This is the title of a book by travel writer Harry Pearson, but with a difference. Harry went on an epic trip around the world, braving many adventures……all without leaving his office. The entire book is based on his internet reseach, drawing on facts, figures, photos, clips from YouTube and blogs to paint a picture of his travels.
As an experiment, my S2 class, in the remaining time available before the end of term are going to try their own small scale version, in which they write a collaborative travel article where each pupil is asked to
- write a description
- post a picture
- copy and paste a map,
of somewhere in the world that they would like to visit. They must try to convey a sense of place. so, they need to think about effective langauge, vivid phrases, accuracy and geographical detail. I am hoping, too, that they will learn something about collaborative working and begin to appreciate the facility of wikis to create, share and edit a piece of work. Their posts will go on the GeoWiki, a wiki I created initially for my own geography pupils, but which I hope to develop further.
Currently marking Credit and General scrits, so apologies for lack of posts. While marking ca be pretty demanding on top of management duties, I like to stay connected with the subject as much as possible, and the markers’ meeting is a good way of keeping touch with colleagues on the Exam team. The same goes for SAGY conferences, of course. Started marking in 1991 and not long after that joined the team as an examiner and then a setter of questions. Thoroughly enjoyed my time with the team; it’s a great way to get know how other schools tick, and ot gets you thinking a lot about your subject. at the end of this session I move on to Hutchesons’ Grammar, where, as Depute Rector, I shall be repsonsible for school ethos, a big challenge, and quite a different remit from my current one at St Columba’s, where I deal with curriculum as well as health and safety, school trips and overseeing our school Pipe Band.
Geography Intermediate, Higher and Advanced Higher today, too. My son thought the Int II paper was OK, but pushed for time at end. The Higher looked pretty good on 1st inspection, but I’ve not had time to digest that or the AH in detail. Will be interested to know what colleagues think…
