Well a new year of presentations begins with 'Crime Writing' the first one on March 16th at Liverpoool Catholic Club. I always really enjoy this Extension 1 elective because it is so full of opportunity to explore genre and how it can be represented. Although the prescribed list does not really reflect the richness of crime writing, past and present, it still enables students to come to grips with why the genre remains so popular. I think it will always have a hold over students who have a real interest and talent in writing. I am exploring the idea of designing online courses this year. I have really enjoyed the freedom offered by Weebly education and how students have responded to it. It certainly works really well within the classroom and I think it would also work well with teachers. I would love some feedback from teachers as to how professional development could become more user friendly and affordable. At present the cost of casual hire makes most PD courses prohibitive, especially for small or outlying schools.
Schools are also now asking for custom designed full day courses to be held at their school for their Year 12 students. This is a fraction of the normal cost and enables specific coursework and writing skills to be covered without having to take students into the city for lectures. Perhaps students would also get something out of doing online courses to bolster their knowledge base and thesis writing skills. Will have to give it some thought.
With 'Distinctively Visual' nearing a close, I am looking forward to beginning classwork for "Billy Elliot". I have not taught this before but am confident that it will lend itself well to the module focus. For those who have not as yet discovered 'Weebly' or 'Animoto', I cannot praise these two largely cost free programs for classwork. With the erosion of classtime with excursions, half-yearly exams and sundry other 'time-out' events, anything that enables students to be more self-directed learners is a help. A website respository, blog site, coursework calendar, online tasks and so on means that students are not tied to the classroom to develop their skills. Wikis work really well but I am far happier using a 'Weebly' site now - it is more professional and easier for students to use.
Will try to blog more regularly this year.
Barbara
P.S. A really effective 'distinctively visual' related text is 'The Wish', a short story by Roald Dahl.
