digitalmaverick

OK, here is my response to yesterday’s phenomenal influx of recemmendations to my request for #filmsiwonthaveheardof.

Here are my 10 favourite #filmsithinkyouwonthaveheardof:

Capturing the Friedmans

Casshern

Eat the Peach

Music of Chance

Ping Pong

Pocket Money

Popi

Rage

Scandal

Static

After reading a great Tweet by @jeffman in which he mentioned the Spaghetti Westerns he was going to watch this week - none of which I’d ever heard of (shame on me), I decided to pose the  following question and see what response I got through crowdsourcing:

“Can any of my Followers please recommend a #filmiwonthaveheardof?”

About three hours later, and due to the wonder of Twitter I ended up with a list of around 80 such films (although those shown in BOLD are ones that I already have seen or knew of)  and due to popular request  I list them here for you now - along with the Twitter handles of the people who kindly recommended them to me :-)  Thank you one and all!

Together                                                  @pettsvaldo

The Dark Hour                                        @mrlockyer

Stand and Deliver                                  @paddymcgrath

Zatoichi                                                   @damoward

Dark Star                                                 @garyh2uk

Moon                                                         @garyh2uk

The Huggetts Abroad                            @garyh2uk

American Astronaut                                @cowfish

King of Masks                                          @paulwalk

Copenhagen                                            @mwclarkson

Wonderland                                             @stevebob79

Three O’clock High                                 @ckc1ne

The Fall                                                     @ckc1ne

Prime Cut                                                 @ckc1ne

Splendour in the Grass                         @ckc1ne

Mother                                                       @deanbeswick

Death Rides a Horse                             @jeffman

8 Diagram Pole Fighters                       @jeffman

Get the Coffin Ready                               @jeffman

Innocence                                                 @appliedwisdom

Tin Drum                                                   @adrienepwatson

Urga                                                           @lindiop

The Spider’s Stratagem                         @damoward

2046                                                           @kate_butler

In the Mood for Love                              @kate_butler

13th Floor                                                  @olimould

Primer                                                        @olimould

Swing Kids                                                @altepper

Once                                                           @mrlockyer

The Proposition                                       @mrlockyer

Simon Birch                                              @gabriellenyc

Spy Game                                                 @gabriellenyc

Wonder Boys                                           @gabriellenyc

Dead Man’s Shoes                                  @mrlockyer

Run Lola Run                                            @stephanrinke

Lilya 4-ever                                              @maukee

Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith                  @b33god

Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself                   @literacyadvisor

The Spanish Prisoner                             @paul_a_smith

The Field                                                    @thedippyhippy

The Station Agent                                    @schoolboyerror

Hollywood Shuffle                                     @infernaldepart

Milou en Mai                                               @joga5

Irreversible                                               @stephanrinke

Sunrise                                                       @derekrobertson

The Man Who Lost His Head                 @joe90

Putney Swope                                            @grahambm

House of Flying Daggers                         @chrisrat

Pan’s Labyrinth                                         @chrisrat

High Fidelity                                                @chrisrat

Knights Tale                                               @chrisrat

21                                                                  @chrisrat

Swordfish                                                   @chrisrat

edtv                                                              @chrisrat

Top Secret                                                  @stevebunce

Providence                                                  @gardnercampbell

Les Choristes                                            @jamieriddell

Les Amants du Pont Neuf                        @jamieriddell

Taking Off                                                    @timbuckteeth

Margarets Museum                                   @altepper

Boston Kickout                                           @justthese

Pi                                                                   @bovinemammal

Heavenly Creatures                                  @niltiac

Lantana                                                        @niltiac

Bubba Ho-Tep                                             @eingang

Perfect Blue                                                  @eingang

Atanarjuat                                                      @eingang

Hotel                                                               @edbartlett

The Girl From Paris                                     @suzibewell

The Class                                                      @suzibewell

Like Water for Chocolate                          @drewbarrett

The Lift                                                           @shane_dillon

Picnic at Hanging Rock                             @missbrownsword

House of 1000 Corpses                            @jeffman

The Devil’s Rejects                                     @jeffman

Dancing Outlaw                                           @janebozarth

Vernon, Florida                                            @janebozarth

Sherman’s March                                        @janebozarth

Gwendoline                                                  @ahrenfelt

I’ll put the the #filmsithinkYOUwontknow in a companiion blog post tomorrow.

Around this time last year Ian Usher, Leon Cych, Tom Barrett and I sat down (virtually speaking) and discussed how we were going to support Stephen Heppell in organising TeachMeet BETT and, with the power of the community behind it, we now know how successful that was. In my opinion that inspirational event and the community effort behind it, left an indelible mark in the annals of educational dissemination and provided an impetus for the plethora of TeachMeets that have happened round the country in the intervening year. It is therefore rewarding beyond words to see so many more people wanting to help set wheels in motion this year.

So far this year, and well ahead of last year’s schedule, there HAS already been much work afoot behind the scenes by some of us to ensure this year’s phenomenal offer by EMAP of a venue to house THREE nights of ‘teacher curation’. However, without anyone having true ‘ownership’ of TeachMeet (and TeachMeet BETT specifically) and its concept, I’ve found it hard to make any plans for the forthcoming THREE days as offered by EMAP without potentially offending or upsetting anyone, whilst at the same time still trying to ensure that something was being set up. On the other hand, I believe my level of involvement and commitment last year (as one of the few without whom…) and that of others who I’ve approached with the ideas contained herein, gives me at least some entitlement to do so. I sincerely hope I’ve managed to approach the matter properly – any oversight or tactlessness has been an unintentional oversight on my part. There are no egotists amongst us, although some people have to put their heads above the parapets, but ultimately we’re helping to show how genuinely benevolent our profession can be.

Sciatica and a VERY hectic start to school this term, couldn’t have come at a worse moment for me in terms of announcing the preparatory work that I have been personally doing (phone calls, emails and meetings since early August), but I have made every effort, when I can to inform people who were involved in TeachMeet BETT last year to tell them of my proposals (as outlined herein): Ollie Bray, Tom Barrett, Leon Cych, Ian Usher, Steve Beard, Danny Nicholson, Dale Jones, Leon Cych, Merlin John, Anthony Evans, Theo Keuchel, Dave Smith, John Davitt, Daniel Needlestone, Dan Sutch, Andrew Rhodes, Richard Milwood. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank them for the time they spent listening to me formulating my suggestions. Many of them said I should just ‘get on and do it’, but I’ve hesitated for fear of causing offence – possibly I have hesitated for too long, but I hope not. I should also point out that I have discussed these ideas at length with Martin Jack of EMAP and he seemed happy and excited by with all of what follows. I’ve promised this outline of my proposals before now, and it’s to my shame that I have not delivered it until now.

It’s my belief - and I know this is shared by the vast majority of those that I have spoken to and listed above - that the TeachMeet model (whilst still being the educational game-changer that it is) will be diluted if the IDENTICAL style of event is held on three consecutive nights at the BETT show. Moreover, I feel enough alternative models currently exist to ensure that that we can use these equally well to focus on the incredible fact that EMAP are prepared to let TEACHERS CURATE THREE CONSECUTIVE NIGHTS at the BETT show. Read that bit in caps again – yes this really is an epoch-making moment, so we need to make a great impression and ‘get it right’! After all we as teachers, should be all after the same thing, namely to encourage and nurture others to embrace technology to aid the learning going on in classrooms today.

Mainly as a result of the supportive and hugely positive feedback for a host of influential people, here is my proposed structure for the hitherto unprecedented THREE NIGHT TEACHERS RESIDENCY at BETT 2010.

I suggest that THREE DISTINCT MODELS of evening take place, one on each of the three nights, with some sort of commonality existing between the events - for illustrative purposes I am going to use: ‘Inspire. Instigate. Innovate. Include’ for the rest of this document. The title would collectively suggest an ethos for ALL THREE nights, with each word also individually describing the objective of the particular evening - the models themselves in each case fitting those ‘Inspire. Instigate. Innovate. Include.’ (where ‘Include’ is a summative word to describe the WHOLE experience) like a glove. In all of this I think it’s important that as many people are as involved in the organising, planning and attending these events as possible, albeit in different capacities due to the format of each evening. I say this because as mentioned above, brilliant though the TeachMeet model is a) it only affords a few people the chance to speak in an evening and b) it is will be diluted if spread over three nights - so my proposal is more radical.

Also as more and more TeachMeets start to take place around the country, different models of teacher-curated events will prevent the model from becoming stale. This is best evidenced by Tom Barrett’s brilliant questions analysing how TeachMeets themselves can evolve – and in actual fact that seminal and thought-provoking work heavily influenced the proposals I have put together here.

All of what follows has been ‘prepared’ in the weeks leading up to now, not in some elitist, exclusive way – but rather to set wheels in motion as was the case last year, with an open floor to anyone who would like to get involved in organisation of any of the evenings, in any capacity. Whatever transpires, EMAP are asking teachers to CURATE three nights events at the BETT show, and that is an incredible feat in itself. Of crucial importance is EMAP’s generous offer of the use of the venue which dramatically cuts the need for huge sponsorship monies to be raised as this was such a headache to the few of us who were involved in fundraising last year.

Inspire. Instigate. Innovate. Involve.

Three DIFFERENT nights, one SINGLE goal (whatever that may be eg. ‘Inspire. Instigate. Innovate. Include.’).

Wednesday Night - Inspire

The world-famous influential organisation TED now allow people to apply for TEDx licences to hold events of their own that are affiliated to the world-renowned TED organisation, but where the organisers can plan their very own inspirational evening. I need hardly add that the kudos that having a TED event affiliated to the Teachers Residency would add to what we are all trying to achieve. After about 2 months of application & rigorous email tennis between myself and a TED mentor, I have obtained a licence to hold ‘TEDx Orenda’. I can explain about the word ‘Orenda’ at a later stage, but choosing a name was in itself a battle, and without saying anything more a) TEDxBETT was a complete non-starter & b) its been a huge concession that TED are actually allowing a licence for an event that will take place attached to a commercial event – they hate this, but have relented due to what I described as the ‘special status’ of BETT. Whatever happens this could kick start the Three Day Residency superbly.

[A note about the name ‘Orenda’: All of the BETT or EDU/teaching/learning-related name suggestions I came up with were rejected by TED, and locations such as Olympia and Kensington would have been totally meaningless. The word ‘Orenda’ is found in Howard Rheingold’s excellent book ‘They have a Word for That’ and is a Huron Indian word which is the opposite of ‘fate’ in other words it well describes how we influencers are not accepting ‘the way things are’ but are innovating and leading by example. So although ‘Orenda’ may be unknown word ‘wiki’ was once when I was using it to people 6 years ago Also because the name is not location- or event-specific I am happy for anyone else to hold a TEDxOrenda in the future whenever and wherever they want – as long as they clear it with TED first].

TED lay down strict rubric for the format for the event and this would dictate some of what happens – including that they ask no presenter is paid a fee. However, essentially it would follow this pattern:

Presenter – I have already contacted Rory Cellan-Jones about the prospect of compering the event, although other people have expressed an interest, including Maggie Philbin, and Krishnan Guru-Murthy. The event is in Theatre format hence no seating re-arrangement required.

Theme 1 (for example purposes, lets say ‘Play)

Short TED video 1 – to be chosen by ‘public vote’ in lead up to event, thereby garnering interest in the event, t be based on the TEDxOrenda theme – whatever we choose that to be

Four speakers speak for 20 mins each – not necessarily teachers, nor those we’d normally hear speak but those who can inspire teachers and importantly, speakers that teachers have CHOSEN to hear (please note these are only EXAMPLES) Pat Kane – author of The Play Ethic (and member of Hue & Cry), Dugald Hind - creator of Schoolofeverything.com, Alfie Dennen award winning creator of Britglyph project, Alexandra Deschamps-Sensino Using Arduino to make animals talk.

Musical interlude from an artist who will talk about their inspirational work – Imogen heap did the last TEDGlobal event

Break

Theme 2 (not the same Theme as above, but the same format)

TED Video to close

At the end hundreds of teachers will have had the opportunity to share in a TED event (of sorts) and the whole event would be streamed live around the world and, importantly, archived on TED’s website.

Thursday – Instigate

Leon Cych in particular – and we should know how brilliant he is at picking out relevance of technology in today’s society – and Tom Barrett and I have had differing degree of involvement in Amplified – a truly groundbreaking project funded by NESTA. You can find more about Amplified here, and please do as without doing so the relevance of this event to teachers may not be apparent to you. But, essentially, Amplified is a ‘network of networks’ trying to make society better through sharing ideas and ellicting change – hence ‘Instigate’. The three of us have represented school education at Amplified events for a year or so now and ultimately have ensured that our sector of society will ultimately play a part in this important organisation. A few months ago we were asked to organise an educational-themed Amplified or AmpED event at which ALL sectors of education (from Nursery to University of the 3^rd Age) would be participants. The format of Amplified is the Barcamp model: anyone can suggest a discussion topic, they then start a discussion (in a round table type way) which can then involve any attendee who wishes to speak. This is where it is important to ascertain what Amplified goals are so again I direct you to their website. As NESTA would fund an event held in another location, this funding will not be necessary as EMAP are providing free use of the location – hence NESTA’s money could be used to rearrange the seating ‘cabaret style’ to provide the ‘round tables’ etc.

Format:

Introduction

Session 1 – 40 mins

Networking – 15 mins

Session 2 – 40 mins

Networking – 15 mins

Session 3 – 40 mins

Networking – 15 mins

Plenary

Any attendee can suggest an educational topic to speak about, and instigates the discussion. Clear guidelines and examples would be given as to chosing topics. All roundtables are filmed and archived on NESTA’s site, with some projects then becoming working parties of their own.

So, for example, say I wanted to talk about making use of empty shops to teach disenchanted children out of school hours. I would put this forward as a topic, which would appear on a schedule. So if it was in Session 1 people would come to my table to hear my idea, and then the discussion would move the idea on. At the end interested parties would then agree to pursue the idea further themselves, but reporting back to us all as organisers. Many brilliant social projects are currently underway as a result of Amplified eg. Bletchley Park veterans day archiving, collapasonomics (Google it) to name but two. In this way (and unlike Teachmeet) EVERY attendee could have the chance to be heard and then actually set up or get involved with a project.

Friday – Inspire

TeachMeet as the flagship event, and third DIFFERENT model, would close the three day teachers residency as we brought the curtain on what would be an incredible week of inspirational presentations. This time the volunteer innovators would be sharing their work to other teachers in the well-established style with which we are so familiar. The TeachMeet format would be as before with any tweaks as deemed necessary – especially bearing in mind Tom Barrett’s crowdsourced suggestions as mentioned earlier.

All three of these events are reading to go NOW and with the power of Twitter for raising awareness being what it is I have no doubt that each event as I have described above will reach or exceed capacity.

My proposal means that that every level there will be increased level of involvement of those that want to participate: organisationally, participatory or passively – this has to be a good thing for spreading the word about the innovation going on in schools today, without the overt involvement of any commercial companies, cronyism, elitism or competitiveness.

A few of us have felt that the wiki limits the organisational and planning process. So Dale Jones has set up and is hosting, at no cost, a Moodle in which, for Teachers Curate BETT 2010 and henceforward all TeachMeet organisation could be hosted. This will add more functionality than a wiki such as the inclusion of discussion forums, wikis, surveys, embeddable videos etc in one single location. Steve Beard, owner of the TeachMeet wiki URL has given his blessing to this move.

Dale has set the Moodle up with an overall organisational ‘course’ and three further courses for each of the three event nights. Access levels for each of these would be dependent upon individual involvement in the particular event, but guest access would allow all content to be transparent so visitors could see what was ‘going on’ and the decision-making processes that had taken place. After the event these ‘courses’ would serve as archived exemplars to aid other people trying to plan their own TeachMeet event as the MoodleMoot site currently does.

So what’s the way forward? Well, if all of the above that has already been planned by at least some of the individuals named earlier (and others) I propose we set up working groups to start looking at each of the three events; and that planning starts in earnest within the Moodle that Dale Jones has set up (as described above).

I hope this long document shows the commitment and thought I have given to this truly amazing opportunity and I hope you will share in my vision to help Teachers Curate BETT2010 to Inspire, Instigate, Innovate and Involve.

Drew Buddie 21^st October 2009

PS Personally speaking, I’d be happy to help plan/organise/run the TEDxOrenda and Amplified events and would take a back seat/be a gopher etc for the TeachMeet.

Firstly I want to thank @suw for stimulating so many of us to write a blog post on this day in honour of Ada Lovelace, its been a privilege to take part in this momentous Ada Lovelace Day and to fulfill my pledge.

Interestingly, as I read some of the other posts that people have made earlier today, it’s apparent so many people express difficulty in chosing a lady technologist and for this I think the media have a lot to answer, by not promoting the work that ladies do in the field of ICT as much as the work done by men.

I decided I wanted to use my post to celebrate the wonderful ladies that I work with each and every day in the field of ICT and who inspire me by their wonderful approach to my subject.  In short I want to celebrate my students.

Dear Girls,

For each risk you took when trying a tool you’d never used before;

For heeding my advice without thinking I was trying to take over your work;

For each ‘thank you’ you say to me at the end of a lesson, and when I know you mean it sincerely;

For each little smile you make when something you’ve done works out for you;

For each piece of advice you pass on to help your peers  when they need you;

For time you blog without me having to remind you to do so;

For the Glogs you make, each more brilliant than the last;

For your adherence to Presentation Zen;

For the example you set to other girls elsewhere by being such good ambassadors;

For your inquisitiveness, creativity and inventiveness;

For flying with an idea when all I do is show you a fledgling example;

For encouraging your parents to see that your ICT skills can help them;

For asking for help when you know you need it, and accepting such with good grace;

For being so excited at understanding how to do a complex task that you literally ‘jump for joy’;

For using a tool in a totally unexpected way which makes me just have to show it off to others;

For all of these and more besides, I want to tell you that you make mine the greatest job in the world.

Welcome to eThink.org.uk. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

“Fail Snail” by @ikepigott  (thanks @motownmutt for the tip off)

Apart from yesterday’s Bob Dylan song which I kind of searched for, all the others I’ve blogged about so far have randomly popped up in my iTunes playlist - and spookily  have had an uncanny connection to the theme of each main blog post.  Today’s, ‘You’re gonna make me lonesome when you go’ is probably the spookiest, for after the way that Twitter has hung and crashed and trailed and being ‘interTwittent’ (thanks Timbuckteeth) today,  the song has reinforced to me how reliant I have become on Twitter to provide me with information and contact with my Personalised Learning Network.

As Bob himself puts it (with one wee change from me):

“I could stay with you forever
And never realize the time.

…

Yer gonna make me wonder what I’m sayin’,
Yer gonna make me give myself a good talkin’ to.

…

Yer gonna make me lonesome when you go”

 Today’s Bob Dylan song is ‘Floater (too much to ask)‘ the only one of his I could find that had the word ‘inspire‘ in it - which I selected  so as to be in keeping with the theme of this post.  It’s taken from his 2001 album ‘Love and Theft’ and is him at his gravelly rasping best. 

He sings:

“One of the boss’ hangers-on
Sometimes comes to call
At times you least expect
Tryin’ to bully you, strongarm you,
inspire you with fear
It has the opposite effect“

I think that verse could well describe the way that many teachers feel about the perception held by some that ICT in school seems to only matter if it involves the use of Microsoft applications.  In a way WE are ‘bullied‘ and ‘inspired through fear’ by people saying - pupils will use Microsoft products in industry therefore that’s ALL we showed be training them to use..  Whereas the success of TeachMeetBett last year showed that what teachers REALLY crave is the sort of inspiration that only be derived from hearing practicing teachers talking about how they are using exciting, and often freely available, technology in the classroom thereby showing ‘it has the opposite effect’.

Just a brief post today to praise Twitter from the rooftops for the way in which one can use it to seek solutions to your problems.  I used a couple of Tweets to plead for fincial support in the form of sponsorship for the TeachMeet and was deluged with offers of support.  I’ll give more details in a future post but its simply awe-inspiring that a tool like Twitter can constantly bridge gaps and allow such responses to occur.

On a Siberia-like, freezing cold day like today, it’s appropriate that I choose ‘Cold Irons Bound’ as today’s Bob Dylan song.  It’s from the Time out of Mind album and contains the great line “I’m gonna remember forever the joy we’ve shared.”  As schhol Chistmas holiday truly comes to an end tomorrow, I know Dylan’s words sum up how I feel about the past couple of weeks spent in the company of my 2 children as they enjoyed the excitement that only the arrival of Santa can bring.

 In just over a week the BETT Show starts in the hallowed halls of Olympia.  This is the biggest educational ‘trade’ show in Europe.  Despite many cynical views of the BETT Show as an event (many people see it as becoming less essential every year), I have fond memories of a BETT show a few years ago when I and the other members of the HUGToB team helped set up a stand for Moodle by raising sponsorship.  It had been unheard of for teachers such as us ever to have funded a stand for a product we just used and did not have financial interest in.

Anyway, with this sort of grassroots, bottom-up spirit in mind it is rewarding to note that a range of unConference models have been adopted in educational circles - Joe Dale’s ‘Show and Tell’ at his brilliant Isle of Wight conferences spring to mind.

The TeachMeet model is one which encourages anyone with something of interest regarding the use of technology in the classroom to talk about,  to speak to a gathered audience of people who (in a nutshell)want to be inspired.  It makes for an excellent antidote to the BETT Show which is effectively a showcase for hundreds of companies trying to sell teachers their products.  This is because you know that the people talking are genuinely talking about THEIR classroom practice, as opposed to a salesman peddling their latest tool or software package. 

This year’s event is being organised bu an underground team of volunteer helpers (mainly triggered by Ian Usher & Leon Cych - two great catalysts)  trying to ensure things go without a hitch. 

You can sign up to attend to:

• speak
• listen & be inspired  within the venue or remotely using our online access
• lurk
• or attend an informal meal afterwards.

Signing up for this FREE event is done via this Wiki and it’s open to ANYONE - and did I say it was FREE?  At the time of writing over 100 top educationalists have signed up to attend and there’s still space for many more; and over 20 people have bravely put themselves forward to speak about topics covering a wide range of exciting topics - here’s an example of a presentation (my talk from last year’s TeachMeetBett). Talks can be either 7 or 2 minutes long and should try NOT to make use of PowerPoint, nor should they be a blatant attempt to promote merchandise.

Here’s a cross-section of some of the talks to be heard:

1. Tom Barrett (Twitter) An update on Multi-Touch desks.
2. Neil Winton (Twitter)- The Adventures of Johnny Bunko - What is Lesson 7 anyway?
3. Leon Cych (twitter) - ‘Why the government doesn’t get it about digital culture and learning‘ - a brief polemic.
4. John d’Abbro - Digital Creativity with children experiencing Behavioural Emotional and/or Social Difficulties (BESD)  
5. Doug Belshaw (Twitter) Would also like to give update on EdTechRoundup after launching it officially at last year’s TeachMeet
6. John Connell The view from the emerging markets: seven countries in seven minutes!
7. Theo Kuechel (Twitter) Seven places with valuable (free) content.
8. Drew Buddie - (twitter) - Scatterlings No More - building a Personal Learning Network across the world and how it can impinge in the classroom
9. Mark Mullis - (twitter) - B(v)SF ischool project - building virtual schools for the future in Second Life.
10. John Cuthell - (twitter) Project Learning, 21st Century Skills, and embedded ICT.
11. Christina Preston (Twitter) Just social networking? or creating new knowledge and influencing change trajectories.
12. Josie Fraser (twitter) DCSF’s new cyberbullying advice for teachers who are victims of cyberbullying behaviour & online identity management
13. Ian Grove-Stephensen (twitter) some of the amazing resources teachers have created on Yacapaca in the last year.
14. Ollie Bray - (twitter) Mobile Phones in Education or Google Earth or Graphic Novels in the Classroom or Computer Games Based Learning in Secondary Schools. I’ll probably decide on the day!
15. Dughall McCormick - E-Learning Consultant - ’Henri’ - How to exploit VLE tools in a cross curricular way with Primary children.

In keeping with the switched-on nature of the event there is are Facebook , Twitter & Flickr groups and a Ustream feed (the latter won’t be active till the night) already set up for the event and there’s plans afoot to have all videos hosted on a TEDTalks-like portal so that the talks can be used to inspire others once the event is over.  There’s also going to be a Flashmeeting providing a backchannel which will run throughout the event so that attendees all around the world can participate in the event. An example of the support we’ve been offered by 2 non-educationalists is by Toby & Phil who are voluntarily setting up a Rezpondr site to handle all RSS feeds as the event happens.  This shows that the wider community can be involved in TeachMeetBett, not just educationalists.

So to attend TeachMeetBett09:

• Sign up for the BETT Show here
• Sign up on the Wiki here
• Make sure you arrive at Olympia’s Apex Hall (its directly above the Pizza Express on the Corner of Olympia) BEFORE 6:00pm or you won’t be allowed in
• And prepare to be AMAZED!

The organisers are still looking for people to help sponsor the event, as this is a non-profitmaking event every single penny helps and  some large costs have to be paid, especially to make the conference available to online attendees.  In addition we’re looking for prizes that can be donated to our charity raffle and items that could be included in our ‘Schwag Bags’ (we’d need 100 or more of whatever you’ve got if everyone is to receive one).  If you can help in any of these capacities, please add your details to the wiki in the appropriate section. [A previous TeachMeet offered THREE visualisers as just some of the prizes, lets see if we can do just as well this time.] It’s a great opportunity to get you or your company promoted and be seen to be supporting this event being run by teachers for teachers. I promise to acknowledge all those that support the event on the night and in this blog.

I hope I’ve provided enough information to make you think about attending and hope to see you there.

Today’s Bob Dylan song is ‘Visions of Johanna’which is often described as one of his greatest works.  Dylan biographer Mike Marqusee stated that in ‘Visions of Johanna’ Dylan was “stranded between extremes - total freedom and abject slavery.” And it’s fair to say that today’s educationalists often feel that way in terms of the tools they are able to use in school.  Thank goodness trailblazers such as those speaking at the TeachMeetBett 2009 are doing what they can to break the shackles of ‘abject slavery’ to traditional software packages.

Each Sunday I’m going to look  at either a Bob Dylan track sung in collaboration or by someone else, or  a song by another artists that was inspired by Bob Dylan.

Today I chose ‘Ain’t no more cane’ which is a traditional prison song of the American South that he sang with The Band.  In this case it is sung by The Black Crowes.

I’m enjoying listening closely to one Dylan song each day and this particular song grabbed me because I’d never heard it before. 

Perhaps the most striking  thing for me is the use of the word ‘Brazos’ in the refrain of the song:

“Ain’t no more cane on the brazos
Its all been ground down to molasses.”

which refers to the river that passes by many of the Texan prisons and so features in many such songs.