Category: General

Thoughts on Waiting for Godot at the Arcola ****

First comes a confession.  I have never seen this play before, never even been tempted to see this play before now and know nothing at all about Beckett other than his nationality and the century in which he wrote his plays.   As I have never written a theatrical review before now, this seems like too good an opportunity to miss…..   To be totally honest with you the reader, this is not really a “review” just a few jumbled thoughts early on a Sunday morning.

I suppose my “lack of previous” gives me the distinct advantage of having nothing with which to compare Simon Dormandy’s new production at the Arcola:  so I am not hung up on the age of the protagonists nor on the kind of headgear they wear.  I cannot compare the actors’ performances to Patrick Stewart or Ian McKellen but can give you a few thoughts on the play from someone who has seen little if any existentialist theatre.  The first thing to say is that I enjoyed the two and a half hours I spent in the actors’ company last night.  The set is dark, dusty and powerful.  I really liked the way the tree (and indeed one of the cast) seemed to grow out of the rubble.  The play is famous for its lack of narrative but I found the performances of all five members of the cast compelling in their different ways.  Tom Stourton’s Estragon manages to bring a weary resignation to his role and at times in the play he convinced me he was a man on the edge of desperation and total despair.  The highlights for me were when he could inject some physical comedy into his interactions with the rather nerdy Vladimir, played by Tom Palmer.  Pozzo steals the stage in the first act and then, after the interval, his return marks the start of the darkest and bleakest section of the play when the fabric of reality starts to crumble even more.

I am sure Beckett intended the play to provoke rather than answer questions, but I was left wondering what he was trying to say about the uncertainty of memory, the fluidity of time and the perhaps the ultimate futility of the struggle.  The relatively young age of the tramps does pose one major challenge for this production.  If Vladimir and Estragon are old men then it is easier to believe that their ultimately fruitless wait might be better ended by a quick hanging from the tree.  But I think we have a strongly ingrained preconception of the power of youth to change its circumstances.  Is it possible that two young men in their twenties are really living such a bleak and worthless existence as to lose all hope?  Do all their uncertainties about memory on display happen to younger people as well?

I know nothing about the religious background to this play but the similarity of the tree to a cross and the repeated references to the crucifixion in the text seem too much of a coincidence to me.  Is there a message hidden in here about the true nature of salvation?

There are groups going from school in the next few weeks to see this play and I would recommend it to anyone.  If you can provide any answers to the questions this production so successfully poses, perhaps you could let me know?  A quick tweet with what it is all about would help me.  It might save me my own long wait.

Commentary on Zondle GCSE Biology Revision challenge 1 questions

I hope that those of you who played the GCSE Biology revision challenge this afternoon enjoyed the process.  I would welcome comments on this blog post along the lines of www (what went well) and ebi (even better if)….

The questions were grouped into several topic areas.

Questions 1 to 4 were on thermoregulation.  Understanding vasoconstriction, vasodilation and sweating are the key things here and if you haven’e done already, I would read my blog post on this topic.

https://pmgbiology.wordpress.com/2014/05/29/skin-a-understanding-for-igcse-biology/

Questions 5 – 9 were on plant transport and these were well answered by almost all players.  Remember that phloem sieve tubes move sucrose and amino acids around the plant.  Water and minerals are transported in xylem vessels of course, but the other distractor answers included various polymers (starch and proteins) that are made in photosynthesis in the leaves but which are too large and insoluble molecules to be transported in phloem.

Questions 10-15 were all on the bacteria in the Nitrogen cycle.  This is a tricky topic but one that rewards patient work by candidates to master it. In reality the Nitrogen cycle is not difficult to understand but it is easy to muddle the names and roles of the four types of bacteria involved.  Again there are a couple of blog posts on Nitrogen cycle that I would encourage you to read….

https://pmgbiology.wordpress.com/2014/04/12/bacteria-of-the-nitrogen-cycle-a-understanding-for-gcse-biology/

https://pmgbiology.wordpress.com/2014/04/12/nitrogen-cycle-for-igcse-biology/

Questions 16-23 were on digestive systems.  These were generally well answered although many players didn’t appreciate that peristalsis doesn’t just happen in the oesophagus: it is the process that moves the food along the entire length of the gut tube from top of oesophagus to the end of the rectum.  The role of the lacteal in transporting fatty acids and glycerol away from the villi in the small intestine is also one of the trickier topics here.  Amino acids and sugars diffuse into the blood capillaries in the villus but fatty acids and glycerol (the products of digestion of lipids) don’t go into the capillaries but instead into a separate vessel called a lacteal. This forms part of the lymphatic system and the liquid formed ends up back in the blood but effectively bypasses the liver, preventing the cells in the liver being overloaded with fatty acids following a fatty meal.

Questions 24-29 were on the heart and circulation.  There were quite a few incorrect answers here but perhaps this was because enthusiasm levels were dropping….  The flow of blood through the heart is an important topic to appreciate – into RA through vena cava, then into RV through right AV valve, then into PA through semilunar valve, then to lungs, back from lungs in pulmonary veins, into LA, through Left AV valve into LV, then into aorta through the aortic semilunar valve…..

The heart strings in the heart (chordae tendinae) are commonly misunderstood.  They play no role at all in opening or closing the AV valves (this is done simply by the balance of blood pressures in atrium and ventricle) but do provide tension to stop the valve “blowing back” and thus opening when the ventricle contracts.  Have a look at pictures of a real heart dissection to see that these tendons attach to the valve flaps and ensure they cannot blow open when the pressure in the ventricles rise during ventricular contraction.  Ask me for more detail if this doesn’t make sense.

Question spotting for IGCSE Biology paper 2

Trying to guess what might come up in paper 2 of public exams is a dangerous business……  But I think it is sensible for Y11 students sitting IGCSE Biology to now focus their remaining revision on topics that have yet to be tested.  You are now two thirds of the way through your exams and a final push to paper 2 might just get you across the A-A* boundary.  Every mark is vital in any exam so keep working hard!

Here are some PMG tips for topic areas that seem a better than average bet for coming up in paper 2:

  • Variety of Living Organisms (5 Kingdom Classification, Viruses)
  • Biological Molecules, especially Enzymes – (graph interpretation question?, effect of temperature and pH on rates of reaction?)
  • Photosynthesis and Respiration (perhaps a question testing bullet points 2.40 and 2.43 on gas exchange in plants over 24 hour period?)
  • Role of White Blood cells in Immunity (perhaps linked in with viruses above, vaccination, memory cells etc.?)
  • Coordination in Humans (nerves, reflex arcs, the eye, homeostasis in the skin, hormones)
  • Reproduction in Flowering Plants (asexual mechanisms plus insect/wind pollination)
  • DNA structure (including mutations), Chromosomes and Cell Division
  • Carbon, Nitrogen and Water Cycles
  • Pollution (atmospheric, water pollution and climate change)
  • Fish Farming (surely they can’t leave this out?…..)

I will post some blog entries on some or all of these topics in the week or two after half term so keep your eyes posted on Twitter or follow this blog.

I am not suggesting that these are the only topics you revise in preparation for paper 2.  That would be very foolish as the examiners can ask questions on anything at all.  I am merely suggesting that you focus your remaining revision time on the topics most likely to come up and the list above might help you to decide what best to do.

Good luck and keep working hard!  Not long to go now……

 

Cricket gets in the way of work – not for players but definitely for coaches

In spite of the best intentions, I have found it hard to keep posting material on my blog during term time.  In the holidays I have found it a really useful way of keeping in touch with students, particularly those doing public exams but obviously during term time, this is not quite so relevant.  But now the period of exam leave for Year 11 is approaching, I will try to put a few more posts up relating specifically to those topics likely to be tested in IGCSE Biology paper 2.  Students who want to revise using Zondle challenges should also keep an eye out for new revision resources.

The reason for the inactivity on the blog is mostly due to one of my passions – cricket.  I coach my school’s U14A team, a role in the school that is immensely rewarding both in a sporting and more importantly in a pastoral context.  Cricket is a sport that can be damaging to fragile adolescent egos (as well as fragile middle-aged ones) and time spent helping young people cope with adversity and disappointment is sometimes the most valuable work of all.

I have worked out that in a typical summer term week I spend 20 hours on cricket.  I work this out as 18 hours of coaching and umpiring, and 2 hours of emails, team planning and communicating with other coaches in my age group.  90% of this time is contact time with the players and this can be tiring as well as exciting and challenging.  Of course sometimes the weather means that time is freed up for marking, planning and even perhaps blogging but luckily the sun shines more than one might imagine.

The match we had today featured a remarkable spell of bowling from the young off spinner in the team.  We played a 20-20 match against one of the local grammar schools in Slough and one of my boys returned the remarkable figures of 3.5 overs, 1 maiden, 7 runs conceded for 9 wickets. These 9 wickets included two separate hat-tricks.  I hope the memories he has made today will last long into his adulthood:  it was a remarkable achievement.

The evening was spent taking my Year 10 tutor group out for dinner at a Moroccan restaurant in Windsor as a treat for their hard work so far this term.  The boys had been promised belly dancing by one of their housemasters but sadly the restaurant was quiet (although the food was great) and so they might have returned a little disappointed.   One of the great parts of my job is the ability to talk frequently to young people out of the classroom and tonight we had a good discussion about UKIP, the European elections, the valuation of Snapchat, Bitcoins and the viability of Chemistry teachers following the change of career shown in Breaking Bad.

Zollar leaderboard for bD1.4

There are just a couple of days left for the boys of bD1:4 to accumulate “Zollars” for the star prize of a lunch at Zero 3 next week.  Just to remind you, I will buy lunch (whatever you want) for the boy in my division with the most zollars at the start of our first Biology lesson of the new term.

If you haven’t yet signed up to Zondle, please do so as my revision games should be useful.  It is free, you don’t need to add your real name (although please choose an id that I can tell who you are…..) and get playing.  Use the class code I emailed you so you can see exactly what I want you to do.  You get zollars for playing games but also for the scores you get and you can play each game as many times as you like.

Just for your information, there are 11 boys with zollars already on the board and four players with over a 1000 zollars to their name……

Easter holiday iGCSE revision: the final stages

I hope that many of the Y11 students reading this will have made good use of the time in the holidays to get ahead with their revision.  If you can “hit the ground running” when you return to school next week, that makes it so much easier for you to benefit fully from the revision classes to come.  (If this doesn’t apply to you, skip the next paragraph and continue on in the post.)

Your aim when school starts next week is to keep up the good work habits, the organisation and the high personal motivation levels you have shown this holiday.  Remember that you can never do as much as you can with schoolwork: there is always another past paper to work through, another time to go over your revision notes, another summary poster to make.  The important thing is to use the time you do spend working wisely and gain the most you can from the experience.  Sheikh Mohammed is a man I greatly admire for what he has achieved both in racing and as a leader: his epithet is that “in the race for excellence, there is no finishing line”.   There is more to do, you will almost certainly benefit by doing a little more, and you can do it!  Keep going…….

If you haven’t managed to achieve what you wanted in the past three weeks, don’t panic.  You won’t be alone.  There is still time for you to make a big difference to your chances in summer exams.  I think your best bet is to now team up with a mate or two for revision.  (These comments apply to students in the boarding school where I work but the idea is transferable)  Ask a friend who you know has good work habits if you can pair up with him for the first week of school for revision.  When he or she works, you work.  Ideally you work alongside each other (the housemaster’s dining room is often a good venue free of distractions)  Don’t copy exactly what they are doing as they may be at a different stage in the revision process to you, but just work with them, never alone.

You will all have more conflicting demands on your time when the term starts again.  Don’t worry about this at all.  Keep doing your sport, your music, your social activities with mates.  All are vital to success.  You will probably be set homework by teachers in these first few weeks:  that’s fine too.  Complete each task as conscientiously as you can even if you think you could be better doing something else. The key thing is to keep the positive energy, the focus and the high performance levels going.  Don’t allow yourself to ever slip into old habits (at least not until the end of June)  Momentum is key:  if you don’t yet have it, build it quick. If you do have it, keep going.  Keep working with the same focus, the same intensity and enjoy the feeling of making progress.  Just think how much better you understand topics compared to a few weeks ago!

Final idea in this post is this.  Keep looking after yourself and your mates.  Eat healthily, get to bed early, keep your room tidy and clean and help others to do the same.  Work is not something you do alone.  You and your friends are “all in it together” so look after others and to some extent they will look out for you.  Exams are important but so are many other things in life – friendship, health, family to name just three – so don’t neglect these things even when the pressures start to build.

If anyone reading this wants any help with anything to do with revision, schoolwork etc. please get in touch.  Catch me in my schoolroom if you can or get in touch via Twitter or comments on my blog.

Golfing days in St Andrews

Apologies for a few days without many Biology posts on the blog. Three day trip up to St Andrews to play the beautiful Old Course. I hit a shot off the road on the road hole yesterday so today the aim is to get into a few pot bunkers…..

April 15th 1989 #JFT96

Today is one of the few days where I can pinpoint exactly where I was and what I was doing 25 years ago. The Cobblers were playing Sheffield United at the old County ground on April 15th 1989. It was a beautiful sunny day, there was a big crowd and a good match. We lost 2-1 as I recall but they were chasing promotion and had a fearsome forward in Brian Deane. At half time there was a stadium announcement to say that rioting had broken out at the FA cup semifinal at Hillsborough and that match had been abandoned. 

When I got home I remember watching the TV scenes of devastation and chaos. 25 years later, there has still been no justice for the 96 people who like me went to watch a football match that afternoon but unlike me, never returned. The South Yorkshire Police have still not been properly held to account for their lies, repeated year after year about what actually happened that day. The media reporting and political reaction from the Conservative government was atrocious, shameful and contemptible. My thoughts today are with the families of the 96 who continue to fight against officialdom for justice for their loved ones. A terrible, terrible day for this country.

For any young people reading this post, April 15th 1989 was one of those days where when you look back, you realise that your world was changed.  Any naive trust that I might have had as a youngster that the police were always honest and that you could believe things that were reported in the newspapers was lost that day.  My great sadness is that nothing in the 25 years since has convinced me that anything has changed for the better.

Cambridge Pre-U Biology – a few thoughts

I have now taught two terms of this new post-16 Biology qualification to two year 12 groups.  It is very early to be making judgements on the quality of the course but there is one thing about this course that is over-whelming:  it is MASSIVE….  I don’t know if I am losing track of the pace of my post-16 teaching but I cannot ever remember in 20 years having to rush through so many topics.

The content is pretty standard and comparable to A level I would say, but why is there so much of it?  It irritates me beyond belief to feel that I have to rush in the classroom just to cover the basics of the syllabus.  If the aim is to promote independent learning among students then the sheer volume of the specification has the absolute opposite effect.  My understanding of “independent learning” is not just to let the students do it in their own time with no input/help/feedback from the teacher. I want students to learn independently and to take initiative for their learning but I also want to be able to help/guide/assess their learning and there simply isn’t time to do this properly.

So please Cambridge, when you come to review this specification for the next draft, please can you remove about 25% of the content?  There is nothing “rigorous” about a massive specification:  it rewards a rather dull and limited approach to learning and removes the time needed for a less didactic teaching style.  I want our post-16 biologists to finish their course with a deep understanding of the beauty of the natural world, having had the time to make interesting links between subject areas and with a skill-set as learners that will set them up for the next stage of their lives.  I remain to be convinced that this course is going to manage that.