From the teacher’s desk...

Indiana Jones

Wed, 4 Jun 2008 16:51:31 +0100

Great line in new film saw yesterday.
In admiring / incredulous tone after witnessing the ageing Jones’ action:
Kid: You’re a teacher?
Jones: (pause) Part-time...

Let’s hear it for all those part-time all-action heroes!!!

Writing to Analyse

Tue, 20 May 2008 20:16:59 +0100

Have a look at this mind map using mind42.com...

Mind42

Tue, 20 May 2008 10:35:50 +0100

Have a look at this mind map using mind42.com...

Mind - Mapping

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 19:31:09 +0100

Have a look at Julius Caesar on ‘Revision Hotline’. Would more of these pages be helpful? Let me know...

Site recommendation & latest podcast

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 10:54:17 +0100

Geoff Barton, writer and lecturer in teaching English, has placed us as a link on his site and I recommend his very strongly for some good GCSE resources but even better A-level ones which are wide-ranging. A really entertaining and informative site with a really quirky but fascinating section on radio jingles you can listen to.

Very helpful feedback on ‘1984’ mock exams also now available courtesy of LAS.

As ever, comments welcome!

Latest additions...

Wed, 9 Apr 2008 15:38:52 +0100

On iCast find two new podcasts: an audio version of the ‘SPIDER’ tutorial and exam feedback on ‘Journey’s End’.
Feedback welcome, as ever...

A first on the first - no kidding...

Tue, 1 Apr 2008 21:54:39 +0100

Announcing the first tutorial video produced by IDAIS - now on YouTube at our ‘sister’ domain, StudyGuru. You can watch it here on the iTalk page. Let us know what you think.

Welcome to new visitors

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 19:16:42 +0000

Following a busy school parents’ evening, it may be you are a student or even the parent of a student visiting for the first time. A very warm welcome to you and we hope you like what you see. Feedback and suggestions are really appreciated - use the open comments feature on a given page or e-mail your thoughts.

As a special treat for you, find on the iTube page two new films to enjoy featuring some minor - soon to become major - celebrities from The Big Guffaw Show.

And click here for a delightful selection of metaphorical offerings from student essays.

Enjoy - and come back soon!

iTube update

Wed, 5 Mar 2008 19:35:34 +0000

YouTube is a great site with masses of material, some very good, some dross. On iTube we trawl the seas to bring you some great catches. This week’s additions include a new discovery - Taylor Mali - whose fresh and stimulating thoughts on teaching and the way we speak make great viewing.

The Pigeon Detectives - nominated for best new band at the recent NME awards - appear because I like the music and used to teach two of the lads at A Level in a south Leeds school. Keep your eye on them.

And I make no apology for putting up two clips from the Big Guffaw Show which may become collectors’ items in years to come.

If you feel you have a suitable clip that we should all see, add a comment here or e-mail me as ever.

Enjoy the show!

‘iDais is “sweet”’ - it’s official!

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 10:13:58 +0000

A Greek-scholar friend has confirmed that the word ‘idais’ means ‘sweet’ in an obscure form of ancient Greek. In the vernacular of today, that’s how we hope visitors will be describing this website!
Here’s an extract from the research for those with inquiring minds...

ἴδηφιν idephin sweet-voiced Hsch. <ἴδηφιν>· ἴδαις· Βοιωτοί. [καὶ ὁ ἡδυλάλος διὰ τῆς διφθόγγου] (Attic hêduphônon) ( Aeolic wad- , ad- )

In Attic Greek (the standard Classical Greek of the Athenian writers) iδυς (hedus) means “sweet / pleasant”.

It may be found in Aeolian Greek (of which we have relatively little evidence – it was the Greek used by the 6th century lyric poets Sappho and Alcaeus, who lived in a part of the Greek world where it was spoken – the island of Lesbos ).

The same dialect was used in Boeotia and Thessaly (see Wikipedia map) but we don’t have literature from these areas as far as I know.

However, in the 5th century AD an Alexandrian lexicographer called Hesychius (the Hsch. in the Wikepedia entry) put together a lexicon of rare Greek words found in poetry. We have a (badly preserved) 15th century MS of this work, and that presumably is where this idephin (iδηφιν) word is recorded.

It looks to me as if the word is a compound of the Aeolian word for “sweet” and “voice”, so that the iδη- bit is the Aeolian equivalent of the Attic iδυς (hedus). In that case the example of the word iδαις in Hesychius’ scholarly tome does indeed mean “sweet” (in a nominative plural form, to describe the Boeotians).

PS “dais” comes via Old French from the Latin word discus (“a round object” – then “a circular platform”)

Apostrophe : apple’s and pear’s???

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 12:23:21 +0000

It’s an English teacher’s gripe - the apostrophe is doomed! Actually, it’s not that hard and I still think it can distinguish the sheep from the goats for teachers, examiners - and future employers.
I suggest you check out this helpful website and sharpen your punctuation skills - the decision is your’s (or should it be yours???) Check the OWL...

Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer's Day?

Sat, 16 Feb 2008 11:21:59 +0000

To be used in conjunction with the exercise in iTask.

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd; But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou growest:  So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,  So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

Short Story Feedback on 2007 Mock

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:14:13 +0000

Opening Worlds
• On the whole some very promising responses showing good knowledge of stories and approach required
• Majority of students elected to answer Q2 on poverty. These were done better in part because of story choices – ‘Silver’ & ‘Red Ball’ obvious; there was choice of ‘Red Ball’ for learning…but having said that, some chose ‘Leela’ for wealth/poverty which is ok but not the best. Nothing wrong with choosing the obvious – perhaps clearer linking work required by theme
• Some good lang analysis of ‘Silver’ & ‘Red Ball’ in particular
• Weaker answers were more narrative or descriptive than analytical in focus
• Better answers focussed on the ‘effects’ of poverty rather than just describing it
• Wider view of ‘learning’ needed ie not just ‘the classroom’
• Quotation used without analysis – use opportunities – an A needs detailed attention to writer’s language / techniques
• BUT perhaps need to guard against over-stressing the lang analysis – occasionally too much weight on long, detailed analysis of one image (one spent half a side) – need wider picture to demonstrate ‘clear insight’ and ‘perceptive understanding of text’…
• Need to avoid too much introduction – why regurgitate the question and explain your text choices in an opening paragraph?
• Avoid using the words ‘quote’/’quotation’ altogether??(‘In this quote…’)
• Don’t misspell names! (Sealey, Tuna Puna, Clemence)
• Put story titles in inverted commas and use capital letters! – MOST fell down on this – irritating and looks sloppy
• BALANCE needed: many spent too long on first story allowing only superficial glance at second

Latest additions

Tue, 5 Feb 2008 12:23:12 +0000

In time for the exam, listen to three new podcasts - ‘Joining the Colours’, ‘The Send-Off’, and reminders about the Lit exam. If you’ve visited the site and read or listened, do let me know by way of e-mail or comment so I can gauge the usefulness of these pages. Have fun on Thursday!

Poetry: ‘Recruitment’, E.A.Mackintosh

Sat, 2 Feb 2008 12:12:41 +0000

A teacher model essay on this poem:

How does Mackintosh feel about the issue of WW1 recruitment?
The issue of recruitment in time of war is a vexed one. How do you balance the need to raise an army and promote the nobility of the cause with the demands of integrity and honesty when calling men to very likely sacrificing their lives? In this poem Mackintosh tackles this issue head-on with directness and passion. He is bitterly critical of jingoistic propaganda and those who peddle it but does recognise the courage of men prepared to sacrifice their lives and suggests this represents a higher call, ‘a better word’.
The first six stanzas are a satirical criticism of England’s propaganda machine. The metonymic use of ‘hands’ in the opening stanza might suggest the authors of war slogans have little heart. Doubt is removed when he speaks of ‘fat civilians’ where the adjective criticises the comfortable and safe position of those who ‘penned the call’. The lads are ‘wanted’ but only that they might ‘go’ and protect the nation at a distance. This is in striking contrast to the invitation ‘Come’ issued later by the gallant soldiers in the field. Even the popular music hall ‘call to arms’ songs are described as ‘vulgar’ and ‘washy’ – superficial and sentimental, lacking any integrity.

He soon draws attention to the realities of war.
The men are called to ‘shiver’ and face
‘More poor devils like yourselves
Waiting to be killed.’
The propagandists and ‘blasted journalists’ are to be kept ‘nice and safe’. The anger of the adjective ‘blasted’ and the sarcasm in the choice of ‘nice and safe’ add to the blatant display of bitterness and cynicism in the first part of this poem.

Mackintosh, however, is not simply bitter and cynical. As an experienced soldier, he has discovered real heroism and commitment in the field.
‘There’s a better word than that
Lads, and can’t you hear it come
From a million men that call
You to share their martyrdom?’

The key shift in tone is signalled by the replacement of the imperative ‘go’ with ‘come’: the invitation to join those who are honourably sacrificing their lives is strong. In the final three stanzas Mackintosh elevates his comrades. Their ‘honest’ years are contrasted with the ‘dull three score and ten’ of the ‘fat old men’ and the adjective ‘honest’ is repeated in this stanza. Their sacrifice is ‘gallant’ and recruits will learn ‘gaiety and strength’. The strength of this appeal is irresistible and the final ‘Lads, you’re wanted’ has a far more convincing tone.

The simplicity and control of the regular rhythm and rhyme reflect the gentlemanly restraint of the soldier’s anger and prevent his poem becoming a rant. And furthermore, the simplicity and directness of the diction and the scarcity of imagery gives his voice a directness, integrity and passion which reflects that those qualities present amongst his comrades but absent amongst the propagandists.

Poetry: Starter notes on the poems

Sat, 2 Feb 2008 11:35:30 +0000

A reminder of the brief guide available on my teachit pages.
I might not necessarily agree with all comments (eg those on ‘The Seed-Merchant’s Son’) but it’s a helpful starting point.

This revision guide is intended to support study of the following poems:

Recruiting
Joining the Colours
The Target
The Send-Off
Spring Offensive
The Bohemians
Lamentations
The Deserter
The Hero
Falling Leaves
In Flander’s Fields
The Seed-Merchant’s Son
The Parable of the Old Man and the Young
Spring in War-Time
Perhaps-
Reported Missing

Official website launch

Fri, 1 Feb 2008 10:07:46 +0000

Today marks the official launch of this new website with the offering of the first two poetry podcasts, demonstrated in the classroom. The aim will be to offer a couple more of these for my students - hi! - preparing hard for their Lit mock next Thursday.
If you have any comments or suggestions - ‘feedback is the way forward’ - feel free to e-mail me or add a comment below.
I hope you will find the site useful.