Im Being Chased by a Dragon

I’m the woman who runs the Monday creative writing workshops for InterHigh. I parachuted into the classroom in January 2010 and I’m happy to say, I’ve enjoyed every single session since. Hopefully, the students have too. Certainly I’ve seen several of them return a second, third or fourth time around. It’s my privilege to watch them develop their writing skills by reacting to simple tasks that trigger their imaginations. The main tasks require dedicated, quiet writing time. It’s brilliant to think of my students, quietly writing at home, wherever that may be, yet united by working to the same theme or starter sentence.

These classes are very different from the academic ones in that those attending range from Year Sevens to Year Elevens. I’m normally aware of a student’s age but no way does this influence me when choosing exercises. Every one of them enjoys words or else they wouldn’t waste time attending my sessions and that’s the levelling factor. I also try to make their choices flexible so they might find themselves imagining they’re auditioning for a part in a Broadway show or telling everyone how they’d turn their laptop into a steam punk computer. They can decide whether to write humorous stuff or to show their dark side. They compose restaurant menus. They design their dream bedroom. They create wild and wonderful worlds.

 Do the younger students ever become frightened by sinister shapes or gruesome monsters? I can tell you it’s usually me who’s scared to turn the light out at bedtime! We do have some bloodthirsty tales but nothing worse than anything you’d find in a self-respecting fairy tale. Humour’s often in evidence and how I enjoy it when someone finds his or her voice and delights us with a character’s quirkiness and ability to make us suspend disbelief.

 

There is a tremendously therapeutic element to creative writing. I first realised this back in the 1970s when I attended an open evening at a residential school for pupils with behavioural problems. One girl showed me a poem she’d written and although it was worryingly dark, I knew she’d expressed her emotions on the page probably far more easily than she could control her anger.

I once held a session for senior citizens where I urged them to write down their memories so their descendants had a record to cherish. The advantage of this kind of group exercise is that often one person’s experiences will trigger someone else’s. Faces light up and people chuckle and nod their heads. In the same way, an InterHigh group will post a smiley face, make a LOL comment, or draw something on the whiteboard. Jacqui and her admin team are very good at informing me if a student is experiencing any personal problems. Sometimes one of the group might text me to explain a close relative is ill or a pet has died. If this student prefers to stay online as an observer, that’s absolutely fine and I like to think the fun and companionship of the others is providing the kind of medicine money can’t buy. 

Every group has a different dynamic. My current one is large and contains writers with whom I’ve worked before plus ones who were new to me at the beginning of term. Of course some students work together in their peer groups but I’ve noticed how quickly everyone bonds and how supportive they are of everyone’s efforts. They are never obliged to contribute. Even the most experienced of writers can have an off day. Tell me about it! Sometimes we run out of time because there’s so much exciting writing to hear.

 When a student who attends regularly but has never contributed to any of the tasks, suddenly posts a piece of writing, I feel very delighted. Those who read aloud or post work achieved in a comparatively short time should be proud of their performance. Confidence is achieved in many different ways. So if you hear your son or daughter speaking over the mic about being chased by a dragon or watching their mum being captured by aliens, please don’t worry. It’s only that Monday woman again.

 

Sandra Mackness

 

 

Teaching a Global Classroom

Educating globally is of great interest to me and I’m amazed at how the move away from the confines of a physical classroom can be such an enriching experience. I’ve had a long time teaching classes inside a classroom where the pattern of one-way direction of information -- from teacher to students - was a well established one - even with the arrival of new technology.

I’ve been an A level  English Language and Literature examiner with Cambridge International for some years and  very much enjoy hearing the local ‘voices’ of the candidates as they write about their own experiences  on the questions  about their own life and culture.  A student from Nepal who is looking out at the Himalayas; one from Zimbabwe who is describing   their impressions of the Victoria Falls or a New Zealander  debating the impact of the Christchurch earthquake, are examples of individual  topics  which  broaden my  interests and knowledge.

The quantum leap however, has arrived with online teaching at Interhigh. The global classrooms are always lively and so enriching for us all and this is one of the many benefits of this method of learning. I remember my first Year Eight History class where I asked the students whether they lived nar any historical monuments: ‘The Pyramids’ came the first jaw- droppingly amazing reply!

In Geography, we can all look out of the window at the local weather conditions; for some the tropical monsoon is about to break; others have not seen rainfall in months and others are able to discuss the idea of global warming with reference to the vegetation of the African Savannah.  So that now, in these classes, knowledge is very much a flow of information amongst all of us. My classes know my IT trials and error- how reassuring to me that there some technical experts at Interhigh sitting right in my classroom!

Of course I have a responsibility as the teacher to organise and direct the shape of the lesson but this new teaching style seems altogether more collaborative and democratic than the traditional Socratic Method where knowledge was handed down from one source. Listening to my worldwide classes read Shakespeare or discuss the shopping facilities in their local towns in different continents, it seems that in the words of the poem, we have all slipped the surly bonds of Earth (John Gillespie Magee ‘High Flight’) as this shared knowledge travels instantly across the globe.

AS a relatively ‘new kid on the block’ with on line teaching, I do not assume to discuss well known  points  about the values of  this style of learning in this brave new digital world. But what is evident to me however, is that, at the stage of my teaching where I might be expected to have a reasonable store of knowledge to disseminate to those I teach, the medium of the global classroom is revolutionising the concept of teaching and learning.
 have so much to learn!

Marilyn Rankin

InterHigh Teacher

Enjoying Learning, a Parent's View

As a parent of two daughters who have attended Interhigh, I cannot praise enough the standards of the teaching and the enjoyment my children have got at Interhigh.
Both my daughters between them have attended state schools, independent schools and a grammar school and they have had a variety of experiences, I have found that independent schools have been the most waste of money and my children's education suffered as a result. But at Interhigh they enjoy learning and education becomes something that is a positive experience for them. They are treated as individuals with teachers and staff who are supportive and welcoming. Surely education should be a holistic experience and accessible to all?
So we thank Interhigh at being a pioneer and offering children an alternative way to learn, so that more children can soar and reach their true potential instead of being excluded and ignored in an educational establishment that has forgotten that children are at school to learn and to enjoy their learning experience.

Thinking of an Apprenticeship?

When I finished my previous job I decided that I wanted to do a job that gave me satisfaction and where I felt I was actually making a difference to people. I spent a while looking for jobs and then the opportunity arose to become a business apprentice at a local school which I found very interesting. Having studied business studies in college and currently studying a degree in business I thought this was going to be right up my street! So I looked further into the application process but when I saw what the school was called I became stumped - a local school called InterHigh This left me a bit confused having been born and bred in the small town of Brecon I thought I knew where most businesses were, but InterHigh left me puzzled so I turned to my good friend Google and typed in InterHigh for the first time and wow did I open a door! I was bombarded with information on this online high school from there I couldn’t stop reading, what a perfect match. I felt working for an online high school and completing a degree online! This was fate; this had to be my calling!

After applying I lived on egg shells waiting for an email or phone call, after what felt like weeks but was more probably like 5 days I received an email saying my application was being taken further and then a few days after that I received a phone call asking if I would like an interview. Which I of course accepted. After arriving at my interview I was brought into Jacqui’s office and from  Jacqui, Paul and Liz I was given a better understanding of the school, then of course standard interview procedure I was asked questions. I would tell you what I was asked but then I would have to kill you ;-) Once finished, I left and got into the car with my mum and explained how I really wanted this job to which she answered “well you better have given a good interview then!” (Thanks mom!) This was on the Friday and by the Monday I had accepted the position. J

 

When I started, InterHigh was in full flow of the September rush but even though it was very busy and hard work it was exactly what I needed, this allowed me to experience listen and watch all aspects of the school from the first enquiring phone call to when that child joins lessons.

My apprenticeship runs alongside the normal day to day work I complete at the office (actually most of the work I complete for InterHigh overlaps for the work I need to complete for my apprenticeship). I have to complete work booklets, answer questions give presentations, analyse work situations and many more things for my apprenticeship and for all you students reading this I even I have to do MATHS L

There is a lot of work to do in my day and sometimes it is just easier to put off my apprenticeship work but when I actually do it, it is quite interesting and I realise that I have actually completed units in my day to day work which is always nice. To make sure that I keep on track I have a mentor that visits me about every two weeks, when he comes we talk through what I have been doing in work and how it all relates back to my apprenticeship. He makes sure that I understand my work and that I am actually the one doing it and that I am not just getting everyone else here at head office to do it for me. (Which when I comes to my maths it is quite tempting).

 

Entering into the InterHigh family had been everything that I wanted it to be and more. All the staff and students have been wonderful.

I will try to keep you all updated with my apprenticeship and make sure you know how my assignments are going. If you would like any more information then please do not hesitate to contact me – alex@interhigh.co.uk