Yesterday Saw A Fun Trip Down To The Thames With My Friend's Daughter. Our Aim Was To Visit The Design

Some filter some no filter needed #redadmiral

This museum is so colourful & stunning - it's so pleasing to look around :) wonderful collection delightfully presented! #brooklynmuseum

‘Bear Shadow’ Teaching in Vienna Primary School as a Native Speaker Teacher... Drawing where the shadow falls and making our own individual and group shadow pictures using overhead projectors :) Sure we sung a couple of bear songs too :)

#cpparkdev news Jan 2014 (with images, tweets) · Ret_uk

Main news so far this month is that the Bromley HLF 'Parks for People' bid has been turned down, with the main reason being cited as the current possible development by ZhongRong Holdings . Also check out the 'Inspired by the Subway' project website, which has a page dedicated to the development...

I have just made a quick twitter update of the latest tweets in the ongoing Crystal Palace Development news...

Bonfire Night Session Plan

November 2016

Hello again,

I have been doing plenty of writing to describe the music sessions that I lead in L'Arche and so I thought it might be useful if I share the format that I use for them.

The sessions usually last about two hours with a twenty minute- half an hour tea break in the middle.

I am going to share the Bonfire Night session plan....

To continue from my previous blog entries... the session before the bonfire night one was about the rural work turning more to the towns and cities with the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Elements included watching the Pandemonium section of the London Olympic Opening Ceremony. We beat on large metal and plastic flower pots and used glass nuggets to represent money in a noisy way....

I write the plan beforehand but then add any adaption I make (hence different tenses) - and there are often plenty of on the spot ideas!

As always I have many thanks to give to my fellow colleagues for taking part in the session.

Where you see the * and ** and *** you can see the ideas I learned from Emmie Ward. In particular her use of the Big Mack as a musical instrument and for recording voice. Emmie also has great techniques for the inclusion of people's vocalisations and interests into songs.  I also learned the songs for this session from Emmie. I'll ask Emmie to share more about that at some point as she has lots of great techniques :)

Bonfire Night  3

rd

November 2016

Attention Grabber Activity: Firework App on IpadFirstly just me taking it around before the hello song... everyone else got a turn in the soundscape

Soundscape: Bonfire Night Ssss of a Fizzy drink being opened, crackling of popping candy with water, firework app on ipad, sliding whistle, (rain maker (firework falling sound), crackling paper, bang of the drum (we said 1, 2, 3, bang - everyone has the opportunity to hit drum on the word bang) peoples vocal sounds on Big Mack to play (integrate their interests) *

Activity: ‘We’re all walking along to the fire’  song – action: we poured salt through a flower pot into a small washing up bowl and said it was gunpowder for the gunpowder plot and listened to how it made a quiet sound and we needed to be quiet… can say shhh –

Activity (Contd.): I then said let’s listen to find out if the plan worked! – I asked: Will there be the sound of Big Ben chiming or the sound of an explosion? We counted down and then… heard... yes big ben chiming (iPad) so the plot failedName activity: (soundabout) beat X 4 then name three times and move on. (we did one name and then another) This sort of connected as if naming the names of the conspirators pouring gun powder. (could link this more to the plot or being part of something in future) **

Rhyme: Remember, remember, poem call and response (I actually did this later in storytelling)

Rhythm: Boom Whackers – continue ‘hit, rest, rest, rest’ activity, with everyone having a chance to play them. We stamp feel throughout to keep a beat and i renew the rhythm in-between every person, but anyone can play any pattern they like as it all fits... I play it on the low red one, but again anyone can do anything... The stamping and me doing it in-between seems to help people to create a connecting rhythm.

Vocal Warm Up:Included Do re mi.

Songs:

London’s Burning

Ring of Fire (after singing through we repeated burn burn bit and people took turns to move the fire poi) ***

Great Balls of Fire (added peoples own endings to ‘Goodness Gracious) ***

Over a year ago now! Teaching at the second primary school I taught at in Vienna… The Very Busy Spider…

Some images from the free Moss Graffiti workshop this morning at the South London Botanical Institute. Beer is the important ingredient when it comes to making moss paint - and of course a nice cup of tea and cake to help with the process... check out: www.slbi.org.uk and www.zoeburt.com

....a visit to the famous Katz Deli...

I'm doing #100happydays - I think I'm ok at noticing things and will try and make it more museum/career orientated, but with space for other happy things :) Doesn't mean my life will be all blue skies- but today is! I did feel a bit resentful/confused of/by the sudden sun these past mornings because I felt so tired but the sun has won me over today :)