A Professional Learning Day

An excellent day starting with coffee (of course); "What's Hot?" in children's literature; judging criteria and other information about the judging of the Children's Book Council of Australia's annual book awards; then the Literacy Continuum and implications for same with the upcoming introduction of the (national) Australian Curriculum that will replace the current State-based curricula.

And that was the program just up until lunchtime!

I nearly missed out on lunch (not that that would have done me any harm) because I was 'gas-bagging' with a colleague after the last session - we came in the door to find the tables being cleared. Panic!!! But like Bill (Shakespeare) says, "all's well that ends well".

The biggest treat of the day was the presentation by Lisa Forest, former Olympian, media personality, and author - who proved that an hour is just not long enough for some things. Lisa is pictured here with me (she's the taller one - we won't even mention anything about being in shape here ... except possibly to make note of the fact that 'round' is also a shape).

In the background of the venue, you can see some of the wonderful paintings that decorate the walls of this high school library. I'll have to leave it unnamed here, for reasons of national security. Well done, and thank you to the organising committee of the Penrith, Mt Druitt, Blacktown, Windsor Teacher Librarian Professional Learning Group.

Smellchuck corrections?

Haven't stopped smiling since seeing the student essay on the political influence of "socialites like Karl Marx" and the revolutionary changes in Russia. I now have an unshakable mental picture of ladies Of A Certain Age swanning around in evening gowns and diamonds, being photographed at posh soirees and complaining about the food and the service ... and having chefs and sommeliers sent to Siberia ... with maitre d's being downgraded to maitre E's or F's.

Seems like the upcoming vacation break could be just in time?

At least Guyana is listening to me ...

Still no word on the pending Determination ... and apparently They have "a three month period" (plus any extensions They believe are warranted - or if they get Very Busy or something) before They are required to tell anyone anything. Talk about "cruel and unusual punishment"!

But at least they're listening over in Guyana; or to be strictly accurate the Guyana Chronicle Online published an editorial extensively quoting the excellent article Ataxia in the Republic of Letters. Thanks, folks. Nice to know someone listens, even if it is on the other side of the planet.

Language Abuse: A sign of the times?

News reports of the last day or two have been bemoaning falling literacy standards throughout the country. Welcome to reality, Powers-That-Be. Yeah, we know you've been denying it for decades - but you won't believe the years of academically rigorous studies showing the potential for school libraries to impact positively on educational standards.

Why? Coz it's going to cost you money. Al told you years ago that you were all very good at defining your educational benchmarks, but that you need to also set resourcing benchmarks and do A Little Something about funding them. But wait! You started national testing in 2008. Brilliant!!! But then what?

Here's something interesting ... what does the sign photographed mean? I asked 3 high school students who were waiting for the doors to open. They all said "it means if you join up [as a Museum member], you can get in free". Sadly, no. It's $75 per year.

On the other hand, the Museum staff need to take some heat on this one. Where's the comma supposed to be? And shouldn't there be - at the very least - a semicolon after the word "today"? Ah. "What's a semicolon?". Indeed.