EARLY CHILDHOOD PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT » planning

Eating for focus

rgoodchild — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 21:04:15 +0000

I recently went back to my gluten free lifestyle and since the beginning of the year, for some reason, I’m off dairy. Even my beloved yoghurt has taken a back seat to soy.

I’m just not enjoying it anymore. I am not too sure why or what’s happened, but the desires for slabs of cheese, milk, and even icrecream…have gone. In fact I find I can’t eat them anymore (Except curiously the movie icecreams. Maybe it’s all in my head!)

I have found though that my thinking is generally a lot clearer and I’m getting more done.

Well except for today!

I haven’t kicked the caffeine, but I’m off the alcohol normally….and not eating a lot of processed food (Though chocolate is sneaking back in)

If it helps with work loads it’s got to be a good thing- right?

What makes it a story?

rgoodchild — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 13:23:58 +0000

I’ve been thinking about what makes a story interesting. In the end, it’s really the juxtaposition of two opposing points that in isolation are often very normal on their own

For example, I have three children. Put us in a rural area (which is where we were started) and that size fmaily seems normal. Move us to a big city, and it’s a regular comment to us at cafes that I have a large family

Easiest way to find a new story? Find the point of difference.

Needing a blank slate

rgoodchild — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:25:50 +0000

I was talking to a good friend tonight about the need for structure in creativity. He was talking about a creative he knows who can’t work with a blank slate.

I completely understood the process. I like writing to a brief. I like a plan, a diagram,a few sentences even of expectation.

I need to have a starting point. At university I couldn’t write an essay until I had read someone else’s. Not because I wanted to copy theirs, but because reading theirs gave me a framework to work my ideas around.

I don’t need someone else’s essay anymore, but I do need a sentence.

Even my novel is based around a list of sentences I add to every now and again.

A blank canvas is terrifying. One with a mark on it less so, one with a simple sketch on it, easy to follow.

This is an important thing to remember if you are a teacher. Many children- even young ones, function best with a starting point. Some children do not like to have a blank start to everything they do. Catering to a child’s needs sometimes means you need to start the ball rolling to really see what they can do.