Are you about to start something? Thinking of going back to something? Putting off going to a class or a group because it's a long time since you've been and it seems too much of an effort to get leave the house and get started again?
It's the time of year when we traditionally get back in the saddle, return to classes, resume hobbies that we stopped for the summer. My adult education students will be returning to their creative writing classes this week, and that got me round to thinking about how much harder it is to get started again than it is to simply keep going.
A couple of years ago, I was physically very active as I went to several dance classes a week, as well as swimming regularly and using my rebounder at home every day. All that went by the board this past year as I had a very heavy schedule of work commitments that clashed with my usual classes and often kept me at work on the computer till nearly midnight.
When I was in a regular routine, I automatically took part in my various activities without giving them a second thought. But having had a break, I am surprised at how difficult I am finding it to get myself back in the groove.
Take my salsa classes, for example. Every week, I say to myself, 'I must go back to salsa this week,' yet I always seem to find some excuse to put off going. Yet if I am to get fit again, I know that good intentions are not enough. I actually have to go to the class, put on my dancing shoes and get dancing.
I have come across lots of writers who have this sort of problem. They are going to write a novel one day. They really are. They have a really fantastic idea, but they just haven't got round to putting it on paper yet.
The trouble is that the vast majority of them never will. Being a writer is not just about having talent or imagination. It's about getting down to it. Putting pen to paper. Starting to write and keeping going till you reach the end of the novel. And then going back to the beginning and reworking it all until your book is in its final form.
It's a lonely business being a writer. Many people find it really difficult to shut themselves away and sustain a long project to the very end.
That's where writing classes and writing groups are invaluable. Once you have made the initial effort to go along and get involved in one, you look forward to going back, week by week or month by month, spending time with your fellow writers and hearing what they've written. It also spurs you on to make progress with your own writing so that you have something to share.
So if you've always wanted to write that novel, but never got round to it, why not join a writing class? Did I mention that I have room for a few more students in my Advanced Class? It's on Thursday evenings from 7 - 9 at The Manse Adult Education Centre in the centre of Huddersfield. Give the Centre a ring - (01484) 437150. Ask for Gale's Thursday writing class.
Meanwhile, I'll just go and dig out my salsa shoes...
Showing posts with label adult education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label adult education. Show all posts
Monday, 20 September 2010
Monday, 30 March 2009
'There's Been a Murder...'
We've been having a crime spree in our adult education centres. Not a rash of graffiti and muggings, I hasten to add, but several weeks dedicated to the art of crime writing. And jolly good fun it's been too.
Of course, someone had to sow the seeds of violence and in this case it was the Huddersfield Literature Festival, organised by the lively and imaginative playwright and university lecturer, Michael Stewart. I had been meaning for some time to introduce my students to crime writing and as the Literature Festival had included in its schedule an evening performance on the subject, entitled Bloody Brits, this seemed like the perfect trigger.
After they'd spent weeks analysing crime novels and reading about post-mortems, murders and grisly discoveries, I decided that my students were now ready to unleash their violent tendencies and put their shady plans into action, so I announced that each of the three classes would have their own crime writing competition. The best two stories from each class would receive a prize - a crime novel.
I've already received the first lot of entries. The prospect of a prize has spurred most of the students into action, even though I gave them a very tight deadline. (Well, the cops don't get to choose when they dash out to look at a dead body, do they?)
Who will win? I haven't finished reading all the entries yet, so I don't know, but suffice it to say, there could be some surprises. It probably won't be a case of the prizes just going to the usual suspects.
I only hope it won't be my blood that's spilt when I have to announce the results...
Of course, someone had to sow the seeds of violence and in this case it was the Huddersfield Literature Festival, organised by the lively and imaginative playwright and university lecturer, Michael Stewart. I had been meaning for some time to introduce my students to crime writing and as the Literature Festival had included in its schedule an evening performance on the subject, entitled Bloody Brits, this seemed like the perfect trigger.
After they'd spent weeks analysing crime novels and reading about post-mortems, murders and grisly discoveries, I decided that my students were now ready to unleash their violent tendencies and put their shady plans into action, so I announced that each of the three classes would have their own crime writing competition. The best two stories from each class would receive a prize - a crime novel.
I've already received the first lot of entries. The prospect of a prize has spurred most of the students into action, even though I gave them a very tight deadline. (Well, the cops don't get to choose when they dash out to look at a dead body, do they?)
Who will win? I haven't finished reading all the entries yet, so I don't know, but suffice it to say, there could be some surprises. It probably won't be a case of the prizes just going to the usual suspects.
I only hope it won't be my blood that's spilt when I have to announce the results...
Sunday, 29 March 2009
Shamed by my Students!
Yes, that's right, I've been shamed by my creative writing students. It isn't as if they've done anything embarrasssing like putting a car on the roof of the Adult Education building or telling the powers-that-be that my whiteboard handwriting's a mess. No, they've been paragons of virtue - having things published, winning competitions, and even writing 100 words a day for an internet challenge.
That's what really got to me. Here are my students undertaking to write 100 words a day on the internet and how many words have I written for my blogs over the past few months? Have I been setting them a good example? Should I have 'Could Try Harder' on my termly report card?
It isn't as if I dislike writing my blog entries. In fact, I find them very relaxing and I get a real sense of achievement when I see them on the internet, especially if someone actually reads them and sends me a nice comment. I had got into rather a good routine of doing them late in the evening when I was chilled out after a day's work, and I found this rather a good way of winding down and putting the day to bed.
The trouble was, of course, that the day's work had started to end later and later. Was I going to sit down and write a blog when I finished my lesson preparation or my PGCE assignment at midnight?
Then there were all the other things that I ought to be doing every day as well, things which regularly jostled with the blog-writing in my mental time-table. Like getting some exercise. (Sadly, the MacAlpine Stadium, once my second home, is now but a distant memory as I haven't been to swimming or aquafit for months.) Or practising my clarinet and saxophone, especially now that I'm in a clarinet trio/quartet that actually plays in public from time to time. Or giving Reiki treatments to myself and my family, now that I've had my first attunement.
There are so many things I could feel guilty about not doing. But that would be a waste of the precious time that I do have. So I forgive myself for being human, being tired, not always being the most organised person in the world. I hope you will forgive me too.
And if you're still beating yourself up about something you haven't got round to doing, maybe you could try forgiving yourself too. Maybe if you do, instead of squandering your life on regrets, you'll release some vital energy to do something positive.
Namaste!
That's what really got to me. Here are my students undertaking to write 100 words a day on the internet and how many words have I written for my blogs over the past few months? Have I been setting them a good example? Should I have 'Could Try Harder' on my termly report card?
It isn't as if I dislike writing my blog entries. In fact, I find them very relaxing and I get a real sense of achievement when I see them on the internet, especially if someone actually reads them and sends me a nice comment. I had got into rather a good routine of doing them late in the evening when I was chilled out after a day's work, and I found this rather a good way of winding down and putting the day to bed.
The trouble was, of course, that the day's work had started to end later and later. Was I going to sit down and write a blog when I finished my lesson preparation or my PGCE assignment at midnight?
Then there were all the other things that I ought to be doing every day as well, things which regularly jostled with the blog-writing in my mental time-table. Like getting some exercise. (Sadly, the MacAlpine Stadium, once my second home, is now but a distant memory as I haven't been to swimming or aquafit for months.) Or practising my clarinet and saxophone, especially now that I'm in a clarinet trio/quartet that actually plays in public from time to time. Or giving Reiki treatments to myself and my family, now that I've had my first attunement.
There are so many things I could feel guilty about not doing. But that would be a waste of the precious time that I do have. So I forgive myself for being human, being tired, not always being the most organised person in the world. I hope you will forgive me too.
And if you're still beating yourself up about something you haven't got round to doing, maybe you could try forgiving yourself too. Maybe if you do, instead of squandering your life on regrets, you'll release some vital energy to do something positive.
Namaste!
Saturday, 27 September 2008
'You Shall Go to the Class!'
One of the most frustrating aspects of teaching in adult education is that for part-timers like me, who are paid by the hour for the classes we actually teach, our teaching hours and our income depend on getting enough students to enrol for our courses.
One of my courses had particularly low numbers this year, and we spent the last fortnight fearing that we might not be able to continue as the powers that be had told us our course would be cancelled unless we got more students. It was very frustrating both for me and for the students not knowing whether we would only last two lessons instead of twelve.
Fortunately, we have been given a reprieve and allowed to continue until the end of term, which is a great relief. We'll now be able to settle down and get on with the work we want to do without worrying about numbers and fretting over people who've not turned up to the class.
It's a bitter-sweet victory as we know that our survival probably means that another course will have been cancelled instead of ours and one of the other tutors will have lost some of her income. But we're glad the decision went our way.
Apparently, one of the factors which swayed the powers that be was the fact that the students were prepared to put an advert in the local paper at their own expense to try to attract more class members. It was regarded as proof of their commitment.
As far as I'm concerned, it's an indication that you should never say never - miracles do happen! Sometimes it does pay to take the initiative, even though you may feel like a small cog in a big wheel.
One of my courses had particularly low numbers this year, and we spent the last fortnight fearing that we might not be able to continue as the powers that be had told us our course would be cancelled unless we got more students. It was very frustrating both for me and for the students not knowing whether we would only last two lessons instead of twelve.
Fortunately, we have been given a reprieve and allowed to continue until the end of term, which is a great relief. We'll now be able to settle down and get on with the work we want to do without worrying about numbers and fretting over people who've not turned up to the class.
It's a bitter-sweet victory as we know that our survival probably means that another course will have been cancelled instead of ours and one of the other tutors will have lost some of her income. But we're glad the decision went our way.
Apparently, one of the factors which swayed the powers that be was the fact that the students were prepared to put an advert in the local paper at their own expense to try to attract more class members. It was regarded as proof of their commitment.
As far as I'm concerned, it's an indication that you should never say never - miracles do happen! Sometimes it does pay to take the initiative, even though you may feel like a small cog in a big wheel.
Friday, 26 September 2008
Settling In
We've had two weeks of adult education classes now and I'm starting to settle in and get to know my students. We're gradually sorting out the awkward admin work that eats into lesson time, making sure that everyone has filled in an enrolment form properly and paid their fees.
Practical niggles are being resolved too, like the fact that one classroom I teach in at a local secondary school has no board rubber. I have endured two lessons where I had to wipe the whiteboard with tissues, a laborious and messy process. But now I have managed to get a board rubber of my own from the adult education centre. I shall keep in my briefcase, on permanent standby.
It's really exciting to hear my students read out their writing to the class, especially if they are new to the course. I'm constantly surprised at how inventive they can be and how different everybody's writing is.
Already we are getting used to working together and all my classrooms are filled with the sound of laughter. In my view, a class that is relaxed enough to laugh is a class that is relaxed enough to learn.
I'm getting used to my PGCE class too - to being a student as well as a teacher - and I'm finding it useful. Not only do I have the support of my tutor and fellow students - it's also a handy place to find a well-qualified plumber or electrician if you need one!
The belly dancing enrichment classes have also restarted so I'm getting a physical workout at college every week as well as a mental one. I look forward to the return of my waistline.
I hope that you too are settling into the new term, as a student, a teacher, a parent. Education is a precious resource. Let's cherish it and make the most of it, whatever our age.
Practical niggles are being resolved too, like the fact that one classroom I teach in at a local secondary school has no board rubber. I have endured two lessons where I had to wipe the whiteboard with tissues, a laborious and messy process. But now I have managed to get a board rubber of my own from the adult education centre. I shall keep in my briefcase, on permanent standby.
It's really exciting to hear my students read out their writing to the class, especially if they are new to the course. I'm constantly surprised at how inventive they can be and how different everybody's writing is.
Already we are getting used to working together and all my classrooms are filled with the sound of laughter. In my view, a class that is relaxed enough to laugh is a class that is relaxed enough to learn.
I'm getting used to my PGCE class too - to being a student as well as a teacher - and I'm finding it useful. Not only do I have the support of my tutor and fellow students - it's also a handy place to find a well-qualified plumber or electrician if you need one!
The belly dancing enrichment classes have also restarted so I'm getting a physical workout at college every week as well as a mental one. I look forward to the return of my waistline.
I hope that you too are settling into the new term, as a student, a teacher, a parent. Education is a precious resource. Let's cherish it and make the most of it, whatever our age.
Wednesday, 3 September 2008
Creating New Writing Classes
Some creative writing lecturers drift on from year to year with basically the same class full of basically the same people, shedding one or two students from time to time, picking up a couple of new ones. I might be in that position tomorrow night when the enrolment takes place for the course, 'Continuing to Develop in Creative Writing', which is a follow-on class for my last year's Open College of the North West students. Most of them are keen to return, although I'm very pleased that I already know of a few new people with some writing experience who are going to join us.
But today has been the day for forming completely new classes, two brand new classes, both on 'An Introduction to Creative Writing', but one a daytime class, the other an evening class, and in two different centres. It was a fascinating experience to meet so many new students all in the one day and to hear about their reasons for wanting to write and their writing aspirations.
There are the makings of two very nice classes. I hope we manage to recruit a few more students to ensure that the classes will be big enough to run, but we've certainly got a really good core of very interesting people. It's been really useful for me to be able to meet them all and talk to them before the first class so that I will be able to tailor my teaching to their needs and preferences, even at Week 1.
Meanwhile, I've been continuing to market my courses. It's a curious development that institutions can no longer afford to publicise their adult education by sending out a prospectus to every household in the locality - if we tutors want to make sure we have students, we need to be pro-active and do some marketing for ourselves.
I spent part of Monday morning getting my son to help me design a poster using the Word Processor so that I would have something that I could give to libraries and shops to spread the word about my courses. I gave out some of them on Monday and Tuesday to various venues.
I happen to have sent a copy to one of my students, a graphic designer, who very kindly produced a much more professional-looking flyer for me to use, based on the information I'd provided. Thank you, Mark. Your word has been much admired in the Adult Education Department and my boss is now encouraging the other tutors do do their own marketing too! I'm a trend-setter!
So I spent this wet and windy afternoon driving round Huddersfield, exploring parts of Almondbury which I'd never been to before, taking even more of the new, super-duper improved posters to other venues. I hope the flyers will prompt a few more people to enquire about the courses and enrol for them. Time is running out, in that my last enrolment session is tomorrow evening, but it will still be possible to enrol after that by ringing The Manse Adult Education Centre.
I was delighted when one of this morning's new students produced one of my posters from her bag and told me that the librarian at the Central Library had given her it when she asked if there were any creative writing classes available. That one obviously did what it was meant to do - and I'd only handed it in to the library less than 24 hours beforehand!
To all my students, returning and newly enrolled, and to all those of you around the globe who are starting or continuing with writing courses this term, may you have a very happy and rewarding learning experience and develop in your craft!
But today has been the day for forming completely new classes, two brand new classes, both on 'An Introduction to Creative Writing', but one a daytime class, the other an evening class, and in two different centres. It was a fascinating experience to meet so many new students all in the one day and to hear about their reasons for wanting to write and their writing aspirations.
There are the makings of two very nice classes. I hope we manage to recruit a few more students to ensure that the classes will be big enough to run, but we've certainly got a really good core of very interesting people. It's been really useful for me to be able to meet them all and talk to them before the first class so that I will be able to tailor my teaching to their needs and preferences, even at Week 1.
Meanwhile, I've been continuing to market my courses. It's a curious development that institutions can no longer afford to publicise their adult education by sending out a prospectus to every household in the locality - if we tutors want to make sure we have students, we need to be pro-active and do some marketing for ourselves.
I spent part of Monday morning getting my son to help me design a poster using the Word Processor so that I would have something that I could give to libraries and shops to spread the word about my courses. I gave out some of them on Monday and Tuesday to various venues.
I happen to have sent a copy to one of my students, a graphic designer, who very kindly produced a much more professional-looking flyer for me to use, based on the information I'd provided. Thank you, Mark. Your word has been much admired in the Adult Education Department and my boss is now encouraging the other tutors do do their own marketing too! I'm a trend-setter!
So I spent this wet and windy afternoon driving round Huddersfield, exploring parts of Almondbury which I'd never been to before, taking even more of the new, super-duper improved posters to other venues. I hope the flyers will prompt a few more people to enquire about the courses and enrol for them. Time is running out, in that my last enrolment session is tomorrow evening, but it will still be possible to enrol after that by ringing The Manse Adult Education Centre.
I was delighted when one of this morning's new students produced one of my posters from her bag and told me that the librarian at the Central Library had given her it when she asked if there were any creative writing classes available. That one obviously did what it was meant to do - and I'd only handed it in to the library less than 24 hours beforehand!
To all my students, returning and newly enrolled, and to all those of you around the globe who are starting or continuing with writing courses this term, may you have a very happy and rewarding learning experience and develop in your craft!
Friday, 1 August 2008
Writers Just Want to Have Fun!
We writers have been partying! Our severely disabled, but seriously fun-loving class member is 40 today, and we arranged a surprise class party for her last night at the house of one of her fellow students.
She arrived with her carer, who had told her they were going out for a drink at the pub, to find several of us already gathered and the house festooned with banners and balloons. There were sausage rolls, quiches and pizzas heating in the oven, biscuits and traybakes on plates, wine uncorked, and a birthday cake secreted in the kitchen - it had been specially designed for the occasion by another class member who is very talented at cake-making.
Our guest of honour was delighted and we all settled down to eat, drink, chat and laugh uproariously. There were enough funny real-life stories trotted out to fill a dozen magazines, about everything from cats and dogs to how we met our partners and encounters people have had with the college ghost!
We distributed presents and cards, toasted the birthday girl with bubbly, and chatted about class. A good time was had by all.
We await with eager anticipation our next opportunity for a class knees-up! Meanwhile, everyone has gone home with copies of the college prospectus so they can sign up for next term's class. If you live or work in West Yorkshire and would like to come to one of my classes, you can download the adult education prospectus online from www.huddcoll.ac.uk.
You'll be very welcome at any of the three courses I'm teaching next term, especially if you've a big birthday coming up! In between writing fantastic pieces, winning awards, and having work published, writers just want to have fun!
She arrived with her carer, who had told her they were going out for a drink at the pub, to find several of us already gathered and the house festooned with banners and balloons. There were sausage rolls, quiches and pizzas heating in the oven, biscuits and traybakes on plates, wine uncorked, and a birthday cake secreted in the kitchen - it had been specially designed for the occasion by another class member who is very talented at cake-making.
Our guest of honour was delighted and we all settled down to eat, drink, chat and laugh uproariously. There were enough funny real-life stories trotted out to fill a dozen magazines, about everything from cats and dogs to how we met our partners and encounters people have had with the college ghost!
We distributed presents and cards, toasted the birthday girl with bubbly, and chatted about class. A good time was had by all.
We await with eager anticipation our next opportunity for a class knees-up! Meanwhile, everyone has gone home with copies of the college prospectus so they can sign up for next term's class. If you live or work in West Yorkshire and would like to come to one of my classes, you can download the adult education prospectus online from www.huddcoll.ac.uk.
You'll be very welcome at any of the three courses I'm teaching next term, especially if you've a big birthday coming up! In between writing fantastic pieces, winning awards, and having work published, writers just want to have fun!
Friday, 27 June 2008
Writing for Profit or Writing for its own Sake?
Having begun to publish on the internet has made me focus on the financial rewards of writing. Of course, everyone needs to earn a living and the workman is worthy of his hire, but that isn't the only reason why I write.
In fact, it isn't even the reason why I've been so delighted at having my work accepted by Triond this past week.
I've been enjoying the buzz of writing what I feel like writing and seeing it accepted and put out into the ether for everyone to read. It makes me feel as if I have a sense of purpose. I'm doing what I love to do and there is a prospect of being paid for it too. How lucky is that!
That's more important than any amount of money, as far as I'm concerned. There are lots of jobs I could do that would guarantee more money in the short term, but enjoying what you do and feeling passionate about it is priceless.
This week I've had the satisfaction of seeing my work in print . I've also had the thrill of seeing my writing class reach the end of their certificate course, to great acclaim. Teaching them to write isn't just my bread and butter - it's my soul food. Verily my cup runneth over.
Yes, it's been a great week.
I hope you are as happy in your vocation as I am in mine.
By the way, if you would like to read my latest article, you can find it on www.telewatcher.com/Reality/Big-Brother/Why-I-No-Longer-Watch-Big-Brother.150309
In fact, it isn't even the reason why I've been so delighted at having my work accepted by Triond this past week.
I've been enjoying the buzz of writing what I feel like writing and seeing it accepted and put out into the ether for everyone to read. It makes me feel as if I have a sense of purpose. I'm doing what I love to do and there is a prospect of being paid for it too. How lucky is that!
That's more important than any amount of money, as far as I'm concerned. There are lots of jobs I could do that would guarantee more money in the short term, but enjoying what you do and feeling passionate about it is priceless.
This week I've had the satisfaction of seeing my work in print . I've also had the thrill of seeing my writing class reach the end of their certificate course, to great acclaim. Teaching them to write isn't just my bread and butter - it's my soul food. Verily my cup runneth over.
Yes, it's been a great week.
I hope you are as happy in your vocation as I am in mine.
By the way, if you would like to read my latest article, you can find it on www.telewatcher.com/Reality/Big-Brother/Why-I-No-Longer-Watch-Big-Brother.150309
Thursday, 5 June 2008
Endings and Beginnings
This week I've had a new beginning and I'm about to have an ending.
My new beginning is my second blog on writing, The Writing Wizard, which you can find on http://www.bloglines.com/blog/GaleBarker. It provides practical help and tips for beginner writers.
What's about to end is the creative writing course that I've been teaching this year. Tonight my students hand in their final assignments and their portfolios of the year's work. The course will officially be over, and we won't be back at college till September.
Our Last Class of the Year
It's a real achievement for my class to have got to this stage, as most of the students have jobs and only have a limited amount of time to devote to their writing. They've had to contend with all sorts of problems along the way - illnesses, family crises, computer breakdowns, hectic periods at work. They've been studying since September, so it's been a marathon rather than a sprint.
They've kept their noses to the grindstone, churning out homework, writing extra pieces, trying out new forms of writing. Throughout the year, they've discovered (and won) writing competitions and adult learning awards, been to writing festivals, read their work in public, and seen it in print for the first time. It's been quite a year!
We're going to celebrate their success this evening by sharing food and drink and listening to each other's work. Everyone is going to read out a piece that they have written.
I'm sure it will be a lovely evening, as we're always really amazed at the quality of the work that every student can produce and appreciate each other's talent and unique strengths.
The Beginning of a New Blog
This week I have also been transformed into a wizard. I have become The Writing Wizard on my new Bloglines blog. I'm getting used to my new identity and I'm delighted with it, but now that I'm having to get used to a new blog site, I'm a bit like a student starting off a new course, except I don't have a teacher to help me.
I feel as if I don't really know what I'm doing. I know how to be The Writing Wizard. I know how to fix people's writing and turn them into writers. What I'm struggling with is the technical limitations of the Bloglines site.
I found the Blogger site, on which this posting is written, very easy to use. You write your blog. You can save it if you're not quite finished, post it immediately, or schedule it to be posted at a later date. Even once you've posted it, you can still go back and change it if you spot a mistake. It only takes a moment.
Frustration! Frustration! Frustration!
The Bloglines site is totally different. I was lulled into a false sense of security by my first posting yesterday, which went relatively smoothly.
Today was another matter. I was happily writing my piece when, two-thirds of the way through, the keyboard started to do strange things. Suddenly wouldn't let me type any more. I typed and typed but no letters appeared on the screen.
At first, I thought it must be autosaving, so I waited for a while. Eventually I was able to get going again, but only about three letters on the keyboard would work. It was fine if you wanted to type iiiiiiiiiiiii,,,,,,,,,,aaaaaaaa but not much good for anything else!
I had no option but to quit and come back in. I tried to save my work before I did, but when I did return I discovered that it had only saved about three lines of the file, so I had to write virtually all of it again.
Then I thought I'd got it perfect, so I posted it (there was no point in saving it as a clip because that's how I'd lost the other version). Unfortunately, once it was on the site, I discovered something small I needed to alter - I needed to remove about three rogue words from the middle of a sentence. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any way of altering a post once it's up.
So when I'm writing my other blog, I've discovered through bitter experience that you can't save a draft and you can't alter what you've written once you've published it.
My Learning Experience
I will persevere as The Writing Wizard, in spite of the shortcomings of Bloglines. It isn't ideal, but hopefully I will get to know the system better, and maybe Bloglines will improve their software.
I hope that in a year's time I'll be able to celebrate the fact that I've been able to stick with it, despite my problems, and be proud of my achievement, just as my students are proud of theirs.
My new beginning is my second blog on writing, The Writing Wizard, which you can find on http://www.bloglines.com/blog/GaleBarker. It provides practical help and tips for beginner writers.
What's about to end is the creative writing course that I've been teaching this year. Tonight my students hand in their final assignments and their portfolios of the year's work. The course will officially be over, and we won't be back at college till September.
Our Last Class of the Year
It's a real achievement for my class to have got to this stage, as most of the students have jobs and only have a limited amount of time to devote to their writing. They've had to contend with all sorts of problems along the way - illnesses, family crises, computer breakdowns, hectic periods at work. They've been studying since September, so it's been a marathon rather than a sprint.
They've kept their noses to the grindstone, churning out homework, writing extra pieces, trying out new forms of writing. Throughout the year, they've discovered (and won) writing competitions and adult learning awards, been to writing festivals, read their work in public, and seen it in print for the first time. It's been quite a year!
We're going to celebrate their success this evening by sharing food and drink and listening to each other's work. Everyone is going to read out a piece that they have written.
I'm sure it will be a lovely evening, as we're always really amazed at the quality of the work that every student can produce and appreciate each other's talent and unique strengths.
The Beginning of a New Blog
This week I have also been transformed into a wizard. I have become The Writing Wizard on my new Bloglines blog. I'm getting used to my new identity and I'm delighted with it, but now that I'm having to get used to a new blog site, I'm a bit like a student starting off a new course, except I don't have a teacher to help me.
I feel as if I don't really know what I'm doing. I know how to be The Writing Wizard. I know how to fix people's writing and turn them into writers. What I'm struggling with is the technical limitations of the Bloglines site.
I found the Blogger site, on which this posting is written, very easy to use. You write your blog. You can save it if you're not quite finished, post it immediately, or schedule it to be posted at a later date. Even once you've posted it, you can still go back and change it if you spot a mistake. It only takes a moment.
Frustration! Frustration! Frustration!
The Bloglines site is totally different. I was lulled into a false sense of security by my first posting yesterday, which went relatively smoothly.
Today was another matter. I was happily writing my piece when, two-thirds of the way through, the keyboard started to do strange things. Suddenly wouldn't let me type any more. I typed and typed but no letters appeared on the screen.
At first, I thought it must be autosaving, so I waited for a while. Eventually I was able to get going again, but only about three letters on the keyboard would work. It was fine if you wanted to type iiiiiiiiiiiii,,,,,,,,,,aaaaaaaa but not much good for anything else!
I had no option but to quit and come back in. I tried to save my work before I did, but when I did return I discovered that it had only saved about three lines of the file, so I had to write virtually all of it again.
Then I thought I'd got it perfect, so I posted it (there was no point in saving it as a clip because that's how I'd lost the other version). Unfortunately, once it was on the site, I discovered something small I needed to alter - I needed to remove about three rogue words from the middle of a sentence. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any way of altering a post once it's up.
So when I'm writing my other blog, I've discovered through bitter experience that you can't save a draft and you can't alter what you've written once you've published it.
My Learning Experience
I will persevere as The Writing Wizard, in spite of the shortcomings of Bloglines. It isn't ideal, but hopefully I will get to know the system better, and maybe Bloglines will improve their software.
I hope that in a year's time I'll be able to celebrate the fact that I've been able to stick with it, despite my problems, and be proud of my achievement, just as my students are proud of theirs.
Thursday, 29 May 2008
Vanishing Acts
Now you see her, now you don't.....I expect you might have been thinking that if you've logged into my blog over the past couple of weeks expecting to find a new posting! Sorry about that! But I'm back and raring to go, after a bit of a break to look after myself (I wasn't feeling so well) and to devote my time to scrutinising my class's portfolios - a very enjoyable and engrossing experience as they have produced a mountain of excellent writing: short stories, non-fiction, drama, analyses of markets and writing. Well done them!
Oh, and I also paid a trip to Huddersfield Town Hall for the Kirklees Community Learning Awards Ceremony to see my class win an award for Learning Group of the Year and one member of the class, Charlotte Thorpe, win an individual award for Best Returner. We had a fantastic evening and it was a fitting conclusion to a year in which my class has constantly amazed me with their enthusiasm, persistence and imagination.
I'm about to join yet another new group for writers - a novel-reading group where the emphasis is on spending each meeting analysing one novel in depth, to help us with our own writing. We are due to meet in a couple of weeks' time for our first discussion and the chosen novel is Jodi Picoult's Vanishing Acts. It's the first Picoult book I have read, although my writing partner Kimm is a great fan of hers and had read virtually all her books.
I avoided Picoult's books for ages thinking that they would be terribly depressing, but I was pleasantly surprised by Vanishing Acts. Yes, it does deal with extreme human predicaments, but the writing is absolutely beautiful and it really sweeps you along. In my class, we discussed similes and metaphors a few weeks ago. I pointed out how important it is to choose a simile that is fresh rather than trotting out old cliches. Vanishing Acts is stuffed fuller than a horsehair sofa with lively and original similes - for example, she says the wrapped-up bales of hay in a field are like giant marshmallows. I think that once I have got to the end of the book, I shall have to go back and re-read it with a notebook in my hand, recording her fantastic use of language so that I can share it with my classes next year.
I hope that you have been enjoying your reading and writing while I've been off-line. Do please e-mail me and let me know what you've been working on. I would be especially interested in knowing which novels you would recommend to my new reading/novel-writing study group and what lessons we could learn from them.
Happy reading!
Oh, and I also paid a trip to Huddersfield Town Hall for the Kirklees Community Learning Awards Ceremony to see my class win an award for Learning Group of the Year and one member of the class, Charlotte Thorpe, win an individual award for Best Returner. We had a fantastic evening and it was a fitting conclusion to a year in which my class has constantly amazed me with their enthusiasm, persistence and imagination.
I'm about to join yet another new group for writers - a novel-reading group where the emphasis is on spending each meeting analysing one novel in depth, to help us with our own writing. We are due to meet in a couple of weeks' time for our first discussion and the chosen novel is Jodi Picoult's Vanishing Acts. It's the first Picoult book I have read, although my writing partner Kimm is a great fan of hers and had read virtually all her books.
I avoided Picoult's books for ages thinking that they would be terribly depressing, but I was pleasantly surprised by Vanishing Acts. Yes, it does deal with extreme human predicaments, but the writing is absolutely beautiful and it really sweeps you along. In my class, we discussed similes and metaphors a few weeks ago. I pointed out how important it is to choose a simile that is fresh rather than trotting out old cliches. Vanishing Acts is stuffed fuller than a horsehair sofa with lively and original similes - for example, she says the wrapped-up bales of hay in a field are like giant marshmallows. I think that once I have got to the end of the book, I shall have to go back and re-read it with a notebook in my hand, recording her fantastic use of language so that I can share it with my classes next year.
I hope that you have been enjoying your reading and writing while I've been off-line. Do please e-mail me and let me know what you've been working on. I would be especially interested in knowing which novels you would recommend to my new reading/novel-writing study group and what lessons we could learn from them.
Happy reading!
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