love what I encounter, I make sure that I am as safe as I can be.

Life is filled with uncertainties. To fully embrace life, I love uncertainties; they test my metal when I get into situations where I have to figure out new, creative ways to maneuver through them to a successful outcome. Time and time again, I discover, much to my delight, that the riskier the situation, the more uncertainties there are, and the greater the rewards.

2. Accept your Internal Strength to Weather Change. One of the biggest reasons why people fear change is because they think, “Maybe I can’t handle this new situation.” The reality is that human beings are pretty darn adaptable. If you’ve ever jumped into a pool of really cold water, you probably felt a terrible shock at first, and thought, “This was a terrible idea – why did I just do that?” That is our physical reaction to

change – your body was shocked from the cold water and, at first, rejected it. Then,

as you swam around, the temperature began to feel invigorating and it

turned into a great experience – one that proved your internal strength.

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By Michelle LaBrosse, PMP®, Chief Cheetah and Founder of Cheetah Learning,

and Kristen Medina, Co-Author, CAPM®

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michelle LaBrosse

Michelle LaBrosse is an entrepreneurial powerhouse with a penchant for making success easy, fun, and fast. She is the founder of Cheetah Learning, a global firm employing more than 100 people that specializes in combining accelerated learning and project management to help people achieve their goals faster than they ever before imagined. She is the author of the Cheetah Success Series, and a prolific blogger whose mission is to bring project management to the masses.

Michelle is a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s Owner President Manager’s program and also holds aerospace and mechanical engineering degrees from Syracuse University and the University of Dayton.

The pool water did not change – you became accustomed to the temperature. Instead of resisting these types of experiences, try to find every “cold pool” (figuratively speaking) within your reach, and dive in. These cold pools in our life come in many different forms: reorganized division at work, a move to a new town, or a new group of friends. While you may fear jumping in the cold pool that you are facing, know that you can handle it, and more than that, know that you will thrive and be glad that you jumped into it in the first place.

3. Tackle Tiny Fears. Our minds are pattern-seeking, habit-forming, information-processing machines. Whether we are conscious of it or not, every day we are programming ourselves in ways that can either empower or disempower.

If you have a strong change-fear connection, here is an easy way to start to reprogram your mind for a different response pattern: Each day, do something small that frightens you just a bit. Maybe talk to your boss about that trip you want to take this summer, but are afraid to bring up. Or present your change idea to your team of colleagues that you have been too afraid to talk about due to fear of rejection. By tackling these small fears, you will realize that the thought of the action itself is more fearful and stressful than the actual action. This is how change is as well. When you can see your fear for what it is (oftentimes over-exaggerated), you can better pursue change in a way that helps you grow personally and professionally.

4. Communicate Through Change. We tend to fear what we don’t understand. If you are the one initiating a change, make sure to communicate the purpose of the change to all stakeholders, and get their buy-in. Conversely, if you don’t understand why something has to change, don’t be complacent; ask questions until you get the answer. When we have a clear understanding of why someone is pursuing change, we can better get behind the change effort.

5. Stay Positive. When considering whether or not to pursue change and the subsequent unknown outcome, we are faced with a risk that this outcome might be bad. What we often overlook is that the outcome may very well be an improved condition over the previous state from before the change. Being positive will not only help ease your fears, but will also help a positive outcome actually occur as it will free you from “fear paralysis” and will help you to pursue positive change.

Project Managers – pursue change in your life today! Whether it is in your personal or professional realm, you can make great waves when you are one of the few people that not only accepts change, but proactively pursues change to create better outcomes for everyone. “Business as usual” has never produced greatness. Push the boundaries of what is possible, and discover true greatness when you actively pursue change.

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Our intrepid sailor determined to tick his lifelong dream off is ‘bucket list’ continues his journey with the Ruben Jane..

1st September.

We were originally planning to have another snorkel before leaving but the weather was overcast and blustery so we deferred the swim. The wind was coming from the S, on the nose again. We tried sailing but the wind strength was 15-20 knots so we resorted to motor for the comfort of everyone on board. We went to the W of Yavumba Island and were able to see the reef around it. We also went close to the 9 metre shallow to the E of Tokoriki Island - intentionally because that kept us away from the reef SE of the shallow. From there it was a straight run through to the beach on the N side of Mana Island with the reef NE of the beach being clearly sighted 100 metres to port. We arrived mid afternoon. I took Plain Jane ashore while the children took Gold Jane. The other adults snorkelled ashore. Just up from where I beached the boat was a well endowed woman sunbathing topless. I took a bit of flak from the rest of the crew for landing at that spot. I snorkelled out to the reef. The reef itself is in poor shape but the aquatic life is not bad. We then returned to the beach where we stayed until just before sunset when we returned to the boat to watch for the green flash. The conditions were ideal but only Laura saw it. Still the sunset was very pleasant. We have Sanity on one side of us and Delphis on the other. Steve and Claire were visiting Tony and Yvonne until late.

2nd September.

Susannah swam over to Delphis before they woke and swam their dinghy back to Sanity before they woke. There was much merriment when Claire finally emerged.Everyone except me took the old mouldy water crackers which are only 12 years old and fed them underwater to the fish. I have developed chest wall pain which is debilitating. Late in the morning the adults went for a walk around the island. When we came back I swam out to the boat and moped. This sore chest/cough is knocking the stuffing out of me. Late in the afternoon Trevor, Kay and I climbed the small hill at the centre of the island. It is only about 150 feet high but some Japanese girls came up after us panting as though they were about to breathe their last - and I’m the one with the sore chest! Late in the afternoon the wind backed so tonight we are on a lee shore.

3rd September.

After a very slow start the conditions didn’t appeal for swimming so we motored out to the sand cay E of Mana. To get there we went between the island and the reef. We approached it from the E side. Trevor

and I went ashore and took some photos. We then rejoined the ship and raised the sails following Sanity towards Vuda Point. However we found a reef in the way so decided to retrace our steps and take the passage on the N side of Malolo. We were hard pressed to make it around the marker without tacking. We were about halfway along the N side of Malolo and I was in the rigging, when I lost my reef spotting glasses overboard. Unfortunately I was not quick enough to decide whether or not to jump in after them and by the time I had made up my mind they were 20 metres astern and slowly sinking. Further along there was no evidence of the beacon which was on the chart so again we retraced our steps under motor and sailed to the W of Malolo. As we passed Musket Cove, Carol (Elyxir) called us. She was staying on a boat called Wings at the Musket Cove marina. She could not see us so it was fortuitous that we were in VHF range at that particular time. Once we got past the Black Rocks the wind dropped so we motor sailed. Five miles out we were called by Crimson Tide who had picked up some mail from Vuda Point for us. We hove to and they posted the mail over in a landing net. We gave them some photos we had taken of them in Savusavu. Trevor and Kay left us when we tied up. We tied up stern to but it was not good as the stern is lower than the bow so it was much more difficult to get off when the tide was out. Also the concern was for the rudder hitting the sloping wall. It would be marvellously safe in a cyclone with the surge barrier across the entrance but the small stones would become a real hazard when the wind got up. I think I would be tempted to imitate the locals and take my boat up one of the rivers. Admittedly there would be the hazard of floating logs. The best solution is to stay away during the cyclone season. On land they sink the hulls of the boats into graves. In the water all the boats are moored to a central buoy. If one boat let go there could be a domino effect.

4th September.

I caught the 0730 bus to Lautoka to buy Joy’s birthday present. On the trip I enjoyed chatting to Debbie off Gungha. She and her husband and daughters, Alex and Amesia were also on their way to Lautoka. After shopping for an hour I was ready to take a bus to Nadi where I met the rest of the crew in Jack’s Handicraft Store. I got some money from the bank then went to buy some stamps and post some letters. On the way I was accosted by a man who insisted that I dine at a certain spot. On the way back from the Post Office he again tried to encourage me to sample the food. He was so insistent that he almost fell asleep with a sore jaw. I then joined the family for a bus ride out to the McDonald’s Restaurant. The

One Man’s Dream and the Ruben Jane

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One Man’s Dream and the Ruben Jane

children had been hanging out for a big Mac for 4 months. It certainly hasn’t done them any harm. After lunch I bargained with a taxi driver for a fare to Morris Hedstrom’s. I heard it was only 10 minutes walk but it was at least 2 miles. He took us instead to Cost-U-Less. We saw some cakes from Melba Foods there. Our neighbour back in Tauranga is part owner of Melba Foods. We then returned to the marina and I went to get the gas cylinder topped up. I later went to Hallmark to get my drill battery charged. My connection won’t fit the plug on our berth.

5th September.

Spent all morning getting fresh water etc. onto the boat. Trotted over to Blizzard and had a chat to John Miller, the previous owner of Ruben Jane. Ordered the longboat to help us get out of our berth and when it arrived Joy and Laura were not on board so Susannah and I took it out and the longboat then dropped Joy and Laura on board. Our intention had been to go to Musket Cove but Rebecca had radioed asking to be picked up from Denerau so we motored directly over there-head winds again. There is a small sand cay and also a reef on the rhumb line and one white triangle marker was ambiguous; was it to be kept between the boat and the sand cay; the boat and the island off Denerau; the boat and the mainland? We decided on the last option and crept past using the Braille system. We anchored near low tide in 14 feet but there was no hope of seeing the bottom. Visibility is only about 5 feet here. By then it was too late in the day to venture further. Susannah and I went for a blat in the rubber ducky but the float in the carburettor jammed again so we dropped by Sanity and Andy towed us home (50 metres). Susannah and I then went ashore with Tony and Yvonne. The Sheraton is certainly an upmarket resort. The shopping complexes and beach are nice but the water is yucky. Back on the boat we saw a seaplane land in choppy seas - it looked quite dangerous but when it took off 1/4 hour later it looked even worse. Andy and Rebecca were on their way to rescue a capsized catamaran and tourist but the longboat beat them. The difference between a tourist and a terrorist is the tourist may endanger himself as well.

6th September.

This morning as I was looking over the side I spied a large fish so we got some bread and started dropping it on the water in nibble sized portions. It appeared to enjoy them so the next one had a hook in it. I don’t think it enjoyed that but it didn’t put up much of a fight. It only just fitted into the landing net if it was folded slightly. It was about 400mm square but only 150mm thick. As it appeared to be a brown and white striped

butterfly fish, which is of dubious eating value, I let it go. As it had come to the surface the brown stripes had faded almost totally. We then took Rebecca on board and sailed out to the Black Rocks with the wind almost on the nose again 10-15 knots. Very frustrating all these head winds. By the Black Rocks we again lowered the sails and motored several miles to anchor off Musket Cove. Being Fathers’ Day I got a new T shirt and in the afternoon my old one tore through. My mother had bought it for me in Hawaii and it said ‘I Don’t just stand around and let life pass me by...I sit, its more comfortable’ My new one says ‘I’m on Fiji time’. Joy has the flu so the rest of us went ashore for a barbeque and she had an early night.

7th September.

Our wedding anniversary. Joy still not feeling well. She went and spent the day at the pool with Laura. We had all been invited onto Wings for the race to Castaway Island. Susannah and I went. I got the job of spinnaker trimmer and with my limited experience we still came 4th. Fred and Judy were excellent hosts. He is so positive - always encouraging - even when the crew fouled up he ALWAYS looked for the positives in what was done. After the race he shook hands with all the guys and hugged all the ladies then we meandered through the rest of the fleet as he thanked all the other yachts for a good race. (We were actually beaten by an ex Steinlager boat Emotional Rescue which used its motor for the first 10 minutes of the race). He and Judy shouted lunch for all the crew. After lunch there was the beer drinking race NZ vs The Rest of the World and of course NZ won. Then the hairiest chest and wet T shirt contests so I went snorkelling. Afterwards we continued on around Malolo Island checking out all the shallows and hazards for the race in 2 days time.

8th September.

The Malololailai Olympics. The Hobie cat challenge was exciting with Grant and Debbie (Omega Of Wellington) eventually winning. The dinghy races were also held. Laura and I both entered but Laura was taken out by another contestant who kept tangling with her oars. Until then she had been doing well. I was last in my race. Then came the big event of the week. Somebody dropped a cigarette butt on a

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hilltop and half the island caught fire. They called for volunteers so after Laura brought my jandals from the boat I ventured forth. From the central ridge it was an amazing sight. One side of the island was an island paradise with brownish grass leading to green to blue water with boats peacefully at anchor; the other side was total devastation with grass still burning. One section was eventually controlled by back-burning but the rest was left to burn itself out right across the island. In the afternoon were the golf pitching, coconut putting and the volleyball. The Wings team (with me included) eventually lost the final to the home team.

9th September.

Today was the around Malolo yacht race. I had been invited to crew on Wings again. Carol from Elyxir was there too, tailing the lines. This time Susannah stayed home by choice. As soon as I got aboard Wings I got a radio call from John Miller on board Blizzard asking me to crew for him. When Fred and Judy heard that I was in demand from a fast boat like Blizzard (Farr 44 with an 11 foot deep keel) they assumed that I was pretty good so I got promoted from being spinnaker trimmer to tactician. Thus I spent the rest of the day with my hands in my pockets telling the owner and boss what to do. We did some useful things like take transits on the start line so we could see our relative position from anywhere along the line. We were first over the line after the start (good) but with little speed on (bad), fifth at the first mark (sad), third at the next corner (better), then everyone ran out of wind. After that it became a lottery and after a windless hour and a half, several boats behind us got the breeze first so we were eventually sixth across the line. We did pass two more boats and didn’t get passed by any so we were pleased. Also no smaller boats came in before us and quite a few larger boats were behind us. Blizzard only just beat us after having trouble with a jammed spinnaker halyard. I now have experience as a tactician in a major international regatta... I await further offers. On my return to Ruben Jane I was transferring my gear on board when my sunglasses fell out of my towel. Laura almost caught them on the platform. I jumped into the water but was unable to see them so they sank in 40 feet. I was annoyed because that is the second pair I’ve lost in a week. At night we went onto Sanity which was moored in the

marina and said goodbye to Rebecca and Andy. A late night and a rough trip back to our boat.

10th September.

Joy’s birthday. We were woken before 7 by a boat horn. We tried to ignore it but when it sounded for the second time we emerged to wave to Rebecca and Andy. They are flying via USA to London. Joy and Laura tearful all day. Laura and I decorated the dinghy but in the parade of about 10 boats we didn’t win a prize. Joy and I still have coughs and Joy still hasn’t much energy. At night we went to the pig on a spit night at the restaurant. While we were there we got a phone call from Rebecca to say ‘Happy Birthday’. They had got the times on the tickets mixed up and were leaving at 11:30pm not am. We thought that they would be over the sea halfway to Hawaii at that time so were very surprised to hear from her. Then the house band came over and sang ‘Happy Birthday and long life’ to Joy in English and Fijian. Again I put chilli sauce on my food before reading the label on the far side of the bowl. A nice meal although the lady serving the pork seemed reluctant to part with much of it. Still I finished off everyone else’s. Joy and Laura were very tired so we left before the show. Susannah stayed and came back later but we were all sound asleep when she arrived. It was rough again in the dinghy.

11th September.

Didn’t do much today. Everyone is getting ready to go to Vanuatu tomorrow. I fixed the steering arm on the outboard with help from Steve. We eventually had to apply heat to extract the old bolt.

12th September.

We completed our farewells. Only 4 boats from the Tonga fleet are going to Vanuatu: - Crimson Tide, Emotion, Pericon And Matangi as well as Windermere II. Still it feels like the end of an era. I’m still very sad we’re not going but if Joy’s confidence grows it will be well worth it. We went ashore and Laura and I had a swim in the pool. I tried to take a photo of a plane landing over the top of me but it landed from the other end of the runway. Ten minutes later, when I was back at the pool one landed from our end of the runway. We saw the fleet leave. They appeared to be calmed soon after the start. We then motored around the corner to Lokomai Resort where we picked up a mooring. Barnstorm and Ruben Jane were invited aboard Windflower for drinks. We had a pleasant time before returning home for bacon and eggs.

13th September.

Joy, Susannah and I went snorkelling on the adjacent reef. There was no great difference to most other reefs but I did see a box fish. We left Lokomai with the idea of sailing around the N end of Malolo Island on the way back to Vuda Point, but after a heated discussion which I lost, we motored back past Musket Cove and out by the Black Rocks (which are black) where I raised the sails and we headed to Vuda Point on a tight reach. When we were about 2 miles off

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Vuda Point we put in a long tack out to the W before putting in another one which took us around the point into Saweni Bay about 3 miles N of Vuda Point. The sea was fairly choppy and it was coming directly into the bay but just before sunset it calmed down and became mirror smooth. This is the norm here apparently. Makani and Adventurer were here too and Barnstorm arrived later. I think the bay was used by the Armed Forces during W.W.II - as a Catalina base.

14th September.

Susannah stayed on the boat while Joy, Laura and I caught the bus ($1.50) in to Lautoka where we restocked and replenished our stores for three weeks more cruising. Our taxi ride back cost $5. When we arrived back at the beach a loud whistle was meant to summon our dinghy but Susannah was listening to a tape so she didn’t hear so I rowed out in Adventurer’s tender. It was again choppy. After loading the stores we motor sailed, with Laura at the helm, to Vuda Point where we tied up alongside Windflower. Delphis and Sunset Quest were there too. We filled with water, bought some more outboard fuel and also another New Zealand flag. Old Faithful is losing some stars again. How does one get rid of one’s country’s flag respectfully? Jan from Pacific Flyer had told us several weeks ago that when their Australian flag grew too old and tatty she folded it neatly, placed it in a bag ANDTHENSTUFFEDITINARUBBISHBIN!! Late in the evening we heard loud music that we thought was coming from Windflower but it was coming from across the other side of the marina. Some people have achieved a certain number of years but are still children as regards consideration of others. We all had showers, Joy had hers in the dark as the lights all went out for some unknown reason.

15th September.

Wrote and sent 5 faxes - to Geoffrey (my brother), Corina, Alana (travel agent), Rebecca, and a potential crew member - Glenn. We then left just on midday and headed towards Mana Island by the direct route. The wind was just forward of the starboard beam at only 10-12 knots most of the way. Just off Honeymoon Island Joy and I had a discussion as to whether to go to Lokomai Resort or Mana Lagoon for the night. The low sunlight reflecting off the water was making navigation difficult but it eventually went behind the clouds so with the good light available we headed into Mana Lagoon. We had been warned by Brian Hepburn about the white buoy to be taken to port after passing the beacons but we still had some beacons to bisect when we were confronted by a white buoy - and then a creamy yellow one. I was up the rigging so saw that the white one could be kept to port but a dogleg out to starboard of the other one was aborted when I clearly saw the channel so we took that one on our starboard side. We anchored just inside the entrance next to Romana. Joy and I went over for a Happy Hour just before sunset. Paul and Michelle had a couple of young ladies staying on board. Just as we were leaving Romana after a very pleasant hour a man swam out the two hundred metres from the

beach. It was Joy’s cousin’s husband from back in New Zealand. He knew we were in Fiji but didn’t know where, or the name of our boat, so when he had seen the New Zealand flags he had swum out to see whether any other New Zealanders knew of our whereabouts. Raewyn, his wife, was back on the beach so I rowed ashore and picked her up. It was amazing to see her face when I turned around from rowing and she recognised me. We showed them over Ruben Jane. We went the 1/3 mile journey to the resort in both dinghies. There wasn’t much freeboard with five adults and one child but we arrived safely. Then they kindly bought us all tea at the resort. It was most generous of them and greatly appreciated. It was, by far, the best quality meal we have enjoyed since the Barbecue at Ian Hill’s residence at Nuku’alofa. Afterwards there was a show of Fijian singing and dancing. We then went to their fale for a short time before returning to the boat for the night. This is their last night here so we offered to take them back to the mainland tomorrow but they declined. This was very fortunate as it transpired. Our journey back to Ruben Jane was in choppy seas. When we arrived back I tied both dinghies securely to the mother ship as was my habit, before retiring for a sound sleep.

16th September.

We were very slow to emerge this morning and it was about an hour later that I went on deck and noticed that Gold Jane was missing. The painter had chafed through at the eyebolt. Paul (Romana) and I did a quick reconnoitre around the lagoon which was unsuccessful in locating her, then I took Ruben Jane out to the outer reef some 6-7 miles away. The breeze had been constant in both strength and direction during the night. Visibility was excellent with no wind now and calm seas but again the search was unsuccessful. From up in the rigging I had about 4-5 miles visibility. We trolled lines too but this also was fruitless. With heavy hearts we returned to our anchorage and I took Plain Jane ashore to ask for advice. Rachel Yasa (c/- Mana Resort, P.O.Box 610, Lautoka) took up the cause and called all the other resorts seeking information but she too drew a blank. However later in the day she radioed to say that a fisherman from Yanuya Island, some 5 miles NW of Mana had returned to his island with a white dinghy he had found out by the outer reef about the time we had started searching.

17th September.

Susannah took the rubbish ashore and I cleaned the bilges. Spoke to Delphis. They left Momi Bay yesterday bound for Noumea and, after being calmed most of the day, they made 70 miles overnight. They caught 2 tuna yesterday and a big mahi-mahi today. I then spoke to Sunset Quest who passed on a fax from my brother, Geoffrey. We then motored out of the reef, passing a turtle just as we exited the channel. There was a native boat up on the reef but he was in no immediate danger with calm seas and an incoming tide. We motored in very calm seas to Yanuya Island. On our approach on the E side the visibility was

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awesome with absolutely no distortion in 70 feet. I went ashore to retrieve the dinghy while Joy and Susannah had a swim and took photos. A lady said the chief was on the mainland but she led me to a house where they were drinking kava so I presented sevusevu. I went a couple of rounds then 3 men disappeared to get the dinghy. When they hadn’t returned after 40 minutes I excused myself and went searching. After 10 minutes of uncertain answers I met Bill who helped me with the search. Within 5 minutes we had located it. There was no evidence of any other searchers. It was on the W side of the island so I invited Bill on board Ruben Jane as we went around the island. Bill pointed out the course. There were several reefs to avoid but in the clear conditions they were easy to identify and we anchored off the beach outside the reef. Bill and I went ashore and he invited me to his place while the fisherman (who had since returned) had lunch. Bill introduced me to his sisters, Naia and Denise. Then Joe came in. It was a few minutes before I realised that Joe was THE fisherman. I gave him $10 for his trouble and gave Bill $2 for his help. We then retrieved the dinghy and oars (which Joe had hidden), and some local children helped carry everything to the waters edge and I returned to Ruben Jane. Joy and Susannah had a swim while I had lunch. Then Laura (initially under protest) and I had a snorkel. Laura was eventually happy diving under the dinghies. We then spent the rest of the day relaxing in beautiful surroundings.

18th September.

Motored to just N of Yanuya Island, then raised the sails. The breeze was only 6-8 knots giving a sailing speed of less than 2 knots so once again we were forced to motor. We had several strikes but only landed one tuna which provided us with one meal. Only sighted 2 other yachts all day and just after 1500 hours we dropped anchor just off the village in Soso Bay. I sounded the diesel tank and found that we were down to 25% so I filled up from the reserve tanks on deck. This brought the level up to 70%. I was just washing the spilt bit off the deck when a fisherman paddled out in his canoe made out of a single sheet of corrugated iron. He asked for some diesel - no chance. I must be getting hard in my old age but they do not deserve to become beggars. Traditionally they used to paddle their canoes. He also asked if I would be going ashore so I told him I would - tomorrow. I asked if the villagers were healthy. ‘No’, he replied. ‘They are Methodists!’.. I think there is a communication problem. His uncle is the chief but he is away in Lautoka (Almost all the chiefs seem to reside away from their islands). His father ‘William’ is the resident representative. I said I would see any sick people in the morning. I finally got an opportunity to relay for Sunset Quest. They have often relayed for me but they have just left Fiji for Luganville, Santo and they couldn’t hear Delphis. Omega is at 30°S and finding it very cold. John Goater had a message to say that Andrew Lawrence was arriving in New Caledonia on 20th October.

19th September.

We all went ashore at 0900 hours. We presented sevusevu powder to William. There was no kava in evidence. Then the sick parade began. It started with a boy with a facial rash - probably fungal but I covered it with antifungal and antibiotic ointment. Gave him some antifungal ointment to continue his treatment; a girl with toothache - on examination she had a gap between her two front teeth with obvious decay all around it. From side on it looked as though the teeth could have substituted for miniature stocks. I gave her oil of cloves till she could see the doctor on Monday; a lady with hypertension - her JVP was 3-4 fingers - advised to see doctor; several children with coughs and rattly chests - taught and demonstrated chest physiotherapy; a boy with eczema - not infected so advised to see the doctor again; a lady with a migraine - digesic; a lady with an acute shoulder pain - digesic again; a lady with epilepsy - advised to be accompanied whilst swimming or near fires, continue medication; and finally, William with poor circulation in lower legs - 1/2 disprin per day. Una, one of the ladies acted as interpreter throughout. I was then taken across the village to a boy who was unable to walk. When I arrived it was obvious that the main cause of his problem was a large abscess around his left groin. He was only 8-10 years old and had been in this state for 5 days. I applied EMLA cream to numb it, then I lanced it. I didn’t measure the amount of pus but it was still oozing over an hour later. I had to go back to the boat to get a syringe to irrigate it so I gave a couple of young chaps a ride in Plain Jane. Their names were Naaman and Siusiu. They were round-eyed when I showed them where we lived on the boat. They had probably never seen such luxury. The abscess was bigger than my hand (fingers included) and he had gross lymphamegaly. Sometimes one feels very inadequate. I irrigated it with diluted Betadine and covered it with antibiotic ointment and a dressing. He really required urgent hospitalisation and intravenous antibiotics. We didn’t have any oral antibiotics left either. Joy had just finished the last one for a gum infection. Retrospectively I should have had him airlifted to hospital. I could have used my radio to call for assistance. The island doctor (who lives 2 villages further N) was back in Lautoka for the weekend. It was at this stage I grew very angry although I didn’t show it (I think) when I realised that their culture is killing them. Although the doctor is provided free by the government, in order for someone from another village to see him they must first present sevusevu to the chief of his village. They can’t afford it so they don’t go. At this stage I stopped presenting sevusevu and won’t again. It is corrupt to allow people to die in such agony. One would not permit one’s enemies animals to suffer needlessly like their children are. I could afford the kava at $50 a kilo but they can’t. The victim’s name was William. While I was tending him Joy, Susannah and Laura had been chatting to the ladies who were making baskets. Before we left the girls had been given a basket, two fans and 5 necklaces. Joy turned down clam shells

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and a tortoise shell because of import restrictions in New Zealand. Before leaving I prayed for all the patients - those who could be helped by medicine and those who couldn’t. We then went to look at the village church which looks like a school building from the outside but inside were ornate carvings. We returned to Plain Jane and four local boys and Susannah carried Plain Jane down to the waters edge. We returned to Ruben Jane and just after midday raised the anchor and motored in brisk conditions up the E coast of Naviti Island. We headed across the mouth of Somosomo Bay and up the W coast of Yaqeta Island. We sailed between the outer and inner reefs. As we approached the top of Matacawa Levu we tangled the fishing lines so that took 10 minutes to untangle. We then lowered the sails and motored into Blue Lagoon anchoring in 68 feet. Again I relayed for Sunset Quest in his talk to Delphis. Delphis suffered a knockdown last night and damaged their pulpit. However there were no injuries. A nice meal of corn fritters for tea tonight.

20th September.

Windy today so we all spent the day on the boat. Still, it was sunny.

21st September.

My mother’s birthday so we sang her ‘Happy Birthday’. Windier today. Joy spent the morning cleaning. After lunch Laura, Joy and I went ashore with the rubbish. We were just getting back into the dinghy when Bill - one of the locals (are any named anything but Bill?) called out to us. He was the one who came out in his boat last time we were here and demanded kava. I followed him to Va’s house and finally got to meet Va and her daughter, Rosetta and her mother, Rosetta. Bill then explained the finer points of rubbish disposal ie. 50 cents per bag. The blurb sheet given to us by Chanticleer last time said a donation - now they have made it compulsory. As most of it was burnable I deemed that a bit steep. Anyway I had no money on me so I offered to take it away with me but they said that was unnecessary. There were a lot of flies around in Va’s house. Apparently she bakes very nice bread. We then went to visit Tony and Sue Mair on Cummins Spinner a Riviera 33. While we were there a gust picked up their tender and flipped it, immersing the outboard for a few seconds. We left him dismantling the outboard. Still we had a couple of enjoyable hours with them.

22nd September.

Cummins Spinner left this morning. Barnstorm came in at lunchtime so Joy and I went over for an hour. In the afternoon we all went onto the beach for a swim. It was quite protected from the wind and we sunbathed for a while. Just before tea Roy and Margrit (Barnstorm) came over for a pleasant hour. Spoke to Marty (Makani). He’s at Yandua with Adventurer. Kapaiora came from Yandua to Sawa-i-Lau in 7 1/2 hours - average over 7 knots. Not bad for a slowish boat. He had williwaws and waterspouts. Ramona came in mid-afternoon.

23rd September.

Barnstorm left to join Sanity at Somosomo this morning. Michelle from Romana came over for a chat and we arranged for her to bring Paul over for a pot luck tea. We saw something today we haven’t seen since 7th July to be exact. Rain. Still it is winter so can’t complain. It started about 1630 hours and looks like it will continue all night. The wind has dropped to 15-20 knots. Spoke to Malcolm on Sunset Quest. He has arrived in Luganville, Santo. I have really enjoyed relaying for him to Delphis. Malcolm has often relayed for me so I feel that in some small way I am contributing in a positive way. Also the night we arrived in Tonga he was the one who welcomed us to almost Atata when we were parked behind the reef. Paul and Michelle came for tea and went home at 0145 so we obviously enjoyed ourselves. Don’t know where the time went.

24th September.

Slept in this morning and was late for our radio sked with Tony on Sanity. The sea is rough and the rain continued until midmorning. The wind is still very gusty so we’ll stay here today. John Goater had a message from Corina to say that Glenn can crew from Fiji to New Caledonia so that’s good news. The water temperature has dropped to 25°C. At 2300 hours a front went through so I got up and watched that none of the other boats were dragging their anchors. The wind only got up to 33 knots but it was quite noisy and we veered around at anchor quite a lot making sleeping difficult. The sunshade flapped noisily. After about an hour it subsided quickly so 15 minutes later I returned to bed and slept well.

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25th September.

Woke this morning to a gloomy squally day. There were frequent thunderstorms throughout the day. Here I am in Blue Lagoon in paradise. I’ve been cooped up with the family for four days. The sun rarely shines and it’s generally unpleasant. All this publicity about white beaches being deserted is true - there is no-one around in this weather. Even the cruise ships look miserable at anchor with nobody venturing ashore although some hardy souls went snorkelling on the reef. Some locals came and borrowed my epoxy resin to repair their boat. Paul bought some of Va’s bread which we consumed for lunch. Joy made some popcorn which we have likewise devoured. I am surprised and gratified that the girls are playing so contentedly in such confined conditions. Joy and I are still unable to shake off our coughs. A multihull left here for Vila this morning. It had cleared out of Lautoka a week ago. Kapaiora arrived from Land Harbour in a squall just after lunch. We last saw them in Port Maurelle in the Vava’u’s. They came through the NW route into the bay. At the same time another sloop arrived from the E route and has anchored rather close to us. It’s name is Meniscus of Gweek. Apparently Gweek is a creek in England where the owner hails from. We went over between showers and had supper with them. There are six English folk on board. Mark is the owner/skipper.

26th September.

Laura’s birthday. Gusty and showery weather. We gave her some lollies but are saving the big present for when she goes through duty free in two weeks time. Continued our games and reading. In the afternoon the showers disappeared and the sky cleared for the first time in a week. Susannah and I went ashore and played volleyball with a coupe of locals and Paul (Romana) and Jan (pronounced Yarn) (Kapaiora). We then returned for a party tea of lollies, biscuits, cheerios and self-saucing pudding as a birthday cake. Michelle came and brought another present of various lollies from Romana and Kapaiora.

27th September.

Slow to emerge this morning. Then Joy, Laura and I went ashore. We played on the coconut tree that lies out over the water. There were also some seed pods Laura and I threw into the air and they flew like helicopters. One of mine went for over fifty metres. We then had a swim and sunbathed. I picked up the snorkelling gear from the boat and Joy and I went snorkelling. I saw my first sea snake. It was over a metre long and had black and white circumferential stripes. We all went back to the boat for a late lunch and Susannah went ashore. She was having a swim with Romana and Kapaiora so I decided to swim ashore but only got as far as Mischief. I stopped for a rest and a chat (but I didn’t get into Mischief). Then as Susannah was coming back in Plain Jane I hitched a ride home. Laura and I then went visiting Cruz Control - a 53 foot Santa Cruz design en route from California to Australia. They had called at Palmyra for several

weeks on the way through. Palmyra is a privately owned American island which lies almost on the equator due S of Hawaii. It now has a full-time custodian, a Frenchman who has hauled 50 out of 51 boats off the reef. (1 in 3 boats visiting go on the reef - it is a long way from the island.). Marty called to say that Adventurer and Makani are heading to Sawa-i-Lau tomorrow.

28th September.

Squally day. Sambob III, the backpackers boat, (which I believe sank in 1999 and everybody was forced to swim for 7 hours to safety, no casualties) called into our anchorage to pick up Fastoe off Meniscus of Gweek. He is heading back to Lautoka. We left Blue Lagoon in 10 knots E. It is time to start heading back for the family to catch the plane home. Had just hoisted the genoa and put out the fishing lines when we were hit by the first of 6 strikes of the day. It was lost soon afterwards. The wind increased to 20-25 knots as it was influenced by headlands and valleys. We passed the Turtle Island Resort big game boat as he headed N. That’s the world class resort next to Blue Lagoon. We had 2 more strikes which we also lost before we were hit by a squall just before we bisected the twin reefs off Devolau Island. We also had another strike just as we were lowering the genoa. Between the reefs (distance apart 200 metres) we passed Manly Ferry as they motored N towing a dinghy with an outboard on. They were also hauling in a fish. There certainly was a lot of action in a confined space. As we continued under motor Joy neglected to tell me that she had tightened the brake on the reel that had had the strike as we lowered the sail. The tuna didn’t have much fight left after being marinated in sodium chloride and water for a while. Susannah did have some trouble netting it though. All our waypoints seem to be a bit far E in the Yasawas. We motored up to Somosomo village and anchored with a fishing net close behind us. The wind was now fairly constant at 20 knots E. I rowed ashore and checked on my patients. Scurvy was the diagnosis confirmed by the doctor for the 2 men I had seen earlier. All the patients were better except the man with decompression sickness, so I strongly advised him to see the doctor in the next couple of days. I was given some pancakes in one house. I initially declined the offer but they seemed pleased when I accepted. They were quite tasty. I bid goodbye to Bill and Lucy and rowed back to Ruben Jane. We weighed anchor and quickly raised the No 4 jib. The paddlewheel speedo is not working as we have been at anchor for a week. However the GPS said we were reaching speeds in the high 7’s. Out on the W point of Somosomo Bay the outlying reefs were easy to see and once around the Vakaweitaca Point we were out of the sloppy seas. Just off the point we hooked another slightly smaller tuna and Susannah hauled in her first fish. Photo time. Inside Cakau ni kereke we had our last strike. We almost got spooled until I realised that Susannah had taken the lock off the reel. We headed back under motor getting within 50 metres of the reef which comes out from shore before reeling in an

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empty lure. I went up the rigging as we entered Natuvalu Bay and we anchored alongside Meniscus of Gweek. A calm anchorage in 35 feet, a little further S than the guidebook says but free of dangers. Dived in and freed the paddlewheel. Laura and I went ashore. A young man guided us around the reef from the beach. The old man there made big hints about sevusevu (grog, custom etc.). He had no right because this land belongs to a village on the other side of the island. I had brought some fish heads ashore but he still grumbled. They are building some bures for backpackers ($10/night /person). He said he wanted some kava from Meniscus of Gweek tonight. I passed this information on to them on my return. As they weren’t venturing ashore they deemed it totally unnecessary. Spoke to Marty again tonight. They arrived in Sawa-i-Lau at 1500 hours after a good trip. Jan (Kapaiora) called to find where we were so I t thanked Rita for Laura’s birthday present.

29th September.

I went ashore and had a chat to the old gent and then filled the water containers from the well. There didn’t appear to be many floaties in it. We then sailed down the coast admiring again the unspoilt unpopulated beaches. I could quite easily stay a few days at each beach with Joy alone. Unfortunately development (apart from my boat anchored off) would spoil them. I hope they never get developed. The water is deep right up to the shore so anchoring close in would be possible and seclusion guaranteed. The skyline of Waya to the S only increases the beauty of the area. Several reefs just under a mile offshore would protect from all but the worst swell. Onward almost in a straight line from Natuvalu Bay to Nacilau Point on NW Waya. As we crossed between the 2 islands the swell increased to 1 1/2 metres on the port quarter. We didn’t see the shallow patch near Waya this time

either although we had a good look in good visibility. Our intention was to stop at Likuliku Bay on the W side of Waya Island but when we got there the anchorage was pretty windy. This is where the Octopus Club is located. The beach looks the cleanest we have seen in the islands so far. Reluctantly we sailed on in 130-140 feet of water to Yalobi Bay (been there-done that). We arrived at the same time as Wings. Fred and Judy had sailed up from Vuda Point. They later came across and I gave them the last of our kava as we won’t be using it because we’re heading S. There is an element of sadness as our trip is drawing to a close. John Goater passed on another message from Corina regarding Glenn Payne wanting certification from me for his airfares. Looks like we’ll have to seek out a fax machine in a couple of days. After dark I put a lantern on the boarding platform hoping to attract some fish but all it did was attract a black and white sea snake. It had a sting in it’s tail... Joy lost the desire to swim here and Laura had a nightmare and spent the latter part of the night in our bed.

30th September.

Spent a very restful morning on the boat. Susannah and I went for a snorkel in the afternoon. Unfortunately the sun went behind the clouds and the wind got up a bit. We did take a couple of shots of a blue fish we hadn’t seen before but ran out of film before we got a good one of coral. Also missed taking one of some small creatures on a large coral clump that looked as though they were made from different coloured pipe cleaners fashioned into balls. We moved out into deeper water. It was a rolly night until the wind strengthened and changed to a stiff Northerly with accompanying williwaws at 0400 hours. The bay calmed remarkably quickly but it was a tired bunch that emerged to face the day.

Street Art Continued....Term Three Good Teacher Magazine

Looking at both the lighter and darker side of street art...when does beauty become menacing?Is story being told?How easy it it to ‘get the message’?

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A Queenstown-based consultancy has won a prestigious national landscape architecture design award. Baxter Design Group won an NZILA Award of Excellence, the top category of award, for its work on the Remarkables Primary School site in Queenstown.The annual New Zealand Institute of Landscape Architecture (NZILA) ‘Resene Pride of Place Awards’ celebrate the work of an internationally recognised professional body of qualified landscape architects in New Zealand.

Director Paddy Baxter said he was “thrilled” that the company had been recognised for its contemporary design work on a project that had had its challenges, due to a small, sloping site.

“Like any school project the design was a collaborative effort with effectively three clients – the establishment board of trustees, the teachers’ management team, and ultimately the pupils. We were very happy to get the job after competing on a design basis through a selection process with other consultancies. We enjoyed working really closely with the board at the start of the job and by the time we were into the detail we were working with teachers and finished off with the children. It’s a tight site for a school with more than 460 children so we worked with the architects on a masterplan that maintained open playing space but still had smaller spaces within it for group play and outside learning.

It was a team approach from the start, and we couldn’t have done it without the support and understanding of concept by principal contractor Naylor Love, which was hugely helpful. We designed the grounds around the school, leading down towards Lake Wakatipu, with areas of native planting to provide a contrast to the large central sport courts and a stepped amphitheatre large enough to hold all the pupils on special occasions.

Queenstown company wins national landscape architecture award for new school

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The designs allowed for future expansion of the school and it’s establishing well.”

Remarkables Primary School principal Debbie Dickson said the school couldn’t have hoped for a better design and implementation. “The award recognises the wonderful collaborative partnership we had with Baxter Design, a great journey where we were able to work alongside creative designers who understood the importance of creating spaces that connected to learning and encouraged not only social interaction but interaction with our beautiful environment.

When we talked about wanting to have Cave, Camp Fire and Water Hole learning spaces not only in our learning pods but also in the environment, Paddy and the team really grasped the concept and created some very unique spaces which our students and community enjoy on a daily basis.On behalf of the school, Board and community we congratulate Paddy on this amazing and well deserved award.”

NZILA judges said the school design stood out because it ‘paid homage’ to the landscape while adding significantly to the environment of learning.

The judgement praised the clever use of landform resulting in an enclosed, sheltered yet interesting space for children to explore with a variety in

Innovative outdoor learning and play areas designed by Baxter Design Group for Remarkables Primary School

Queenstown company wins national landscape architecture award for new school

experience achieved through contour and levels integrating building and landscape, enabling ‘innovative and interrogative’ use of the space by students.

They described it as ‘a design that exemplifies the powerful outcomes that can be achieved with true collaboration between architect, landscape architect and client’.

Baxter Design Group specialises in landscape architecture, masterplanning, urban design and landscape planning. It is involved with many high profile large-scale tourism and development projects in the Southern Lakes region, Central Otago and other main centres throughout New Zealand, and public spaces including town centre projects and urban design. Its work covers urban and rural landscape masterplanning, resort development, public streetscape and parks, rural subdivision, residential design and landscape assessment.

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Award-winning landscape design at Queenstown’s Remarkables Primary School

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In case you thought

books are just for

reading, well, here’s

something we want to

show you, that might

exceed your

expectations!

Complementing Fine Arts: Folded Book Sculptures by Luciana Frigerio

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Complementing Fine Arts: Folded Book Sculptures by Luciana Frigerio

We figured out that books are a wonderful way to express art. Yes, of course, a book is a piece of art itself, but beyond our regular perception, there’s another one. And another. And so on!

We are so excited to see that creativity has no limits when it comes to arts! Luciana Frigerio, a Vermont-based artist created a unique collection of paper art, simply called Folded Book Sculptures. Basically that was exactly what she did. She folded page by page, creating emotional (timeless) messages by using books. She only used Times New Roman and Helvetica as fonts, because of their impact upon the viewers.

And what a better way to complement art than blending one’s exquisite taste in books with talent, devotion and hard work! The result is simply spectacular, as you can see!

All the messages have a positive and powerful impact. The intriguing amount of creativity of this paper art collection determined a man to propose to his fiancé, by setting “the book messages” on the shelf in a bookstore. Her “universe of paper” can be actually bought from her online Etsy Store.

Complementing Fine Arts: Folded Book Sculptures by Luciana Frigerio appeared first on Freshome.com.

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Freshome.com.

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The other day I fell victim to one of those malevolent lumps of primeval ooze who hack into personal email accounts to access others’ addresses. They do this to purvey their dodgy wares or services via embedded links. Their software trolls my contacts and their contacts and their contacts and so on and very soon the afore-mentioned lump of benthic ooze has untold ‘customers’ to pester. I believe this is called phishing. This title readily lends itself to alliterative name-calling but in the interests of good-taste, I‘ll let you work that out yourself.

Using my good name (which quickly ceases to be good, I imagine) to fool people to open their mail, this sociopathic entity instructs his (insert the feminine equivalent if you are in 70s feminist mode)computer to send multiple emails to each recipient. Fortunately, many people have changed their addresses and so do not receive these unwelcome missives, or some savvy individuals must have firewalls set up or some-such security system, of which I understand nada. Unfortunately, I receive the failure notifications, each and every one.

What can I do about this? According to the friendly internet provider help-desk woman , changing my password and a couple of preferences could help. However, the only sure way to make this garbage stop is to change my email address. She pointed out that by doing this, I would need to notify all of my present contacts, which includes all those sites and business

to which I subscribe. Oh joyful anticipation! I mildly suggested that the providers’ anti-hacking software might not be up to the job but she rejoindered by saying that anywhere my address may feature, such as Facebook, it would be up for grabs and it wasn’t their fault. * Well, I avoid Facebook, as social media leaves me colder than a witch’s tattoo and the only time I venture into it is to check on my children’s O.E. adventures. Still, I guess it could be like getting pregnant, once is sufficient.

So, what else can I do? Nada! Except apologise to the people who have been pestered. Not my fault of course but I can’t see Mr/Ms Ooze seeing the error of his/her ways any time soon. So, on behalf of that denizen of the swamp, that viscous sludge of social slurry…sorry?

I can glean some pleasure by wishing some form of biblical punishment on the perpetrator. Nothing simple like boils, locusts or pillars of salt. Something more original, something that I have personally experienced to some extent and not exactly enjoyed. Perhaps, multiple root canal procedures using a pedal drill, circa 1930, by a near-sighted dental nurse with delirium tremens, for entrees. Then a main course of kidney and gall stones whilst walking the Tongariro Crossing in a whiteout. Dessert could be a choice between urinating on an electric fence, or experiencing a class full of year 6s scraping their fingernails down an old blackboard.

Not that I am vindictive.

* This denial of responsibility has since been rescinded.

Roger

Roger’s Rant

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“The best teachers don’t give you the answers...

They just point the way ...

and let you make your own choices.”

2013 - term 2 - good teacher magazine

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