Category: Consciousness

Mad Skillz: Simone on supply teaching

Simone is married to Andrew. Together they are my boss. Kind of. In that I am currently a student minister at their church. At the moment I feel like Hebrew is my master.

Simone writes songs of goodness and blogs deeply and often at Another Something. When I first started blogging I had a template that featured white text on black. Simone told me it was too hard to read. I changed it. She stopped reading. She started again a while back.

When Simone is not writing songs, children’s material or soppy poems to her husband she is a supply teacher. Here’s what she has to say about Supply teaching.

I have one of the best jobs in the world. A job that makes me a nice pocketful of money, that is strictly school hours, and gives me the flexibility to work or not to work on any particular day. On top of this, it (often) takes little emotional energy, gives me the chance to contribute something nice to the world, and is (mostly) fun.

I am a supply teacher. I’ve been supplying for over two years now, and I’ve developed some mad skilz in my area. Let me share.

My top 5 tips for being a good supply teacher

  1. Don’t be a nuisance to the school. Schools are busy places. Get in there and do your job. Take responsibility for your kids and try to have things run as smoothly as they would if the teacher you’re replacing was there. And don’t whinge if you have to do an extra playground duty. You are getting paid more than any other staff member and really have nothing else to do. Leave the classroom tidy.
  2. Make the kids come into the room well. Have them line up over and over again if you need to. Once they are quiet, move to number 3.
  3. Bribe the kids with fun and semi-educational activities. At the start of the day, write all your incentive activities on the board. Tell the kids that you’d love this to be a great day and if they get through their work, they’ll get to do some of these fun things. Promise them obstacles courses outside, sport, art, anything – but be positive. With you there, there is the opportunity for an unusually excellent day. (If I have to teach a P-3 class, I take in a piece of ‘lovely lycra’ and a few teddies. There is almost nothing younger kids won’t do for you if you promise them a chance to bounce bears on a trampoline! Make them count in 2s or 3s while you bounce the teddies and it becomes a maths game!)
  4. If the teacher leaves you no work, be thankful! You have 5 hours to teach the kids whatever you want. Pull out your favourite stories (Roald Dahl is always good), read to them for a very long time, then make up some creative writing or art or maths or SOSE activities around your reading. Play with character transformations (‘If the enormous crocodile was a person, what would he look like? What would he do?) or points of view (re-write parts of ‘the Enormous Crocodile’ in a voice sympathetic to the EC). Turn it into a comic, with or without text. Make up maths word problems based on the story. Research the diet of crocodiles… Endless options, and they all take little or no preparation. If you are not tied to any program, you are free! Make the most of it! (If work is left, do it! And thank the teacher.)
  5. Show the kids that you like them. This goes a long way. (If they are not very likeable, this one will be hard. But try.)

And finally, don’t stress. Whatever happens, it will all be over at 3 o’clock.

February 17, 2010

Mad Skillz: Ben on how to create an animation storyboard

Ben is one of my favourite bloggers. He’s also probably my favourite e-friend. I’ve never met him in the real world but his blog is grand and his comments elsewhere are open, honest and full of goodness. Ben drew the little logo on the top right of my page. I’m eternally grateful to him for that.

Ben lives in Sydney with the vowels E, e, and i. His blog is full of the goodness of Proverbs, Peanuts, a weekly quiz and reflections on life in Sydney. As well as the occasional piece of art, cultural review and insight into Ben’s struggles. It’s like a Snuggie (the wearable blanket not the nappy).

Did you know that Ben is an animator? Cool huh. From what I can gather he works on children’s cartoons. But I might be wrong. There was a time when his inimitable Monday Quiz was accompanied by a weekly cartoon. Like this one.

The key to good animation – or in fact good crafting of any production – is storyboarding. And that is where Ben has chosen to share his expertise as part of “Mad Skillz Week”… I emailed some people last week asking them to contribute (and I thought I’d posted this invitation the other day – but I couldn’t find it when I went looking).

I work in animation, mostly doing storyboards for kids TV cartoons. A storyboard is like a rough laying out of an episode, using a script and soundtrack as the guide. It shows visually how the story will go, and will set up all the required shots. From there it gets into all the laborious gruntwork of actually animating all this– something that I aspire to never have to do myself. Here’s a few things that I’ve learnt the hard way over the years.

  1. Learn how to tell a story. Learning to draw is pretty important too, but there are plenty of good drawers who can’t tell a story visually. And there are rubbish drawers who can tell awesome stories.
  2. Watch movies. Not necessarily animated ones, just movies full stop. This is really the way that you work out how people string together a bunch of different shots and scenes to make a narrative.
  3. Don’t watch new movies. They’re bog. It’s all about flash and dazzle, and a million cuts and camera angles, which mostly just leave the viewer confused, seasick and a little traumatised. These techniques are great ways of disguising the fact that your story telling is rubbish and plot is threadbare. As they say in the industry, you cant polish a turd (editor’s note – Ben had removed the “u” because he’s gentlemanly – but I didn’t want it to look like I was censoring him).
  4. Watch old movies. They’re awesome. What they had to work with was limited, so they really had to think. There was no, ‘oh, we’ll just make that CGI’. Also they were often working with black and white, so they had to work hard on each shot, to make sure what needed to be ‘read’ in the shot could be done so immediately (for example, if you want something dark to be seen, put it in front of white, don’t bury it in a busy background). Hitchcock is a great place to start.
  5. Have as few shots as possible. It’s not clever to move the ‘camera’ around all the time, making tricky, edgy compositions. The priority is that the viewer knows what the heck is going on. Work out an establishing, wide shot to show the environment and where the characters are in relation to each other. From there, just cut in for close-ups and mid-shots. This requires more planning, but means much less work for everybody else down the line, including the viewer.

Follow these 5 tips, and you will soar to realms you dared not ponder in your wildest dreams.

There you have it. Thanks Ben. Anyone else interested in taking part in Mad Skillz Week should send me an email (nm dot campbell at gmail dot come).

February 15, 2010

An open invitation to people who are awesomely skilled

Dear people who are awesome,

I would have sent you an individual email but copying and pasting takes too long…

I had this cool idea. I’ve been thinking about fun “guest” like series to do on my blog – I like when other blogs I read feature people in Q&A type settings. And I’d like to try this to see if I can turn it into a regular segment.

I have tentatively titled this idea “Mad Skillz Week” but that’s a dumb name and it won’t last.

I want you – dear friend and reader – to supply me with a list of five tips to do with your speciality or passion. I don’t really care what this is – but I have some ideas for each of you if you aren’t capable of original thought (which you are, which is why I am approaching you).

The posts that come from this will go like this – lets, for example – pretend you are really good at scrapbooking (but please don’t do something that boring)… in most cases I’m approaching you based on the fact that you have interesting careers or hobbies (perhaps you’re an animator, a graphic designer, an opera singer, a songwriter, a roller hockey international, an editor, a poet, a student, or perhaps you write parody songs).

Mad Skillz Week: Scrapbooking

I will write an amusing intro about you, about your blog and possibly about how I know you (if we’ve met in real life which in all but two cases from this mass email we have).

You will supply an intro to your topic. Perhaps about how when you first started scrapbooking it changed your life. And hopefully you’ll establish your credentials as an “expert” – though because you’re all humble Christian soldiers I will have to be unhumble on your behalf…

Then you will provide your five best tips for this “mad skill”

My Five best tips for Scrapbooking

1. Buy a good scrapbook.
2. Use good glue.
3. Express your personality.
4. I really don’t know about scrapbooking.
5. This item left intentionally blank.

Then you could put in a little bit of a conclusion sentence about how following these tips will change your life. It would be great if there are things that other people who do the same thing that you do that really annoy you – I suggest ranting about those in your list.

Anyway. I’m thinking this is a bit like Ben’s Show and Tell so it’s not a truly original idea. Here are some reasons you should take part.

1. You’ll get a link to your blog.
2. You’ll get to look smart.
3. People might like to learn from your advice.
4. I’m trying to learn the Hebrew alphabet.
5. I don’t really have as much time available to blog as normal because I’m using the internet via my mobile.

All you need to do to take part is email me a subject, a list of five tips and your opening and closing sentences. My email address is nm dot campbell at gmail dot com.

February 15, 2010

More synchronicity

I meant to keep track of occasions where non mutual Facebook friends had similar status updates close to each other. But like so many of my promises and ideas that one was put to the side (my current exciting idea is photo flash cards for Greek vocab – Greek verbs often describe an action that has many English equivalents like our paradigm word luo (which I can’t be bothered writing in Greek characters).

But now I want to share an odd coincidence and then three people who had the same theme in their status within an hour of each other this morning…

On Tuesday we were driving home from college and I took the wrong turn – while we were trying to figure out how to best get back on track JJJ started playing a song – I didn’t catch the name – but the lyrics were “this is not the way home” and “you’re going the wrong way”… It was like I was driving Bumblebee.

Coffee related status updates are not uncommon on Facebook – but this morning was a coffee withdrawal overload.

The statuses were as follows:

Person one: Coffee Cravings :/
Person two: is going to find some coffee… probably good coffee… probably Campos coffee.
Person three: Need coffee.

What was it about today that prompted this outpouring of caffeine related feelings?

February 11, 2010

Hi, my name is…

Names are funny things. In the Bible there are heaps of characters whose names either shape their lives – or their lives later shape the names – I can’t figure that out. Did Esau mean hairy before Esau turned out to be hairy? Or did Esau’s hairiness change the meaning of the word?

There are plenty of occasions where God communicates with parents to be who then name their child on the basis of the role they will play – like with Jesus.

When I moved to Brisbane in 1999 two people gave me the same nickname without having the chance to collude – and thus “Smiley” was born. I was called Smiley for six years. When I moved to Townsville the name didn’t really come with me.

Now that I’m back in Brisbane and amongst a mix of people who I’ve never met before and people who’ve known me for years I have to decide which name to propagate. I’m not sure. I don’t know how much I want my name to be synonymous with an emoticon. Especially after a friend just used this emoticon to describe me in a conversation on google buzz…

It’s a lame smiley.

February 11, 2010

On my depth

I mentioned in a post a while ago that a dear friend and brother in the Lord suggested that I am “not deep” in a conversation before we left Townsville.

The comment stung, and I have been pondering it since, as deep people are wont to do.

I have come to this conclusion.

It’s not that I’m bad at being deep, I’m just better at being shallow.

I think, reflecting deeply (as capably as I can), this applies to relationships as much as it does to thought.

Furthermore, I wondered if using long and complicated words and explanations would give the appearance of depth. But I don’t think complexity is deep. And I think it’s harder to be clearly understood than it is to be complex. I’m not afraid of complexity – I just prefer the elegance of simplicity.

So there.

That is all.

February 11, 2010

Buzzing

I signed up for Google Buzz just then – have you? Google is going after Facebook. And they’ve integrated with gmail so that I have a nice one stop shop.

Here, in case you’re wondering, is my google profile (that existed before Buzz) – I don’t know how “friending” works with this thing yet – but feel free to work it out and add me.

February 11, 2010

Stuff that happens in one minute

Have you ever wandered away from roasting coffee for just a minute only to look back and see your kitchen filling with putrid smelling smoke that brings about mild symptoms of asthma? No. Well I have. Just now. A lot can happen in a minute (or 6 minutes which truth be told was how long I had left for).

Here are just some of the amazing things that happen in a minute.

February 6, 2010

How to study/work in the same house as your spouse

One of the things I’m a bit trepidatious about this year is the prospect of studying the same subjects as my wife in the same study. She’s already three chapters ahead of me in Hebrew. Here’s a handy guide to working in the same house that should readily apply to studying together.

My favourite tip:

“No Crackberries in bed! Having your work sprawled all over your home is bad enough, but taking the business phone everywhere you go in the house is ever worse. Carving little areas in your home where it should stay technology-free is a good way to calm your mind from the constant stream of work-related issues. Ultimately, you need to call it. What’s more important to you – that pending e-mail or your loved ones?”

It’s true for iPhones too.

Do any of you readers have great tips for symbiotic cohabitation? Share them in the comments.

February 4, 2010

3,000

About five posts ago I hit the 3,000 mark. This is my 3,005th post. I have 6,009 comments. That’s a pretty consistent two comment per post ratio. Thanks for taking part commenters. Lurkers – you get nothing.

February 3, 2010

iPhone Tethering

Is a wonderful thing that thanks to 3’s paucity of regional coverage I have not been able to enjoy. Until now.

February 3, 2010

Hottest 100 things to do in Townsville

Here’s the list. As promised. There are a lot of food related items. Apart from item number one they are not yet in order of quality. I will be putting these together as posts with pictures and stuff – probably on a separate blog.

My definition of Townsville is the same as Tourism Queensland’s – it includes everything north to Mission Beach, west to Charters Towers and south to the Burdekin.

So, Townsvillians – do you have anything to add or subtract?

I guess that I should state, for the record, that I enjoyed many of these experiences either free of charge or at a significant discount. That did not guarantee them a place on the list – I left a few things off.

  1. Orpheus Island
  2. Kopi Luwak at the Heritage Tea Rooms
  3. Barefoot Art Food Wine, Magnetic Island
  4. Steaks at the Watermark
  5. Yiros at WhiteBlue
  6. Yiros from the Souvlaki Bar on Gregory Street
  7. The view from Castle Hill
  8. The Strand
  9. Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic Island
  10. Breakfast with the Koalas, Bungalow Bay, Magnetic Island
  11. Cinnamon Donuts white fudge sauce and Turkish Delight at Betty Blue
  12. Breakfast at the C Bar on the Strand
  13. Flying in the Tiger Moth with Fly Scenic
  14. Reef HQ Aquarium – the search for Minty
  15. Beer at the Brewery
  16. Sport on the Strand
  17. Indoor Soccer at Willows ISA
  18. Wallaman Falls
  19. Duck at A Touch of Salt
  20. Build Your Own Burger at Cactus Jacks
  21. The Hill at a Cowboys Game
  22. Watching Robbie Fowler at a Fury Game
  23. The Australian Festival of Chamber Music
  24. Crumbed Steak at Molly Malones
  25. Hidden Valley Cabins
  26. Eggs Benedict with Doorstop Toast at Betty Blue’s
  27. Sunset beers at the C-Bar
  28. Swimming at Riverway
  29. Barbeque breakfast on The Strand
  30. Coffee from Coffee Dominion
  31. Coffee school at Coffee Dominion
  32. Steak at the Brewery
  33. Greek Fest
  34. Swim at Crystal Creek
  35. Alligator Creek
  36. The view from Mount Stuart
  37. Steak at Southbank Grill
  38. Stretch Jeep tour of Magnetic Island
  39. Gelati from Juliettes
  40. Mango Icecream from Frosty Mango
  41. Platypus Tour at Hidden Valley Cabins
  42. Hiring a moke on Magnetic Island
  43. Butter Chicken from Masala Indian
  44. Walk up Castle Hill
  45. Radical Bay Magnetic Island
  46. The science room in the Museum of Tropical Queensland
  47. Billabong Sanctuary
  48. Stay in a waterfront apartment at One Bright Point – Magnetic Island
  49. Bushwalk on Hinchinbrook – the pansy version
  50. Fishing at Hinchinbrook Island
  51. Waterfall tour – Jourama, Wallaman, Mungalli, etc
  52. Hang out by the horizon pool at Elandra, Mission Beach
  53. Meat Pies from Pukka Pies
  54. V8s in July
  55. Paronella Park tour
  56. Watching airforce practice
  57. Ghosts of Gold Tour – Charters Towers
  58. Indoor Paintball
  59. Banana Thickshake at BP Cluden
  60. Twisty Greek donut things at the Greek Festival
  61. Dinner at Peppers Bue on Blue, Magnetic Island
  62. Biking around the Ross River
  63. Biking around Anderson Park
  64. The maze and herb garden at the Queens Gardens
  65. Jetski tours of Dunk Island
  66. Boat around Magnetic Island
  67. Sailing on a tall ship around Magnetic Island
  68. Fishing at the reef
  69. Venus Gold Battery at Charters Towers
  70. Sunrise on the beach at Lucinda
  71. Birdwatching at Tyto Wetlands with John Young
  72. Snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef
  73. Forts Walk Magnetic Island
  74. Sunset at West Point, Magnetic Island
  75. Barramundi Farm
  76. North Queensland Tourism Awards
  77. Sleepover at ReefHq
  78. Water park on the Strand
  79. Mudbrick Manor Cardwell
  80. Camping at Bluewater
  81. Camping at Broadwater National Park
  82. Rockslide at Crystal Creek
  83. Swimming at the Secret Spot – Paluma
  84. Lunch by the Marina in Anzac Park
  85. Mariams Thai
  86. Fish and Chips at the Strand
  87. Michels on Palmer Street
  88. Feeding the birds at Bungalow Bay
  89. Groovin the Moo
  90. Catch a DanceNorth production
  91. Poffertjes at Lukabean
  92. Go to the theatre with Tropic Sun
  93. Get some culture at the Civic Theatre
  94. See a show at Riverway
  95. Stay in a treehouse room at Hinchinbrook Island
  96. Cooking school at De Studi
  97. Visit an art exhibition at Pinnacles at Riverway or the Perc Tucker Gallery on Flinders Street
  98. The Great Tropical Drive
  99. Cocktails at Cactus Jacks Skybar
  100. Sang Choy Bow at Benny’s Hot Wok

February 3, 2010

All quiet

Thanks to some helpful friends we’re almost settled in to our new place.

Today was full of paperwork. Centrelink is painful. We spent 3 hours in the line and the waiting area.

We checked out the college, I watched a recording of Manchester United beating Arsenal, we bought some pot plants and had dinner with my folks… and we are internetless at home currently. So you’ll have to excuse the slow posting over the next few days.

February 1, 2010

Why you shouldn’t drink bottled water afterall

Bottled water is for dummies. Anybody who has held a bottle of Evian up to a mirror knows that. It’s a joke perpetrated and perpetuated on us by the major softdrink labels – for whom it represents a license to print money.

If you buy bottled water (and I do) for any reason other than the fact that it’s a hot day, the water is cold, and softdrink is sugary and bad for your teeth, then you should check out this infographic.

If you live in that Australian town that banned bottled water (or Magnetic Island) then you should read this graph so that you have great statistics to use in your next argument.

Presented by Online Education
The Facts About Bottled Water

January 30, 2010

We have arrived

We’re “home”. Well, home for the next four years. After two days of exhausting driving we have arrived safely in Brisbane. We’ll be unloading the truck at our new house in Grovely tomorrow morning if anybody reading really wants to swing by to help.

January 29, 2010