Friday, 25 July 2014
My First Poem: Leaf Love
To Enid, From Nat
I am a person who could cry over a leaf.
It would be hard but I could. Are you?
If I was out on a walk and I tore a leaf,
That was attached to a plant,
I would feel destructive but I would probably not cry. Would you?
But if I really thought about it.
How I had....
Torn through the waxy cuticle,
Broken open the palisade cells that had been busy photosynthesising,
Depleted the plant of chlorophyll, the pigment that traps the sun's energy,
And ripped apart two guard cells that together had made a stoma,
Then I might cry. Would you?
But if it had not been while out on a walk,
But had been a leaf off my own house plant.
A plant I had found abandoned and wilting outside the back of a hotel in the car park,
I'd feel differently. Would you?
This plant has a name.
It is fighting for its life.
Day by day it makes another step along the road of recovery.
If I tore its leaf, I would cry. Would you?
I sit now beside Enid,
And I wonder, would I cry?
Should I pull off a leaf to find out?
Do you think I should?
I don't.
I don't want to cry and I don't want Enid too either.
I am a person who could cry over a leaf.
It would be hard but I could. Are you?
If I was out on a walk and I tore a leaf,
That was attached to a plant,
I would feel destructive but I would probably not cry. Would you?
But if I really thought about it.
How I had....
Torn through the waxy cuticle,
Broken open the palisade cells that had been busy photosynthesising,
Depleted the plant of chlorophyll, the pigment that traps the sun's energy,
And ripped apart two guard cells that together had made a stoma,
Then I might cry. Would you?
But if it had not been while out on a walk,
But had been a leaf off my own house plant.
A plant I had found abandoned and wilting outside the back of a hotel in the car park,
I'd feel differently. Would you?
This plant has a name.
It is fighting for its life.
Day by day it makes another step along the road of recovery.
If I tore its leaf, I would cry. Would you?
I sit now beside Enid,
And I wonder, would I cry?
Should I pull off a leaf to find out?
Do you think I should?
I don't.
I don't want to cry and I don't want Enid too either.
Saturday, 8 March 2014
White Dee
I really dislike it when people criticise people on benefits. If you have the energy, motivation, good health (mental and physical), skills, brains, luck and stamina to work then good for you. Why don't those of you who work stop and start to scrounge off the benefits system? Is it really because you think that would be wrong? Or is it more because you wouldn't want to be judged, you actually get some reward in a way from working even if it is really tough and do bring in a bit more money than you would on benefits. Don't say how they don't deserve to be on benefits if you wouldn't even swap your situation for theirs! People say people that can work but just don't want to work shouldn't be on benefits. Why shouldn't they be on benefits! Most people want to work and if they don't I don't blame them for being on benefits. It is very hard to find work and it can be very hard to do work for people that want to work and are highly capable and healthy. So I can totally see why some people would rather be on benefits and would make that choice. It's hypocritical to say that them not working is selfish as they are not giving back to society as most people who do work are doing so for selfish reasons and not to give back to society. And then there are all the people that do want to work but can't because the job opportunities are just not there. I feel very sorry for those people as well. In summary, whether people are healthy but don't want to work, unhealthy(mentally or physically)but technically 'fit to work' but IN REALITY are not fit to work, or people that can't find jobs or people who are technically not fit to work, I sympathise and think everyone should stop criticising and should the f**k up and find ways to help and support them people in these situations.
So there is only one point I want to make about White Dee and that is that I don't like people criticising her for not immediately taking up these opportunities that have been presented to her due to her new found stardom. For someone who is bi-polar, becoming famous might make her condition worse and she should take time to consider these offers as she has found herself in a very unusual situation and she shouldn't jump into anything and certainly shouldn't be pressurised by the public into making a quick decision so that she is not claiming benefits anymore. These offers are not offers for normal jobs!! Particularly, she should be very weary about going on reality TV shows and how that would affect her mental heatlh and family life. It is obscene people suddenly criticising her for not grabbing 'amazing opportunities like that' when most people would absolutely hate to go on Big Brother and would never consider it.
So there is only one point I want to make about White Dee and that is that I don't like people criticising her for not immediately taking up these opportunities that have been presented to her due to her new found stardom. For someone who is bi-polar, becoming famous might make her condition worse and she should take time to consider these offers as she has found herself in a very unusual situation and she shouldn't jump into anything and certainly shouldn't be pressurised by the public into making a quick decision so that she is not claiming benefits anymore. These offers are not offers for normal jobs!! Particularly, she should be very weary about going on reality TV shows and how that would affect her mental heatlh and family life. It is obscene people suddenly criticising her for not grabbing 'amazing opportunities like that' when most people would absolutely hate to go on Big Brother and would never consider it.
Saturday, 22 February 2014
Any Answers?
I find the comment Michael Gove made about making state schools indistinguishable from independent Schools very infuriating and the subsequent comments made by Tory politicians and others backing him up even more so.
I worked in the independent sector as a teacher for 4 years and have now transferred to the state sector. I decided to make this transition as I do not support the independent school system. If it ceased to exist, the standards in state schools would be driven up by pushy parents who no longer have the option of private schools and money could be spread more fairly across children in the country. And importantly it would break down the social barrier and the class system in the UK which leads to arrogance, narrow mindedness and the Tory party!
However, the main point I want to make is that teaching in state schools and behaviour management systems are already far superior to that in the independent sector. It is laughable that Tory politicians say that independent schools have it 'right on discipline'. It you swapped the students in a state school with those in an independent school for a term, the independent schools would be beyond hopeless at dealing with the behavioural issues. The only reason independent schools APPEAR to have it right on discipline is because they have selective intake.
On teaching, I want to make the point that it was very difficult for me to transfer to the state system as it has much more rigorous screening process. The independent sector's admittance criteria is broadly were you privately educated yourself and can you play hockey. It is a bit of an exaggeration but not that much. The state sector interview process was highly demanding, hence why it took me 8 attempts to get a job. The Ofsted criteria for good teaching is hard to achieve. I've had to work very hard to reach it. I've worked in two independent schools and compared to the state schools I have worked in, there is much less pressure on independent school teachers to raise their standards of teaching. Much of the teaching in the independent sector is purely didactic, chalk and talk, low on group work and discovery learning and lacks regular formative assessment and differentiation. But it doesn't really matter as the children are selected so are bright enough to get the results anyway.
I'm just making the point that it is ridiculous that the Tory politicians are saying we need to get the state sector to match the independent sector on quality of teaching and behaviour management policies. If they did, we'd have a much bigger problem in the state sector than there is at the moment!
I worked in the independent sector as a teacher for 4 years and have now transferred to the state sector. I decided to make this transition as I do not support the independent school system. If it ceased to exist, the standards in state schools would be driven up by pushy parents who no longer have the option of private schools and money could be spread more fairly across children in the country. And importantly it would break down the social barrier and the class system in the UK which leads to arrogance, narrow mindedness and the Tory party!
However, the main point I want to make is that teaching in state schools and behaviour management systems are already far superior to that in the independent sector. It is laughable that Tory politicians say that independent schools have it 'right on discipline'. It you swapped the students in a state school with those in an independent school for a term, the independent schools would be beyond hopeless at dealing with the behavioural issues. The only reason independent schools APPEAR to have it right on discipline is because they have selective intake.
On teaching, I want to make the point that it was very difficult for me to transfer to the state system as it has much more rigorous screening process. The independent sector's admittance criteria is broadly were you privately educated yourself and can you play hockey. It is a bit of an exaggeration but not that much. The state sector interview process was highly demanding, hence why it took me 8 attempts to get a job. The Ofsted criteria for good teaching is hard to achieve. I've had to work very hard to reach it. I've worked in two independent schools and compared to the state schools I have worked in, there is much less pressure on independent school teachers to raise their standards of teaching. Much of the teaching in the independent sector is purely didactic, chalk and talk, low on group work and discovery learning and lacks regular formative assessment and differentiation. But it doesn't really matter as the children are selected so are bright enough to get the results anyway.
I'm just making the point that it is ridiculous that the Tory politicians are saying we need to get the state sector to match the independent sector on quality of teaching and behaviour management policies. If they did, we'd have a much bigger problem in the state sector than there is at the moment!
Thursday, 20 February 2014
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