Study Trip Cont.

A couple more highlights of my self designed and conducted study trip was a visit to The Globe.

As an English teach I had seen the books, the photos and the websites. It was still fantastic to go through it.

We were a couple weeks early for any performances - but merely sitting on the seats and wandering around the place (on a tour) was very inspiring. Well worth the pounds.

We visited Stratford later in the week (WS's birthplace and resting place), and while that was also very interesting - I found the Globe visit more rewarding - great resources in the shop too.

Another must for any English teacher finding themselves in London - is Hampton Court. It has been touristed up, but for any fan of anything Tudorish, it was a great day. It was amazing to see the scale of the place, and the details presented were very engaging. Highly recommended.

Europe Study Trip

For a long time I have wanted to visit Europe (who hasn't?), and although I had visited Paris briefly a couple years ago, I had not had a good look at many of the places I have grown up dreaming of.

This resulted in a two week quick trip last April. My wife and I went on a self directed study tour of many places that have significance to what we teach.

The first week was spent in England. The Tower of London was a must, and did not disappoint. My love for Richard III also meant a trip to Bosworth Field.

The Centre there was worth the trip, and I was amazed at the amount of research that has taken place into Richard's final days.

This Blogging Stuff

Okay - I am writing this primarily because of Twitter. My profile links to this blog, and it is kinda embarrassing that I have not updated it for so long.

So a short update:

1. The drafts for the Australian Curriculum have come out - fun times indeed. Overall I like most of it (except perhaps for all the grammar that will scare many of us).

2. My school has gone 1:1 macbooks for Years 7-12. This is a real learning curve for most. And I am talking about the teachers. If I get time (or the impression anyone actually reads this) I will post about that later.

3. I did a self directed study tour of England and Germany. Every day was an English teacher's paradise. It helps that my wife is also and English teacher. Again a post waiting to happen later.

Okay - back to exam writing and checking my tweets. At least there a post from 2010 now.