Teacher Training Interview

I had my teacher training interview yesterday.  The actual interview was in the afternoon following a morning of administrative checks, presentations and discussions.  Even though the interviewer had warned us beforehand that he was going to play the devil's advocate, I found the interview rough going and felt rather depressed afterwards (although lack of sleep the night before might have contributed to this).  One good thing was that he said that my mathematical background was sufficient for the course, which I had suspected but it was nice to hear it confirmed.  His main doubt was what I would be like in front a class (instead of in the middle, as I am as a teaching assistant), and he said he would like to see  me actually teaching 10 minutes of a lesson before he made his mind up.  This sounds to me like an excellent de-risking move (I should probably have thought of it myself, but it didn't occur to me).  He said he would contact the school to arrange a visit and, on Monday, I will enquire in the maths department about getting some practice.  At the end of the interview he said that he couldn't tell whether I was going to be a disaster or an "eccentric success" (I think I heard that right).

Cave Paintings as Graffiti by Teenage Boys

Here is an interesting post by Pascal Boyer discussing The Nature of Paleolithic Art by Russell Dale Guthrie.

The Gutenberg Method for Teaching Organic Chemistry

In the late 1970's I studied biochemistry at Leeds University and one of the textbooks we used was Morrison and Boyd's Organic Chemistry.  The then current edition was a smart black, chunky paperback, and I remember it fondly for its nice diagrams and clear explanations (I already liked the subject of organic chemistry for its neat logical, almost computer program-like structure).  Little did I know that this book had been part of a little revolution in the way organic chemistry was taught.  The story of this revolution, and the origin of the Gutenberg Method, is told here in two articles by Robert T. Morrison and Frank L. Lambert.

Overheard on the Bus

A girl wearing the uniform of the Blessed Hugh Faringdon School, talking to a girl from John Madejski Academy:

And there's this teacher who tries to teach us science in a pirate voice.  He's so cool.

I really want to see this.  So much so, that I'm thinking of offering myself to BHFS as a volunteer to help out in science lessons.

Overheard in the Classroom

A maths teacher, just after handing each student a calculator:

Albert! Stop typing BOOBS on your calculator!

I presume this was a reference to the number 80085.